Generic Template

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 1880-0542)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: U.S. Department of Education Race to the Top Program Review Survey (2013)

PURPOSE: As part of the Department’s commitment to supporting States as they implement ambitious reform agendas, the Department established the Implementation and Support Unit (ISU) in the Office of the Deputy Secretary to administer, among others, the Race to the Top program. The goal of the ISU is to provide assistance to States as they implement unprecedented and comprehensive reforms to improve student outcomes. Consistent with this goal, the Department has developed a Race to the Top program review process that not only addresses the Department’s responsibilities for fiscal and programmatic oversight, but is designed to identify areas in which Race to the Top grantees need assistance and support to meet their goals. Specifically, the ISU will work with Race to the Top grantees to differentiate support based on individual State needs, and help States work with each other and with experts to achieve and sustain educational reforms that improve student outcomes. The information and data gathered by the Department’s program review will inform the Department’s management and support of Race to the Top States, as well as provide appropriate and timely updates to the public on their progress.

In support of the ISU’s purpose to pilot new approaches to strengthen and support state reforms it is important to (a) ensure that the elements of the program review processes carried out by the ISU are valuable and relevant to states and (b) understand the extent to which program officers in the ISU provide high-quality and helpful customer service. A survey will be administered to Race to the Top State Leads and other staff in Race to the Top States to gather feedback on experiences to date on both of these pieces and results used to better understand the extent to which the program review process is meeting its intended goals from a State perspective and to inform continuous improvement to elements of the program review process.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Surveys will be e-mailed to the 19 RTT State Leads with instructions to answer the questions from their own perspectives. Leads may have one additional person complete the survey from their staff (e.g., project/program assurance area leads or communications or fiscal) who may have experience with and be able to provide meaningful feedback on the program review process and/or program officer customer service. Follow-up will be sent reminding leads to participate; however, no individual outreach will be conducted because submissions will be anonymous (i.e., a respondent will indicate his/her role and whether he or she is in a Phase 1/2 or 3 state, but will not provide his/her name).

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [X] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[] Focus Group [ ] Other: ______________________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name:___________ Meredith Farace ________________

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No

2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [X] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Race to the Top State Leads	19	15 minutes	5 hours
Totals	19	15 minutes	5 Hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is ___$433.20_________

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [X] Yes [ ] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[X] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [ X] No

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