[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 172 (Thursday, September 7, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42339-42340]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-19004]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Tests Determined To Be Suitable for Use in the National Reporting 
System for Adult Education

AGENCY: Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, Department of 
Education.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary announces tests, test forms, and delivery 
formats that the Secretary determines to be suitable for use in the 
National Reporting System for Adult Education (NRS).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jay LeMaster, Department of Education, 
400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 11-152, Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, 
DC 20202-7240. Telephone: (202) 245-6218 or by email: 
[email protected].
    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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 14, 2008, we published in the 
Federal Register final regulations for 34 CFR part 462, Measuring 
Educational Gain in the National Reporting System for Adult Education 
(NRS regulations) (73 FR 2306). The NRS regulations established the 
process the Secretary uses to determine the suitability of tests for 
use in the NRS by States and local eligible providers. We annually 
publish in the Federal Register and post on the internet at 
www.nrsweb.org a list of the names of tests and the educational 
functioning levels the tests are suitable to measure in the NRS as 
required by Sec.  462.12(c)(2).
    On December 13, 2016, the Secretary published in the Federal 
Register (81 FR 89920) an annual notice of tests determined to be 
suitable for use in the NRS (December 2016 notice). The Secretary 
announced a list of tests and test forms determined to be suitable for 
use in the NRS, including: (1) Eight tests previously approved for a 
seven-year period from February 2, 2010 through February 2, 2017, and 
approved for an extended period through February 2, 2019; (2) three 
tests previously approved for an extended period through February 2, 
2017, and approved for an extended period through February 2, 2019; and 
(3) one test--a revised version of a test previously approved for an 
extended period through February 2, 2017--for which the Secretary 
extended approval through February 2, 2019. The Secretary took this 
action to extend the approved periods for all 12 of these tests through 
February 2, 2019, in light of the following intervening factors: (1) 
The Department of Education's (Department's) plan to implement new 
descriptors for the NRS educational functioning levels and implement 
new regulations in 34 CFR part 462 (published in the Federal Register 
on August 19, 2016 (81 FR 55526) and effective as of September 19, 
2016) that would govern the assessment review process; (2) the 
Department's desire to minimize disruption for its grantees in the 
transition to the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) as 
authorized by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 
(WIOA), including with respect to measuring educational functioning 
level gain under the NRS; and (3) the attendant transition authority in 
section 503(c) of WIOA, which authorizes the Secretary of Education to 
``take such actions as the Secretary determines to be appropriate to 
provide for the orderly transition'' from AEFLA as authorized by the 
Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) to AEFLA as authorized by WIOA. 
The Secretary also clarified that, to provide for the transition from 
the performance accountability system for AEFLA under WIA to the 
performance accountability system for AEFLA as authorized by WIOA, the 
December 2016 notice remains effective until June 30, 2019.
    In addition to the tests identified in the December 2016 notice as 
determined to be suitable for use in the NRS through February 2, 2019, 
the Secretary now announces an additional test and test forms that have 
been determined to be suitable for use in the NRS, in accordance with 
Sec.  462.13. This test measures the new NRS educational functioning 
levels for Literacy/English Language Arts and Mathematics at all Adult 
Basic Education (ABE) levels, as described in Appendix E of 
Implementation Guidelines: Measures and Methods for the National 
Reporting System for Adult Education (OMB Control Number: 1830-0027).

Approved Tests, Forms, and Approved Periods

    Adult education programs must use only the approved forms and 
computer-based delivery formats for the tests published in this 
document. If a particular test form or computer delivery format is not 
explicitly specified for a test in the December 2016 notice or in this 
notice, it is not approved for use in the NRS.

Test Determined To Be Suitable for Use in the NRS for a Seven-Year 
Period From the Date of Publication of This Notice

    The Secretary has determined that the following test is suitable 
for use in Literacy/English Language Arts and Mathematics at all ABE 
levels of the NRS for a period of seven years from the date of 
publication of this notice:
    Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE 11/12). Forms 11 and 12 are 
approved for use on paper and through a computer-based delivery format. 
Publisher: Data Recognition Corporation--CTB, 13490 Bass Lake Road, 
Maple Grove, MN 55311. Telephone: 800-538-9547. Internet: www.ctb.com/.

Revocation of Tests

    Under certain circumstances, the Secretary may revoke the 
determination that a test is suitable (see Sec.  462.12(e)). If the 
Secretary revokes the determination of suitability, the Secretary 
announces through the Federal Register and posts on the internet at 
www.nrsweb.org a notice of that revocation, along with the date by 
which States and local eligible providers must stop using the revoked 
test.
    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document in an accessible format (such as Braille, large print, 
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the contact person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in this notice.
    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.

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 9212.


[[Page 42340]]


    Dated: September 1, 2017.
Kim R. Ford,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Delegated the Duties of Assistant Secretary 
for Career, Technical, and Adult Education.
[FR Doc. 2017-19004 Filed 9-6-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P