OMB Statement A_Noyce Evaluation_SRI

SRI Noyce Evaluation- 30-day OMB notice

Supporting Statement Part A

Request for Clearance for a New Information Collection

Supporting Statement PART A

Title of Collection: Evaluation of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program

OMB Number: 3145-NEW

A.1. Circumstances that Make Data Collection Necessary

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce) aims to address the critical need for highly effective elementary and secondary mathematics and science teachers in high-need school districts (i.e., districts serving rural and/or large share of low-income families). The program supports the recruitment, preparation, and retention of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) undergraduate majors and professionals to become K-12 STEM teachers, as well as experienced teachers to become teacher leaders. Noyce offers four program tracks: 

1. Scholarships and Stipends: Supports undergraduate STEM majors and professionals with financial assistance and stipends to become K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts. Requires a teaching commitment of 2 years for each year of scholarship support. 

2. Teaching Fellowships: Provides support to STEM professionals to become K-12 STEM teachers in high-need districts. Requires a 4-year teaching commitment. 

3. Master Teaching Fellowships: Supports experienced K-12 STEM teachers to become teacher leaders in high-need districts. Requires a 5-year teaching commitment. 

4. Noyce Research: Funds research projects focused on the effectiveness and retention of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need districts. 

Additionally, the program accepts Capacity Building proposals from those preparing to submit proposals in any of the program’s tracks and supports conference proposals aimed at improving STEM teacher preparation. The program also invites proposals for authentic Research Experiences in STEM Settings (RESS) for both Noyce and non-Noyce pre-service and in-service STEM teachers. 

The NSF Directorate for STEM Education (EDU) Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) requires evaluation and technical services for the Noyce program. Noyce has a 20-year history of responding to the critical need for highly effective K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts by recruiting and preparing talented undergraduate STEM majors and STEM professionals to pursue teaching careers in elementary and secondary schools. Since its inception, the program has commissioned three program evaluations, the most recent in 2017. In 2023 Noyce sought contractor support to evaluate Noyce outcomes and processes to determine the effectiveness of program components in meeting established goals within the last 10 years. SRI was selected to complete this work.

The evaluation of Noyce focuses on three evaluation questions: 

1. What are the goals of Noyce awards and what activities do teacher preparation programs use to recruit, select, prepare, empower, and support Noyce recipients? 

2. What are the relationships between the types of support, activities, and training that Noyce recipients receive; the types of Noyce recipients; and the recipients’ plans to go into and stay in teaching and leadership roles? 

3. What is the impact of Noyce on teacher certification in STEM fields and employment in high-need schools? 

A.2. PurposeS and Use of the Information

Noyce anticipates using the results of this evaluation to:

1. Identify “Noyce best, emerging, or promising practices” that can make the program more effective and efficient to sustain and grow impacts of Noyce on recruiting, selecting, preparing, empowering, and supporting K-12 STEM teachers.

2. Inform Noyce on sustainability mechanisms and goals appropriate for Noyce Principal Investigators (PIs) to maintain their successful outcomes.

3. To understand and disseminate how Noyce is impacting the field.

4. Provide insights into potential barriers PIs face that inhibit success.

5. Identify strategies Noyce projects can implement to optimize goal attainment, effectiveness, and efficiencies.

The information collected will inform NSF about the nature of the Noyce program and the effects associated with its activities. It will also inform Noyce grantees and the larger field of STEM educator preparation, recruitment, retention, and leadership.

A.3. Use of Information Technology and Burden Reduction

SRI will conduct interviews and focus groups with principal investigators, research staff, Noyce participants and program alumni, some of which will employ Zoom videoconference technology. With this technology participants can be interviewed or be in focus groups without needing to travel to other locations. They may participate from computers, tablets, or smartphones using a web browser or app. This technology can also create recordings and transcripts without further researcher or participant data burden.

