20 U.S.C. § 9573 — Confidentiality

Page 1724 TITLE 20—EDUCATION § 9571 (2) Eligible applicants Activities carried out under this subsection through contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements shall be carried out only by recipi- ents with the ability and capacity to conduct scientifically valid research. (3) Applications An eligible applicant that wishes to receive a grant, or enter into a contract or coopera- tive agreement, under this section shall sub- mit an application to the Director at such time, in such manner, and containing such in- formation as the Director may require. (e) Dissemination The Special Education Research Center shall— (1) synthesize and disseminate, through the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, the findings and results of special education research conducted or supported by the Special Education Research Center; and (2) assist the Director in the preparation of a biennial report, as described in section 9519 of this title. (f) Authorization of appropriations There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part such sums as may be nec- essary for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2010. (Pub. L. 107–279, title I, § 177, as added Pub. L. 108–446, title II, § 201(a)(2), Dec. 3, 2004, 118 Stat. 2800.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, re- ferred to in subsecs. (a)(1) and (c)(3), is title VI of Pub. L. 91–230, Apr. 13, 1970, 84 Stat. 175, which is classified generally to chapter 33 (§ 1400 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see sec- tion 1400 of this title and Tables. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Pub. L. 108–446, title III, § 302(c), Dec. 3, 2004, 118 Stat. 2803, provided that: ‘‘(1) NATIONAL CENTER FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION RE- SEARCH.—Sections 175, 176, and 177 [20 U.S.C. 9567, 9567a, 9567b] (other than section 177(c) [20 U.S.C. 9567b(c)]) of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, as enacted by section 201(a)(2) of this Act, shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 3, 2004]. ‘‘(2) PLAN.—Section 177(c) of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, as enacted by section 201(a)(2) of this Act, shall take effect on October 1, 2005.’’ PART F—GENERAL PROVISIONS Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Pub. L. 108–446, title II, § 201(a)(1), Dec. 3, 2004, 118 Stat. 2799, redesignated part E as F. § 9571. Interagency data sources and formats The Secretary, in consultation with the Direc- tor, shall ensure that the Department and the Institute use common sources of data in stand- ardized formats. (Pub. L. 107–279, title I, § 181, Nov. 5, 2002, 116 Stat. 1971.) § 9572. Prohibitions (a) National database Nothing in this subchapter may be construed to authorize the establishment of a nationwide database of individually identifiable informa- tion on individuals involved in studies or other collections of data under this subchapter. (b) Federal Government and use of Federal funds Nothing in this subchapter may be construed to authorize an officer or employee of the Fed- eral Government to mandate, direct, or control the curriculum, program of instruction, or allo- cation of State or local resources of a State, local educational agency, or school, or to man- date a State, or any subdivision thereof, to spend any funds or incur any costs not provided for under this subchapter. (c) Endorsement of curriculum Notwithstanding any other provision of Fed- eral law, no funds provided under this sub- chapter to the Institute, including any office, board, committee, or center of the Institute, may be used by the Institute to endorse, ap- prove, or sanction any curriculum designed to be used in an elementary school or secondary school. (d) Federally sponsored testing (1) In general Subject to paragraph (2), no funds provided under this subchapter to the Secretary or to the recipient of any award may be used to de- velop, pilot test, field test, implement, admin- ister, or distribute any federally sponsored na- tional test in reading, mathematics, or any other subject, unless specifically and explic- itly authorized by law. (2) Exceptions Subsection (a) shall not apply to inter- national comparative assessments developed under the authority of section 9543(a)(6) of this title or section 9003(a)(6) of this title (as such section was in effect on the day before Novem- ber 5, 2002) and administered to only a rep- resentative sample of pupils in the United States and in foreign nations. (Pub. L. 107–279, title I, § 182, Nov. 5, 2002, 116 Stat. 1971.