[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 213 (Monday, November 8, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61759-61760]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[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 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

    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). https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020238.
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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 https://go.usa.gov/xMsKy to see individual studies 
reviewed by the WWC in the postsecondary topic area.
    \3\ See https://go.usa.gov/xMsKM to see WWC Intervention Reports 
in the postsecondary topic area.
    \4\ See https://go.usa.gov/xMsKz 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]]

www.regulations.gov. 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 (https://eric.ed.gov/). More information about 
submitting content to ERIC, including our selection policy and how to 
access the online submission portal, can be found at https://eric.ed.gov/submit/.
    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. 2021-24382 Filed 11-5-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P