NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS.

SEC. 3001. NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS. (a) Administration.—Section 406(a) of the General Education Provisions Act (hereinafter in this section referred to as “the Act”) is amended— (1) by inserting “(1)” after “(a)”; (2) in the first sentence of subsection (a) by inserting “National” before “Center”; and (3) by striking all after the first sentence and inserting the following: “The general design and duties of the National Center for Education Statistics shall be to acquire and diffuse among the people of the United States useful statistical information on subjects connected with education (in the most general and comprehensive sense of the word) particularly the retention of students, the assessment of their progress, the financing of institutions of education, financial aid to students, the supply of and demand for teachers and other school personnel, libraries, comparisons of the education of the United States and foreign nations and the means of promoting material, social, and intellectual prosperity through education.”. (b) Commissioner of Education Statistics.—(1) Section 406(a) of the Act is amended by inserting after paragraph (1) (as so designated in subsection (a)) the following new paragraph; “(2)(A) The Center shall be headed by a Commissioner of Education Statistics who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics shall have substantial experience and knowledge of programs encompassed by the National Center The Commissioner shall be-paid in accordance with section 5315 of title 5, United States Code. The Commissioner shall serve for terms of 4 years, except that the initial appointment shall commence June 21, 1991. “(B) There shall be within the Center (i) an Associate Commissioner for Statistical Standards and Methodology who shall be qualified in the field of mathematical statistics or statistical methodology; and (ii) an Associate Commissioner for Data Collection and Dissemination, who shall be an individual who has extensive knowledge of uses of statistics for policy purposes at all levels of American education, and who shall promote the participation of States, localities, and institutions of higher education in designing education statistics programs, encourage widespread dissemination and use of the Center’s data, and promote United States participation in international and regional education statistics. The Commissioner may appoint such other Associate Commissioners as may be necessary and appropriate.”. (2) Section 5315 of title 5 of the United States Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: “Commissioner, National Center for Education Statistics.”. (3) Transition Provision.—During the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on the date that an appointment is made pursuant to section 406(a)(2MA) (as inserted by 102 STAT. 332paragraph (1)), the individual serving as the director of the Center for Education Statistics on the date of the enactment of this Act may serve as acting Commissioner. (c) Advisory Council on Education Statistics.—Section 406(c) of the Act is amended— (1) in the first sentence of paragraph (1) by inserting “public” after “7”; (2) in paragraph (2)— (A) in subparagraph (Bl by striking “and”; (B) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (C) and inserting a comma; and (C) by adding at the end the following subparagraphs: “(D) Commissioner of Education Statistics, and; “(E) Chairman, National Commission on Libraries and Information Science.”; (3) in paragraph (4) by striking “Assistant Secretary” and inserting “Commissioner of Education Statistics”; (4) in paragraph (7) by striking “establishing” and inserting “advising on”; and (5) by adding after paragraph (7) the following new paragraph: “(8) The Commissioner may appoint such other ad hoc advisory committees as the Commissioner considers necessary.” (d) Condition of Education Report.—Section 406(d) of the Act is amended— (1) in paragraph (1)— (A) by striking “Secretary” and inserting “Commissioner”; (B) by adding “and” at the end of subparagraph (B); (C) by striking “; and” at the end of subparagraph (C) and inserting a period; and (D) by striking all of subparagraph (D); (2) by redesignating paragraph “(2)” as paragraph “(3)”; and (3) by adding after paragraph (1) the following new paragraph: “(2) The Secretary shall submit annually a report to the Congress giving information of the State of Education in the Nation. In such report the Secretary shall clearly set forth the Secretary’s views of critical needs in education and the most effective manner in which the nation and the Federal Government may address such needs.”. (e) Authority of Commissioner.—Section 406(e) of the Act is amended by adding at the end the following paragraphs: “(3) In carrying out any authorized responsibilities under this section, the Commissioner may enter into contracts under regular competitive procedures of the Federal Government or other financial arrangements. Contracts or financial arrangements may also include sole source contracts with States, additional institutions, organizations performing international studies, and associations that are nationally representative of a wide variety of States or nonpublic schools. The Commissioner shall submit annually a report to the appropriate committees of the Congress, listing each sole source contract, its purpose, and the reasons why competitive bidding was not feasible in each such instance. “(4) The Commissioner is authorized to prepare and publish such information and documents as may be of value in carrying 102 STAT. 333out the purposes of this section. Periodically, the Commissioner shall issue a regular schedule of publications. “(5) In addition to the condition of education report under subsection (d), the Commissioner is authorized to make special reports on particular subjects whenever required to do so by the President or either House of Congress or when considered appropriate by the Commissioner. “(6) The Commissioner is authorized to use information collected by other offices in the Department of Education and by other executive agencies and to enter into interagency agreements for the collection of statistics for the purposes of this section. The Commissioner is authorized to arrange with any agency, organization, or institution for the collection of statistics for the purposes of this section and may assign employees of the Center to any such agency, organization, or institution to assist in such collection. “(7) The Commissioner is authorized to use the statistical method known as sampling to carry out this section. Data may be collected from States, local educational agencies, schools, libraries, administrators, teachers, students, the general public, and such other individuals, persons, organizations, agencies, and