OMB Approval No: 1840-NEW
Expiration Date: [TBD]
General Instructions for the Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math-Science Programs’
Annual Performance Report 2012–13
A. What does this package contain?
This package contains the forms and instructions needed to prepare the annual performance report (APR) for the Upward Bound (UB) and Upward Bound Math-Science (UBMS) programs. The Department of Education uses the information conveyed in the performance report to assess a grantee’s progress in meeting its approved goals and objectives and to evaluate a grantee’s prior experience in accordance with the program regulations in 34 CFR 645.32. Grantees’ annual performance reports also provide information on the outcomes of projects’ work and of the UB and UBMS programs as a whole. APR data also allows the Department to respond to the reporting requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) and the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA).
B. What are the legislative and regulatory authorities to collect this information?
Title IV, Part A, Subpart 2, Chapter 1, Section 402A(c)(2) and Section 402C, of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended;
The program regulations in 34 CFR Part 645; and
Sections 75.590 and 75.720 of the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR).
C. Who must submit this data report?
All grantees funded under the Upward Bound and
Upward Bound Math-Science programs must submit
annual performance reports as a condition of the grant
award.
D. What period of time is covered in the report? For which students should the grantee provide data?
The report covers the 12-month project year for which the grant has been made. This information can be found in block 6 of the Grant Award Notification.
In determining which participant records to include, a grantee must use the regulatory definition of a participant in 34 CFR 645.6, which includes a minimum period that a student must be served before he or she may be counted in the APR as a participant.
Please note that, in a departure from the 2007–12 APR, for the 2012–17 cycle the Department is no longer using expected high school graduation cohorts as an organizing principle for UB data. The objectives in “Definitions That Apply” at the end of this document do not refer to expected high school graduation cohorts.
E. How long must prior-year participants be tracked and included on the APR data file?
Need for data: As noted at the outset of these instructions, the Department needs grantees’ data not only to calculate prior experience (PE) points, but also to meet program-level reporting requirements mandated by law and to perform other data analyses for these large and important programs.
PE calculations and data collection: Three of the PE objectives in particular affect the number of project years over which grantees are required to report on participants. For these objectives (all of which are found in the “Definitions That Apply” at the end of this document), grantees will be reporting on groups of current and prior-year participants. You will thus continue to include in your data file individuals whom you haven’t served for some time. To the extent possible, you are to “track” the prior-year participants, i.e., you must try to get updated information about them. We recognize that some prior-year participants may be very hard to track, but it is to your advantage and the advantage of TRIO that you make a good attempt.
How long to track participants and include them on the data file: You must keep all participants on your data file from their recruitment and acceptance into your project through high school graduation, and for six years after enrollment in postsecondary education; for example, a participant who graduates from high school in June 2013 and enrolls in postsecondary education in fall 2013 must be tracked through August 31, 2019. After the student is included in the 2018–19 APR, he or she may be dropped from the project’s data file. The six-year period aligns with the PE objective on postsecondary completion. If for a prolonged period a former participant shows no sign of enrolling in postsecondary education, you may drop him or her from the file six years after high school graduation. You are to update the data file each year for all of your participants; if you have been unable to obtain information about a given participant for a year, you may stop tracking him or her, but you must leave the participant’s record on your data file. For such former participants whom you have been unable to track, you may choose the option “Unknown” wherever appropriate in updating the file.
Note on the postsecondary completion objective (see full content in “Definitions That Apply”): This objective measures the percentage of participants who enrolled in a program of postsecondary education within a certain timeframe and who attained either an associate or bachelor’s degree within six years following graduation from high school. For purposes of demonstrating that a given student contributed to the project’s meeting the postsecondary completion objective, a grantee need only show that the former participant earned one degree. For fuller understanding of the UB and UBMS programs, however, the Department wishes to have data on the extent to which UB and UBMS participants who earned an associate degree went on to pursue a bachelor’s degree within the six-year period; we also believe that this information will be valuable for grantees. We therefore strongly urge grantees to continue to track diligently and report over the full six years the academic progress of former participants who earn an associate degree prior to the end of the six-year period.
Grantees funded in the 2007–12 cycle were directed during that period to maintain indefinitely on their APR data files all participants with an expected high school graduation cohort of 2008 or later. These grantees should thus have kept reliable records of each participant’s high school graduation and subsequent postsecondary enrollment (or lack thereof). Using this data as reported in the APRs, the Department will establish a postsecondary enrollment cohort year for each prior participant who qualifies for one. The Department will then be able to run PE calculations for the postsecondary completion objective for grantees funded in the 2007–12 cycle beginning in reporting year 2013–14. (For further information on this process, please see the discussion of field #54).
Six years after the relevant postsecondary education enrollment cohort year (field #54), grantees may drop these students from the project’s data file. For example, a participant who graduated from high school in May 2008 and enrolled in postsecondary education in fall 2008 may be dropped from the grantee’s data file after the project submits its 2013–14 APR.
F. What years will be used to calculate prior experience points?
The Department will calculate PE points using data submitted in the 2013–14, 2014–15, and 2015–16 APRs. Further information on PE calculations may be found in these instructions and in the appendix that will be available on the UB and UBMS Web pages devoted to performance and the APRs.
G. What information must be submitted?
The report consists of two sections, both of which all grantees must complete:
--Section I requests project-identifying data and information on the way in which the project has addressed the Competitive Preference Priorities announced for the 2012 grant competition.
--Section II contains detailed instructions for preparing a data file of information on individual participants.
H. When must the report be filed?
The annual report is normally submitted electronically within 90 days after the end of each 12-month grant (budget) period, which is November 30 for most regular UB projects and December 31 for most UBMS projects. For the regular UB projects with twelve-month project periods that begin June, July, or August, the Department normally extends the report due date to November 30, so that all UB projects can report on postsecondary enrollment status for the fall term following the budget period.
I. How may the report be submitted?
All UB and UBMS grantees must complete the APR online using our contractor’s Web application. In addition, a grantee must scan and upload a signed copy of Section I, Part 1 of the report form that certifies that the information submitted electronically is readily verifiable and the information reported is accurate and complete.
Because the APR requests personal and confidential information on project participants, the secured Web site meets the Department of Education’s data security standards for sensitive data, including improved password and site access procedures. Further, to ensure that the data is accessible only to authorized individuals and is protected from unauthorized use, a grantee must submit the participant level data via the Web application; under no circumstances should a grantee transmit the data to the Department or the APR Help Desk via e-mail.
The Web application and instructions for completing and submitting the report online will be available in early to mid-March 2014 at the following Web addresses:
http://www.ed.gov/programs/trioupbound/report.html (Upward Bound)
http://www.ed.gov/programs/triomathscience/report.html (UBMS)
The Web application that UB grantees must use to submit the annual performance report has the following features:
A Web form for completing Sections I and II, online.
Functionality to upload a file with the individual participant records (Section II) to the Web application using a CSV or XLS file format.
Functionality to view/delete/add participant data online.
Online data field validations and error checks. In order for a grantee to be able to submit the APR, all sections of the APR must pass the first level of data field validations. Following the initial submission of the participant data, additional data quality checks will be run. If any errors or data inconsistencies are found, the grantee will be informed of needed corrections that must be made prior to submitting the APR.
A print button to make a hard copy of the information entered online for Section I.
Functionality to download an electronic file with the individual participant records (Section II).
A submit button to send the entire report to the Department.
An e-mail confirmation that the report has been submitted (a valid e-mail address must be provided in Section I).
In a new feature, the online application will provide on an annual basis a report of PE points to be awarded once a grantee has successfully submitted an APR for one of the three years used for PE calculations (2013–14, 2014–15, and 2015–16).
A project will receive confirmation that the report has been successfully submitted, if the person entering the performance report data provided a valid e-mail address in Section I. If you do not receive an e-mail confirmation, contact the APR Help Desk.
