Promising and Practical Strategies to Increase Postsecondary Success, 4550-4553 [2012-1963]
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 19 / Monday, January 30, 2012 / Notices
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Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1070b et seq.
and 1087aa et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.
Dated: January 25, 2012.
James W. Runcie,
Chief Operating Officer, Federal Student Aid.
[FR Doc. 2012–1966 Filed 1–27–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
President’s Advisory Commission on
Educational Excellence for Hispanics
White House Initiative on
Educational Excellence for Hispanics,
Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of an Open Conference
Call Meeting.
AGENCY:
This notice sets forth the
announcement of a conference call
meeting of the President’s Advisory
Commission on Educational Excellence
for Hispanics. The notice also describes
the functions of the Commission. Notice
of the meeting is required by section
10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act and is intended to notify
the public of this meeting.
DATES: Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012.
Time: 5:30 p.m.–6:30 p.m. Eastern
Standard Time.
ADDRESSES: Not Applicable—
Conference Call.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Glorimar Maldonado, Chief of Staff,
White House Initiative on Educational
Excellence for Hispanics, 400 Maryland
Ave. SW., Room 4W110, Washington,
DC 20202; telephone: (202) 401–1411,
(202) 401–0078, or (202) 870–1227.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
President’s Advisory Commission on
Educational Excellence for Hispanics
(the Commission) is established by
Executive Order 13555 (Oct. 19, 2010).
The Commission is governed by the
provisions of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (FACA), (Pub. L. 92–463;
as amended, 5 U.S.C.A., Appendix 2)
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SUMMARY:
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which sets forth standards for the
formation and use of advisory
committees. The purpose of the
Commission is to advise the President
and the Secretary of Education
(Secretary) on all matters pertaining to
the education attainment of the
Hispanic community.
The Commission shall advise the
President and the Secretary in the
following areas: (i) Developing,
implementing, and coordinating
educational programs and initiatives at
the Department and other agencies to
improve educational opportunities and
outcomes for Hispanics of all ages; (ii)
increasing the participation of the
Hispanic community and HispanicServing Institutions in the Department’s
programs and in education programs at
other agencies; (iii) engaging the
philanthropic, business, nonprofit, and
education communities in a national
dialogue regarding the mission and
objectives of this order; (iv) establishing
partnerships with public, private,
philanthropic, and nonprofit
stakeholders to meet the mission and
policy objectives of this order.
Agenda
The Commission will discuss its 2012
strategic work plan from its October
2011 meeting, agree on upcoming
meeting dates and establish
subcommittees.
There will not be an opportunity for
public comment during this meeting
due to time constraints. However,
members of the public may submit
written comments related to the work of
the Commission via WhiteHousefor
HispanicEducation@ed.gov no later than
Feb. 3, 2012. A recording of this meeting
will be posted on the Commission’s
Web page at https://www2.ed.gov/about/
inits/list/hispanic-initiative/
no later than Feb. 13, 2012.
Records are kept of all Commission
proceedings and are available for public
inspection at the office of the White
House Initiative on Educational
Excellence for Hispanics, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland
Ave. SW., Room 4W108, Washington,
DC 20202, Monday through Friday
(excluding federal holidays) during the
hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Electronic Access to the Document:
You may view this document, as well as
all other documents of this Department
published in the Federal Register, in
text or Adobe Portable Document
Format (PDF) on the Internet at:
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use PDF, you must have Adobe Acrobat
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(GPO), toll free at 1–(866) 512–1830; or
in the Washington, DC, area at (202)
512–0000.
Martha Kanter,
Under Secretary, Department of Education.
[FR Doc. 2012–1965 Filed 1–27–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Promising and Practical Strategies to
Increase Postsecondary Success
AGENCY:
Department of Education.
Request for Information (RFI);
Promising and Practical Strategies to
Increase Postsecondary Success.
