[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 47 (Thursday, March 10, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-5532]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: March 10, 1994]


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Part IX





Department of Education





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34 CFR Part 200 et al.



Chapter 1 Programs in Local Educational Agencies and Migrant Education; 
Proposed Rules
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Parts 200 and 201

RIN 1810-AA70

 

Chapter 1 Program in Local Educational Agencies and Chapter 1--
Migrant Education Program

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Secretary of Education (Secretary) proposes to issue 
regulations amending the regulations governing Part A and Part D, 
Subpart 1 of Chapter 1 of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965. Part A of chapter 1 provides financial 
assistance through State educational agencies (SEAs) to local 
educational agencies (LEAs) to meet the special educational needs of 
educationally deprived children in school attendance areas with high 
concentrations of children from low-income families and children in 
local institutions for neglected or delinquent children. Part D of 
chapter 1 authorizes a Migrant Education Program (MEP) that provides 
financial assistance to SEAs to establish and improve programs to meet 
the special educational needs of migratory children of migratory 
agricultural workers or fishermen.
    These amendments are needed to afford flexibility to States that 
have developed assessment systems that support their systemic education 
reform efforts but that are inconsistent with the national evaluation 
standards in Subpart H of 34 CFR Part 200 and Subpart E of 34 CFR Part 
201. The proposed regulations would enable States to request an 
exception to those national evaluation standards to use their own 
assessment systems to evaluate the effectiveness of their Chapter 1 and 
MEP programs.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 25, 1994.

ADDRESSES: All comments concerning the proposed Part 200 regulations 
should be addressed to Mary Jean LeTendre, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Portals Building, Room 4400, 
Washington, DC 20202-6132.
    All comments concerning the proposed Part 201 regulations should be 
addressed to Francis Corrigan, U.S. Department of Education, 400 
Maryland Avenue SW., Portals Building, Room 4104, Washington, DC 20202-
6135.
    A copy of any comments that concern information collection 
requirements should also be sent to the Office of Management and Budget 
at the address listed in the Paperwork Reduction Act section of this 
preamble.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For Part 200, Wendy Jo New, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Portals Building, 
room 4400, Washington, DC 20202-6132. Telephone: (202) 260-0982. For 
Part 201, James English, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland 
Avenue SW., Portals Building, room 4104, Washington, DC 20202-6135. 
Telephone: (202) 260-1394. Individuals who use a telecommunications 
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay 
Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern 
time, Monday through Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under section 1435 of chapter 1, the 
Secretary is required, in consultation with SEAs and LEAs, to develop 
national standards for evaluation of chapter 1 programs. After 
enactment of this requirement in 1988, the Secretary held five regional 
meetings to receive input on the content of these standards and 
submitted draft standards for consideration in the negotiated 
rulemaking process required under section 1431 of the statute. After 
considering additional public comments on proposed regulations, the 
Secretary issued the final national standards that are contained in 
Subpart H (Secs. 200.80-200.89) of Part 200 of the Chapter 1 
regulations.
    Under these national standards, LEAs assess, every 12 months, the 
achievement of each chapter 1 participant in grades 2 through 12 in 
reading, mathematics, and language arts, as appropriate, compared to an 
estimate of what his or her achievement would have been in the absence 
of chapter 1 services. The LEA is required to use a nationally normed 
test or a test equated to a nationally normed test and report to the 
SEA the results of student achievement using the common reporting scale 
established by the Secretary--i.e., normal curve equivalents. The SEA, 
in turn, is required to aggregate LEA student achievement data to 
provide a statewide average of student achievement gains resulting from 
participation in Chapter 1 programs. The Secretary aggregates data from 
each State in order to submit to Congress biennially a national report 
on the effectiveness of chapter 1.
    Because section 1435 also applies to the MEP, regulations for that 
program in subpart E of part 201 contain a similar requirement to 
measure and report student achievement in accordance with national 
standards using, if possible, appropriate forms and levels of national- 
or State-normed achievement tests.
    Since these regulations took effect, a number of States have 
developed new assessment systems, linked to their statewide reform 
efforts, to improve the quality of education. Consistent with research 
and practice that have identified the limitations of traditional 
assessments, these new systems are tied to complex skills and 
challenging subject matter and use multiple measures of achievement. 
They do not routinely use nationally normed tests and typically only 
assess children in certain grades. As a result, the new assessments are 
not consistent with the national evaluation standards in parts 200 and 
201. Therefore, SEAs and LEAs in these States must operate multiple, 
overlapping assessment systems.
    Several States have requested that the Secretary either waive the 
current national evaluation standards or modify the regulations to take 
into account new State assessment activities. The Secretary does not 
currently have the authority to waive the national standards. 
Nevertheless, the Secretary does not want chapter 1 or MEP assessment 
requirements to be a barrier to systemic State reforms that upgrade the 
quality of elementary and secondary education. The Secretary recognizes 
that new State assessment systems now being implemented are likely to 
provide more meaningful data than the current Chapter 1 testing 
requirements on the success of chapter 1 and MEP programs because those 
assessments are tied to high State standards for what children should 
know and be able to do and are integral to systemic State reforms to 
improve education quality.
    To address these concerns, the Secretary proposes to add exceptions 
to the requirements in Subpart H of Part 200 and in Subpart E of Part 
201. These exceptions would enable States that are implementing new 
assessment systems that support education reform to use those 
assessments to measure the effectiveness of Chapter 1 and MEP programs 
in place of the current Chapter 1 testing requirements. The proposed 
regulations would also permit States to request exceptions for 
particular LEAs that, absent State systems, have new local assessment 
systems in place to support their education reform efforts.
    In granting an exception, the Secretary would not be waiving any 
statutory requirements. SEAs and LEAs would continue to evaluate the 
effectiveness of their Chapter 1 programs under section 1019, perform 
the annual review required under section 1021(a), measure sustained 
program gains under sections 1019(a)(3) and 1021(a)(2), identify 
schools and students in need of program improvement under section 
1021(b) and (f), and meet schoolwide project accountability 
requirements under section 1015(e), using the State assessment and any 
other sources of information deemed appropriate. Similarly, under the 
MEP, SEAs must ensure that they and their operating agencies adhere to 
the requirements of sections 1011(b), 1019(b) and 1202(a)(6) to use 
desired outcomes for evaluating performance, to collect and report 
demographic and performance data, and to examine sustained gains for 
formerly migratory children.
    An exception would give SEAs and LEAs greater flexibility to carry 
out these provisions. For example, LEAs would no longer be required to 
use nationally normed tests to measure ``aggregate performance'' for 
program improvement purposes. Similarly, evaluation data would not need 
to be able to be aggregated beyond the LEA level.
    The Secretary would review each request for an exception to ensure 
that it would not impair an SEA's or LEAs' ability to account for 
results under chapter 1 or the MEP.
    The Secretary wishes to emphasize that no State is required to make 
any changes in its chapter 1 or MEP testing programs as a result of 
these proposed regulations. Rather, the proposed exceptions are 
intended to reduce testing burden, provide flexibility for assessment 
and school reforms that will help the State improve the quality of 
education, and enable States to align Chapter 1 and MEP assessments 
with their own assessment systems.

