[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 211 (Tuesday, November 3, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56826-56828]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-26430]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records--National Longitudinal 
Transition Study-2 (NLTS2)

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 U.S. Department of Education (Department) publishes 
this notice of a new system of records entitled ``National Longitudinal 
Transition Study-2 (NLTS2)'' (18-13-23).
    In 2001, the Department funded the NLTS2 to provide a national 
picture of the characteristics, experiences, and outcomes of secondary 
school students with disabilities as they complete secondary school and 
transition to young adulthood. NLTS2 includes the study of a sample of 
more than 11,000 youth from the population of 13 through 16 year olds 
receiving special education services in seventh grade or above in 
December of 2000. The sample is nationally representative of the types 
of disabilities, as defined by the 12 Federal special education 
disability categories, in this population.

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 
December 3, 2009.
    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 of 
Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and the 
Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on October 29, 2009. This system 
of records will become effective at the later date of--(1) the 
expiration of the 40-day period for OMB review on December 8, 2009, 
unless OMB waives 10 days of the 40-day review period for compelling 
reasons shown by the Department, or (2) December 3, 2009, 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 
Jacquelyn Buckley, PhD, National Center for Special Education Research, 
Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, 555 New 
Jersey Avenue, NW., room 510C, Washington, DC 20208-5550. If you prefer 
to send comments through the Internet, use the following 
address:[email protected].
    You must include the term ``National Longitudinal Transition Study-
2 (NLTS2)'' 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 510C, 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: Jacquelyn Buckley. Telephone number: 
(202) 219-2130. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf 
(TDD), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-800-877-
8339.
    Individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an 
accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the contact person listed in this section.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    The Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4)) 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 part 5b of title 34.
    The Privacy Act applies to information about an individual that is 
maintained in a system of records from which individually identifying 
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-based, 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 submit, whenever the agency 
publishes a new system of records or makes a significant change to an 
established system of records, a report to the Administrator of the 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB. Each agency is also 
required to send copies of the report to the Chair of the House of 
Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the 
Chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You can 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

[[Page 56827]]

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.


    Dated: October 29, 2009.
John Q. Easton,
Director, Institute of Education Sciences.
    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Director of the 
Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of 
Education (Department) publishes a notice of a new system of records to 
read as follows:
SYSTEM NUMBER:
    18-13-23

SYSTEM NAME:
    National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2)

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    None.

SYSTEM LOCATIONS:
    (1) SRI International, 333 Ravenswood Ave., Menlo Park, CA 94025-
3493. (Contractor)
    (2) Research Triangle Institute (RTI), 3040 Cornwallis Rd., Ragland 
Building, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2194. (Subcontractor to SRI)

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    The NLTS2 system contains records of a sample of more than 11,000 
youth from the population of 13 through 16 year olds receiving special 
education services in seventh grade or above in December of 2000. The 
sample is nationally representative of the types of disabilities, as 
defined by the 12 Federal special education disability categories, in 
this population.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    This system of records contains responses to surveys and interviews 
administered to students, parents, guardians, administrators, and 
teachers. The responses may include a student's background and 
demographic data (e.g., ethnicity, primary language spoken in the 
student's home), educational experiences, employment experiences, 
finances, aspirations, plans and goals, family variables (e.g., 
household income, number of adults living in the household, parental 
expectations for youth to attend postsecondary school), school 
characteristics, school programs, classroom experiences, adult services 
and supports, and early adult outcomes in employment, education, 
independence, and social domains. Records in this system of records 
also may include the student's achievement test scores and high school 
transcript data.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    The evaluation being conducted is authorized under sections 171(b) 
and 173 of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA) (20 U.S.C. 
9561(b) and 9563) and section 664(e) of the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1464(e)).