If for any reason, and prior to the deadline date, you need to revise your performance report data after it has been submitted, please contact the APR Help Desk as soon as possible, but prior to the deadline date.
Except for Section I, Part 1, the Department requires only an electronic version of the performance report. After the APR has been successfully submitted, the signatures of the project director and the certifying official for the grantee institution or agency must be obtained on Section I of the printed APR indicating that the information submitted electronically is accurate, complete, and readily verifiable. Once the form has been signed, it should be scanned so that it can be uploaded using the functionality on the APR site. If a grantee is unable to upload Section I, it may be faxed to 703-832-1360. Only Section I, Part 1 should be faxed--not the entire report.
J. Who may be contacted for additional information concerning the submission of the performance report?
Please contact your program specialist directly if you have questions regarding the performance report requirements. A state listing of program specialists and contact information is available at the Web address provided above.
If you have technical problems accessing the Web site or using the Web application, please contact the APR Help Desk at (703) 846-8248 or via e-mail at: generaltrio@cbmiweb.com.
GETTING STARTED
Step 1—Access the Web site. To begin completing this report online, from
http://www.ed.gov/programs/trioupbound/report.html (Upward Bound) or
http://www.ed.gov/programs/triomathscience/report.html (UBMS)
you will need to click on https://trio.ed.gov/ub, a Web site hosted by our contractor to support submittal of annual performance reports.
Step 2--Registration. Once at the contractor's Web site (entitled "UB Online, Program Year 2012–13"), you will need to register to receive a user ID and temporary password; you may do so well in advance of actual submittal of reports. So as to allow time to resolve any problems that might occur with registration, we ask you to register as early as possible.
To register, click on "First Time User? Register Here"; you will then enter the project director's first and last names and e-mail address and the project's PR award number (found on the Grant Award Notification). You will also be required to select and answer two security questions (to be used in the event that you need to use the “Forgot Password” function). If the project director’s information matches the data that the Department currently has on file, a user ID and temporary password will be sent to the e-mail address on file. If discrepancies exist, you will be directed to a "Registration Failed" page; if necessary, your program specialist and the Help Desk will be sent an e-mail message requesting verification of data on the project. Verification will occur within 24 hours if the program specialist can readily confirm a change in project director or e-mail address; if the program specialist has no prior knowledge of the change, it may take longer. Once the Help Desk has received verification from the program specialist, you will be notified to continue with registration.
Step 3—Set Password. Once you have your user ID and temporary password, you may enter them on the site in the top box of the left side of the page; click "Log in." You will be guided to select a new password, then to log in again.
After three failed attempts to access the Web site, you will be required to reset your password and will need to contact the Help Desk for further assistance.
Step 4—Complete and Submit. Follow the instructions for completing and submitting the report via the World Wide Web.
Section I
New to the 2012–17 grant cycle, Section I is now divided into Parts 1 and 2. The first part covers, as in past years, the project’s identification and characteristics, along with certification and a warning statement. In Part 2, grantees provide information on how they have implemented the competitive preference priorities established for the 2012 grant competition.
► Section I, Part 1
Your PR award number will be automatically inserted into line 1 of Part 1. The system will also pre-populate most of the other data fields in Part 1. Please review the pre-populated fields, including the project director’s e-mail address, and update these fields as needed. You may change the data in all fields except for the project’s PR award number, the grantee name, and the report period. Please provide information for any fields that are not pre-populated.
In item 8 of Part 1, Upward Bound Math-Science grantees are asked to indicate whether their projects are regional or non-regional. Regional projects are those that serve more than one state; non-regional projects operate within a state or locality. An exception to this definition occurs when a project serves students from two or more states, yet serves only a compact and cohesive area; for example, a UBMS project working exclusively in Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City, Kansas, would be a non-regional project, despite its service to students from two states.
► Section I, Part 2: Competitive Preference Priorities
The 2012 UB and UBMS grant competitions established three competitive preference priorities concerning persistently lowest-achieving schools, data-based decision-making, and improvements in productivity. The Department will derive data on projects’ service to persistently low-performing schools from the “Target School—NCES Identification Number” field (#23) in Section II, which provides identifying information on the target school attended by each participant. Section I, Part 2, asks projects whether they addressed the remaining two competitive priorities; for each priority addressed, the grantee is to complete the text boxes with concise information about implementation.
Section II: Record Structure for Participant List
The Department will use the data that grantees provide in Section II to assess the project’s progress in meeting its objectives and to evaluate the grantee’s prior experience. The data also allows the Department to respond to reporting requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) and the HEOA, and to assess the UB and UBMS programs’ performance in light of the performance measures found in the instructions for the 2012 grant competition.
The Department added the following fields to the APR to respond to specific changes in the HEOA.
Field # |
Field Name |
#17–19 |
Criteria for determining high-risk status |
#21 |
Disconnected Youth |
#29 |
Served by Another Federally Funded College Access Program |
In addition, the HEOA requires the Department to prepare a performance report on the TRIO programs and, where feasible, to include comparative data, where available, on the national performance of low-income students, first-generation students, and students with disabilities. The data from the following fields may help the Department to identify subgroups of national datasets that may have greater validity than would a broader group for comparison with UB and UBMS participants. These fields were chosen after examining survey questions used in relevant national datasets.
Field # |
Field Name |
#33 |
High School Cumulative Unweighted Grade Point Average |
#40 |
Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) Course Completed |
Four fields were added to allow the Department to determine progress towards the performance measures:
Field # |
Field Name |
#43 |
Advanced Math Courses Completed |
#44 |
FAFSA Completed |
#64 |
Postsecondary Remediation |
#66 |
Postsecondary STEM Degree (UBMS only) |
And finally, to respond to the performance measures that involve attainment of certificates and degrees by varying periods of time, fields #57–62 provide a breakdown of certificates and degrees and their associated dates of accomplishment.
Who should be included on the annual data file?
Please see page 1 of these instructions for information on participants for whom the grantee should provide data. A project should use the Upward Bound Program’s regulatory definition of a project participant in 34 CFR 645.6 (supplied in the “Definitions That Apply” at the end of these instructions) to determine which project participants should be included in the data file. Be sure to include each participant—whether new, continuing, reentry, or prior-year—only once in the file the project submits for the reporting period.
What are the data fields?
The UB and UBMS APR contains 67 data fields of which three are project identifiers. The remaining 64 fields are student data fields and may or may not require updates as noted below.
Project Identifiers (pre-populated) |
|
Field # |
Field Name |
1 |
PR/Award Number |
2 |
Batch Year |
3 |
Program Type |
IMPORTANT: To avoid mismatches between 2012–13 APR data and the UB system of records, identifying data for each participant in your APR file (except for new students) must match the data in your 2011–12 APR, even if you have discovered errors or misspellings. Identifying data includes SSN (Field #4), Last Name (Field #5), First Name (Field #6), and Date of Birth (Field #8). These and other fields that must not change from reporting year to reporting year are shown in the following table, and are identified in Section II by a checkmark in the section’s fifth column.
Field # |
Field Name |
#4 |
Social Security Number |
#5–7 |
Student’s Name |
#8 |
Student’s Date of Birth |
#16–19 |
Eligibility Fields |
#24 |
Date of First Project Service |
#25 |
Grade Level at First Service |
For certain date fields and for the Postsecondary Education Enrollment Cohort field (#54), a grantee might initially enter “Not applicable,” but in a later reporting period enter a specific date (or cohort in the case of field #54). Once the specific date or cohort has been submitted in one year’s APR, that data must not change in subsequent years’ APRs, as is indicated in the “valid field content” column for the field. These fields are:
Field # |
Field Name |
#35 |
Actual Date of HS Graduation |
#45 |
Date of Last Project Service (exceptions allowed for reentry participants) |
#53 |
Date of First Postsecondary Enrollment |
#54 |
Postsecondary Education Enrollment Cohort |
#58, 60, and 62 |
Date of postsecondary credentials |
Fields that need to be reviewed and updated annually, as needed, are in the following table. These fields are identified by checkmark in the sixth column of Section II.
