OPEN

GOVERNMENT

PLAN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTT OOFF

EEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

JJUUNNEE22001144UUPPDDAATTEE

EEDD..ggoovv
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

Message from Deputy Secretary Jim Shelton, III

June 02, 2014

Throughout President Obama’s administration, the U.S. Department of Education has embraced 

new principles of open government: transparency, participation, and collaboration. Our 

commitment continues. Building on early successes, Open Government at the Department of 

Education continues to promote student achievement and preparation for global 

competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.

We remain committed to unprecedented transparency as we continue to release education 

datasets to the public. The Department of Education is a leader among government agencies in 

posting data to data.gov. Privacy, confidentiality and data integrity are essential in order to get 

the greatest benefit from transparency, collaboration and participation. Toward this end, the 

Department formalized the charter for the Education Disclosure Review board. The board is 

operating and during Fiscal Year 2013, it reviewed the release of numerous high-value data 

sets to ensure the highest standards of privacy, security and integrity.

One of our flagship initiatives, the Navigating Education Data Inventory, intends to make the 

vast amount of education-related data more accessible and easier to navigate. Our goal is to 

provide searchable data that helps researchers, innovators and educators advance new studies, 

products and services that will improve our schools and give more students a chance to 

succeed.

We have simplified the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, making applying for 

aid easier by collaborating with the IRS, so that students can transfer their family’s financial 

records directly from the IRS, dramatically increasing the ease of completing a FAFSA.

Since the last update to this plan in 2012, states participating in Race to the Top provided data 

for schools years 2011-2012 and 2012-2013. We added a progress area to the Annual 

Performance Report allowing the public, grantees and others to track progress toward meeting 

ambitious goals for student outcomes. This new capability allows users to analyze a State’s

performance across multiple years of the grant period.

The ConnectED initiative, a part of the National Education Technology Plan, is a key component 

of our open government plan. ConnectED is a partnership with the Federal Communication 

Commission (FCC) that will connect nearly every school to the internet via high-speed 

broadband over the next four years. This new capability can provide students and teachers

with access to engaging digital resources and opportunities to collaborate with peers and 

experts. Using powerful tools to solve real problems will be an integral part of their learning 

experience. 

EEDD..ggoovv

i
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

I am proud of the innovative culture that infuses the Department of Education. We have made 

great progress in communicating effectively with the public and our stakeholders through 

platforms and tools that help them connect with us and give ongoing access to resources that 

help them make the best decisions about education. 

By working together to provide an Open Government, we can make progress in closing the 

opportunity gaps that exist in our nation. We can help make the American dream a reality for 

more of our citizens. We are excited about the work ahead, and we look forward to your 

suggestions about what we can do to improve this plan.

EEDD..ggoovv

ii
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

Document Revision History

Description Author(s) Version Date

Initial draft Joseph Rose 

Kirk Winters 

Ross Santy 

Jason Hoekstra 

Cathy Solomon 

Bucky Methfessel 

1.0 March 6, 2010 

Revised document structure Joseph Rose 

Kirk Winters 

Ross Santy 

Jason Hoekstra 

Cathy Solomon 

Bucky Methfessel 

1.1 March 15, 2010 

Reviewed document 

structure 

Joseph Rose 

Kirk Winters 

Ross Santy 

Jason Hoekstra 

Cathy Solomon 

Ken Moore 

1.1 March 17, 2010 

Second Draft Joseph Rose 

Kirk Winters 

Ross Santy 

Jason Hoekstra 

Cathy Solomon 

Ken Moore 

1.2 March 18, 2010 

Third Draft Revised 

Structure and Draft 

Joe Rose 

Jason Hoekstra 

1.3 March 21, 2010 

Fourth Draft Revised 

Content 

Joe Rose 

Jason Hoekstra 

1.4 March 28, 2010 

Near final Draft Revised 

Content, added conclusion, 

reorganized sections

Bucky Methfessel 

Ken Moore 

Joe Rose 

1.5 March 31, 2010 

Revised Content Joe Rose 1.6 April 1, 2010 

Final to Clearance Revisions Joe Rose 

John McGrath 

1.7 April 4, 2010 

Final First Release 1.8 April 7, 2010 

Educational Material 

Correction 

Joe Rose 1.8.1 April 23, 2010 

Revision Steve Midgley 

Cathy Solomon 

1.9 June 25, 2010 

Minor update: Chief Privacy 

Officer date, p.74 

Melanie Muenzer 1.9.1 July 2, 2010 

Added more readable 

formatting, no content 

changes. 

Steve Midgley 1.9.2 July 12, 2010 

Minor graphic format 

alteration, no content 

changes. 

Steve Midgley 1.9.3 July 26, 2010 

Version 2.0 Updates Jason Hoekstra 2.0 February 26, 2012 

Content updates from offices Dana Kelly 

Dale King 

Kelly Worthington 

Tyrone Harris 

Jason Hoekstra 

2.1 March 2, 2012 

Content updates from offices Susan Thares 

Jessica McKinney 

Richard Wilson 

Cameron Brenchley 

Jefferson Pestronk 

Richard Smith 

Tenisha James 

Meredith Farace 

David Harrity 

Jason Hoekstra 

2.2 March 9, 2012 

Content updates from offices Richard Culatta 

Adam Bookman 

Jane Clark 

Dale King 

2.3 March 15, 2012 

EEDD..ggoovv

iii
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

Description Author(s) Version Date

Content updates, submit to 

clearance 

Phil Martin 

Jason Hoekstra 

2.4 March 22, 2012 

Content updates, finalize 

document 

Dale King 

Tom Corwin 

Heather Acord 

Kathleen Smith 

Greg March 

David Cogdill 

Marilyn Seastrom 

Lauren Thompson 

Melanie Muenzer 

Lily Clark 

Phil Martin 

Cynthia Dorfman 

2.5 April 5, 2012 

Finalize document for 

release 

Jason Hoekstra 2.6 April 6th, 2012 

Additional finalization edits Jason Hoekstra 2.7 April 9th, 2012 

Version 3.0 Outline and 

format updates

Jill James

Steven Corey-Bey

Stuart Williams (Ctr.)

3.0 March 26, 2014

Content updates from offices Cameron Benchley

James Butler

Cynthia Cabell

Jane Clark

Lily Clark

Steven Corey-Bey

Richard Culatta

Chris Greene

Dave Harrity

Michael Hawes

James Hyler

Jill James

Tenisha James 

Corwin Jennings

Abraham Marinez

Tara Marini

Alise Marshall

Patrick McFadden

Elizabeth McFadden

Meredith Micelli

Ken Moore

Heather Rieman

Hugh Reid

Ross Santy

Ken Schellenberg

Sherry Smith

George Smith

Gregory Smith

Richard Smith

Jan Solomon

Joseph South 

Kathleen Styles

Kelly Terpak

Adrienne Will

Stuart Williams (Ctr.)

3.1 May 16, 2014

Format and draft revisions Kate Devine

Cynthia Cabell

Elaine Goheen

Jill James

Stuart Williams (Ctr.)

3.2 May 21, 2014

Additional content updates 

from offices

Jill James 

Pam Malam

3.3 May 21, 2014

Additional content updates Abraham Marinez

Ken Moore

Adrienne Will

3.4 May 23, 2014

Additional content updates Jill James 

Joseph South

Joseph Conaty

3.5 June 2, 2014

Final document release Jill James

Stuart Williams (Ctr.)

3.7 June 2, 2014

EEDD..ggoovv

iv
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

Open Government Organizational and Management Information 

Contact e-mail: opengov@ed.gov 

Open Government Initiative at ED’s website: www.ed.gov/open 

Senior Accountable Officials 

James Shelton III, Deputy Secretary, Office of the Secretary

Open Government Steering Committee Members 

Jill James (co-chair) Office of Communications and Outreach 

David Harrity (co-chair) Office of the Chief Information Officer 

Dana Kelly National Center for Education Statistics

Ted Socha National Center for Education Statistics

Kelly Worthington National Center for Education Statistics

Ross Santy National Center for Education Statistics

Abraham Marinez Federal Student Aid

Gail Matthews Office of the Chief Financial Officer

Jeanne Nathanson Office of the Chief Financial Officer

Steven Corey-Bey Office of the Chief Information Officer

Corwin Jennings Office of Civil Rights

Jay LeMaster Office of Career, Technology, and Adult Education

Bucky Methfessel Office of the General Counsel

Joseph South Office of Education Technology

Michael Deshields Office of the Inspector General

Julian Alcazar Office of Innovation and Improvement

Adam Bookman Office of Innovation and Improvement

Ty Harris Office of Innovation and Improvement

Jim Nosal Office of Innovation and Improvement

Gregory Smith Office of Management

Michael Itzkowitz Office of Post-Secondary Education

Meredith Miceli Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

Vicki Myers Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

Newton Piper Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

EEDD..ggoovv

v
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

Contents

I Executive Summary........................................................................................................................................1

II Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................2

III Transparency, Participation, and Collaboration in Programs.......................................................3

A New 2014 Initiative for Transparency, Participation, and Collaboration in Programs: 

Department of Education Disclosure Review Board (ED-DRB)...................................................3

Approval of the ED-DRB Charter .......................................................................................................3

Capacity Building .....................................................................................................................................3

Major Data Releases Reviewed ..........................................................................................................4

B Technical Assistance on Publishing and Sharing Data While Preserving Confidentiality .4

C Race to the Top–Game-Changing Reforms............................................................................................4

D Race to the Top Assessment Program.....................................................................................................6

E The Listening and Learning Tour—Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) 

Reauthorization ...............................................................................................................................................7

F Investing in Innovation (i3)........................................................................................................................8

G National Education Technology Plan ......................................................................................................8

H Federal Student Aid (FSA) College.gov................................................................................................ 10

IV Strategic Action Plan for Open Government......................................................................................11

A New 2014 Flagship Initiative, Transparency: Navigating ED’s Data Inventory..................11

B New 2014 Flagship Initiative, Participation: Early Participation and Input in Policy- and 

Rule-Making.................................................................................................................................................... 12

C New 2014 Flagship Initiative, Collaboration: Federal Registry for Educational Excellence 

(FREE.Ed.gov)................................................................................................................................................ 12

D Flagship Initiative, Transparency: Federal Student Aid Integrated Student Experience 13

FAFSA State API..................................................................................................................................... 13

StudentAid.gov....................................................................................................................................... 14

Mobile Accessibility ............................................................................................................................. 14

MyStudentData ...................................................................................................................................... 14

Customer Listening Initiative........................................................................................................... 14

FAFSASimplification/IRS Data Retrieval Tools ........................................................................15

E Flagship Initiative, Participation: Public Challenges and Contests ..........................................15

College Net Price Calculator Student Video Challenge ..........................................................15

Why Open Education Matters Student Video Challenge .......................................................15

StopBullying.gov Student Video Challenge.................................................................................15

Together for Tomorrow School Improvement Challenge ....................................................16

White House Student Film Festival ............................................................................................... 16

F Flagship Initiative, Collaboration: Connected Communities of Practice................................16

G Flagship Initiative, Transparency: ED Data Express ......................................................................17

H Flagship Initiative, Collaboration: Open Innovation Web Portal..............................................18

I Flagship Initiative, Participation: Open Government Steering Committee...........................18

J Ongoing Initiatives for Timely Publishing of Electronic Data ....................................................19

New Initiatives for Timely Publishing of Electronic Data for 2014..................................19

Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Adult Education Programs ........................19

Civil Rights Data Collection............................................................................................................... 20

The Learning Registry......................................................................................................................... 21

RSA Management Information System ........................................................................................21

EEDD..ggoovv

vi
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

Data.gov .................................................................................................................................................... 22

Data.Ed.Gov ............................................................................................................................................. 23

eRulemaking ........................................................................................................................................... 23

IT Dashboard.......................................................................................................................................... 24

USASpending.gov.................................................................................................................................. 24

EDFacts ..................................................................................................................................................... 25

IDEAData.org .......................................................................................................................................... 25

Federal Student Aid (FSA) Data Center........................................................................................25

OpenED Employment and Hiring Solutions and Dashboard...............................................26

K Participation and Collaboration Initiatives........................................................................................27

New Participation and Collaboration Initiatives for 2014...................................................27

Twitter Town Halls .............................................................................................................................. 27

Empowering Students and Families as Stakeholders and Collaborators.......................28

Public Participation at ED.gov and through Outreach...........................................................30

Digital Systems Interoperability..................................................................................................... 31

Privacy Technical Assistance Center and Related Activities...............................................33

Enabling More Web Publishing at ED.gov...................................................................................33

Rehabilitation Services Administration ARRA Funding Guidance Assistance .............33

OpenEducation.IdeaScale.com......................................................................................................... 34

Employee Participation Through OpenED..................................................................................34

L Improving Internal Processes ................................................................................................................. 34

New Internal Improvement Processes for 2014......................................................................34

Data Strategy Team.............................................................................................................................. 36

.Gov Web Reform .................................................................................................................................. 37

Chief Privacy Officer ............................................................................................................................ 37

Public Notifications via ED.gov and Digital Tools....................................................................38

ED Records Management Program................................................................................................ 39

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Administration..............................................................40

Congressional Requests for Information.....................................................................................41

Whistleblower Protections ............................................................................................................... 42

Department Roadmap for Incorporating Principles of Openness into Core Agency 

Missions.................................................................................................................................................... 43

V Conclusion....................................................................................................................................................... 46

EEDD..ggoovv

vii
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

I EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The U.S. Department of Education considers open government to be a critical component in 

achieving the administration’s ambitious education goals, which are: 

• The U.S. is to become No. 1 in the world in the percentage of the population with a 

college degree by 2020; and 

• The U.S. is to significantly reduce gaps between low-income and minority students and 

their peers in high school graduation and college access and success by 2020. 

