Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 11 / Tuesday, January 18, 2022 / Notices 2601 

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: International 

Computer and Information Literacy 

Study (ICILS 2023) Main Study 

Sampling, Recruitment, and Data 

Collection. 

OMB Control Number: 1850–0929. 

Type of Review: Reinstatement with 

change of a previously approved 

collection. 

Respondents/Affected Public: 

Individuals or Households. 

Total Estimated Number of Annual 

Responses: 9,860. 

Total Estimated Number of Annual 

Burden Hours: 4,817. 

Abstract: The International Computer 

and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 

is a computer-based international 

assessment of eighth-grade students’ 

computer and information literacy (CIL) 

skills. ICILS was first administered 

internationally in 2013 in 21 education 

systems and again in 2018, when the 

United States participated for the first 

time. Our participation in this study has 

provided data on students’ skills and 

experience using technology to 

investigate, create, and communicate, 

and provided a comparison of U.S. 

student performance and technology 

access and use with those of the 

international peers. The next 

administration of ICILS will be in 2023. 

The 2023 study will allow the U.S. to 

begin monitoring the progress of its 

students compared to that of other 

nations and to provide data on factors 

that may influence student computer 

and information literacy skills. The data 

collected through ICILS will provide 

valuable information with which to 

understand the nature and extent of the 

‘‘digital divide’’ and has the potential to 

inform understanding of the 

relationship between technology skills 

and experience and student 

performance in other core subject areas. 

ICILS is conducted by the 

International Association for the 

Evaluation of Educational Achievement 

(IEA), an international collective of 

research organizations and government 

agencies that create the assessment 

framework, assessment, and background 

questionnaires. The IEA decides and 

agrees upon a common set of standards 

and procedures for collecting and 

reporting ICILS data, and defines the 

study timeline, all of which must be 

followed by all participating countries. 

As a result, ICILS is able to provide a 

reliable and comparable measure of 

student skills in participating countries. 

In the U.S., the National Center for 

Education Statistics (NCES) conducts 

this study and works with the IEA and 

RTI International to ensure proper 

implementation of the study and 

adoption of practices in adherence to 

the IEA’s standards. Participation in 

ICILS will allow NCES to meet its 

mandate of acquiring and disseminating 

data on educational activities and 

student achievement in the United 

States compared with foreign nations 

[The Educational Sciences Reform Act 

of 2002 (ESRA 2002) 20 U.S.C. 9543]. 

In preparation for the ICILS 2023 

main study, all countries are asked to 

implement a field test between March 1 

and April 15, 2022. The purpose of the 

ICILS field test is to evaluate new 

assessment items and background 

questions, to ensure practices that 

promote low exclusion rates, and to 

ensure that classroom and student 

sampling procedures proposed for the 

main study are successful. In October 

2021 NCES submitted and OMB 

approved a separate package for the 

ICILS 2023 Pilot Field Test (OMB# 

1850–0803 v.304). The U.S. ICILS main 

study will be conducted from March 

through May 2023 and will involve a 

nationally-representative sample of at 

least 3,000 eighth-grade students from a 

minimum of 150 schools. This request 

is to conduct the ICILS 2023 main study 

data recruitment and collection. The 

materials to be used in the main study 

are based upon those that were 

proposed most recently in October 2021. 

This submission describes the 

overarching plan for all phases of the 

data collection for the 2023 main study. 

Dated: January 11, 2022. 

Juliana Pearson, 

PRA Coordinator, Strategic Collections and 

Clearance, Governance and Strategy Division, 

Office of Chief Data Officer, Office of 

Planning, Evaluation and Policy 

Development. 

[FR Doc. 2022–00754 Filed 1–14–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Environmental Management SiteSpecific Advisory Board, Nevada 

AGENCY: Office of Environmental 

Management, Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of open meeting. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces an inperson/virtual hybrid meeting of the 

Environmental Management SiteSpecific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), 

Nevada. The Federal Advisory 

Committee Act requires that public 

notice of this meeting be announced in 

the Federal Register. 

DATES: Wednesday, February 16, 2022; 

4:00 p.m.–7:20 p.m. 

