Resolution for Terms of Clearance Memorandum

MEMORANDUM

DATE: February 16, 2007

TO: Rachel Potter

OIRA/OMB

FROM: Deborah Rudy

Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools

SUBJECT: Resolution for Terms of Clearance for Safe Schools/Healthy Students Information Collection

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide an update on the terms of clearance provided for information collection 1865-0004 (Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative (SS/HS) application package) in a note from Karen Lee dated May 13, 2004.

The terms of clearance indicate that:

“The Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools will consider additional GPRA measures that focus on outcomes – such as measuring changes in drug and violence related incidents in school children, measuring the means (percentage of programs that are research-based and the percentage of programs implemented with fidelity) is at best an indirect measure of progress, assuming that the key to success is research based programs that are implemented to design.”

These particular terms of clearance are confusing in that they suggest that the SS/HS initiative used or proposed using the percentage of grantees using research-based program, or implementing those programs with fidelity as GPRA measures for this program. In fact, those measures are two of seven GPRA measures being use to evaluate the effectiveness of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act State Grants program.

Beginning in FY 2004 and continuing through FY 2006, the SS/HS initiative has used the following GPRA measures:

• the percentage of grant sites that experience a decrease in the number of violent incidents at schools during the three-year grant period;

• the percentage of grant sites that experience a decrease in substance abuse during the three-year grant period;

• the percentage of grant sites that improve school attendance during the three-year grant period; and

• the percentage of grant sites that increase mental health services to students and families during the three-year grant period.

We have proposed revised GPRA measures (in an effort to encourage grantees to collect and report more comparable data across sites), but those measures continue the emphasis on student outcomes. Those revised measures have been already been submitted to OMB via ED’s Budget Service for vetting. The proposed revised measures are:

Indicator: Student Victimization/Perception of School Safety

Perception Measure: Percentage of grantees that experience a decrease in students who did not go to school on one or more days during the past 30 days because they felt unsafe at school, or on their way to and from school (surveys items are available on YRBSS, School Supplement to NCVS, etc.)

Victimization Measure: Percentage of grantees that experience a decrease in students who have been in a physical fight on school property in the 12 months prior to the survey (survey items are available on YRBSS, School Supplement to NCVS, etc.)

Indicator: Student Substance Use/Abuse

Measure: Percentage of grantees that report a decrease in students who report current (30-day) marijuana use (survey item available on YRBSS, MTF, NSDUH, etc.)

Measure: Percentage of grantees that report a decrease in students who report current (30-day) alcohol use (survey item available on YRBSS, MTF, NSDHU, etc.)

Indicator: Mental Health Services Provided

Measure: Percentage of grantees that report an increase in the number of students receiving school-based mental health services.

Measure: Percentage of grantees that report an increase in the percentage of mental health referrals for students that result in mental health services being provided in the community.

We believe that the current program measures and the revised measures that we hope to begin to use with the FY 2007 cohort of program grantees both address the concern contained in the “terms of clearance” note from 2004.

Please let me know if you need any additional information.