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Section 9003 of this title, referred to in subsec. (d)(2), was repealed by Pub. L. 107–279, title IV, § 403(1), Nov. 5, 2002, 116 Stat. 1985. § 9573. Confidentiality (a) In general All collection, maintenance, use, and wide dis- semination of data by the Institute, including each office, board, committee, and center of the Institute, shall conform with the requirements of section 552a of title 5, the confidentiality standards of subsection (c) of this section, and sections 1232g and 1232h of this title. Page 1725 TITLE 20—EDUCATION § 9573 (b) Student information The Director shall ensure that all individually identifiable information about students, their academic achievements, their families, and in- formation with respect to individual schools, shall remain confidential in accordance with section 552a of title 5, the confidentiality stand- ards of subsection (c) of this section, and sec- tions 1232g and 1232h of this title. (c) Confidentiality standards (1) In general (A) The Director shall develop and enforce standards designed to protect the confiden- tiality of persons in the collection, reporting, and publication of data under this subchapter. (B) This section shall not be construed to protect the confidentiality of information about institutions, organizations, and agencies that receive grants from, or have contracts or cooperative agreements with, the Federal Gov- ernment. (2) Prohibition No person may— (A) use any individually identifiable infor- mation furnished under this subchapter for any purpose other than a research, statis- tics, or evaluation purpose under this sub- chapter; (B) make any publication whereby the data furnished by any particular person under this subchapter can be identified; or (C) permit anyone other than the individ- uals authorized by the Director to examine the individual reports. (d) Administration (1) In general (A) Disclosure No Federal department, bureau, agency, officer, or employee and no recipient of a Federal grant, contract, or cooperative agreement may, for any reason, require the Director, any Commissioner of a National Education Center, or any other employee of the Institute to disclose individually identi- fiable information that has been collected or retained under this subchapter. (B) Immunity Individually identifiable information col- lected or retained under this subchapter 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. (C) Application This paragraph does not apply to requests for individually identifiable information submitted by or on behalf of the individual identified in the information. (2) Employee or staff violations Whoever, being or having been an employee or staff member of the Department, having taken or subscribed the oath of office, or hav- ing sworn to observe the limitations imposed by subsection (c)(2), knowingly publishes or communicates any individually identifiable information (as defined in paragraph (5)(A)), the disclosure of which is prohibited by sub- section (c)(2), and that comes into such em- ployee or staff’s possession by reason of em- ployment (or otherwise providing services) under this subchapter, shall be found guilty of a class E felony and imprisoned for not more than five years, or fined as specified in section 3571 of title 18, or both. (3) Temporary staff The Director may utilize temporary staff, including employees of Federal, State, or local agencies or instrumentalities (including local educational agencies), and employees of pri- vate organizations to assist the Director in performing the Director’s responsibilities, but only if such temporary staff are sworn to ob- serve the limitations imposed by this section. (4) Information requirements No collection of information or data acquisi- tion activity undertaken by the Director shall be subject to any review, coordination, or ap- proval procedure except as required by the Di- rector of the Office of Management and Budget under the rules and regulations established pursuant to chapter 35 of title 44, except such collection of information or data acquisition activity may be subject to review or coordina- tion if the Director determines that such re- view or coordination is beneficial. (5) Definitions For the purposes of this section— (A) the term ‘‘individually identifiable in- formation’’ means any record, response form, completed survey, or aggregation thereof from which information about par- ticular individuals may be revealed; and (B) the term ‘‘report’’ means a response provided by or about an individual to an in- quiry from the Director and does not include a statistical aggregation from which individ- ually identifiable information cannot be re- vealed. (6) Violations Any person who uses any data provided by the Director, in conjunction with any other in- formation or technique, to identify any indi- vidual student, teacher, administrator, or other individual and who knowingly discloses, publishes, or uses such data for a purpose other than a statistical purpose, or who other- wise violates subparagraph (A) or (B) of sub- section (c)(2), shall be found guilty of a class E felony and imprisoned for not more than five years, or fined as specified in section 3571 of title 18, or both. (7) Access to reports or records Nothing in this section shall restrict the right of the Secretary, the Comptroller Gen- eral of the United States, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, and the Librar- ian of Congress, to gain access to any reports or other records, including information identi- fying individuals, in the Director’s possession, except that the same restrictions on disclo- sure that apply under paragraphs (1) and (6) shall apply to such individuals. Page 1726 TITLE 20—EDUCATION § 9574 1 So in original. Probably means subsection (d)(2). 