```

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 229 (Wednesday, November 27, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 93567-93568]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-27846]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2024-SCC-0101]

Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; School Pulse Panel 2025-26 and 2026-27 (SPP 2025-26, SPP 2026-
27) Preliminary Field Activities

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).

[[Page 93568]]

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
December 27, 2024.

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: School Pulse Panel 2025-26 and 2026-27 (SPP 
2025-26, SPP 2026-27) Preliminary Field Activities.
    OMB Control Number: 1850-0975.
    Type of Review: A revision of a currently approved ICR.
    Respondents/Affected Public: State, Local, and Tribal Governments.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 6,339.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 2,503.
    Abstract: The School Pulse Panel (SPP) is a data collection that 
was originally designed to collect voluntary responses from a 
nationally representative sample of public schools to better understand 
how schools, students, and educators were responding to the ongoing 
stressors of the coronavirus pandemic. The School Pulse Panel is 
conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), part 
of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), within the United States 
Department of Education. Initially, the purpose of the study was to 
collect extensive data on issues brought to light by the COVID-19 
pandemic, as well as other important education-related issues that 
could inform data-driven policy decisions, in U.S. public schools. Due 
to the immediate need to collect pandemic-era information from schools 
as described in Executive Order 14000, an emergency clearance was 
issued to develop and field the first several monthly collections of 
the SPP in 2021 and a full review of the SPP data collection was 
performed in 2022 (OMB# 1850-0969). SPPs innovative design and timely 
dissemination of findings have been used and cited frequently among 
Department of Education senior leadership, the White House Domestic 
Policy Council, the USDAs Food and Nutrition Service, the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, Congressional deliberations, and the 
media. The growing interest from stakeholders resulted in a request for 
funding to create an established NCES quick-turnaround data collection 
vehicle to become a mainstay for NCES. Funding for a mainstay 
collection was approved in late 2022, and NCES conducted a new 
collection during the 2023-24 school year (OMB# 1850-0975).
    The School Pulse Panel study is one of the few reliable, nationally 
representative, quick-turnaround studies that produces data on U.S. 
public schools. The sample design for the 2025-26 collection will 
roughly be the same as the 2024-25 collection with 4,000 public schools 
randomly selected to an initial sample and 4,000 in a reserve sample. 
It is expected these schools will come from roughly 3,000 districts. 
The goal is national representation from about 1,200 responding schools 
each month in order to report out national estimates. School staff will 
be asked to provide requested data monthly during the 2025-26 school 
year. This approach provides the ability to collect detailed 
information on various topics while also assessing changes over time 
for items that are repeated from year to year. Given the demand for 
data collection, the content of the survey is expected to change 
monthly. For the 2025-26 school year, the survey may ask school staff 
about a wide range of topics, including but not limited to staffing; 
learning recovery; absenteeism; usage of federal funds; and overall 
principal experiences.
    This package includes preliminary activities, including contacting 
and obtaining research approvals from public school districts with an 
established research approval process (special contact districts) where 
applicable; notifying sampled schools and districts of their selection 
for the survey; and inviting them to complete a short Screener Survey 
to establish points of contact. In spring of 2025, a clearance for main 
study data collection activities that will include instruments for the 
first quarter of collections will be submitted for 60-day and 30-day 
public comment. Subsequent quarterly content submissions will be 
submitted for 30-day public comment.
    This request is to conduct the SPP 2025-26 preliminary activities. 
Substantial edits and additional materials may be added to this package 
after the 60-day public comment period is complete, in time for the 
subsequent 30-day public comment period that will begin Fall 2024. 
Materials for SPP are cleared under two OMB Number sequences. Materials 
for SPP 2022 and SPP 2024-25 were cleared under OMB# 1850-0969, while 
SPP 2023-24 and now SPP 2025-26 are cleared under OMB# 1850-0975.

    Dated: November 22, 2024.
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. 2024-27846 Filed 11-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
```