[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 240 (Thursday, December 15, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76634-76637]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27178]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

[CIS No. 2723-22; DHS Docket No. USCIS-2022-0011]


Trial Testing of Redesigned Naturalization Test for 
Naturalization Applications

AGENCY: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of 
Homeland Security.

ACTION: Notice of trial testing of redesigned naturalization test.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 
Services (USCIS) will conduct a nationwide trial of planned changes to 
the naturalization test. The naturalization test is comprised of the 
civics test that evaluates a knowledge and understanding of the 
fundamentals of U.S. history and of the principles and form of U.S. 
government, as well as tests that evaluate an individual's 
understanding of the English language. USCIS will conduct a trial of 
both a standardized English-speaking test as part of the requirement to 
demonstrate an understanding of the English language and a civics test 
with updated content and format. The trial testing does not include the 
reading or writing portions of the test. USCIS will conduct the trial 
with volunteer community-based organizations (CBOs) that work with 
immigrant English language learners and lawful permanent residents 
(LPRs) preparing for naturalization. Participating in the trial is 
completely voluntary for organizations and students, and any test taken 
during, or as part of, the trial will not affect any naturalization 
application that may be submitted to USCIS during the trial testing 
period. USCIS may use the results to support changes to the 
naturalization test which USCIS would also announce through a different 
Federal Register notice.

DATES: USCIS will conduct an initial virtual engagement to introduce 
the trial testing on January 12, 2023. USCIS will announce additional 
national engagements on the USCIS Citizenship Resource Center available 
at https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship. During these engagements, USCIS 
invites all interested parties to submit written data, views, comments, 
and arguments on all aspects of this trial testing. Comments may also 
be submitted to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Flores, Office of Citizenship, 
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, DHS, 5900 Capital Gateway 
Drive, Camp Springs, MD 20746; telephone 240-721-1940 (this is not a 
toll-free number) or email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Under section 312(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(``the Act''), 8 U.S.C. 1423(a)(1), most applicants seeking to 
naturalize must demonstrate an understanding of the English language 
including an ability to speak, read, and write words in ordinary usage 
(English language requirements). Additionally, under section 312(a)(2) 
of the Act, 8 U.S.C. 1423(a)(2), most applicants seeking to naturalize 
must demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of 
U.S. history and of the principles and form of government in the United 
States (civics requirements). Under 8 CFR 312.1(c) and 312.2(c), an 
applicant for naturalization may satisfy these requirements by passing 
an examination (naturalization test). Certain applicants may be exempt 
from the English language requirements and civics requirements if they 
either meet specific age and time as LPR thresholds, or if they cannot 
comply with the English language requirements or the civics 
requirements, or both, because of a physical or developmental 
disability or mental impairment. See section 312 of the Act, 8 U.S.C. 
1422.
    In 1997, the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform (the Commission) 
recommended that the former Immigration and Naturalization Service 
(INS) \1\ standardize the naturalization testing process. The 
Commission recommended that the naturalization tests be revised to 
better determine if applicants have a meaningful knowledge of U.S. 
history and government and can communicate in English. Also in 1997, 
the Department of Justice (DOJ) began to reengineer the naturalization 
process. For naturalization testing, DOJ determined that the former INS 
should develop a uniform approach to testing, including standard and 
meaningful test content, standardized testing instruments and 
protocols, standard scoring, and standard levels of passing. The former 
INS began to redesign the testing process with a goal of developing a 
new process that would be uniform, fair, and meaningful. On December 
26, 2000,

[[Page 76635]]

