[Federal Register: October 2, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 190)]
[Notices]
[Page 57930-57932]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02oc06-38]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records--Impact Evaluation of a
School-based Violence Prevention Program
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 ``Impact Evaluation of
a School-based Violence Prevention Program,'' 18-13-15. The purpose of
the impact evaluation is to determine the effectiveness of a violence
prevention program comprised of two violence prevention interventions
for middle schools using a rigorous research design. Currently, there
is lack of rigorous research concerning school-based violence
prevention in middle schools. The Department's contractor, RTI
International (RTI), selected the violence prevention interventions to
be evaluated through an open competition with advisement from a panel
of experts in the field of violence prevention. RTI selected the
Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways (RiPP) and Best Behavior
interventions and combined the two approaches into a single violence
prevention program with two components: (1) A curriculum-based model to
facilitate students' social competency, problem solving, and self-
control skills, and (2) a whole-school model that targets school
practices and policies usually through classroom management or teaching
strategies, or through systemic reorganization and modification of
school management, disciplinary policies, and enforcement procedures.
The RiPP intervention will provide the curriculum-based component of
the program , and the Best Behavior intervention will provide the
whole-school component of the program.
The system will contain information about students, teachers, and
other school staff members in schools that are randomly assigned either
to implement the violence prevention program or not to implement the
program. The sample will consist of approximately 20,000 students and
approximately 3,000 teachers and other school staff members drawn from
approximately 40 schools over 3 years. Each of the 40 schools that
participate in the study will be randomly assigned either to receive
the violence prevention program or not to receive the program so that
approximately 20 schools are in each study condition. At each school,
sixth graders will be surveyed in the 2006-2007 school year, seventh
graders in the 2007-2008 school year, and eighth graders in the 2008-
2009 school year. The teacher survey will be administered to a random
sample of 24 teachers (stratified by grade) at each of the middle
schools participating in the study. Teachers will complete the survey
in spring of 2007, 2008, and 2009, with a new random sample of teachers
selected each year. Other school staff members will be interviewed
about victimization and their experiences implementing the program.
The system of records will include students' names, demographic
information (such as date of birth and race/ethnicity), self-reported
attitudes about violence and feelings of safety, self-reported
victimization, and self-reported violent and delinquent behaviors. The
system also will include information from school records such as
records of students' attendance, suspensions, expulsions, and school
policy violations. The system also will include teachers' and other
school staff members' self-reported victimization at school as well as
their experiences with training and technical assistance related to
their schools' violence prevention efforts.
DATES: The Department seeks comment on the new system of records
described in this notice, in accordance with the requirements of the
Privacy Act. We must receive your comments on the proposed routine uses
for the system of records described in this notice on or before
November 1, 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 Acting Administrator of the
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) on September 27, 2006. This system of records will become
effective at the later date of: (1) The expiration of the 40 day period
for OMB review on November 6, 2006 or (2) November 1, 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 of records to Dr. Ricky Takai, 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) 208-7083. If you prefer to send comments
through the Internet, use the following address: comments@ed.gov.
You must include the term ``Violence Prevention Impact Study'' in
the subject line of the electronic message.
During and after the comment period, you may inspect all comments
about this notice in room 502D, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW., 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 will 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. Ricky Takai. Telephone: (202) 208-
[[Page 57931]]
7083. 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 under this section.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
The Privacy Act 5 U.S.C. 552a 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 information about individuals that
contains individually identifiable information that 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-based, is
called a ``system of records.'' The Privacy Act requires each agency to
publish notices of new or altered systems of records in the Federal
Register and to submit reports to the Administrator of the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, the Chair of the Senate
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and the Chair
of the House Committee on Government Reform, whenever the agency
publishes a new or altered system of records.
Electronic Access to This Document
You may view this document, as well as all other documents of this
Department that are 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 CFR is available on
GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.
Dated: August 15, 2006.
Grover Whitehurst,
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:
18-13-15
SYSTEM NAME:
Impact Evaluation of a School-based Violence Prevention Program.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
None.
SYSTEM LOCATION:
(1) 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.
(2) RTI International, 3040 Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle
Park, NC 12194.
(3) Tanglewood Research, Inc., 7017 Albert Pick Road, Suite D,
Greensboro, NC 27409.
(4) Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE), 1516
Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514.
CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
This system contains records on students, school teachers, and
other school staff members who are participating in the Impact
Evaluation of a School-based Violence Prevention Program. The purpose
of the impact evaluation is to determine the effectiveness of a
violence prevention program for middle schools using a rigorous
research design. Currently, there is lack of rigorous research
concerning school-based violence prevention in middle schools. Through
an open competition with advisement from a panel of experts in the
field of violence prevention, the Department's contractor, RTI,
selected two violence prevention interventions and combined them into a
single program for the purpose of this evaluation. The program has the
following two components: (1) A curriculum-based model to facilitate
students' social competency, problem solving, and self-control skills,
and (2) a whole-school model that targets school practices and policies
usually through classroom management or teaching strategies, or through
systemic reorganization and modification of school management,
disciplinary policies, and enforcement procedures. The RiPP
intervention will provide the curriculum-based component of the program
and the Best Behavior intervention will provide the whole-school
component of the program.
The study sample consists of approximately 20,000 students and
approximately 3,000 teachers and other school staff members drawn from
approximately 40 middle schools over 3 years. Participation of
students, teachers, and other school staff members in the evaluation is
voluntary.
CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
The system includes students' names, demographic information (such
as date of birth and race/ethnicity), self-reported attitudes about
violence and feelings of safety, self-reported victimization, and self-
reported violent and delinquent behaviors. The system also will include
information from school records such as records of students'
attendance, suspensions, expulsions, and school policy violations. The
system also will include teachers' and other staff members' self-
reported victimization at school as well as their experiences with
training and technical assistance related to their schools' violence
prevention efforts.
AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
The evaluation being conducted is authorized under sections
4111(a)(2)(A) and 4122(a) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (ESEA) (20
U.S.C. 7111(a)(2)(A) and 7132(a)), which limits the amount of funds
available for program evaluation to $2,000,000 during each fiscal year.
Implementation of the violence prevention program being evaluated is
authorized under section 4121(a)(2) of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 7131(a)(2)).
The evaluation is also authorized under sections 171(b) and 173 of the
Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA) (20 U.S.C. 9561(b) and
9563).
PURPOSE(S):
The information in this system will be used for the following
purposes: (1) To support an impact evaluation of a violence prevention
program for middle schools; and (2) to provide information for
improvement of programs within the Department's Office of Safe and
Drug-free Schools.
ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSE 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
[[Page 57932]]
without the consent of the individual if the disclosure is compatible
with the purposes for which the record was collected. These disclosures
may be made on a case-by-case basis or, if the Department has complied
with the computer matching requirements of the 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 collections,
reporting and publication of data by the Institute of Education
Sciences (IES).
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 shall 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.
DISCLOSURE TO CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES:
Not applicable to this system notice.
POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING,
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
The Department maintains records on CD-ROM, and the contractor and
subcontractors maintain data for this system on computers and in hard
copy.
RETRIEVABILITY:
Records in this system are indexed by a number assigned to each
student, each teacher or other school staff member that is cross-
referenced by the individual's name on a separate list. A list of names
of the students whose parents have consented to their participation in
the impact evaluation, as well as a list of names of participating
teachers and other school staff members will be entered into a
Microsoft Access database for purposes of tracking over the three years
of the study.
SAFEGUARDS:
All physical access to the Department's site, and the site of the
Department's contractor and subcontractors 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 computer system permits
data access to Department and contract staff only on a ``need to know''
basis, and controls individual users' ability to access and alter
records within the system.
The Department's contractor, RTI, and its subcontractors,
Tanglewood and PIRE, have established a set of procedures to ensure
confidentiality of data. The systems of RTI, Tanglewood, and PIRE
ensure that information identifying individuals is in files physically
separated from other research data. RTI and its subcontractors 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
also will be maintained. Security features that protect project data
include: Password-protected accounts that authorize users to use the
system of records 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. The contractor and
subcontractor employees who maintain (collect, maintain, use, or
disseminate) data in this system must comply with the requirements of
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 in Part 3 (Research Projects
and Management Study Records) and Part 14 (Electronic Records).
SYSTEM MANAGER AND ADDRESS:
Ricky Takai, 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 systems manager. Your request must
meet the requirements of regulations in 34 CFR 5b.5, including proof of
identity.
RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURE:
If you wish to gain access to your record in the system of records,
contact the system manager. Your request must meet the requirements of
regulations 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. Your request must meet
the requirements of regulations in 34 CFR 5b.7, including proof of
identity.
RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
The system includes students' names, demographic information (such
as date of birth and race/ethnicity), self-reported attitudes about
violence and feelings of safety, self-reported victimization, and self-
reported violent and delinquent behaviors. The system also will include
information from school records such as records of students'
attendance, suspensions, expulsions, and school policy violations. The
system also will include teachers' and other school staff members'
self-reported victimization at school as well as their experiences with
training and technical assistance related to the violence prevention
program.
EXEMPTIONS CLAIMED FOR THE SYSTEM:
None.
[FR Doc. E6-16172 Filed 9-29-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P