Promising and Practical Strategies to Increase Postsecondary Success; Request for Information, 56194-56197 [2012-22509]
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 177 / Wednesday, September 12, 2012 / Notices
Dated: September 7, 2012.
Aaron Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison
Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2012–22449 Filed 9–11–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5001–06–P
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Notice of Proposed Information
Collection Requests; Office of the
Secretary; Education Jobs Annual
Performance Report
The Education Jobs program
provides $10 billion in assistance to
States to save or create education jobs.
Jobs funded under this program include
those that provide educational and
related services for early childhood,
elementary, and secondary education.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to
submit comments on or before
November 13, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Written comments
regarding burden and/or the collection
activity requirements should be
electronically mailed to
ICDocketMgr@ed.gov or mailed to U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland
Avenue SW., LBJ, Washington, DC
20202–4537. Copies of the proposed
information collection request may be
accessed from https://edicsweb.ed.gov,
by selecting the ‘‘Browse Pending
Collections’’ link and by clicking on
link number 04909. When you access
the information collection, click on
‘‘Download Attachments’’ to view.
Written requests for information should
be addressed to U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW.,
LBJ, Washington, DC 20202–4537.
Requests may also be electronically
mailed to ICDocketMgr@ed.gov or faxed
to 202–401–0920. Please specify the
complete title of the information
collection and OMB Control Number
when making your request.
Individuals who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD) may call the Federal Information
Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–
8339.
SUMMARY:
Section
3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires
that Federal agencies provide interested
parties an early opportunity to comment
on information collection requests. The
Director, Information Collection
Clearance Division, Privacy, Information
and Records Management Services,
Office of Management, publishes this
notice containing proposed information
collection requests at the beginning of
the Departmental review of the
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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information collection. The Department
of Education is especially interested in
public comment addressing the
following issues: (1) Is this collection
necessary to the proper functions of the
Department; (2) will this information be
processed and used in a timely manner;
(3) is the estimate of burden accurate;
(4) how might the Department enhance
the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (5) how
might the Department minimize the
burden of this collection on the
respondents, including through the use
of information technology. Please note
that written comments received in
response to this notice will be
considered public records.
Title of Collection: Education Jobs
Annual Performance Report.
OMB Control Number: Pending.
Type of Review: New.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Responses: 56.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Burden Hours: 840.
Abstract: Under the Education Jobs
Fund statute (Pub. L. 111–226 Sec. 101
(10)(A)), each State is required to submit
to the U.S. Department of Education
(Department) a report that describes the
uses of the funds provided under the
program and the impact of those funds
on education and other areas. The
statute requires States to submit these
reports for each year of the program at
such time and in such manner as the
Department may require.
Dated: September 7, 2012.
Darrin A. King,
Director, Information Collection Clearance
Division, Privacy, Information and Records
Management Services, Office of Management.
[FR Doc. 2012–22454 Filed 9–11–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Promising and Practical Strategies to
Increase Postsecondary Success;
Request for Information
Department of Education.
Request for Information (RFI);
Promising and Practical Strategies to
Increase Postsecondary Success—
Second Round Request and Posting of
Responses from First Round.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The Department of Education
(Department) requests information about
promising and practical strategies,
practices, programs, and activities
(promising and practical strategies) that
have improved rates of postsecondary
success, transfer, and graduation. In
addition, the Department announces the
availability of the material submitted by
SUMMARY:
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respondents to an earlier request for
information on this same subject.
The Department believes this
information will be of interest to others
in situations similar to those described
in the submissions. We also believe that
this information will be 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. Each
response to this RFI should contain the
following elements (see Guidance for
Submitting Documents and Request for
Information for full details):
(1) Contact information;
(2) Brief one-paragraph abstract;
(3) Detailed description of the
promising and practical strategy; and
(4) Applicable keywords or tags (meta
data tags).
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
second round of reviews, it should be
submitted by November 30, 2012. We
will review and post responses received
after November 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 Frederick Winter, Fund
for the Improvement of Postsecondary
Education, Office of Postsecondary
Education, U.S. Department of
Education, 1990 K Street NW., Room
6145, Washington, DC 20006–8544.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Frederick Winter, (202) 502–7632,
frederick.winter@ed.gov.
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. 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
of Education is interested in collecting
and making available to the public
information on promising and practical
strategies that can help educational
institutions, States, non-profit
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 177 / Wednesday, September 12, 2012 / Notices
organizations, and other entities
contribute to achieving this goal.
On January 30, 2012, the Department
published in the Federal Register a
notice seeking information about
promising and practical strategies that
have improved rates of postsecondary
success, transfer, and graduation (77 FR
4550). In order for a response to be
considered in the first round of reviews,
the Department requested responses by
April 30, 2012.
