80 FR 75452 - Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records-Impact Evaluation of Data-Driven Instruction Professional Development for Teachers

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 231 (December 2, 2015)

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act), the Department of Education (Department) publishes this notice of a new system of records entitled ``Impact Evaluation of Data- Driven Instruction Professional Development for Teachers'' (#18-13-39). The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance at the Department's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) awarded a contract in September 2012 to Mathematica Policy Research, Abt Associates, Synergy Enterprises, Evidence-Based Education Research & Evaluation, and Public Consulting Group Education--Focus on Results to provide evidence on the effectiveness of data-driven instruction professional development.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 231 (Wednesday, December 2, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75452-75455]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30526]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records--Impact Evaluation of 
Data-Driven Instruction Professional Development for Teachers

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 (Department) publishes this 
notice of a new system of records entitled ``Impact Evaluation of Data-
Driven Instruction Professional Development for Teachers'' (#18-13-39). 
The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance at 
the Department's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) awarded a 
contract in September 2012 to Mathematica Policy Research, Abt 
Associates, Synergy Enterprises, Evidence-Based Education Research & 
Evaluation, and Public Consulting Group Education--Focus on Results to 
provide evidence on the effectiveness of data-driven instruction 
professional development.

DATES: Submit your comments on this proposed new system of records on 
or before January 4, 2016.
    The Department filed a report describing the new system of records 
covered by this notice with the Chair of the Senate Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Chair of the House 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and the Administrator of 
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) on November 20, 2015. This system of records will 
become effective on the later date of: (1) The expiration of the 40-day 
period for OMB review on January 2, 2016, unless OMB waives 10 days of 
the 40-day review period for compelling reasons shown by the 
Department, or (2) January 4, 2016, unless the system of records needs 
to be changed as a result of public comment or OMB review. The 
Department will publish any changes to the system of records or routine 
uses that result from public comment or OMB review.

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 and the term ``Impact Evaluation of Data-Driven Instruction 
Professional Development for Teachers'' 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 ``Are you new to the site.''
     Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery: If you 
mail or deliver your comments about these proposed priorities, 
requirements, definitions, and selection criterion address them to: Dr. 
Audrey Pendleton, Associate Commissioner, Evaluation Division, National 
Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of 
Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue 
NW., Room 502D, Washington, DC 20208-0001.
    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,

[[Page 75453]]

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 aid, please contact the person listed under 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Audrey Pendleton, Associate 
Commissioner, Evaluation Division, National Center for Education 
Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, 
U.S. Department of Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue NW., Room 502D, 
Washington, DC 20208-0001. Telephone: (202) 208-7078.
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), you may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll 
free, at 1-800-877-8339.
    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 in this section.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Introduction

    The Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4) and (e)(11)) requires the 
Department to publish in the Federal Register this notice of a new 
system of records maintained by the Department. The Department's 
regulations implementing the Privacy Act are contained in part 5b of 
title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
    The Privacy Act applies to any record about an individual that is 
maintained in a system of records from which individually identifying 
information is retrieved by a unique identifier associated with each 
individual, such as a name or Social Security Number (SSN). The 
information about each individual is called a ``record,'' and the 
system, whether manual or computer-based, is called a ``system of 
records.''
    The Privacy Act requires each agency to publish a notice of a 
system of records in the Federal Register and to prepare and send a 
report to OMB whenever the agency publishes a new system of records or 
makes a significant change to an established system of records. Each 
agency is also required to send copies of the report to the Chair of 
the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and 
the Chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. 
These reports are intended to permit an evaluation of the probable 
effect of the proposal on the privacy rights of individuals.
    The system will contain personally identifying information on 
approximately 12,000 students, 500 teachers, and 104 principals from 
104 schools in 12 school districts and will include, but will not 
necessarily be limited to, data on: (1) for students, standardized math 
and English/Language Arts test scores, age, sex, race/ethnicity, grade, 
eligibility for free/reduced-price lunches, English Learner status, 
individualized education plan status, school enrollment dates, 
attendance records, and discipline records, and (2) for principals and 
teachers, individual district identifiers, school assignments, grades 
and subjects taught, and principal and teacher background 
characteristics, including age, sex, race/ethnicity, certifications, 
degrees, years of teaching experience, scores on licensure or 
certification tests.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. Free 
Internet access to the official edition of the Federal Register and the 
Code of Federal Regulations is available via the Federal Digital System 
at: www.thefederalregister.org/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 Adobe 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 23, 2015.
Ruth Curran Neild,
Deputy Director for Policy and Research, Delegated Duties of the 
Director of the 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 NUMBER:
    #18-13-39.