ACTION:
The Secretary of Education
(Secretary) invites institutions of higher
education (IHEs), non-profit
organizations, States, systems of higher
education, adult education providers,
researchers, and institutional faculty
and staff, or consortia of such entities,
to provide the Department of Education
(Department) with information about
promising and practical strategies,
practices, programs, and activities
(promising and practical strategies) that
have improved rates of postsecondary
success, transfer, and graduation. The
Department believes this information
will be of interest to others in situations
similar to those described in the
submissions, and useful during future
deliberations, possibly including
discussions concerning improvements
to the Higher Education Act of 1965, as
amended (HEA), and other legislative
proposals to the Congress. We are most
interested in obtaining information
about strategies that emphasize the
quality of what students learn and
timely or accelerated attainment of
postsecondary degrees or certificates,
including industry-recognized
credentials that lead to improved
learning and employment outcomes.
Information provided in response to this
RFI will be posted on the Department’s
postsecondary completion Web site
(Postsecondary Completion Web site) in
a form that will allow information about
promising and practical strategies to be
shared, commented on, and discussed
by interested parties, including
employees of IHEs, State officials,
students, and members of the general
public.
SUMMARY:
Responses to this RFI may be
submitted at any time after the
publication of this notice, but in order
for a response to be considered in the
first round of reviews, it should be
submitted by April 30, 2012. We will
DATES:
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 19 / Monday, January 30, 2012 / Notices
review and post responses received after
April 30, 2012 on a regular basis.
ADDRESSES: Provide any submission
related to this RFI to the following email
address: collegecompletion@ed.gov.
Alternatively, mail or deliver
submissions to David Soo, Office of
Postsecondary Education, U.S.
Department of Education, 1990 K Street
NW., Washington, DC 20006.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
David Soo, (202) 502–7742,
david.soo@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD), call the
Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at
1–(800) 877–8339. Individuals with
disabilities can obtain this document in
an accessible format (e.g. braille, large
print, audiotape, or compact disc) by
contacting Warren Farr at (202) 377–
4380 or warren.farr@ed.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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Background
In February 2009, President Obama
established a goal for the United States
to regain, by 2020, its position as the
nation with the highest percentage of its
population holding postsecondary
degrees and credentials. The Secretary
is interested in collecting and making
available to the public information on
promising and practical strategies that
can help educational institutions,
States, non-profit organizations, and
other entities contribute to achieving
this goal.
The Secretary is particularly
interested in information about
promising and practical strategies that
IHEs, States, non-profit organizations, or
other entities have carried out and that
could be replicated and/or scaled with
the goal of helping IHEs and States more
effectively contribute to meeting the
degree attainment goal set by the
President and to improving student
success generally. In addition to
descriptions of these strategies, we are
interested in receiving information
about the factors perceived as most
important to a strategy’s successful
implementation, the evidence that led
the respondent to determine the
importance of such factors, and the
issues that the respondent believes
would need to be addressed in order to
encourage successful replication
elsewhere.
The Secretary will establish the
Postsecondary Completion Web site to
serve as an online resource that makes
publicly available the information
submitted in response to this RFI. While
the Department intends to review
submissions made pursuant to this RFI
prior to posting them on the
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Postsecondary Completion Web site, it
will not be responsible for and will not
certify the accuracy of any of the
information or claims contained in these
submissions. The Department will post
a disclaimer to this effect on the
Postsecondary Completion Web site.
The individual or entity responsible for
providing the Department with a
submission will remain responsible for
the accuracy of the information in the
submission.
Once the Department establishes the
Postsecondary Completion Web site and
posts the information it receives in
response to this RFI, the Secretary
intends to publish a second notice in
the Federal Register to announce the
availability of this information and to
invite feedback about the extent to
which the strategies and ideas presented
might be applicable to different
institutions in different contexts, and
what difficulties might arise in trying to
implement them. The notice will again
state that the Department will not be
responsible for and will not certify the
accuracy of any of the information or
claims contained in the submissions.
Finally, the Secretary will establish an
internal process for the continuous
improvement, updating, and
augmentation of the information made
available on the Postsecondary
Completion Web site.
This RFI is issued under the authority
of the Department of Education
Organization Act (DEOA), 20 U.S.C.
3402(4), by which the Secretary is
authorized to promote improvements in
the quality and usefulness of education
through federally supported research,
evaluation, and sharing of information.
