[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 156 (Tuesday, August 17, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45976-45977]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-17625]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket ID ED-2021-IES-0118]


Request for Information on the Department of Education's Fiscal 
Year (FY) 2022-2026 Learning Agenda

AGENCY: Institute of Education Sciences, Department of Education.

ACTION: Request for information.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 
and implementing guidance require Federal agencies to develop an 
evidence-building plan, referred to as a Learning Agenda, to identify 
and address questions relevant to agency programs, policies, and 
regulations. Through this request for information (RFI), we seek public 
input to help us identify priority questions to guide our evidence-
building activities.

DATES: We must receive your comments by September 16, 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 www.regulations.gov to submit 
your comments electronically. Information on using Regulations.gov, 
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 
www.regulations.gov. 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: 
[email protected].
    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

    The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 \1\ 
requires Federal agencies to develop ``a systematic plan for 
identifying and addressing policy questions relevant to the programs, 
policies, and regulations of the agency.'' \2\ This plan, referred to 
as a Learning Agenda, offers the opportunity for the Department to 
develop evidence in service of achieving its strategic goals and 
objectives, answering important short- and long-term strategic and 
operational questions. We seek public comments to inform the 
development of our FY 2022-2026 Learning Agenda.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-115publ435/html/PLAW-115publ435.htm.
    \2\ 5 U.S.C. 312(a).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 www.regulations.gov. Please note that IES 
will not directly respond to comments.

Solicitation of Comments

    The Department intends to focus its FY 2022-2026 evidence-building 
activities on six areas that are related to achieving the Department's 
education mission and are consistent with the Secretary's vision for 
American education.\3\ We list each area below and invite stakeholders 
who are interested in the work of the Department for their input on (1) 
the most important questions about which evidence should be built in 
each area; (2) specific evidence-building activities that should be 
undertaken, either by the Department or by others with the capacity to 
do so, to answer those questions; and (3) areas not listed below to 
which the Department should pay particular attention as it refines its 
FY 2022-2026 Learning Agenda during this and future fiscal years. These 
six areas of the Learning Agenda are--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ For more background, see www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/06/30/2021-14003/proposed-priorities-and-definitions-secretarys-supplemental-priorities-and-definitions-for.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    1. Addressing the impact of COVID-19 on students, schools and 
institutions of higher education, educators, and their communities;

[[Page 45977]]

    2. Promoting equity in student access to educational resources, 
opportunities, and welcoming, safe, and inclusive environments;
    3. Meeting student social, emotional, mental health, basic, and 
academic needs;
    4. Increasing postsecondary education access, affordability, 
completion, and post-enrollment success;
    5. Supporting a well-prepared diverse educator workforce and their 
professional growth to strengthen student learning; and
    6. Improving Federal student aid programs.
    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 www.govinfo.gov. 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 
www.federalregister.gov. 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. 2021-17625 Filed 8-16-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P