[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 14, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11189-11192]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-05195]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket ID ED-2017-IES-0082]


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

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 (the Department) publishes 
this notice of a new system of records entitled ``Impact Study of 
Feedback for Teachers based on Classroom Videos (18-13-40).'' This 
system contains individually identifying information provided by 
individuals and school districts who participate in the impact study. 
The information contained in the records maintained in this system will 
be used to conduct a rigorous study of the effectiveness of support to 
teachers based on their teaching practices within their classroom.

DATES: Submit your comments on this new system of records notice on or 
before April 13, 2018.
    This new system of records will become applicable upon publication 
in the Federal Register on March 14, 2018, unless the new system of 
records notice needs to be changed as a result of public comment. The 
routine uses listed under ``ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE 
SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND PURPOSES OF SUCH USES'' will 
become applicable on April 13, 2018, unless the new system of records 
notice needs to be changed as a result of public comment. The 
Department will publish any significant changes to the system of

[[Page 11190]]

records or routine uses that result from public comment.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We will not 
accept comments submitted by fax or by email or those submitted after 
the comment period. To ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies, 
please submit your comments only once. In addition, please include the 
Docket ID at the top of your comments.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to 
submit your comments electronically. Information on using 
Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency documents, 
submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site 
under the ``help'' tab.
     Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery: If you 
mail or deliver your comments about this new system of records, address 
them to: Teresa Cahalan, SORN Coordinator, Institute of Education 
Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Potomac Center Plaza, 550 12th 
Street SW, Room 4126, Washington, DC 20202.
    Privacy Note: The Department's policy is to make all comments 
received from members of the public available for public viewing in 
their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov. Therefore, commenters should be careful to include 
in their comments only information that they wish to make publicly 
available.
    Assistance to Individuals with Disabilities in Reviewing the 
Rulemaking Record: On request, we will provide an appropriate 
accommodation or auxiliary aid 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 auxiliary aid, please 
contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Teresa Cahalan, SORN Coordinator, 
Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Potomac 
Center Plaza, 550 12th Street SW, Room 4126, Washington, DC 20202 or by 
email at [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), you may call the Federal Relay Service, at 1-800-877-
8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Introduction: The information contained in the records maintained 
in this system will be used to conduct a rigorous study of the 
effectiveness of feedback for teachers based on classroom videos to 
inform effective teacher preparation and professional development.
    The study will address the following central research questions: 
What is the impact on teaching practices and student achievement of 
providing novice teachers with feedback on their teaching using 
multiple videos of their classroom practices? What is the impact on 
teaching practices and student achievement of providing early career 
teachers (those in their second, third, or fourth year of teaching) 
with feedback on their teaching using multiple videos of their 
classroom practices? Secondary research questions for the study are: Is 
intensive feedback more effective for certain types of teachers or 
students? On which teaching practices should feedback interventions 
focus?
    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, 
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may 
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of 
Federal Regulations 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 Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF you must have Adobe 
Acrobat Reader, which is available free at this 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: March 8, 2018.
Thomas Brock,
Commissioner, National Center for Education Research, Delegated the 
Duties of the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences.
SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER:
    Impact Study of Feedback for Teachers based on Classroom Videos 
(18-13-40).

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    Unclassified.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    The location is at Mathematica Policy Research, P.O. Box 2393, 
Princeton, NJ 08543-2393 (contractor).

SYSTEM MANAGER:
    Project's contracting officer representative, Institute of 
Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Potomac Center Plaza, 
550 12th Street SW, Room 4114, Washington, DC 20202.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    The study 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 8601 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (20 U.S.C. 7981).

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
    The information contained in the records maintained in this system 
will be used to conduct a rigorous study of the effectiveness of 
feedback for teachers based on classroom videos to inform effective 
teacher preparation and professional development.
    The study will address the following central research questions: 
What is the impact on teaching practices and student achievement of 
providing novice teachers with feedback on their teaching using 
multiple videos of their classroom practices? What is the impact on 
teaching practices and student achievement of providing early career 
teachers (those in their second, third, or fourth year of teaching) 
with feedback on their teaching using multiple videos of their 
classroom practices? Secondary research questions for the study are: Is 
intensive feedback more effective for certain types of teachers or 
students? On which teaching practices should feedback interventions 
focus?