Guidance for Submitting Documents:
Respondents to this RFI should provide
submissions attached to an electronic
mail message sent to the email address
provided in the ADDRESSES section of
this notice. To help ensure accessibility
to all interested parties, we request that
all submissions comply with the
requirements of section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, or be
submitted in an electronic format that
can be made accessible, such as
Microsoft Word. We will accept
submissions in any electronic or written
form provided, but submissions in
forms that are not Section 508
compliant and not accessible will not be
posted online. Instead, we will index
these submissions and make them
available in an accessible format upon
request. We ask that each respondent
include the name and address of his or
her institution, consortium, or
affiliation, if any, and the name, title,
mailing and email addresses, and
telephone number of a contact person
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for his or her institution or consortium
or affiliation, if any. We also ask that
each submission begin with a brief oneparagraph abstract that provides an
overview of the information discussed
therein.
The submission should include
contact information (name, title, phone
number, and email address) for an
officer of the institution or an official of
the submitting entity who is authorized
to approve the submission. The
Department will contact the officer to
confirm authorization for the
submission.
If the submission is from a consortium
of institutions, we ask that the
respondent identify all members of the
consortium but provide only the name
of one contact person for the
consortium. We also ask that the
submission include contact information
for the consortium’s executive director
so that we can confirm authorization for
the submission.
Request for Information
Through this RFI, we seek to collect
information on promising and practical
strategies that IHEs, States, or other
entities have used with the goal of
helping improve rates of postsecondary
success, transfer, and graduation.
At this time, we seek the assistance of
IHEs, non-profit organizations, States,
systems of higher education, adult
education providers, researchers, and
institutional faculty and staff who can
offer information about promising and
practical strategies that they have
implemented, with or without Federal
support, and that they believe have
made measurable contributions to
accelerated attainment of postsecondary
degrees or certificates, including
industry-recognized-credentials that
lead to improved learning and
employment outcomes.
When submitting information about a
promising and practical strategy in
response to this RFI, we request that
respondents demonstrate how the
promising and practical strategy is
supported by data on outcomes. If a
strategy described in a submission does
not have extensive outcome data, the
respondent should submit evidence that
the proposed strategy, or one similar to
it, has been attempted previously, even
if on a limited scale or in a limited
setting, and yielded promising results.
We are particularly interested in
strategies, practices, programs, or
activities supported by outcome data or
for which evaluations have been
conducted that can support any
conclusions the respondent makes about
the strategies described. We are also
interested in receiving information
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about the costs of implementing the
promising and practical strategies, both
overall and on a per-participant basis.
We note that previous efforts to
improve outcomes from postsecondary
institutions have included improved
student support services, early college
and middle college programs, successful
remediation programs, open educational
resources (that is, resources that are
made freely available to students as a
substitute for commercial, proprietary
learning materials), distance and telepresence courses, pay-for-performance
scholarships and financial assistance,
nontraditional course schedules and
sequences, and peer support. We invite
respondents to this RFI to provide
current information on the
implementation of these strategies and
any other promising and practical
strategy that they believe has helped to
improve postsecondary success,
transfer, and graduation. Specifically,
we are interested in receiving
documents and reports that include the
following information:
• A detailed description of the
promising and practical strategy:
Æ Clear descriptions of the college
completion obstacle addressed,
including the dimensions of the
problems or obstacles targeted by the
intervention.
Æ The theory of action that provides
the basis for the promising and practical
strategy.
Æ A history of how the promising and
practical strategy was developed.
Æ A description of the way submitters
or others measured the outcomes of the
promising and practical strategy, and of
any evaluations of the strategy, where
available, including references to
published or related studies and links to
the relevant data or evaluation. In
addition, respondents should discuss
any factor or factors that made
measuring success difficult and how
they addressed those factors.
• A discussion of any difficulties or
challenges that arose during the
implementation of the promising and
practical strategy and of any
adjustments that the institution or
organization made in response to those
challenges.
• A description of the factor or factors
the respondent believes were most
important to the success of the
promising and practical strategy. This
could include the participation of a
particular individual in the
implementation of the strategy or some
other reason that goes beyond the design
of the activity undertaken.
• A description of the elements of the
promising and practical strategy that the
respondent believes did not work,
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including a discussion of why the
respondent believes an element did not
work and what the respondent would
do to change the activity in question in
the future.