All other sources of data will also use electronic records, for data security reasons and efficiency. Once approved, data files will be transmitted to SRI using a secure file transfer protocol and stored electronically in SRI’s secure file sharing system. Grantee reports to NSF will be obtained through NSF’s secure data environment.

A.4. Efforts to Identify Duplication and Use of Similar Information

SRI is making use of all relevant existing information, only collecting information that is not already available. The SRI team will review existing grantee annual and final reports for relevant information, as well as published articles and other dissemination pieces. SRI is also making use of data that have already been collected by ICF regarding scholarship recipients’ academic and career choices.

WhitworthKee also has a contract to conduct a different evaluation of the Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program; both evaluations began in 2023. SRI and WhitworthKee meet regularly and share evaluation plan information to ensure that our evaluation questions and data collections do not overlap and that we are not both recruiting and collecting data from the same recipients.

A.5. Impacts on Small Businesses or Other Small Entities

Not applicable.

A.6. Consequences of Collecting the Information Less Frequently

If the data are not collected, NSF will not know the outcomes of the large investment of public funds that the Noyce program represents. If the data are collected less frequently than planned, NSF will not be able to use the findings of the evaluation effectively for continuous improvement of the program.

A.7. Special Circumstances Relating to the Guideline of 5 CFR 1320.5

Not applicable.

A.8. Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice and Efforts to Consult Outside Agency

Not applicable.

A.9. Explanation of Any Payment or Gift to Respondents

Not applicable.

A.10. Assurance of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents

Respondents will be assured that their responses to interview questions will be confidential, and that all data collected will be reported only in aggregate. Only SRI evaluation team members will have access to any individual interview responses. Names, titles, and other identifying information will not be associated with the responses provided, and SRI staff will ensure (as much as possible) that respondents cannot be identified by their responses in any reports about the project. Data from interviews will be stored in secure electronic files accessible only by SRI staff. The basis of the assurances of confidentiality is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regulations for the protection of human subjects in research, 45 C.F.R. 46 subpart A (the Common Rule), including the 2018 revisions to the Common Rule, and subparts B-E.

A.11. Justification for Sensitive Questions

Not applicable.

A.12. Estimates of Hour Burden Including Annualized Hourly Costs

The overall annualized cost to the respondents is estimated to be $8,033.3. The following table shows the estimated burden and costs to respondents. The estimated hourly rates are based on a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023).

Collection Title	Total No. of Respondents	Burden Hours Per Respondent	Total Hour Burden	Average Hourly Rate	Estimated Annual Cost
Noyce PIs, program staff for case studies	50	1	50	$48.87	$2,444.00
Noyce-funded teachers for case studies	50	1	50	$35.48	$1,774.00
Noyce PIs, program staff	20	1	20	$48.87	$977.00
Noyce teacher focus groups	80 (10 focus groups, 8 teachers per group)	1	80	$35.48	$2,838.00
Total	200		200		$8,033.00

Source: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes119033.htm

A.13. Estimates of Other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Record Keepers

Not applicable.

A.14. Annualized Cost to Federal Government

The costs for data collection are $993,704 for the two-year base period of the award to SRI for collecting, analyzing, and reporting these data on behalf of NSF. The costs were estimated using SRI’s costs for labor, travel, and other direct costs related to the data collection. The costs were presented in a budget narrative to NSF as part of SRI’s bid for this work.

A.15. Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments

This is a new information collection request. There is no request for program changes or adjustments.

A.16. Plans for Tabulation and Publication and Project Time Schedule

The proposed project spans a total of 3 years, with the first 2 years serving as a base period (December 1 2023 – November 30 2025) and the one subsequent year serving as an option period (December 1 2025 – November 30 2026). We expect to conduct the interviews and focus groups in summer 2025. The final report is due in November 2025. Analyses will likely start in summer of 2025. We expect to share results with NSF staff starting in fall 2025.

A.17. Reason(s) Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate

Not applicable.

A.18. Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

Not applicable.

  

4