The asterisk (*) indicates fields for which a grantee may select the option, “Not applicable for participants still in high school."
Field # |
Field Name |
#26 |
Deceased or Incapacitated |
#27 |
Participant Status
|
#28 |
Participation Level
|
#29 |
Served By Another Federally Funded Program |
#30 |
Grade Level, Beginning of Academic Year |
#31 |
Secondary Grade Level or Postsecondary Status, Beginning of Following Academic Year |
#32 |
High School Cumulative GPA, at End of Academic Year |
#33 |
High School Cumulative Unweighted GPA, at End of Academic Year |
#34 |
High School Graduation Status |
#36 |
Rigorous High School Program of Study Completed |
#37 |
Secondary School Retention and Graduation Objective |
#38 |
High School State Achievement Standard, Reading/Language Arts |
#39 |
High School State Achievement Standard, Math |
#40 |
Advanced Placement or IB Course Completed |
#41 |
Dual Enrollment Participation |
#42 |
Pre-Diploma Credentials or Coursework Completed |
#43 |
Advanced Math Courses Completed |
#44 |
FAFSA Completed |
#46 |
Reason for Leaving Project |
#47–51 |
Project services |
#52 |
Source of Postsecondary Education Information * |
#55 |
School Code for Postsecondary Institution First Attended* |
#56 |
College Status, Beginning of Academic Year* |
#57, 59, and 61 |
Postsecondary credentials earned* |
#63 |
Postsecondary Enrollment Objective (Numerator) |
#64 |
Postsecondary Remediation |
#65 |
Postsecondary Completion Objective (Numerator) |
#66 |
Postsecondary STEM Degree |
While most fields have a checkmark to indicate that the field content either must not change from reporting year to reporting year; must not be changed after a specific date or cohort has been entered; or must be checked each year to see if update is needed, for 11 fields no such annotation appears in the APR. These 11 fields in the table below usually need no updating, but may be updated if the grantee finds that previously reported content was erroneous.
Field # |
Field name |
#9 |
Gender |
#10–15 |
Ethnicity and Race |
#20 |
Limited English Proficiency |
#21 |
Disconnected Youth |
#22 |
Other Academic Need |
#23 |
Target School |
How should the date fields be formatted (e.g., fields # 8, 24, 35, etc.)?
Please review carefully the Valid Field Content column to ensure that the data submitted is in the correct format. All date fields should be formatted as follows: two digits for month; two digits for day; two digits for century; and two digits for year. For the student’s date of birth (field #8), you are required to provide the full, precise date (month, day, and complete year). For other date fields accuracy is important only for the month and year. If the day is unknown, use 15. For example, a participant’s date of first project service of September 2008 would be formatted as follows: 09/15/2008. If the exact month or year is uncertain, use an estimate. If there is no basis for estimating the month, but the year is known or can be estimated, use 01 for the month (e.g., 01/15/2008). If there is no basis for estimating the year, use 00/00/0000 (“Unknown).”
To ensure that the date is properly imported, always use the zero before one-digit months and days and insert slashes.
How should “Not Applicable” and “Unknown” be reported?
With the exception of fields #10–15, leaving a field blank is not an option. In general, the format for the data fields uses “0” or a series of “0s” to allow a project to indicate “Unknown”; “9” or a series of “9s” indicates “Not Applicable.” Since some exceptions to this practice were unavoidable, please observe the specific options stated for each field.
Where are the objectives found?
The objectives for the programs are found in the “Definitions That Apply” pages at the end of this document. The Department has revised the objectives on rigorous secondary program of study and postsecondary enrollment in response to comments received in the first public comment period.
Supplemental Instructions for Specific Fields
Once the grantee has successfully logged in to the UB APR Web application, this field will be pre-populated for each participant record.
Field #2—Batch Year (pre-populated)
Use the four-digit year provided on the form. This number will change with each year’s submission. The Batch Year designates the fiscal year funding for the project period reported. TRIO grants are forward-funded. Therefore, as an example, fiscal year 2012 funds are used to support project activities in the 2012–13 program year. Thus, the data file for Batch Year 2012 will include information on project participants served or tracked during program year 2012–13
Field #4---Social Security Number (SSN)
SSNs are very important as they allow the Department to match participant lists with the federal financial aid files for purposes of tracking participant outcomes. If a project does not know the SSN for a student, please enter “0s” rather than enter other forms of identification numbers. So as to allow participants’ records to match across years, this data must match your 2011–12 APR (except for students new in 2012–13).
Please pay special attention to the required formatting for each field. So as to allow participants’ records to match across years, this data must match your 2011–12 APR (except for students new in 2012–13).
Fields #9 - #14—Gender, Ethnicity (Hispanic), and
Race
On October 19, 2007, ED released revised, Department-wide guidance on how institutions should collect and maintain data on race and ethnicity and on how they should report such data in the aggregate:
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2007-4/101907c.pdf ; or
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2007-4/101907c.html
Because Upward Bound grantees report data on individual
participants, projects should not follow the portions of the guidance that cover aggregate reporting; they must, however, collect and maintain data as indicated in the guidance. The Department required the new guidance to be implemented by the fall of 2010 for the 2010-11 school year, though grantees were encouraged to implement earlier, if possible. (Note that projects may leave the race and ethnicity fields blank for prior-year participants who left the project before the project implemented the guidance.)
Collection procedures in the guidance require grantees
to collect data on race and ethnicity on all participants
using a two-part question: first, the grantee asks the respondent—typically a parent or guardian if the participant is at the secondary level, or the participant himself or herself if older—whether the participant is Hispanic/Latino; second, the grantee asks the respondent to select one or more races from the five racial groups listed. The grantee reports the responses in fields 10–15 of the APR. If, for example, a UB participant’s parent identifies the student as Hispanic, Asian, and White, entries for the fields would appear thus:
Field 10: 1, Yes, participant is identified as Hispanic/Latino
Field 11: 2, No, participant is not identified as American Indian/Alaskan Native
Field 12: 1, Yes, participant is identified as Asian
Field 13: 2, No, participant is not identified as Black or African American
Field 14: 1, Yes, participant is identified as White
Field 15: 2, No, participant is not identified as Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.
If the participant or parent declines to answer questions about race and ethnicity, the grantee should use observation, as discussed in the guidance. While grantees should make a good effort to collect data on race and ethnicity for all participants, if for some highly unusual reason the race and/or ethnicity of a particular student is unknown, as a last resort the grantee may leave the race and/or ethnicity fields blank. For further details on the guidance for collecting data, please see the full Federal Register notice. Grantees are responsible for implementing all relevant aspects of the guidance. Note that the Department encourages institutions to allow all current students to reidentify their race and ethnicity using OMB's 1997 standards (see page 59276 of the notice), but does not require institutions to do so.
The statute and regulations governing the Upward Bound programs require that an individual, at the time of initial selection for the project, must be a “low-income individual,” a “potential first-generation college student,” or “an individual who has a high risk for academic failure.” (These terms are defined in the section on “Definitions That Apply.”) No less than two-thirds of the project’s participants each year must be both low-income and potential first-generation college students; the remaining one-third must be low-income individuals, potential first-generation college students, or individuals who have a high risk for academic failure.
In field #16, please select the appropriate option for the criterion or criteria that apply to each participant. An individual participant might meet one, two, or all three criteria.
Although a participant need only meet one of three criteria (low-income, potential first-generation college student, or at high risk for academic failure) to be eligible, the Department encourages projects to assess a participant’s eligibility using all three criteria and to report accordingly. For example, if a participant is low-income and potential first-generation, and if he or she meets at least one of the criteria for high-risk status, the project should select the new option “7” (low income, first generation, and high risk).
