4000-01-U
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Tests Determined to Be Suitable for Use in the National
Reporting System for Adult Education
AGENCY:

Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education,

Department of Education.
ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Secretary announces tests, test forms, and

delivery formats that the Secretary determines to be
suitable for use in the National Reporting System for Adult
Education (NRS).

This notice relates to the approved

information collections under OMB control numbers 1830-0027
and 1830-0567.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

John LeMaster, Department

of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington DC 20202.
Telephone:

202-987-0903.

Email:

John.LeMaster@ed.gov.

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech
disability and wish to access telecommunications relay
services, please dial 7-1-1.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
On January 14, 2008, we published in the Federal
Register final regulations for 34 CFR part 462, Measuring
Educational Gain in the National Reporting System for Adult
Education (73 FR 2305, January 14, 2008, as amended at 81
FR 55552, August 19, 2016) (NRS regulations).

The NRS

regulations established the process the Secretary uses to

determine the suitability of tests for use in the NRS by
States and local eligible providers.

We annually publish

in the Federal Register, and post on the internet at
www.nrsweb.org, a list of the names of tests and the
educational functioning levels the tests are suitable to
measure in the NRS as required by § 462.12(c)(2).
On August 7, 2020, the Secretary published in the
Federal Register (85 FR 47952) an annual notice
consolidating information from previous notices that
announced tests determined to be suitable for use in the
NRS, in accordance with § 462.13 (August 2020 annual
notice).

Also, in the August 2020 annual notice, the

Secretary announced that English as a Second Language (ESL)
tests and test forms approved for an extended period
through February 2, 2021, are approved for an additional
extended period through February 2, 2023, and that an Adult
Basic Education (ABE) test and test forms previously
approved for a three-year period through March 7, 2021, are
approved for an extended period through March 7, 2023.
On December 6, 2021, the Secretary published in the
Federal Register (86 FR 69021), an annual notice with the
same list of approved tests and test forms as was published
in the August 2020 annual notice.
On September 23, 2022, the Secretary published in the
Federal Register (87 FR 58078) an annual notice announcing
that ESL tests and test forms previously approved for an

extended period through February 2, 2023, were approved for
an additional extended period through February 2, 2024, and
that an ABE test and test forms previously approved for an
extended period through March 7, 2023, were approved for an
additional extended period through March 7, 2024.
On July 13, 2023, the Secretary published in the
Federal Register (88 FR 44784) an annual notice announcing
new tests that were determined to be suitable for use in
the NRS, in accordance with § 462.13 (July 2023 annual
notice).

Three tests measured the NRS educational

functioning levels for ABE at the ABE levels specified in
the July 2023 annual notice, and four tests measured the
new NRS educational functioning levels for ESL at the ESL
levels specified in the July 2023 annual notice.

With the

Secretary’s approval of the new ESL tests in the July 2023
annual notice, the new educational functioning levels for
ESL described in Appendix A of Measures and Methods for the
National Reporting System for Adult Education (OMB Control
Number:

1830-0027) were implemented.

In the July 2023

annual notice, the Secretary announced that ESL tests with
NRS approvals expiring on February 2, 2024, may be used in
the NRS during a sunset period ending on June 30, 2024.
On August 24, 2023, the Secretary published a notice
in the Federal Register (88 FR 57949) correcting the name
of one test listed in the July 2023 annual notice.

All

other information in the July 2023 annual notice remained

the same.
On March 18, 2024, the Secretary published in the
Federal Register (89 FR 19307) a notice announcing that the
sunset period for ESL tests scheduled to sunset on June 30,
2024, is extended through June 30, 2025.

This extension of

the sunset period will allow States sufficient time for the
operational activities required for the transition to the
new ESL assessments identified in the July 2023 annual
notice.
The ESL educational functioning level descriptors to
which the ESL tests with expiring NRS approvals are aligned
and that were scheduled to be retired on June 30, 2024, are
extended through June 30, 2025.

Until that time, both the

current ESL educational functioning level descriptors and
the new ESL educational functioning level descriptors will
be in effect.

States must use an ESL assessment that is

aligned to the appropriate ESL educational functioning
level descriptors.
In this notice, the Secretary announces two new tests
and test forms that have been determined to be suitable for
use in the NRS, in accordance with § 462.13.

The tests

measure the NRS educational functioning levels at all ABE
and ESL levels, as described in Appendix A of Measures and
Methods for the National Reporting System for Adult
Education (OMB Control Number 1830–0027).

These tests and

their test forms are approved for a period of three years

from the publication date of this notice.

A three-year

approval is issued with a set of conditions that must be
met by the completion of the three-year time period.