As specified in the original notice, the
Department is publishing this second
notice to announce that the information
submitted by respondents to that first
RFI is available on the Postsecondary
Completion Web site at https://
www.ed.gov/college-completion/
promising-strategies.
In addition, the Department again
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 these entities, to provide
the Department with information about
promising and practical strategies.
The Department is most interested in
information about strategies that
emphasize the quality of what students
learn and timely or accelerated
attainment of postsecondary degrees or
certificates, including industryrecognized credentials that lead to
improved learning and employment
outcomes.
The Department is also particularly
interested in information about
promising and practical strategies that
could be replicated or scaled up to help
IHEs and States meet the President’s
goal for postsecondary degree
attainment and improve 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 these
factors, the types of environments or
contexts for which the practice is most
likely to succeed, and the issues that the
respondent believes would need to be
addressed in order to encourage
successful replication elsewhere.
The Department has established the
Postsecondary Completion Web site to
serve as an online resource that makes
publicly available the information
submitted in response to the RFI. While
we intend to review submissions made
in response to this RFI before posting
them on the Postsecondary Completion
Web site, we will not be responsible for,
and will not certify the accuracy of, any
of the information or claims contained
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in these submissions. We have posted a
disclaimer to this effect on the
Postsecondary Completion Web site.
The individual or entity that submits
information remains responsible for its
accuracy.
This RFI is issued under the authority
of the Department of Education
Organization Act (DEOA) of 1979, 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 we will not post
submissions in forms that are not
compliant with Section 508 and not
accessible. Instead, we will index these
submissions and make them available in
an accessible format upon request.
We ask each respondent to 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. We also ask that
each submission begin with a brief, oneparagraph abstract that provides an
overview of the information provided.
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. 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
At this time, we seek the assistance of
entities that can offer information about
promising and practical strategies that
they have implemented, with or without
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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.
We note that previous efforts to
improve outcomes from postsecondary
institutions have included improved
student support services, early 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 request each respondent to
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 about the costs of
implementing the promising and
practical strategies, both overall and per
participant.
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.
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• 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.
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Rights to Materials Submitted
By submitting material in response to
this RFI (e.g., descriptions of promising
and practical strategies or data
supporting strategies), 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 Department anticipates a
significant number of responses. 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
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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 Department strongly encourages
respondents to use keywords or tags to
identify components of the strategies
described in their responses. The
keywords or tags 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
Department 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 Department strongly encourages
respondents to select—to the greatest
extent possible—from among these
standard keywords and tags when
identifying tags for their submission. If
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 Department 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 Department 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
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your search to documents published by
the Department.
Authority: 20 U.S.C. 3204(4).
Dated: September 6, 2012.
Martha Kanter,
Under Secretary of Education.
Appendix A: Standard Keywords and
Tags
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Accelerated Learning
Accessible Materials
Achievement Gap Closure
Adult Education
Affordability
Assessment Technology
Badges
Basic Skills
Blended Learning
Block Scheduling
Career Pathways
Certificate Attainment
Civic/Community Engagement
Civic Learning
Cognitive Tutors
Community of Practice
Competency-Based Learning
Contextualized Learning
Cost Savings
Course Articulation
Data Collection/Use
Degree Attainment
Developmental/Remedial Education
Digital Materials
Disability Services
Dual Degrees
Earn and Learn
Efficiency
Employer Partnership
504 Plan
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
Reasonable Accommodations
Registered Apprenticeships
Retention
SCORM
Self-Paced Learning
Simulations
Skill Assessments
Stackable Credentials
Student Services
Students with Disabilities
STEM
Technology-Enabled Learning
Time to Degree
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 177 / Wednesday, September 12, 2012 / Notices
•
•
•
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•
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
[FR Doc. 2012–22509 Filed 9–11–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
eFiling is encouraged. More detailed
information relating to filing
requirements, interventions, protests,
service, and qualifying facilities filings
can be found at: https://www.ferc.gov/
docs-filing/efiling/filing-req.pdf. For
other information, call (866) 208–3676
(toll free). For TTY, call (202) 502–8659.
Dated: September 5, 2012.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012–22401 Filed 9–11–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Combined Notice of Filings #2
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
Take notice that the Commission
received the following electric rate
filings:
Docket Numbers: ER12–2127–001.
Applicants: ITC Midwest LLC.
Description: ITC Midwest Compliance
Filing to be effective 8/28/2012.
Filed Date: 9/5/12.
Accession Number: 20120905–5060.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 9/26/12.
Docket Numbers: ER12–2312–001.
Applicants: Perigee Energy, LLC.
Description: Perigee Energy, LLC
submits Amendment to Application for
Market Based Authority.
Filed Date: 8/16/12.
