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[Federal Register: October 26, 2011 (Volume 76, Number 207)]
[Proposed Rules]               
[Page 66248-66249]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26oc11-27]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Chapter VI

 
Negotiated Rulemaking Committee, Negotiator Nominations and 
Schedule of Committee Meetings--Teacher Preparation and TEACH Grant 
Programs

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.

ACTION: Intent to establish negotiated rulemaking committees.

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SUMMARY: We announce our intention to establish a negotiated rulemaking 
committee to prepare proposed regulations under Title II and Title IV 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). The committee 
will include representatives of organizations or groups with interests 
that are significantly affected by the topics proposed for negotiation. 
We request nominations for individual negotiators who represent key 
stakeholder constituencies for the issues to be negotiated to serve on 
the committee and we set a schedule for committee meetings.

DATES: We must receive your nominations for negotiators to serve on the 
committee on or before November 25, 2011. The dates, times, and 
locations of the committee meetings are set out in the Schedule for 
Negotiations section under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, below.

ADDRESSES: Please send your nominations for negotiators to Wendy 
Macias, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., room 8017, 
Washington, DC 20006, or by fax at (202) 502-7874. You may also e-mail 
your nominations to Wendy.Macias@ed.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about the content of 
this notice, including information about the negotiated rulemaking 
process or the nomination submission process, contact: Wendy Macias, 
U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., room 8017, 
Washington, DC 20006. Telephone: (202) 502-7526. You may also e-mail 
your questions about the nomination submission process to: 
Wendy.Macias@ed.gov.

    Note:  For general information about the negotiated rulemaking 
process, see The Negotiated Rulemaking Process for Title IV 
Regulations, Frequently Asked Questions at http://www.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/hea08/neg-reg-faq.html.

    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the 
Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 5, 2011, we published a notice in the 
Federal Register (76 FR 25650) announcing our intent to establish one 
or more negotiated rulemaking committees to develop proposed 
regulations under the HEA. In addition, we announced our intent to 
develop these proposed regulations by following the negotiated 
rulemaking procedures in Section 492 of the HEA.
    The notice also announced a series of three regional hearings at 
which interested parties could comment on the topics suggested by the 
Department and suggest additional topics for consideration for action 
by the negotiating committees. We also held four public roundtable 
discussions to complement the regional hearings. The hearings and 
roundtables were held in: Nashville, Tennessee (roundtable only); 
Tacoma, Washington; Chicago, Illinois; and Charleston, South Carolina. 
We invited parties to comment and submit topics for consideration in 
writing as well. (Transcripts from the regional hearings can be found 
at http://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2011/hearings.html. Written comments may be viewed through the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Instructions for 
finding comments are available on the site under ``How to Use 
Regulations.gov'' in the Help section. Individuals can enter docket ID 
ED-2011-OPE-0003 in the ``Enter Keyword or ID'' search box to locate 
the appropriate docket.) Regulatory Issues: After consideration of the 
information received at the regional hearings, in the roundtable 
discussions, and in writing, we have decided to establish a negotiating 
committee to address teacher preparation program issues in Title II of 
the HEA and in the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher 
Education (TEACH) Grant Program authorized by Title IV of the HEA.
    We list the topics the committee is likely to address in the 
Committee Topics section, below.
    We intend to select negotiators for the committee who represent the 
interests significantly affected by the topics proposed for 
negotiations. In so doing, we will follow the requirement in Section 
492(b)(1) of the HEA that the individuals selected must have 
demonstrated expertise or experience in the relevant subjects under 
negotiation. We will also select individual negotiators who reflect the 
diversity among program participants, in accordance with Section 
492(b)(1) of the HEA. Our goal is to establish a committee that will 
allow significantly affected parties to be represented while keeping 
the committee size manageable.
    The committee may create subgroups on particular topics that may 
involve additional individuals who are not members of the committee. 
Individuals who are not selected as members of the committee will be 
able to attend the meetings, have access to the individuals 
representing their constituencies, and participate in informal working 
groups on various issues between the meetings. The committee meetings 
will be open to the public.
    The Department has identified the following constituencies as 
having interests that are significantly affected by the topics proposed 
for negotiations. The Department plans to seat as negotiators 
individuals from organizations or groups representing these 
constituencies:
     Postsecondary students, including legal assistance 
organizations that represent students.
     Teachers.

