Revised OMB Supporting Statement Promising Strategies in Federal College Access Programs

Abt Associates Inc. Appendix A. Introductory Email to Site Coordinators ▌pg. 1

Appendix A. Introductory Email to Site Coordinators

Date

First/Last Name of Site Coordinator

School/District Name

Street Address

City, State, Zip Code

Dear (NAME):

We received your name from the director of Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for 

Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) in your state. As you may know, your state is participating in 

the GEAR UP College Savings Account Research Demonstration. The purpose of the demonstration 

is to provide federally-supported college savings accounts and financial counseling to GEAR UP 

student in selected states and schools, and to learn whether these additional services improve 

students’ high school and college outcomes.

You were designated as the coordinator for [NAME OF SCHOOL], which is participating in 

the demonstration. A school may be participating either by providing regular GEAR UP services or 

by providing the special savings account and financial counseling services to 9th grade students IN 

ADDITION TO regular GEAR UP services. The schools that will provide the additional services 

were selected at random in each state. 

One requirement of participating is to provide the Department’s evaluation team with a list of 

the 9th graders who were eligible for GEAR UP at the beginning of the 2013-14 school year. In 

particular, we are asking for the following directory information about each 9th grade student:

 Name

 Date of birth

 Parent name

 Address and phone number

ED’s evaluation team, to whom you will be providing this information, includes Abt 

Associates and its partners the Center for Social Development and Survey Research Management. 

Under the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) you may disclose 

this directory information to Abt Associates, because they are conducting a federal evaluation on 

behalf of the Department. All information will be kept confidential at all times. We will follow strict 

rules to protect the information provided by and about students. Information will be transferred 

through secure means and be stored on secure computer networks. Further, we will not provide 

information that identifies any student to anyone outside the study team, except as required by law.

A senior researcher from Abt Associates will be contacting you in the next week to describe 

the study in greater detail and work with you on what information is needed. Your help is critical to 

the success of this study and we very much appreciate your involvement. 

If you have any questions about participating in the study, you may call XXX-XXX-XXXX, 

or email me at GEAR_UP@abtassociates.com.

Sincerely,

Alina Martinez, Ed.D.

Study Project Director
Revised OMB Supporting Statement Promising Strategies in Federal College Access Programs

Abt Associates Inc. Appendix A. Introductory Email to Site Coordinators ▌pg. 2

Study Contacts

Alina Martinez Marsha Silverberg

Project Director Federal Project Officer

Abt Associates Inc. IES/US Department of Education

Marsha.Silverberg@ed.gov

Study Website: XXXXXXXXXXXX

Study Email: GEAR_UP@abtassoc.com 

Study Toll-Free Number: XXX-XXX-XXXX