Att_SLP OMB Clearance Package Section A 10-08-08

U.S. Department of Education

School Leadership Program

Annual Performance Report

Section A

Office of Management and Budget

Clearance Package Supporting Statement

and Data Collection Instrument

October 15, 2008

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 1

SECTION A. Justification

A.1 Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary 1

A.2 Purposes and Uses of the Data 2

A.3 Use of Technology to Reduce Burden 2

A.4 Efforts to Identify Duplication 2

A.5 Methods to Minimize Burden on Small Entities 2

A.6 Consequences of Not Collecting Data 3

A.7 Special Circumstances 3

A.8 Federal Register Comments and Persons Consulted Outside the
Agency 3

A.9 Payments or Gifts 3

A.10 Assurances of Confidentiality 3

A.11 Justification of Sensitive Questions 3

A.12 Estimates of Hour Burden 3

A.13 Estimates of Cost Burden to Respondents 3

A.14 Estimate of Annual Cost to the Federal Government 4

A.15 Program Changes or Adjustments 4

A.16 Plans for Tabulation and Publication of Results 4

A.17 Approval to Not Display the OMB Expiration Date 4

A.18 Explanation of Exceptions 4

Appendix A. Elementary And Secondary Education Act of 1965, as Amended,

Title II, Part A, Subpart 5

Appendix B. Government Performance Results Act (GPRA) of 1993, Section 4

Appendix C. Data Collection Instrument Instructions

Appendix D. Data Collection Instrument

Appendix E. Data Collection Spreadsheet

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

FOR PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMSSION

INTRODUCTION

The School Leadership Program (SLP) provides grants to assist high-need local educational agencies (LEAs) with recruiting, training, and retaining principals and assistant principals. The overall goals of SLP are to assist high-need LEAs with 1) recruiting, preparing, and retaining new principals and assistant principals and 2) improving the skills and retention of currently practicing principals and assistant principals.

The SLP office is submitting this application to request approval to use a customized annual performance report to collect data from grantees on the SLP Government Performance Result Act (GPRA) measures and project measures as approved in grantee applications.

A. JUSTIFICATION

A1. Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary

Information in the SLP Annual Performance Report (APR) is being collected in compliance with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, Title II, Part A, Subpart 5; 20 U.S.C. 2151(b) (shown in appendix A), the Government Performance Results Act (GPRA) of 1993, Section 4 (1115) (shown in appendix B), and the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR), 34 CFR 75.253. EDGAR states that recipients of multi-year discretionary grants must submit an APR demonstrating that substantial progress has been made toward meeting the approved objectives of the project. In addition, discretionary grantees are required to report on their progress toward meeting the performance measures established for the U.S. Department of Education (ED) grant program.

There are two GPRA performance objectives and six performance measures for SLP grantees. They are:

Objective 1: To recruit, prepare, and support individuals from education or other fields to become principals or assistant principals of schools in high-need local educational agencies (LEAs).

Measure 1.1 of 4: The percentage of School Leadership Program participants seeking certification who meet certification requirements to become a principal or assistant principal.

Measure 1.2 of 4: The percentage of School Leadership Program participants certified through the funded project who are hired as an assistant principal of a school in a high-need LEA.

Measure 1.3 of 4: The percentage of School Leadership Program participants certified through the funded project who are hired as a principal of a school in a high-need LEA.

Measure 1.4 of 4: The percentage of School Leadership Program participants who are hired as a principal or assistant principal of a school in a high-need LEA and remain in that position for at least 2 years.

Objective 2: To train and support principals and assistant principals from schools in high-need local educational agencies (LEAs) in order to improve their skills and increase retention.

Measure 2.1 of 2: The percentage of principals and assistant principals from schools in high-need LEAs who participated in the School Leadership Program-funded professional development activities who showed an increase in their pre-post scores on a standardized measure of principal skills.

Measure 2.2 of 2: The percentage of principals and assistant principals from schools in high-need LEAs who participated in the School Leadership Program-funded professional development activities who remained in their administrative position for at least 2 years.

Most grantees will report on the GPRA measures for only one of the objectives because most grantees focus on either recruiting and training new principals and assistant principals OR providing training to currently practicing principals and assistant principals.

A customized APR that goes beyond the ED 524B APR is requested to facilitate the collection of more standardized and comprehensive data to address the program’s GPRA measures, to improve the overall quality of data collected, and to increase the quality of data that can be used to inform policy decisions.

A2. Purposes and Uses of the Data

GPRA, passed in 1993, requires federally funded agencies to develop and implement an accountability system based on performance measurement. Grantees are required to report on their progress toward meeting the objectives and goals established for each ED grant program.

This data collection is to obtain the data necessary for GPRA reporting and project monitoring. SLP grantees will submit these data annually to the OII program office. If data on the current project year are not available at the time the APR is due (June 30), grantees will submit a Complete Performance Report using the same form by October 15. At the time they submit their APR or Complete Performance Report, grantees will submit the spreadsheet containing the pre-post data for participants that they used to report on GPRA measure 2.1 (only grantees reporting on Objective 2 will submit this information). No names or identifying information will be included on the spreadsheet. In the first year, these data will be used to set the target for what constitutes a significant increase for GPRA measure 2.1. After the first year, these data will be collected in order to check the accuracy of what grantees report on the APR or Complete Performance Report for GPRA measure 2.1.