The principles of open government are now vital to effectively communicating and interacting 

with the general public, students, parents, teachers, and all stakeholders engaged in public 

education. These principles have changed its internal culture and how the Department of 

Education operates. This document is one milestone in a series of changes designed to improve 

the way the Department shares information, learns from others, and collaborates to develop 

the best solutions for America’s students. 

While open government work often involves new technologies and sharing collected data with 

the public, at its core, open government in education is about building and fostering 

relationships and dialogue among those interested in improving teaching and learning,

developing good ideas, and using those ideas to set the right policies and strategies to help our 

students and teachers. Every step of the way, the Department of Education can connect with 

and learn from everyone with a passion to learn and ideas to share. 

Open government practices became a priority at the Department of Education in 2009, with the 

confirmation of Secretary Arne Duncan on January 20, and the issuance of the President’s open 

government directive, Transparency and Open Government, on January 21, 2009. Together, 

these events marked a significant change in the Department’s approach to transparency, public 

participation, and collaboration. The objectives of open government have touched all 

Department activities during the first term of the administration and serve as the foundation 

on which the Department continues to build. From that work, the Department has developed a 

set of open government goals that align and drive us toward greater transparency, 

collaboration, and participation with our constituents and partners and within the organization 

itself. These goals are: 

Goal 1: Increase the Department’s transparency and accountability. 

Goal 2: Solicit and incorporate more public input, including from students, families, 

educators, and community partners, into Department operations and programs. 

Goal 3: Increase collaboration and communication with other organizations. 

Goal 4: Create a culture of openness within the Department. 

ED.gov

1
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

II INTRODUCTION

This Open Government Plan for the Department of Education articulates Secretary Arne 

Duncan’s response to the Office of Management and Budget’s Open Government Directive (OMB 

M-10-06). That directive requires departments and agencies to document specific steps that 

will achieve the transparency, participation, and collaboration goals of President Obama and 

his administration. This plan expresses the values that are held by the Secretary and how this 

Department will continue to expand openness in government. 

The Department of Education embraces the principles of increased transparency, participation, 

and collaboration as essential to accomplishing its mission. By focusing on open practices and 

increasing access to data, we anticipate the creation of new information and knowledge that 

will help promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by 

fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. 

The Department has developed a set of strategic goals and objectives for openness that will 

drive its work forward and allow it, and the public, to measure and assess its progress. These 

goals are: 

Goal #1: Increase the Department’s transparency and accountability. 

Objective 1.1: Provide clarity and guidance on privacy rules and regulations to ensure that 

information and data can be shared in a timely manner with the public while 

still protecting individual privacy as required by law. 

Objective 1.2: Make more data and information available to the public. 

Objective 1.3: Improve the timeliness of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) processing and 

document release. 

Objective 1.4: Increase the transparency of the grant application and award process. 

Objective 1.5: Maintain up-to-date information on the Department’s website about 

Department offices and key programs. 

Objective 1.6: Foster more transparency in the larger educational community. 

Goal #2: Solicit and incorporate more public input into Department operations. 

Objective 2.1: Provide more insight into the agency’s decision-making process. 

Objective 2.2: Provide regularly updated project maps, dated milestones, and financial data 

regarding open government and other key initiatives. 

Objective 2.3: Collect and use input from the public and other stakeholders, including 

students, families, educators, and community partners, in decision-making.

Objective 2.4: Empower students, families, educators, and community partners to have a 

voice in the development and implementation of Department-funded 

education projects at the state and local level. 

Goal #3: Increase collaboration and communication with other organizations. 

Objective 3.1: Enhance collaboration with other federal and non-federal agencies, the public, 

and non-profit and private entities. 

Goal #4: Create a culture of openness within the Department. 

Objective 4.1: Encourage openness and communication about effectiveness within the 

Department. 

Objective 4.2: Enhance Departmental internal collaboration capabilities. 

ED.gov

2
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

III TRANSPARENCY, PARTICIPATION, AND COLLABORATION IN PROGRAMS

A New 2014 Initiative for Transparency, Participation, and Collaboration in 

Programs: Department of Education Disclosure Review Board (ED-DRB)

The U.S. Department of Education Disclosure Review Board (ED-DRB) is responsible for the 

review and approval of the disclosure avoidance protections used to protect privacy in the 

Department’s public data releases. During fiscal year 2013, the ED-DRB was formally 

chartered by the Department, assisted numerous Principal Offices (POs) with their selection 

and implementation of disclosure avoidance methods, and approved the privacy protections 

for a number of high-value data files for public release.

Approval of the ED-DRB Charter

Although the Department of Education Policy Committee approved the creation of the ED-DRB 

in May 2012, there were many details about the ED-DRB’s ultimate scope, mission, functions, 

and organization that were still to be determined. Although disclosure review boards have 

been considered a best practice for many years in federal statistical agencies, the creation of a 

disclosure review board by a non-statistical agency, to review program/administrative data 

releases, is believed to be novel. Consequently, much of the group’s work throughout fiscal 

year 2013 was focused on articulating the ED-DRB’s scope, mission, functions, and 

organization. Representatives from POs met regularly to reach a common understanding about 

the ED-DRB’s ultimate scope and functions, to benchmark the structure and functions of 

statistical agency disclosure review boards, and to codify that information into a formal charter 

for the group. While the chartering of the ED-DRB in August 2013 marks a major 

accomplishment for the Department overall, the ED-DRB membership remains committed to 

continually refine and improve the functions of the ED-DRB as it continues its formal 

operations in fiscal year 2014 and beyond. 

Capacity Building

It should be noted that one of the ED-DRB’s greatest achievements during fiscal year 2013 was 

capacity building among the group’s members and their respective POs in the field of 

disclosure avoidance. In particular, the collaborative process used by the board when 

developing the disclosure avoidance methodology to use for the release of the School-level 

Achievement Results for State Assessments in Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics was an 

instructional experience for many of the board members. Working through the challenging 

issues surrounding that release, in particular, led the ED-DRB’s members to a shared 

understanding of the need for coordinated disclosure avoidance, the challenges associated with 

the process, and the implications that differing methodologies have on the precision and 

coverage of data.

ED.gov

3
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

Major Data Releases Reviewed

The ED-DRB reviewed and approved a number of high-value data releases during fiscal year

2013. While a few of these data releases were annual updates of previously released data files, 

others (like the State Assessment Achievement Results) were major, new releases of data.

These data releases are available on the Data.Gov website.

B Technical Assistance on Publishing and Sharing Data While Preserving 

Confidentiality

Providing clarity and guidance on methods for publishing usable data, in a timely manner, 

while protecting privacy, continues to be a major priority for the Department. Over the past 

two years, the Department has: (1) established a Department-wide Disclosure Review Board

(see section A) responsible for coordinating, reviewing, and approving the privacy protections 

for the Department’s public data releases; (2) provided substantial general technical assistance 

to states and districts on the subject of privacy protections for public data releases; and (3) 

provided targeted assistance, on request, to education stakeholders on improving their privacy 

protections for public data releases.

General Technical Assistance on Privacy Protections

Over the past two years, the Department’s Privacy Technical Assistance Center has provided 

substantial, general technical assistance to state and local educational agencies on the subject 

of privacy protections for public data releases. This technical assistance has come in the form 

of:

• Case studies,

• Frequently Asked Questions,

• Webinars, and

• Numerous conference presentations.

Targeted Technical Assistance on Privacy Protections 

In addition to the general technical assistance offered though the agency’s Privacy Technical 

Assistance Center, the Department has provided in-depth, targeted assistance to several state 

and local education stakeholders facing particular challenges relating to disclosure avoidance 

and privacy protections in data files and tables intended for public release.

C Race to the Top–Game-Changing Reforms

During fiscal year 2013, the Department used the approximately $550 million appropriated for 

the Race to the Top program for fiscal year 2012 to make 16 awards to local educational 

agencies under the Race to the Top – District program and 5 awards to States under the Race to 

the Top Early Learning – Early Learning Challenge program. The applications for the Race to 

ED.gov

4
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

the Top – District grantees supported with these funds can be found on ED.gov. The 

applications for the successful Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge grant State 

applicants can also be found on ED.gov.

During fiscal year 2014, the Department used the approximately $520 million appropriated for 

fiscal year 2013 to make 5 new awards to local educational agencies under the Race to the Top 

– District program and 6 awards to States under the Race to the Top Early Learning – Early 

Learning Challenge program, and to pay peer-review costs and provide technical assistance to 

grantees. This brings the total to 21 local educational agencies that have been awarded grants 

under the Race to the Top – District program and 20 States that have been awarded grants 

under the Race to the Top Early Learning – Early Learning Challenge program. The 

applications for the Race to the Top – District grantees supported with these funds can be 

found on ED.gov. The applications for the successful Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge 

grant State applicants can be found on ED.gov. 

For fiscal year 2014, Congress appropriated $250 million to establish a new Race to the Top 

initiative for competitive awards to States for early childhood care and education. 

Annual Performance Report 

Since the last update, States have provided data for school years 2011-2012 and 2012-2013. In 

addition, the Department has made significant improvements to the Race to the Top Annual 

Performance Report (APR) system to make more information publicly available. For example, 

in 2013 the Progress Area was added to the APR. The Progress Area allows the Department, 

grantees, and the public to follow grantees’ progress in implementing comprehensive 

education reform plans and meeting ambitious goals for student outcomes across the grant 

period. The Progress Area includes key data elements that grantee States have reported in the 

current year’s APR as well as in prior years, representing States’ performance and progress 

against the annual or four-year targets in their Race to the Top plans. The Progress Area is 

available for grantees that have reported data for two or more Race to the Top APRs. This 

feature allows users to analyze State performance across multiple years of the grant period.

In addition, in 2014, the State Comparison Area was added to the APR. The State Comparison 

Area of the Race to the Top APR allows the Department, grantees, and the public to follow 

grantees' progress in implementing comprehensive education reform plans as compared to 

other grantees. The State Comparison Area includes key data elements that grantee States have 

reported for each grant year. This interactive feature allows users to select a school year, data 

element, and up to three States to compare. 

The APR is available on the Race to the Top website. 

ED.gov

5
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

State-specific reports

For each State that has been awarded a Race to the Top State Grant, the Department annually 

produces a State-specific summary report that highlights successes and accomplishments, 

identifies challenges, and provides lessons learned from implementation. For the 12 Phase 1 

and Phase 2 grantees (Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, 

Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Tennessee), the Department 

has made publicly available the State-specific annual reports for the first three years of 

implementation. 

For the seven Phase 3 grantees (Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, 

and Pennsylvania), the Department has made publicly available the Year 1 State-specific annual 

reports. (For the Phase 3 grantees, the Year 1 reports cover the period from approximately 

December 2011 through December 2012.)

The State-specific reports are available on ED.gov. 

Technical assistance

An important component of the Race to the Top State Grant program is the technical assistance 

and support the Department provides to the States, through the Reform Support Network, as 

the grantees are implementing their approved plans and undertaking comprehensive 

education reform in their State. The Department works closely with the grantees to identify 

and address their needs, by identifying external experts that can support the grantees and 

creating communities of practice so that grantees can learn from one another and build on one 

another’s work. The Department makes information about the communities of practice and the 

resources and tools developed to support the grantees publicly available on the Reform 

Support Network website. 

D Race to the Top Assessment Program

Since the Department awarded grants to two consortia of states in September 2010 to develop 

comprehensive assessment systems, the Department has undertaken several activities to 

support and better enable transparency.

Technical Assistance Public Meetings

The Department hosted four public information and technical assistance meetings for the 

consortia of States. The meetings – addressing state and local technology infrastructure; 

automated scoring; and creating valid, reliable, and fair assessments for students with 

disabilities and English learners – provided an opportunity for the consortia and the public to 

hear from experts, discuss approaches to addressing the issue, and suggest solutions together. 

For each meeting, the Department has made information available, including the agenda and 

expert biographies, participant list, presentations, and a transcript of the meeting. 

ED.gov

6
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

Program Review and Annual Reports

The Implementation and Support Unit, Responsible for the Race to the Top program, developed 

a program review with grantees and made information about the program review publicly 

available. 

As a component of the program review, in 2013 the Department established the Race to the 

Top Assessment Technical Review. The Technical Review brought together national experts in 

assessment design, psychometrics, academic content, and assessing students with disabilities 

and English learners to review documentation from each consortium. They analyzed the 

consortia’s progress meeting the requirements laid out in the Race to the Top Assessment 

program and identified how the Department can better partner with the consortia during this 

critical development phase. Information about the Technical Review, including a summary of 

the spring 2013 Technical Review for each consortium, is available on ED.gov. 

In addition, each year of the grant, each consortium submits an annual performance report, 

which provides summary overview information about the consortium’s progress. The APRs are 

available on ED.gov. 

For each year of the grant, the Department has produced a report for each consortium 

summarizing the consortium’s progress, identifying lessons learned, and next steps for the key 

activities related to the development of the next-generation assessment systems. The reports

are available on ED.gov.