Because the high-risk eligibility status is new to the 2012–17 grant cycle, the Department is aware that information on high risk would not be available for participants first served prior to the 2012–13 project year; further, the Department recognizes that projects may not have collected this information on all new participants first served in the 2012–13 project year. Beginning with the 2013–14 project year, however, a project is expected to assess a new participant’s eligibility using all three criteria and to report accordingly.
By adding these new combinations of eligibility, the Department is in no way requiring or expecting projects to serve more participants that are at high risk. As noted above, the statute and regulations require that at least two-thirds of the participants an UB project serves each year be low-income individuals who are potential first-generation college students. Those individuals who have all three characteristics—that is, those who are low income, first generation, and at high risk for academic failure--would of course be counted in the two-thirds.
As indicated above, one criterion for eligibility in the Upward Bound programs is high risk for academic failure. The program regulations define an individual at such risk as one who, at the time of initial selection, (a) has not achieved at the proficient level on State assessments in reading/language arts and/or in math; (b) has not successfully completed pre-algebra or algebra by the beginning of the tenth grade; or (c) has a grade point average of 2.5 or less (on a 4.0 scale) for the most recent school year for which grade point averages are available. Information collected in fields #17–19 will indicate whether a student is at high risk for academic failure, as so defined, and therefore eligible for services on those grounds.
As explained in the discussion of field #16 (above), as of the 2013–14 project year the Department expects projects to assess all new participants’ eligibility based on all three criteria; this will include determining the student’s proficiency level, GPA at initial selection, and past coursework in algebra or pre-algebra, so as to be able to respond to fields #17–19 without extensive use of the “Unknown” option. In 2012–13, of course, for any student coded in eligibility field #16 as 4 (high risk), 5 (low income and high risk), 6 (first generation and high risk), or 7 (met all three criteria), the project must indicate that the student was at high risk in at least one of fields #17, 18, or 19. If the project did not comprehensively collect data on at-risk status for new participants in 2012–13, the project should choose “Unknown” as necessary in fields #17–19. Since grantees would not have collected data on these at-risk criteria for prior participants served before the 2012–17 cycle, option 9 (“Not applicable, prior participant served before 2012–17 cycle”) is provided in fields 17–19.
Field #17—Reading/Language Arts of Math Proficiency Not Achieved (at time of initial selection)
Middle school state assessments may be used for this field if they are the most recent such tests available for the student. Note that proficiency on state assessments is used for two purposes in the APR: as a criterion for high-risk status here, and as measures of academic proficiency for one of the PE objectives in fields #39 and 40. As explained in the instructions for those fields, a project’s response may change over several reporting periods (if, for example, a student fails to achieve proficiency in tests administered in the 10th grade, but succeeds in the 11th grade). In field #17, however, since the response represents proficiency at one single point in time (time of initial selection), the response must not change once it is submitted.
Field #18—Low Grade Point Average (at time of initial selection)
Middle school GPAs are permissible for this field to establish the level of academic need for participants first served as ninth-graders or rising ninth-graders.
Field #19--Pre-Algebra or Algebra Course Not Successfully Completed by Beginning of 10th Grade (at time of initial selection)
“Successful completion” signifies that the student passed an algebra or pre-algebra course, received high school credit, and will not need to repeat the course.
Since the criteria for establishing high-risk status for academic failure must reflect the time of the student’s initial selection for the project, this criterion in some cases will not be applicable if the student, when selected, has not yet completed ninth grade. For such a student, select option 3 (“NA, due to grade at initial selection, this information is not yet available”).
Refer to the section on “Definitions That Apply” to determine if the participant, at time of initial selection into the project, was of “Limited English Proficiency.”
Field #21—Disconnected Youth (at time of initial selection)
Refer to the section on “Definitions That Apply” to determine if the participant, at time of initial selection, met the definition of “disconnected youth.”
Since grantees would not have collected data on this field for prior participants served before the 2012–17 cycle, option 9 (“Not applicable, prior participant served before 2012–17 cycle”) is provided.
Field #22—Other Academic Need (at time of initial selection)
In accordance with 34 CFR 645.3(c), a project, in selecting individuals to participate in an Upward Bound program, must determine that an individual needs academic support if he or she is to pursue successfully a program of education beyond high school. Field #22 lists criteria (other than those listed in fields #17–19) commonly used by projects to determine an individual’s need for services; please choose whichever criterion was primary for the student. If the project has already indicated in fields #17–19 that a participant has academic need sufficient to demonstrate at-risk status for academic failure (as defined in the UB program regulations), the project should select option 16 in field #22, signifying that the student’s need was identified in those fields.
Field #20 allows projects to indicate whether a participant has limited proficiency in English. Limited English proficiency also appears as an option in field #22 and should be chosen if that lack of proficiency is the student’s primary area of academic need.
Note for projects serving participants in a fifth year of high school due to participation in a dual enrollment program: For most of the remaining fields in the APR, reporting for these students is straightforward; for example, in the GPA fields (#32 and 33), you should provide the student’s GPAs for the fifth year of high school as you would for any other academic year.
--Since the participant does not graduate from high school until the end of the fifth year, report graduation then (fields #34 and 35), even though other students in the project may be graduating after four years.
--In the field for the retention and graduation objective (#37), for students in a fifth year of high school, persistence into the next academic year includes persistence from the 12th grade to the fifth year of high school.
On the other hand:
--For the fields on state academic achievement standards (#38 and 39), report only through the 12th grade, since presumably that is when final state tests would be administered.
--In the field for the performance measure on advanced math courses completed (#43), report as of the end of the 12th grade (not as of the fifth year).
--Students who participated in dual enrollment programs should not be reported as enrolled in postsecondary education (fields #52 through 66) unless they enroll in a postsecondary program after their high school graduation.
Field #23— Target School Identification Numbers
Provide the 12-digit NCES school identification number for the secondary school the Upward Bound student attended at time of entry into the project. For “rising” ninth-graders (those first served the summer between completing eighth grade and starting ninth grade), provide the NCES school identification number for the school the student attended (or will attend) as a ninth-grader.
The number can be obtained from the following Web site:
http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch
Field #24—Date of First Project Service
For new students, use the date the student first received service from the Upward Bound project that is submitting this report. Do not use the date of acceptance into the project unless that is the same as the date of first service.
Use the original month and year of service at this project even if the student subsequently left and reentered. If the students transferred from another UB project, in this field give the month and year of first service at the project submitting the report.
For continuing and prior-year participants, use the date entered in the earlier APR, even if it was a date of entry that differed from the date of first service. Please note that accuracy is particularly important for this field.
Field #25—Grade Level at First Service
For new participants, enter the student’s grade at the time he or she first received UB services from the project that is submitting the report. For students served first during the summer component, select “rising” ninth-grader for those students who had completed eighth grade and would be entering ninth grade in the fall term; ninth grade itself is not a valid option for students first receiving service in the summer program. For all other students first served during the summer component, enter the grade the student would enter for the fall academic term (e.g., for students first served in the summer between ninth and 10th grades, the correct code is 10; for those first served in the summer between 10th and 11th grades, the correct code is 11). In addition, this field provides an option for students first served in a fifth year of high school, which is to be used only for individuals also participating in dual enrollment programs entailing a fifth year of high school.
If a student was first served on any day in June, consider that student to have been first served in the summer before the coming fall grade, even if school was still in session on the student’s first day of service. For example, if your project first served a student on June 3 in the waning days of grade nine, consider that student to have been served in the summer before grade 10; thus you would select option 10 (10th grade) in field #25.
If a student transferred from another UB project, in this field give the grade level at first service in the project submitting the report.
Please note that accuracy is particularly important for this field.
Field #26—Deceased or Incapacitated
Self-explanatory.
Field #27—Participant Status
For each participant, the grantee must review the options available and select or update this field as appropriate. The participant status options for 2012–13 include:
New participant
Continuing participant
Reentry participant, previously served by project submitting report
Prior-year participant
Transfer participant
Please refer to field #24, Date of First Project Service, on establishing the date of first service for new participants served initially in the summer program.
