On February 17, 2009, President Obama
signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) into law
(Pub. L. 111-5). ARRA supports investments in innovative strategies
that are intended to lead to improved results for students,
long-term gains in school and local education agency (LEA) capacity
for success, and increased productivity and effectiveness. This
evaluation will focus on answering four sets of research questions:
Money: Which states/districts/schools get which program funds,
when, and how much? What do they spend it on? How much overlap is
there across ARRA funding streams in terms of who receives the
funding or what grantees do with it? Strategies: What efforts and
activities are underway as a result of each of the ARRA programs
and overall? What state policies are changing or being enacted?
What specific interventions are districts and schools implementing?
How do the strategies line up with the four assurances or with the
specific strategies promoted by the different programs?
Implementation Process: How much coordination do states and
districts report in the decision-making and planning for
implementation across the various streams of funds? Are districts
that receive funds directly (e.g., thru i3) employing strategies
that are consistent with their states policies and plans (e.g.,
under Race to the Top)? On an ongoing basis, what challenges do
grantees face in enacting their plans and what successes have they
had? Outcomes: Is receiving more ARRA funds or certain types of
funds associated with improvement in student outcomes or other key
measures (e.g., more equitable distribution of teacher quality)?
The integrated evaluation will draw on existing data, including ED
data collections, ED ARRA program files, ARRA required reporting,
and databases of achievement and other outcomes. The evaluation
will also collect new information through surveys of (1) the 50
states and the District of Columbia, (2) a nationally
representative sample of school districts, and (3) a nationally
representative sample of schools within the sampled school
districts. Surveys are planned for spring 2011, spring 2012, and
spring 2013. Subsamples of school districts will also be drawn to
receive a smaller set of questions (polls); these polls will be
administered twice between 2011 and 2013. A report will be prepared
in the first year of the evaluation to describe the distribution of
funding. A report and state tabulations will be prepared after each
annual survey. The first report, based on the 2011 surveys, will
focus on early ARRA implementation and strategies. The second
report, based on the 2012 surveys, will expand upon strategies
implemented under ARRA. The final report will draw upon existing
data on outcomes as well as data from the 2013 surveys. This is the
first phase - the recruitment phase of the evaluation.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Comments re Integrated Evaluation of ARRA Funding Implementation OutcomesAgency Information Collection Activities Proposals Submissions and Approvals 61710.htm
ARRA OMB for Recruitment Part B after 60 day public notice rev.docx
Appendix A - Recruitment Letters