The opportunities for oral public 

comment are at 4:10 p.m. PT and 

written public comment before and after 

the meeting within seven days. 

This time is subject to change; please 

contact the Nevada Site Specific 

Advisory Board (NSSAB) Administrator 

(below) for confirmation of times prior 

to the meeting. 

ADDRESSES: This hybrid meeting will be 

open to the public virtually via 

Microsoft Teams only. To attend, please 

contact the NSSAB Administrator 

(below) no later than 4:00 p.m. PT on 

Monday, February 14, 2022. 

Board members, Department of 

Energy (DOE) representatives, agency 

liaisons, and support staff will 

participate in-person, strictly following 

COVID–19 precautionary measures, at: 

Molasky Building, 15th Floor 

Conference Room, 100 North City 

Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89106. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Barbara Ulmer, NSSAB Administrator, 

by Phone: (702) 523–0894 or email: 

nssab@emcbc.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose of the Board: The purpose of 

the Board is to make recommendations 

to DOE–EM and site management in the 

areas of environmental restoration, 

waste management, and related 

activities. 

Tentative Agenda: 

1. Fiscal Year 2024 Prioritization—Work 

Plan Item #1 

Public Participation: The in-person/ 

online virtual hybrid meeting is open to 

the public virtually via Microsoft Teams 

only. To sign-up for public comment, 

please contact the NSSAB 

Administrator (above) no later than 4:00 

p.m. PT on Monday, February 14, 2022. 

In addition to participation in the live 

public comment session identified 

above, written statements may be filed 

with the Board either before or within 

seven days after the meeting by sending 

them to the NSSAB Administrator at the 

aforementioned email address. The 

Deputy Designated Federal Officer is 

empowered to conduct the meeting in a 

fashion that will facilitate the orderly 

conduct of business. Individuals 

wishing to make public comments can 

do so in 2-minute segments for the 15 

minutes allotted for public comments. 

Minutes: Minutes will be available by 

writing or calling Barbara Ulmer, 

NSSAB Administrator, U.S. Department 

of Energy, EM Nevada Program, 100 

North City Parkway, Suite 1750, Las 


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2602 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 11 / Tuesday, January 18, 2022 / Notices 

Vegas, NV 89106; Phone: (702) 523– 

0894. Minutes will also be available at 

the following website: https://

www.nnss.gov/nssab/pages/MM_

FY22.html. 

Signed in Washington, DC, on January 11, 

2022. 

LaTanya Butler, 

Deputy Committee Management Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2022–00790 Filed 1–14–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Energy Information Administration 

Agency Information Collection 

Extension 

AGENCY: U.S. Energy Information 

Administration (EIA), U.S. Department 

of Energy (DOE). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: EIA submitted an information 

collection request for extension as 

required by the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995. The information collection 

requests a three-year extension with 

changes of its Generic Clearance for 

Questionnaire Testing, Evaluation, and 

Research, OMB Control Number 1905– 

0186. EIA–882T, Generic Clearance for 

Questionnaire Testing, Evaluation, and 

Research, provides EIA with the 

authority to utilize qualitative and 

quantitative methodologies to pretest 

questionnaires and validate the quality 

of data collected on EIA’s surveys. EIA 

uses EIA–882T to meet its obligation to 

publish, and otherwise make available 

independent, high-quality statistical 

data to federal government agencies, 

state and local governments, the energy 

industry, researchers, and the general 

public. 

DATES: Comments on this information 

collection must be received no later 

than February 17, 2022. Written 

comments and recommendations for the 

proposed information collection should 

be sent within 30 days of publication of 

this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/ 

do/PRAMain. Find this particular 

information collection by selecting 

‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open 

for Public Comments’’ or by using the 

search function. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If 

you need additional information, 

contact Gerson Morales, U.S. Energy 

Information Administration, telephone 

(202) 586–7077, or by email at 

Gerson.Morales@eia.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

information collection request contains: 

(1) OMB No.: 1905–0186; 

(2) Information Collection Request 

Title: Generic Clearance for 

Questionnaire Testing, Evaluation, and 

Research; 

(3) Type of Request: Three-year 

extension with changes; 

(4) Purpose: The U.S. Energy 

Information Administration (EIA) is 

requesting a three-year approval from 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) to utilize qualitative and 

quantitative methodologies to pretest 

questionnaires and validate the quality 

of the data that is collected on EIA and 

DOE survey forms. Through the use of 

these methodologies, EIA will conduct 

research studies to improve the quality 

of energy data being collected, reduce or 

minimize survey respondent burden, 

and increase agency efficiency. This 

authority would also allow EIA to 

improve data collection in order to meet 

the needs of EIA’s customers while also 

staying current in the evolving nature of 

the energy industry. 