PURPOSE(S):
    The information contained in the records maintained in this system 
is used for the following purpose:
    To describe the critical influences, contexts, and educational and 
post-high school experiences for students with disabilities as they 
complete secondary education and transition to adulthood. Specifically, 
this study will examine the sample group of secondary students in 
special education and: (a) Describe the characteristics of these 
students and their households; (b) describe these students' secondary 
school experiences in special education, including their experiences in 
school, school programs, related services, and extracurricular 
activities; (c) describe the experiences of these students once they 
leave secondary school, including their experiences in adult programs 
and services and social activities; (d) measure the secondary school 
and post-school outcomes of these students in the education, 
employment, social, and residential domains; and, e) identify factors 
in these students' secondary school and post-school experiences that 
contribute to more positive outcomes.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES 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. The 
Department may make these disclosures on a case-by-case basis, or, if 
the Department has complied with the computer matching requirements of 
the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988, as amended, 
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 collection, 
reporting and publication of data by IES.
    Contract Disclosure. If the Department contracts with an entity for 
the purpose of performing any function that requires disclosure of 
records in this system to employees of the contractor, the Department 
may disclose the records to only those employees. Before entering into 
such a contract, the Department will 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:
    None.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, 
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
    Records are maintained in a database on the contractors' secure 
servers and in other electronic storage media. Respondent name and 
contact information is stored separately from the rest of the data 
collected in this system.

RETRIEVABILITY:
    Records in this system are indexed by a unique number assigned to 
each individual, which is cross-referenced by the individual's name. 
Records are retrieved by the individual's name or by the unique number.

SAFEGUARDS:
    Access to the records is limited to authorized personnel who are 
briefed regarding confidentiality of the data, are required to sign a 
written statement attesting to their understanding of the significance 
of the confidentiality requirement, and have received Department of 
Education security clearances.
    All physical access to the contractor and subcontractor sites where 
this system of records is maintained, is controlled and monitored by 
security personnel who check each individual entering the buildings for 
his or her employee or visitor badge.
    The computer systems employed by the contractor and subcontractor 
offer a high degree of resistance to tampering and circumvention. 
Security systems limit data access to contract staff on a ``need to 
know'' basis, and control each individual user's ability to access and 
alter records within the system.
    The contractor and subcontractor employees who ``maintain'' 
(including collect, maintain, use, or disseminate) data in this system 
of records must comply with the requirements of the confidentiality 
standards in section 183 of the ESRA (20 U.S.C. 9573).

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    In accordance with Part 3, Item 4.b (NC-12-75-1, Item 10b) of the 
Department's Records Disposition

[[Page 56828]]

Schedules, records are destroyed upon verification of transfer to 
electronic format or upon completion of the report.

SYSTEM MANAGER AND ADDRESS:
    Contracting Officer's Representative (COR), National Longitudinal 
Transition Study-2 (NLTS2), National Center for Special Education 
Research, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of 
Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20208-5550.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:
    If you wish to determine whether a record exists regarding you in 
the system of records, contact the system manager at the address listed 
under SYSTEM MANAGER AND ADDRESS. Your request must meet the 
requirements of the 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 at the address listed under SYSTEM MANAGER 
AND ADDRESS. Requests should contain your full name, address, and 
telephone number. Your request must meet the requirements of the 
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 at the address listed 
under SYSTEM MANAGER AND ADDRESS. Your request must meet the 
requirements of the regulations in 34 CFR 5b.7, including proof of 
identity.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    Information maintained in this system of records is collected from 
a variety of sources, including parents, guardians, teachers, 
principals, school records, and students themselves. Records in this 
system may be collected through methods such as: (a) Telephonic 
interviews with parents or guardians of students that focus on student 
and family characteristics, non-school activities, satisfaction with 
school programs, and activities after high school; (b) telephonic 
interviews or written questionnaires from students about their 
experiences and outcomes; (c) teacher surveys about classroom practices 
and student performance in the classroom; (d) surveys of school 
programs completed by teachers knowledgeable about the overall program 
and student performance in a broader context (e.g., instructional 
settings that comprise a student's whole experience, vocational 
education, transition planning experiences, and accommodations 
received); (e) surveys about the characteristics of the school, 
including aggregate measures of school performance to use as supporting 
data for reports; (f) student assessments, which involve a direct 
assessment of the student, including measures of the student's reading 
and math skills, vocabulary, science and social studies content 
knowledge, as well as interviews with the student about self-concept 
and self-determination, or alternate assessments completed by a 
knowledgeable adult when students are unable to complete a direct 
assessment due to cognitive or behavioral limitations; and, (g) student 
transcripts, including courses taken, grades, and attendance.

EXEMPTIONS CLAIMED FOR THIS SYSTEM:
    None.

[FR Doc. E9-26430 Filed 11-2-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P