Grantee Websites

Both consortia, as part of their grant, have developed public websites that provide a wealth of 

information about the development of the assessment systems, including technical 

documentation and fact sheets and presentations. The consortia have also both released 

practice tests and sample items for the public to try out the assessments. The websites are the

Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for 

College and Careers (PARCC).

E The Listening and Learning Tour—Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

(ESEA) Reauthorization

In 2014, the Department continues to seek public and stakeholder input in a variety of ways. 

The Office of Elementary and Secondary Education has held numerous conference calls and 

meetings with States, school districts, community and advocacy organizations, and other 

stakeholders regarding improvements to the School Improvement Grants program to better 

support State and local efforts to turn around the Nation’s lowest-performing schools. The 

Department has also used grantee meetings as a forum to hear from students, teachers, and 

others and to bring their voices to the forefront of our work. The Department continues to 

have regular meetings to gain input on ESEA flexibility implementation and lessons learned 

ED.gov

7
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

from all of these key stakeholders as well. The Department has also provided leaders in states 

and local communities with three opportunities to provide comments to shape the new 

Preschool Development Grants competition to support local and state preschool development. 

In the 20 RTT-ELC states leaders meet regularly to share their successes and problem solve 

solutions to barriers that arise as they reform and build systems to assure children enter school 

healthy and prepared for school. 

In 2012 and 2013, the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and top Department officials visited 

numerous schools and the Department held and participated in town hall meetings throughout 

the year. Each fall the Secretary takes a Back to School Bus Tour. In 2012 the Education Drives 

America tour went coast-to-coast, highlighting education successes and engaging communities 

in conversations about school reform (P-12), college affordability and completion, and the link 

between education and jobs. In 2013 the Strong Start, Bright Future tour took the Secretary 

throughout the Southwest to highlight the importance of ensuring that all students benefit from 

high-quality educational opportunities. Plans are in progress for a 2014 tour.

F Investing in Innovation (i3)

In 2014, the i3 program continues to support the goal to increase the transparency of the grant 

application and award process. The i3 program posts all relevant application materials on the 

i3 website, including links to the Notices Inviting Applications, application packages, webinars, 

and FAQ documents. Additionally, the i3 program posts overview information after each 

closing date about the number of applications received and the list of applicants. When the 

program announces the highest-rated applicants each fall, these applicants’ project narratives 

and technical review forms are posted on the website along with an overview document that 

discusses the i3 competitions for that year. Learn more at the i3 website.

G National Education Technology Plan

The National Educational Technology Plan, Transforming American Education: Learning 

Powered by Technology, was prepared for the Office of Educational Technology by leading

researchers and practitioners. It represents their best ideas about how the nation can advance 

the teaching and learning capabilities of its schools. The plan is designed to close the gap 

between the technology-rich and engaging experiences that dominate many students' lives 

outside of school and many students’ experience in school, while preparing them for success as 

global citizens and in college and careers. It presents five goals with recommendations for 

states, districts, the federal government, and other stakeholders. Each goal addresses one of the 

five essential components of learning powered by technology: Learning, Assessment, Teaching, 

Infrastructure, and Productivity. 

The National Education Technology Plan is scheduled to be updated this year.

ED.gov

8
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

In keeping with the Open Government Initiative, in November 2010 the Department published 

the draft of the plan on the Department's website. The public was invited to review it, comment 

on it, and provide examples of research and practice associated with it. The Department 

welcomed suggestions about ways to accelerate the development and adoption of tools and 

resources that merge education and technology, as well as incentives to help spark innovation 

and scale up the most effective products. 

In November 2010, the National Education Technology Plan (NETP) was released, 

incorporating many ideas and comments submitted from the public via ED.gov. For example, a 

call came from the public to release the plan in numerous accessible formats. As a result, NETP 

is available as NIMAS, DAISY and Braille Ready File (BRF) formats in addition to PDF and web 

versions. The Education Technology Plan continues to be a centerpiece in the discussion of the 

future of learning and teaching and a continual collaboration between teachers, administrators, 

researchers, content vendors, education solution providers and open technology communities.

The National Educational Technology Plan established a vision for how technology could 

provide students with access to engaging digital resources, opportunities to collaborate with 

peers and experts, and powerful tools to solve real problems as an integral part of their 

learning experience. The plan also aims to ensure that affordable devices are available to 

support students' digital learning, teachers are prepared to thrive in connected classrooms, and 

high-quality digital learning resources are available to teachers and students at any time and 

any place. 

Schools must have modern technology infrastructure, and students must have access to the 

best resources—regardless of where they live—so that they are prepared to thrive in a globally 

connected world.

In 2013, President Obama announced the ConnectED initiative, which aims to make the vision 

outlined in the National Educational Technology Plan a reality by ensuring classrooms across 

the country are connected to high-speed internet. The Federal Communications Commission 

(FCC) answered the President’s call to action, announcing efforts to modernize and expand the 

E-Rate program to more fully meet the needs of schools and libraries as they connect to highspeed broadband.

In January 2014, the President announced that—with the support of the Federal 

Communication Commission—America will make a major down-payment on the goals of the 

National Educational Technology Plan and ConnectED, connecting more than 15,000 schools 

over the next two years—without adding a dime to the deficit.

And to help educators leverage new technologies and high-speed Internet, the Obama 

administration has announced the ConnectEDucators program, which would help educators to 

leverage technology and data to personalize learning and improve instruction, ensuring that—

ED.gov

9
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

as schools increase access to broadband Internet through the ConnectED initiative—teachers 

and principals are prepared to use these resources in a way that increases student learning and 

achievement. This new proposed program would complement the efforts of local school 

districts to personalize learning through the Race to The Top-District program.

H Federal Student Aid (FSA) College.gov

In July 2012, College.gov was retired as a stand-alone website and its content was incorporated 

into StudentAid.gov as part of the Integrated Student View (ISV). For more information about 

the ISV, please refer to Sec IV Part D of this report.

ED.gov

10
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

IV STRATEGIC ACTION PLAN FOR OPEN GOVERNMENT

A New 2014 Flagship Initiative, Transparency: Navigating ED’s Data Inventory

The Education Data Inventory initiative is a centralized, metadata repository of data collected 

by the Department of Education, excluding personnel and administrative data. This tool serves 

both internal and external stakeholders and aligns with the open data principle of government 

efficiencies. Internally, the Data Inventory reduces reporting burden, improves data collection 

practices across the agency, and strengthens program office’s data understanding. 

Additionally, employees can quickly identify previously collected data and reduce research 

time when referencing historical data. For external customers, the Data Inventory provides a 

searchable, one-stop-shop, to find data collected by the Department. The Data Inventory also 

connects metadata to previously published data files on sites such as data.gov or Ed.gov.

On November 25, 2013, a Beta version of the Education Data Inventory was released to the 

general public on the data inventory website. This fully operational beta version allows the 

public to search available records and review the inventory tool as a whole. Increased 

engagement with the public will be forthcoming through previously established 

communication tools, such as the Ed.gov blog.

The Data Inventory provides a link between data collected by the Department of Education and 

Department of Education data files made publicly available through Data.gov or ED.gov.

The U.S. Department of Education fiscal year 2013 Annual Performance Report and fiscal year

2015 Annual Performance Plan provides guidance on the strategic targets for the Data 

Inventory datasets totals. For fiscal year 2013, a baseline of 55 publically available datasets was 

established. The strategic targets for fiscal years 2014-2016 are listed in the following table:

Fiscal Year 

2014

Fiscal Year 

2015 Fiscal Year 2016

Number of public data sets included 

in the Department’s data inventory 

and thus linked to Data.gov or 

ED.gov websites

66 79 94

A working group of Data Strategy Team members is engaging program offices to ensure 

efficiency and collaboration in this initiative. Streamlined data collection will lessen reporting 

burden for the program offices, as well as improve the timeliness of inventory updates. Both 

benefits will support the sustainability of the Data Inventory and allow for continued 

improvement.

ED.gov

11
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

B New 2014 Flagship Initiative, Participation: Early Participation and Input in 

Policy- and Rule-Making

As part of its implementation of Executive Order 13563, "Improving Regulation and Regulatory 

Review," issued by the President on January 18, 2011 and the Department’s retrospective 

analysis of its regulations, the Department receives comments on proposed regulations open 

for public comment and other requests for comment that are posted on regulations.gov. 

Specifically, the Department is interested in the public’s thoughts about how the Department

can makes its proposals more effective, efficient, and easily understandable to help achieve 

better outcomes for students while minimizing burden and streamlining requirements, where 

possible. The Department seeks comments on regulations that may be outmoded, ineffective, 

insufficient, or excessively burdensome, as well as regulations that could be modified, 

streamlined, expanded, or repealed to be more effective and efficient, achieve better outcomes 

for students, and be easier to understand.

The Department takes early participation and input seriously, and conducts outreach on a 

number of important initiatives through in-person and online contact. We intend to continue 

to build upon these efforts in the future. 

C New 2014 Flagship Initiative, Collaboration: Federal Registry for Educational 

Excellence (FREE.Ed.gov)

The Federal Registry for Educational Excellence (FREE) makes it easier to find digital teaching 

and learning resources created and maintained by the federal government and public and 

private organizations. The Department of Education’s FREE.Ed.gov website was conceived in 

1997 by a federal working group in response to a Presidential memorandum on expanding 

access to internet-based educational resources for children, teachers and parents. The site was 

launched a year later. It was redesigned and re-launched for the first time in November 2006.

In June 2013 the Department launched a new version of FREE.Ed.gov powered by the Learning 

Registry, an open database for sharing digital learning resources. This partnership provides 

customers – educators, parents and students – with a broader inventory of educational 

materials from federal agencies and public and private organizations. More than 400,000 freely 

available resources are included in the new FREE.

The new site incorporates responsive design for mobile devices. It is now easier to share 

content in FREE on social media networks. By modernizing the technology behind FREE, the 

Department is preparing a platform for future enhancements. The Department plans to gather 

more expertise from the education community and incorporate more customer-generated 

input. The Department will be working with customers to identify and prioritize possible new 

features so customers can rate, tag, and comment on specific resources, as well as possibly save 

their favorites for future reference.

ED.gov

12
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

FREE is maintained by the Office of Communications and Outreach and the Office of 

Educational Technology in partnership with the Advanced Digital Learning Initiative. The 

Department welcomes feedback on the new FREE. Send comments and ideas to FREE@ed.gov

or on Twitter @FreeResources.

D Flagship Initiative, Transparency: Federal Student Aid Integrated Student 

Experience

Integrated Student Experience is the Department’s signature initiative per Executive Order 

13571 on “Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service.” The Integrated 

Student Experience (ISE) initiative supports this vision by providing students and parents with 

a necessary enhanced customer experience across the student aid lifecycle, resulting in 

increased financial aid awareness and a simplified application and servicing experience. The 

consolidation effort focuses on transitioning the presentation of content, functionality and tools 

of FSA’s 14+ separate student-facing websites into one user experience. ISE will deliver holistic, 

high-quality information about the financial aid process resulting in improved rates of 

customer self-service opportunities and establishing clear mechanisms for customer feedback. 

Social media (Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter) will also be integrated into ISE for a more 

enhanced customer experience. 

FAFSA State API

Students across nine states1 can now use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) 

to apply for both federal and state student financial assistance. The U.S. Department of 

Education’s (ED) Application Programming Interface (API) service was established to allow 

students who have completed and submitted an application via FAFSA.gov to electronically 

transfer data they provided on their application to agencies administering state financial 

assistance programs. The API functionality promotes the use of technology to address state 

data collection needs while reducing application reporting burden for students and their 

families and protecting the privacy of students. Eligible students completing the application 

through ED’s FAFSA.gov will be linked to their state’s financial assistance Web site (as 

determined by the applicant’s state of legal residence), provided that ED has approved the 

state’s participation in the API process. Once on the state’s secure Web site, state scholarship 

and grant agencies will receive FAFSA data that the student has entered and submitted to ED.

This is yet another way ED continues to simplify the federal and state financial aid application 

process for students and utilize technology to unlock the power of education data.

1 California, Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and 

Indiana

ED.gov

13

 
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

StudentAid.gov

In July 2012, StudentAid.gov was launched to support the ISE. This site is the first step in a 

multi-phase project to provide consumers with a one-stop website where they can access 

federal student aid information, apply for federal aid, repay student loans, and navigate the 

college decision-making process. Whether the user is a student, a parent, or a borrower in 

repayment, StudentAid.gov has useful information for you. The site, available in English and 

Spanish, combines content and interactive tools from several Department websites and makes 

it easy to find the information needed. It also features videos and infographics to help answer 

the most frequently asked questions about financial aid. In May 2014, the office of Federal 

Student Aid launched a new feature on its streamlined website, StudentAid.gov, which allows 

aid recipients to access their federal student aid history directly on the site. Students, parents, 

and borrowers can now log in to StudentAid.gov to view their federal student loan and grant 

information from the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS).

Mobile Accessibility

To further enhance the customer experience, StudentAid.gov uses responsive design to ensure 

all of its content and tools are fully accessible on smartphones and tablets in addition to 

desktops. Similarly, the Financial Aid Toolkit, available at FinancialAidToolkit.ed.gov, also 

employs responsive design to ensure guidance counselors and mentors can access information 

and resources about federal student aid via desktops, smartphones and tablets. 