The program office staff will aggregate and report the actual GPRA performance data to ED’s Budget Service. The Budget Service will use this information when making program budget recommendations to Congress. The aggregated actual performance data will also be included in ED’s annual Program Performance Report.

The program office staff will examine each grantee’s performance data against project objectives and targets to determine the grantee’s progress toward meeting its own goals. Grantees also are to report budget information, which the program office uses for monitoring. The proposed data collection form will facilitate the collection of more standardized and comprehensive data for project monitoring. For grantees in their final year of funding, the proposed data collection form also serves as their final performance report.

A3. Use of Technology to Reduce Burden

The APR will be available to be completed and submitted electronically. This may improve the timeliness of submission, accuracy of data, and reduce cost or burden associated with regular mail.

A4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

There is no duplication of reporting. The information requested is not collected or reported elsewhere.

A5. Methods to Minimize Burden on Small Entities

The data collection does not involve small businesses or other small entities.

A6. Consequences of Not Collecting Data

Annual or periodic performance reporting is stipulated in GPRA 1993, Section 4, which means reporting less often then annually is not an option. Currently, SLP grantees provide information annually on the ED 524B. Annual reporting via the proposed data collection form will provide a standardized means for grantees to report on project activities and outcomes as described in their grant proposals and reduce variation in data provided on program outcomes.

A7. Special Circumstances

There are no special circumstances that would require the collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with OMB guidelines.

A8. Federal Register Comments and Persons Consultants Outside the Agency

We will publish the 60-day Federal Register notice and provide this document when available.

[INSERT FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE HERE.]

Current SLP project directors will be contacted to review the draft APR for feedback on the availability of data, the clarity of instruction, and recordkeeping during the 60-day public comment period.

A9. Payments or Gifts

There are no payments or gifts to grantees in support of the data collection.

A10. Assurances of Confidentiality

There are no assurances of confidentiality to grantees.

A11. Justification of Sensitive Questions

There are no questions of a sensitive nature.

A12. Estimates of Hour Burden

Table A-1 below presents a summary of estimated response burden for the data collection in terms of both total estimated hours and total estimated cost. Grantees funded starting in September 2008 will use the SLP APR.

Table A-1. Maximum Annual Burden Estimate, by Data Source

Data Source	Frequency of Response	Estimated Annual Burden (in Hours)	Total Estimated Annual Cost (in Dollars)1
Current grantees (as of 9/2008)	22	40	$35,200

¹Based on an estimated hourly rate of $40.

A13. Estimate of Cost Burden to Respondents

There are no additional costs to respondents or record-keepers resulting from each collection other than that already reported in A12 and A14, including capital or start-up costs, or operation, maintenance, or purchase of services.

A14. Estimate of Annual Cost to the Federal Government

The SLP program office staff will conduct the data collection for the APR. There are currently 22 grantees who will use the proposed SLP APR form. It should take 2 hours of program office staff time to review both the submitted grantee APRs and the Complete Performance Reports for completeness. Given that each hour of program office staff time (including overhead) costs the federal government about $42 (grade 13, step 5), the federal cost will be approximately $1,848.

A15. Program Changes or Adjustments

In previous years, the program office collected similar information through the ED 524B. The reporting templates in the new customized APR will increase data quality and will allow the program office to aggregate information for reporting on the program’s GPRA measures.

A16. Plans for Tabulation and Publication of Results

There are no plans for publication beyond reporting results to ED’s Budget Service for compliance with GPRA. Should this opportunity arise, the program office will follow OMB recommended steps to ensure information quality. Following this, the program office will engage in peer review by Education Department colleagues as well as experts in the field for any publication of analyses resulting from APRs.

A17. Approval to Not Display the OMB Expiration Date

The OMB number and expiration date will be displayed on the data collection form.

A18. Explanation of Exceptions

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

Appendix A: Authorizing Legislation

TITLE II: Preparing, Training, and Recruiting High Quality Teachers and Principals

PART A — TEACHER AND PRINCIPAL TRAINING AND RECRUITING FUND,

Subpart 5 — National Activities

SEC. 2151. NATIONAL ACTIVITIES OF DEMONSTRATED EFFECTIVENESS.

• (b) SCHOOL LEADERSHIP-

• (1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary is authorized to establish and carry out a national principal recruitment program to assist high-need local educational agencies in recruiting and training principals (including assistant principals) through such activities as —

• (A) providing financial incentives to aspiring new principals;

• (B) providing stipends to principals who mentor new principals;

• (C) carrying out professional development programs in instructional leadership and management; and

• (D) providing incentives that are appropriate for teachers or individuals from other fields who want to become principals and that are effective in retaining new principals.

Appendix B: Government Performance Results Act of 1993

SECTION 4. ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLANS AND REPORTS.

