[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 220 (Wednesday, November 14, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56831-56834]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-24847]
[[Page 56831]]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[Docket ID ED-2017-IES-0131]
Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records-National Center for
Education Statistics (NCES) Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Studies
AGENCY: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of
Education Sciences, Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of a modified 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 modified system of records entitled ``National Center for
Education Statistics (NCES) Longitudinal and Cross-sectional Studies''
(18-13-01). This system is used to fulfill NCES's legislative mandate
to collect, report, analyze, and disseminate statistical data on the
condition and progress of education in the United States and other
nations at the early childhood, preschool, elementary, secondary,
postsecondary, and adult levels, including data on the critical
influences, contexts, and transitions of: Students in elementary,
secondary, postsecondary, and graduate education, and into employment
and adult experiences; children at early childhood stage; homeschooled
students; the general adult population; and participants in career
training.
DATES: The Department seeks comment on the modified system of records
described in this notice in accordance with the requirements of the
Privacy Act. We must receive your comments on or before December 14,
2018.
This modified system of records will become applicable upon
publication in the Federal Register on November 14, 2018, unless the
modified system of records notice needs to be changed as a result of
public comment. Modified routine uses (1) and (2) in the ROUTINE USES
OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND
PURPOSES OF SUCH USES section will become applicable upon the
expiration of the 30-day period of public comment on December 14, 2018,
unless any of the modified routine uses in the system of records notice
need to be changed as a result of public comment. The Department will
publish any significant changes resulting 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 modified system of records,
address them to: Commissioner, National Center for Education
Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of
Education, Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), 550 12th Street SW, 4th Floor,
Washington, DC 20202-4160.
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 supply 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: Kashka Kubzdela, National Center for
Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department
of Education, PCP, 550 12th Street SW, 4th Floor, Washington, DC 20202-
4160. Telephone: (202) 245-7377. Email:
[email protected].
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or text
telephone (TTY), you may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) toll free
at 1-800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This system of records is used to fulfill
NCES's legislative mandate to collect, report, analyze, and disseminate
statistical data on the condition and progress of education in the
United States and other nations at the early childhood, preschool,
elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and adult levels. These data must
be timely, objective, and non-ideological; free of political influence
and bias; and relevant and useful to practitioners, researchers,
policymakers, and the public.
The Department previously published the NCES Longitudinal Studies
and the School and Staffing Surveys system of records in the Federal
Register on June 4, 1999 (64 FR 30181-82). This modified system of
records notice is updating:
(a) The name of the system and the system's security classification
to indicate that it is unclassified.
(b) The system location to provide the current address of the
Department's Institute of Education Sciences' National Center for
Education Statistics office and the locations of its contractors and
subcontractors serving as additional system locations;
(c) The system manager to reflect the location of the National
Center for Education Statistics;
(d) The section entitled ``AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE
SYSTEM'' to reflect the updated authorizing law for collecting and
maintaining the records in this system of records;
(e) The section entitled ``PURPOSES(S) OF THE SYSTEM'' to align the
purpose with the legislative mandate set in the Education Sciences
Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA) (20 U.S.C. 9541 and 9543);
(f) The section entitled ``CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE
SYSTEM'' to provide a streamlined description and updated list of
studies for which records are maintained (the categories of individuals
in the system were neither expanded nor reduced), and to add that
minors' participation in the listed studies is subject to ``implicit or
explicit parental or legal guardian consent to participate . . .
depending on school or school district requirements and on the
Department's Protection of Human Subjects regulations (34 CFR part
97).'';
(g) The section entitled ``CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM'' to
provide a streamlined description of the collected records;
(h) The section entitled ``RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES'' to clarify
and update the description to reflect that information in the records
comes from responses to survey and assessment instruments and from
administrative records maintained by K-12 schools and school districts,
postsecondary institutions, the Department, and third-parties,
including State and Federal
[[Page 56832]]
agencies, as well as vendors, such as the National Student
Clearinghouse (NSC);
(i) The section entitled ``ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN
THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND PURPOSES OF SUCH USES''
to modify both of the routine uses (Contract Disclosure and Research
Disclosure) to replace the statement: ``will be required to maintain
safeguards under the Privacy Act of 1974 and under section 406(d)(4) of
[the General Education Provisions Act] GEPA (20 U.S.C. 1221e-1(d)(4))
with respect to such records'' with: ``must agree to safeguards to
protect the security and confidentiality of the records disclosed from
this system, consistent with ESRA (20 U.S.C. 9573);'' to add a citation
for ``the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (20 U.S.C.
