[Federal Register: May 1, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 83)]
[Notices]
[Page 25575-25577]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01my06-43]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Notice of Proposed Information Collection Requests
AGENCY: Department of Education.
SUMMARY: The Director, 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 30, 2006.
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 25, 2006.
Jeanne Van Vlandren,
Director, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of
Management.
Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development.
Type of Review: Regular.
Title: Annual Mandatory Collection of Elementary and Secondary
Education Data for the Education Data Exchange Network (EDEN).
Frequency: Annually.
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Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal Gov't, SEAs or LEAs.
Reporting and Recordkeeping Hour Burden:
Responses: 6,052.
Burden Hours: 476,234.
Abstract: The Education Data Exchange Network (EDEN) is in the
implementation phase of a multiple year effort to consolidate the
collection of education information about States, Districts, and
Schools in a way that improves data quality and reduces paperwork
burden for all of the national education partners. To minimize the
burden on the data providers, EDEN seeks the transfer of the proposed
data as soon as it has been processed for State, District, and School
use. These data will then be stored in EDEN and accessed by federal
education program managers and analysts as needed to make program
management decisions. This process will eliminate redundant data
collections while providing for the timeliness of data submission and
use.
Additional Information: The Department of Education (ED) is
specifically requesting the data providers in each the State Education
Agency (SEA) to review the proposed data elements to determine which of
these data can be provided for the upcoming 2006-2007 school year and
which data would be available in later years (2007-2008 or 2008-2009)
and which data, if any, is never expected to be available from the SEA.
If information for a data group is not available, please provide
information beyond the fact that it is not available. Are there
specific impediments to providing this data that you can describe? Is
the definition for the data group unclear or ambiguous? Do the
requested code sets not align with the way your state collects the
data? This is very important information because ED intends to make the
collection of these data mandatory. ED also seeks to know if the SEA
data definitions are consistent and compatible with the EDEN
definitions and accurately reflect the way data is stored and used for
education by the States, Districts, and Schools. The answers to these
questions by the data providers will influence the timing and content
of the final EDEN proposal for the collection of this elementary and
secondary data. In addition to overall public comments, ED would also
like state education data providers to consider and respond to a number
of specific questions that were developed during the recent data
definition cycle for EDEN 2006-07 data. While most of these questions
address the ability of states to provide information, some speak to the
potential burden on states associated with overall changes in EDEN.
When responding to these questions, please include the question number
in your response.
1. Some of the EDEN data groups require additional information in
order to interpret it properly; this is loosely described as metadata.
For example, state proficiency levels and the levels that make up
proficient and higher differ from one state to the next. Similarly,
there are numerous data groups that collect information on state-
defined items such as truants, persistently dangerous schools, and
definition of school year. For all of these examples, additional
information is needed in order to fully understand the reported data as
well as to understand whether comparisons across the state are (or are
not) appropriate. We are currently considering several ways to collect
this information including web-based forms and a separate state-level
submission file. What would be the most convenient way for your state
to initially provide and subsequently update this information?
2. As EDEN matures, we are weighing the costs/benefits of
standardizing the naming conventions of the data groups in order to
align them more closely with the Federal Enterprise Architecture. We
anticipate this effort would result in changes to approximately \1/3\
of data group names and we would provide a crosswalk between the old
name and the new name of each data group. The numbers assigned to the
data groups would not change. What impact would data group name changes
have on the burden associated with producing and submitting EDEN data
files in your state? If we do elect to make these changes, what tools
can ED provide to you to lessen your paperwork burden?
3. For the 2006-07 EDEN data set, we added a new topic area:
Finance. This change was based on an understanding that in many states,
data for files that include financial information come from a source
that is separate from the rest of the EDEN data files. So far, we have
moved the following data groups to this new topic area: 574--Federal
Funding Allocation Table, 614--REAP Alternative Funding Indicator,
615--RLIS Program Table, 616--Transfer Funds Indicator, plus the two
new data groups: Funds Spent on Supplemental Services and Funds Spent
on School Choice. Is this conceptual change helpful in your state? Are
there other data groups that you recommend that we move to this new
topic area?
4. As part of the merge between NCES' Common Core of Data (CCD) and
EDEN, we would like to modify the way the CCD ID code for schools and
districts are submitted in EDEN data files. The CCD ID code is made up
of 3 components (a 2 digit FIPS code, a 5 digit district ID code, and a
5 digit school ID code). CCD collects all 3 of these components
separately meaning that for schools, there are 3 ID codes that,
together, make a unique identifier. EDEN collects a single 7 digit CCD
District ID (FIPS thru District) and a single 12 digit CCD school ID
(FIPS thru District thru School). What impact would there be on your
state's ability to provide EDEN data files if EDEN changed to the CCD
methodology for NCES IDs?
5. For Magnet School Status (at the school level) CCD collects only
(1) Yes and (2) No. EDEN is set up to collect 4 categories of
information regarding Magnet Schools: (1) Magnet All Students, (2)
Magnet Not All Students, (3) Not Magnet, and (4) Not Collected by
State. At what level of detail does your state collect information on
Magnet Schools? What is the burden to your state to provide the data
EDEN is requesting?
6. OSEP has historically collected placement information for school
age children by age ranges (6-11, 12-17, and 18-21). For 2006-07, USED
is proposing to collect this information using discrete ages (instead
of the previously used age ranges). This change would take place in
EDEN data group 74, Children with Disabilities (IDEA), in the
category set that now contains Educational Environment (IDEA),
Disability Category (IDEA), and Age Group (Placement). The comparable
data group for early childhood (Data Group 613) already
collects placement information by discrete age. How does this change
affect your state's reporting ability and burden?
7. How do states track dropouts within each state? Would states be
able to report dropout data by age or is this information only
available by grade?
8. EDEN currently collects dropout data by grade for students in
grades 7-12 but will be adding ungraded as an option for the 2006-07
reporting year. Does your state have a significant number of dropouts
in grades other than 7-12 (e.g., a student in grade 6 who reaches the
age where dropping out is an option)? Can you report this count as a
single number (e.g., total dropouts below 7th grade)?
9. Please examine the two new data groups--Funds Spent on
Supplemental Services and Funds Spent on School Choice. What
information does your state ask LEAs to report on this subject? Can you
provide the information requested? If you cannot provide data for these
new data groups for 2006-07,
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when will you be able to provide this data?
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 03017. 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.,
Potomac Center, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20202-4700. Requests may also
be electronically mailed to IC_DocketMgr@ed.gov or faxed to 202-245-
6623. 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 IC_DocketMgr@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. E6-6526 Filed 4-28-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P