[[Page 66249]]

     Financial aid administrators at postsecondary 
institutions.
     Business officers and bursars at postsecondary 
institutions.
     Admissions officers at postsecondary institutions.
     State officials, including officials with teacher 
preparation program approval agencies, State teacher licensing boards, 
higher education executive officers, chief State school officers, State 
attorneys general, and State data system administrators.
     Institutions that offer teacher preparation programs, 
including schools of education.
    [cir] Institutions of higher education eligible to receive Federal 
assistance under Title III, Parts A, B, and F, and Title V of the HEA, 
which include Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-
Serving Institutions, American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and 
Universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions, 
Predominantly Black Institutions, and other institutions with a 
substantial enrollment of needy students as defined in Title III of the 
HEA.
    [cir] Two-year public institutions of higher education.
    [cir] Four-year public institutions of higher education.
    [cir] Private, non-profit institutions of higher education.
    [cir] Private, for-profit institutions of higher education.
     Operators of programs for alternative routes to teacher 
certification.
     Accrediting agencies.
     Students enrolled in elementary and secondary education, 
including parents of students enrolled in elementary and secondary 
education.
     School and local educational agency officials, including 
those responsible for hiring teachers and evaluating teacher 
performance.
    The goal of the committee is to develop high-quality proposed 
regulations that reflect a final consensus of the committee. Consensus 
means that there is no dissent by any member of the negotiating 
committee, including the committee member representing the Department. 
An individual selected as a negotiator will be expected to represent 
the interests of their organization or group. If consensus is reached, 
all members of the organization or group represented by a negotiator 
are bound by the consensus and are prohibited from commenting 
negatively on the resulting proposed regulations. The Department will 
not consider any such negative comments that are submitted by members 
of such an organization or group.

Nominations

    Nominations should include:
     The name of the nominee, the organization or group the 
nominee represents, and a description of the interests that the nominee 
represents.
     Evidence of the nominee's expertise or experience in the 
subject, or subjects, to be negotiated.
     Evidence of support from individuals or groups of the 
constituency that the nominee will represent.
     The nominee's commitment that he or she will actively 
participate in good faith in the development of the proposed 
regulations.
     The nominee's contact information, including address, 
phone number, fax number, and e-mail address.
    For a better understanding of the negotiated rulemaking process, 
nominees should review The Negotiated Rulemaking Process for Title IV 
Regulations, Frequently Asked Questions at http://www.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/hea08/neg-reg-faq.html prior to committing 
to serve as a negotiator.
    Nominees will be notified whether or not they have been selected as 
negotiators as soon as the Department's review process is completed.

Committee Topics

    The topics the committee is likely to address are as follows:
     The requirements for institutional and program report 
cards on the quality of teacher preparation (Section 205(a) of the 
HEA);
     The requirements for State report cards on the quality of 
teacher preparation (Section 205(b) of the HEA);
     The standards to ensure reliability, validity, and 
accuracy of the data submitted in report cards on the quality of 
teacher preparation (Section 205(c) of the HEA);
     The criteria used by States to assess the performance of 
teacher preparation programs at higher education institutions in the 
State, the identification of low-performing programs (Section 207(a) of 
the HEA), and the consequences of a State's termination of eligibility 
of a program (Section 207(b) of the HEA);
     The definition of the term ``high quality teacher 
preparation program'' for the purpose of establishing the eligibility 
of an institution to participate in the TEACH Grant program (Section 
420L(1) of the HEA);
     The definition of the term ``high quality professional 
development services'' for the purpose of establishing the eligibility 
of an institution to participate in the TEACH Grant program (Section 
420L(1) of the HEA); and
     The service and repayment obligations for the TEACH Grant 
Program (Subpart E of 34 CFR 686).
    These topics are tentative. Topics may be added or removed as the 
process continues.

Schedule for Negotiations

    The committee will meet for three sessions on the following dates:
    Session 1: January 18-20, 2012.
    Session 2: February 27-29, 2012.
    Session 3: April 3-5, 2012.
    The first and second day of each session will begin at 9 a.m. and 
end around 5 p.m. The final day of each session will begin at 9 a.m. 
and end at 12 p.m.
    The meetings will be held at the U.S. Department of Education at: 
1990 K Street, NW., Eighth Floor Conference Center, Washington, DC 
20006.
    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, 
audiotape, or compact disc) by contacting the contact person under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Electronic Access to This Document: 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 via the Federal Digital System 
at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you can 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). To 
use PDF, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at 
this site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at http://www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1021 et seq., 1070g et seq., 1098a.

    Dated: October 21, 2011.
Eduardo M. Ochoa,
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2011-27719 Filed 10-25-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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