Accession Number: 20120816–5053.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 9/19/12.
Docket Numbers: ER12–2581–000.
Applicants: KATBRO LLC.
Description: KATBRO LLC, FERC
Electric Tariff to be effective 10/15/
2012.
Filed Date: 9/5/12.
Accession Number: 20120905–5036.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 9/26/12.
Docket Numbers: ER12–2582–000.
Applicants: Midwest Independent
Transmission System Operator, Inc.
Description: SA 2477 Corn Belt-MiAm
GFA 477 to be effective 9/6/2012.
Filed Date: 9/5/12.
Accession Number: 20120905–5088.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 9/26/12.
The filings are accessible in the
Commission’s eLibrary system by
clicking on the links or querying the
docket number.
Any person desiring to intervene or
protest in any of the above proceedings
must file in accordance with Rules 211
and 214 of the Commission’s
Regulations (18 CFR 385.211 and
385.214) on or before 5 p.m. Eastern
time on the specified comment date.
Protests may be considered, but
intervention is necessary to become a
party to the proceeding.
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Combined Notice of Filings #1
Take notice that the Commission
received the following electric rate
filings:
Docket Numbers: ER10–1790–007;
ER12–1400–001; ER10–2595–001.
Applicants: BP Energy Company, Flat
Ridge Wind Energy, LLC, Flat Ridge 2
Wind Energy LLC.
Description: Notification of nonmaterial change in status of BP Energy
Company, et al.
Filed Date: 9/4/12.
Accession Number: 20120904–5314.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 9/25/12.
Docket Numbers: ER12–2095–001.
Applicants: ITC Midwest LLC.
Description: Compliance Filing of
Executed Agreement to be effective 8/
27/2012.
Filed Date: 9/4/12.
Accession Number: 20120904–5202.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 9/25/12.
Docket Numbers: ER12–2577–000.
Applicants: NorthWestern
Corporation.
Description: SA 648 Central Montana
EPC to be effective 9/5/2012.
Filed Date: 9/4/12.
Accession Number: 20120904–5244.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 9/25/12.
Docket Numbers: ER12–2578–000;
ER12–1572–001.
Applicants: ITC Midwest LLC.
Description: New Section 205 and
Compliance Filing [ER12–1572] of O&M
Agreement with SMMPA to be effective
4/20/2012.
Filed Date: 9/4/12.
Accession Number: 20120904–5256.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 9/25/12.
Docket Numbers: ER12–2579–000.
Applicants: NorthWestern
Corporation.
Description: SA 644—Carter Grain
Terminal Project—resubmission to be
effective 8/13/2012.
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56197
Filed Date: 9/5/12.
Accession Number: 20120905–5000.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 9/26/12.
Docket Numbers: ER12–2580–000.
Applicants: Midwest Independent
Transmission System Operator, Inc.
Description: Midwest Independent
Transmission System Operator, Inc.
submits LRZ CONE Calculation.
Filed Date: 9/4/12.
Accession Number: 20120904–5313.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 9/25/12.
The filings are accessible in the
Commission’s eLibrary system by
clicking on the links or querying the
docket number.
Any person desiring to intervene or
protest in any of the above proceedings
must file in accordance with Rules 211
and 214 of the Commission’s
Regulations (18 CFR § 385.211 and
§ 385.214) on or before 5 p.m. Eastern
time on the specified comment date.
Protests may be considered, but
intervention is necessary to become a
party to the proceeding.
eFiling is encouraged. More detailed
information relating to filing
requirements, interventions, protests,
service, and qualifying facilities filings
can be found at: https://www.ferc.gov/
docs-filing/efiling/filing-req.pdf. For
other information, call (866) 208–3676
(toll free). For TTY, call (202) 502–8659.
Dated: September 5, 2012.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012–22400 Filed 9–11–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF AMERICA
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
Combined Notice of Filings
Take notice that the Commission has
received the following Natural Gas
Pipeline Rate and Refund Report filings:
Filings Instituting Proceedings
Docket Numbers: RP11–2473–000.
Applicants: Gulf South Pipeline
Company, LP.
Description: Annual Cash-In/CashOut Filing—2012.
Filed Date: 8/31/12.
Accession Number: 20120831–5044.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 9/12/12.
Docket Numbers: RP11–2474–000.
Applicants: Gulf Crossing Pipeline
Company LLC.
Description: Annual Cash-In/CashOut Report.
Filed Date: 8/31/12.
Accession Number: 20120831–5043.
