[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 34, Volume 3]
[Revised as of July 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 34CFR668.145]

[Page 515-516]
 
                           TITLE 34--EDUCATION
 
                         DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
 
PART 668--STUDENT ASSISTANCE GENERAL PROVISIONS--Table of Contents
 
 Subpart J--Approval of Independently Administered Tests; Specification 
               of Passing Score; Approval of State Process
 
Sec. 668.145  Test approval procedures.

    Except as provided in Sec. 668.143--
    (a)(1) When the Secretary receives a complete application from a 
test publisher, the Secretary selects experts in the field of 
educational testing and assessment, who possess appropriate advanced 
degrees and experience in test development or psychometric research, to 
determine whether the test meets the requirements for test approval 
contained in Secs. 668.146, 668.147, 668.148, or 668.149, as 
appropriate, and to advise the Secretary of their determinations;
    (2) If the test involves a language other than English, the 
Secretary selects at least one individual described in paragraph (a)(1) 
of this section who is fluent in the language in which the test is 
written to advise the Secretary on whether the test meets the additional 
criteria, provisions, and conditions for test approval contained in 
Secs. 668.148 and 668.149;
    (b) The Secretary determines whether the test publisher's test meets 
the criteria and requirements for approval after taking the advice of 
the experts into account;
    (c)(1) If the Secretary determines that a test satisfies the 
criteria and requirements for test approval, the Secretary notifies the 
test publisher of the Secretary's decision, and publishes the name of 
the test and the passing scores in the Federal Register.

[[Page 516]]

    (2) If the Secretary determines that a test does not satisfy the 
criteria and requirements for test approval, the Secretary notifies the 
test publisher of the Secretary's decision, and the reasons why the test 
did not meet those criteria and requirements.
    (3) The test publisher may request that the Secretary reevaluate the 
Secretary's decision. Such a request must be accompanied by--
    (i) Documentation and information that address the reasons for the 
non-approval of the test; and
    (ii) An analysis of why the information and documentation submitted 
meet the criteria and requirements for test approval notwithstanding the 
Secretary's earlier decision to the contrary.
    (d)(1) The Secretary approves a test for a period not to exceed five 
years from the date of the Secretary's written notice to the test 
publisher.
    (2) The Secretary extends the approval period of a test to include 
the period of review if the test publisher re-submits the test for 
review and approval under Sec. 668.144 at least six months before the 
date on which the test approval is scheduled to expire;
    (e) The approval of a test may be withdrawn if the Secretary 
determines that the publisher violated any terms of the agreement 
described in Sec. 668.150, or that the information the publisher 
submitted as a basis for approval of the test was inaccurate;
    (f) If the Secretary revokes approval of a previously approved test, 
the Secretary publishes a notice of that revocation in the Federal 
Register. The revocation becomes effective 120 days from the date the 
notice of revocation is published in the Federal Register; and
    (g) For test batteries that contain multiple sub-tests measuring 
content domains other than verbal and quantitative domains, the 
Secretary reviews only those subtests covering verbal and quantitative 
domains.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 
1840-0627).

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1091(d))

[60 FR 61840, Dec. 1, 1995, as amended at 61 FR 31035, June 19, 1996]