2023-23840. Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2025 Long-Term Trend (LTT)

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 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–0188. 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 [e-mail]. 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 Carrie Clarady, (202) 245–6347.

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: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2025 Long-Term Trend (LTT).

OMB Control Number: 1850–0928.

Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved ICR.

Respondents/Affected Public: Individual or Households.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 921,531.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 491,800.

Abstract: The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), is a federally authorized survey of student achievement at grades 4, 8, and 12 in various subject areas, such as mathematics, reading, writing, science, U.S. history, civics, geography, economics, technology and engineering literacy (TEL), and the arts. The National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act (Pub. L. 107–279 title III, section 303) requires the assessment to collect data on specified student groups and characteristics, including information organized by race/ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, disability, and limited English proficiency. It requires fair and accurate presentation of achievement data and permits the collection of background, noncognitive, or descriptive information that is related to academic achievement and aids in fair reporting of results. The intent of the law is to provide representative sample data on student achievement for the nation, the states, and subpopulations of students and to monitor progress over time. NAEP consists of two assessment programs: the NAEP long-term trend (LTT) assessment and the main NAEP assessment. The LTT assessments are given at the national level only and are administered to students at ages 9, 13, and 17 in a manner that is very different from that used for the main NAEP assessments. LTT reports mathematics and reading results that present trend data since the 1970s. In addition to the operational assessments, NAEP uses two other kinds of assessment activities: pilot assessments and special studies. Pilot assessments test items and procedures for future administrations of NAEP, while special studies (including the National Indian Education Study (NIES), the Middle School Transcript Study (MSTS), and the High School Transcript Study (HSTS)) are opportunities for NAEP to investigate particular aspects of the assessment without impacting the reporting of the NAEP results. The initial request for clearance of NAEP 2024 received OMB approval in April 2023 (OMB #1850–0928 v.28). Amendment #1 to the NAEP 2024 clearance package received OMB approval in June 2023 (OMB #1850–0928 v.29). Since that packages submission for public comment and OMB approval, changes have occurred to the scope of the 2024 NAEP administration, including the addition of: (1) Addition of Reading Router Pilot for grades 4 and 8, increasing costs, (2) Addition of School and District Technology Coordinator roles and SBE survey completion, increasing burden hours, (3) Addition of protocols for the health and safety of field staff, increasing costs, (4) Reduction in SQ burden time for students, teachers and schools since COVID–19 learning recovery items are no longer adding additional time to the SQs; rather, other items were dropped to accommodate these items, reducing burden hours; and (5) Addition of Field Trial for grades, 4, 8 and 12, increasing burden hours and costs. This revision updates Part A and Part B detailing the changes to scope and references to the communication materials and the amendment schedule, Appendix A, Appendix B, Appendix C, Appendix D (added communication materials), Appendix G, Appendix I, and Appendices J1, J2, J3, and J–S to include the operational survey questionnaires (SQs), COVID–19 Learning Recovery SQs, NIES SQs, and Pilot SQs.

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.