[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 208 (Friday, October 25, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55542-55543]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-27392]



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Part V





Department of Education





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List of Approved ``Ability-to-Benefit'' Tests and Passing Scores; 
Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 208 / Friday, October 25, 1996 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


List of Approved ``Ability-to-Benefit'' Tests and Passing Scores

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary provides the first list of ``ability-to-
benefit'' tests and passing scores that the Secretary has approved 
under section 484(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended 
(HEA), and the regulations that the Secretary promulgated to implement 
that section in 34 CFR Part 668, Subpart J. Except as provided herein 
and beginning with the 61st day after the publication of this notice in 
the Federal Register, an institution shall use one of the approved 
tests included in this notice to determine if a student who does not 
have a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent is eligible to 
receive funds under any title IV, HEA program. The title IV, HEA 
programs include the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Family Education Loan, 
William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal 
Work-Study, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and 
State Student Incentive Grant Programs.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lorraine Kennedy, U.S. Department of 
Education, 600 Independence Avenue, S.W., Regional Office Building 3, 
Room 3045, Washington, D.C. 20202-5451. Telephone: (202) 708-7888. 
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 484(d) of the HEA, a student 
who does not have a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent is 
eligible to receive funds under the title IV, HEA programs only if that 
student takes an independently administered examination and achieves a 
score on that test specified by the Secretary demonstrating that the 
student has the ability to benefit from the education or training being 
offered. Those students are colloquially referred to as ``ability-to-
benefit'' or ``ATB'' students, and the tests are colloquially referred 
to as ``ability-to-benefit'' or ``ATB'' tests.
    The Secretary published final regulations in the Federal Register 
on December 1, 1995, implementing section 484(d) (60 FR 61830-61844). 
These regulations in 34 CFR Part 668, Subpart J, Secs. 668.151 to 
668.156, became effective on July 1, 1996, and govern the approval of 
ATB tests, the passing scores for each approved test, and the 
administration of approved ATB tests.
    Under 34 CFR 668.145(c)(1), if the Secretary approves an ATB test 
and the passing score on the test, the Secretary publishes the name of 
the test and the passing score in the Federal Register. The Secretary 
established the passing score on each approved test as the score that 
represents one standard deviation below the mean for students with high 
school diplomas who took the test. Establishing the passing score in 
this way means theoretically that 84 percent of the high school 
graduates who took the test passed the test. The Secretary established 
this score based upon a recognition that the secondary school level 
basic skills and general learned abilities of high school graduates in 
the United States vary widely.
    The Secretary is publishing this notice to indicate that the 
Secretary has approved the following eight ATB tests and the following 
passing scores on those tests.

1. ASSET Program: Basic Skills Tests (Reading, Writing, and 
Numerical)--Forms B2 and C2

    Passing Scores: The approved passing scores on this test are as 
follows: Reading (34), Writing (34), and Numerical (33).
    Publisher: The test publisher and the address, contact person, 
telephone, and fax number of the test publisher are: American College 
Testing (ACT), Placement Assessment Programs, 2201 North Dodge Street, 
P.O. Box 168, Iowa City, Iowa 52243, Contact: John D. Roth, Telephone: 
(319) 337-1030, Fax: (319) 337-1790.

2. Career Programs Assessment (CPAT) Basic Skills Subtests 
(Language Usage, Reading and Numerical)--Forms A, B, and C

    Passing Scores: The approved passing scores on this test are as 
follows: Language Usage (43), Reading (44), and Numerical (42).
    Publisher: The test publisher and the address, contact person, 
telephone, and fax number of the test publisher are: American College 
Testing (ACT), Placement Assessment Programs, 2201 North Dodge Street, 
P.O. Box 168, Iowa City, Iowa 52243, Contact: John D. Roth, Telephone: 
(319) 337-1030, Fax: (319) 337-1790.

3. COMPASS Subtests: Prealgebra/Numerical Skills Placement, Reading 
Placement, and Writing Placement

    Passing Scores: The approved passing scores on this test are as 
follows: Prealgebra/Numerical (21), Reading (60), and Writing (31).
    Publisher: The test publisher and the address, contact person, 
telephone, and fax number of the test publisher are: American College 
Testing (ACT), Placement Assessment Programs, 2201 North Dodge Street, 
P.O. Box 168, Iowa City, Iowa 52243, Contact: John D. Roth, Telephone: 
(319) 337-1030, Fax: (319) 337-1790.

4. Computerized Placement Tests (CPTs)/Accuplacer (Reading 
Comprehension, Sentence Skills, and Arithmetic)

    Passing Scores: The approved passing scores on this test are as 
follows: Reading Comprehension (52), Sentence Skills (60), and 
Arithmetic (36).
    Publisher: The test publisher and the address, contact person, 
telephone, and fax number of the test publisher are: The College Board, 
45 Columbus Avenue, New York, New York 10023-6992, Contact: Ms. Loretta 
M. Church, Telephone: (212) 713-8000, Fax: (212) 713-8063.