Students who leave a UB project to join a UBMS project, or leave a UBMS project to join a UB project, are not considered transfer participants.
Please refer to the “Definitions That Apply” for the regulatory definition of a participant. Keep in mind the time frames indicated in the definition; for example, a student was first served on May 1, 2013, in a project with a June 1 start date cannot be considered a participant in the 2012–13 reporting period because he or she was not served for 60 days in that period. Once such a student has been served an adequate number of days in the 2013–14 reporting period, he or she would have met this criterion of the definition of a participant.
Field #28—Participation Level
Self-explanatory.
Field #29—Served By Another Federally Funded Program
Self-explanatory.
Fields #30–31-- Grade Levels
Field #30 requests the participant’s grade level at the beginning of the academic year coinciding with the project year (i.e., 2012–13); field #31 asks for the student’s grade level or postsecondary status at the beginning of the academic year following the project year (i.e., 2013–14). These fields are used to determine if the participant has progressed to the next grade or graduated. Field #30 includes an option for eighth-graders to allow reporting of students who joined the project as rising ninth-graders in the summer of 2013. For field #31 (secondary grade level or postsecondary status at the beginning of the academic year following the project year), please classify a student within a given secondary grade if that student has met the requirements for progression to that grade. For example, a student should be classified as an 11th-grader if he or she successfully completed 10th grade in 2012–13 (or if he or she met requirements for 11th grade by doing extra work in the summer of 2013).
These fields provide an option for students first served in a fifth year of high school to be used only for individuals also participating in dual enrollment programs entailing a fifth year of high school. In any situation in which a student is enrolled both in high school and in one or more postsecondary classes, select the appropriate high school grade level for the student.
Fields #32–33—High School Grade Point Averages
Projects are encouraged to report data on GPAs carefully. If information is not available for one or both of these fields, it is best to enter 0.000 (“Unknown”), rather than to copy the previous period’s information, giving the impression that GPA did not change. The cumulative grade point averages provided should be calculated on all courses taken. Because middle school GPAs and high school GPAs are generally not comparable, middle school grades should not be used in calculating the two high school GPA fields (though they may be used in field #18, Low Grade Point Average at time of initial selection).
A high school GPA presumably would not be available until the end of the first term of the first year in high school (usually ninth grade), at the earliest. For participants who entered prior to the availability of a high school GPA, for fields #32 and 33 choose 9.999, "Not applicable."
Depending on the start and end dates of the reporting period, in fields #32 and 33 projects may or may not need to use 9.999 for rising ninth-graders. For example, for a rising ninth-grader who joined a project with a May 31, 2013, ending date in summer 2012, in fields #32 and 33 the project should report a ninth-grade GPA at the end of academic year 2012–13, since the student would have completed that grade. On the other hand, in the case of a project with an August 31, 2013, ending date, if a rising ninth-grader joins in summer 2013, he should be reported as 9.999 in fields #32 and 33 since the student would have completed only the eighth grade by the end of academic year 2012–13, and thus would not have a high school GPA. For students in projects with September 1 start dates who began the program during the summer months and who were not rising ninth-graders, be sure to include high school GPAs in fields #32 and 33.
Please report the GPA based on a four-point scale. If the participant's school used a four-point scale, enter the GPA provided by the school; if not, convert other scales to four-point to the extent possible. If a student's GPA on a four-point scale exceeded 4.000 for such a reason as completing honors or Advanced Placement courses, in field #32 the project may enter a score that exceeds 4.000; the allowable scale, however, remains four-point. Use 0.000 for unknown GPA and for cases in which the school did not use a scale convertible to four-point.
Note: Provide only unweighted GPAs in field #33; that is, make no adaptations for such reasons as completing honors or AP courses. As previously noted, in response to the HEOA the Department must prepare a performance report on the UB and UBMS programs, including comparative data, where available, on national performance of low-income, first-generation students. Since national datasets generally include data on unweighted GPAs, for comparative purposes TRIO needs GPA data gathered in the same way.
For purposes of calculating the PE objective on academic performance using GPAs, the Department will use the weighted GPAs entered into field #32.
Report GPAs with three decimal places; do not round.
Field # 34—High School Graduation Status
Self-explanatory.
Field #35—Actual Date of High School Graduation (Or Completion of High School Equivalency Certificate)
Report only high school graduation dates that have already occurred by the time the APR is submitted. For those participants completing a high school equivalency certificate, please provide the completion date. If a student completed the 12th grade but did not meet state or local requirements for graduation, use 99/99/9999, “Not applicable.” Should the student subsequently meet the state or local requirement, update this field in a subsequent year’s APR.
Field #36—Rigorous Secondary School Program of Study Completed
Field #36 provides data needed to determine the extent to which the grantee has met its approved objective regarding participants’ successful pursuit of a rigorous secondary program of study. See “Definitions That Apply” for the regulations’ definition of a rigorous secondary school program of study.
Field #37—Secondary School Retention and Graduation Objective—Numerator
The denominator for calculating the PE objective on secondary school retention and graduation is the greater of the number of participants the project was funded to serve, or the number of participants actually served. Participants coded 1 in field #37 (Participant persisted in school during the next academic year [2013–14] at next grade level or graduated high school with regular diploma) will count towards this objective.
If a senior does not earn enough credits in the reporting year to graduate and therefore must stay another semester (e.g., fall 2013) or year to graduate with a regular diploma, the project should select option 2 since the student will not be persisting at the next grade level. If the student graduates in reporting year 2013–14, the project of course may select option 1 in that year’s APR.
See “Definitions That Apply” for the definition of a regular secondary school diploma.
Fields #38–39—High School Proficiency
Projects must use only assessments that specifically indicate whether the student achieved at the proficient level. (Assessments designed for No Child Left Behind accountability are examples of such tests.) If a student did not originally meet the standard, but then subsequently did so by the end of his or her senior year, the project should choose option 1, “Yes.”
A few grantees have reported experiencing difficulty in getting reliable data for students' results on state achievement tests. If a grantee does not think that test data are reliable for a student, the grantee should choose "Unknown" for field #38 and/or #39 for that student. It is, of course, in the project's interest to make every effort to collect reliable test data so as to be able to demonstrate the extent to which the project has met its targets for the academic achievement objective.
Field #40—Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) Course Completed
This data is being gathered so as to allow TRIO to respond with greatest accuracy to the requirement in the HEOA to prepare a performance report on the UB and UBMS program that is to include comparative data, where available, on national performance of low-income, first-generation students. The data from field #40 and from other fields in the APR may help TRIO to identify subgroups of national datasets that may have greater validity for comparative purposes than would a broader group.
This field, which reproduces a query used in national datasets, asks very specifically whether the student completed at least one AP or IB course in high school (even if this happened before being served by UB/UBMS or after leaving the program). Do not worry about whether the student took an AP exam or passed an AP exam; ignore whether the student took an IB exam or completed the IB diploma. Simply choose “Yes” if the student completed at least one AP or IB course in high school.
Advanced placement (AP) courses offer students the opportunity to study a subject area in greater depth than is provided in a standard high school course. The AP course prepares the student to take a standardized AP test.
The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program is normally offered over the course of two years in high school. In order to participate in the IB Diploma Program, the participant must have attended a World School authorized by the IB organization to offer the Diploma Program.
In this field, the Department needs data on all current and prior year participants who graduate from high school in 2012–13 or subsequent years. A grantee may use the second “Not applicable” option only for prior participants who graduated high school prior to the 2012–13 reporting year.
