The American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act provides $4.3 billion for the Race to the Top Fund (referred to
in the statute as the State Incentive Grant Fund). This is a
competitive grant program. The purpose of the program is to
encourage and reward States that are creating the conditions for
education innovation and reform; achieving significant improvement
in student outcomes, including making substantial gains in student
achievement, closing acheivement gaps, improving high school
graduation rates, and ensuring student preparation for success in
college and careers; and implementing ambitious plans in four core
education reform areas: (a) adopting internationally-benchmarked
standards and assessments that prepare students for success in
college and and the workplace; (b) building data systems that
measure student success and inform teachers and principals in how
they can improve their practices; (c) increasing teacher
effectiveness and achieving equity in teacher distribution; and (d)
turning around our lowest-achieving schools. In order to fulfill
our responsibilities for programmatic oversight and public
reporting, the Department has developed a Race to the Top Annual
Performance Report (APR) that is tied directly to the Race to the
Top selection criteria and priorities previously established and
published in the Federal Register. The report is grounded in the
key performance targets included in grantees' approved Race to the
Top plans. Grantees will be required to report on their progress in
the four core education reform areas and in Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics. This reporting includes narrative
sections on progress and key performance indicators. As was the
case in the completion of the Race to the Top applications,
grantees will coordinate with LEAs to collect and report on school
and district-level data elements. In order to robustly fulfill our
programmatic and fiscal oversight responsibilities, it is essential
that we gather this data from Race to the Top grantees and
subgrantees. In the first year of the grant, the APR was collected
through an emergency clearance approval. In order to allow for a
comprehensive assessment of progress for the remaining grant period
to both update the public and Congress about Race to the Top and
pinpoint areas requiring technical assistance, we are requesting a
three-year clearance with this form. Additionally, through the
Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act,
2011 (FY 2011 Appropriations Act), the Department made a total of
$200 million in grants to seven additional States in Phase 3 to
invest in a portion of their plans from the Phase 2 competition.
The Department is requesting these States, who will complete a
sub-set of the APR based on their approved plans, be included in
the three-year clearance with this form.
PL:
Pub.L. 111 - 5 14006 Name of Law: American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009
This is a reinstatement without
change of a previously approved request. This collection was
discontinued in January 2012, therefore the inventory for this
request is zero. This request reflects a program change of 1,845
hours and 19 responses based on the average upper and lower ranges
explained in question A.12.A. There was an increase in the number
of grantees from 12 to 19 and an additional 69 burden hours.
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.
Race to the Top Annual Report
Supporting Statement for the Race to the Top Annual Performance Report 6 25 12.docx
Race to the Top Annual Report