View Information Collection Request (ICR) Package

OMB Control No: 1850-0645	ICR Reference No: 202107-1850-007
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 202011-1850-006
Agency/Subagency: ED/IES	Agency Tracking No: ED-2021-SCC-0114
Title: Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2021) Main Study Data Collection
Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Emergency	Approval Requested By: 07/30/2021
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved without change	Conclusion Date: 07/29/2021
	Date Received in OIRA: 07/27/2021
Terms of Clearance:

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	01/31/2022	6 Months From Approved	05/31/2023
Responses	31,028	0	31,490
Time Burden (Hours)	10,716	0	10,947
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Abstract: The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is an international assessment of fourth-grade students’ achievement in reading. PIRLS reports on four benchmarks in reading achievement at grade 4 and on a variety of issues related to the education context for the students in the sample, including instructional practices, school resources, curriculum implementation, and learning supports outside of school. Since its inception in 2001, PIRLS has continued to assess students every 5 years (2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016), with the next PIRLS assessment, PIRLS 2021, being the fifth iteration of the study. Participation in this study by the United States at regular intervals provides data on student achievement and on current and past education policies and a comparison of U.S. education policies and student performance with those of the U.S. international counterparts. The U.S. will participate in PIRLS 2021 to continue to monitor the progress of its students compared to that of other nations and to provide data on factors that may influence student achievement. PIRLS is coordinated by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), an international collective of research organizations and government agencies that create the assessment framework, the assessment instrument, and background questionnaires. The IEA decides and agrees upon a common set of standards and procedures for collecting and reporting PIRLS data, and defines the studies’ timeline, all of which must be followed by all participating countries. As a result, PIRLS is able to provide a reliable and comparable measure of student skills in participating countries. In the U.S., the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) conducts this study. The submission describing the overarching plan for all phases of the data collection, including the 2021 main study, and requesting approval for all activities, materials, and response burden related to the field test recruitment was approved in April 2019 with a change in September 2019 (OMB# 1850-0645 v.11-12), and submissions describing all aspects of the field test & main study were approved in October 2019, May 2020, and February 2021 (OMB# 1850-0645 v.13-15). In summer 2021, NCES was notified by the IEA that teacher questionnaire data from the United States would not be included in the PIRLS international report or international database, and also requested changes to the school questionnaire. The exceptional circumstances of the 2021 PIRLS administration in the United States and other Northern Hemisphere countries (assessing fifth-grade students at the beginning of the academic year rather than fourth-grade students at the end of the academic year) present challenges for reporting and interpreting some PIRLS questionnaire data. Due to the exclusion of teacher questionnaire data from international reporting and limitations in its use for national analysis, the U.S. PIRLS 2021 administration will no longer include a teacher questionnaire component. In accordance with the IEA’s guidance, the school questionnaire has been modified to better characterize the impact of the pandemic on students in countries assessing students at the beginning of fifth grade rather than at the end of the fourth grade. The aim is to evaluate students at the beginning of their fifth-grade year, in light of what was available to them throughout their fourth-grade year. These changes will facilitate the inclusion of U.S. data in international reports that include findings from the school questionnaire. NCES requests OIRA to process this package as an emergency review under 5 CFR 1320.13(a) so that we can continue recruiting schools for participation in a Fall 2021 data collection. NCES will publish a Federal Register Notice soliciting 30 days of public comment on this collection concurrent with data collection.

Emergency Justfication: NCES requests emergency clearance to allow us to continue recruiting schools for participation in a Fall 2021 data collection after substantive changes were required to an already approved and finalized data collection plan. The need for immediate clearance is due to the time sensitivity of this data collection, as normal clearance procedures would not allow NCES to follow the mandates set by the sponsoring international organization and make the required changes to the data collection while also respecting the timeline specified for this data collection. NCES will publish a Federal Register Notice soliciting 30 days of public comment on this collection concurrent with continued recruitment and data collection.

Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 20 USC 9573 Name of Law: Educational Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA 2002)

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

Federal Register Notices & Comments
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 1

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2021) Main Study Data Collection

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to Agency Discretion
Annual Number of Responses	31,028	31,490	-462
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	10,716	10,947	-231
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Increase Due to:

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Reduction Due to: Miscellaneous Actions

Short Statement: The decrease in burden time is because this submission includes the cancellation of the teacher questionnaire component of the study. With regards to content, PIRLS 2021 differs from PIRLS 2016 in that PIRLS 2021 will be administered as a DBA (digitalPIRLS). Additionally, for the main study, some students will be administered digitalPIRLS and some students will be administered the booklet form of paperPIRLS for the purpose of the bridge study. Furthermore, PIRLS 2021 will be administered to students on one day, rather than on two as was done in 2016.

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $2,302,064

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? Yes Part B of Supporting Statement

Does this ICR request any personally identifiable information (see OMB Circular No. A-130 for an explanation of this term)? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. Yes

Does this ICR include a form that requires a Privacy Act Statement (see 5 U.S.C. §552a(e)(3))? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. Yes

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? No

Agency Contact: Carrie Clarady 202 245-6347

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