MyStudentData

FSA developed MyStudentData in the spirit of open government, accessibility, and helping 

customers make informed decisions. The MyStudentData download function was developed as

part of the Education Data Initiative, which is designed to make customers’ education-related 

data available, machine-readable, and accessible while protecting personal privacy. This 

functionality is available to customers on FAFSA.gov, NSLDS.ed.gov, and StudentAid.gov. On 

FAFSA.gov, customers can use the function to download certain data elements from their 

FAFSA. On StudentAid.gov or NSLDS.ed.gov, a customer can use the function to download loan, 

grant, enrollment, and overpayment information. In both cases, information is placed into a 

user-friendly, machine-readable, plain-text file. 

Customer Listening Initiative 

This is an initiative underway geared toward understanding the current state of customer 

interactions with FSA in order to help guide decisions, prioritize customer-facing initiatives, 

overcome disconnected service delivery and practices, and prep FSA to serve customers across 

touch points. It aggregates customer feedback from all channels and disseminates insights 

across the organization to address issues and improve the experience. This includes routine 

engagement around customer feedback. Currently, the FSA Digital Engagement Team has a 

robust customer listening process that is used to inform content development and uncover 

ED.gov

14
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

customer issues. For example, @FAFSA Twitter Office Hours are held monthly in collaboration 

with key stakeholders. 

FAFSASimplification/IRS Data Retrieval Tools 

The new FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) has reduced the number of questions 

and uses skip logic so families do not have to answer questions that do not apply to them. 

Additionally, in collaboration with the IRS, students can now transfer their family’s tax 

information directly from the IRS once they have completed their tax returns, dramatically 

decreasing the time it takes to complete a FAFSA. 

E Flagship Initiative, Participation: Public Challenges and Contests

The Department hosts, partners on and supports challenges and contests that engage students 

and encourage their creative participation to envision the future and share their perspective on 

the importance of promoting educational excellence and ensuring equal access to educational 

opportunities. The Department is planning a series of challenges and contests for the future,

and below are some of the challenges from the past three years.

College Net Price Calculator Student Video Challenge

The Department held a contest encouraging college and high school students to come up with 

creative videos that explain net price calculators and why they are a valuable resource. Three 

students each won a $1,500 prize for creating the top-scoring videos in the Department’s 

College Net Price Calculator Student Video Challenge. The Department used these videos to 

broaden awareness of net price calculators among students and will continue outreach efforts 

to several stakeholder groups, organizations, college counselors and student body leaders. See 

the winning videos and all submissions.

Why Open Education Matters Student Video Challenge

The Department partnered with Creative Commons and the Open Society Foundation and 

challenged students to create videos explaining the potential of Open Education. The prize 

winners were determined by a panel of distinguished experts, including Davis Guggenheim, 

Nina Paley, Liz Dwyer, Anya Kamenetz, James Franco, Angela Lin, and Mark Surman. The 

contest was a partnership between Creative Commons, The Open Society Institutes and the U.S. 

Department of Education. All prize money was provided by non-governmental sources. All of 

the videos are licensed CC BY, which means others may distribute, remix, and build upon them, 

even commercially, as long as they give credit to the creators. See the videos at

whyopenedmatters.org.

StopBullying.gov Student Video Challenge

The Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the other 

Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention invited students to participate in a video challenge to 

ED.gov

15
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

create a public service announcement to communicate peer-to-peer “how youth can be more 

than a bystander and help kids who are involved in bullying.” This contest received more than 

900 submissions and further engaged youth and educators by facilitating public voting on the 

finalists’ videos. See the finalists’ videos on StopBullying.gov.

Together for Tomorrow School Improvement Challenge

The Department invited schools, national service programs, higher education institutions, and 

community-based organizations to work together to propel improvement of lowest-performing 

schools. This Challenge was for the 2012-2013 school year. The Department asked challenge 

participants to focus on the neediest schools, invest in the capacity to work together, align 

efforts to key student outcomes and celebrate and share success. Visit the winners’ gallery and 

all submissions.

White House Student Film Festival

The Department provided key input and support for the White House Student Film Festival, 

which invited students to “tell us why technology is so important, and how it will change the 

educational experience for kids in the future.” The contest received more than 2,500 official 

entries. The students’ videos tell compelling stories about the potential of ConnectED 

classrooms, students and educators. Watch the 16 official selections.

F Flagship Initiative, Collaboration: Connected Communities of Practice

The 2010 National Education Technology Plan demonstrates the importance of educators 

becoming more connected to resources, tools, colleagues, experts, and learning activities, both 

within and beyond schools. Participation in online communities of practice is a key way 

educators connect. Robust online participation contributes both to individual excellence and to 

the vitality of the profession as a whole. The Connected Online Communities of Practice project

stewards a scalable, sustainable ecology of online communities in education to improve teacher 

and leader effectiveness, enhance student learning and increase productivity. 

In collaboration with a wide range of educational organizations, the Connected Online 

Communities of Practice project is increasing the quality, accessibility, and connectedness of 

existing and emerging online communities of practice through four types of activities:

• Launching and leading new online communities of practice that address pressing needs 

in education and help us learn more about how such communities work best 

• Conducting design experiments within “testbeds,” online communities of practice run 

by collaborating organizations in which project staff will develop, facilitate, and 

evaluate selected content and activities that help address pressing questions 

ED.gov

16
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

• Undertaking case studies of both interesting communities of practice and of individual 

educational professionals’ use of online communities and other forms of social media to 

connect 

• Developing ideas about new designs and infrastructure that could better support 

educators in making productive connections

The Connected Online Communities of Practice project shares its reports and briefings online. 

Connect and Inspire: Online Communities of Practice in Education is the main report of the 

Connected Online Communities of Practice project and will be published in several versions 

over the course of the project. The project is also conducting primary research on online 

communities of practice in education. In addition to informing the projects’ other publications, 

results of that research will be disseminated through academic publications.

G Flagship Initiative, Transparency: ED Data Express

ED Data Express was first launched in summer 2010 and is now in its third version since its 

initial release. It focuses mainly on data reported by States on key K–12 programs funded by 

OESE. The site currently includes data from EDFacts, Consolidated State Performance Reports 

(CSPR), State Accountability Workbooks, and NCES. ED Data Express utilizes a Web-enabled 

database application that allows users to select a particular data element (or set of data 

elements) and view it in several different ways. The site includes current and previous year 

data on student performance, demographics, accountability, and some statistical components. 

The site has three sections: a State Snapshot page, a Data Element Explorer, and a Build-aState-Table page. The site is designed to be interactive and to present the data in a clear, easyto-use way, with options to download information into Excel or manipulate the data within the 

website. Members of the general public, grantees, stakeholder groups, media, and Department 

of Education personnel who are interested in K–12 grant-related data are its primary users.

The State Snapshot pages include charts and tables with key data for each state. In its newest 

version, this section was updated to add interactivity so that users can expand or collapse 

sections that are of interest to them. The visualization of the data was updated based on 

recommendations from users and a design expert. 

The Data Element Explorer allows users to view a single element across all states. The current 

version of the site has four tools in this section: Graphs and Tables, Data Mapping, Trend Lines, 

and Conditional Analysis. Each section has visually appealing displays, and is designed to allow 

for a variety of views for different types of users. 

The Build-a-State-Table page allows users to build customized tables by selecting specific 

indicators and specific states. Users are able to organize the data in a variety of ways, and 

download data for further exploration. In addition to the data-viewing tools, the site includes 

an "about" page with information about the collections and guidance for appropriate use, a 

page with definitions of important terms, a frequently asked questions page, and links to other 

ED.gov

17
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

education data resources. ED Data Express is also designed to interface with social networking 

applications, such as Facebook, to better facilitate information-sharing. 

Over the past year, enhancements to the site have mostly been minor visual improvements on 

the public facing site, and change to the administrative tools. The administrative 

enhancements have improved the efficiency of operating the site and will allow for an earlier 

release of most of the key data elements on the site. The Department will soon be 

implementing additional enhancements to the site, which will include a few more efficiencyrelated improvements, release of maps displaying district-level data, and the ability to 

personalize the site. All public facing changes to the site are subject to final approval by the 

Department.

H Flagship Initiative, Collaboration: Open Innovation Web Portal

The Invest in Innovation (i3) Fund represents the Department of Education’s most substantial 

direct investment in innovation to date, yet the Department recognizes that creating and 

sustaining innovation in the field will require not only successful grant competitions but also 

the reshaping and retooling of how innovation happens in the education sector. As Deputy 

Secretary Jim Shelton put it, “[s]uccessful ideas fail to scale, and the education sector lacks 

effective venues where good ideas can be identified, refined, and scaled as part of an ongoing 

innovation cycle that both introduces new ideas and improves on the ones that already exist.” 

The Open Innovation Portal, an online platform, facilitated educational innovation by bridging 

the communication and coordination challenges in the education community. This was the first 

national forum where entrepreneurs, education stakeholders of all types, and funders could

partner to develop and fund innovative ideas in the education sector. Through this portal, the 

Department served as a facilitator of partnerships and a convener of like-minded individuals to 

accelerate the development, identification, and broad use of innovative products, practices, and 

processes to improve education in schools. The Department retired the portal’s online platform 

but continues to host challenges and collaborate with the public on the Challenge.gov platform 

at Challenge.gov/ED. See the Flagship Initiative for Participation through Public Challenges 

and Contests in Section E for more details about the Department’s challenges.

I Flagship Initiative, Participation: Open Government Steering Committee

The Open Government Working Group (also called the Open Data/Open Government Working 

Group and formerly called the Open Government Steering Committee) is charged with 

overseeing open government activities within the Department, including oversight of the 

progress of the work described in this plan. It is a subgroup of the department-wide Data 

Strategy Team, which meets monthly. The working group undertakes experimental and 

forward-looking activities relating to open government and open data. It hopes that some or all 

of these experiments will be models adopted on a larger scale within the Department and 

perhaps elsewhere. 

ED.gov

18
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

To ensure that the principles of open government are reflected in the ongoing work internal to 

the Department, the Open Government Working Group investigates methods for more 

inclusion of the public in internal meetings. These methods could include publishing agendas of 

meetings, accepting moderated comments on the meeting agenda, and other strategies. The 

working group wants to explore forward-learning strategies that it could share later with other 

groups in the Department.

The Department is live streaming meetings and events each week and publishing videos on

YouTube. Secretary Arne Duncan publishes a monthly response to social media questions from 

the public on YouTube (#AskArne). This has led to greater awareness to Department 

operations and expands our practices of direct communication with the public. 

J Ongoing Initiatives for Timely Publishing of Electronic Data

New Initiatives for Timely Publishing of Electronic Data for 2014

Comprehensive Data Plan

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Data Strategy Team is coordinating with 

program offices to create a comprehensive data plan that will include a data calendar and data 

release schedule. This initiative will create a streamlined and transparent approach to the 

timely publishing of electronic data in 2014. It will also provide increased accountability with 

data publishing timelines. 

NCES remains committed to open government efforts and has published 20 EDFacts data files, 

through Data.gov, since fiscal year 2013. This effort included updating historical records to 

ensure the majority of available EdFacts files were published. As such, NCES does not 

anticipate routinely publishing such a large volume of data files in the future. Through the end 

of fiscal year 2014, NCES expects to release approximately 10 additional EdFacts data files 

through Data.gov.

Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Adult Education Programs

The Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE) collects and releases data for two 

federally funded programs—Adult education and literacy programs authorized by the Adult 

Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) and career and technical education authorized by 

the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins Act). OCTAE provides public 

access to data on the performance of students in these programs through the National 

Reporting System (NRS) website for adult education data and the Perkins Collaborative 

Resource Network (PCRN) website for data on career and technical education. 

Stakeholder Involvement on Career Pathways

Assistant Secretary Brenda Dann-Messier and staff continually engage the public and 

stakeholders directly in discussions regarding how CTE will address the educational and 

ED.gov

19
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

economic needs of youths and adults preparing to participate in the knowledge-based, global 

marketplace of the 21st century. 

In April 2014, the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Labor 

(DOL) issued a Request for Information (RFI) on Adoption of Career Pathways Approaches for 

the Delivery of Education, Training, Employment, and Human Services.

The Departments seek to further support the development of high-quality career pathways 

systems by jointly soliciting information and recommendations from a broad array of 

stakeholders in the public and private sectors, as well as in State, regional, tribal, and local 

areas. The public’s and stakeholders’ experience and unique perspectives can have 

considerable influence on the Department’s strategic investments and technical assistance 

activities to support the development of career pathways systems.

They hosted a webinar, presented data quality sessions at the National Association of Career 

and Technical Education Information Conference in Louisville, KY, and hosted in Washington, 

DC the project directors of the Native American Career and Technical Education Program, 

Native Hawaiian Career and Technical Education Program, and Tribally Controlled 

Postsecondary Career and Technical Institutions Program.

Civil Rights Data Collection

The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) continues to conduct the Civil 

Rights Data Collection (CRDC), formerly the Elementary and Secondary School Survey (E&S 

Survey), to collect data on key education and civil rights issues in our nation's public schools. 

The CRDC collects a variety of information including, student enrollment and educational 

programs and services, disaggregated by race/ethnicity, sex, limited English proficiency and 

disability. The CRDC is a long-standing and important aspect of the Department’s Office for Civil 

Rights’ overall strategy for administering and enforcing the civil rights statutes for which it is 

responsible. Information collected by the CRDC is also used by other Department offices as well 

as policymakers and researchers outside of ED.

