H. R. 6—514
Center for Education Statistics (hereafter in this title referred to
as the ‘‘Center’’).
(b) COMMISSIONER AND ASSOCIATE COMMISSIONERS.—
(1) COMMISSIONER.—The Center shall be headed by a
Commissioner of Education Statistics (hereafter in this title
referred to as the ‘‘Commissioner’’) who shall be appointed
by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, and who shall—
(A) have substantial knowledge of programs assisted
by the Center;
(B) be paid in accordance with section 5315 of title
5, United States Code; and
(C) serve for a term of four years, with the terms
to expire every fourth June 21, beginning in 1995.
(2) ASSOCIATE
COMMISSIONERS.—The Commissioner may
appoint such Associate Commissioners as the Commissioner
determines are necessary and appropriate.
SEC. 404. DUTIES OF THE CENTER.
(a) DUTIES.—The duties of the Center are to collect, analyze,
and disseminate statistics and other information related to edu-
cation in the United States and in other nations, including—
(1) collecting, acquiring, compiling (where appropriate, on
a State by State basis), and disseminating full and complete
statistics on the condition and progress of education, at the
preschool, elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels in
the United States, including data on—
(A) State and local education reform activities;
(B) student achievement at all levels of education;
(C) secondary school completions, dropouts, and adult
literacy;
(D) educational access to and opportunity for post-
secondary education, including data on financial aid to
postsecondary students;
(E) teaching, including data on course-taking, instruc-
tion, the conditions of the education workplace, and the
supply of, and demand for, teachers, which may include
data on the proportions of women and men, cross-tabulated
by race or ethnicity, teaching in subjects in which such
individuals have been historically underrepresented;
(F) the learning and teaching environment, including
data on libraries;
(G) the incidence, frequency, seriousness, and nature
of violence affecting students, school personnel, and other
individuals participating in school activities, as well as
other indices of school safety;
(H) the financing and management of education,
including data on revenues and expenditures; and
(I) the social and economic status of children;
(2) conducting and publishing reports and analyses of the
meaning and significance of such statistics;
(3) conducting longitudinal studies, as well as regular and
special surveys and data collections, necessary to report on
the condition and progress of education;
(4) collecting, analyzing, cross-tabulating, and reporting,
to the extent feasible, so as to provide information by gender,
race, socioeconomic status, limited-English proficiency, and
H. R. 6—515
other population characteristics when such disaggregated
information 
would 
facilitate 
educational 
and 
policy
decisionmaking;
(5) assisting public and private educational agencies,
organizations, and institutions in improving and automating
statistical and data collection activities; and
(6) acquiring and disseminating data on educational activi-
ties and student achievement in the United States compared
with foreign nations.
(b) TRAINING PROGRAM.—The Commissioner may establish a
program to train employees of public and private educational agen-
cies, organizations, and institutions in the use of the Center’s stand-
ard statistical procedures and concepts and may establish a fellows
program to appoint such employees as temporary fellows at the
Center in order to assist the Center in carrying out its duties.
SEC. 405. PERFORMANCE OF DUTIES.
(a) GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the Commissioner’s duties
under this title, the Commissioner may award grants, and
enter into contracts and cooperative agreements.
(2) DURATION.—Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, the grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements under
this section may be awarded, on a competitive basis, for a
period of not more than five years, and may be renewed at
the discretion of the Commissioner for an additional period
of not more than five years.
(b) GATHERING INFORMATION.—
(1) SAMPLING.—The Commissioner may use the statistical
method known as sampling to carry out the purpose of this
title.
(2) SOURCE OF INFORMATION.—The Commissioner may, as
the Commissioner considers appropriate, use information
collected—
(A) from States, local educational agencies, public and
private schools, preschools, institutions of higher education,
libraries, administrators, teachers, students, the general
public, and such other individuals, organizations, agencies,
and institutions as the Commissioner may consider appro-
priate; and
(B) 
by 
other 
offices 
within 
the 
Department
and 
by 
other 
Federal 
departments, 
agencies, 
and
instrumentalities.
(3) COLLECTION.—The Commissioner may—
(A) enter into interagency agreements for the collection
of statistics;
(B) arrange with any agency, organization, or institu-
tion for the collection of statistics; and
(C) assign employees of the Center to any such agency,
organization, or institution to assist in such collection.
