Progress in International
Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2021) Main Study Data Collection
Revision of a currently approved collection
No
Emergency
07/30/2021
07/27/2021
Requested
Previously Approved
6 Months From Approved
05/31/2023
31,028
31,490
10,716
10,947
0
0
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.
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.
US Code:
20
USC 9573 Name of Law: Educational Sciences Reform Act of 2002
(ESRA 2002)
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.
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.
PIRLS 2021 v.16 Emergency Justification Memo.docx
Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2021) Main Study Data Collection