institutions as the Commissioner may consider appropriate. “(8) To assure the technical quality and the coordination of statistical activities of the Department, the Commissioner shall provide technical assistance to Department offices that gather data for statistical purposes. Such assistance may include a review of and advice on data collection plans, survey designs and pretests, the management of data, and the quality of reporting of data. “(9) The Commissioner is authorized to— “(A) select, appoint, and employ such officers and employees as may be necessary to carry out the functions of the Center, subject to the provisions of title 5, United States Code (governing appointments in the competitive service), and the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title (relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates); and “(B) notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, to obtain services as authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, at a rate not to exceed the equivalent daily rate payable for grade GS–18 of the General Schedule under section 5332 of such title.”. (f) Retorts on Education Indicators.—Section 406(g) of the Act is amended— (1) by inserting “(1)” after “(g)”; and (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) (as so designated in para-graph (1) of this section) the following new paragraph: “(2) In addition to other duties of the Commissioner under this section, it shall be the responsibility of the Commissioner to issue regular public reports to the President and Congress on dropout and retention rates, results of education, supply and demand of teachers and school personnel, libraries, financial aid and on such other education indicators as the Commissioner determines to be appropriate.”. (g) Special Study Panel on Education Indicators.—Section 406(g) of the Act is amended by adding after paragraph (2) (as added by subsection (F)) the following new paragraph: 102 STAT. 334 “(3) The Commissioner shall establish a special study panel to make recommendations concerning the determination of education indicators for study and report under paragraph (2). Not more than 18 months after the date of the enactment of the Augustus F. Hawkins-Robert T. Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Amendments of 1988, the Commissioner shall submit the report of the panel to the appropriate committees of the Congress. The panel shall cease to exist 6 months after the date of such submission.”. (h) Dropout and Retention Study and Reports.—Section 406(g) of the Act is amended by adding after paragraph (3) (as added by subsection (g)) the following new paragraph: “(4)(A) The Center shall conduct an annual national survey of dropout and retention rates as an education indicator “(B) The Commissioner shall appoint a special task force to develop and test an effective methodology to accurately measure dropout and retention rates. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Augustus F. Hawkins-Robert T. Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Amendments of 1988, the task force shall submit a report of its recommendations, including procedures for implementation of such recommendations, to the Commissioner and the appropriate committees of the Congress. “(C) On the second Tuesday after Labor Day of 1989 and on each such Tuesday thereafter, the Center shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of the Congress of the dropout and retention rate prevailing on March 30 of each such year.”. (i) Financial Aid Studies.—Section 406(g) of the Act is amended by adding after paragraph (4) (as added by subsection (h)) the following new paragraph: “(5)(A) As of March 30, 1990, and not less than every 3 years thereafter, the Center shall conduct a national study and survey of financial aid in accordance with the provisions of section 1303(c) of the Higher Education Amendments of 1986. The Center shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of the Congress concerning the findings of such study” “(B) Concurrent with each survey, the Center, shall conduct longitudinal studies of freshman and graduating students concerning access, choice, persistence progress, curriculum and attainment. Such studies shall evaluate such students at 3 points over a 6-year interval.”. (j) Decennial Analysis of School Districts.—Section 406(g) of the Act is amended by adding after paragraph (5) (as added by subsection (i)) the following new paragraph: “(6) On April 1, 1993, and every 10 years thereafter, the Center shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of the Congress concerning the social and economic status of children who reside in the areas served by different local educational agencies. Such report shall be based on data collected during the most recent decennial census.”, (k) National Longitudinal Survey.—Section 406(g) of the Act is amended by adding after paragraph (6) (as added by subsection (j)) the following new paragraphs: “(7) The Center shall conduct a study of a statistically relevant sample of students enrolled in elementary and secondary school and postsecondary education training concerning educational progress, intellectual development, and economic 102 STAT. 335prosperity. The study shall collect data on participation in higher education, including enrollment, persistence, and attainment. Such study shall evaluate such students by such criteria at 2-year intervals. As of February 1, 1989, and every 8 years thereafter, the Commissioner shall select a sample of students enrolled in school for this study. “(8) The Center with the assistance of State library agencies, shall develop and support a cooperative system of annual data collection for public libraries. Participation shall be voluntary; however, all States should be encouraged to join the system. Attention should be given to insuring timely, consistent and accurate reporting.”. (l) School Reform Efforts Study.—Section 406(g) of the Act is amended by adding after paragraph (8) (as added by subsection (k)) the following new paragraph: “(9) The National Center for Education Statistics shall conduct a study on the effects of higher standards prompted by school reform efforts on student enrollment and persistence. The study shall examine academic achievement, and graduation rates of low-income, handicapped, limited English proficient, and educationally disadvantaged students.”. (m) Confidential Treatment of Data.