5. Descriptive Tests: Descriptive Tests of Language Skills (DTLS) 
(Reading Comprehension, Sentence Structure and Conventions of 
Written English)--Forms M-K-3KDT and M-K-3LDT; and Descriptive 
Tests of Mathematical Skills (DTMS) (Arithmetic)--Forms M-K-3KDT 
and M-K-3LDT

    Passing Scores: The approved passing scores on this test are as 
follows: Reading Comprehension (108), Sentence Structure (9), 
Conventions of Written English (309), and Arithmetic (506).
    Publisher: The test publisher and the address, contact person, 
telephone, and fax number of the test publisher are: The College Board, 
45 Columbus Avenue, New York, New York 10023-6992, Contact: Ms. Loretta 
M. Church, Telephone: (212) 713-8000, Fax: (212) 713-8063.

6. Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE): (Reading, Mathematics 
Computation, Applied Mathematics Language, and Spelling)--Forms 5 
and 6, Level A

    Passing Scores: The approved passing scores on this test are as 
follows: Reading (768), Mathematics Computation (804), Mathematics 
Concepts and Applications (759), Language (714), and Spelling (749).
    Publisher: The test publisher and the address, contact person, 
telephone, and fax number of the test publisher are: CTB/McGraw-Hill, 
11301 Jollyville Road, Townhouse I-4, Austin, TX 78759, Contact: Ms. 
Lorna Harrison,

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Telephone: (512) 349-7578, Fax: (512) 349-7580.

7. Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE): (Reading, Mathematics 
Computation, Applied Mathematics Language, and Spelling)--Forms 7 
and 8, Level A

    Passing Scores: The approved passing scores on this test are as 
follows: Reading (559), Mathematics Computation (558), Applied 
Mathematics (559), Language (545), and Spelling (540).
    Publisher: The test publisher and the address, contact person, 
telephone, and fax number of the test publisher are: CTB/McGraw-Hill, 
11301 Jollyville Road, Townhouse I-4, Austin, TX 78759, Contact: Ms. 
Lorna Harrison, Telephone: (512) 349-7578, Fax: (512) 349-7580.

8. Wonderlic Basic Skills Test (WBST)--Verbal Forms VS-1 & VS-2, 
Quantitative Forms QS-1 & QS-2

    Passing scores: The approved passing scores on this test are as 
follows: Verbal (200) and Quantitative (210).
    Publisher: The test publisher and the address, contact person, 
telephone, and fax number of the test publisher are: Wonderlic 
Personnel Test, Inc., 1509 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville, IL 60048-
1380, Contact: Mr. Victor S. Artese, Telephone: (800) 323-3742, Fax: 
(847) 680-9492.

Duration of Approval

    The Secretary approves each of these tests for five years, unless 
the Secretary withdraws this approval or the publisher requests that 
approval of a test be withdrawn. In either case, the Secretary will 
publish a notice in the Federal Register indicating this change.

Use of approved tests

    Until 60 days after the Secretary approves ATB tests and passing 
scores under the new regulations and publishes the names of those tests 
and passing scores in the Federal Register, institutions are allowed to 
continue to make ATB eligibility determinations in accordance with 34 
CFR 668.155(a) under the tests and passing scores that were approved as 
of June 30, 1996. Those tests are listed in the 1996-97 Federal Student 
Financial Aid Handbook published by the Department.
    Once the Secretary approves tests and passing scores under the new 
regulations and publishes the names of those tests and passing scores 
in the Federal Register, an institution may use one of those approved 
tests to make ATB eligibility determinations for the title IV, HEA 
programs. As already noted, the institution may also continue, for an 
additional 60 days, to use those tests approved as of June 30, 1996, 
for those determinations.
    Except as provided under Exception, on the 61st day after 
publication in the Federal Register of the names of the tests and 
passing scores that are approved under the new regulations, all 
institutions shall use such an approved test and passing score to make 
ATB eligibility determinations for title IV, HEA program purposes. This 
means, except as provided under Exception, that as of December 26, 
1996, an institution may only use one of the eight tests approved under 
the new regulations to determine whether an ATB student is eligible to 
receive title IV, HEA program funds. However, as indicated in 
Sec. 668.155(b), if an institution properly determined that a student 
had the ability to benefit under a test approved as of June 30, 1996, 
it does not have to redetermine the student's eligibility under a newly 
approved test.
    In addition, approved tests must be administered in accordance with 
the provisions of 34 CFR 668.151 or 668.152.
    Exception: Section 668.153 contains special provisions for testing 
students whose native language is not English and who are not fluent in 
English and for students who have disabilities. None of the approved 
tests included in this notice has been approved for those purposes. 
Accordingly, institutions may continue to make ATB eligibility 
determinations under the guidelines prescribed in the ATB notice 
published in the Federal Register on December 30, 1992, (57 FR 62440) 
and by using the tests approved as of June 30, 1996, for those types of 
students. Moreover, the administration of those tests will not be 
governed by the provisions of 34 CFR Part 668, Subpart J.

    Dated: October 21, 1996.
David A. Longanecker,
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 96-27392 Filed 10-24-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P