Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2026, 86331 [2024-25138]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 210 (Wednesday, October 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 86331]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-25138]



[[Page 86331]]

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2024-SCC-0133]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; 
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2026

AGENCY: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Department of 
Education (ED).

ACTION: Notice.

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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 30, 2024.

ADDRESSES: To access and review all the documents related to the 
information collection listed in this notice, please use https://www.regulations.gov by searching the Docket ID number ED-2024-SCC-0133. 
Comments submitted in response to this notice should be submitted 
electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://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 [email protected]. 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 4C210, 
Washington, DC 20202-1200.

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) 2026.
    OMB Control Number: 1850-0928.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved ICR.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals and Households; State, 
Local, and Tribal Governments Total Estimated Number of Annual 
Responses: 1,282,898.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 710,085.
    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.
    This request is to conduct NAEP in 2026, specifically: (1) Main 
NAEP operational assessments will include for grades 4 and 8 (first 
administration of the new frameworks for reading and mathematics), 
grade 8 (civics and U.S. history); in Puerto Rico, grades 4 and 8 
mathematics will be the only subject assessed and will include the new 
framework; (2) Pilot testing in grades 4, 8, and 12 (reading and 
mathematics); in Puerto Rico, grades 4 and 8 mathematics will be the 
only subject assessed; (3) Field Trial for grades 4, 8, and 12 in U.S. 
mainland and grades 4 and 8 in Puerto Rico; and (4) Special studies for 
grades 4, 8, and 12 for one or more focused topics such as Multi-stage 
Testing (MST) and accessibility.
    Some documents in this package will be updated after the 60-day 
public comment period for inclusion in the 30-day public comment 
period, which is likely to begin in January 2025. Further, two 
additional 30-day packages will be submitted in March and June 2025 in 
order to update all materials in time for the data collection in early 
2026.

    Dated: October 24, 2024.
Stephanie Valentine,
PRA Coordinator, Strategic Collections and Clearance, Governance and 
Strategy Division, Office of Chief Data Officer, Office of Planning, 
Evaluation and Policy Development.
[FR Doc. 2024-25138 Filed 10-29-24; 8:45 am]
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