• Suggestions about how other
institutions might best replicate the
promising and practical strategy and
what potential concerns could make
replication difficult.
• Detailed discussion of any Federal
regulatory or statutory requirements or
other laws, rules, or regulations that
made successfully implementing the
promising and practical strategy easier
or more difficult.
This list of items we invite for
submission is illustrative only;
respondents may also address other
issues that they believe are appropriate
to the promising and practical strategies
they describe.
Rights to Materials Submitted
By submitting material (e.g.,
descriptions of promising and practical
strategies or data supporting strategies)
in response to this RFI, the respondent
is agreeing to grant the Department a
worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual,
irrevocable, non-exclusive license to use
the material and post it on the
Postsecondary Completion Web site.
Further, the respondent agrees that it
owns, has a valid license, or is
otherwise authorized to provide the
material to the Department for inclusion
on the Postsecondary Completion Web
site. The Department will not provide
any compensation for material
submitted in response to this RFI.
Request for Meta Data Tags
The Secretary anticipates a significant
number of responses to this RFI. To
maximize the utility of the information
we can make available on the
Postsecondary Completion Web site,
and to make it easier for interested
parties to search this information, the
Department will include specific words
or phrases—also known as ‘‘keywords’’
or meta data ‘‘tags’’—in the database
used to support the Web site. Therefore,
the Secretary strongly encourages
respondents to this RFI to use keywords
or tags to identify components of the
strategies described in their responses.
The keywords or tags identified should
be linked to, and accurately reflect
substantial components of, the
strategies, practices, programs, or other
activities described in the submission.
To simplify searches of the database
created by the responses to this RFI, the
Secretary provides in Appendix A of
this RFI a list of standard keywords and
tags that would be useful for the
Postsecondary Completion Web site.
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The Secretary strongly encourages that
respondents select—to the greatest
extent possible—from among these
standard keywords and tags when
identifying tags for their submission. In
the event that none of the words or
phrases in Appendix A is sufficiently
precise for the promising and practical
strategy that is the subject of the
response, respondents may substitute
other keywords or tags of their own
choosing. The Secretary strongly
encourages respondents to provide no
more than eight keywords or tags for
each strategy and limit each tag to no
more than three words per tag and 28
characters per word. By limiting
keywords and tags in this manner, the
Secretary can most efficiently index the
database and enable effective searches
of all information obtained through this
RFI.
Accessible Format: Individuals with
disabilities can obtain this document in
an accessible format (e.g., braille, large
print, audiotape, or compact disc) on
request to the program contact person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.
Electronic Access to This Document
The official version of this document
is the document published in the
Federal Register. Free Internet access to
the official edition of the Federal
Register and the Code of Federal
Regulations is available via the Federal
Digital System at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys.
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 Adobe 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.
Authority: 20 U.S.C. 3204(4).
Dated: January 25, 2012.
Martha Kanter,
Under Secretary of Education.
Appendix A: Standard Keywords and
Tags
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Accelerated Learning
Achievement Gap Closure
Adult Education
Affordability
Assessment Technology
Badges
Basic Skills
Blended Learning
Block Scheduling
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Career Pathways
Certificate Attainment
Civic/Community Engagement
Civic Learning
Cognitive Tutors
Community of Practice
Competency-Based Learning
Contextualized Learning
Cost Savings
Data Collection/Use
Degree Attainment
Developmental/Remedial Education
Digital Materials
Dual Degrees
Earn and Learn
Efficiency
Employer Partnership
Course Articulation
Student Services
Game Design
Improving Achievement
Industry-Driven Competencies
Industry-Recognized Credentials
Job Placement
Learning Assessment
Learning Communities
Mentoring
Mobile Devices
Modular Curriculum
Momentum Points
Non-Traditional Age Students
On-the-Job Training
Online Teaching/Learning
Open Educational Resources
Paid Internships
Part-Time Students
Pay-for-Performance
Persistence
Personalized Instruction
Productivity
Real-Time Online Interactions
Registered Apprenticeships
Retention
SCORM
Self-Paced Learning
Simulations
Skill Assessments
Stackable Credentials
STEM
Technology-Enabled Learning
Time to Degree
Transfer and Articulation
Tuition Reduction
Underrepresented Students
Virtual Environments
Web-Based Learning
Note 1: SCORM stands for Sharable
Content Object Reference Model.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA Number: 84.368; Docket ID ED–
2012–OESE–0002]
Proposed Revision to Selection
Criteria—Enhanced Assessment
Instruments
Office of Elementary and
Secondary Education, Department of
Education.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
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Note 2: STEM stands for Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
Note 3: In the event that none of the
keywords or tags listed in this appendix is a
sufficiently precise descriptor, submitters
should include alternate keyword or tags of
their own choosing, not to exceed three
words per tag, with a maximum of 28
characters for each keyword or tag. See the
discussion elsewhere in this RFI under the
heading ‘‘Request for Meta Data Tags’’ for
more guidance on the use of keywords and
tags.
