[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 81 (Friday, April 25, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22355-22358]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-9115]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records--Adult English as a Second 
Language (ESL) Literacy Impact Study

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 ``Adult English as a Second 
Language (ESL) Literacy Impact Study'' (18-13-19). The National Center 
for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance at the Department's 
Institute of Education Sciences (IES) commissioned this evaluation. It 
will be conducted under a contract that IES awarded in September 2004.
    The study will address the following questions:
    (1) How effective is instruction based on a literacy workbook in 
improving the English reading and speaking skills of low-literate adult 
ESL learners?
    (2) Is instruction based upon the workbook more effective for 
certain groups of students (e.g., native Spanish speakers)?
    (3) How well do instructors implement the instruction based upon 
the workbook?

[[Page 22356]]

    The system will contain information about approximately 40 adult 
ESL teachers and two cohorts of approximately 900 adult learners per 
cohort. Within each cohort, approximately 450 learners will participate 
in classes in which instruction based upon the literacy workbook is 
implemented and approximately 450 learners will participate in classes 
in which instruction that is not based upon the literacy workbook is 
implemented. The first cohort of learners will be enrolled in adult 
education classes during the Fall semester of 2008. The second cohort 
of learners will be enrolled in adult education classes during the 
Spring semester of 2009.
    The system of records will include information about the adult 
learners participating in the evaluation, including names and 
addresses; demographic information such as race, ethnicity, gender, 
age, and educational background; and scores on literacy assessments. 
The system of records will also include information about the teachers 
participating in the evaluation, including names; demographic 
information such as race, ethnicity, gender, and educational 
background; and teaching experience.

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 May 
27, 2008.
    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 Oversight and Government Reform, and the Administrator of 
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) on April 22, 2008. This system of records will become 
effective at the later date of--(1) the expiration of the 40-day period 
for OMB review on June 2, 2008 or (2) May 27, 2008, 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, Director, 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 502D, 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 ``Adult ESL Literacy Impact Study'' in 
the subject line of the electronic message.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all comments 
about this notice at the U.S. Department of Education in room 502D, 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 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 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 this paragraph.

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 
contains individually identifying information and that 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-based, is 
called a ``system of records.''
    The Privacy Act requires each agency to publish a notice of a 
system of records in the Federal Register and to prepare and send a 
report 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 Oversight and Government 
Reform. These reports are intended to permit an evaluation of the 
probable 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 Register, in text or Adobe Portable 
Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister/index.html.
    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: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


    Dated: April 8, 2008.
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:
18-13-19

SYSTEM NAME:
    Adult English as a Second Language (ESL) Literacy Impact Study.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    None.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    (1) Evaluation Division, National Center for Education Evaluation 
and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences (IES), U.S. 
Department of Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW., room 502D, 
Washington, DC 20208-0001.
    (2) American Institutes for Research, 1000 Thomas Jefferson Street, 
Washington, DC 20007-3839.
    (3) Berkeley Policy Associates, 440 Grand Avenue, Suite 500, 
Oakland, CA 94610-5012.
    (4) Mathematica Policy Associates, 600 Alexander Park, Princeton, 
NJ 08540-6346.

[[Page 22357]]

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    This system contains records on adult ESL students and teachers who 
are participating in an evaluation of the effectiveness of a literacy 
workbook and teacher training in improving the English reading and 
speaking skills of adult ESL learners who have low levels of literacy 
in their native language. Teachers and adult ESL learners at recruited 
sites will volunteer to participate in the study.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    The system will contain information about 40 adult ESL teachers and 
two cohorts of approximately 900 adult ESL learners per cohort. The 
system of records will include information about the adult learners 
participating in the evaluation, including the learners' names; 
addresses; demographic information such as race/ethnicity, gender, age, 
educational background; and scores on literacy assessments. The system 
of records will also include information about the teachers 
participating in the evaluation, including the teachers' names; 
demographic information such as race/ethnicity, gender, educational 
background; and teaching experience.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    The evaluation being conducted is authorized under section 243 of 
the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (20 U.S.C. 9253), as well 
as sections 171(b) and 173 of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 
(ESRA) (20 U.S.C. 9561(b) and 9563).

PURPOSE(S):
    The information in this system is used for the following purpose: 
To study the effectiveness of a literacy workbook and teacher training 
in improving the English reading and speaking skills of adult ESL 
learners who have low levels of literacy skills in their native 
language.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    The Department of Education (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 Privacy 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.
    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.

DISCLOSURE TO CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES:
    Not applicable to this system notice.

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 
(American Institutes for Research) and subcontractors (Berkeley Policy 
Associates and Mathematica Policy Associates) maintain data for this 
system on computers and in hard copy.

RETRIEVABILITY:
    Records in this system are indexed and retrieved 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 sites of 
the Department's contractor and subcontractors, 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 and subcontractors will 
establish similar sets of procedures at their sites to ensure 
confidentiality of data. Their systems are required to ensure that 
information identifying individuals is in files physically separated 
from other research data. The contractor and subcontractors will 
maintain security of the complete set of all master data files and 
documentation. Access to individually identifying data will be strictly 
controlled. At each site 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 contractor's and subcontractors' systems 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; and 
additional security features that the network administrators will 
establish for projects as needed. The contractor and subcontractor 
employees who ``maintain'' (collect, maintain, use, or disseminate) 
data in this system 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, Part 3, Item 2b and 
Part 3, Item 5a).

SYSTEM MANAGER AND ADDRESS:
    Director, 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 502D, 
Washington, DC 20208.

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 at 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 at 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 regulations at 34 CFR 5b.7, including proof of 
identity.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    The system of records will include information collected from adult

[[Page 22358]]

learners and from teachers participating in the evaluation. Data 
collected from the learners will include learners' names; addresses; 
demographic information such as race/ethnicity, gender, age, 
educational background; and scores on literacy assessments. Data 
collected from the teachers will include the teachers' names; 
demographic information such as race/ethnicity, gender, educational 
background; and teaching experience.

EXEMPTIONS CLAIMED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    None.

 [FR Doc. E8-9115 Filed 4-24-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P