Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 208 / Monday, October 30, 2023 / Notices 74157 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The OMB 

is particularly interested in comments 

which: 

• Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of AmeriCorps, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; 

• Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions; 

• Propose ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and 

• Propose ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on those who are to respond, including 

through the use of appropriate 

automated, electronic, mechanical, or 

other technological collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology. 

Comments 

A 60-day Notice requesting public 

comment was published in the Federal 

Register on July 31, 2023 at 49453– 

49454. This comment period ended 

September 29, 2023. No public 

comments were received from this 

Notice. On September 12, 2023, 

AmeriCorps led a focus group with 9 

individuals to discuss the burden of the 

AmeriCorps Application Questions. The 

participants in the focus group were a 

mix of VISTA sponsors, and grantees 

from AmeriCorps Seniors, AmeriCorps 

State and National, and Volunteer 

Initiatives. Participants agreed that 

AmeriCorps requests a lot of data in its 

application but does not communicate 

its intentions for the information 

collected. They further agreed that 

AmeriCorps should more clearly 

communicate to those who complete 

this information collection why it 

requires the level of data collection it 

asks for. While the application lists a 

burden of 6 hours to complete the 

application questions, participants 

agreed the actual time spent completing 

the application is significantly longer. 

For this reason, we have extended the 

time burden to 40 hours per 

applicant.The application instructions 

are often circular, referring back to one 

another, and applicants have to 

frequently refer back to them (NOFO, 

guidance, application instructions). 

Participants told AmeriCorps that 

navigating these materials in order to 

complete this information collection is 

extremely burdensome and frustrating. 

Their additional suggestions for 

minimizing the burden to the public 

include: replacing eGrants, providing a 

word limit per section rather than a 

page limit, and providing clear 

checklists of ‘‘must-do’’ items and 

criteria to help guide applicants through 

the process in a more concrete way. 

While many of these changes are not 

currently possible in eGrants, these 

comments will help inform 

improvements to the forthcoming grants 

management system. 

Title of Collection: AmeriCorps 

Application Questions. 

OMB Control Number: 3045–0187. 

Type of Review: Renewal. 

Respondents/Affected Public: 

Organizations, State, Local or Tribal 

Governments. 

Total Estimated Number of Annual 

Responses: 13,200. 

Total Estimated Number of Annual 

Burden Hours: 528,000. 

Abstract: The generic application 

questions are used by applicants for 

funding through AmeriCorps 

competitions. The application is 

completed electronically using the 

Agency’s web-based grants management 

system or submitted via email. 

AmeriCorps seeks to renew the current 

information collection without 

revisions. The information collection 

will otherwise be used in the same 

manner as the existing application. 

AmeriCorps also seeks to continue using 

the current application until the revised 

application is approved by OMB. The 

current application is due to expire on 

October 30, 2023. 

Danielle Melfi, 

Chief Program Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2023–23808 Filed 10–27–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6050–28–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

[Docket No.: ED–2023–SCC–0187] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission to the Office of 

Management and Budget for Review 

and Approval; Comment Request; 2024 

Teaching and Learning International 

Survey (TALIS 2024) Main Study 

Revision 

AGENCY: National Center for Education 

Statistics (NCES), Department of 

Education (ED). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 

1995, the Department is proposing a 

revision of a currently approved 

information collection request (ICR). 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before 

November 29, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

recommendations for proposed 

information collection requests should 

be submitted within 30 days of 

publication of this notice. Click on this 

link www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

PRAMain to access the site. Find this 

information collection request (ICR) by 

selecting ‘‘Department of Education’’ 

under ‘‘Currently Under Review,’’ then 

check the ‘‘Only Show ICR for Public 

Comment’’ checkbox. Reginfo.gov 

provides two links to view documents 

related to this information collection 

request. Information collection forms 

and instructions may be found by 

clicking on the ‘‘View Information 

Collection (IC) List’’ link. Supporting 

statements and other supporting 

documentation may be found by 

clicking on the ‘‘View Supporting 

Statement and Other Documents’’ link. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

specific questions related to collection 

activities, please contact Carrie Clarady, 

(202) 245–6347. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Department is especially interested in 

public comment addressing the 

following issues: (1) is this collection 

necessary to the proper functions of the 

Department; (2) will this information be 

processed and used in a timely manner; 

(3) is the estimate of burden accurate; 

(4) how might the Department enhance 

the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (5) how 

might the Department minimize the 

burden of this collection on the 

respondents, including through the use 

of information technology. Please note 

that written comments received in 

response to this notice will be 

considered public records. 

Title of Collection: 2024 Teaching and 

Learning International Survey (TALIS 

2024) Main Study Revision. 

OMB Control Number: 1850–0888. 

Type of Review: Revision of a 

currently approved ICR. 

Respondents/Affected Public: 

Individuals or Households. 

Total Estimated Number of Annual 

Responses: 10,820. 

Total Estimated Number of Annual 

Burden Hours: 11,347. 

Abstract: The Teaching and Learning 

International Survey (TALIS) is an 

international survey of teachers and 

principals focusing on the working 

conditions of teachers and the teaching 

and learning practices in schools. The 

United States will administer TALIS for 

the third time in 2024, having 

participated in 2013 and 2018. TALIS 

2024 is sponsored by the Organization 

for Economic Cooperation and 

Development (OECD). TALIS is steered 


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74158 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 208 / Monday, October 30, 2023 / Notices 

by the TALIS Governing Board (TGB), 

comprising representatives from the 

OECD member countries, and 

implemented internationally by 

organizations contracted by the OECD 

(referred to as the International 

consortium). In the U.S., TALIS 2024 is 

conducted by the National Center for 

Education Statistics (NCES) of the 

Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. 