[FR Doc. 2012–1963 Filed 1–27–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
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The Assistant Secretary for
Elementary and Secondary Education
proposes to amend the selection criteria
under the Enhanced Assessment
Instruments Grant program, also called
the Enhanced Assessment Grant (EAG)
program, as established in the notice of
final priorities, requirements,
definitions, and selection criteria (2011
NFP). The 2011 NFP established
specific priorities, requirements,
definitions, and selection criteria that
may be used for the EAG program. The
changes proposed in this notice would
provide the Secretary with additional
flexibility with respect to selection
criteria for EAG competitions in 2012
that use fiscal year (FY) 2011 funds and
for subsequent competitions. We believe
that these proposed changes would
enable the Department to administer
this program more effectively, simplify
the application and review processes,
and better ensure that the strongest
applications receive EAG funds.
DATES: We must receive your comments
on or before February 29, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments
through the Federal eRulemaking Portal
or via postal mail, commercial delivery,
or hand delivery. We will not accept
comments by fax or by 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 ‘‘How To Use This Site.’’
• Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery,
or Hand Delivery. If you mail or deliver
your comments about these proposed
revisions to selection criteria, address
them to Student Achievement and
School Accountability Programs, Office
of Elementary and Secondary Education
(Attention: EAG Comments), U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland
Avenue SW., mail stop 6132,
Washington, DC 20202–[fill in last four
digits of zip code].
SUMMARY:
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4553
Privacy Note: The Department’s policy is
to make all comments received from
members of the public 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Collette Roney. Telephone: (202) 401–
5245 or by email:
Collette.Roney@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD), call the
Federal Relay Service, toll free, at
1–(800) 877–8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Invitation To Comment: We invite
you to submit comments regarding this
notice. To ensure that your comments
have maximum effect in developing the
notice of final revisions to the selection
criteria, we urge you to identify clearly
the specific proposed revisions your
comment addresses.
We invite you to assist us in
complying with the specific
requirements of Executive Orders 12866
and 13563 and their overall requirement
of reducing regulatory burden that
might result from these proposed
revisions to the selection criteria. Please
let us know of any further ways we
could reduce potential costs or increase
potential benefits while preserving the
effective and efficient administration of
the program.
During and after the comment period,
you may inspect all public comments
about this notice by accessing
Regulations.gov. You may also inspect
the comments in person, in room
3W226, 400 Maryland Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC, between the hours of
8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Washington, DC
time, Monday through Friday of each
week except Federal holidays.
Assistance to Individuals With
Disabilities in Reviewing the
Rulemaking Record: On request we will
provide an appropriate accommodation
or auxiliary aid to an individual with a
disability who needs assistance to
review the comments or other
documents in the public rulemaking
record for this notice. If you want to
schedule an appointment for this type of
accommodation or auxiliary aid, please
contact the person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Purpose of the Program: The purpose
of the EAG program is to enhance the
quality of assessment instruments and
systems used by States for measuring
the academic achievement of
elementary and secondary school
students.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7301a.
