[Federal Register: December 20, 1995 (Volume 60, Number 244)]
[Notices]
[Page 65642-65643]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
National Assessment Governing Board; Public Forum
AGENCY: National Assessment Governing Board; Education.
ACTION: Notice of Information Collection Activity.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the National Assessment Governing
Board (NAGB) will submit an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the
Office of Management and Budget for approval. The ICR is: NAEP Consumer
Survey Research Study of the Achievement Levels for the U.S. History
NAEP and the Geography NAEP.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before February 20, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted by February 20, 1996.
Mail to: Susan Cooper Loomis, NAEP ALS Project Director, American
College Testing, 2201 N. Dodge Street, Iowa City, Iowa 52243. Copies of
the complete ICR and accompanying appendices may be obtained from the
NAEP ALS Project Director at the address above. Comments may also be
submitted electronically by sending electronic mail (e-mail) to
LOOMIS@ACT.ORG. Electronic comments must be submitted as an ASCII file
and exclude any special characters and forms of encryption. Electronic
comments must be identified by the title of the ICR. No confidential
business information should be submitted through e-mail.
Information submitted as a comment concerning this document may be
claimed confidential by marking any part or all of that information as
confidential business information (CBI). Information so marked will not
be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR
part 2. A copy of the comment that does not contain CBI must be
submitted for inclusion in the public record. Information not marked
confidential may be disclosed publicly by NAGB without prior notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Susan Loomis, NAEP ALS Project Director, American College Testing,
[[Page 65643]]
2201 N. Dodge Street, Iowa City, Iowa 52243, Telephone: (310) 337-1048
or (800) 525-6929, e-mail: loomis@act.org.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Electronic copies of this ICR can be
obtained from the contact person listed above.
I. Information Collection Request
NAGB is seeking comments on the following Information Collection
Request (ICR).
Title: NAEP Consumer Survey Research Study of the Achievement
Levels for the U.S. History NAEP and the Georgraphy NAEP.
Affected Entities: Parties affected by this information collection
are persons included in a broadly representative sample including
persons identified as nominators of achievement levels-setting (ALS)
panelists for pilot studies and ALS, as well as samples of subscribers
to the Smithsonian magazine (for U.S. History) and The National
Geographic for georgraphy.
Abstract: The purpose of this information collection activity is to
gather information for NAGB regarding the achievement levels set for
the 1994 NAEP in U.S. History and in Georgraphy. In particular,
Congress has deemed that the achievement levels must be shown to be
reasonable, valid, and informative to the public. This survey is
designed to collect responses from individuals who are likely to have
some interest in the ALS process (having been invited in 1994 to
nominate individuals to serve as panelists for the ALS process) and
individuals who are likely to have some interest in the subjects for
which achievement levels have been developed.
A report has been developed in the form of a newspaper (The NAEP
Reporter) to provide respondents information about the NAEP, and about
the achievement levels. The ``newspaper'' report was developed as a
means of providing information in a format that would be interesting to
the respondent. Unlike actual newspaper articles that have reported on
the recently-released results of the NAEP, this account does not judge
the outcomes regarding student performances. That is, this report is
objective and neither applauds nor decries the performance of students
on the NAEP. A brief questionnaire elicits responses to questions
regarding the usefulness and informativeness of the achievement levels
for reporting NAEP results. The survey is printed on a postage-paid,
self-mailer card.
No third party notification or public disclosure burden is
associated with this collection.
Burden Statement: The estimated total respondent burden is 924
hours, and the average burden per respondent is .44 hours. This is a
one-time survey. Individuals included in the survey will not be
contacted for follow-up comments.
No small businesses nor other small entities are included in the
survey.
II. Request for Comments
NAGB solicits comments to:
(i) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is an
appropriate method to determine the usefulness and informativeness of
the achievement levels to the public.
(ii) Enhance the accuracy, quality, and utility of the information
to be collected.
(iii) Evaluate whether the design of this survey maximizes the
response rate, i.e. the number of persons who will respond, given the
desire to have the sample be broadly representative of persons with
some interest in the educational progress of K-12 students and in the
general content of the disciplines of geography and U.S. history.
Records are kept of all public comments and are available for
public inspection at the U.S. Department of Education, National
Assessment Governing Board, Suite 825, 800 North Capitol Street, NW,
Washington, DC, from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM.
Roy Truby,
Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board.
[FR Doc. 95-30899 Filed 12-19-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-M