Field #41—Dual Enrollment Participation
Field #41 allows grantees to report students’ participation in dual enrollment programs which, for the purpose of completing the UB APR, the Department defines as collaborative efforts between high schools and colleges that allow high school students to enroll in college-level courses and earn credit towards both a high school diploma and a college degree (college-credit dual enrollment) or a career preparation certificate (career dual enrollment). This definition is not limited to programs that lead to students’ completing a degree or certificate by the time of high school graduation; it also includes those that can provide credit towards a later degree or certificate. Report students who participated in such programs during reporting period 2012–13, regardless of whether they actually earned college credit. (If, on the other hand, a student takes one or more postsecondary courses on her own, outside of a program established between high schools and a postsecondary institution, the grantee should not report the student as participating in a dual enrollment program; the student’s postsecondary work may in some cases be reported in field #42 on pre-diploma credentials or coursework completed.)
Note that this field draws a distinction between dual enrollment programs that do and do not entail a fifth year of high school. Because the Department recognizes that five-year dual enrollment programs and other efforts, such as online coursework, seek to rethink the American high school experience and to improve the transition between high school and postsecondary education, TRIO has revised the two 2012 standardized objectives that were designed around a four-year model of high school. A four-year model can work to the disadvantage of projects that work with students who quite intentionally will not graduate in four years. Thus, TRIO has eliminated the expected high school graduation cohort mechanism used in the 2007–12 cycle to organize certain PE calculations. The revised objectives on rigorous secondary school program and postsecondary enrollment may be found in the “Definitions That Apply.”
Note: Students who participated in dual enrollment programs should not be reported in fields #52–66 as enrolled in a program of postsecondary education unless they enroll in a postsecondary program after high school graduation. If a student who earned a certificate/diploma or an associate degree in a dual enrollment program upon or before high school graduation (for example, in spring 2013) subsequently enrolled in a program of postsecondary education (for example, in fall 2013 in a program aimed at a bachelor’s degree or another associate degree), he or she may be counted in appropriate fields (#52–66) in the APR.
Since grantees would not have collected data on this field for prior participants served before the 2012–17 cycle, option 9 (“Not applicable, prior participant served before 2012–17 cycle”) is provided.
Field #42—Pre-diploma Credentials or Coursework Completed
This field requests information on postsecondary credentials completed in dual enrollment programs and on postsecondary coursework completed outside of dual enrollment programs. While postsecondary credentials earned prior to, or simultaneously with, high school graduation are not to be entered in fields #52–66, the Department wishes to gain a better understanding of the extent to which UB participants are completing PSE credentials in these programs; thus TRIO has established this field. Option 4, concerning postsecondary coursework completed outside of dual enrollment programs, will allow the Department also to learn more about the extent to which UB participants are engaged in such efforts.
Since grantees would not have collected data on this field for prior participants served before the 2012–17 cycle, option 9 (“Not applicable, prior participant served before 2012–17 cycle”) is provided.
Field #43-- Advanced Math Courses Completed
This information is needed for reporting on one of the performance measures described in the 2012 UB and UBMS grant application instructions and listed in “Definitions That Apply.” If the participant completed two years of mathematics beyond algebra 1 (e.g., geometry, algebra 2, trigonometry, or pre-calculus) by the end of the 12th grade, select option 1.
In this field, the Department needs data on all current and prior year participants who graduate from high school in 2012–13 or subsequent years. A grantee may use the “Not applicable” option only for prior participants who graduated high school prior to the 2012–13 reporting year.
Field #44—FAFSA Completed
Please indicate whether current or prior-year participants who graduated from high school or received high school equivalency credentials during the project year completed the FAFSA. This information is needed for reporting on the performance measures described in the 2012 UB and UBMS grant application instructions and listed in “Definitions That Apply.” While the Department has databases to help determine whether participants have completed the FAFSA, we are requesting this information in the APR to have more complete data in cases in which students’ identifying information does not match unambiguously with those databases. For prior-year participants, if information for these fields is not readily available, please use 0 = Unknown.
Field #45—Date of Last Project Service
If a student is still a participant in the Upward Bound project, enter “9s” (“Not applicable; participant is still in program”). Report a date of last service only for those students who the project believes will not return, e.g., those who have graduated or moved out of the project’s target area. When reporting a date of last service, please do so regardless of the amount of time the student spent in the program. Providing these dates will allow the Department to obtain an accurate measure of the average length of time spent in the program for each expected high school graduation cohort of participants. If a project omitted in last year’s report a date of last service for a given student who subsequently did not participate in the year on which the project is now reporting, please include that student in this year’s report as a prior-year participant and record a date of last project service for him or her, even if the date occurred in the prior reporting period.
For those Upward Bound participants who dropped out of the program, it would be best to use the date the participant last attended an Upward Bound activity or received any kind of help from the project. This could include contacting a student regarding attendance in project activities, providing advice, counseling, etc. If that information is not available, you may use the date the project dropped the student from its list of active participants.
For reentry participants, use 99/99/9999 (“Not applicable, participant is still in the program”) if the individual did not complete the program during the project year; enter a new date of last service if the student has again left the program or completed it.
Field #46—Reason for Leaving Project
Please select the code that best describes the reason the participant withdrew from the project.
PROJECT SERVICES
Fields #47–51—Select Project Services and Activities
Complete these fields only for project participants who participated in these activities during the reporting period. Use 9s, Not applicable, for prior-year participants. Of the academic instruction and services required or permitted by the authorizing statute and implementing regulations, the APR requests data on five services and activities of special interest to the Department and for which evaluation data and other analyses have shown to be informative.
Report only on those services and activities applicable to the Upward Bound participant during the reporting period. If the project did not offer the service, for fields #47 and 49–51 choose “8.” Since field #48 has an option for employment that a student secured without assistance from the project, we have omitted option 8 from that field.
Please refer to the section on “Definitions That Apply” for definitions of the services and activities.
For the fields that provide data on participants’ postsecondary education, please note that the Department wants to gather data about students’ college enrollment status (both for recent high school graduates and prior-year participants) at the first opportunity. If you collect data about a student’s postsecondary status after the end of the reporting period, but before the due date for the report, please include that data in your report. (Note: In addition, for projects with a reporting period of June 1 through May 31, please report on summer bridge participants’ postsecondary status at the first opportunity, i.e., in the fall after summer bridge, even though the summer bridge students will be included in the next year’s data file as “continuing participants” [field #27]. For example, for a project with a reporting period of June 1, 2012, to May 31, 2013, the grantee should report data on the postsecondary status of summer 2013 bridge participants in fall 2013 even though the grantee will include the bridge students as continuing participants in the data file for 2013–14.)
Please enter "7" or a series of "7s," where requested, for students who have left a program of postsecondary education without completing it; enter “8” or a series of “8s” as specified for participants who have not yet completed high school. Students who participated in dual enrollment programs should not be reported as enrolled in postsecondary education unless they enroll in a postsecondary program after their high school graduation. Please enter “9” or a series of “9s” where requested for high school graduates who were not enrolled in a program of postsecondary education during or prior to the reporting period. "Students who have left a program of postsecondary education without completing it" is an umbrella category including, among others, students on leave of absence, those away from postsecondary education for a humanitarian or religious purpose or for military duty, and those who have dropped out and may eventually return. A participant is considered enrolled if he or she has completed registration requirements (excluding payment of tuition and fees) at the institution he or she is attending.
Fields #52–53
Self-explanatory.
Field #54— Postsecondary Education Enrollment Cohort
This field is used to establish the cohort of students who will form the denominator for each project’s postsecondary completion objective and for relevant performance measures described in the 2012 UB and UBMS grant application instructions and listed in “Definitions That Apply.” Once established, data in this field will not be adjusted in later years. The cohort for each year is established retrospectively; it includes current participants (i.e., those served during the reporting year) and prior-year participants who graduated high school during the academic year and enrolled in postsecondary education by the fall term immediately following the high school graduation date or by the next academic term (e.g., spring term) as a result of acceptance but deferred enrollment. Thus, grantees should choose option 2013 for participants who actually graduated from high school in academic year 2012–13 and enrolled in postsecondary education by the fall term immediately following the high school graduation date (fall 2013) or by the next academic term (e.g., spring term 2014) as a result of acceptance but deferred enrollment. If a participant graduates from high school in spring 2013 but does not enroll as specified in the objective, he or she will not be included in a postsecondary cohort and instead should be coded as 9999 in this field (“Not applicable, does not qualify for a cohort”).
