Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 64 / Monday, April 6, 2009 / Notices 15469 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Notice of Proposed Information 

Collection Requests 

AGENCY: Department of Education. 

SUMMARY: The Director, Information 

Collection Clearance Division, 

Regulatory Information Management 

Services, Office of Management, invites 

comments on the proposed information 

collection requests as required by the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before June 5, 

2009. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires 

that the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) provide interested 

Federal agencies and the public an early 

opportunity to comment on information 

collection requests. OMB may amend or 

waive the requirement for public 

consultation to the extent that public 

participation in the approval process 

would defeat the purpose of the 

information collection, violate State or 

Federal law, or substantially interfere 

with any agency’s ability to perform its 

statutory obligations. The Director, 

Regulatory Information Management 

Services, Office of Management, 

publishes that notice containing 

proposed information collection 

requests prior to submission of these 

requests to OMB. Each proposed 

information collection, grouped by 

office, contains the following: (1) Type 

of review requested, e.g. new, revision, 

extension, existing or reinstatement; (2) 

Title; (3) Summary of the collection; (4) 

Description of the need for, and 

proposed use of, the information; (5) 

Respondents and frequency of 

collection; and (6) Reporting and/or 

Recordkeeping burden. OMB invites 

public comment. 

The Department of Education 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. 

Dated: April 1, 2009. 

Angela C. Arrington, 

Director, Information Collections Clearance 

Division, Regulatory Information 

Management Services, Office of Management. 

Institute of Education Sciences 

Type of Review: Reinstatement. 

Title: National Household Education 

Survey (NHES): 2009 Pilot Test. 

Frequency: One time. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

household. 

Reporting and Recordkeeping Hour 

Burden: 

Responses: 9,292. 

Burden Hours: 1,549. 

Abstract: The National Household 

Education Surveys Program (NHES) 

collects data directly from households 

on early childhood care and education, 

children’s readiness for school, parent 

perceptions of school safety and 

discipline, before- and after-school 

activities of school-age children, 

participation in adult and continuing 

education, parent involvement in 

education, school choice, 

homeschooling, and civic involvement. 

NHES surveys have been conducted 

approximately every other year from 

1991 through 2007 using random digit 

dial (RDD) sampling and telephone data 

collection from landline telephones 

only. Each survey collection included 

the administration of household 

screening questions (Screener) and two 

or three topical surveys. Like virtually 

all RDD surveys, NHES Screener 

response rates have declined (from 

above 80% in early 1990s to 53% in 

2007) and the decline in the percentage 

of households without landline 

telephones (from ∼93% in early 2004 to 

about 80% in the first half of 2008; 

mostly due to conversion to cellularonly coverage) raises issues about 

population coverage. While studies 

examining possible biases in the NHES 

survey estimates have not identified 

nonresponse bias, some indications of 

possible coverage bias were detected in 

a special bias study conducted in 2007. 

As a result, NCES is redesigning the 

NHES program to develop and assess 

approaches to collecting data with 

improved response and population 

coverage. The Pilot Test will be 

conducted in the fall of 2009 to examine 

proposed methods on a smaller and 

more economical scale prior to a largescale Field Test planned for 2011. The 

NHES:2009 Pilot Test will use a reduced 

sample (approximately 10% of the 

anticipated 2011 Field Test sample size) 

and involve screening of approximately 

11,800 households to identify those 

with eligible children and youth. 

Parents or guardians of sampled 

children will be (ECPP), and the Parent 

and Family Involvement in Education 

Survey (PFI). The PFI Survey has been 

divided into two questionnaire forms for 

ease of self-administration: One focuses 

on children enrolled in school for 

kindergarten through 12th grade and 

one focuses on children who are 

homeschooled. 

Requests for copies of the proposed 

information collection request may be 

accessed from http://edicsweb.ed.gov, 

by selecting the ‘‘Browse Pending 

Collections’’ link and by clicking on 

link number 3997. When you access the 

information collection, click on 

‘‘Download Attachments’’ to view. 

Written requests for information should 

be addressed to U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 

LBJ, Washington, DC 20202–4537. 

Requests may also be electronically 

mailed to ICDocketMgr@ed.gov or faxed 

to 202–401–0920. Please specify the 

complete title of the information 

collection when making your request. 

Comments regarding burden and/or 

the collection activity requirements 

should be electronically mailed to 

ICDocketMgr@ed.gov. Individuals who 

use a telecommunications device for the 

deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1– 

800–877–8339. 

[FR Doc. E9–7670 Filed 4–3–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Higher Education Disaster Relief 

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary 

Education, Department of Education. 

ACTION: Notice reopening the Higher 

Education Disaster Relief fiscal year 

(FY) 2009 competition. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

(CFDA) Number: 84.938R. 

SUMMARY: On January 16, 2009, we 

published in the Federal Register (74 

FR 3005) a notice inviting applications 

for the new awards for fiscal year (FY) 

2009 under the Higher Education 

Disaster Relief Program. On January 26, 

2009, we published in the Federal 

Register (74 FR 4417) a notice correcting 

the date for transmittal of preapplications and the date for transmittal 

of applications. The January 26, 2009 

notice established a new February 4, 

2009 deadline date for eligible 

applicants to submit a pre-application 

for this funding. The January 26, 2009 

notice also provided that only 

applicants who timely submitted a preapplication and received an e-mail from 


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