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 19 (Monday, January 30, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4550-4553]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-1963]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Promising and Practical Strategies to Increase Postsecondary
Success
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Request for Information (RFI); Promising and Practical
Strategies to Increase Postsecondary Success.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Secretary of Education (Secretary) invites institutions of
higher education (IHEs), non-profit organizations, States, systems of
higher education, adult education providers, researchers, and
institutional faculty and staff, or consortia of such entities, to
provide the Department of Education (Department) with information about
promising and practical strategies, practices, programs, and activities
(promising and practical strategies) that have improved rates of
postsecondary success, transfer, and graduation. The Department
believes this information will be of interest to others in situations
similar to those described in the submissions, and useful during future
deliberations, possibly including discussions concerning improvements
to the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), and other
legislative proposals to the Congress. We are most interested in
obtaining information about strategies that emphasize the quality of
what students learn and timely or accelerated attainment of
postsecondary degrees or certificates, including industry-recognized
credentials that lead to improved learning and employment outcomes.
Information provided in response to this RFI will be posted on the
Department's postsecondary completion Web site (Postsecondary
Completion Web site) in a form that will allow information about
promising and practical strategies to be shared, commented on, and
discussed by interested parties, including employees of IHEs, State
officials, students, and members of the general public.
DATES: Responses to this RFI may be submitted at any time after the
publication of this notice, but in order for a response to be
considered in the first round of reviews, it should be submitted by
April 30, 2012. We will
[[Page 4551]]
review and post responses received after April 30, 2012 on a regular
basis.
ADDRESSES: Provide any submission related to this RFI to the following
email address: collegecompletion@ed.gov. Alternatively, mail or deliver
submissions to David Soo, Office of Postsecondary Education, U.S.
Department of Education, 1990 K Street NW., Washington, DC 20006.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Soo, (202) 502-7742,
david.soo@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the
Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-(800) 877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an accessible
format (e.g. braille, large print, audiotape, or compact disc) by
contacting Warren Farr at (202) 377-4380 or warren.farr@ed.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In February 2009, President Obama established a goal for the United
States to regain, by 2020, its position as the nation with the highest
percentage of its population holding postsecondary degrees and
credentials. The Secretary is interested in collecting and making
available to the public information on promising and practical
strategies that can help educational institutions, States, non-profit
organizations, and other entities contribute to achieving this goal.
The Secretary is particularly interested in information about
promising and practical strategies that IHEs, States, non-profit
organizations, or other entities have carried out and that could be
replicated and/or scaled with the goal of helping IHEs and States more
effectively contribute to meeting the degree attainment goal set by the
President and to improving student success generally. In addition to
descriptions of these strategies, we are interested in receiving
information about the factors perceived as most important to a
strategy's successful implementation, the evidence that led the
respondent to determine the importance of such factors, and the issues
that the respondent believes would need to be addressed in order to
encourage successful replication elsewhere.
The Secretary will establish the Postsecondary Completion Web site
to serve as an online resource that makes publicly available the
information submitted in response to this RFI. While the Department
intends to review submissions made pursuant to this RFI prior to
posting them on the Postsecondary Completion Web site, it will not be
responsible for and will not certify the accuracy of any of the
information or claims contained in these submissions. The Department
will post a disclaimer to this effect on the Postsecondary Completion
Web site. The individual or entity responsible for providing the
Department with a submission will remain responsible for the accuracy
of the information in the submission.
Once the Department establishes the Postsecondary Completion Web
site and posts the information it receives in response to this RFI, the
Secretary intends to publish a second notice in the Federal Register to
announce the availability of this information and to invite feedback
about the extent to which the strategies and ideas presented might be
applicable to different institutions in different contexts, and what
difficulties might arise in trying to implement them. The notice will
again state that the Department will not be responsible for and will
not certify the accuracy of any of the information or claims contained
in the submissions. Finally, the Secretary will establish an internal
process for the continuous improvement, updating, and augmentation of
the information made available on the Postsecondary Completion Web
site.
This RFI is issued under the authority of the Department of
Education Organization Act (DEOA), 20 U.S.C. 3402(4), by which the
Secretary is authorized to promote improvements in the quality and
usefulness of education through federally supported research,
evaluation, and sharing of information.
