[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 116 (Friday, June 17, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35231-35233]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-12019]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records--Evaluation of the Impact 
of Teacher Induction Programs

AGENCY: Institute of Education Sciences, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of a new system of records.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended 
(Privacy Act), the Department of Education (Department) publishes this 
notice of a new system of records entitled Evaluation of the Impact of 
Teacher Induction Programs (18-13-11). Mathematica Policy Research, 
Inc., in collaboration with the Center for Educational Leadership, is 
conducting the Evaluation of the Impact of Teacher Induction Programs. 
The evaluation has been commissioned by the National Center for 
Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance at the Department's 
Institute of Education Sciences (IES).
    The study will address the following questions:
    (1) Do elementary school teachers who participate in a high-
intensity program of induction have increased retention rates as 
compared to teachers who participate in the induction program that the 
school district normally offers?
    (2) If the high-intensity program of induction support is more 
effective in retaining elementary school teachers, is the increase in 
teacher retention large enough to warrant the added cost of the 
program?
    (3) For teachers who participate in the high-intensity program or 
the induction program that the school district normally offers, what 
are the characteristics of those who are retained versus those who 
leave the school, district, or profession?
    (4) Does participation in a high-intensity induction program affect 
teacher practices, as compared to the practices of teachers who 
participate in the induction program that the district normally offers?
    (5) Does participation in a high-intensity induction program result 
in increased student achievement?
    The system of records will contain information about teachers 
participating in the evaluation. It will include, but is not limited to 
the following data: Names; social security numbers; home addresses; 
home phone numbers; cell phone numbers; e-mail addresses; race/
ethnicity; age; income; marital status; household composition; home 
ownership; educational background and credentials; and ACT or SAT 
college examination scores.

DATES: The Department seeks comment on the new system of records 
described in this notice, in accordance with the requirements of the 
Privacy Act. We must receive your comments on the proposed routine uses 
for the system of records referenced in this notice on or before July 
18, 2005. The Department filed a report describing the new system of 
records covered by this notice with the Chair of the Senate Committee 
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Chair of the House 
Committee on Government Reform, and the Administrator of the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) on June 14, 2005. This system of records will become effective at 
the later date of-- (1) the expiration of the 40 day period for OMB 
review on July 25, 2005 or (2) July 18, 2005, unless the system of 
records needs to be changed as a result of public comment or OMB 
review.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about the proposed routine uses to Dr. 
Ricky Takai, Associate Commissioner, Evaluation Division, National 
Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of 
Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, 555 New Jersey 
Avenue, NW., Room 500, Washington, DC 20208-0001. Telephone: (202) 208-
7083. If you prefer to send comments through the Internet, use the 
following address: [email protected].
    You must include the term ``Teacher Induction'' in the subject line 
of the electronic message.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all comments 
about this notice in room 500, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW., Washington, 
DC, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., eastern time, Monday 
through Friday of each week except Federal holidays.

Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Rulemaking 
Record

    On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or 
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs 
assistance to review the comments or other documents in the public 
rulemaking record for this notice. If you want to schedule an 
appointment for this type of aid, please contact the person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Ricky Takai. Telephone: (202) 208-
7083. If you use a telecommunications devise for the deaf (TDD), you 
may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the contact person listed under this section.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    The Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) requires the Department to publish 
in the Federal Register this notice of a new system of records 
maintained by the Department. The Department's regulations implementing 
the Privacy Act are contained in part 5b of title 34 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR).
    The Privacy Act applies to information about individuals that 
contain individually identifiable information that are retrieved by a 
unique identifier associated with each individual, such as a name or 
social security number. The information about each individual is called 
a ``record,'' and the system, whether manual or computer-based, is 
called a ``system of records.'' The Privacy Act requires each agency to 
publish notices of systems of records in the Federal Register and to 
prepare reports to OMB whenever the agency publishes a new system of 
records. Each agency is also required to send copies of the report to 
the Chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs and the Chair of the House Committee on Government Reform. 
These reports are intended to permit an evaluation of the probable or 
potential effect of the proposal on the privacy rights of individuals.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may view this document, as well as all other documents of this 
Department published in the Federal

[[Page 35232]]

Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the 
Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister.
    To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available 
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S. 
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498, or in 
the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 
official edition of the Federal Register and the CFR is available on 
GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


    Dated: June 14, 2005.
Grover Whitehurst,
Director, Institute of Education Sciences.
    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Director of the 
Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, 
publishes a notice of a new system of records to read as follows:
18-13-11

System Name:
    Evaluation of the Impact of Teacher Induction Programs.

