The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2016 is coordinated by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and in the U.S. administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Since its inception in 2001, PIRLS has continued to assess students every five years (2001, 2006, 2011, 2016). It is typically administered in more than 40 countries and provides data for internationally benchmarking U.S. performance in fourth-grade reading. PIRLS also collects background information on students, parents, teachers, schools, curricula, and official education policies. Each successive round of participation in PIRLS provides trend information about U.S. 4th-grade students' knowledge and abilities in reading relative to other countries, and about the cultural environments, teaching practices, curriculum goals, and institutional arrangements that are associated with student achievement, and how these change over time in different countries. PIRLS 2016 includes an innovative new assessment of online reading, ePIRLS, which is designed to help countries understand how successful they are in preparing fourth-grade students to read, comprehend, and interpret online information. This submission requests approval for the PIRLS 2016 main study data collection scheduled to take place between March and May 2016.
The decrease in estimated burden to respondents reflects that the last approval was for field test recruitment, data collection, and main study recruitment, while this request is for main study recruitment and data collection only, it is also caused by lowered burden estimates for school coordinators, school administrators, and teachers.
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.
Appendix B PIRLS 2016 NRBA Plan.docx
Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2016) Main Study