—Section 406(d) of the Act is amended by adding after paragraph (3) the following new paragraph: “(4)(A) Except as provided in this section, no person may— “(i) use any individually identifiable information furnished under the provisions of this section for any purpose other than statistical purposes for which it is supplied; “(ii) make any publication whereby the data furnished by any particular person under this section can be identified; or “(iii) permit anyone other than the individuals authorized by the Commissioner to examine the individual reports; or “(B) No department, bureau, agency, officer, or employee of the Government, except the Commissioner of Education Statistics in carrying out the purposes of this section, shall require, for any reason, copies of reports which have been filed under this section with the Center for Education Statistics or retained by any individual respondent. Copies of such reports which have been so retained or filed with the Center or any of its employees or contractors or agents shall be immune from legal process, and shall not, without the consent of the individual concerned, be admitted as evidence or used for any purpose in any action, suit, or other judicial or administrative proceeding. This subsection shall only apply to individually identifiable data (as defined in subparagraph (E)). “(C) Whoever, being or having been an employee or staff member appointed under the authority of the Commissioner or in accordance with this section of the Act, having taken and subscribed the oath of office, or having sworn to observe the limitations imposed by subsection (a), knowingly publishes or communicates any individually identifiable information (as defined in subparagraph (E)), the disclosure of which is prohibited under the provisions of subparagraph (A), and which comes into his or her possession by reason of employment (or other-wise providing services) under the provisions of this section, 102 STAT. 336shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. “(D) The Commissioner may utilize temporary staff, including employees of Federal, State, or local agencies or instrumentalities including local education agencies, and employees of private organizations to assist the Center in performing the work authorized by this section, but only if such temporary staff is sworn to observe the limitations imposed by this section. “(E) No collection of information or data acquisition activity undertaken by the Center shall be subject to any review, coordination or approval procedure except as required by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under the rules and regulations established pursuant to chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code. “(F) For the purposes of this section— “(i) the term ‘individually identifiable information’ means any record, response form, completed survey or aggregation thereof from which information about individual students, teachers, administrators or other individual persons may be revealed; “(ii) the term ‘report’ means a response provided by or about an individual to an inquiry from the Center and does not include a statistical aggregation from which individually identifiable information cannot be revealed; and “(iii) as used in clause (i), the term ‘persons’ does not include States, local educational agencies, or schools.”. (n) Education Information and Data.—Section 406 of the Act is amended— (1) in subsection (e)(i) by striking in the first sentence “of the Office”; (2) by redesignating subsection (h) as subjection (i); (3) by inserting after subsection (g) a new subsection (h): “(h)(1) There is established within the Center a National Cooperative Education Statistics System (hereafter referred to in this subsection as the ‘System’). The purpose of the System is to produce and maintain, with the cooperation of the States, comparable and uniform educational information and data that are useful for policy-making at the Federal, State, and local level. “(2) Each State that desires to participate in the system shall— “(A) first develop with the Center the information and data-gathering requirements that are needed to report on the condition and progress of elementary and secondary education in the United States, such as information and data on— “(i) schools and school districts; “(ii) students and enrollments, including special populations; “(iii) the availability and use of school libraries and their resources; “(iv) teachers, librarians, and school administrators; “(v) the financing of elementary and secondary education; “(vi) student outcomes, including scores on standardized tests and other measures of educational achievement; and “(vii) the progress of education reform in the States and the Nation; and “(B) then enter into an agreement with the Center for that fiscal year to comply with those information and data-gathering requirements. 102 STAT. 337 “(3) To establish and maintain the system, the Commissioner— “(A) shall— “(i) provide technical assistance to the States regarding the collection, maintenance, and use of the System’s data, including the timely dissemination of such data; and “(ii) to the extent possible, implement standard definitions and data collection procedures; and “(B) may— “(i) directly, or through grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts, conduct research, development, demonstration, and evaluation activities that are related to the purposes of the System; and “(ii) prescribe appropriate guidelines to ensure that the statistical activities of the States participating in the System produce data that are uniform, timely, and appropriately accessible.”; (4) in subsection (f)— (A) by inserting “(1)” after “(f)”; and (B) by adding after paragraph (1) the following paragraphs: “(2) The Commissioner may contract with States to carry out subsection (h). Such contracts may not exceed the additional cost to the State— “(A) of meeting the information and data gathering requirements in compliance with such subsection; or “(B) for compliance with related efforts of the National Center for Education Statistics to achieve comparable and uniform data consistent with the purposes of this subsection.”. (o) State Training Program.—Section 406(b)(3) of the Act is amended by adding before the semicolon the following: “(and shall establish a special program to train employees of such State and local agencies in the use of the Center’s standard statistical procedures and concepts and may establish a fellows program to temporarily appoint such employees as fellows at the Center for the purpose of familiarization with the operations of the Center)”. (p) Authorization of Appropriations.— (1) Section 406(f)(1) of the Act (as so redesignated in subsection (m) of this section) is amended to read as follows: “(f)(1) There are authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this section (including salaries and expenses) $42,323,000 for fiscal year 1989, and such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1993.”. (2) Section 405(f)(1) of the Act is amended by striking “and section 406 of this Act”. (q) Conforming Amendments.—The heading of section 406 of the Act is amended to read as follows: “national center for education statistics”.