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    The system of records will include individually identifying 
information about teachers who participate in the study and their 
students. The system will contain records on approximately 500 teachers 
and 10,625 students from up to 12 school districts.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    For teachers, this information will include, but will not 
necessarily be limited to, teacher name, background characteristics, 
teaching experience, teacher preparation experiences, knowledge of 
teaching practice, experience with professional development, feedback 
to support their teaching practice, and videos of classroom practice 
and ratings of

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teaching practice conducted by the study team using the videos. For 
students, this information will include, but will not necessarily be 
limited to, standardized math and English/Language Arts test scores, 
age, sex, race/ethnicity, grade, eligibility for free/reduced-price 
lunches, English Learner status, and individualized education plan 
status.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    Data will be obtained through: Human resource and student 
administrative records maintained by the school districts; videos of 
classroom practice and ratings of teaching practice conducted by the 
study team using the videos; and surveys of teachers administered by 
the study team.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND 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. 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 the 
Institute of Education Sciences. Any disclosure of personally 
identifiable information from student education records that were 
obtained from school districts must also comply with the requirements 
of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. 
1232g; 34 CFR part 99), which protects the privacy of student education 
records.
    (1) Teacher Identification Disclosure. In order for the Department 
to link teacher data that the Department maintains as part of this 
study to the administrative records of that teacher's students 
maintained by the participating school districts for purposes 
consistent with the conduct of the study, the Department may disclose 
to each participating school district the identities of teachers from 
that school district who are participating in this study.
    (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. As part of such a 
contract, the Department will require the contractor to agree to 
maintain safeguards to protect the security and confidentiality of the 
records disclosed from the system.
    (3) Research Disclosure. The Director of the Institute of Education 
Sciences may disclose information from this system of records to 
qualified researchers solely for the purpose of carrying out specific 
research that is compatible with the purpose(s) of this system of 
records. The classroom videos will not be included in disclosures of 
records that are made under this routine use. The researcher must agree 
to maintain safeguards to protect the security and confidentiality, 
consistent with section 183(c) of the ESRA (20 U.S.C. 9573(c)) of the 
records disclosed from this system. When personally identifiable 
information from a student's education record will be disclosed to the 
researcher, under FERPA (20 U.S.C. 1232g(b)), the researcher also must 
agree to comply with the requirements in the applicable FERPA exception 
to consent.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
    Records in this system of records are maintained in a secure, 
password-protected electronic system.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
    Records in this system will be indexed and retrieved by a unique 
number assigned to each teacher that will be cross-referenced by the 
individual's name on a separate list.
    The contractor's employees who ``maintain'' (collect, maintain, 
use, or disseminate) data in this system must comply with the 
requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act) (5 
U.S.C. 552a) and the confidentiality standards in section 183 of the 
ESRA (20 U.S.C. 9573).

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS:
    The Department shall submit a retention and disposition schedule 
that covers the records contained in this system to the National 
Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for review. The records will 
not be destroyed until such time as NARA approves said schedule.

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL SAFEGUARDS:
    Security protocols for this system of records (Impact Study of 
Feedback for Teachers based on Classroom Videos) meet all required 
security standards
    The contractor is required to ensure that information identifying 
individuals is in files physically separated from other research data 
and electronic files identifying individuals are separated from other 
electronic research data files. The contractor will maintain security 
of the complete set of all master data files and documentation. Access 
to individually identifiable data will be strictly controlled. All 
information 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 also will be maintained. 
Security features that protect project data will 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 contractor'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).

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    If you wish to request access to your records, you must contact the 
system manager at the address listed under SYSTEM MANAGER AND ADDRESS. 
Your request must provide the necessary particulars of your full name, 
address, telephone number, and any other identifying information 
requested by the Department while processing the request, to 
distinguish between individuals with the same name. Your request must 
meet the requirements of the Department's Privacy Act regulations at 34 
CFR 5b.5, including proof of identity.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    If you wish to contest the content of a record regarding you in the 
system of records, you must contact the system manager at the address 
listed above. Your request must meet the requirements of the 
Department's Privacy Act regulations at 34 CFR 5b.7.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
    If you wish to inquire whether a record exists regarding you in 
this system, you must contact the system manager at the address listed 
above. You must provide the necessary particulars of your full name, 
address, telephone number, and any other

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identifying information requested by the Department while processing 
the request, to distinguish between individuals with the same name. 
Your request must meet the requirements of the Department's Privacy Act 
regulations at 34 CFR 5b.5, including proof of identity.

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    None.

HISTORY:
    None.

[FR Doc. 2018-05195 Filed 3-13-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P