(a) Budget Contents and Submission to Congress.-Section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph:

"(29) beginning with fiscal year 1999, a Federal Government performance plan for the overall budget as provided for under section 1115."

(b) Performance Plans and Reports.-Chapter 11 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding after section 1114 the following new sections:

"Sec. 1115. Performance plans

(a) In carrying out the provisions of section 1105(a)(29), the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall require each agency to prepare an annual performance plan covering each program activity set forth in the budget of such agency. Such plan shall-

"(1) establish performance goals to define the level of performance to be achieved by a program activity;

"(2) express such goals in an objective, quantifiable, and measurable form unless authorized to be in an alternative form under subsection (b);

"(3) briefly describe the operational processes, skills and technology, and the human, capital, information, or other resources required to meet the performance goals;

"(4) establish performance indicators to be used in measuring or assessing the relevant outputs, service levels, and outcomes of each program activity;

"(5) provide a basis for comparing actual program results with the established performance goals; and

"(6) describe the means to be used to verify and validate measured values.

"(b) If an agency, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, determines that it is not feasible to express the performance goals for a particular program activity in an objective, quantifiable, and measurable form, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget may authorize an alternative form. Such alternative form shall-

"(1) include separate descriptive statements of-

"(A)(i) a minimally effective program, and

"(ii) a successful program, or

"(B) such alternative as authorized by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, with sufficient precision and in such terms that would allow for an accurate, independent determination of whether the program activity's performance meets the criteria of the description; or

"(2) state why it is infeasible or impractical to express a performance goal in any form for the program activity.

"(c) For the purpose of complying with this section, an agency may aggregate, disaggregate, or consolidate program activities, except that any aggregation or consolidation may not omit or minimize the significance of any program activity constituting a major function or operation for the agency.

"(d) An agency may submit with its annual performance plan an appendix covering any portion of the plan that-

"(1) is specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy; and

"(2) is properly classified pursuant to such Executive order.

"(e) The functions and activities of this section shall be considered to be inherently Governmental functions. The drafting of performance plans under this section shall be performed only by Federal employees.

"(f) For purposes of this section and sections 1116 through 1119, and sections 9703 and 9704 the term-

"(1) 'agency' has the same meaning as such term is defined under section 306(f) of title 5;

"(2) 'outcome measure' means an assessment of the results of a program activity compared to its intended purpose;

"(3) 'output measure' means the tabulation, calculation, or recording of activity or effort and can be expressed in a quantitative or qualitative manner;

"(4) 'performance goal' means a target level of performance expressed as a tangible, measurable objective, against which actual achievement can be compared, including a goal expressed as a quantitative standard, value, or rate;

"(5) 'performance indicator' means a particular value or characteristic used to measure output or outcome;

"(6) 'program activity' means a specific activity or project as listed in the program and financing schedules of the annual budget of the United States Government; and

"(7) 'program evaluation' means an assessment, through objective measurement and systematic analysis, of the manner and extent to which Federal programs achieve intended objectives.

"Sec. 1116. Program performance reports

"(a) No later than March 31, 2000, and no later than March 31 of each year thereafter, the head of each agency shall prepare and submit to the President and the Congress, a report on program performance for the previous fiscal year.

"(b)(1) Each program performance report shall set forth the performance indicators established in the agency performance plan under section 1115, along with the actual program performance achieved compared with the performance goals expressed in the plan for that fiscal year.

"(2) If performance goals are specified in an alternative form under section 1115(b), the results of such program shall be described in relation to such specifications, including whether the performance failed to meet the criteria of a minimally effective or successful program.

"(c) The report for fiscal year 2000 shall include actual results for the preceding fiscal year, the report for fiscal year 2001 shall include actual results for the two preceding fiscal years, and the report for fiscal year 2002 and all subsequent reports shall include actual results for the three preceding fiscal years.

"(d) Each report shall-

"(1) review the success of achieving the performance goals of the fiscal year;

"(2) evaluate the performance plan for the current fiscal year relative to the performance achieved toward the performance goals in the fiscal year covered by the report;

"(3) explain and describe, where a performance goal has not been met (including when a program activity's performance is determined not to have met the criteria of a successful program activity under section 1115(b)(1)(A)(ii) or a corresponding level of achievement if another alternative form is used)-

"(A) why the goal was not met;

"(B) those plans and schedules for achieving the established performance goal; and

"(C) if the performance goal is impractical or infeasible, why that is the case and what action is recommended;

"(4) describe the use and assess the effectiveness in achieving performance goals of any waiver under section 9703 of this title; and

"(5) include the summary findings of those program evaluations completed during the fiscal year covered by the report.

"(e) An agency head may include all program performance information required annually under this section in an annual financial statement required under section 3515 if any such statement is submitted to the Congress no later than March 31 of the applicable fiscal year.

"(f) The functions and activities of this section shall be considered to be inherently Governmental functions. The drafting of program performance reports under this section shall be performed only by Federal employees.

"Sec. 1117. Exemption

"The Director of the Office of Management and Budget may exempt from the requirements of sections 1115 and 1116 of this title and section 306 of title 5, any agency with annual outlays of $20,000,000 or less.".