(4) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND COORDINATION.—In order
to maximize the effectiveness of Federal efforts to serve the
educational needs of children and youth, the Commissioner
shall—
(A) provide technical assistance to Department offices
that gather data for statistical purposes; and
H. R. 6—516
(B) coordinate closely with other Department offices
in the collection of data.
SEC. 406. REPORTS.
(a) REPORT ON THE CONDITION AND PROGRESS OF EDUCATION.—
The Commissioner shall, not later than June 1, 1995, and each
succeeding June 1 thereafter, submit to the President and the
Congress a statistical report on the condition and progress of edu-
cation in the United States.
(b) STATISTICAL REPORTS.—The Commissioner shall issue regu-
lar statistical reports to the President and Congress on such edu-
cation topics as the Commissioner determines to be appropriate.
(c) SPECIAL REPORTS.—The Commissioner may, whenever the
Commissioner considers it appropriate, issue special reports on
particular education topics.
SEC. 407. ADVISORY COUNCIL ON EDUCATION STATISTICS.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established, within the Center,
the Advisory Council on Education Statistics (hereafter in this
title referred to as the ‘‘Council’’).
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—
(1) COMPOSITION.—The Council shall be composed of—
(A) 18 voting members who are users of education
data and who are appointed by the Secretary on the basis
of their experience and eminence within the field of edu-
cation, of whom at least—
(i) three shall be practicing educators;
(ii) three shall be education policymakers;
(iii) three shall be professional statisticians;
(iv) three shall be education researchers; and
(v) 
three 
shall 
be 
experts 
in 
educational
measurement;
(B) three individuals representing the general public,
appointed by the Secretary;
(C) the Director of the Census and the Commissioner
of Labor Statistics, as voting, ex officio members; and
(D) the Assistant Secretary and the Commissioner,
as nonvoting, ex officio members.
(2) PRESIDING OFFICER.—The Commissioner shall appoint
the presiding officer of the Council from among the voting
members of the Council.
(3) TERMS.—Members of the Council appointed under para-
graph (1)(A) shall be appointed for three-year terms except
that, in the case of initial appointments, the Secretary shall
make appointments for shorter terms to the extent necessary
to avoid the expiration of the terms of more than six members
in the same calendar year.
(4) MEETINGS.—(A) The Council shall meet in public session
at the call of the presiding officer, except that the Council
shall meet—
(i) at least two times during each calendar year; and
(ii) in addition, whenever ten voting members request
in writing that the presiding officer call a meeting.
(B) Eleven voting members of the Council shall constitute
a quorum.
(5) SPECIAL RULE.—The Council shall—
(A) review general policies for the operation of the
Center and shall advise the Commissioner on standards
H. R. 6—517
to ensure that statistics and other information dissemi-
nated by the Center are of high quality and are not subject
to partisan political influence; and
(B) advise the Commissioner and the National Assess-
ment Governing Board on technical and statistical matters
related to the National Assessment of Educational
Progress.
(6) STAFF.—The Council shall appoint a staff of not more
than six individuals with technical expertise to enable the
Council to carry out its duties.
SEC. 408. CONFIDENTIALITY.
(a) CONFIDENTIALITY STANDARDS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—(A) The Center shall develop and enforce
standards designed to protect the confidentiality of persons
in the collection, reporting, and publication of data under this
title.
(B) This section shall not be construed to protect the con-
fidentiality of information about institutions, organizations, and
agencies that receive grants from, or have contracts or coopera-
tive agreements with, the Federal Government.
(2) PROHIBITION.—No person may—
(A) use any individually identifiable information fur-
nished under this title for any purpose other than a statis-
tical purpose;
(B) make any publication whereby the data furnished
by any particular person under this title can be identified;
or
(C) permit anyone other than the individuals author-
ized by the Commissioner to examine the individual
reports.
(b) ADMINISTRATION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—No department, bureau, agency, officer,
or employee of the Federal Government, except the Commis-
sioner in carrying out the purposes of this title, shall require,
for any reason, copies of reports that have been filed under
this title with the Center or retained by any individual respond-
ent. Copies of such reports that have been so filed or retained
with the Center or any of the Center’s employees, 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 paragraph
shall apply only to individually identifiable information (as
defined in paragraph (5)(A)).
(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 having sworn
to observe the limitations imposed by subsection (a)(2), know-
ingly publishes or communicates any individually identifiable
information (as defined in paragraph (5)(A)), the disclosure
of which is prohibited by subsection (a)(2), and that comes
into such employee or staff’s possession by reason of employ-
ment (or otherwise providing services) under this title, 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, United States Code, or both.