Notice2021-24382
Request for Information on Rigorous Research on Interventions That Promote Postsecondary Success
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
November 8, 2021
Issuing agencies
Education Department
Abstract
The What Works Clearinghouse, a program of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, reviews existing research on education policies, programs, products, and practices to provide educators and other key stakeholders the information they need to make evidence-based decisions. Through this request for information (RFI), the What Works Clearinghouse seeks public input to help us find rigorous research on education practices designed to improve postsecondary student success.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 213 (Monday, November 8, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 213 (Monday, November 8, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61759-61760]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-24382]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[Docket ID ED-2021-IES-0154]
Request for Information on Rigorous Research on Interventions
That Promote Postsecondary Success
AGENCY: Institute of Education Sciences, Department of Education.
ACTION: Request for information.
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SUMMARY: The What Works Clearinghouse, a program of the U.S. Department
of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, reviews existing
research on education policies, programs, products, and practices to
provide educators and other key stakeholders the information they need
to make evidence-based decisions. Through this request for information
(RFI), the What Works Clearinghouse seeks public input to help us find
rigorous research on education practices designed to improve
postsecondary student success.
DATES: We must receive your comments by December 8, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Submit your response to this RFI through the Federal
eRulemaking Portal. We will not accept submissions by postal mail,
commercial mail, hand delivery, fax, or email. To ensure that we do not
receive duplicate copies, please submit your comments only once. In
addition, please include the Docket ID at the top of your comments.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> to submit
your comments electronically. Information on using <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>,
including instructions for accessing agency documents, submitting
comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site under the
``FAQ'' tab.
Privacy Note: The Department's policy for comments received from
members of the public is to make these submissions available for public
viewing in their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. Therefore, commenters should be careful to include
in their comments only information that they wish to make publicly
available. We encourage, but do not require, that each respondent
include his or her name, title, institution or affiliation, and the
name, title, mailing and email addresses, and telephone number of a
contact person for his or her institution or affiliation, if any.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Soldner, Commissioner,
National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance &
Evaluation Officer, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 4160, Potomac Center Plaza,
Washington, DC 20202-7240. Telephone: (202) 245-8385. Email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#632e0217170b06144d300c0f070d06112306074d040c15"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="470a2633332f22306914282b2329223507222369202831">[email protected]</span></a>.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll-free, at 1-
800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
A sizable number of students who enter postsecondary education with
the intention of earning a certificate or degree never achieve that
goal. One out of every five (18.5 percent) first-time postsecondary
students who entered college in 2011-12 with the goal of completing a
bachelor's degree had not earned a credential of any type (completion)
and was no longer enrolled (persistence) by spring 2017. Among students
who entered college in 2011-12 and had intended to earn an associate
degree, the combined persistence and completion rate was even lower:
nearly half (45.7 percent) were no longer enrolled and had no education
credential to show for their time, effort, and expense.\1\
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\1\ See Table 1.1-C in Web Tables--A 2017 Follow-up: Six-Year
Persistence and Attainment at Any Institution for 2011-12 First-Time
Postsecondary Students (NCES 2020-238). <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020238">https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020238</a>.
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There is unlikely to be a ``one size fits all'' solution to
significantly improving postsecondary completion outcomes among the
Nation's learners, given their diversity and the diversity of
institutions they attend. Instead, a variety of policies, programs,
products, and practices will be needed. What should be common across
all, however, is that they should be evidence-based.
The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), a program of the U.S.
Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, reviews
existing education research to provide educators and other key
stakeholders information they can use to make evidence-based decisions.
Specifically, the WWC reviews causal impact studies; that is, research
evaluating the efficacy of interventions--policies, programs, products,
or practices--on outcomes of interest.
Since 2012, the WWC has sought to increase the number of causal
impact studies it has reviewed that are relevant to postsecondary
educators, policymakers, and administrators. To date, this includes
more than 930 individual studies.\2\ In that same time, the WWC has
tripled the number of systematic reviews it conducts of specific
branded and non-branded interventions (Intervention Reports) \3\ and
expanded its portfolio of postsecondary-focused Practice Guides,\4\
publications that present specific, evidence-based recommendations for
educators to improve their practice.
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\2\ See <a href="https://go.usa.gov/xMsKy">https://go.usa.gov/xMsKy</a> to see individual studies
reviewed by the WWC in the postsecondary topic area.
\3\ See <a href="https://go.usa.gov/xMsKM">https://go.usa.gov/xMsKM</a> to see WWC Intervention Reports
in the postsecondary topic area.
\4\ See <a href="https://go.usa.gov/xMsKz">https://go.usa.gov/xMsKz</a> to see WWC Practice Guides in
the postsecondary topic area.
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Despite the growth in its postsecondary-focused resources, the
Department believes there may be existing causal impact research
specifically relevant to improving postsecondary completion outcomes
among the Nation's learners that the WWC has not yet reviewed. As such,
we seek public comment to assist us in identifying relevant research.
We are particularly interested in research that focuses on policies,
programs, products, and practices that improve postsecondary success
and can be implemented by postsecondary systems and/or institutions,
working either in their own settings or in other settings (e.g., high
schools) in partnership with other education stakeholders (e.g., local
or State educational agencies).
This is a request for information only. This RFI is not a request
for proposals (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP or a notice inviting
applications. This RFI does not commit the Department to contract for
any supply or service whatsoever. Further, we are not seeking proposals
and will not accept unsolicited proposals. The Department will not pay
for any information or administrative costs that you may incur in
responding to this RFI. The documents and information submitted in
response to this RFI will not be returned.
We will review every comment, and, as described above, electronic
comments in response to this RFI will be publicly available on the
Federal eRulemaking Portal at
[[Page 61760]]
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. Please note that IES will not directly respond to
comments.
Solicitation of Comments
We invite stakeholders who are aware of publicly available causal
impact research that is specifically relevant to improving
postsecondary completion outcomes among the Nation's learners but that
the WWC has not yet reviewed to share the following in their comments:
(1) The work's author, title, year of publication, and publisher;
and
(2) If available, the work's Digital Object Identifier (DOI), ERIC
number, or a URL where the WWC can find a publicly available copy of
the work (e.g., a university website).
Commenters should not include manuscripts in their submissions that
are not publicly available.
The Institute is committed to improving the public's access to, and
the discoverability of, education research. In service of that goal, we
invite authors, those who hold copyright, or their authorized
representatives to consider depositing eligible content into ERIC, the
Institute of Education Sciences' bibliographic and full-text database
of education research (<a href="https://eric.ed.gov/">https://eric.ed.gov/</a>). More information about
submitting content to ERIC, including our selection policy and how to
access the online submission portal, can be found at <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/submit/">https://eric.ed.gov/submit/</a>.
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, or 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 <a href="http://www.govinfo.gov">www.govinfo.gov</a>. 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 Portable Document Format (PDF). To
use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at
the site.
You may also access documents of the Department published in the
Federal Register by using the article search feature at
<a href="http://www.federalregister.gov">www.federalregister.gov</a>. Specifically, through the advanced search
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published
by the Department.
Matthew Soldner,
Commissioner, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional
Assistance & Agency Evaluation Officer.
[FR Doc. 2021-24382 Filed 11-5-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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