[Federal Register: December 16, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 241)]
[Notices]
[Page 74792-74794]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr16de05-48]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records
AGENCY: Program and Analytic Studies, Policy and Program Studies
Service, 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), 5 United States Code (U.S.C.) 552a, the Department of
Education (Department) publishes this notice of a new system of records
entitled ``Follow Up Evaluation of the Gear Up Program (18-17-02).''
This system will contain information about middle school students who
participated in the GEAR UP program in 2000-01 and a matched comparison
of middle school students who did not participate in the program. The
students' expected high school completion year is 2006 and the follow-
up information will be collected in spring of 2006. This system
consists of the name, address, and social security number of the study
participants as well as demographic information such race/ethnicity and
age; educational background, transcript information, service
participation information, high school graduation, and preliminary
postsecondary enrollment information; and financial aid application and
award. The information will be collected from students and their
parents.
The Department seeks comment on this new system of records
described in this notice, in accordance with the requirements of the
Privacy Act.
DATES: We must receive your comments on the proposed routine uses for
this system of records on or before January 17, 2006.
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 Government Reform, and the Administrator of the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) on December 13, 2005. This system of records will become
effective at the later date of--(1) the expiration of the 40-day period
for OMB review on January 23, 2006 or (2) January 17, 2006, unless the
system of records needs to be changed as a result of public comment or
OMB review.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments about the proposed routine uses of this
system to Dr. David Goodwin, Director, Program and Analytic Studies
Division, Policy and Program Studies Service, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 6W231, Washington, DC 20202.
Telephone: (202) 401-3630.
If you prefer to send your comments through the Internet, use the
following address: Comments@ed.gov.
You must include the term ``Follow Up Evaluation of the Gear Up
Program.'' in the subject line of the electronic message.
During and after the comment period, you may inspect all comments
about this notice in room 6W200, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington,
DC, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Eastern time, Monday
through Friday of each week except Federal holidays.
Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Rulemaking
Record
On request, we supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or print
magnifier, 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 aid, please
contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. David Goodwin. Telephone: (202)
401-3630. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD),
you may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to the contact person listed in the preceding
paragraph.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
The Privacy Act 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 the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) in 34 CFR part
5b.
The Privacy Act applies to a record about an individual that is
maintained in a system of records from which information is retrieved
by a unique identifier associated with each individual, such as a name
or social security number. The information about each individual is
called a ``record'' and the system, whether manual or computer-driven,
is called a ``system of records.'' The Privacy Act requires each agency
to publish a system of records notice in the Federal Register and to
prepare reports to OMB and congressional committees whenever the agency
publishes a new system of records.
Electronic Access to This Document
You may 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) on the Internet at the following site:
http://www.ed.gov/news.fedregister.
To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S.
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in
the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.
Note: 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 on GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html
.
Dated: December 13, 2005.
Tom Luce,
Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development.
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Director, Policy and
Program Studies Service, U.S. Department of Education, publishes a
notice of a new system of records to read as follows:
18-17-02
SYSTEM NAME:
``Follow Up Evaluation of the Gear Up Program''.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
None.
SYSTEM LOCATION:
Program and Analytic Studies Division, Policy and Program Studies
Service, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Room
6W231, Washington, DC 20202.
[[Page 74793]]
CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
This system contains records on middle school students who
participated in the GEAR UP program in 2000-01 and a comparison group
of non-participants from schools matched on socio-demographic
characteristics.
CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
This system consists of the name, address, and social security
number of the study participants as well as demographic information
such as race/ethnicity and age; educational background, transcript
information, service participation information, high school graduation,
and preliminary postsecondary enrollment information; and financial aid
application and award.
AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
20 U.S.C. 1070a-27.
PURPOSE(S):
The information in this system is used for the following purposes:
(1) to contribute to the legislatively mandated GEAR UP program
evaluation; and (2) generally to identify the educational outcomes of
study participants and the extent to which GEAR UP participation is
associated with positive outcomes in comparison to the control group.
ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSE OF SUCH USES:
ROUTINE USE COMPATIBILITY:
(1) Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) Advice Disclosure. The
Department may disclose records to the U.S. Department of Justice and
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) if the Department concludes
that disclosure is desirable or necessary in determining whether the
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requires particular records to be
disclosed.
Under the FOIA, the public has a general right of access to Federal
agency records, except to the extent that such records (or portions of
them) are protected from disclosure by an exemption or an exclusion
that is contained in the FOIA. This routine use is compatible with the
purposes of this system in that the Department can disclose records to
the agencies responsible for the litigation relating to and the
interpretation of the FOIA. These agencies can assist the Department in
determining whether the FOIA requires the disclosure of the records or
whether the records are exempt from disclosure under the FOIA.
(2) Contract Disclosure. If the Department contracts with an entity
for the purposes of performing any function that requires disclosure of
records in this system to employees of the contractor, the Department
may disclose the records to those employees. Before entering into such
a contract, the Department must require the contractor to maintain
Privacy Act safeguards as required under 5 U.S.C. 552a(m) with respect
to the records in the system.
In the course of administering its programs, the Department may
enter into contracts with entities that will perform functions for
these programs. This routine use is compatible with the purposes of the
system to which it applies in that it permits entities with which the
Department contracts to receive the information needed to ensure that
the program is administered efficiently.
(3) Research Disclosure. The Department may disclose 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 related to functions or
purposes of a system of records to which this routine use applies. The
official may disclose records from this system of records to that
researcher solely for the purpose of carrying out that research related
to the functions or purposes of the system of records. The researcher
must maintain Privacy Act safeguards with respect to the disclosed
records. This routine use is compatible with the purpose of this system
of records because it permits the Department to disclose records to
researchers so that the Department can improve the management of the
system and contribute to advancing knowledge regarding the purposes and
objective of the program served by the system.
POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING,
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
Records are on a computer database as well as in hard copy.
RETRIEVABILITY:
The records in this system are indexed by the name of the
individual and/or a number assigned to each individual.
SAFEGUARDS:
All physical access to the Department's site, and the sites of
Department contractors where this system of records is maintained, is
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, Westat, has established a set of procedures to
ensure confidentiality of data. The system ensures that information
identifying individuals is in files physically separated from other
research data. Westat will maintain security of the complete set of all
master data files and documentation. Access to individually
identifiable data will be strictly controlled. All data 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 also be maintained. Security features
that protect project data include password-protected accounts that
authorize users to use the Westat 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; e-mail passwords that
authorize the user to access mail services; and additional security
features that the network administrator establishes for projects as
needed.
RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
Records are maintained and disposed of in accordance with the
Department's ED/RDS Part 3, Items 1, 2 or 3. Design, implementation,
and final reports of the study are permanent records. They are
maintained by the Department for 10 years, and then transferred to the
National Archives and Records Administration. Administrative records of
the study are destroyed 2 years after completion of the project.
SYSTEM MANAGER AND ADDRESS:
Director, Program and Analytic Studies Division, Policy and Program
Studies Service, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue,
SW., room 6W231, Washington, DC 20202.
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 in 34
CFR 5b.5, including proof of identity.
RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURE:
If you wish to gain access to a record regarding you in the system
of records, contact the system manager. Your request must meet the
requirements of
[[Page 74794]]
the Department's Privacy Act regulations in 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 in 34 CFR
5b.7, including proof of identity.
RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
Information in this system is obtained from surveys with students
who were in middle school in 2000-01 and who participated in the GEAR
UP program and from a comparison group of students. Students are to be
surveyed in spring 2006 when normal progression would make them seniors
in high school. Surveys are being conducted as a source of providing
information.
EXEMPTIONS CLAIMED FOR THE SYSTEM:
None.
[FR Doc. E5-7464 Filed 12-15-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P