Security Classification:
    None.

System Location:
    (1) Evaluation Division, National Center for Education Evaluation 
and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. 
Department of Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW., Room 500, 
Washington, DC 20208-0001.
    (2) Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., 600 Alexander Park, 
Princeton, NJ 08540.

Categories of Individuals Covered by the System:
    This system contains records on teachers participating in the 
Evaluation of the Impact of Teacher Induction Programs. The goal of 
this evaluation is to evaluate the impact of a high intensity model of 
teacher induction on novice elementary school teachers' retention rates 
and classroom performance. Twenty high-poverty school districts will 
participate in the evaluation. Selected districts will be those that do 
not already offer a high intensity induction program and that agree to 
assign 20 elementary schools within the district by lottery to either 
the high intensity model of teacher induction or the teacher induction 
program that the district normally provides. Teachers' participation in 
the evaluation will be voluntary.

Categories of Records in the System:
    This system consists of a baseline teacher survey (which will cover 
the teacher's professional credentials, the teacher's perceptions of 
the teaching profession, and the teacher's personal background 
characteristics, many of which may affect retention), the teacher's 
college SAT or ACT examination results, a classroom observation 
protocol, a teacher induction activities survey (which will ask 
questions about the kinds of induction activities in which the novice 
teacher participated, as well as the intensity and duration of those 
activities), a teacher retention survey (items will include the 
teacher's place of employment, pursuit of continuing education, the 
timing of any change in the teacher's employment, the teacher's job 
satisfaction, and, if applicable, the reasons that the teacher left an 
original school or the teaching profession), and aggregated student 
test score data which will be linked to the teacher.
    Information on study participants in this system will include, but 
not be limited to the following data: Names; home addresses; home phone 
numbers; cell phone numbers; e-mail addresses; social security numbers; 
race/ethnicity; age; income; marital status; household composition; 
home ownership; educational background and credentials; and ACT or SAT 
college examination results.

Authority for Maintenance of the System:
    The evaluation being conducted is authorized under: (1) sections 
171(b) and 173 of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA) (20 
U.S.C. 9561(b) and 9563); and (2) section 9601 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left 
Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) (20 U.S.C. 7941). The authority for the 
underlying teacher induction programs, the impact of which the 
Department of Education (Department) is evaluating, is sections 2121 
through 2123 of the ESEA, as amended by NCLB (20 U.S.C. 6621-6623).

Purpose(s):
    The information in this system is used for the following purposes: 
(1) To fulfill the requirements of the ESEA, as amended by the NCLB, 
for evaluation and research of teacher quality; and (2) to provide 
information on the effectiveness of teacher induction programs in 
increasing teacher retention and improving teacher performance.

Routine Uses of Records Maintained in the System, Including Categories 
of Users and the Purpose of Such Uses:
    The Department may disclose information contained in a record in 
this system of records under the routine uses listed in this system of 
records without the consent of the individual if the disclosure is 
compatible with the purposes for which the record was collected. These 
disclosures may be made on a case-by-case basis or, if the Department 
has complied with the computer matching requirements of the Act, under 
a computer matching agreement. Any disclosure of individually 
identifiable information from a record in this system must also comply 
with the requirements of section 183 of the ESRA (20 U.S.C. 9573) 
providing for confidentiality standards that apply to all collections, 
reporting and publication of data by IES.
    (1) Contract Disclosure. If the Department contracts with an entity 
for the purposes of performing any function that requires disclosure of 
records in this system to employees of the contractor, the Department 
may disclose the records to those employees. Before entering into such 
a contract, the Department shall require the contractor to maintain 
Privacy Act safeguards as required under 5 U.S.C. 552a(m) with respect 
to the records in the system.
    (2) Research Disclosure. The Department may disclose records to a 
researcher if an appropriate official of the Department determines that 
the individual or organization to which the disclosure would be made is 
qualified to carry out specific research related to functions or 
purposes of this system of records. The official may disclose records 
from this system of records to that researcher solely for the purpose 
of carrying out that research related to the functions or purposes of 
this system of records. The researcher shall be required to maintain 
Privacy Act safeguards with respect to the disclosed records.
    (3) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advice Disclosure. The 
Department may disclose records to the U.S. Department of Justice and 
the Office of Management and Budget if the Department concludes that 
disclosure is desirable or necessary in determining whether particular 
records are required to be disclosed under the FOIA.

