Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Special Education-Personnel Preparation To Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities

AGENCY:

Department of Education (ED), Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

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

DATES:

Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before January 9, 2014.

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-2013-ICCD-0127 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 2E115 Washington, DC 20202-4537.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For questions related to collection activities or burden, please call Tomakie Washington, 202-401-1097 or electronically mail ICDocketMgr@ed.gov. Please do not send comments here. We will only accept comments in this mailbox when the regulations.gov site is not available to the public for any reason.

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: Special Education—Personnel Preparation to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities.

OMB Control Number: 1820-0622.

Type of Review: Extension without change of an existing collection of information.

Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals or households, private sector.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 2,520.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 3,600.

Abstract: The data collection under this request are governed by 34 CFR 304.1-304.32 regulations that implement section 673(h) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which requires that individuals who receive a scholarship through the Personnel Preparation Program funded under the Act subsequently provide special education and related services to children with disabilities for a period of two years for every year for which assistance was received. Scholarship recipients who do not satisfy the requirements of the regulations must repay all or part of the cost of assistance in accordance with regulations issued by the Secretary. These regulations implement requirements governing among other things, the service obligation for scholars, oversight by grantees, and repayment of scholarship. In order for the Federal government to ensure the goals of the program are achieved; the collection of data, record keeping, and documentation are necessary.