Grantees that were funded in the 2007–12 grant cycle were directed during that period to maintain indefinitely on their APR files all participants with an expected high school graduation cohort of 2008 or later. These grantees should thus have kept reliable records of each participant’s high school graduation and subsequent postsecondary enrollment (or lack thereof). Using this data as reported in the APRs, the Department will establish a postsecondary enrollment cohort year for each prior participant who qualifies for one. For example, a participant who graduated high school in 2011 and enrolled in postsecondary education in fall 2011 will have a cohort of 2011; a student who graduated in the same year but did not enroll until fall 2012, or never enrolled at all, would not qualify for a cohort, and will be coded 9999. A code of 8888 will apply to participants who have not yet graduated high school.
At the start of the 2012–13 APR data collection, the Department will make available to grantees an Excel file of the 2011–12 APR’s submitted participant data that “crosswalks,” to the extent possible, the data submitted in the 2011–12 APR to comparable data fields in the new APR for 2012–13; we will add to this file data for this field on prior participants’ postsecondary enrollment cohort years (or a code of 8888 if the participant had not yet completed high school, or of 9999 if the participant did not qualify for a cohort). Because the postsecondary enrollment cohort year codes in the download file are derived from grantees’ own APRs, we will not allow any changes to those codes in the 2012–13 or subsequent years’ APRs for prior participants funded during the 2007–12 cycle.
Note: Because the APR used in the 2007–12 cycle did not collect data on whether a participant’s enrollment had been deferred to a subsequent term based on a decision of an institution of higher education, the calculation for participants in the 2008–12 cohorts will be based only on enrollment in the fall term immediately following high school graduation.
Field #55— School Code for Postsecondary Institution First Attended
Provide the Federal School Code/OPE ID Number (Office of Postsecondary Education Institutional Number) for the postsecondary institution the Upward Bound participant first attended. This is a six-digit number that is required on all federal financial aid documents. Information regarding this number is included in Federal School Code Directory and can be accessed on the World Wide Web:
https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/schoolSearch?locale=en_EN
Please note that, while during the 2007–12 grant cycle the APR requested the code for the institution last attended, we are now requesting the code for the institution first attended.
Since the Department does not request school names, these codes are particularly important, as they are the means by which the Department is able to identify the institutions that UB students attend. Use "555555" only in unusual cases in which the project is sure that the institution is not in the Federal School Code Directory.
If the student began attendance in fall 2013 (that is, after the end of the 2012–13 reporting period), please do provide the code of the institution.
For prior participants whose enrollment in the last institution attended was reported in the 2007–12 grant cycle, grantees need not change the data in this field to restore the first institution the student attended. For such prior participants, grantees should use option 666666.
Field #56—College Status at Beginning of Academic Year 2013–14
For current year and prior-year year participants whose postsecondary education status is known, in field #56 provide information on the student’s college status at the beginning of academic year 2013–14.
Fields #57–62-- Postsecondary Credentials Earned
The information in fields #57–62 will allow the Department to report on participants’ attainment of various kinds of credentials over varying lengths of time, as specified in the performance measures described in the 2012 UB and UBMS grant application instructions. Each type of credential is to be reported separately, as indicated in the fields.
If a student has received more than one credential of a particular kind (e.g., more than one certificate), the project should report the date that the first certificate was completed. If a student attained more than one kind of credential (e.g., an associate degree and a bachelor’s degree), each should be shown in the report in the respective field.
Field #61-- Bachelor’s Degree Attained: For a student enrolled in a dual degree program (not to be confused with a dual enrollment program; see “Definitions That Apply”) who has completed four years of postsecondary instruction, use option 1 (“Yes, attained bachelor’s degree”) to indicate that the student has accomplished the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree, though a degree was not awarded.
Field #63—Postsecondary Enrollment Objective--Numerator
The denominator for calculating the PE objective on postsecondary enrollment is all current and prior-year UB and UBMS participants who graduated high school during school year 2012–13 with a regular secondary school diploma. Participants coded 1 or 2 in field #63 (those in the denominator who either enrolled in postsecondary education by fall term 2013, or received notification by fall 2013 from an institution of higher education of acceptance but deferred enrollment until the next academic semester) will count towards the postsecondary enrollment objective.
Field #64--Postsecondary Remediation
This information is needed for reporting on one of the performance measures described in the 2012 UB and UBMS grant application instructions and listed in “Definitions That Apply.” Please provide data as available at the time the APR is submitted on prior-year participants in the 2013 postsecondary education enrollment cohort (see field #54). For a definition of remediation, please see “Definitions That Apply.”
The Department does not require that grantees obtain transcripts to document participants’ remedial coursework; communication with the participant, or other reliable evidence, is sufficient.
Field #65—Postsecondary Completion Objective—Numerator (To Be Used First for Reporting Year 2013–14)
In reporting year 2013–14, grantees with awards in the 2007–12 cycle will report in this field on whether participants in the 2008 postsecondary education enrollment cohort (the denominator; see field #54) had achieved an associate or bachelor’s degree within six years of high school graduation (i.e., by the end of August 2014). This data will be used to determine whether the grantee meets its target for the postsecondary completion objective.
Field #66—Postsecondary STEM degree (UBMS grantees only)
In reporting year 2013–14, grantees with awards in the 2007–12 cycle will report in this field on whether UBMS participants in the 2008 postsecondary education enrollment cohort (field #54) have achieved an associate or bachelor’s degree in a STEM field within six years of high school graduation (i.e., by the end of August 2014). This information is needed for reporting on one of the performance measures described in the 2012 UBMS grant application package and listed in “Definitions That Apply.” UB grantees should choose option 9.
Choose option 1 if the participant earned a postsecondary degree in one of the following fields of study:
--Computer and Information Sciences
--Engineering
--Life Sciences, which include agricultural sciences/ natural resources, biological/biomedical sciences, and health sciences.
--Mathematics
--Physical Sciences, which include astronomy, atmospheric science and meteorology, chemistry, geological and earth sciences, ocean/marine sciences, and physics.
Choose option 2 if the student earned a postsecondary degree in psychology or the social sciences.
For a list of majors under each of these fields of study, please refer to pages 6 and 7 of the survey instrument for the National Science Foundation’s Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) for 2012–13 at:
http://www.norc.org/PDFs/SED-Findings/SED12-13_fill.pdf
Field 67—Participant’s Name Change (Optional)
If the participant changed his or her name and the project needs to use this information to help track the student, please enter the participant’s changed full name (i.e., first and last name). If the student has not changed his or her name from that provided in fields LastNM and FirstNM (fields 5 and 6), there is no need to complete this field; leave it blank. You will be able to update this field in subsequent reporting periods, if needed.
DEFINITIONS THAT APPLY
Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math-Science Standard Objectives from 2012 Competition
Academic Performance—Grade Point Average (GPA): X% of participants served during the project year will have a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or better on a four-point scale at the end of the school year.
Academic Performance on Standardized Test: X % of UB seniors served during the project year will have achieved at the proficient level on state assessments in reading/language arts and math.
Secondary School Retention and Graduation: X% of project participants served during the project year will continue in school for the next academic year, at the next grade level, or will have graduated from secondary school with a regular secondary school diploma.
Secondary School Graduation (Rigorous Secondary School Program of Study): X% of all current and prior-year UB participants who graduated from high school during the school year with a regular secondary school diploma will complete a rigorous secondary school program of study.
