[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 144 (Monday, July 27, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45206-45209]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-16201]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket ID ED-2019-IES-0073]


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 ``National Evaluation 
of the Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy and Comprehensive 
Literacy State Development Programs'' (18-13-45). This system contains 
individually identifying information of principals, teachers, and 
students voluntarily provided by grantees, subgrantees, and individuals 
that participate in the Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy (SRCL) 
program and the Comprehensive Literacy State Development (CLSD) 
program. The SRCL program and the CLSD program both provide high-
quality literacy instruction to improve the reading and writing skills 
of students from birth through grade 12. The information in this system 
will be used to conduct a national evaluation of the SRCL program's 
implementation and outcomes and the CLSD program's implementation and 
effectiveness.

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DATES: Submit your comments on this new system of records notice on or 
before August 26, 2020.
    This new system of records will become applicable upon publication 
in the Federal Register on July 27, 2020. All proposed routine uses in 
the section of the new system of records notice entitled ``ROUTINE USES 
OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND 
PURPOSES OF SUCH USES'' will become applicable on August 26, 2020, 
unless the new system of records notice needs to be changed as a result 
of public comment. The Department will publish any 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 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: Tracy Rimdzius, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. 
Department of Education, Potomac Center Plaza, 550 12th Street SW, Room 
4114-1, 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: Tracy Rimdzius, Institute of Education 
Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Potomac Center Plaza, 550 12th 
Street SW, Room 4114-1, Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: (202) 245-
6940. Email: [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: The information contained in the system will 
be used to conduct a national evaluation of the SRCL program's 
implementation and outcomes and a national evaluation of the 
implementation and effectiveness of the CLSD program.
    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 at www.govinfo.gov. 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.

Mark Schneider,
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 NAME AND NUMBER:
    National Evaluation of the Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy 
and Comprehensive Literacy State Development Programs (18-13-45).

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    Unclassified.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    (1) Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, 
Potomac Center Plaza, 550 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20202.
    (2) American Institutes for Research, 1000 Thomas Jefferson Street 
NW, Washington, DC 20007(contractor).
    (3) National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, 
55 East Monroe Street, 30th Floor, Chicago, IL 60603 (subcontractor).

SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
    Comprehensive Literacy Program Evaluation contracting officer 
representative, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of 
Education, Potomac Center Plaza, 550 12th Street SW, Room 4114-1, 
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), section 1502(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 
as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and section 2225 of 
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every 
Student Succeeds Act (20 U.S.C. 6645).

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
    The information contained in the records maintained in this system 
is used to conduct a national evaluation of the Striving Readers 
Comprehensive Literacy (SRCL) program and the Comprehensive Literacy 
State Development (CLSD) program.
    The study will address the following central research questions: 
How do State grantees implement their SRCL/CLSD program grants? How do 
subgrantees target SRCL/CLSD program awards to schools and early 
learning programs? What literacy interventions and practices are used 
by schools and early learning programs in the SRCL and CLSD programs? 
What are the literacy outcomes for students in SRCL schools and early 
learning programs? What is the impact of the CLSD program on classroom 
reading instruction? What is the impact of the CLSD program on student 
reading outcomes?

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    This system contains records on principals, teachers, and students 
in the schools and early learning programs that are participating in 
the evaluations of the SRCL and CLSD programs. The system contains 
records on approximately 600 school principals,

[[Page 45208]]

3,700 teachers, and 3.7 million students (in grades three to eight and 
one grade in high school) in 413 school districts in the 11 states with 
SRCL program grants. The system contains records on approximately 130 
school principals, 180 teachers, and 1.9 million students (in grades 
three to eight and one grade in high school) in 200 school districts in 
the states with CLSD program grants.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    For teachers, this system includes, but is not limited to, the 
following information: Full name, contact information, background 
characteristics, teaching experience and professional development, 
teaching certification, and descriptions of their reading instruction. 
For principals, this system includes, but is not limited to, the 
following information: Full name, contact information, and years of 
experience. For students, this system includes, but is not limited to, 
the following information: English learner status, gender, race/
ethnicity, grade, eligibility for free/reduced-price lunch, 
individualized education plan status, and standardized English/Language 
Arts and Math test scores.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    Information in this system is obtained from human resource and 
student education records maintained by the school districts; surveys 
of principals and of teachers that are administered by the study team; 
and, observations of reading instruction conducted 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 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 (PII) from student 
education records that is obtained from schools or 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 and the PII contained 
therein.
    (1) Contract Disclosure. The Department may disclose records to 
employees of an entity with which the Department contracts when 
disclosure is necessary for an employee of the entity to perform a 
function pursuant to the Department's contract with the entity. As part 
of such a contract, the Department shall require the contractor to 
agree to establish and maintain safeguards to protect the security and 
confidentiality of the disclosed records. Any contractor or 
subcontractor that either obtains PII contained in student education 
records on behalf of the Department or to which the Department 
discloses PII contained in education records pursuant to this routine 
use shall comply with all applicable FERPA restrictions that apply to 
such PII, including, but not limited to, on the use, redisclosure, and 
destruction of such PII.
    (2) Research Disclosure. The Department may disclose information 
from this system of records to a researcher if an appropriate official 
of the Department determines that the individual or organization to 
which the disclosure would be made is qualified to carry out specific 
research that is compatible with the purpose(s) of this system of 
records. The official may disclose information from this system of 
records to that researcher solely for the purpose of carrying out such 
research related to the purpose(s) of this system of records. The 
researcher must agree to establish and maintain safeguards consistent 
with section 183(c) of the ESRA (20 U.S.C. 9573(c)) to protect the 
security and confidentiality of such records disclosed from this 
system. Researchers to whom the Department discloses PII from student 
education records pursuant to this routine use shall comply with all 
applicable FERPA restrictions that apply to such PII, including, but 
not limited to, on the use, redisclosure, and destruction of such PII.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF RECORDS:
    Records in this system 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. The contractor and subcontractor will be 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 and subcontractor 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 and 
subcontractor's systems 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 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).

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:
    If you wish to request access to your records, you must contact the 
system manager at the address listed above under the section entitled 
``SYSTEM MANAGER(S).'' Your request must provide necessary particulars 
of your

[[Page 45209]]

full name, address, and 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 
set forth 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 under the section entitled ``SYSTEM MANAGER(S).'' Your request 
must meet the requirements of the Department's Privacy Act regulations 
set forth 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 under the section entitled ``SYSTEM MANAGER(S).'' You must 
provide necessary particulars of your full name, address, and 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 set forth in 34 CFR 5b.5, 
including proof of identity.

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    None.

HISTORY:
    None.

[FR Doc. 2020-16201 Filed 7-24-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P