former INS issued ``Policy Memorandum No. 73: Standardization of 
Procedures for Testing Naturalization Applicants on English and 
Civics'' to guide the testing procedures for the English and civics 
components of the naturalization test and to announce plans to redesign 
the test.\2\
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    \1\ On March 1, 2003, INS transferred from the Department of 
Justice (DOJ) to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), pursuant 
to the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-296). INS' 
adjudication functions involving naturalization and citizenship 
transferred to USCIS.
    \2\ For a copy of the 2000 memo please see docket USCIS-2022-
0011 on regulations.gov.
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    In 2003, USCIS began redesigning the current naturalization test, 
which was fully implemented in October 2009 and is the test currently 
administered to all naturalization applicants. See Current Testing 
Procedures below for description. At the time, USCIS standardized only 
the reading, writing, and civics tests. The English-speaking test was 
not standardized.\3\
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    \3\ USCIS worked to revise the speaking test as part of this 
initiative, but ultimately decided not to implement it for several 
reasons, including the anticipated cost to provide more translation 
services for naturalization interviews.
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    On November 13, 2020, USCIS announced \4\ a revised civics test.\5\ 
This revised test required applicants to answer 12 out of 20 questions 
correctly (60%) in order to pass and had a bank of 125 questions from 
which to study. USCIS maintained the statutorily established special 
considerations for applicants who are 65 years old or older and have at 
least 20 years of lawful permanent resident status. These applicants 
were required to answer six out of ten questions correctly to pass. In 
February 2021, in response to the public's comments on the 2020 revised 
civics test and in keeping with the Executive Order on Restoring Faith 
in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and 
Inclusion Efforts for New Americans,\6\ USCIS announced that it would 
revert to the previous 2008 version of the test.\7\
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    \4\ See USCIS Announces a Revised Naturalization Civics Test 
(November 13, 2020), available at https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-announces-a-revised-naturalization-civics-test.
    \5\ See also USCIS Memorandum, L. Francis Cissna, Revision of 
the Naturalization Civics Test (May 3, 2019), available at https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/memos/Revision_of_the_Naturalization_Civics_Test_D1_Signed_5-3-19.pdf.
    \6\ See Executive Order 14012 (February 2, 2021), available at 
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-02-05/pdf/2021-02563.pdf.
    \7\ See Policy Alert, Revising Guidance on Naturalization Civics 
Education Requirements (February 22, 2021), available at https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-manual-updates/20210222-CivicsTest.pdf.
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Current Testing Procedures

    Currently, the speaking test is determined by the applicant's 
answers to questions typically asked by an officer during the 
naturalization eligibility interview. The questions asked are taken 
from the Form N-400, Application for Naturalization (Form N-400). 
During the interview, the officer reviews the applicant's responses to 
the questions in the Form N-400 for accuracy. The applicant may respond 
with simple words or phrases.\8\
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    \8\ See USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 12, Citizenship and 
Naturalization, Part E, English and Civics Testing and Exceptions, 
Chapter 2, English and Civics Testing [12 USCIS-PM E.2], available 
at https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-e-chapter-2.
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    There is also an overarching test to evaluate an applicant's 
ability to understand the English language. If the applicant 
understands and responds to questions, directions, or prompts during 
the naturalization interview, then the applicant demonstrates the 
ability to understand English. USCIS officers are required to repeat 
and rephrase questions until they are satisfied that the applicant 
either fully understands the question or does not understand English. 
The applicant is not required to provide a definition of a word or 
phrase found in Form N-400 to establish understanding of the English 
language.\9\
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    \9\ See Scoring Guidelines for the U.S. Naturalization Test 
available at https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/Test_Scoring_Guidelines.pdf (last updated December 14, 2021).
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    USCIS also evaluates a naturalization applicant's ability to 
understand the English language, specifically the ability to read and 
write words in ordinary usage in the English language, through a 
standardized test in which the applicant must read and write, 
respectively, one out of three items correctly to demonstrate the 
ability. An applicant passes the reading test if the applicant reads 
aloud one of the three sentences without extended pauses in a way that 
the applicant can convey the meaning of the sentence and the officer 
can understand the sentence. The applicant passes the writing test if 
the applicant can convey the meaning of one of the three sentences to 
the officer. The applicant can establish the ability to write even if 
the writing sample contains some grammatical, spelling, or 
capitalization errors; omitted short words that do not interfere with 
meaning; or numbers spelled out or written as digits.
    An applicant for naturalization who is required to take the civics 
test must answer six of the ten civics questions correctly to pass the 
test. A USCIS system randomly selects the test questions, and an 
officer administers the test orally. The officer stops the test when 
the applicant correctly answers the minimum number of questions 
required to pass the test. Applicants pass the civics test when they 
provide a correct answer or provide an alternative phrasing of the 
correct answer for six of the ten questions from a test bank of 100 
items.