1417(c); 34 CFR 300.610-300.611, 300.613-300.623, and 300.625-
300.627)'' as applicable to the disclosure of records in this system by
NCES; and to clarify for the Research Disclosure routine use that
directly personally identifiable respondent information, such as name
and contact information, is stored separately from the rest of the data
collected in this system, and is not made available as part of a
research disclosure, and add that the researcher must agree to use the
information for statistical purposes only, not redisclose any data in
identifiable form, and permit NCES' periodic inspection;
(j) The section entitled ``POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF
RECORDS'' to reflect updated electronic storage practices on secure
servers and other secure electronic storage media, and to state that
directly personally identifiable contact information is stored
separately from the rest of the data collected in this system;
(k) The section entitled ``POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF
RECORDS'' to include that records are retrieved by title of survey and
the unique number, and are indexed by a unique number assigned to each
individual, which can be cross-referenced when needed with the
separately stored direct personal identifiers to allow the records to
be retrieved by name and contact information;
(l) The section entitled ``POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND
DISPOSAL OF RECORDS'' to indicate that the Department will submit a
retention and disposition schedule to the National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA) for review; and, that the records contained in
this system will not be destroyed until NARA approves said schedule;
(m) The section entitled ``ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL
SAFEGUARDS'' to more accurately describe the various safeguards NCES
and the Department employ to protect the data in this system; and
(n) The sections entitled ``RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES'' and
``NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES'' to specify which necessary particulars are
required for an individual to provide when requesting to be notified if
the system of records contains a record pertaining to him or her or
when accessing a record.
(o) A new section entitled ``HISTORY'' also has been added to the
system of records notice to comply with the requirements of Office of
Management and Budget Circular No. A-108.
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 contact 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 the 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: November 7, 2018.
Mark Schneider,
Director, Institute of Education Sciences.
SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER:
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Longitudinal and
Cross-sectional Studies (18-13-01).
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
Unclassified.
SYSTEM LOCATION:
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Institute of
Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education (Department), Potomac
Center Plaza (PCP), 550 12th Street SW, 4th Floor, Washington, DC
20202-4160. See the Appendix at the end of this system notice for
additional system locations.
SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
Commissioner, National Center for Education Statistics, Institute
of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, PCP, 550 12th
Street SW, 4th Floor, Washington, DC 20202.
AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
The data collections being administered and their maintenance are
authorized under the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA) (20
U.S.C. 9541-9547 and 9571-9576).
PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
This system is used to fulfill NCES's legislative mandate to
collect, report, analyze, and disseminate statistical data on the
condition and progress of education in the United States and other
nations at the early childhood, preschool, elementary, secondary,
postsecondary, and adult levels. These data must be timely, objective,
and non-ideological; free of political influence and bias; and relevant
and useful to practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and the public.
CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
This system maintains records about individuals randomly selected
from their respective populations of particular subgroups of children
and adults (pre-Kindergarten children, pre-Kindergarten through
graduate school students, parents or legal guardians, teachers,
administrators, service providers, and general population adults) who
voluntarily agree to participate (with implicit or explicit parental or
legal guardian consent to participate for minors, depending on school
or school district requirements and on the Department's Protection of
Human Subjects regulations (34 CFR part 97)) in one of the NCES studies
categorized below (with example studies provided for each category):
1. National household studies [e.g., National Household Education
Survey (NHES) including the current Early Childhood Education/Program
Participation (ECPP) and Parent and Family Involvement in Education
(PFI), and with past PFI-Enrolled and PFI-Homeschooled modules, the
Adult Training and Education Survey (ATES)
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studies, and the past Adult Education (AE), Adult Education for Work-
Related Reasons (AEWR), Adult Education and Lifelong Learning (AELL),
Before- and After-School Programs and Activities (ASPA), School
Readiness (SR), Civic Engagement (CE), School Safety and Discipline
(SS&D), and Household and Library Use (HHL)];
2. National and international K-12 school and staff studies [e.g.,
Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) and its follow-ups Teacher Follow-Up
Survey (TFS), Principal Follow-Up Survey (PFS), and Beginning Teacher
Longitudinal Study (BTLS); redesigned SASS--National Teacher and
