On December 23, 2011, the President signed into law the FY 2012 Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-74), which provides appropriations for the U.S. Department of Education for fiscal year (FY) 2012. The legislation appropriates $284,461,350 for Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) competitive grants that must be awarded by September 30, 2012. The data provided through this information collection will be used by application reviewers and the Department to assess the extent to which an applicant meets the priorities, requirements, and selection criteria of the TIF program competition and determine which applicants should receive grants. The Department used information collected under this control number to award TIF grants in FY 2010. The information to be collected in project applications with regard to funds appropriated to the Department for FY 2012 under Pub. L. 112-74 is different from the information collected for purposes of the award of appropriated funds provided for FY 2010.
The data provided through this information collection will be used by application reviewers and the Department to assess the extent to which an applicant meets the priorities, requirements, and selection criteria of the TIF program competition and determine which applicants should receive grants. In addition, ED will use the information provided in this collection to prepare summaries of the activities each grantee will carry out and will disseminate to members of Congress and the general public. ED will also use this information to monitor the progress and performance of each grantee in carrying out the activities described in the application.
The increase in burden hours is due to a program change. Specifically, the revised collection requires each applicant to submit an application reference chart that identifies where in the applicant's application peer reviewers and program staff can find various required elements of the application, including where the applicant addressed the priorities and program requirements, where it provided a list of "high-need" schools, and, for group applications, the required memorandum of understanding or other binding agreement among the parties to the application. This change is intended to facilitate the review of applications, as well as to ensure that applicants do not unintentionally omit a required element of the application. The application reference chart appears in Appendix 1 of the application package.
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.
TIF Application
Att_1810-0700 TIF Supporting Statement 1-24.docx
TIF Application