Revising the Tests and Testing Procedures

    USCIS is developing the trial test for the naturalization test 
redesign in response to feedback that USCIS received from stakeholders 
about the standardization and structure of the naturalization test. 
USCIS is conducting the trial as part of its effort to redesign the 
naturalization test to better ensure that the English-speaking part of 
the English Language requirements is standardized and sufficiently 
tests the ability to understand words in ordinary usage in the English 
language. Further, during the trial testing, USCIS would be assessing 
the understanding of English through the questions or prompts given 
with the speaking test instead of using the interview questions and 
Form N-400. However, in the trial testing, USCIS would not assess the 
understanding of English as part of the reading and writing portions of 
the naturalization test.
    USCIS is not conducting a trial on the current English reading and 
writing tests because these tests are already standardized and USCIS 
believes they sufficiently test the ability to read and write words in 
ordinary usage in the English language, respectively. Furthermore, 
USCIS is conducting the trial to update the civics test content to 
reflect current best practices in test design and to redesign the 
civics test into a multiple-choice format. Once internal and external 
subject matter experts collect, evaluate, and consider all the 
information from the trial, USCIS will finalize a redesigned test and 
notify the public through a subsequent Federal Register Notice.

Naturalization Test Redesign Initiative

    USCIS expects the Naturalization Test Redesign Initiative to take 
approximately two years and be ready for implementation by late 2024. 
The trial test period is expected to run for a five-month period in 
2023. An integral part of the Naturalization Test Redesign Initiative 
is trial testing because it allows USCIS to determine the suitability 
of the new test content and use data to refine test content.
    Before the trial test, USCIS will develop a bank of speaking and 
civics test items. USCIS expects to announce the call for contract bids 
to facilitate a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) by early 2023. The TAG 
will be comprised of external subject matter experts from the field of 
language acquisition, U.S.

[[Page 76636]]

history and civics, and test development who will assist with the 
redesign initiative by reviewing trial test data and making 
recommendations as part of the process for finalizing the bank of 
speaking and civics test items. TAG members may make various 
recommendations about the tests to include language level and content. 
USCIS will make final determinations of which test items will be 
included in the final test bank.
    After the trial test period, the TAG will review the data and 
provide recommendations on suitability of items and a review of 
educational materials for the new test. USCIS will use the 
recommendations and trial test data to develop the final test item 
banks which USCIS would announce through a Federal Register Notice.

Trial Testing

    USCIS will conduct the trial with volunteer CBOs nationwide that 
work with adult English language learners and LPRs preparing for 
naturalization. Students at these organizations will be taking classes 
in English as a second language (ESL) or preparing for the 
naturalization test, or both. Volunteer CBOs must be nonprofits 
conducting ESL or citizenship education classes at the time of the 
trial. Adult students enrolled in classes may choose to participate or 
withdraw from the trial at any time.
    Participating in the civics trial test and the speaking trial test 
is completely voluntary for organizations and students. The trial test 
is not part of an applicant's naturalization application. Therefore, 
tests taken during, or as part of, the trial test will not count as or 
against any of the two chances to pass the naturalization tests for any 
naturalization application that may be submitted to USCIS. Applicants 
who file Form N-400 will continue to take the current naturalization 
test and not the trial test.
    Students will answer questions from three sections during the 
trial: Demographic Information, Speaking Test Items, and Civics Test 
Items. Volunteer adult students will answer the following four 
demographic questions with the help of their instructor:
     National Reporting System (NRS) ESL Level;
     Country of Origin;
     Primary Language Spoken at Home;
     Location; and
     Age Range.
    USCIS will not collect personally identifiable information and will 
use the demographic information only for analysis.