Principal Surveys (NTPS); and studies not related to SASS, such as
Teacher Compensation Survey (TCS)*, Teacher Pilot Study (TPS), School
Survey of Crime and Safety (SSOCS), Teaching and Learning International
Survey (TALIS) and its associated Video Studies, and ED School Climate
Surveys (EDSCLS)];
3. National early childhood longitudinal studies [e.g., Early
Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B); and Early
Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class studies (ECLS-K)];
4. International K-12 assessments studies [e.g., International
Early Learning Study (IELS); Progress in International Reading Literacy
Study (PIRLS); Civic Education Study (CivEd); Program for International
Student Assessment (PISA); Program for International Student Assessment
(PISA) Young Adult Follow-up (YAF) Study; Trends in International
Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and its associated Video Studies;
and International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS)];
5. National middle grades longitudinal studies [e.g., Middle Grades
Longitudinal Study (MGLS)];
6. National high school longitudinal studies [e.g., National
Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS); National
Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS); Education Longitudinal
Study of 2002 (ELS); High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS); and
High School and Beyond Longitudinal studies (HS&B)];
7. National postsecondary studies [e.g., Recent College Graduates
(RCG); National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) and its follow-
ups Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS) and
Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B); National
Postsecondary Student Aid Study, Administrative Collection (NPSAS-AC);
National Postsecondary Education Cooperative--Sample Surveys (NPEC-S);
National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF); and National Center
for Education Research NCER-NPSAS Grant Studies];
8. National and international adult assessment studies [e.g.,
International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS); Adult Literacy and
Lifeskills Survey (ALL); National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL);
and Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies
(PIAAC)];
9. National quick response studies [e.g., Quick Response
Information System (QRIS) made up of pre-postsecondary Fast Response
Survey System (FRSS) and Postsecondary Education Quick Information
System (PEQIS)]; and
10. NCES national and international developmental studies [e.g.,
cognitive interviews, focus groups, feasibility studies, usability
tests, pilot tests, web tests, etc., utilized to develop new or to
improve current data collection methodologies and instruments for
particular existing or multiple current and future data collection
programs].
* TCS is an administrative records survey that collected between
Fiscal Years (FY) 2007-2011 total compensation, teacher status, and
demographic data about all teachers from multiple States.
CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
This system consists of responses from students, their parents or
legal guardians, teachers, administrators, service providers, and other
adults to data collection instruments including information such as
background and demographic data, functional measures (reports of
children's functioning in cognitive, social, emotional, and physical
domains), family characteristics, education and/or employment
experiences, finances, aspirations, plans, and attitudes. Cognitive
assessment scores, administrative and financial aid records, and high
school and college transcripts are also appended to the records. The
appended administrative records contain data such as attendance,
program participation, and other information.
The records for service providers, schools/institutions, and local
educational agencies contain information on numbers and characteristics
of students, teaching staff, and administrators; data on facilities,
programs, services, and finances; and information related to student
enrollment, persistence, completion, and performance. The records
related to teachers and administrators contain, in addition to the
above, data on certifications, training, experience, staff evaluations,
salary, benefits, and attitudes and opinions related to various aspects
of education and operations.
RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
Information in the records comes from responses to survey and
assessment instruments and from administrative records maintained by K-
12 schools and school districts, postsecondary institutions, the
Department, and third-parties, including State and Federal agencies, as
well as vendors, such as the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC).
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 purpose for which the record was collected. 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) and its confidentiality standards that apply
to all collection, reporting, and publication of data by NCES. Any
disclosure of personally identifiable information (PII) from students'
education records that were obtained from schools, school districts,
postsecondary institutions, and other sources must also comply with the
requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
(20 U.S.C. 1417(c); 34 CFR 300.610-300.611, 300.613-300.623, and
300.625-300.627) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20
U.S.C. 1232g; 34 CFR part 99), which protect the privacy of student
education records and the PII contained therein.
(1) Contract Disclosure. When NCES contracts with a private firm
for the purpose of collating, analyzing, aggregating, maintaining,
appending, or otherwise refining records in this system, the
Commissioner of Education Statistics may release relevant records to
the contractor. The contractor must agree to safeguards to protect the
security and confidentiality of the records disclosed from this system,
consistent with Section 183 of the ESRA (20 U.S.C. 9573).
