Appendix D IIA OMB renewal 2014 - Explanation of Changes 3-6-14

Appendix D

Title II, Part A Survey on the Use of Funds (2014-15)

Suggested Changes for OMB Clearance Package

1. State survey—Instructions

Proposed Changes:

• Added more information regarding the available methods of submission.

2. District survey—Instructions

Proposed Changes:

• Added more information regarding the available methods of submission.

3. District survey—Question 2—Amount of funds allocated by activity

Proposed Changes:

• Broke the line for funds allocated for professional development for principals and superintendents into two separate lines.

• The Department is interested in learning about how Title II, Part A funds are used for principals, as school leaders play an important role in supporting efforts to improve both teacher quality and student achievement (see changes to Question 4); to do so districts will need to report on the amount of Title II, Part A funds allocated for professional development activities for principals.This change should not have an effect on the burden of the survey, as districts already report on the amount of funds allocated for professional development for principals and superintendents.

4. District survey—Question 3—Number of FTEs of highly-qualified teachers hired to reduce class size

Proposed Changes:

• Clarified the instructions further.

5. District survey—Question 4—Amount of funds allocated for professional development by subject area

Proposed Changes:

• Added columns to collect data on the allocations of funds for professional development for principals by subject area, and rows to collect descriptions for descriptions of “other” subjects for principals.

• The Department is interested in learning about how Title II, Part A funds are used for principals, as school leaders play an important role in supporting efforts to improve both teacher quality and student achievement.

• This change will increase burden but only for districts which allocate funds for professional development for principals (approximately 29% based on the results of the SY 2012-13 survey). The increase in burden would not be great because districts already provide these data for teachers and paraprofessionals and the data should be similar. We estimate the increase in burden to be approximately 15 minutes.

6. District survey—Question 5—Allocations of funds for allowable activities to designed to prepare educators to implement new college- and career-ready standards

Proposed Changes:

• New question to ask whether school districts are allocating Title II, Part A funds to help their educators implement new college- and career-ready standards, and, if so, to provide a description of those activities and amount of funds allocated for those activities.

• Districts across the country are moving towards implementing new college- and career-ready standards. This question will help the Department determine the extent to which the Title II, Part A program is helping support those efforts and provide additional guidance on allowable activities that could help support these efforts.

• This change will increase burden on school districts. We estimate, in combination with the following question, that the increase will be approximately 15 minutes, although if districts do not allocate funds for these activities they would only need to respond “No.”

7. District survey—Question 6—Allocations of funds for allowable activities designed to develop, implement, or support educator evaluation systems

Proposed Changes:

• New question to ask whether school districts are allocating Title II, Part A funds to help develop, implement, or support educator evaluation systems and, if so, to provide a description of those activities and amount of funds allocated for those activities.

• Districts across the country are implementing new educator evaluation systems. This question will help the Department determine the extent to which the Title II, Part A program is helping support those efforts and provide additional guidance on allowable activities that could help support these efforts.

• This change will increase burden on school districts. We estimate, in combination with the previous question, that the increase will be approximately 15 minutes, although if districts do not allocate funds for these activities they would only need to respond “No.”

8. District survey—Question 5—Total number of teachers and number of teachers participating in professional development

Proposed Changes:

• Question renumbered to be Question 7 due to addition of two new questions.

9. District survey—Question 6—Number of teachers participating in professional development by duration/type of professional development.

Proposed Changes:

• Question renumbered to be Question 8 due to addition of two new questions.

10. District survey—Question 7—Number of sessions and teachers participating in professional development by topic.

Proposed Changes:

• Question renumbered to be Question 9 due to addition of two new questions.

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