2021-11439. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Private School Universe Survey (PSS) 2019-20 and 2021-22

AGENCY:

Institute of Educational Sciences (IES), Department of Education (ED).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ED is proposing an extension without change of a currently approved collection.

DATES:

Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before July 1, 2021.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and recommendations for proposed information collection requests should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Find this information collection request by selecting “Department of Education” under “Currently Under Review,” then check “Only Show ICR for Public Comment” checkbox. Comments may also be sent to [e-mail].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For specific questions related to collection activities, please contact Carrie Clarady, 202-245-6347.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Department of Education (ED), 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. ED is soliciting comments on the proposed information collection request (ICR) that is described below. 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. Please note that written comments received in response to this notice will be considered public records.

Title of Collection: Private School Universe Survey (PSS) 2019-20 and 2021-22.

OMB Control Number: 1850-0641.

Type of Review: An extension without change of a currently approved collection.

Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals and Households.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 32,677.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 6,577.

Abstract: The Private School Universe Survey (PSS) is conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to collect basic information from the universe of private elementary and secondary schools in the United States. The PSS is designed to gather biennial data on the total number of private schools, teachers, and students, along with a variety of related data, including: Religious orientation; grade-levels taught and size of school; length of school year and of school day; total student enrollment by gender (K-12); number of high school graduates; whether a school is single-sexed or coeducational; number of teachers employed; program emphasis; and existence and type of its kindergarten program. The PSS includes all schools that are not supported primarily by public funds, that provide classroom instruction for one or more of grades K-12 or comparable ungraded levels, and that have one or more teachers. The PSS is also used to create a universe list of private schools for use as a sampling frame for NCES surveys of private schools. The request to conduct the 2019-20 and 2021-22 PSS data collections, and the 2021-22 PSS list frame building operations, was approved in April 2019 (OMB# 1850-0641 v.9), and the last change was approved in June 2020 (OMB#1850-0641 v.12). This submission is materially unchanged from previous submissions and is submitted solely to request an extension for data collection activities. The current OMB clearance expires in April 2022, but data collection activities are currently scheduled to extend into late May 2022. There are no changes to burden or cost to the federal government.

Dated: May 26, 2021.

Juliana Pearson,

PRA Coordinator, Strategic Collections and Clearance Governance and Strategy Division, Office of Chief Data Officer, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development.