SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Department's regulations for Measuring Educational Gain in the National Reporting System for Adult Education, 34 CFR part 462 (NRS regulations) at www.ecfr.gov/​current/​title-34/​subtitle-B/​chapter-IV/​part-462, include the procedures for determining the suitability of tests for use in the NRS.

There is a review process that will begin on October 1, 2026. Only tests submitted from publishers by the due date will be reviewed in that review cycle, 34 CFR 462.10 at www.ecfr.gov/​current/​title-34/​subtitle-B/​chapter-IV/​part-462/​subpart-B/​section-462.10. If a publisher submits a test after October 1, 2026, the test will not be reviewed until the review cycle that begins on October 1, 2026.

Criteria the Secretary Uses: In order for the Secretary to consider a test suitable for use in the NRS, the test must meet the criteria and requirements established in 34 CFR 462.13 at www.ecfr.gov/​current/​title-34/​subtitle-B/​chapter-IV/​part-462/​subpart-B/​section-462.13.

Submission Requirements

(a) In preparing your application, you must comply with the requirements in 34 CFR 462.11 at www.ecfr.gov/​current/​title-34/​subtitle-B/​chapter-IV/​part-462/​subpart-B/​section-462.11.

(b) In accordance with 34 CFR 462.10, the deadline for transmittal of applications in this fiscal year is October 1, 2026.

(c) Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on October 1, 2026. You must retain a copy of your sent email message and the email attachments as proof that you timely submitted your application.

(d) We do not consider applications submitted after the application deadline date to be timely for the October 1, 2026, review cycle. If an application is submitted after the October 1, 2026, deadline date, the application will be considered timely for the October 1, 2027, deadline date.

Accessible Format: On request to the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT , individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an accessible format. The Department will provide the requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file, braille, large print, audiotape, compact disc or other accessible format.

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 Department documents 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 Department documents 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.

Authority:29 U.S.C. 3292.

91 FR 55088