80 FR 24907 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; What Works Clearinghouse Formative Feedback

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 84 (May 1, 2015)

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 3501 et seq.), ED is proposing a revision of an existing information collection.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 84 (Friday, May 1, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24907-24908]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-10192]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2015-ICCD-0057]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; What 
Works Clearinghouse Formative Feedback

AGENCY: Institute of Education Sciences/National Center for Education 
Statistics (IES), Department of Education (ED).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. chapter 3501 et seq.), ED is proposing a revision of an existing 
information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
June 30, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Comments submitted in response to this notice should be 
submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
http://www.regulations.gov by selecting Docket ID number ED-2015-ICCD-
0057 or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. If the 
regulations.gov site is not available to the public for any reason, ED 
will temporarily accept comments at [email protected]. Please note 
that comments submitted by fax or email and those submitted after the 
comment period will not be accepted; ED will only accept comments 
during the comment period in this mailbox when the regulations.gov site 
is not available. Written requests for information or comments 
submitted by postal mail or delivery should be addressed to the 
Director of the Information Collection Clearance

[[Page 24908]]

Division, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., LBJ, 
Mailstop L-OM-2-2E319, Room 2E105, Washington, DC 20202.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact Vanessa Anderson, 202-219-1310.

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: What Works Clearinghouse Formative Feedback.
    OMB Control Number: 1850-0788.
    Type of Review: A revision of an existing information collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals or Households.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 84,630.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 1,729.
    Abstract: The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) within the U.S. 
Department of Education is proposing data collection activity as part 
of the What Works Clearinghouse Feedback Task. The task and its 
associated efforts are being undertaken by the U.S. Department of 
Education, Institute of Education Sciences (IES), and are being 
conducted by Mathematica Policy Research. The intended purpose of the 
Department of Education (ED), Institute of Education Sciences (IES) WWC 
feedback task is to collect feedback from users on the relevance, 
timeliness, quality, and ease of use of the products associated with 
the What Works Clearinghouse Web site. The results of the data 
collection will be used to inform improvements in ED program products 
and services for its customers. The WWC provides educators, 
policymakers, and the public with a central and trusted source of 
scientific evidence of what works in education. The WWC aims to make 
findings from education research easy and accessible through its 
searchable online repository of intervention reports, single study 
reviews, and practice guides. There are thousands of empirical studies 
that claim to identify effective instructional approaches, many using 
complicated research methods and statistical analyses. This research 
often yields conflicting results, leaving educators wondering which 
approach to take. Given the large volume of education research and 
significant variations in quality, principals and other educators need 
help identifying reliable research and interpreting findings. Using 
systematic review processes and evidence standards, the WWC reviews all 
the research on a topic to identify the most rigorous studies and 
synthesize the findings from high-quality education research. The WWC 
has developed three new products that focus on utilizing the WWC and 
the WWC resources when making key decisions in education. First, the 
WWC will produce and is developing several videos that describe the 
purpose of the WWC or how to understand specific materials on the Web 
site. For example, the WWC has already released a video that addresses 
how to select a mathematics curriculum. The WWC also developed practice 
guide summaries which consolidate the information from practice guides 
into an 8-10 page summary that presents expert recommendations from the 
field, along with tips on implementing the recommendations. The WWC has 
already released two of these summaries--Teaching Math to Young 
Children and Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective 
Writers. Finally, topical blasts consolidate WWC content relevant to a 
specific education topic. Emails direct users to a dedicated landing 
page containing links to the relevant content. Findings from the case 
studies of these topics will be used to improve these and other WWC 
products going forward. The WWC feedback task will include the 
following data collection methods: Focus groups with WWC users, user 
feedback Web surveys, and data analytics.

    Dated: April 28, 2015.
Stephanie Valentine,
Acting Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Office of 
the Chief Privacy Officer, Office of Management.
[FR Doc. 2015-10192 Filed 4-30-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P