January 2025

In the last month of President Joe Biden’s administration National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), within the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), released two reports with guidance for federal agencies to reduce sexual harassment in federally funded research and building an evidence agenda on disability.

On January 6, NSTC released Guidelines for Federal Research Agencies to Reduce Sex-Based and Sexual Harassment Involving Award Personnel. The report responds to a provision in the CHIPS and Science Act for OSTP to coordinate federal research agency efforts to reduce the prevalence of sex-based and sexual harassment involving research award personnel.

The report provides seven overall areas of guidance for federal agencies that fund research activities:

1. Identify and remove gaps in policies pertaining to sexual harassment that apply to extramural award personnel.
2. Improve consistency across procedures for reporting harassment to agencies across three pathways: mandatory notifications by awardee institutions; optional reporting by individuals of civil rights violation complaints; and optional reporting by individuals to provide information to agencies without filing a complaint.
3. Ensure awareness of, and compliance with, agency harassment policies and reporting procedures among federal employees, awardees, award personnel, and trainees.
4. Increase data transparency and accountability to support evidence-based policy improvements.
5. Prevent sexual harassment in federally funded off-site locations, including field research sites and conferences.
6. Support innovative approaches for reducing harassment in STEM environments, including requiring award proposals to include plans for safe, inclusive, and equitable research and instituting policies that address power dynamics in STEM.
7. Support funding opportunities for awardees to conduct sexual harassment policy research, evaluation, and training.

AERA has been engaged in this issue, including through the service of AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine as co-chair of the Societies Consortium to End Harassment in STEMM. AERA also joined a letter in December 2023 to OSTP encouraging action and to engage as partners to implement provisions of the Combating Sexual Harassment in Science Act, included in the CHIPS and Science Act.

On January 14,  NSTC released the Federal Evidence Agenda on Disability. The evidence agenda on disability is intended to advance the federal government's ability to make data-informed decisions that improve outcomes for people with disabilities. The agenda includes three sections: an overview of disability and disability data, a learning agenda to improve disability outcomes, and guidelines for collecting and using disability data. 

The learning agenda contains a section on education, with the report noting the disparities in access and outcomes for persons with disabilities across the lifespan. The learning agenda includes two broad questions:

• How can federal government programs support access to and success in high-quality early childhood programs for young children with disabilities?
• How can the federal government effectively address the needs of children and youth with disabilities in the public education system?

The overall evidence agenda includes 10 guidelines for disability data use and collection, which include ensuring data collection efforts are inclusive and accessible, and

meaningfully engage people with disabilities throughout the process; aligning disability data collection efforts with agency objectives to improve outcomes for people with disabilities; and maximizing the utility of disability data and promoting open data policies.

AERA and the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics commented on an RFI seeking input on the federal evidence agenda on disability in July 2024.