The specific methods proposed for the 

coverage by this clearance are described 

below. Also outlined is the legal 

authority for these voluntary 

information gathering activities. 

The following methods are proposed: 

Pilot Surveys. Pilot surveys conducted 

under this clearance will generally be 

methodological studies, and will always 

employ statistically representative 

samples. The pilot surveys will replicate 

all components of the methodological 

design, sampling procedures (where 

possible), and questionnaires of the full 

scale survey. Pilot surveys will normally 

be utilized when EIA undertakes a 

complete redesign of a particular data 

collection methodology or when EIA 

undertakes data collection in new 

energy areas, such as HGL production, 

alternative fueled motor vehicles, and 

other emerging areas of the energy 

sector where data collection would 

provide utility to EIA. 

Cognitive Interviews. Cognitive 

interviews are typically one-on-one 

interviews in which the respondent is 

usually asked to ‘‘think aloud’’ or is 

asked ‘‘retrospective questions’’ as he or 

she answers questions, reads survey 

materials, defines terminology, or 

completes other activities as part of a 

typical survey process. A number of 

different techniques may be involved 

including, asking respondents what 

specific words or phrases mean or 

asking respondents probing questions to 

determine how they estimate, calculate, 

or determine specific data elements on 

a survey. The objectives of these 

cognitive interviews are to identify 

problems of ambiguity or 

misunderstanding, examine the process 

that respondents follow for reporting 

information, assess survey respondents’ 

ability to report new information, or 

identify other difficulties respondents 

have answering survey questions in 

order to reduce measurement error from 

estimates based on a survey. 

Respondent Debriefings. Respondent 

debriefings conducted under this 

clearance will generally be 

methodological or cognitive research 

studies. The debriefing form is 

administered after a respondent 

completes a questionnaire either in 

paper format, electronically, or through 

in-person interviews. The debriefings 

contain probing questions to determine 

how respondents interpret the survey 

questions, how much time and effort 

was spent completing the questionnaire, 

and whether they have problems in 

completing the survey/questionnaire. 

Respondent debriefings also are useful 

in determining potential issues with 

data quality and in estimating 

respondent burden. 

Usability Testing. Usability tests are 

similar to cognitive interviews in which 

a respondent is typically asked to ‘‘think 

aloud’’ or asked ‘‘retrospective 

questions’’ as he or she reviews an 

electronic questionnaire, website, visual 

aid, or hard copy survey form. The 

objective of usability testing is to check 

that respondents can easily and 

intuitively navigate electronic survey 

collection programs, websites, and other 

survey instruments to submit their data 

to EIA. 

Focus Groups. Focus groups, in 

person, online, or by phone, involve 

group sessions guided by a moderator 

who follows a topic guide containing 

questions or subjects focused on a 

particular issue rather than adhering to 

a standardized cognitive interview 

protocol. Focus groups are useful for 

exploring issues concerning the design 

of a form and the meaning of terms from 

a specific group of respondents, data 

users, or other stakeholders of EIA data. 

Focus groups may also be used to 

explore respondents’ general opinions 

about data collection technologies or 

survey materials other than 

questionnaires. 

(4a) Changes to Information 

Collection: EIA proposes to add several 

other methodologies or techniques to 

improve survey design, pretest 

questionnaires and validate the quality 

of the data that is collected on EIA and 

DOE survey forms. 

Field Techniques. Field techniques 

described in survey research and survey 

methodology literature will be 

employed as appropriate. These include 

follow-up probing, memory cue tasks, 

paraphrasing, confidence rating, 

response latency measurements, free 


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