ED.gov links to existing and updated CRDC content. OCR continues to keep all of its CRDC 

information current, and relevant to the greater education, policymaking and public 

communities that depend on the use of the data to inform the ongoing discussions concerning 

America’s schools. 

To access CRDC data from the 2000, 2004, 2006, 2009-10, and 2011-12 surveys, go to

OCRData.ed.gov.

The CRDC for the 2011-12 school year was collected from every public school and school 

district in the country. The school and district level data collected by the CRDC was posted in 

March 21, 2014 on the CRDC website. 

OCR has issued four documents analyzing key aspects of the 2011-12 data:

ED.gov

20
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

• Data Snapshot: Discipline

• Data Snapshot: Early Learning

• Data Snapshot: College and Career Readiness

• Data Snapshot: Teacher Equity

To access questions and answers about the 2011-12, see the OCR factsheet on ED.gov.

To access 2011-12 CRDC Table Layouts with Definitions, see the CRCD table layouts on ED.gov.

OCR has received Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to conduct the 2013-14 

CRDC. The 2013-14 CRDC will include every public school and school district in the country. It 

will include most of the data items collected by the 2011-12 CRDC and a small number of new 

data items. OMB has also approved an additional set of new data items that will be optional for 

the 2013-14 CRDC and be mandatory for the 2015-16 CRDC.

To access questions and answers about the 2013-14 and 2015-16 CRDC, see the questions and 

answers on ED.gov.

To access additional important information about the 2013-14 and 2015-16 CRDC go to the 

additional CRDC information provided on ED.gov.

A detailed list of CRDC data elements can be found on ED.gov.

The Learning Registry

The Learning Registry project is continuing to work with a number of state governments, 

nonprofits, commercial organizations and federal agencies to help share information about the 

best learning resources as broadly as possible. New features developed by various 

stakeholders in this open source project include improved search tools, new metadata 

descriptions for content and better integration with authentication and other standards. The 

project has seen a significant increase in the number of learning resources made available 

through the system over the last year as well. 

The following resources will provide further information regarding the Learning Registry 

project:

• Community homepage

• Source code

• Tech specification

RSA Management Information System

The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) in the Office of Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) provides a Formula Grant Award Calculator for its largest 

program (the Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants program) to allow the public to see exactly 

ED.gov

21
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

how formula grant awards are calculated state by state. RSA provided historical data in order 

for people to view trends over time – back to fiscal year 2010. 

Additionally RSA posts grant awards on its website in order to enhance transparency about 

which grantees receive how much money. Over 13,000 reports submitted by grantees have 

been published on the site, as well as a complete archive of the past 15 years of sub-regulatory 

policy.

Data.gov

In response to the May 2013 Executive Order, Making Open and Machine Readable the New 

Default for Government Information, the White House, OMB and the General Services 

Administration worked together with the federal agencies to create a new Data.gov platform. 

The new platform enhances the customer experience, streamlines the design and search 

features and modernizes the method for how agencies populate the catalog with their dataset 

descriptions.

The Departments of Education and State together host the Data.gov Education Community. The 

ED Data Inventory generates the descriptions that are posted at ED.gov/data.json and Data.gov 

harvests. In addition to participating on the interagency platform, the Department makes 

available quick access and ready reference links available for developers and researchers at 

ED.gov/developer and ED.gov/data.

Engaging with Developers and the Education Technology Community

The Department engages with the education community and interested developers and 

entrepreneurs through social media outlets and the Department’s official Homeroom Blog. 

More than 150 of America's entrepreneurs, software developers, education experts, and 

policymakers came together October 9, 2012, for an Education Datapalooza at the White House. 

The gathering was a chance to celebrate new products, services, and apps – all built with freely 

available data from the government and other sources – that have the potential to help 

American students succeed and that empower students and their families to make informed 

education decisions. See videos of talks from Education Datapalooza 2012. 

The Department held two data jams at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford 

University in December 2013. The Data Jams focused on data related to postsecondary 

education and led up to a second Education Datapalooza. For Education Datapalooza 2014 on 

January 15, 2014, more than 600 people packed into an auditorium to discuss innovation in 

higher education. The gathering was a response to President Obama's call in August 2013 to 

improve value and affordability in postsecondary education, in which he outlined an ambitious 

plan that included a major focus on innovation. Datapalooza participants gathered to celebrate 

innovative products, apps, websites, and other tools to help students get to and through 

postsecondary education. Many of the tools help students and families navigate the college 

choice and selection process. Others focus on improving teaching and learning, especially in 

ED.gov

22
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

ways that leverage technology to improve online and classroom-based instruction. Watch 

videos from talks from Education Datapalooza 2014 on YouTube.

The Department collaborated with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to 

host a data jam in conjunction with the White House Task Force to Protect Students from

Sexaul Assault in April 2014; data visualizations and tools from this event are part of the 

NotAlone.gov website. The Department is working with the White House to plan data jams as 

part of the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative.

The goal of the Education Data Jams and Datapaloozas is to spark interest and collaboration 

among entrepreneurs and developers in creating apps and other digital tools to facilitate easier 

access to education information for educators, students and their families.

Data.Ed.Gov

The Data.Ed.Gov website was retired in September 2012, and its contents have since been 

hosted on Data.gov. The Department continues to publish interactive datasets related to grant 

applications and awards.

eRulemaking

To facilitate the public’s involvement in the Department’s rulemaking process, the Department 

participates in Regulations.gov, an electronic government-wide access point that enables the 

public to submit comments on different types of federal regulatory documents and to read and 

respond to comments submitted by other members of the public during the public comment 

period. Regulations.gov improves the public’s access to and participation in rulemaking by 

providing one central electronic location to search, retrieve, and read all federal regulatory 

material. Through this site, the public can view a description of regulations currently open for 

comment, read the full text of these documents and any supporting regulatory documents, and 

submit comments to the appropriate federal agency. The public uses Regulations.gov to access 

Department of Education proposed, interim final, and final regulations, and the Department 

recently expanded its use of Regulations.gov to solicit and accept comments on other 

regulatory documents, including requests for information, proposed discretionary grant 

priorities, and requests for comment on information collections under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act. 

To further facilitate and encourage productive regulatory feedback, the Department recently 

updated its Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review webpage. This web page contains a 

link to Department of Education regulations and other regulatory documents open for public 

comment via Regulations.gov, a link to all existing Department of Education rules via the 

electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR), and a link to an easy-to-use form for submitting 

comments on existing regulations. All links are conveniently found in the same location as the 

Department’s plan for the retrospective analysis of regulations, status reports on the 

Department’s retrospective review efforts, and contact information.

ED.gov

23
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

IT Dashboard

The IT Dashboard was launched in 2009, with a goal of showing the public how federal 

information technology (IT) investments are performing. At this point, the information in the

dashboard provides a portion of the information necessary to support decisions regarding the 

Department’s IT portfolio. As the amount of information in the dashboard grows and the public 

forms connections between IT investments and results, the Department foresees a time when 

public review and comment will be one of the evaluation criteria used for decisions regarding 

how we spend IT dollars. 

Internally, the visual presentation of information in the dashboard is valuable as a tool to allow 

senior executives in the Department to quickly recognize key characteristics of the overall 

portfolio. As additional views are developed, the Department can have effective discussions 

about the impact and results of investment decisions. 

The Department has added steps in our operational IT management processes to ensure the 

dashboard is populated with current information. Going forward, the Department will seek 

ways to incorporate comments, suggestions, risks, and issues received from the public into the 

Department’s governance and capital planning processes. 

The Department will continue to respond timely, thoroughly, and transparently to any 

feedback received through the IT Dashboard. As appropriate, the Department will modify its

agency processes to address weaknesses that may be identified. The Department will route 

specific suggestions for improvement or ideas that affect the portfolio through its Enterprise 

Architecture processes. 

OMB is currently using the IT Dashboard as a way for federal agencies to submit their IT 

investment data. Agencies will update their IT investment data monthly and submit their 

complete data for every budget year, beginning in 2011. OMB plans to expand the amount of 

data and extend the analytical capabilities of the IT Dashboard over time. 

The IT Dashboard is available at ITDashboard.gov.

USASpending.gov

Data on the Department’s spending on grants is included on USASpending.gov, alongside other 

federal spending information.

For more details, see spending data maps, timelines and advanced search on USASpending.gov: 

• Prime Award Spending Data: Grants from Department of Education

• Sub-award Spending Data: Grants from Department of Education

ED.gov

24
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

EDFacts

EDFacts is a U.S. Department of Education initiative to put performance data at the center of 

policy, management, and budget decisions for all K–12 education programs. EDFacts is a 

multidimensional data system that includes: 

(1) an electronic submission system that receives data from States, districts, and schools; 

(2) analytical tools for analysis of submitted data; and 

(3) reporting tools for Department staff and data submitters to ensure better use of those 

data. 

The EDFacts system and the team that manages it are now part of the NCES. See the above 

section on the new Comprehensive Data Plan for timely publication of data from NCES, which 

include EDFacts updates and plans.

IDEAData.org

The Office of Special Education Programs within OSERS is dedicated to improving results for 

infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities ages birth through 21 by providing 

leadership and financial support to assist states and local districts. The Individuals with 

Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) authorizes formula grants to states and discretionary 

grants to institutions of higher education and other non-profit organizations to support 

research, demonstrations, technical assistance and dissemination, technology and personnel 

development and parent-training and information centers.

The IDEA Data Center provides technical assistance to build capacity within states for 

collecting, reporting, and analyzing high-quality IDEA data. The public can access and 

download recent and archived data related to IDEA.

Federal Student Aid (FSA) Data Center

In September 2009, Federal Student Aid established the FSA Data Center, a centralized, online 

source for FSA programmatic data. The Data Center, available at www.FSADataCenter.ed.gov, 

compiles information from across Federal Student Aid in an effort to promote transparency 

and to increase self-service opportunities for our customers and stakeholders. To identify new 

data sets, FSA routinely reviews requests received through the press, Congress or the Freedom 

of Information Act (FOIA).

Since its launch, the information and reports proactively released on the site has increased 

dramatically. The FSA Data Center continues to post federal student application, loan and grant 

data by school. In addition, the site includes default rates, Title IV contracts, and several reports 

focusing on school compliance, such as financial composite scores, Proprietary Schools 90-10 

Revenue Percentage and Clery Act reviews. In 2013, Federal Student Aid added a section on the 

FSA Data Center about the outstanding federal student loan portfolio that includes quarterly 

reports by loan program loan status, and repayment plan. In recent years, the FAFSA 

Completion Tool was also added on the FSA Data Center.

ED.gov

25
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

The FAFSA Completion Tool provides high schools with current data about their FAFSA 

submissions and completions so schools can track their progress and help to ensure that their 

students complete a FAFSA. Previously, high schools relied on self-reported surveys to estimate 

their FAFSA completion rate and that data can be inaccurate. For this reason, Federal Student 

Aid is providing high schools with current data about their FAFSA submissions and 

completions so that high schools can track their progress and help to ensure that their students 

complete a FAFSA. A completed FAFSA allows the U.S. Department of Education to determine a 

potential student's eligibility for federal student aid – a key factor in families' college decisions.

Data for the high school graduating class of 2014 is now available on StudentAid.gov.

More information about the FSA Data Center can be found at FSADataCenter.ed.gov.

OpenED Employment and Hiring Solutions and Dashboard

The Department remains committed to improving employment opportunities for veterans, 

individuals with disabilities and targeted disabilities across all occupations, including mission 

critical positions and grade levels. The Department is utilizing all strategies to recruit and hire 

veterans and individuals with disabilities, including but not limited to, The Pathways Program, 

Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP), Project Search Program, and Special Hiring 

Authorities.

Veterans, transitioning service members, and their families, need to receive accurate and 

consistent information regarding veterans employment. Researchers and the public need 

access to information to help determine what is working and what is not and the progress that 

the agency is making with Executive Order 13518, “Employment of Veterans in the Federal 

Government.”

The Department held its first career fair titled, “Career Fair for Individuals with Disabilities and 

Veterans.” Human Capital and Client Services (HCCS) partnered with the Office of Equal 

Employment Opportunity Services (EEOS) to host an onsite career fair that attracted over 300 

candidates for employment consideration. In addition to employment opportunities, there 

were three sessions: Find and Apply for Federal Jobs, Executive Order 13548 – Increasing 

Federal Employment for Individuals with Disabilities, and Preparing Federal Resumes. 

The Department’s career counselors provide services to veterans and disabled veterans via 

Iwork@ed.gov e-mail account where requests are made from veterans. These requests consist 

of: educating veterans about the organization’s mission, informational guidance on how to 

tailor a resume for Federal employment, and instruction on navigating the Federal hiring 

process. In fiscal year 2013 services expanded to assist veteran spouses. All vacancy 

announcements in the Department invite veterans and their spouses to take advantage of 

services offered to assist with the right tools to seek Federal employment. 

The Department has projected approximately 0.3% increase for each fiscal year to successfully 

and effectively impact the Department’s veterans and disabled veterans hiring initiatives. The 

Department continues to collect data and track the progress of hiring veterans and disabled 

veterans. 

