[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 241 (Friday, December 16, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74792-74794]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-7464]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Program and Analytic Studies, Policy and Program Studies 
Service, 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), 5 United States Code (U.S.C.) 552a, the Department of 
Education (Department) publishes this notice of a new system of records 
entitled ``Follow Up Evaluation of the Gear Up Program (18-17-02).'' 
This system will contain information about middle school students who 
participated in the GEAR UP program in 2000-01 and a matched comparison 
of middle school students who did not participate in the program. The 
students' expected high school completion year is 2006 and the follow-
up information will be collected in spring of 2006. This system 
consists of the name, address, and social security number of the study 
participants as well as demographic information such race/ethnicity and 
age; educational background, transcript information, service 
participation information, high school graduation, and preliminary 
postsecondary enrollment information; and financial aid application and 
award. The information will be collected from students and their 
parents.
    The Department seeks comment on this new system of records 
described in this notice, in accordance with the requirements of the 
Privacy Act.

DATES: We must receive your comments on the proposed routine uses for 
this system of records on or before January 17, 2006.
    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 December 13, 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 January 23, 2006 or (2) January 17, 2006, 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 of this 
system to Dr. David Goodwin, Director, Program and Analytic Studies 
Division, Policy and Program Studies Service, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 6W231, Washington, DC 20202. 
Telephone: (202) 401-3630.
    If you prefer to send your comments through the Internet, use the 
following address: [email protected].
    You must include the term ``Follow Up Evaluation of the Gear Up 
Program.'' in the subject line of the electronic message.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all comments 
about this notice in room 6W200, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 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 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. David Goodwin. Telephone: (202) 
401-3630. If you use a telecommunications device 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 in the preceding 
paragraph.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    The Privacy Act 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 the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) in 34 CFR part 
5b.
    The Privacy Act applies to a record about an individual that is 
maintained in a system of records from which information is 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-driven, 
is called a ``system of records.'' The Privacy Act requires each agency 
to publish a system of records notice in the Federal Register and to 
prepare reports to OMB and congressional committees whenever the agency 
publishes a new system of records.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may view this document, as well as all other documents of this 
Department published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe Portable 
Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site: 
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 Code of Federal 
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


    Dated: December 13, 2005.
Tom Luce,
Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development.
    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Director, Policy and 
Program Studies Service, U.S. Department of Education, publishes a 
notice of a new system of records to read as follows:
18-17-02

SYSTEM NAME:
    ``Follow Up Evaluation of the Gear Up Program''.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    None.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Program and Analytic Studies Division, Policy and Program Studies 
Service, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Room 
6W231, Washington, DC 20202.

[[Page 74793]]

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    This system contains records on middle school students who 
participated in the GEAR UP program in 2000-01 and a comparison group 
of non-participants from schools matched on socio-demographic 
characteristics.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    This system consists of the name, address, and social security 
number of the study participants as well as demographic information 
such as race/ethnicity and age; educational background, transcript 
information, service participation information, high school graduation, 
and preliminary postsecondary enrollment information; and financial aid 
application and award.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    20 U.S.C. 1070a-27.

PURPOSE(S):
    The information in this system is used for the following purposes: 
(1) to contribute to the legislatively mandated GEAR UP program 
evaluation; and (2) generally to identify the educational outcomes of 
study participants and the extent to which GEAR UP participation is 
associated with positive outcomes in comparison to the control group.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSE OF SUCH USES:
ROUTINE USE COMPATIBILITY:
    (1) 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 (OMB) if the Department concludes 
that disclosure is desirable or necessary in determining whether the 
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requires particular records to be 
disclosed.
    Under the FOIA, the public has a general right of access to Federal 
agency records, except to the extent that such records (or portions of 
them) are protected from disclosure by an exemption or an exclusion 
that is contained in the FOIA. This routine use is compatible with the 
purposes of this system in that the Department can disclose records to 
the agencies responsible for the litigation relating to and the 
interpretation of the FOIA. These agencies can assist the Department in 
determining whether the FOIA requires the disclosure of the records or 
whether the records are exempt from disclosure under the FOIA.
    (2) 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 must 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.
    In the course of administering its programs, the Department may 
enter into contracts with entities that will perform functions for 
these programs. This routine use is compatible with the purposes of the 
system to which it applies in that it permits entities with which the 
Department contracts to receive the information needed to ensure that 
the program is administered efficiently.
    (3) 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 a system of records to which this routine use applies. 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 the system of records. The researcher 
must maintain Privacy Act safeguards with respect to the disclosed 
records. This routine use is compatible with the purpose of this system 
of records because it permits the Department to disclose records to 
researchers so that the Department can improve the management of the 
system and contribute to advancing knowledge regarding the purposes and 
objective of the program served by the system.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, 
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
    Records are on a computer database as well as in hard copy.

RETRIEVABILITY:
    The records in this system are indexed by the name of the 
individual and/or a number assigned to each individual.

SAFEGUARDS:
    All physical access to the Department's site, and the sites of 
Department contractors 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, Westat, 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. Westat 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 Westat 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.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    Records are maintained and disposed of in accordance with the 
Department's ED/RDS Part 3, Items 1, 2 or 3. Design, implementation, 
and final reports of the study are permanent records. They are 
maintained by the Department for 10 years, and then transferred to the 
National Archives and Records Administration. Administrative records of 
the study are destroyed 2 years after completion of the project.

SYSTEM MANAGER AND ADDRESS:
    Director, Program and Analytic Studies Division, Policy and Program 
Studies Service, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, 
SW., room 6W231, Washington, DC 20202.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:
    If you wish to determine whether a record exists regarding you in 
the system of records, contact the system manager. Your request must 
meet the requirements of the Department's Privacy Act regulations in 34 
CFR 5b.5, including proof of identity.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURE:
    If you wish to gain access to a record regarding you in the system 
of records, contact the system manager. Your request must meet the 
requirements of

[[Page 74794]]

the Department's Privacy Act 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 the Department's Privacy Act regulations in 34 CFR 
5b.7, including proof of identity.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    Information in this system is obtained from surveys with students 
who were in middle school in 2000-01 and who participated in the GEAR 
UP program and from a comparison group of students. Students are to be 
surveyed in spring 2006 when normal progression would make them seniors 
in high school. Surveys are being conducted as a source of providing 
information.

EXEMPTIONS CLAIMED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    None.
 [FR Doc. E5-7464 Filed 12-15-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P