[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 125 (Thursday, June 28, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38611-38613]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-15886]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records--Study of Promising 
Features of Teacher Preparation 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 ``Study of Promising 
Features of Teacher Preparation Programs'' (18-13-29). The National 
Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance at the 
Department's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) awarded a contract 
in September 2011 to Abt Associates to conduct a rigorous study of the 
effect on student learning of teachers who have experienced intensive 
clinical practice in their teacher preparation programs. The system of 
records will contain records on approximately 5,000 students and 360 
teachers from 125 school districts and will be used to conduct the 
study.

DATES: In accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act, the 
Department seeks comments on the new system of records described in 
this notice and in particular on the proposed routine uses for the new 
system of records. We must receive your comments on or before July 30, 
2012.
    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 June 25, 2012. This system of records will become 
effective at the later date of--(1) the expiration of the 40-day period 
for OMB review on August 6, 2012, unless OMB waives 10 days of the 40-
day review period for compelling reasons shown by the Department, or 
(2) July 30, 2012, unless the system of records needs to be changed as 
a result of public comment or OMB review. The Department will publish 
any changes to the system of records or routine uses that result from 
public comment or OMB review.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about the proposed routine uses to Dr. 
Audrey Pendleton, 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 502D, Washington, DC 20208-0001. Telephone: (202) 208-7078. 
If you prefer to send your comments through the Internet, use the 
following address: [email protected].
    You must include the term ``Study of Promising Features of Teacher 
Preparation Programs'' in the subject line of the electronic message.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public 
comments about this notice at the Department in Room 502D, 555 New 
Jersey Avenue NW., Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 
4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, Monday through Friday of each week 
except Federal holidays.

Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Rulemaking 
Record

    On request we will provide an appropriate accommodation or 
auxiliary 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 accommodation or aid, 
please contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Audrey Pendleton 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 502D, 
Washington, DC 20208-0001. Telephone: (202) 208-7078. If you use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text telephone (TTY), 
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 compact 
disc) on request to the contact person listed in 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 (5 
U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and (e)(11)). The Department's regulations 
implementing the Privacy Act are contained in the Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) at 34 CFR part 5b.
    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 (SSN). The information about each individual is 
called a ``record,'' and the system, whether manual or computer-based, 
is called a ``system of records.''
    Whenever the Department publishes a new system of records or makes 
a significant change to an established system of records, the Privacy 
Act requires it to publish a system of records

[[Page 38612]]

notice in the Federal Register. The Department is also required to 
submit reports to the Administrator of the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs at OMB, the Chair of the Senate Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and the Chair of the House 
of Representatives 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: 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 via the Federal Digital System 
at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site 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). To use PDF 
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the 
site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at: 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

    Dated: June 25, 2012.
John Q. Easton,
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 
(Department) publishes a notice of a new system of records to read as 
follows:
System Number: 18-13-29

System Name:
    Study of Promising Features of Teacher Preparation Programs.

Security Classification:
    None.

System Locations:
    (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) Abt Associates, 55 Wheeler Street, Cambridge, MA 02138-1168 
(contractor).
    (3) Chesapeake Research Associates, 708 Riverview Terrace, 
Annapolis, MD 21401-7119 (subcontractor).

Categories Of Individuals Covered By The System:
    The system will contain records on approximately 5,000 students and 
360 teachers from 125 school districts.

Categories Of Records In The System:
    The system of records will include information about the students 
and teachers who participate in the study. For students, this 
information will include, but will not necessarily be limited to, name; 
birth date; demographic information such as race, ethnicity, gender, 
and educational background; information on attendance and disciplinary 
incidences; and scores on reading and mathematics achievement tests. 
For teachers, this information will include, but will not necessarily 
be limited to, name and contact information; demographic information 
such as race and ethnicity; information on postsecondary institution 
attended and teaching experience; scores on postsecondary entrance 
exams; and will possibly include scores on teacher licensure exams.

Authority For Maintenance Of The System:
    The study is authorized under section 9601 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA) (20 U.S.C. 7941).

Purpose(s):
    The information contained in the records maintained in this system 
will be used to conduct a rigorous study of the effect on student 
learning of teachers who have experienced intensive clinical practice 
within their teacher preparation programs.
    The study will address the following central research question: 
What is the impact on students' reading and math achievement of novice 
elementary school teachers who experienced intensive clinical practice 
as part of their pre-service teacher preparation programs compared to 
students of novice elementary school teachers who did not have the same 
experience as part of their pre-service teacher preparation programs?
    Secondary research questions for the impact study are: Among the 
teachers studied, what are the core features of teacher preparation 
programs? In particular, to what extent does preparation vary on the 
basis of selected dimensions of clinical practice? What is the impact 
on the classroom practices of novice elementary school teachers who 
experienced intensive clinical practice as part of their pre-service 
teacher preparation programs compared to novice elementary school 
teachers who did not have the same experience as part of their pre-
service teacher preparation programs? What teacher preparation features 
(such as opportunities to teach throughout the preparation program, 
extent or nature of the clinical practice, and structured feedback 
during clinical practice) are associated with teacher effectiveness?

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 Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act) (5 U.S.C. 552a), 
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 Education Sciences Reform 
Act (ESRA) (20 U.S.C. 9573), which provides confidentiality standards 
that apply to all collection, reporting, and publication of data by 
IES.
    Contract Disclosure. If the Department contracts with an entity to 
perform any function that requires disclosing records in this system to 
the contractor's employees, the Department may disclose the records to 
those employees who have received the appropriate level of security 
clearance from the Department. Before entering into such a contract, 
the Department will require the contractor to establish and maintain 
the safeguards required under the Privacy Act (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:
    The Department maintains records on CD-ROM, and the contractor (Abt 
Associates Inc.) and sub-contractor (Chesapeake Research Associates) 
maintain data for this system on computers and in hard copy.

Retrievability:
    Records in this system are indexed and retrieved by a unique number 
assigned to each individual that is cross-

[[Page 38613]]

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 subcontractor, 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 subcontractor will establish a similar set of 
procedures at their sites to ensure confidentiality of data. The 
contractor and subcontractor are required to ensure that print data 
identifying individuals are in files physically separated from other 
research data and electronic files identifying individuals are 
separated from other electronic research data files. The contractor and 
subcontractor 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 print 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 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; 
and additional security features that the network administrators will 
establish for projects as needed. The Department's, contractor's, and 
subcontractor's employees who ``maintain'' (collect, maintain, use, or 
disseminate) data in this system must comply with the requirements of 
the Privacy Act and 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 (GRS 23, Item 8).

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 
502D, Washington, DC 20208-0001.

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

Record Access Procedure:
    If you wish to gain access to a record about you in this system of 
records, contact the system manager at the address listed under System 
Manager and Address. Your request must meet the requirements of the 
Department's Privacy Act 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 at the address listed 
under System Manager and Address. Your request for access to a record 
must meet the requirements of the Department's Privacy Act regulations 
at 34 CFR 5b.7, including proof of identity, specification of the 
particular record you are seeking to have changed, and the written 
justification for making such a change.

Record Source Categories:
    This system will contain records on teachers, and students 
participating in a study of promising features of teacher preparation 
programs. Data will be obtained through human resource and student 
records maintained by the school districts, assessments administered to 
students, and surveys of teachers.

Exemptions Claimed For The System:
    None.

[FR Doc. 2012-15886 Filed 6-27-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P