ED.gov

26
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

HCCS has fully implemented the Department’s Disabled Veterans Affirmative Action Program 

(DVAAP) and the Department’s plan for Individuals with Disabilities (IWD) that outlines goals 

of hiring and retention strategies for Veterans, Disabled Veterans, and Individual with 

Disabilities. The DVAAP and IWD can be found on the Department’s website. OM and HCCS will 

continue to maintain and update information on veterans and individuals with disabilities 

hiring and employment on the Department’s website to improve public access to hiring data 

and progress.

K Participation and Collaboration Initiatives

New Participation and Collaboration Initiatives for 2014

Two new flagship initiatives for 2014 focus on participation and collaboration: Early 

Participation and Input in Policy- and Rule-making and Federal Registry for Educational 

Excellence (FREE.Ed.gov). 

Twitter Town Halls

In an unprecedented level of openness for a cabinet-level official, during 2011, Secretary 

Duncan held five Twitter town halls with the public, where the Secretary asked the public to 

submit questions online, and he answered them either live on video or via Twitter replies. 

Additionally, every few weeks, Secretary Duncan personally answered, via video, questions and 

comments that the public had posted to his Facebook page. In 2013 on Twitter’s blog, the 

Twitter team highlighted Secretary Duncan’s effective participation in a debate with education 

experts and his willingness to have impromptu #AskArne chats at times that are more 

convenient for his followers and the Twitter community.

The Department of Education and Secretary Duncan are committed to expanding open 

communication with the public through social media and other forms of digital communication. 

ED.gov

27
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

The US Department of Education’s Twitter accounts are located at ED.gov and at time of this 

update are:

ED Twitter Accounts

Arne Duncan

ED_Outreach

EDCivilRights

EDFedRegister

EDGovJobs

EDGreenRibbon

ED OII

EDPostsecondary

EDPressSec

EducationOIG

FreeResources

IES Research

Office of Ed Tech

USEDGov

WH Initiatives on Twitter

EDPartners

HispanicEd

Kiran Ahuja

White House AAPI

White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African 

Americans

White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and 

Universities (HBCUs)

ED Subagencies on Twitter

ERICinfo

FAFSA

FSAconf

GovBoard

NCES

NAEP_NCES

REL_NEI

RELMidWest

REL Northwest

Empowering Students and Families as Stakeholders and Collaborators

In the summer of 2010, the U.S. Secretary of Education announced family and community 

engagement as a required strategy in each of the Department’s four proposed turnaround 

models for School Improvement Grants: closure, restart, turnaround and transformation.

In fall of 2010: the Department identified Family and Community Engagement in education as 

one of 14 overarching priorities for the awarding of discretionary grants.

Family Engagement has been a component of additional federal programs, American Recovery 

and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) initiatives, and Administration speeches: the Race to the Top 

Notice included family engagement as part of the invitational priorities as well as in the 

definition of a highly effective principal.

ED.gov

28
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

In November of 2010, the Office of Innovation and Improvement hosted the National Summit 

on Family Engagement.

In January of 2011, the President’s State of the Union Address identified parents as partners in 

education.

In January of 2012, Secretary Duncan at the White House made remarks titled “For 

Democracy’s Future: Education Reclaims Our Civic Mission,” stating that we need to increase 

opportunities for students to have a voice in education decisions and to improve their 

communities and “not just be recipients of service.” At that same event, the Department 

released a report titled Civic Learning and Engagement in Democracy: A Road Map and Call to 

Action, which included nine steps the Department has committed to taking to advance a civic 

learning and engagement agenda. One of the action steps is to promote student and family 

participation in education programs and policies at the federal and local levels. The 

Department is currently conducting an internal audit of all education programs to identify 

opportunities for including students and families as stakeholders and collaborators, not just 

observers or recipients.

In December of 2012, Secretary 

Duncan joined more than 80 

family engagement thought 

leaders at DC’s Scholars’ Stanton 

Elementary School to discuss the 

strong correlation between 

family engagement and 

academic outcomes, and how the 

Department of Education can 

provide more support.

In April 2014, the Department

released a framework for 

schools and the broader 

communities they serve to build 

family and community 

engagement. The framework, 

explanation and information on 

the framework, and the Secretary’s announcement can be found on the ED.gov Family and 

Community Engagement web page specifically for families, students and communities.

The Department is in the process of planning policy briefings, meetings, roundtables, and 

listening and learning sessions around the framework to bring together educators, 

administrators, community and faith-based representatives, students, and parents to discuss 

I want to have too many parents demanding excellence in their 

schools. ... [I want] all parents to be real partners in education with 

their children's teachers, from cradle to career. In this partnership, 

students and parents should feel connected--and teachers should feel 

supported. Parents can serve in at least one of three roles: Partners 

in learning, advocates and advisors who push for better schools and 

decision-makers who choose the best educational options for their 

children. When parents demand change and better options for their 

children, they become the real accountability backstop for the 

educational system. ... [I] need parents to speak out and drive 

change in chronically-underperforming schools where children 

receive an inferior education. With parental support, those 

struggling schools need to be turned around now—not tomorrow, 

because children get only one chance at an education.

-Arne Duncan, Mom CongressTM on Education and Learning 

Conference, May 2010

ED.gov

29
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

what activities, strategies, plans, best practices, and systemic changes are needed to implement 

the framework statewide.

The Department and Secretary Duncan are committed to open communication with the public 

through forms of digital communication: webinars, blogs, mailboxes, newsletters, and twitter 

accounts. The Department provides information with the two newsletters, Engaging Families

and Touching Base, and receives comments, questions and requests from parents, students, and 

the community through parents@ed.gov, MilitaryContacts@ed.gov, FCE@ed.gov, and on 

Twitter @involveoutreach. 

Public Participation at ED.gov and through Outreach

The Department encourages public participation using Web-based collaboration tools. The 

Department will continue to use Web-based tools available at ed.gov and other third-party 

offerings to engage the public in a discussion on topics related to education. 

The Department recently deployed an open source Web publishing technology, in part to 

provide collaboration opportunities. Through its modular architecture, this technology 

provides www.ed.gov capabilities, such as public commenting on Web pages, voting on topics, 

and discussion forums. 

In the future, the Department will use a mixture of these tools to encourage public feedback on 

education activities, classroom and administrative best practices, high-value data set releases, 

and other special topics as they arise. 

An example of the public commenting on Ed.gov Web pages can be found at the 2010 National 

Education Technology Plan page. The Office of Educational Technology published a draft of this 

document online and invited the public to comment. The plan describes how information and 

communication technologies can help transform American education. It provides concrete 

goals to inform State and local education technology plans, and recommendations to inspire 

research, development, and innovation. “We are open to your comments,” Secretary Duncan 

said in a video announcing the plan. “Tell us about how technology has changed your school or 

classroom.” 

Interested parties are able to attach comments specifically on individual pages of the plan. As 

part of the feature, participants are able to reply online to existing comments, creating a forum 

for discussion. This targeted feedback is being gathered and analyzed and will be contributory 

to future drafts of the plan. 

The ED.gov blog is another tool used for gathering topical feedback. The blog features a “Join 

the Conversation” section that highlights blog posts where public feedback is encouraged. This 

extends engagement opportunities, such as the Department’s Listening and Learning Tour 

events, by providing an additional venue for the public to participate in the open discussion. 

ED.gov

30
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

In addition to Web-based collaboration tools, the Department realizes that to effectively 

communicate with the general public, students, parents, teachers, and all constituencies 

engaged in public education, the Department must develop collaborative relationships through 

personal, interactive Outreach to education organizations and targeted stakeholders. To assess 

and meet the needs of families, for example, and to work toward closing the achievement gap, 

the Department has been holding ongoing family forums at headquarters and in key cities to 

reach Title I families, in particular. To better understand students, the Department has also 

established the “Student Voices” conversations for the Secretary and other senior officials to 

hear from students representing diverse interests, perspectives, and locales. These 

conversations reinforce the need for the U.S. to be No. 1 in the world in the percentage of the 

population with a college degree by 2020 with a focus on the importance of high school 

completion and college attendance and completion. The conversations have focused on 

identifying and overcoming barriers to college success and affordability. 

With the goal of developing the best solutions for American’s students, the Department has 

focused on transforming the teaching profession for the 21st century by gathering input from 

teachers through the Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence and 

Collaborative Teaching (RESPECT) project. This project consists of conversations with teachers 

whose comments will inform grant priorities and budget expenditures related to teacher 

preparation, professional development and general education reform. In April 2013 the 

Department released the Blueprint for RESPECT, available for download in PDF and ePUB 

formats. The Blueprint outlines seven key components:

1. A Culture of Shared Responsibility and Leadership 

2. Top Talent, Prepared for Success 

3. Continuous Growth and Professional Development 

4. Effective Teachers and Principals 

5. A Professional Career Continuum with Competitive Compensation 

6. Conditions for Successful Teaching and Learning 

7. Engaged Communities

Aggressive outreach to rural communities is another example of targeted outreach to teachers, 

families, students and stakeholders. This outreach blends both the use of Web-based tools and 

personal interaction. Contact with rural communities has resulted in the inclusion of rural 

priorities in grant programs and recognition of the need for rural communities to pool 

resources when applying for and implementing Department grants, for example. 

Digital Systems Interoperability

Digital systems interoperability has been a design goal for many system architectures and 

standards groups for decades. Unfortunately, only limited success has been achieved to date. 

The Department has an opportunity to assist in achieving more secure, interoperable digital 

ED.gov

31
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

systems, including those that manage student information, learning materials and financial 

data. 

The benefits of interoperability are tremendous. It can permit schools and teachers to better 

exchange data with each other about students who move from one place to another. It can also 

allow educators to move past traditional paper-based textbook adoption models where every 

child must study and work from the same book, to purchasing content that is more specifically 

appropriate to each learner. Interoperability can also allow researchers to have access to more 

data and to integrate that data to analyze the education system in ways not currently possible, 

while still preserving strict privacy standards to protect students and others from 

inappropriate or unlawful access to their data. 

Systems interoperability cannot be achieved by the federal government alone, but the 

Department of Education can play a role along with other federal agencies in fostering more 

interoperability and transparency, supporting a market-based adoption. The Department is 

currently engaged with a number of other agencies in determining the best, collaborative ways 

in which the government can provide assistance and stimulus to the market. In addition, the 

Department is actively in consultation with State and local governments and private entities to 

help design the correct solutions.

In addition to data, content and fiscal transparency, the Department is investigating how these 

interoperability standards can be used to streamline, simplify, and reduce costs for many of its 

data reporting requirements. Already EDFacts has been working with the reporting 

requirements to implement some standardized data formats, easing the technical and 

administrative burden on reporting agencies in some areas. 

MyData Download 

The MyData Download initiative was launched to accelerate interoperability of student data by 

providing students and their parents with access to machine-readable copies of their own 

education records. Through this initiative, providers of systems that store student data will add 

a “MyData” button that permits students to download their data to create a personal learning 

profile that they can keep with them throughout their learning career. This will encourage 

developers to create tools for students to use in conjunction with their MyData files, such as a 

personal learning data repository or customized support services based on their data. 

Next Generation Assessments 

As part of the grants to two consortia of states to develop the next generation of assessments 

aligned with college- and career-ready standards, these consortia are required to develop open, 

interoperable standards for sharing and accessing assessment items and producing student 

data. 

ED.gov

32
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

Common Educational Data Standards 

NCES has been working closely with key stakeholders in federal and state agencies and in nonprofit and private entities to develop voluntary standards and guidelines to assist state 

educational agencies in developing statewide longitudinal data systems. Additional information 

is available on ED.gov.

Privacy Technical Assistance Center and Related Activities

The Department established the Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) in 2010 as a “onestop” resource for education stakeholders to learn about data privacy, confidentiality, and 

security practices related to student-level longitudinal data systems and other uses of student 

data. PTAC provides timely information and updated guidance on privacy, confidentiality, and 

security practices through a variety of resources, including training materials and 

opportunities to receive direct assistance with privacy, security, and confidentiality of student 

data systems. In fiscal year 2013, PTAC conducted seven targeted technical assistance site 

visits, presented at four national conferences, convened four regional meetings for state and 

local education officials, and hosted 12 technical assistance webinars. Additionally, in fiscal 

year 2013 PTAC provided online FERPA training for over 1,900 individuals, and reported more 

than 8,500 unique visits to its technical assistance resource website. In February 2014, PTAC 

released the guidance document “Protecting Student Privacy While Using Online Educational 

Services,” which has received a substantial and enthusiastic reception from the K-12 education 

community, and has prompted a renewed dialogue about best practices for schools and 

districts to follow when contracting with vendors for online educational services.

Enabling More Web Publishing at ED.gov

The Department’s web team has expanded the use of WordPress minisites to make it easier for 

initiatives and selected offices to publish with more flexibility and independence and in a 

timelier manner.

Rehabilitation Services Administration ARRA Funding Guidance Assistance

In April 2009, the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) in the Office of Special 

Education and Rehabilitative Services conducted a series of teleconferences and webinars for 

its grantees and stakeholders to explain the guidance and respond to questions relating to 

ARRA funding. Through the teleconferences and webinars, RSA staff provided information 

concerning the availability of the funds and the uses of the funds to meet the goals of the ARRA, 

and the timelines for the expenditure and liquidation of the funds.

RSA notified grantees about and encouraged grantees to participate in webinars sponsored by 

the Department and it also conducted its own webinars in April 2009 and September 2009. 