Trial Speaking Test

    As part of the speaking test trial, volunteer students will look at 
three color photographs, which they will be asked to describe. USCIS 
will continue to provide reasonable accommodations for applicants with 
disabilities. Applicants will respond to three color photographs 
randomly selected from a bank of approximately 70 images that directly 
correspond to an ordinary usage scenario, such as daily activities, the 
weather, or food. The bank of images will be developed by selecting 
photographs that clearly depict a scenario.
    The content areas for the types of photographs that would be used 
during the speaking test have been derived from topics and situations 
an English language learner may encounter in everyday life. These 
content areas can be commonly found in adult ESL textbooks and adult 
language assessments.\10\ These content areas are subject to change 
during the trial. After the trial, the image bank will be refined to a 
bank of approximately 40 images for implementation. Applicants will be 
scored on the ability to respond in English using vocabulary and simple 
phrases that are relevant to the image.
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    \10\ For example of content on ESL assessments, see ETS TOEIC 
https://www.ets.org/s/toeic/pdf/examinee-handbook-for-toeic-listening-reading-test-updated.pdf and Center for Applied 
Linguistics Best Plus 2.0 https://www.cal.org/adultspeak/BPslideshow/bestplus.html.
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Trial Civics Test

    During the trial, students will answer ten multiple-choice civics 
questions and select the one best answer from the four choices 
presented. USCIS decided to trial test multiple choice test questions 
to be consistent with the industry standard and best practice and 
increase standardization of test questions. Much of the trial civics 
content will be familiar to adult citizenship students and will be 
similar to the current civics test content. The trial test will also 
contain new test items based on a design framework that includes an 
external review by subject matter experts in the field of test 
development.\11\ Applicants will read civics test items that will be 
displayed on a tablet and choose the one best response from the 
potential answers displayed.
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    \11\ USCIS is developing a statement of work to contract with 
external subject matter experts to form a Technical Advisory Group 
(TAG).
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Volunteer Community-Based Organization Selection

    In 2023, USCIS will ask CBOs to contact the Office of Citizenship 
(OoC) if they wish to participate in the trial testing. CBOs must be 
active in providing ESL or citizenship classes, or both, during the 
trial testing and be designated as a nonprofit under Internal Revenue 
Code section 501(c)(3).
    Instructors at the volunteer CBOs must be willing to incorporate 
USCIS-provided educational handouts on the trial test items in their 
curricula and attend virtual trainings and webinars on the trial 
protocols. Instructors at CBOs will ask their students to volunteer in 
the trial. Students must be enrolled in an ESL or citizenship class at 
the time of the trial. Students may choose to participate or not 
participate in the trial at any time.
    USCIS will seek approximately 1,500 individuals who are enrolled in 
adult education classes as the sample size for the trial test 
consistent with the standard practices in the field of English as a 
second language (ESL) testing.\12\ The trial test is tentatively 
scheduled to take place during a five-month period in 2023. USCIS will 
announce the request for volunteer CBOs on the USCIS Citizenship 
Resource Center available at https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship in the 
months preceding the trial test period. CBOs who are interested in 
volunteering for the trial test may request more information by 
emailing [email protected].
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    \12\ American Educational Research Association, American 
Psychological Association, & The National Council on Measurement in 
Education. Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. 
(Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association, 2014), 
pp 44-45 (Standards 3.8 & 3.9). See https://www.testingstandards.net/uploads/7/6/6/4/76643089/standards_2014edition.pdf.
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Public Engagement

    In advance of obtaining volunteers for the trial testing, USCIS 
will also conduct national engagements for interested CBOs. National 
engagements will be announced on the USCIS Citizenship Resource Center 
available at https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship. These engagements will 
include a review of each step taken in the process and progress of each 
step.
    The first engagement to introduce the trial testing will be held 
virtually on January 12, 2023. Further, throughout the trial testing 
and redesign period, USCIS will conduct several in-person engagements 
in conjunction with scheduled adult citizenship education trainings and 
virtual stakeholder engagements every quarter.\13\
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    \13\ See USCIS Upcoming Teacher Trainings available at https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/resources-for-educational-programs/register-for-training.

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    During these engagements, USCIS invites all interested parties to 
submit written data, views, comments, and arguments on all aspects of 
this trial testing. Comments may also be submitted to 
[email protected]. Comments must be submitted in English, or 
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an English translation must be provided.

Ur M. Jaddou,
Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of 
Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2022-27178 Filed 12-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-97-P