Request for Information for Recommendations on Improving Data User Experiences Through a National Center for Education Statistics' 2025 Data Users Conference

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background: NCES has a legal mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report complete statistics on the condition of American education; conduct and publish reports; and review and report on education activities internationally. 20 U.S.C. 9541 et seq. Additionally, the Center is authorized to establish one or more national cooperative education statistics systems to produce and maintain, with the cooperation of the States, comparable and uniform information and data on early childhood education, elementary and secondary education, postsecondary education, adult education, and libraries that are useful for policymaking at the Federal, State, and local levels. 20 U.S.C. 9547. Additional information about NCES is available here: https://nces.ed.gov/.

NCES is convening data users in response to recommendations from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) detailed in their 2022 report, A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics. This report was prepared at the request of NCES. NASEM recommends that NCES:

—Adapt to the changing world of education by increasing diversity and awareness of equity issues;

—Expand data-acquisition strategies to gain new insights;

—Prioritize topics, data content, and statistical information to increase relevance; and

—Expand engagement and dissemination for greater mission impact.

The Data Users Conference will draw heavily on NCES data and invite presentations from external experts working with broader sources of data. Facilitated discussions will explore opportunities for expanding NCES data collection, application, and reporting. The Conference's centerpiece will be a three-day series of seminars that will focus on three themes:

(1) Identifying and closing learning and achievement gaps;

(2) Identifying and explaining ways that Pre-K, K-12, and postsecondary landscapes are changing; and

(3) Expanding awareness and use of socio-spatial data, data for rural areas, and blended data to improve understanding of underrepresented groups.

External experts will join NCES researchers in a series of presentations to address each theme in new and powerful ways. Within each theme, participants will work together to articulate expanded strategies for gathering, analyzing, visualizing, and reporting data. In addition to providing a venue for data users to share novel uses of NCES data, NCES will also use the conference to share product and process updates. These may include updates to NCES data tools, reporting programs, and training opportunities.

Please note that this RFI is only a request for recommendations and not a request for proposals (RFP), or a promise to issue an RFP, or a notice inviting applications (NIA). This RFI does not commit the Department to take any future administrative, contractual, regulatory, or other action. A Request for Proposals is forthcoming. The Department will not pay for any information or administrative costs that you may incur in responding to this RFI. Any supporting documents and information submitted in response to this RFI will not be returned.

We will review each recommendation, and the information submitted in response to this RFI will be publicly available on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov. Please note that IES will not directly respond to comments.

Solicitation of Recommendations: We encourage the public, particularly those who are aware of key research questions and policy activity in one or more of the three theme areas, to address the following questions in their recommendations:

(1) What are existing or emerging issues for data users that you consider critical for each of the three conference themes? Please provide citations and links to any noteworthy research publications and products that support these existing or emerging issues.

(2) How can conference organizers best identify and convene a broad and diverse array of attendees? Recommended methods should promote inclusive approaches. Our goal is to convene organizations and/or individuals who are engaged in work related to one or more of the conference themes, including early career researchers, data users from smaller institutions, and non-traditional data users.

(3) What NCES-affiliated products and processes are of greatest interest to data users? Are there any specific updates or modifications that would be helpful to data users?

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[FR Doc. 2024-22490 Filed 9-30-24; 8:45 am]

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