On February 17, 2009, President Obama
signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) into law
(Pub. L. 111-50). ARRA supports investments in innovative
strategies that are intended to lead to improved results for
students, long-term gains in school and local education agency
(LEA) capacity for success, and increased productivity and
effectiveness. This evaluation will focus on answering three sets
of policy/research questions: To what extent did ARRA funds go to
the intended recipients? Is ARRA associated with the
implementation of the key reform strategies it promoted? What
implementation supports and challenges are associated with ARRA?
The integrated evaluation will draw on existing data, including ED
data collections, ED ARRA program files, ARRA required reporting,
and databases of achievement and other outcomes. The evaluation
will also collect new information through surveys of (1) the 50
states and the District of Columbia, (2) a nationally
representative sample of school districts, and (3) a nationally
representative sample of schools within the sampled school
districts. Surveys were conducted in spring 2011 and are planned
for spring 2012. A report will be prepared to describe the
distribution of funding. A report and state tabulations will be
prepared after each annual survey. The first report, based on the
2011 surveys, will focus on early ARRA implementation and
strategies. The second report, based on the 2012 surveys, will
expand upon strategies implemented under ARRA. This evaluation will
focus on answering four sets of research questions: Money: Which
states/districts/schools get which program funds, when, and how
much? What do they spend it on? How much overlap is there across
ARRA funding streams in terms of who receives the funding or what
grantees do with it? Strategies: What efforts and activities are
underway as a result of each of the ARRA programs and overall? What
state policies are changing or being enacted? What specific
interventions are districts and schools implementing? How do the
strategies line up with the four assurances or with the specific
strategies promoted by the different programs? Implementation
Process: How much coordination do states and districts report in
the decision-making and planning for implementation across the
various streams of funds? Are districts that receive funds directly
(e.g., thru i3) employing strategies that are consistent with their
state's policies and plans (e.g., under Race to the Top)? On an
ongoing basis, what challenges do grantees face in enacting their
plans and what successes have they had? Outcomes: Is receiving
more ARRA funds or certain types of funds associated with
improvement in student outcomes or other key measures (e.g., more
equitable distribution of teacher quality)? The integrated
evaluation will draw on existing data, including ED data
collections, ED ARRA program files, ARRA required reporting, and
databases of achievement and other outcomes. The evaluation will
also collect new information through surveys of (1) the 50 states
and the District of Columbia, (2) a nationally representative
sample of school districts, and (3) a nationally representative
sample of schools within the sampled school districts. Surveys are
planned for spring 2011, spring 2012, and spring 2013. Subsamples
of school districts will also be drawn to receive a smaller set of
questions (polls); these polls will be administered twice between
2011 and 2013. A report will be prepared in the first year of the
evaluation to describe the distribution of funding. A report and
state tabulations will be prepared after each annual survey. The
first report, based on the 2011 surveys, will focus on early ARRA
implementation and strategies. The second report, based on the 2012
surveys, will expand upon strategies implemented under
ARRA.
There is an overall reduction
in burden hours of 1,792 for this third submission. The burden from
the first and second submissions are complete now, so 6,831 burden
hours are being deleted. The total burden for the 3 surveys covered
in this collection totaled 5,039 burden hours. This results in a
program change of -1,792 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.
1850-0877 v3 4754 ARRA Eval Letters 2-7-12.docx
School Official Survey - 2012