1 So in original. Probably should be ‘‘subsection’’. (e) Investigation and prosecution of terrorism (1) In general Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b), the Attorney General (or any Federal officer or employee, in a position not lower than an As- sistant Attorney General, designated by the Attorney General) may submit a written ap- plication to a court of competent jurisdiction for an ex parte order requiring the Secretary to permit the Attorney General (or his des- ignee) to— (A) collect reports, records, and informa- tion (including individually identifiable in- formation) in the possession of the Director that are relevant to an authorized investiga- tion or prosecution of an offense listed in section 2332b(g)(5)(B) of title 18 or an act of domestic or international terrorism as de- fined in section 2331 of that title; and (B) for official purposes related to the in- vestigation or prosecution of an offense de- scribed in paragraph (1)(A), retain, dissemi- nate, and use (including as evidence at trial or in other administrative or judicial pro- ceedings) such information, consistent with such guidelines as the Attorney General, after consultation with the Secretary, shall issue to protect confidentiality. (2) Application and approval (A) IN GENERAL.—An application under para- graph (1) shall certify that there are specific and articulable facts giving reason to believe that the information sought is described in paragraph (1)(A). (B) The court shall issue an order described in paragraph (1) if the court finds that the ap- plication for the order includes the certifi- cation described in subparagraph (A). (3) Protection An officer or employee of the Department who, in good faith, produces information in ac- cordance with an order issued under this sub- section does not violate subsection (b)(2) 1 and shall not be liable to any person for that pro- duction. (Pub. L. 107–279, title I, § 183, title IV, § 401(a)(6), Nov. 5, 2002, 116 Stat. 1972, 1983.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Subsecs. (a) to (c) of section 9007 of this title, which were transferred to this section and redesignated sub- secs. (c) to (e) by Pub. L. 107–279, § 401(a)(6), were based on Pub. L. 103–382, title IV, § 408(a) to (c), Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 4034; Pub. L. 107–56, title V, § 508, Oct. 26, 2001, 115 Stat. 368; Pub. L. 107–279, title IV, § 401(a)(1)–(5), Nov. 5, 2002, 116 Stat. 1983. AMENDMENTS 2002—Subsecs. (c) to (e). Pub. L. 107–279, § 401(a)(6), transferred subsecs. (a) to (c) of section 9007 of this title to this section and redesignated them as subsecs. (c) to (e), respectively. See Codification note above. § 9574. Availability of data Subject to section 9573 of this title, data col- lected by the Institute, including any office, board, committee, or center of the Institute, in carrying out the priorities and mission of the Institute, shall be made available to the public, including through use of the Internet. (Pub. L. 107–279, title I, § 184, Nov. 5, 2002, 116 Stat. 1972.) § 9575. Performance management The Director shall ensure that all activities conducted or supported by the Institute or a Na- tional Education Center make customer service a priority. The Director shall ensure a high level of customer satisfaction through the following methods: (1) Establishing and improving feedback mechanisms in order to anticipate customer needs. (2) Disseminating information in a timely fashion and in formats that are easily acces- sible and usable by researchers, practitioners, and the general public. (3) Utilizing the most modern technology and other methods available, including ar- rangements to use data collected electroni- cally by States and local educational agencies, to ensure the efficient collection and timely distribution of information, including data and reports. (4) Establishing and measuring performance against a set of indicators for the quality of data collected, analyzed, and reported. (5) Continuously improving management strategies and practices. (6) Making information available to the pub- lic in an expeditious fashion. (Pub. L. 107–279, title I, § 185, Nov. 5, 2002, 116 Stat. 1972.) § 9576. Authority to publish (a) Publication The Director may prepare and publish (includ- ing through oral presentation) such research, statistics (consistent with part C), and evalua- tion information and reports from any office, board, committee, and center of the Institute, as needed to carry out the priorities and mission of the Institute without the approval of the Sec- retary or any other office of the Department. (b) Advance copies The Director shall provide the Secretary and other relevant offices with an advance copy of any information to be published under this sec- tion before publication. (c) Peer review All research, statistics, and evaluation reports conducted by, or supported through, the Insti- tute shall be subjected to rigorous peer review before being published or otherwise made avail- able to the public. (d) Items not covered Nothing in subsections 1 (a), (b), or (c) shall be construed to apply to— (1) information on current or proposed budg- ets, appropriations, or legislation; (2) information prohibited from disclosure by law or the Constitution, classified national