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 177 (Wednesday, September 12, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56194-56197]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-22509]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Promising and Practical Strategies to Increase Postsecondary
Success; Request for Information
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Request for Information (RFI); Promising and Practical
Strategies to Increase Postsecondary Success--Second Round Request and
Posting of Responses from First Round.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Education (Department) requests information
about promising and practical strategies, practices, programs, and
activities (promising and practical strategies) that have improved
rates of postsecondary success, transfer, and graduation. In addition,
the Department announces the availability of the material submitted by
respondents to an earlier request for information on this same subject.
The Department believes this information will be of interest to
others in situations similar to those described in the submissions. We
also believe that this information will be 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. Each response to this RFI should
contain the following elements (see Guidance for Submitting Documents
and Request for Information for full details):
(1) Contact information;
(2) Brief one-paragraph abstract;
(3) Detailed description of the promising and practical strategy;
and
(4) Applicable keywords or tags (meta data tags).
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 second round of reviews, it should be submitted by
November 30, 2012. We will review and post responses received after
November 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 Frederick Winter, Fund for the Improvement of
Postsecondary Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, U.S.
Department of Education, 1990 K Street NW., Room 6145, Washington, DC
20006-8544.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frederick Winter, (202) 502-7632,
frederick.winter@ed.gov.
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. 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 of Education is interested in collecting and
making available to the public information on promising and practical
strategies that can help educational institutions, States, non-profit
[[Page 56195]]
organizations, and other entities contribute to achieving this goal.
On January 30, 2012, the Department published in the Federal
Register a notice seeking information about promising and practical
strategies that have improved rates of postsecondary success, transfer,
and graduation (77 FR 4550). In order for a response to be considered
in the first round of reviews, the Department requested responses by
April 30, 2012.
As specified in the original notice, the Department is publishing
this second notice to announce that the information submitted by
respondents to that first RFI is available on the Postsecondary
Completion Web site at https://www.ed.gov/college-completion/promising-strategies.
In addition, the Department again 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 these entities, to provide the
Department with information about promising and practical strategies.
The Department is most interested in 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.
The Department is also particularly interested in information about
promising and practical strategies that could be replicated or scaled
up to help IHEs and States meet the President's goal for postsecondary
degree attainment and improve 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 these factors, the types of
environments or contexts for which the practice is most likely to
succeed, and the issues that the respondent believes would need to be
addressed in order to encourage successful replication elsewhere.
The Department has established the Postsecondary Completion Web
site to serve as an online resource that makes publicly available the
information submitted in response to the RFI. While we intend to review
submissions made in response to this RFI before posting them on the
Postsecondary Completion Web site, we will not be responsible for, and
will not certify the accuracy of, any of the information or claims
contained in these submissions. We have posted a disclaimer to this
effect on the Postsecondary Completion Web site. The individual or
entity that submits information remains responsible for its accuracy.
This RFI is issued under the authority of the Department of
Education Organization Act (DEOA) of 1979, 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 we will not
post submissions in forms that are not compliant with Section 508 and
not accessible. Instead, we will index these submissions and make them
available in an accessible format upon request.
We ask each respondent to 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. We also ask that each submission begin with a brief, one-
paragraph abstract that provides an overview of the information
provided.
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. 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
At this time, we seek the assistance of entities that 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.
We note that previous efforts to improve outcomes from
postsecondary institutions have included improved student support
services, early 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 request each respondent to 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 about the costs of implementing the promising and practical
strategies, both overall and per participant.
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.
[[Page 56196]]
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 in response to this RFI (e.g., descriptions
of promising and practical strategies or data supporting strategies),
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 Department anticipates a significant number of responses. 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
Department strongly encourages respondents to use keywords or tags to
identify components of the strategies described in their responses. The
keywords or tags 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 Department 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 Department strongly encourages respondents to
select--to the greatest extent possible--from among these standard
keywords and tags when identifying tags for their submission. If 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 Department 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 Department 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: September 6, 2012.
Martha Kanter,
Under Secretary of Education.
Appendix A: Standard Keywords and Tags
Accelerated Learning
Accessible Materials
Achievement Gap Closure
Adult Education
Affordability
Assessment Technology
Badges
Basic Skills
Blended Learning
Block Scheduling
Career Pathways
Certificate Attainment
Civic/Community Engagement
Civic Learning
Cognitive Tutors
Community of Practice
Competency-Based Learning
Contextualized Learning
Cost Savings
Course Articulation
Data Collection/Use
Degree Attainment
Developmental/Remedial Education
Digital Materials
Disability Services
Dual Degrees
Earn and Learn
Efficiency
Employer Partnership
504 Plan
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
Reasonable Accommodations
Registered Apprenticeships
Retention
SCORM
Self-Paced Learning
Simulations
Skill Assessments
Stackable Credentials
Student Services
Students with Disabilities
STEM
Technology-Enabled Learning
Time to Degree
[[Page 56197]]
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
[FR Doc. 2012-22509 Filed 9-11-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
