Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment Request; IES Research Training Program Surveys

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Notice.

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 October 26, 2016.

ADDRESSES:

To access and review all the documents related to the information collection listed in this notice, please use http://www.regulations.gov by searching the Docket ID number ED-2016-ICCD-0080. Comments submitted in response to this notice should be submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov by selecting the Docket ID number or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. Please note that comments submitted by fax or email and those 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 Director of the Information Collection Clearance Division, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., LBJ, Room 2E-347, Washington, DC 20202-4537.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For specific questions related to collection activities, please contact Phill Gagne, 202-245-7139.

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: IES Research Training Program Surveys.

OMB Control Number: 1850-0873.

Type of Review: A revision of an existing information collection.

Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals or Households.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 580.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 197.

Abstract: The surveys are for participants in the fellowship research training programs and the non-fellowship research training programs funded by Institute of Education Sciences (IES). IES's fellowship programs include predoctoral training under the National Center for Education Research (NCER) and postdoctoral training under NCER and the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER). These programs provide universities support to provide training in education research and special education research to graduate students (predoctoral program) and postdoctoral fellows. IES also supports non-fellowship research training through its current programs, e.g., NCER's Methods Research Training program and NCER's Undergraduate Pathways program. IES would like to collect satisfaction information from the participants in these programs and other similar training programs funded through NCER or NCSER grant programs. The results of the surveys will be used both to improve the training programs as well as to provide information on the programs to the participants, policymakers, practitioners, and the general public. All information released to the public will be in aggregate so that no one program or training group can be distinguished.