Department of Education. 

TALIS 2024 is focused on teachers; 

professional environment, teaching 

conditions, and their impact on school 

and teacher effectiveness. TALIS 2024 

will address teacher training and 

professional development, teacher 

appraisal, school climate, school 

leadership, instructional approaches, 

pedagogical practices, and teaching 

experience with and support for 

teaching diverse populations. 

OECD has scheduled the main study 

to occur in the Northern hemisphere 

from February through March 2024 and 

in the Southern hemisphere from June 

through August 2024. To prepare for the 

main study, several TALIS countries 

will conduct pilot studies in February 

2022; the U.S. will not participate. 

Countries will also conduct a field test 

in the first quarter of 2023, primarily to 

evaluate newly developed questionnaire 

items and school recruitment materials; 

the U.S. will participate in the field test. 

To meet the international data 

collection schedule for the field test, 

U.S. recruitment activities need to begin 

by August 2022 and U.S. questionnaires 

must be finalized by December 2022. 

TALIS 2024 includes the core TALIS 

teacher and principal surveys that are 

required for each participating country, 

as well as an optional Teacher 

Knowledge Survey (TKS). The TKS is 

intended to better understand the 

teacher pedagogical knowledge base at 

the national level. The U.S. is including 

the TKS in the upcoming TALIS 2024 

field test and will evaluate these results 

to determine the feasibility of including 

TKS as part of the US Main Study. 

The previous submission (OMB 

#1850–0888 v.8) requested approval for: 

(1) recruitment and pre-survey activities 

for the 2023 field test sample; (2) 

administration of the field test; and (3) 

school recruitment and pre-survey 

activities for the 2024 main study 

sample. That package was approved in 

August 2022. This submission requests 

approval for the final international 

versions of the principal and teacher 

instruments approved for the TALIS 

2024 Field Test. The final U.S. 

adaptations of the 2024 core TALIS and 

TKS field test questionnaires that will 

be administered in the TALIS 2024 U.S. 

Field Test will be submitted to OMB as 

a non-substantive change request in 

Winter 2022/23. 

Dated: October 24, 2023. 

Stephanie Valentine, 

PRA Coordinator, Strategic Collections and 

Clearance Governance and Strategy Division, 

Office of Chief Data Officer, Office of 

Planning, Evaluation and Policy 

Development. 

[FR Doc. 2023–23841 Filed 10–27–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

[Docket No.: ED–2023–SCC–0184] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Comment Request; 

Application for the Educational 

Flexibility (Ed-Flex) Program 

AGENCY: Office of Elementary and 

Secondary Education (OESE), 

Department of Education (ED). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 

1995, the Department is proposing a 

revision of a currently approved 

information collection request (ICR). 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before 

December 29, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: To access and review all the 

documents related to the information 

collection listed in this notice, please 

use http://www.regulations.gov by 

searching the Docket ID number ED– 

2023–SCC–0184. Comments submitted 

in response to this notice should be 

submitted electronically through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://

www.regulations.gov by selecting the 

Docket ID number or via postal mail, 

commercial delivery, or hand delivery. 

If the regulations.gov site is not 

available to the public for any reason, 

the Department will temporarily accept 

comments at ICDocketMgr@ed.gov. 

Please include the docket ID number 

and the title of the information 

collection request when requesting 

documents or submitting comments. 

Please note that comments submitted 

after the comment period will not be 

accepted. Written requests for 

information or comments submitted by 

postal mail or delivery should be 

addressed to the Manager of the 

Strategic Collections and Clearance 

Governance and Strategy Division, U.S. 

Department of Education, 400 Maryland 

Ave. SW, LBJ, Room 6W203, 

Washington, DC 20202–8240. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

specific questions related to collection 

activities, please contact Evan Skloot, 

202–453–6515. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Department, in accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) 

(44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the 

general public and Federal agencies 

with an opportunity to comment on 

proposed, revised, and continuing 

collections of information. This helps 

the Department assess the impact of its 

information collection requirements and 

minimize the public’s reporting burden. 

It also helps the public understand the 

Department’s information collection 

requirements and provide the requested 

data in the desired format. The 

Department is soliciting comments on 

the proposed information collection 

request (ICR) that is described below. 

The Department is especially interested 

in public comment addressing the 

following issues: (1) is this collection 

necessary to the proper functions of the 

Department; (2) will this information be 

processed and used in a timely manner; 

(3) is the estimate of burden accurate; 

(4) how might the Department enhance 

the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (5) how 

might the Department minimize the 

burden of this collection on the 

respondents, including through the use 

of information technology. Please note 

that written comments received in 

response to this notice will be 

considered public records. 

Title of Collection: Application for the 

Educational Flexibility (Ed-Flex) 

Program. 

OMB Control Number: 1810–0737. 

Type of Review: A revision of a 

currently approved ICR. 

Respondents/Affected Public: State, 

Local, and Tribal governments. 

Total Estimated Number of Annual 

Responses: 32. 

Total Estimated Number of Annual 

Burden Hours: 620. 

Abstract: This is a request for a 

revision to the Educational Flexibility 

program application to include the 

annual reporting template. The 

Educational Flexibility (Ed-Flex) 

program is authorized under the 

Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 

1999 and was reauthorized by section 

9207 of the Every Student Succeeds Act 

(ESSA). The Ed-Flex program allows the 

Secretary to authorize a State 

educational agency (SEA) that serves an 

eligible State to waive statutory or 

regulatory requirements applicable to 

one or more the included programs for 

any local educational agency (LEAs), 

educational service agency, or school 

within the State. Section 4(a)(3) of the 

Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 


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