Through these additional webinars, RSA staff informed agencies and other grantees of the 

reporting requirements specific to their programs' ARRA funds and responded to questions 

ED.gov

33
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

covering the various fund requirements. Information concerning the uses of ARRA funds, 

including information from these webinars, is available to the public through Recovery.gov.

As of September 30, 2010, the Department of Education's entire $97.4 billion in Recovery Act 

appropriation has been awarded.

OpenEducation.IdeaScale.com

This dialogue concluded in May 2010. An archived version of the forum is still available at 

OpenEducation.IdeaScale.com.

Employee Participation Through OpenED

Building on the successes of the OpenED portal, the Department redesigned OpenED and 

released Idea Engine on January 31, 2011. Idea Engine is an in-house space to generate ideas 

and solutions, where the Department’s staff is encouraged to identify creative ways to get 

results; moving the Department from problem-oriented to solution-oriented. 

All Department employees can present their innovative ideas for changes that can be made at 

ED. Other employees can weigh in, present their reactions and views, and help evolve the idea. 

Employees can vote on ideas that have been put forward by colleagues. As ideas are proposed 

to ED’s senior leaders, employees are able to track the progress of their ideas and check their 

status. Individual offices, working groups, and interdisciplinary teams can have their own 

online space for targeted discussions. Employees can participate in groups that apply to their 

areas of concern and contribute to focused conversations germane to their interests. Finally, 

senior staff can pose a question to the Department’s community, and challenge all staff to 

present their best ideas and solutions. 

Over 25 percent of Department employees are registered users of Idea Engine. Employees 

have submitted 269 ideas through Idea Engine and cast over 3,000 votes for various ideas. At 

this time, 25 ideas have been fully implemented, and another 25 are in the process of being

implemented.

In fiscal year 2014, the Department issued a challenge to all Department employees to come up 

with BigIdeas as part of the first ED-Storm event. Employees submitted over 130 ideas in 

response to the challenge and cast over 600 votes for the BigIdeas.

L Improving Internal Processes

New Internal Improvement Processes for 2014

The Department of Education reports its progress on Open Data Policy and Digital Government 

Strategy on ED.gov. Digital services, open data and technology have great potential to help 

accomplish the Department’s mission. The Digital Government Strategy aligns with many of the 

ED.gov

34
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

Department's digital projects and initiatives already underway and spurs us to refine our 

strategic and tactical coordination.

To spearhead the Department's response to the Digital Government Strategy, the Department 

assembled a team of core staff from:

• the Office of Communications and Outreach,

• the Office of the Chief Information Officer, and

• the Office of Planning and Education Policy Development.

The team collects input and feedback from:

• the Department's customers,

• the Office of Education Technology

• the office of Federal Student Aid,

• the Institute for Education Sciences,

• the principal offices,

• the Data Strategy Team,

• the Open Government Steering Committee, and

• senior leadership.

The Department's progress toward meeting the Digital Government Strategy Milestones will be 

reported at least quarterly through the OMB Integrated Data Call and at Ed.gov/digitalstrategy.

Digital Governance

Guiding principles for the Department of Education’s initiative to reinforce a governance 

structure for developing and delivering digital services and managing data are: (1) better 

serving the Department’s customers, (2) sharing ideas, solutions, and best practices across the 

Department, (3) offering more cohesive processes for the delivery of digital services, (4) 

ensuring cost effective delivery of services, (5) ensuring digital services provide value, and (6) 

reducing redundancies across the Department. As a first phase, the scope of authority includes 

Department websites (particularly subdomain websites, contracted websites, and technical 

assistance websites), mobile applications, and data publishing.

The Department outlined a proposed governance model and will pursue formalizing it through 

a new internal policy directive and processes for proposing new digital services. In the new 

process, key criteria will include customer-focus, use of shared services and platforms, and 

consolidation of the Department’s Web presence.

Open Data

The goal of the Education Data Initiative, launched in January 2012, is to make data available to 

improve educational outcomes, accelerate innovation, and create jobs in the public and private 

ED.gov

35
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

sector, all while rigorously protecting learner privacy. As part of the initiative the Department 

has held a series of Education Dataplooza events highlighting innovators from the private, 

nonprofit, and academic sectors who have utilized freely available government data to build 

products, services, and apps that advance postsecondary education in creative and powerful 

ways. In 2014 the Department plans to participate in one of the NYU Gov Lab Open Data 500

workshops to connect federal agency officials with the business community with an interest in 

open data. See more about engaging with developers, entrepreneurs and the education 

technology community.

See the above section about Ongoing Initiatives for Timely Publishing of Electronic Data, which 

includes descriptions of the Department’s process for inventorying all datasets and including 

them in the new Department data inventory and on Data.gov. Find resources including 

descriptions of Department data initiatives, open data sets and links to application 

programming interfaces (APIs) for developers on Ed.gov/data and Ed.gov/developer. 

Proactive Disclosure

See the above section in this document regarding the ED Disclosure Review Board.

Data Strategy Team

The Data Strategy Team (DST) was formed in 2010 and chartered in May, 2011 to address the 

issue of inconsistent and uncoordinated data strategies among the various principal offices 

(POCs) within the Department of Education. The DST is co-chaired by the Office of Planning, 

Evaluation, and Policy Development (OPEPD), the National Center for Education Statistics 

(NCES), and the Privacy, Information, and Records Management Services (PIRMS), and includes 

representatives from nearly all of the Department’s principal offices in addition to OPEPD. The 

mission of the DST is to coordinate the Department’s public-facing data initiatives, by building 

cohesiveness in internal processes and data policies and by improving transparency in all 

matters surrounding ED’s collection and release of data. 

The Data Strategy Team supports this mission by coordinating the Department’s public-facing 

data initiatives, by building cohesiveness in internal processes and data policies, and by 

improving transparency in all matters surrounding ED’s collection of data. Coordinating the 

work across principal offices results in better, more consistent information for the public and

improves their understanding of and access to data. The Data Strategy Team will support 

States’ use of education data through data websites and technical assistance to grantees. 

Specifically, the Data Strategy Team will find best practices for the use and promotion of data 

policy. 

Working groups are the primary conduit through which the work of the Data Strategy Team is 

accomplished. The results of these workgroups have been and continue to be critical to the 

Department’s open government successes. For example:

ED.gov

36
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

• The Data Release Workgroup designed a process to improve the way that principal 

offices release data and data-based reporting to the public while still balancing the need 

to protect privacy and confidentiality. The workgroup matured into the Disclosure 

Review Board. (See the above section in this document regarding the ED Disclosure 

Review Board.)

• The Data Inventory Workgroup undertook the challenging task of defining what “data” 

are across the very diverse principal offices at the Department and began cataloging 

data holdings, in compliance with OMB’s requirements and discussed in GAO’s draft 

report, Status of the Department of Education’s Inventory of Its Data Collections, (GAO13-596R). Upon launching the Data Inventory, elaborated on elsewhere in this 

document, the workgroup will turn its efforts to assessing internal needs for 

Department staff to interact with, update, and use the Data Inventory.

The Data Strategy Team will continue to coordinate data initiatives and improve transparency 

through efforts across the Department.

.Gov Web Reform

The .gov reform effort is part of President Obama's Campaign to Cut Waste, identifying 

unnecessary websites that can be consolidated into other websites to reduce costs and improve 

the quality of service to the American public. The President signed Executive Order 13571, 

"Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service," April 27, 2011, which 

requires federal agencies, including ED, to take specific steps to strengthen customer service, 

including how they deliver services and information on federal ".gov" websites. 

The Department has responded to this call to action. In July 2011, the Department owned 34 

.gov domains. By May 2014, the Department had consolidated to 16 .gov domains. All of ED’s 

domains maintain Domain Name System Security (DNSSEC) compliance and all .gov websites 

are Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) compliant. 

To learn more about our Digital Government Strategy, Web Improvement and Customer 

Service Plans, visit http://www.ed.gov/digitalstrategy and http://www.ed.gov/open. 

Chief Privacy Officer

ED’s Chief Privacy Officer (CPO), continues to be responsible for coordinating and directing a 

number of open government initiatives within the Department, including: serving as a co-chair 

of ED’s Data Strategy Team; overseeing the Department’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 

records management, and information collections initiatives; overseeing outreach and 

technical assistance relating to publishing student data while protecting confidentiality 

through the Privacy Technical Assistance Center and the Department’s Disclosure Review 

Board; and coordinating the Department’s response to various open government directives 

ED.gov

37
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

including those relating to statistical uses of administrative data and the establishment of a 

data inventory.

For more information, see:

• Privacy at ED on ED.gov

• ED’s Privacy Impact Assessments on ED.gov

• ED’s Privacy Act System of Record Notice (SORN) Issuances on ED.gov

Public Notifications via ED.gov and Digital Tools

The Department of Education notifies the public of important events and information updates 

via its website and other digital tools including social media. The Department participates in 

the General Service Administration’s Digital Analytics Program and analyzes its Web traffic and 

Web search metrics on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis. On ED.gov, the Department 

has a customer satisfaction survey, which provides the agency with quantitative and qualitative 

feedback from customers. These two sources of customer feedback and conversations with 

stakeholders identify what does and doesn’t work well on ED.gov from a navigation and ease of 

use perspective. The Department is working on a visual redesign of the primary website at 

www.ed.gov to improve the customer experience by: 

(1) providing a cleaner, less cluttered appearance; 

(2) optimizing the site for customers on smart phones and tablets; and 

(3) removing some rarely used navigation and interface elements.

As a second phase to ED.gov enhancements, the Department plans to improve the site search 

experience by adopting use of DigitalGovSearch, a service provided by the General Services 

Administration. As a third phase, the Department plans to introduce a newsroom part of 

ED.gov optimized for customers on mobile devices. 

Below is a description of digital tools currently in use on ED.gov and social media networks. 

Electronic newsletters—The Department has multiple periodic electronic newsletters that 

inform parents, teachers, education stakeholders, and other members of the public. These 

electronic newsletters are open to the public via the Department’s opt-in policy, in which 

subscribers may stop delivery at any time. ED Review, Teachers Edition, Education Innovator,

IESNews, Research e-News, PreventionED, and OVAE Connection are some of the currently 

available newsletters, and the Department will continue to create newsletters as new special 

topics are identified. Visit GovDelivery.com for more information on the Department’s 

electronic newsletters.

ED.gov

38
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

ED.gov Blog—The ED.gov Homeroom blog is a primary tool for the Department of Education to 

publish and promote up-to-date information on agency and the Secretary’s events and news 

headlines. In addition to publishing information, the blog also allows for inclusion of videos, 

opportunities for public commenting, and electronic subscription via Really Simple Syndication 

(RSS) features found in third-party blog reading software. The Department has extended its 

blog tools to other offices within the Department.

Media releases—Frequently throughout the day, the Department of Education releases 

newsworthy items via its electronic press room. This section of ED.gov features press releases, 

speeches, media advisories, and the Secretary’s weekly schedule. The Department’s press room

can be found on ED.gov. 

Federal Register—The Department of Education frequently publishes proposed and final 

regulations, announcements and other documents in the Federal Register maintained by the 

Government Printing Office. The Department updates its website to provide a listing of Federal 

Register notices as well as a search capability. The Department’s Federal Register page can be 

found on ED.gov.

Twitter—Twitter is an online social network tool that sends status updates to subscribers. The 

Department uses Twitter daily to send important updates of Department activities. The main 

Department Twitter and others are listed on ED.gov. 

Facebook—Facebook is another online social network tool that the Department uses to send 

updates to subscribers. Facebook is used daily to send important updates about the 

Department and the Secretary. The main Department Facebook page and others are available 

on ED.gov. 

YouTube—YouTube is a video-sharing service that the Department uses to distribute audio and 

video clips. The Department’s YouTube channel features taped stakeholder meetings, messages 

from senior officials, and other special topic features. To find the YouTube channel for the 

Department, go to http://www.youtube.com/usedgov. 

FedBizOpps.gov—The Department posts synopses of proposed contract actions as well as 

contract solicitations on FedBizOpps.gov, which is the single point on the Internet where 

vendors can access information needed to bid on government contracts. Vendors wishing to do 

business with the Department may view synopses and download solicitations that they are 

interested in bidding on. 

ED Records Management Program

The Department of Education Records Management Program received a score of 90 from the 

National Archives for its fiscal year 2013 Records Management Self-Assessment. This score 

means that the Department is at low risk of mismanaging its records. The Department has 

several initiatives either under way or planned for meeting the requirements of the Managing 

ED.gov

39
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

Government Records Directive, including an electronic records management system project. 

The Department submitted all reports required by the Directive for fiscal year 2013.

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Administration

The Department maintains a centralized FOIA program that operates through its FOIA Service 

Center (FSC).

Improvement Initiatives

FSC is making concrete steps to reduce FOIA backlogs by at least 10 percent annually and to 

improve timeliness in responding to requests, which include:

1) Partnering with the Department’s Office of the General Council’s (OGC) Division of 

Business and Administrative Law to provide customized FOIA Training to help 

Departmental offices improve their FOIA practices and better understand the legal 

requirements and implications of the FOIA.

2) Holding regular meetings between Department’s FOIA coordinators and FSC to 

establish dialogue among those individuals, in an effort to more effectively troubleshoot 

problems and facilitate timely responses. 

3) Working with the Department’s components to ensure records are reviewed in light of 

the memoranda issued by the President and the Attorney General, and whether or not 

the release of documents would adversely affect the mission of the agency. 

