This emergency approval is for six months. If ED continues the use of this collection they must submit the package under the full PRA process.
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
03/31/2014
6 Months From Approved
07/31/2015
53,198
0
53,198
4,707,785
0
4,712,193
0
0
0
Title I, Part A (Title I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and its regulations contain several existing provisions that require State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), and schools to collect and disseminate information. The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) covers these activities, which are currently approved by OMB under control number 1810-0581 through July 2015. In addition, in 2011, ED invited each SEA to request flexibility on behalf of itself, its LEAs, and schools, in order to better focus on improving student academic achievement and increasing the quality of instruction (ESEA flexibility). The opportunity for SEAs to request ESEA flexibility also included activities covered by the PRA. Those information collection activities consisted of the information an SEA must develop and submit to ED to request this flexibility, information that an SEA provided in an Accountability Addendum, and the information an SEA that receives ESEA flexibility must annually report to ED. Approvals of ESEA flexibility requests have occurred in several iterations: Window 1, for which SEAs submitted requests in November 2011; Window 2, for which SEAs submitted requests in February 2012; Window 3, for which SEAs submitted requests in September 2012; and Window 4, for which SEAs submitted requests in spring 2013. Generally, ED approved the requests of SEAs that requested ESEA flexibility in Windows 1 and 2 through the end of the 20132014 school year. ED is now inviting the 35 Window 1 and Window 2 SEAs to request renewal of their approvals, which will generally be accomplished through a two-year extension of the waivers granted through ESEA flexibility, through the end of the 20152016 school year. An SEA that requests renewal of ESEA flexibility must submit an updated ESEA flexibility request describing how it will continue to meet the requirements of ESEA flexibility. The purpose of this submission is to obtain approval for the resubmission activities covered by the PRA. These activities include an SEAs addressing each of the required items described in the ESEA flexibility renewal guidance, providing narrative responses within its currently approved ESEA flexibility request and attaching any new documentation or evidence where appropriate, and submitting the amended request to ED. In addition, an SEA must submit a completed ESEA flexibility renewal request form indicating where changes have been made in its ESEA flexibility request. The SEA may also choose, but is not required, to amend its request to make changes necessary to improve implementation going forward or to reflect more accurately implementation activities that have already occurred.
To avoid harm to the public ED needs emergency clearance in order to act now so that Window 1 and Window 2 SEAs may smoothly plan to continue implementing their ambitious reform plans after the current waivers expire. Following normal clearance timelines would delay EDs approval of ESEA flexibility renewals into summer 2014, which would be considerably past the time that SEAs and LEAs begin planning for the 20142015 school year and therefore very disruptive to this planning. To avoid this disruption, SEAs and LEAs need to know as soon as possible whether they will operate under ESEA flexibility or NCLB requirements in the 20142015 school year. Moreover, ED needed a full year of ESEA flexibility implementation in order to plan effectively for a meaningful renewal process. Therefore, it was not possible to begin the renewal process sooner because it would not have been as well informed by the first year of ESEA flexibility implementation as it is under the current timeline.
ED expects that the ESEA flexibility renewal process will be less burdensome than the initial request process.
$1,214,285
No
No
No
No
No
Uncollected
Todd Stephenson 202 205-1645
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
SEA Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Disclosure Requirements
60D_FRN_1810-0581.pdf
ESEA Flexibility Renewal Request Form 082813 FINAL.doc
ESEA Flexibility Renewal Guidance 082813 FINAL.docx
School Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Disclosure Requirements