Guidance for Submitting Documents: Respondents to this RFI should
provide submissions attached to an electronic mail message sent to the
email address provided in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. To help
ensure accessibility to all interested parties, we request that all
submissions comply with the requirements of section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, or be submitted in an electronic format
that can be made accessible, such as Microsoft Word. We will accept
submissions in any electronic or written form provided, but submissions
in forms that are not Section 508 compliant and not accessible will not
be posted online. Instead, we will index these submissions and make
them available in an accessible format upon request. We ask that each
respondent include the name and address of his or her institution,
consortium, or affiliation, if any, and the name, title, mailing and
email addresses, and telephone number of a contact person for his or
her institution or consortium or affiliation, if any. We also ask that
each submission begin with a brief one-paragraph abstract that provides
an overview of the information discussed therein.
The submission should include contact information (name, title,
phone number, and email address) for an officer of the institution or
an official of the submitting entity who is authorized to approve the
submission. The Department will contact the officer to confirm
authorization for the submission.
If the submission is from a consortium of institutions, we ask that
the respondent identify all members of the consortium but provide only
the name of one contact person for the consortium. We also ask that the
submission include contact information for the consortium's executive
director so that we can confirm authorization for the submission.
Request for Information
Through this RFI, we seek to collect information on promising and
practical strategies that IHEs, States, or other entities have used
with the goal of helping improve rates of postsecondary success,
transfer, and graduation.
At this time, we seek the assistance of IHEs, non-profit
organizations, States, systems of higher education, adult education
providers, researchers, and institutional faculty and staff who can
offer information about promising and practical strategies that they
have implemented, with or without Federal support, and that they
believe have made measurable contributions to accelerated attainment of
postsecondary degrees or certificates, including industry-recognized-
credentials that lead to improved learning and employment outcomes.
When submitting information about a promising and practical
strategy in response to this RFI, we request that respondents
demonstrate how the promising and practical strategy is supported by
data on outcomes. If a strategy described in a submission does not have
extensive outcome data, the respondent should submit evidence that the
proposed strategy, or one similar to it, has been attempted previously,
even if on a limited scale or in a limited setting, and yielded
promising results. We are particularly interested in strategies,
practices, programs, or activities supported by outcome data or for
which evaluations have been conducted that can support any conclusions
the respondent makes about the strategies described. We are also
interested in receiving information
[[Page 4552]]
about the costs of implementing the promising and practical strategies,
both overall and on a per-participant basis.
We note that previous efforts to improve outcomes from
postsecondary institutions have included improved student support
services, early college and middle college programs, successful
remediation programs, open educational resources (that is, resources
that are made freely available to students as a substitute for
commercial, proprietary learning materials), distance and tele-presence
courses, pay-for-performance scholarships and financial assistance,
nontraditional course schedules and sequences, and peer support. We
invite respondents to this RFI to provide current information on the
implementation of these strategies and any other promising and
practical strategy that they believe has helped to improve
postsecondary success, transfer, and graduation. Specifically, we are
interested in receiving documents and reports that include the
following information:
A detailed description of the promising and practical
strategy:
[cir] Clear descriptions of the college completion obstacle
addressed, including the dimensions of the problems or obstacles
targeted by the intervention.
[cir] The theory of action that provides the basis for the
promising and practical strategy.
[cir] A history of how the promising and practical strategy was
developed.
[cir] A description of the way submitters or others measured the
outcomes of the promising and practical strategy, and of any
evaluations of the strategy, where available, including references to
published or related studies and links to the relevant data or
evaluation. In addition, respondents should discuss any factor or
factors that made measuring success difficult and how they addressed
those factors.
A discussion of any difficulties or challenges that arose
during the implementation of the promising and practical strategy and
of any adjustments that the institution or organization made in
response to those challenges.
A description of the factor or factors the respondent
believes were most important to the success of the promising and
practical strategy. This could include the participation of a
particular individual in the implementation of the strategy or some
other reason that goes beyond the design of the activity undertaken.
A description of the elements of the promising and
practical strategy that the respondent believes did not work, including
a discussion of why the respondent believes an element did not work and
what the respondent would do to change the activity in question in the
future.
Suggestions about how other institutions might best
replicate the promising and practical strategy and what potential
concerns could make replication difficult.
Detailed discussion of any Federal regulatory or statutory
requirements or other laws, rules, or regulations that made
successfully implementing the promising and practical strategy easier
or more difficult.
