[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 71 (Thursday, April 12, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15821-15823]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-07641]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket ID ED-2017-IES-0095]


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 Evaluation of 
Parent Messaging Strategies on Student Attendance (18-13-42).'' This 
system contains individually identifying information voluntarily 
provided by individuals and 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 
a low-cost, parent-focused text messaging intervention, meant to reduce 
elementary school absenteeism and ultimately improve student 
achievement.

DATES: Submit your comments on this new system of records notice on or 
before May 14, 2018.
    This new system of records will become applicable upon publication 
in the Federal Register on April 12, 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 May 14, 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 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

[[Page 15822]]

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 modified system of records, 
address them to: Project's contracting officer representative (COR), 
Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Potomac 
Center Plaza, Room 4102, 550 12th Street SW, 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: Dr. Meredith Bachman, Project's COR, 
Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Potomac 
Center Plaza, Room 4102, 550 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20202, by 
telephone at 1-202-245-7494, 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 a low-cost, parent-focused text messaging 
intervention, meant to reduce elementary school absenteeism and 
ultimately improve student achievement.
    The study will address the following central research questions: 
(1) What is the impact on student attendance of using text messaging to 
provide parents with basic information related to attendance? (2) For 
parents who do not respond to the messaging strategies that provide 
basic information, does a more intensive strategy work better to 
improve attendance? (3) Do adaptive interventions (i.e., interventions 
that use more or less intensive strategies based on how parents 
respond) have effects on end-of-year attendance and achievement when 
compared to the districts' usual attendance related practices? (4) How 
is the messaging intervention implemented and what are its costs?
    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 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: April 9, 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 Evaluation of Parent Messaging Strategies on Student 
Attendance (18-13-42).

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    Unclassified.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    Evaluation Division, National Center for Education Evaluation and 
Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences (IES), U.S. 
Department of Education (the Department), Potomac Center Plaza, 550 
12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20202.

SYSTEM MANAGER:
    Project's COR, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of 
Education, Potomac Center Plaza, Room 4102, 550 12th Street SW, 
Washington, DC 20202.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    The study is authorized under ssections 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) and 
the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. 
L. 113-235).

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
    The information contained in the records maintained in this system 
will be used to conduct a rigorous study of a low-cost, parent-focused 
text messaging intervention, meant to reduce elementary school 
absenteeism and ultimately improve student achievement.
    The study will address the following central research questions: 
(1) What is the impact on student attendance of using text messaging to 
provide parents with basic information related to attendance? (2) For 
parents who do not respond to the messaging strategies that provide 
basic information, does a more intensive strategy work better to 
improve attendance? (3) Do adaptive interventions (i.e., interventions 
that use more or less intensive strategies based on how parents 
respond) have effects on end-of-year attendance and achievement when 
compared to the districts' usual attendance related practices? (4) How 
is the messaging intervention implemented and what are its costs?

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    The system of records will include individually identifying 
information about parents (or guardians) who consent to participate in 
the study and their elementary school aged children. The system will 
contain records on approximately 26,000 parents and 30,000 students 
from 4 school districts.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    For parents or guardians this information will include, but will 
not necessarily be limited to, contact information (name, phone number, 
and home address), gender, educational background, employment status, 
and primary language spoken at home. For students this information will 
include, but will not necessarily be limited to, name, district-
provided student ID, date of birth, gender, race/ethnicity, grade, 
eligibility for free/reduced-price lunches, English Learner status, 
individualized education plan status, number of days absent (excused, 
unexcused, and suspended), and math and reading assessment scores. 
Parents' or guardians' contact information will be used to send out the 
text messages.

[[Page 15823]]

Students' identifying information will be collected to extract 
attendance and academic assessment information from school district 
data sources.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    The information contained in the records maintained in this system 
will be used to conduct a rigorous study of a low-cost, parent-focused 
text messaging intervention, meant to reduce elementary school 
absenteeism and ultimately improve student achievement. Data will be 
obtained on all participating students and their parents or guardians 
through administrative records maintained by the school districts and 
through the administration of a survey to a subset of approximately 
2,000 parents or guardians.

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 or, if 
the Department has complied with the computer matching requirements of 
the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (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 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) 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.
    (2) 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 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 the 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 individual that will be cross-referenced by the 
individual's name on a separate list.

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 meet all required 
security standards issued by the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology (NIST). The secure, password protected electronic system 
utilizes security hardware and software to include multiple firewalls, 
active intruder detection, and role-based access controls. All physical 
access to the Department's site, where this system of records will be 
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.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    If you wish to request access to your records, you must contact the 
system manager at the address listed above. Your requests must provide 
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 regulations in 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, contact the system manager at the address listed 
above. Your request must meet the requirements of the regulations in 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 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.

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    None.

HISTORY:
    None.

[FR Doc. 2018-07641 Filed 4-11-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P