Executive Order 12866

    These proposed regulations have been reviewed in accordance with 
Executive Order 12866. Under the terms of the order, the Secretary has 
assessed the potential costs and benefits of this regulatory action.
    The potential benefits associated with the proposed regulations are 
clear. Rather than continuing to operate multiple assessment systems 
for Federal and State purposes, States could use their State systems to 
evaluate their chapter 1 and MEP programs. Moreover, the potential 
costs associated with the proposed regulations are negligible. Because 
the proposed regulations would permit States to use their own 
assessment systems, States would incur few, if any, additional costs. 
To the contrary, the proposed regulations would result in reduced costs 
for States that would no longer need to operate multiple assessment 
systems.
    Any burdens specifically associated with information collection 
requirements are identified and explained elsewhere in this preamble 
under the heading Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980. The Secretary has 
also determined that this regulatory action does not unduly interfere 
with State, local, and tribal governments in the exercise of their 
governmental functions. The proposed regulations would actually 
increase States' flexibility in assessing their chapter 1 and MEP 
programs.
    To assist the Department in complying with the specific 
requirements of Executive Order 12866, the Secretary invites comment on 
whether there may be further opportunities to reduce any potential 
costs or increase potential benefits resulting from these proposed 
regulations without impeding the effective and efficient administration 
of the chapter 1 and MEP programs.