This list of items we invite for submission is illustrative only;
respondents may also address other issues that they believe are
appropriate to the promising and practical strategies they describe.
Rights to Materials Submitted
By submitting material (e.g., descriptions of promising and
practical strategies or data supporting strategies) in response to this
RFI, the respondent is agreeing to grant the Department a worldwide,
royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive license to use the
material and post it on the Postsecondary Completion Web site. Further,
the respondent agrees that it owns, has a valid license, or is
otherwise authorized to provide the material to the Department for
inclusion on the Postsecondary Completion Web site. The Department will
not provide any compensation for material submitted in response to this
RFI.
Request for Meta Data Tags
The Secretary anticipates a significant number of responses to this
RFI. To maximize the utility of the information we can make available
on the Postsecondary Completion Web site, and to make it easier for
interested parties to search this information, the Department will
include specific words or phrases--also known as ``keywords'' or meta
data ``tags''--in the database used to support the Web site. Therefore,
the Secretary strongly encourages respondents to this RFI to use
keywords or tags to identify components of the strategies described in
their responses. The keywords or tags identified should be linked to,
and accurately reflect substantial components of, the strategies,
practices, programs, or other activities described in the submission.
To simplify searches of the database created by the responses to this
RFI, the Secretary provides in Appendix A of this RFI a list of
standard keywords and tags that would be useful for the Postsecondary
Completion Web site. The Secretary strongly encourages that respondents
select--to the greatest extent possible--from among these standard
keywords and tags when identifying tags for their submission. In the
event that none of the words or phrases in Appendix A is sufficiently
precise for the promising and practical strategy that is the subject of
the response, respondents may substitute other keywords or tags of
their own choosing. The Secretary strongly encourages respondents to
provide no more than eight keywords or tags for each strategy and limit
each tag to no more than three words per tag and 28 characters per
word. By limiting keywords and tags in this manner, the Secretary can
most efficiently index the database and enable effective searches of
all information obtained through this RFI.
Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print,
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the program contact person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Electronic Access to This Document
The official version of this document is the document published in
the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the official edition of
the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations is available
via the Federal Digital System at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. 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 Adobe 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.
Authority: 20 U.S.C. 3204(4).
Dated: January 25, 2012.
Martha Kanter,
Under Secretary of Education.
Appendix A: Standard Keywords and Tags
Accelerated Learning
Achievement Gap Closure
Adult Education
Affordability
Assessment Technology
Badges
Basic Skills
Blended Learning
Block Scheduling
[[Page 4553]]
Career Pathways
Certificate Attainment
Civic/Community Engagement
Civic Learning
Cognitive Tutors
Community of Practice
Competency-Based Learning
Contextualized Learning
Cost Savings
Data Collection/Use
Degree Attainment
Developmental/Remedial Education
Digital Materials
Dual Degrees
Earn and Learn
Efficiency
Employer Partnership
Course Articulation
Student Services
Game Design
Improving Achievement
Industry-Driven Competencies
Industry-Recognized Credentials
Job Placement
Learning Assessment
Learning Communities
Mentoring
Mobile Devices
Modular Curriculum
Momentum Points
Non-Traditional Age Students
On-the-Job Training
Online Teaching/Learning
Open Educational Resources
Paid Internships
Part-Time Students
Pay-for-Performance
Persistence
Personalized Instruction
Productivity
Real-Time Online Interactions
Registered Apprenticeships
Retention
SCORM
Self-Paced Learning
Simulations
Skill Assessments
Stackable Credentials
STEM
Technology-Enabled Learning
Time to Degree
Transfer and Articulation
Tuition Reduction
Underrepresented Students
Virtual Environments
Web-Based Learning
Note 1: SCORM stands for Sharable Content Object Reference
Model.
Note 2: STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics.
Note 3: In the event that none of the keywords or tags listed in
this appendix is a sufficiently precise descriptor, submitters
should include alternate keyword or tags of their own choosing, not
to exceed three words per tag, with a maximum of 28 characters for
each keyword or tag. See the discussion elsewhere in this RFI under
the heading ``Request for Meta Data Tags'' for more guidance on the
use of keywords and tags.
[FR Doc. 2012-1963 Filed 1-27-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