SYSTEM NAME:
    Impact Evaluation of Data-Driven Instruction Professional 
Development for Teachers.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
    None.

SYSTEM LOCATIONS:
    (1) Evaluation Division, National Center for Education Evaluation 
and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences (IES), U.S. 
Department of Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue NW., Room 502D, 
Washington, DC 20208-0001.
    (2) Mathematica Policy Research, P.O. Box 2393, Princeton, NJ 
08543-2393 (contractor).
    (3) Abt Associates, 55 Wheeler Street, Cambridge MA 02138-1168 
(sub-contractor).
    (4) Synergy Enterprises, 8757 Georgia Avenue, Suite 1440, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910 (sub-contractor).
    (5) Evidence-Based Education Research & Evaluation, 34 Washburn 
Avenue, Cambridge, MD 02140 (sub-contractor).
    (6) Public Consulting Group Education--Focus on Results, 148 State 
Street, Boston, MA 02109 (sub-contractor).

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    The system of records will include personally identifying 
information about the students, teachers, and principals who 
participate in the study. The system will contain records on 
approximately 12,000 students, 500 teachers, and 104 principals from 
104 schools in 12 school districts.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    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, individualized education 
plan status, school enrollment dates, attendance records, and 
discipline records. For principals and teachers, this information will 
include, but will not necessarily be limited to, individual district 
identifiers, school assignments, grades and subjects taught, and 
principal and teacher background characteristics, including age, sex, 
race/ethnicity, certifications, degrees, years of teaching experience, 
and scores on licensure or certification tests.

[[Page 75454]]

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    The study is authorized under sections 2121-2123 of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA) (20 U.S.C. 6621-
6623), section 9601 of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 7941), and section 171(b) of 
the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA) (20 U.S.C. 9561).

PURPOSE(S):
    The information contained in the records maintained in this system 
will be used to conduct a rigorous study of the effectiveness of 
providing data-driven instruction professional development to teachers 
and principals.
    The study will address the following central research question: 
What are the impacts of data-driven instruction professional 
development on student achievement, teachers' instructional strategies, 
and school supports for using data? Secondary research questions for 
the study are: How are schools implementing data-driven instruction? 
What challenges do schools face in its implementation?

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE 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 schools or school districts 
must also comply with the requirements of the Family Educational Rights 
and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g; 34 CFR part 99), which protects the 
privacy of student education records.
    Contract Disclosure. If the Department contracts with an entity to 
perform any function that requires disclosing records in this system to 
the contractor's employees, the Department may disclose the records to 
those employees who have received the appropriate level of security 
clearance from the Department. Before entering into such a contract, 
the Department will require the contractor to establish and maintain 
the safeguards required under the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(m)) with 
respect to the records in the system.

DISCLOSURE TO CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES:
    None.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, 
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
    The Department will maintain records on CD-ROM, and the contractor 
and sub-contractors will maintain data for this system on computers and 
in hard copy.

RETRIEVABILITY:
    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.

SAFEGUARDS:
    All physical access to the Department's site and to the site of the 
Department's contractor and sub-contractors, where this system of 
records will be maintained, will be 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.
    The contractor will establish similar procedures at its site to 
ensure confidentiality of data. 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 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 will be also 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 Department's and 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).

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    Records are maintained and disposed of in accordance with the 
Department's Records Disposition Schedules (GRS 23, Item 8).

SYSTEM MANAGER AND ADDRESS:
    Associate Commissioner, Evaluation Division, National Center for 
Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education 
Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue NW., Room 
502D, Washington, DC 20208-0001.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:
    If you wish to determine whether a record exists regarding you in 
the system of records, contact the system manager. Your request must 
meet the requirements of the Department's Privacy Act regulations at 34 
CFR 5b.5, including proof of identity.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURE:
    If you wish to gain access to a record about you in this system of 
records, contact the system manager. Your request must meet the 
requirements of the Department's Privacy Act regulations at 34 CFR 
5b.5, including proof of identity.

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

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    This system will contain records on principals, teachers, and 
students participating in an impact evaluation of data-driven 
instruction professional development. Data will be obtained from human 
resource and student administrative records maintained by the schools 
and school districts, a survey of principals and teachers, and teacher 
activity logs to document teachers' planning and classroom activities 
over four school days.

[[Page 75455]]

EXEMPTIONS CLAIMED FOR THE SYSTEM:
    None.

[FR Doc. 2015-30526 Filed 12-1-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P