Disclosure to Consumer Reporting Agencies:
    Not applicable to this system notice.

[[Page 35233]]

Policies and Practices for Storing, Retrieving, Accessing, Retaining, 
and Disposing of Records in the System:
Storage:
    The Department maintains records on CD-ROM and the contractor 
maintains data for this system on computers and in hard copy.

Retrievability:
    Records in this system are indexed by a number assigned to each 
individual that is cross referenced by the individual's name on a 
separate list.

Safeguards:
    All physical access to the Department's site and to the site of the 
Department's contractor, where this system of records is maintained, is 
controlled and monitored by security personnel. The computer system 
employed by the Department offers a high degree of resistance to 
tampering and circumvention. This security system limits data access to 
Department and contract staff on a ``need to know'' basis, and controls 
individual users' ability to access and alter records within the 
system.
    The contractor, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR), has 
established a set of procedures to ensure confidentiality of data. The 
system ensures that information identifying individuals is in files 
physically separated from other research data. MPR will maintain 
security of the complete set of all master data files and 
documentation. Access to individually identifiable data will be 
strictly controlled. All data will be kept in locked file cabinets 
during nonworking hours, and work on hardcopy data will take place in a 
single room, except for data entry. Physical security of electronic 
data will also be maintained. Security features that protect project 
data include password-protected accounts that authorize users to use 
the MPR system but to access only specific network directories and 
network software; user rights and directory and file attributes that 
limit those who can use particular directories and files and determine 
how they can use them; e-mail passwords that authorize the user to 
access mail services; and additional security features that the network 
administrator establishes for projects as needed. MPR shall comply with 
the requirements of the confidentiality standards in section 183 of the 
ESRA (20 U.S.C. 9573).

Retention and Disposal:
    Records are maintained and disposed of in accordance with the 
Department's Records Disposition Schedules (ED/RDS). In particular, the 
Department will follow the schedules outlined in Part 3 (Research 
Projects and Management Study Records) and Part 14 (Electronic Records) 
of ED/RDS.

System Manager and Address:
    Associate Commissioner, Evaluation Division, National Center for 
Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education 
Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW., 
Room 500, Washington, DC 20208-0001.

Notification Procedure:
    If you wish to determine whether a record exists regarding you in 
the system of records, contact the systems manager. Your request must 
meet the requirements of regulations in 34 CFR 5b.5, including proof of 
identity.

Record Access Procedure:
    If you wish to gain access to your record in the system of records, 
contact the system manager. Your request must meet the requirements of 
regulations in 34 CFR 5b.5, including proof of identity.

Contesting Record Procedure:
    If you wish to contest the content of a record regarding you in the 
system of records, contact the system manager. Your request must meet 
the requirements of regulations in 34 CFR 5b.7, including proof of 
identity.

Record Source Categories:
    Information is obtained from surveys of teachers from schools 
participating in the Evaluation of the Impact of Teacher Induction 
Programs study. Information is also obtained from the teacher's college 
entrance exams, pursuant to the teacher's written consent, the workshop 
observation protocol, and the classroom observation protocol. 
Additionally, the study involves the collection of data from student 
records aggregated by classrooms and the collection of program 
documents, such as training agenda and materials, curriculum guides, 
and assessment tools, that will be supplied by two high-intensity 
induction program providers.

Exemptions Claimed for the System:
    None.
[FR Doc. 05-12019 Filed 6-16-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P