Postsecondary Enrollment: X% of all current and prior-year UB participants who graduated from high school during the school year with a regular secondary school diploma will enroll in a program of postsecondary education by the fall term immediately following high school graduation, or will have received notification by the fall term immediately following high school from an institution of higher education of acceptance but deferred enrollment until the next academic semester (e.g., spring semester).
Postsecondary Completion: X% of participants who enrolled in a program of postsecondary education, by the fall term immediately following high school graduation or by the next academic term (e.g., spring term) as a result of acceptance but deferred enrollment, will attain either an
associate or bachelor’s degree within six years
following graduation from high school. (Note that the denominator of this objective is the same as the numerator of the postsecondary enrollment objective.)
Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math-Science Performance Measures from 2012 Competition
The following performance measures have been developed to track progress toward achieving program success:
1. The percentage of UB students who take two years of mathematics beyond Algebra I by the 12th grade;
2. The percentage of UB students that enrolled in postsecondary education;
3. The percentage of UB students who enrolled in a program of postsecondary education by the fall term following graduation from high school who in the first year of postsecondary education placed into college-level math and English without need for remediation;
4. The percentage of UB students who enrolled in a program of postsecondary education and graduate on time within four years for the bachelor’s degree and within two years for the associate degree;
5. The percentage of UB participants who enrolled in a program of postsecondary education and attained either an associate degree within three years or a bachelor’s degree within six years;
6. The percentage of UB students who graduated high school in the reporting year that complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA); and
7. The cost per successful participant.
An additional performance measure was established for UBMS projects only:
The percentage of former UBMS students who earned a postsecondary degree in a STEM field (i.e., science, technology, engineering, or mathematics).
Ethnicity and Race Categories (Fields #10–15)
Hispanic or Latino- A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
American Indian or Alaska Native- A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.
Asian- A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. This area includes, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Black or African American- A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.
White - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East.
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander – A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii or other Pacific islands such as Samoa and Guam.
Regulatory Definition of a Participant
The Upward Bound program’s regulations provide the following definition of a project participant in 34 CFR 645.6.
Participant means an individual who –
Is determined to be eligible to participate in the project under 34 CFR 645.3;
Resides in the target area, or is enrolled in a target school, at the time of acceptance into the project; and
Has been determined by the project director to be committed to the project, as evidenced by being allowed to continue in the project for at least--
(i) Ten days in a summer component if the individual first enrolled in an Upward Bound project's summer component; or
(ii) Sixty days if the individual first enrolled in an Upward Bound project's academic year component.
Participant Eligibility (Fields #16–19)
Low-income individual means an individual whose family taxable income did not exceed 150 percent of the poverty level amount in the calendar year preceding the
year in which the individual initially participated in the project. The poverty level amount is determined using criteria established by the Bureau of the Census of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Potential first-generation college student means an individual neither of whose natural or adoptive parents received a baccalaureate degree; or a student who, prior to the age of 18, regularly resided with and received support from only one natural or adoptive parent and whose supporting parent did not receive a baccalaureate degree.
Individual who has a high risk for academic failure means an individual who has not achieved at the proficient level on State assessments in reading or language arts; has not achieved at the proficient level on State assessments in math; has not successfully completed pre-algebra or algebra by the beginning of the tenth grade; or has a grade point average of 2.5 or less (on a 4.0 scale) for the most recent school year for which grade point averages are available.
Limited English Proficiency (Field #20)
Limited English proficiency, with reference to an individual, means an individual whose native language is other than English and who has sufficient difficulty speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language to deny that individual the opportunity to learn successfully in classrooms in which English is the language of instruction.
Disconnected Youth (Field #21)
“Disconnected youth” is defined in the Appendix to the FY 2013 Budget of the U.S. Government as individuals between the ages of 14 and 24 who are homeless, in foster care, involved in the juvenile justice system, or are neither employed nor enrolled in an educational institution.
Foster care youth means youth who are in foster care or are aging out of the foster care system.
Homeless children and youth means persons defined in section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a).
Academic Year (Fields: #30, #31, # 32 #33, #34 and #56)
For purposes of completing these fields of the APR, the academic year runs from September 1 to August 31. If a given target secondary school starts its fall term in late August, the project should consider its academic year to begin on an August date. (Note that June 1 is the beginning date for grade at first entry; see instructions for Field #25.)
Rigorous Secondary School Program of Study (Field #36)
According to the definition in the Upward Bound program regulations, “rigorous secondary school program of study” means a program of study that is--
(1) Established by a State educational agency (SEA) or local educational agency (LEA) and recognized as a rigorous secondary school program of study by the Secretary through the process described in 34 CFR 691.16(a) through (c) for the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) Program;
(2) An advanced or honors secondary school program established by States and in existence for the 2004–2005 school year or later school years;
(3) Any secondary school program in which a student successfully completes at a minimum the following courses:
(i) Four years of English.
(ii) Three years of mathematics, including algebra I and a higher-level class such as algebra II, geometry, or data analysis and statistics.
(iii) Three years of science, including one year each of at least two of the following courses: biology, chemistry, and physics.
(iv) Three years of social studies.
(v) One year of a language other than English;
(4) A secondary school program identified by a State-level partnership that is recognized by the State Scholars Initiative of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), Boulder, Colorado;
(5) Any secondary school program for a student who completes at least two courses from an International Baccalaureate Diploma Program sponsored by the International Baccalaureate Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, and receives a score of a “4” or higher on the examinations for at least two of those courses; or
(6) Any secondary school program for a student who completes at least two Advanced Placement courses and receives a score of “3” or higher on the College Board's Advanced Placement Program Exams for at least two of those courses.
Regular Secondary School Diploma (Fields #36 and 63)
Regular secondary school diploma means a diploma attained by individuals who meet or exceed the coursework and performance standards for high school completion established by the individual’s state.
Services and Activities (Fields #47–51)
Work-study positions (as the term is used in the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended in 1998, Section 402C(b)(10)) means internships and/or employment provided or arranged for by the project for the purpose of exposing participants to careers requiring a postsecondary degree. Upward Bound students participating in one of these work-study positions may be paid a stipend of $300 per month during June, July, and August. Include in this field only those work-study positions for which the Upward Bound participant received a stipend from the project.
Employment-- Means jobs of at least 10 hours per week arranged either by the project or by the Upward Bound participant that are separate from the Upward Bound program. In contrast to the “work-study” positions, these jobs are primarily to allow participants to earn some income while participating in the program.
Cultural Activities-- Means any project sponsored activities, such as field trips, special lectures, and symposiums, that have as their purpose the improvement of the project participants’ academic progress and personal development.
Community service refers to a student’s participation, facilitated by the Upward Bound project, in an activity or activities designed to serve a community. Under this definition, community service need not be explicitly integrated into the student’s academic work in Upward Bound or at his or her school.
Instruction/tutorials means a formal, structured method for transmitting facts, information, understanding of the concept, and skills to students. Instruction usually includes lesson plans and assignments designed to help students achieve learning objectives.
Bachelor’s Degree Attained (Field #61)
Dual degree program is a program of study that awards an individual both the bachelor’s and a graduate degree upon successful completion of the program of study. For a student enrolled in such a program who has completed four years of postsecondary instruction, in field #61 grantees may use option 1 (“Yes, attained bachelor’s degree”) to indicate that the student has accomplished the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree, though a degree was not yet awarded.
Postsecondary Enrollment Objective—Numerator (Field #63)
A participant is considered enrolled if he or she has completed registration requirements (excluding payment of tuition and fees) at the institution he or she is attending.
Postsecondary Remediation (Field #64)
For the purpose of APR reporting, remedial education courses are defined as courses in reading, writing, or mathematics for college-level students lacking those skills necessary to perform college-level work at the level required by the institution.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | FY 2010-2011 Annual Performance Report Instructions for the Student Support Services Program (MS Word) |
| Author | Office of Postsecondary Education |
| Last Modified By | Kathy F Morgan |
| File Modified | 2013-12-09 |
| File Created | 2013-12-09 |