(2) Research Disclosure. Where the Commissioner of Education
Statistics determines that an individual or organization is qualified
to carry out specific research, the Commissioner may disclose
information from the
[[Page 56834]]
system of records to that researcher solely for the purpose of carrying
out that research. Directly personally identifiable respondent
information, such as name and contact information, are stored
separately from the rest of the data collected in this system, and are
not made available as part of a research disclosure. The researcher
must agree to safeguards to protect the security and confidentiality of
the records disclosed from this system, consistent with Section 183 of
the ESRA (20 U.S.C. 9573). Furthermore, the researcher must agree to
use the information for statistical purposes only, not redisclose any
data in identifiable form, and permit NCES' periodic inspection.
POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
Records are maintained in a database on NCES' or its contractors'
or subcontractors' secure servers and in other secure electronic
storage media. Directly personally identifiable respondent information,
such as name and contact information, is stored separately from the
rest of the data collected in this system.
POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF RECORDS:
Records in the location file are indexed by a unique number
assigned to each individual, which can be cross-referenced when needed
with the separately stored direct personal identifiers. Records are
retrieved by title of survey and the unique number.
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:
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 penalties for non-compliance,
and have received Department security clearances.
All physical access to the NCES, 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 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 NCES, 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 under Section 183 of the ESRA (20 U.S.C. 9573).
RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
If you wish to gain access to a record that exists regarding you in
this system of records, contact the system manager at the address
listed above. You must provide necessary particulars such as the study
in question, your name, current address, the date and place of your
birth, 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
in 34 CFR 5b.5, including proof of identity.
CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
If you wish to contest content of a record regarding you in this
system of records, contact the system manager. Your request must meet
the requirements in 34 CFR 5b.7.
NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES:
If you wish to determine whether a record exists regarding you in
this system of records, contact the system manager at the address
listed above. You must provide necessary particulars such as the study
in question, your name, current address, the date and place of your
birth, 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
in 34 CFR 5b.5, including proof of identity.
EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
None.
HISTORY:
The system of records previously entitled ``National Center for
Education Statistics Longitudinal Studies and the School and Staffing
Surveys'' (18-13-01) was last published in the Federal Register at 64
FR 30181-30182 (June 4, 1999).
Appendix to 18-13-01
Additional System Locations
ABT Associates, 4550 Montgomery Ave., Suite 800 North,
Bethesda, MD 20815-3343
Activate Research, 1001 Connecticut Ave. NW, #515,
Washington, DC 20036
American Institutes for Research (AIR), 1000 and 1025
Thomas Jefferson St. NW, Washington, DC 20007
Branch Associates, 1628 John F. Kennedy Blvd., #800,
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Child Trends, 7315 Wisconsin Ave., #1200w, Bethesda, MD
20814
Educational Testing Service (ETS), 660 Rosedale Rd.,
Princeton, NJ 08541
EurekaFacts, 51 Monroe St., Plaza East 10, Rockville, MD
20850
Fors Marsh Group, 1010 N Glebe Rd., #510, Arlington, VA
22201
Hager Sharp, 1030 15th St. NW, Suite 600E, Washington, DC
20005
Mathematica Policy Research, 1100 First St. NE, #1200,
Washington, DC 20002
National Opinion Research Center (NORC), 1155 E 60th St.,
Chicago, Illinois 60637; 55 E Monroe, Suite 3000, Chicago, IL 60603;
4350 East-West Hwy., 8th Fl., Bethesda, MD 20814
Pearson Inc., 2510 N Dodge St., Iowa City, Iowa 52245
Research Support Services, 906 Ridge Ave., Evanston, IL
60202
RTI International, 3040 E Cornwallis Rd., Research
Triangle Park, NC 27709-2194
Sanametrix, 1120 20th St. NW, South Tower, Suite 200,
Washington, DC 20036; 506 Wonderwood Drive, Charlotte, NC 28211; 24574
Spriggs Court, Hollywood, MD 20636
Shugoll Research, 7475 Wisconsin Ave., #200, Bethesda, MD
20814; 1800 Diagonal Rd., #300, Alexandria, VA 22314
SRI International, 1100 Wilson Boulevard, #2800,
Arlington, VA 22209
Strategic Analytics Inc., 6503 Shipyard Place, Falls
Church, VA 22043
Synergy Enterprises, 8757 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, MD
20910
U.S. Census Bureau, 4600 Silver Hill Rd., Suitland, MD
20746; 1201 E 10th St., Jeffersonville, IN 47190
WESTAT, 1600 Research Blvd., Rockville, MD 20850.
[FR Doc. 2018-24847 Filed 11-13-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P