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    The Secretary certifies that these proposed regulations would not 
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. The small entities that would be affected by these proposed 
regulations are small LEAs receiving Federal funds under the Chapter 1 
and MEP programs. However, the regulations would not have a significant 
economic impact on the small LEAs affected because the regulations 
would not impose excessive regulatory burdens or require unnecessary 
Federal supervision. The regulations would impose minimal requirements 
to ensure the proper expenditure of program funds.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980

    Sections 200.90 and 201.57 contain information collection 
requirements. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, the 
Department of Education will submit a copy of these sections to the 
Office of Management and Budget for its review. (44 U.S.C. 3504(h))
    These proposed regulations would affect SEAs and LEAs that have 
developed assessment systems that support their educational reform 
efforts but that are inconsistent with the national evaluation 
standards in subpart H of part 200 or subpart E of part 201. The 
Department needs the information to grant exceptions to the national 
evaluation standards.
    A one-time public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this 
collection of information is estimated to average two hours per 
response for a maximum of 52 respondents, including the time for 
reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and 
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the 
collection of information.
    Organizations and individuals desiring to submit comments on the 
information collection requirements should direct them to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, room 3002, New Executive 
Office Building, Washington, DC 20503; Attention: Dan Chenok.

Invitation to Comment

    Interested persons are invited to submit comments and 
recommendations regarding these proposed regulations.
    All comments submitted in response to these proposed regulations 
will be available for public inspection, during and after the comment 
period, in rooms 4400 and 4100, respectively, Portals Building, 1250 
Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC., between the hours of 8:30 a.m. 
and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday of each week except Federal holidays.

List of Subjects

34 CFR Part 200

    Administrative practice and procedure, Education of disadvantaged, 
Elementary and secondary education, Grant programs--education, Juvenile 
delinquency, Neglected, Private schools, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, State-administered programs.

34 CFR Part 201

    Children, Coordination, Education, Eligibility, Evaluation, Grant 
programs--education, Identification and recruitment, Local educational 
agencies, Migrant student record transfer system, Migratory children, 
Migratory workers, Needs assessment, Priorities, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Special educational needs, State 
educational agencies, Subgrants.

    Dated: February 22, 1994.
Richard W. Riley,
Secretary of Education.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers: 84.010, Chapter 1 
Program in Local Educational Agencies; 84.011, Migrant Education 
Basic State Formula Grant Program; 84.012, Chapter 1 Programs--State 
Administration)

    The Secretary proposes to amend parts 200 and 201 of Title 34 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:

PART 200--CHAPTER 1 PROGRAM IN LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES

    1. The authority citation for Part 200 is revised to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 20 U.S.C. 2701-2731, 2821-2838, 2851-2854, 2881-2901, 
unless otherwise noted.

    2. A heading entitled ``Exception'' and a new Sec. 200.90 are added 
to subpart H to read as follows:
Exception


Sec. 200.90  May an SEA request an exception to the requirements in 
this subpart?

    (a) An SEA may request, in writing, an exception to the 
requirements in this subpart if the SEA desires to use a State 
assessment system developed to support its education reform efforts for 
the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of its Chapter 1 programs.
    (b) The Secretary may grant an SEA's request if the State 
assessment system provides information, that can be aggregated for each 
LEA as a whole, about the yearly performance of each Chapter 1 school. 
This information must be from at least one grade level and must be 
based on student achievement in basic and more advanced skills and 
challenging subject matter.
    (c) An SEA may request an exception that covers all or some of its 
LEAs.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 2729(a), 2835)

PART 201--CHAPTER 1--MIGRANT EDUCATION PROGRAM

    3. The authority citation for Part 201 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 20 U.S.C. 2781-2782, unless otherwise noted.

    4. A new Sec. 201.57 is added to subpart E to read as follows:


Sec. 201.57  Exception to evaluation requirements.

    (a) An SEA may request, in writing, an exception to the 
requirements in Secs. 201.51(a)(1)(ii), 201.52(b)(1), 201.53, and 
201.55 if the SEA desires to use a State assessment system, developed 
to support its education reform efforts, for the purpose of evaluating 
the effectiveness of its Chapter 1 Migrant Education Program.
    (b) The Secretary may grant an SEA's request if the State 
assessment system provides a statewide estimate of the yearly 
performance of migrant children in the State. This information must be 
from at least one grade level and must be based on student achievement 
in basic and more advanced skills and challenging subject matter.
    (c) An SEA may request an exception that covers all or some of its 
operating agencies.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 2722, 2729, 2782, 2835)

[FR Doc. 94-5532 Filed 3-9-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P