If

these conditions are met, the test would be approved for
continued use in the NRS.
This notice also updates the delivery formats
available for two tests with a three-year approval
announced in the July 2023 annual notice and approved for
use until July 13, 2026.
Under the transition rules in § 462.4, the Secretary
also announces in this notice a test with NRS approval
expiring on September 7, 2024, which States and local
eligible providers may continue to use during a sunset
period ending on June 30, 2025.
Adult education programs must use only the forms and
computer-based delivery formats for the tests approved in
this notice.

If a particular test form or computer

delivery format is not explicitly specified for a test in
this notice, it is not approved to measure educational gain
in the NRS.
Tests Determined to be Suitable for Use in the NRS for a
Three-Year Period from the Publication Date of this Notice:
The Secretary has determined that the following test
is suitable for use in Literacy/English Language Arts and
Mathematics at all ABE levels of the NRS for a period of
three years from the publication date of this notice:

Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE 13/14).

Forms 13

and 14 are approved for use on paper and through a
computer-based delivery format.

Publisher: Data

Recognition Corporation—CTB, 13490 Bass Lake Road, Maple
Grove, MN 55311.

Telephone: 800–538–9547.

Internet:

www.tabetest.com.
The Secretary has determined that the following tests
are suitable for use at all ESL levels of the NRS for a
period of three years from the publication date of this
notice:
Tests of Adult Basic Education Complete Language
Assessment System-English (TABE/CLAS-E).

Forms C and D are

approved for use on paper and through a computer-based
delivery format.

Publisher:

Data Recognition Corporation—

CTB, 13490 Bass Lake Road, Maple Grove, MN 55311.
Telephone: (800) 538-9547.

Internet: www.tabetest.com.

Tests Determined to be Suitable for use in the NRS for a
Three-Year Period from the Publication Date of the Original
Notice in Which They Were Announced:
The Secretary has determined that the following test
is suitable for use in Mathematics at all ABE levels of the
NRS until July 13, 2026:
ACT WorkKeys Applied Math.

Forms 014, 015, 016, and

017 are approved for use through a computer-based delivery
format.

Publisher:

ACT, 500 ACT Drive, Iowa City, Iowa

52243-0168.

Telephone:

(319) 337-1270.

Internet:

www.act.org.
The Secretary has determined that the following test
is suitable for use in Literacy/English Language Arts at
ABE levels 2 through 6 of the NRS until July 13, 2026:
ACT WorkKeys Workplace Documents.

Forms 018, 019,

020, and 021 are approved for use through a computer-based
delivery format.

Publisher:

City, Iowa 52243-0168.
Internet:

ACT, 500 ACT Drive, Iowa

Telephone:

(319) 337-1270.

www.act.org.

Test with NRS Approval Expiring on September 7, 2024, That
May Be Used in the NRS During a Sunset Period Ending on
June 30, 2025:
The Secretary has determined that the following test
is suitable for use in Literacy/English Language Arts and
Mathematics at all ABE levels of the NRS during a sunset
period ending on June 30, 2025:
Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE 11/12).

Forms 11

and 12 are approved for use on paper and through a
computer-based delivery format.

Publisher:

Data

Recognition Corporation—CTB, 13490 Bass Lake Road, Maple
Grove, MN 55311.

Telephone: 800-538-9547.

Internet:

www.tabetest.com.
Revocation of Tests:
Under certain circumstances—i.e., a determination by
the Secretary either that the information the publisher

submitted as a basis for the Secretary's review of the test
was inaccurate or that a test has been substantially
revised—the Secretary may revoke the determination that a
test is suitable after following the procedures in §
462.12(e).

If the Secretary revokes the determination of

suitability, the Secretary announces the revocation, as
well as the date by which States and local eligible
providers must stop using the revoked test, through a
notice published in the Federal Register and posted on the
internet at www.nrsweb.org.
Accessible Format:

On request to the program contact

person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT,
individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in
an accessible format.

The Department will provide the

requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich
Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an
MP3 file, braille, large print, audiotape, compact disc, or
other accessible format.
Electronic Access to This Document:

The official version

of this document is the document published in the Federal
Register.

You may access the official edition of the

Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations at
www.govinfo.gov.

At this site you can view this document,

as well as all other Department documents published in the
Federal Register, in text or Portable Document Format
(PDF).

To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader,

which is available free at the site.
You may also access Department documents published in
the Federal Register by using the article search feature at
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:

29 U.S.C. 3292.

Amy Loyd,
Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult
Education.
[FR Doc. 2024-13426 Filed: 6/18/2024 8:45 am; Publication Date: 6/20/2024]