To accomplish its FOIA mission, FSC strives to ensure that the public has access to as much 

information as possible while protecting any confidential and sensitive information. As a 

practice, while reviewing material for potential release under FOIA, the Department considers 

discretionary releases as a distinct step in the review process when applying FOIA Exemptions 

which allow for discretionary releases. 

Additionally, FSC will continue to work with the Department’s principal offices to identify 

information material that can and should be released to the public through the electronic FOIA 

Library. For example, FSC in concert with Departmental components has identified types of 

documents that have been previously requested and is continuing to focus on proactively 

releasing these documents into the public domain through the public electronic FOIA Library 

under the hyperlink for “Frequently requested information” at the ED.gov reading room or 

other public sites. 

During the past year, the FSC established a working group with all the principal offices that 

award grants. The working group reached an agreement that they would increase proactive 

disclosure and their efforts to post grant awards online whenever feasible. One example of 

grant documents that the Department is posting online is all Race to the Top grant awards. 

Another example is the Office of Innovation posting its Student Improvement Grant awards. 

ED.gov

40
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

Additionally, the FSC is continuing to work with other principal offices to post examples of 

winning grant awards.

In keeping with the Department’s Open Government initiatives, FSC will continue to focus on 

process improvement, achieving greater operational efficiency, and improving customer 

service. In an effort to identify problem areas and formulate solutions that will enhance 

customer service and reduce response time to FOIA requests, FSC reviewed its FOIA policies 

and procedures. FSC’s review of its existing FOIA Directive determined that this document 

needed to be updated. FSC is also developing standard operating procedures to include FOIA 

processing steps that will accurately reflect what the agency’s obligations are under 5 U.S.C. § 

552, as amended. FSC plans to have this document completed by the end of fiscal year 2014. 

Training

FSC, in cooperation with OGC, provides technical advice, training, and related assistance to 

agency program office personnel with responsibility for FOIA administration to ensure a 

presumption of openness is applied to all decisions involving the FOIA. 

Technology

As an added effort to capture and improve timeliness in responding to requests, FSC deploys 

routine software upgrades in its electronic Freedom of Information Act case management 

tracking system (FOIAXpress). FSC is working on improving the Department’s electronic FOIA 

Library and several technology-related initiatives to improve our electronic case management 

system for tracking requests. 

Information about the Department’s FOIA program (e.g., policy documents, annual reports, 

contact information, FSC organizational chart, etc.) is accessible online.

Congressional Requests for Information

The Department’s Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs (OLCA) primarily acts as the 

liaison between the Department and Congress, coordinating all Department matters relevant to 

Congress. OLCA has a leadership role in planning, developing, and implementing the 

Department's legislative goals and strategies; notifying Congressional offices of grant awards 

and Department initiatives; addressing appropriations and budget matters; and monitoring the 

status of legislative proposals. 

OLCA's organizational structure consists of political leadership who work to effectively 

communicate the Administration's position on education issues, career staff for policy that 

advise on legislation, and Congressional affairs staff that aid in resolving constituent concerns. 

ED.gov

41
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

OLCA also works with employees throughout the Department to respond to written and oral 

inquiries from individual members of Congress, prepare for legislative hearings, and facilitate 

meetings between members of Congress and Department senior officials.

OLCA receives and tracks inquiries through the Department's correspondence control system. 

Each Congressional inquiry is assigned to the appropriate principal office within the 

Department for response. The Department typically provides responses between two and six 

weeks, depending on the complexity of the inquiry. 

OLCA is in daily contact with members of Congress and their staff. This interaction ensures that 

the initiatives of Congress and the Department are achieved. To ensure appropriate 

coordination on Congressional matters, please remember to refer all Congressional inquiries to 

OLCA for appropriate coordination and response. A list of OLCA staff can be found on ED.gov. 

Congressional members can contact OLCA through its main telephone line at 202-401-0020. 

Correspondence can be mailed to 400 Maryland Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20202-3100.

Whistleblower Protections

The Department is well along with meeting the requirements of the U.S. Office of Special 

Counsel 2302 Certification Program. The Department’s OIG Whistleblower Protection 

Ombudsman (WPO) was established in 2012 and, to date, several other activities have been 

completed to address the requirements of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act. The 

Department’s Ombudsman led the effort in coordination with other appropriate offices to 

communicate, train, and provide resources regarding the rights and protections against 

retaliation to all Department employees. Accomplishments to date include all-employee 

communications about WPEA using both email and internal website postings. Detailed 

information and links to resources are available on the Department’s website.

All new employees are provided the pamphlet “Know your Rights When Reporting Wrongs” as 

part of the New Employee Orientation. Additionally, all new employees are required to 

complete the NO FEAR training within 90 days (all employees must complete the same training 

biennially), which includes a module on whistleblower protection, rights, and responsibilities.

New supervisors are instructed on whistleblower protections, merit system principles, and 

prohibited personnel practices as part of their required Human Capital Essentials training and 

all supervisors receive similar information as part of Essentials of Supervision training. Human 

resources professionals in the Department received training from the Office of Special Counsel 

in May 2014 on Merit Systems Principles, Prohibited Personnel Practices, and Whistleblower 

Protection. In addition, training is provided to the Department’s principal offices when 

requested.

Planned activities include completing the posting of Whistleblower Protection Act information 

in all Department facilities, annual communication to all employees to refresh their awareness 

of Whistleblower Protection rights and protections, development of an online, on-demand 

ED.gov

42
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

training module that will be available to all employees, and enhanced use of Departmental 

internal communication venues, such as the weekly notice of priority information using ED 

Notebook and information through the Department’s intranet.

The Department’s NO FEAR ACT reports are posted quarterly on ED.gov.

Department Roadmap for Incorporating Principles of Openness into Core Agency 

Missions

The Department of Education has made significant headway incorporating the principles of 

openness – transparency, collaboration and participation – into the Department’s core 

missions and goals. Our commitment to increased transparency and open data are woven 

throughout our fiscal years 2014-2018 Strategic Plan. In October 2014 we shared a draft of our 

fiscal years 2014-2018 Strategic Plan and asked for public comments on Homeroom blog and 

via email. These comments informed and shaped revisions for the final version of the fiscal 

years 2014-2018 Strategic Plan, which is available on ED.gov.

Using Evidence and Data to Drive Improvements in Education

The effective implementation of the Department's priority and strategic goals will depend, in 

part, on the effective use of high-quality and timely data, including evaluations and 

performance measures, throughout the lifecycle of policies and programs. The Department is 

committed to increasing the number of programs and initiatives that are evaluated using 

methods that include those consistent with the What Works Clearinghouse Evidence Standards, 

and incorporating cost-effectiveness measures into evaluations and program improvement 

systems.

To guide our efforts, the Department has committed to goals and objectives in six areas during 

this next phase of the agency’s work:

• Early Learning

Improving the health, social-emotional, and cognitive outcomes for all children from 

birth through third grade, so that all children, particularly those with high needs, are on 

track for graduating from high school college- and career-ready.

• Elementary and Secondary Education

Continuing to improve the elementary and secondary education system’s ability to 

consistently deliver excellent instruction aligned with rigorous academic standards 

while providing effective support services to close achievement and opportunity gaps 

and ensure all students graduate high school college- and career-ready.

• Postsecondary Education, Career and Technical Education, and Adult Education

Increasing college access, affordability, quality, and completion by improving 

postsecondary education and lifelong learning opportunities for youths and adults.

• Equity

Increasing educational opportunities for and reducing discrimination against 

underserved students so that all students are well-positioned to succeed.

ED.gov

43
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

• Continuous Improvement of the U.S. Education System

Enhancing the education system’s ability to continuously improve through better and 

more widespread use of data, research and evaluation, evidence, transparency, 

innovation, and technology.

• U.S. Department of Education Capacity

Improving the organizational capacities of the Department to implement this strategic 

plan.

Performance Plan, Targets and Reporting

The Department has identified performance measures centered on desired outcomes for each 

of the six strategic goals established by the fiscal years 2011–14 Strategic Plan and carried 

forward in the fiscal years 2014–18 Strategic Plan. Each goal section provides insight into how 

the Department will work to achieve its strategic goals, including key resources and programs

that support each goal and its objectives.

See Performance Targets related to openness and open data in the Department’s Performance 

Plan Summary for 2013-2015 (a summary table appears on pages 22-26) – particularly the 

following goals, sub-goals, metrics and key strategies:

• Goal 4. Equity: Increase educational opportunities for underserved students and reduce 

discrimination so that all students are well-positioned to succeed. 

o Objective/Sub-goal 4.1: Equitable Educational Opportunities. Increase all 

students’ access to educational opportunities with a focus on closing 

achievement gaps, and remove barriers that students face based on their race, 

ethnicity, or national origin; sex; sexual orientation; gender identity or 

expression; disability; English language ability; religion; socioeconomic status; 

or geographical location. 

 Measure 4.1.A: National high school graduation rate 

o Objective/Sub-goal 4.2: Civil Rights Compliance. Ensure educational institutions’ 

awareness of and compliance with federal civil rights obligations and enhance 

the public’s knowledge of their civil rights. Objective Leader: Bob Kim 

 Measure 4.2.A: Percentage of proactive civil rights investigations 

launched annually that address areas of concentration in civil rights 

enforcement 

 Measure 4.2.B: Percentage of proactive civil rights investigations 

resolved annually that address areas of concentration in civil rights 

enforcement 

o Key Strategy to Achieve Goal 4: The Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) 

will continue to use a variety of tools to ensure compliance with federal civil 

rights laws, including issuing detailed policy guidance; conducting vigorous 

complaint investigations; procuring strong systemic remedies; pursuing 

aggressive monitoring of resolution agreements; launching targeted and 

proactive compliance reviews and technical assistance activities; collecting and 

publicizing school-level data on important civil rights compliance indicators; and 

participating in intra- and inter-agency work groups to share expertise and best 

ED.gov

44
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

practices. 

• Goal 5. Continuous Improvement of the U.S. Education System: Enhance the education 

system’s ability to continuously improve through better and more widespread use of 

data, research and evaluation, evidence, transparency, innovation, and technology.

o Objective/Sub-goal 5.1: Data Systems and Transparency. Facilitate the 

development of interoperable longitudinal data systems for early learning 

through employment to enable data-driven, transparent decision-making by 

increasing access to timely, reliable, and high-value data. 

 Measure 5.1.A: Number of public data sets included in ED Data Inventory 

and thus linked to Data.gov or ED.gov websites 

 Measure 5.1.B: Number of states linking K–12 and postsecondary data 

with workforce data 

 Measure 5.1.C: Number of states linking K–12 with early childhood data

o Key Strategy to Achieve Goal 5: The Department will continue to assist states in 

developing longitudinal data systems capable of sharing key data elements 

across the education continuum from early learning to the workforce. Through 

these systems, for example, secondary schools can know how many of their 

students are enrolled in a postsecondary program, how many required 

remediation before actual courses for credit could be taken, and how many 

students continue in postsecondary education and obtain a postsecondary 

degree or credential.

To support the tracking and reporting of progress against the Strategic Plan’s goals and 

objectives, the Department has created and continues to develop its data profile on

Performance.gov. It is also creating a set of information dashboards and data analysis tools to 

provide more relevance and context for senior leaders in gauging the impact of the 

Department’s performance as a part of its ongoing strategic decision-making. All agency annual 

reports, including performance reports, are available on ED.gov under Performance and 

Accountability.

ED.gov

45
OOPPEENNGGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTPPLLAANN DDEEPPAARRTTMMEENNTTOOFFEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN

V CONCLUSION

At the Department, transparency, participation, and collaboration are vital to the success of the

mission to improve the quality and accessibility of education in the United States. These are 

goals in and of themselves, inasmuch as the Department understands clearly that its

stakeholders deserve an education agency that serves the people as efficiently, openly, 

honestly, and collaboratively as possible. 

In writing and updating this plan, the Department has addressed the requirements of the 

President and his staff for developing the Department’s Open Government Plan. While doing 

this, the Department has uncovered limitations to existing transparency, participation, and 

collaboration work. Some of these limitations arise from internal processes (e.g., challenges in 

data management and technology processes); others are not (e.g., privacy regulations and laws 

that limit how much data can be shared). These limitations represent challenges to the process 

of governing, and the Department is now, thanks to the process initiated by the Open 

Government Directive, fully engaged and committed to resolving these limitations wherever 

the law allows, and clarifying the limitations where it does not 

Transparency, participation, and collaboration are the keys to ensuring that the Department

can continuously serve the public better. Applying them as values to its business of supporting 

the education community will enable the Department to institutionalize transparency, 

participation, and collaboration; in effect, the Department will write these values on the “DNA” 

of its institutional culture, memory, and knowledge. By doing this, the Department believes it

will be continuing to transform the Department to meet the requirements of the President and 

the needs of the people. 

The Department looks forward to the public’s feedback on how to improve this Open 

Government Plan. The plan is still developing, and it will be improved significantly by the 

public’s suggestions. To provide comments, please visit the open government initiative website

or send an e-mail to opengov@ed.gov. The Department also welcomes specific questions, and 

will do its best to respond as quickly and thoughtfully as possible. The Department looks

forward to taking additional steps to enhance transparency, participation and collaboration 

with public input and support, and intends to take the public’s comments into account when 

updating this plan.

ED.gov

46

EEDD..ggoovv