ICF wins contract to improve student dropout rates

ICF International Inc. will help the Education Department attempt to increase public school student graduation rates under a $32.8 million, 5-year contract.

In addition to providing research in dropout prevention, ICF International will also research areas of teacher effectiveness, rural education, and early childhood education to enable the Education Dept. to improve its practices, according to a Jan. 11 company statement.

The contract, which comes under the Education Department's Institute for Education Sciences, calls for ICF to operate the Regional Education Laboratory (REL) Mid-Atlantic region, as well as to serve as the coordinating entity for the laboratory.

"By identifying what works, what doesn't, and why, our efforts are aimed at improving educational outcomes for all students, particularly those at risk of failure," said Maureen Murphy, senior vice president for ICF International, in the statement.

As the REL operator, ICF will assess regional needs and services and provide maintenance and refinement of research alliances, analytic technical support, applied research and evaluation studies, general management and reporting.

The contractor also will develop a REL Intranet and support the coordination of efforts between the 10 REL regions.

ICF International, of Fairfax, Va., ranks No. 64 on Washington Technology’s 2011 Top 100 list of the largest federal government contractors.