FITW Annual Performance Report

Report Checklist

Indicates completed sections - all sections listed below must be checked before a "Submit Report" button will display to allow you to submit the report.
Section	Status	Update	Preview
Project Description		Review/Update Project Description		Instructions
You must click the link above and review your abstract, subjects, Web sites, highlights, evaluator, partners, and contacts before you can submit your report.
Budget Summary		Update Budget Summary		Instructions
Performance Data		Update Performance Data		Instructions
Performance Narrative		Upload Performance Narrative		Instructions
Evaluation Report/Template		Upload Evaluation Report/Template		Instructions
Logic Model		Upload Logic Model		Instructions
Performance Measures		Update Performance Measures		Instructions
Other Documents (Optional)		Upload Other Documents		Instructions
Preview Report

Instructions

Recipients of discretionary grants must submit an Annual Performance Report that demonstrates that substantial progress has been made toward meeting the objectives of the project. These instructions have been designed so that the Annual Performance Report will provide FIPSE with the information it needs to determine whether recipients have made such progress.

Please complete the following sections of the Annual Performance Report:

1. Project Description. As part of your Annual Performance Report, you must complete the entry of all activities and accomplishments on the project description in the FIPSE database. When editing, please remember that this is the public face of your grant and is likely to be viewed by Department of Education officials, members of Congress, postsecondary education professionals, and the general public. 
   
   This section involves a multi-step review and update:

   1. Review your abstract and project title. If the information needs to be updated, click the 'Edit Abstract' button, enter your changes, and click the Save button. Please review the instructions on this page before you update your abstract. When finished, click the "Continue to Project Highlights" button.

   2. Review your project highlights. If the information need to be updated, click the 'Edit Highlights' button, enter your changes, and click the Save button. These highlights will be displayed on the public web site. When finished, click the "Continue to Project Web Sites" button.

   3. Review your list of Web sites. Update your web sites, if necessary. If you list a project Web site, please make sure that you have properly cited FIPSE support on your project Web site. When finished, click the "Continue to Project Subjects" button.

   4. Review your project subjects. Click the 'Edit Subjects' button to change them. When finished, click the "Continue to Project Evaluator" button.

   5. Review your project evaluator. If the information needs to be updated, click the 'Edit Evaluator' button, enter your changes, and click the Save button. When finished, click the "Continue to Project Partners" button.

   6. Review your project partners. If the information needs to be updated, click the 'Edit' link to update a partner or the "Add a Partner" button to add a partner. When finished, click the "Continue to Project Contacts" button.

   7. Review your project contacts. Update your list of contacts, if necessary. When finished, click the "Return to Checklist" button.

2. Budget Summary. You must include a budget summary as part of your report. Although some FIPSE grants are forward funded (i.e. the total multi-year budget was funded at the beginning of the performance period), you should consider each year of a project as one performance and one budget period. The annual performance report must show federal and non-federal expenditures, the carryover balance, and next year's budget. Indirect costs are limited to 8%. You must also upload a budget narrative spreadsheet with a detailed breakdown of how funds were spent for each budget category. Explain in the document the reasons for any unexpended funds and any significant differences between the original budget and current expenditures. You will not be able to submit your report until the budget narrative spreadsheet has been uploaded.

3. Project Performance Data. On this screen you will answer questions to provide financial and performance information.

4. Performance Narrative. Please integrate into your essay a discussion of each of the following issues:

   1. Report your progress in accomplishing the objectives of the project. For each project objective, describe project activities and outcomes since the submission of the last performance report or (if you are currently in the first budget period) since the start of the project. Include quantifiable data in your narrative when available.

   2. Discuss any setbacks or challenges you have experienced and describe the resulting changes or delays that occurred this year (e.g., changes in project leadership, staffing patterns, strategies, timelines, activities).

   3. Discuss any significant changes proposed for the coming year. Why are changes necessary? If you have partner institutions or organizations, describe how your multi-institutional project is implementing the proposed activities and the evaluation components. Describe any changes from your original plan or from last year’s report.

   4. Describe how you have set up the control and treatment groups. Describe any changes from your original group descriptions. (Your independent evaluator’s report will go into more detail, but you may summarize the most significant aspects here.)

   5. How is your evaluation proceeding? Are than any changes or delays from your original evaluation plan? Describe the revision process for your evaluation plan. Describe how you have separated the activities that will be evaluated by non-What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) standards (i.e. implementation and fidelity evaluation) from those that will use WWC evidence standards. What are the challenges you have experienced in implementing the evaluation plan? How often do you collect evaluation data on your project? Are you experiencing any difficulties gathering evaluation data on your objectives? Are you experiencing any difficulties working with your independent evaluator? You may include some selected evaluation findings here, but the technical aspects of the evaluation evidence should be in the independent evaluator's report.

5. Evaluation Report. This report is written by the independent evaluator, and submitted by the project director as part of the annual performance report. The first year evaluation report is quite different from the report for year two and beyond. The first year report is primarily devoted to the implementation of the revised evaluation plan. The evaluation report for the second year and beyond is devoted mostly to data analysis. The first year evaluation report should focus on the work for defining the control and treatment groups, a detailed description of the baseline equivalencies (if applicable), plans for managing attrition, and controlling for confounding factors. The evaluation report for year two and beyond must describe the results of the evaluation for the control and treatment groups. The evaluation reports for year two and beyond may also include qualitative and quantitative results that are not part of the WWC evaluation. However, these must be carefully delineated from the WWC evaluation. Upload your independent evaluator's report in this section.

6. Logic Model. Include an updated or revised version of your logic model if there are changes to report. The Logic Model (also referred to as a theory of action) is a well-specified conceptual framework that identifies key components of the proposed process, product, strategy, or practice (i.e., the active “ingredients” that are hypothesized to be critical to achieving the relevant outcomes) and describes the relationship among the key components and outcomes, theoretically and operationally. It is a constructive way to address the three sub-criteria, namely, the need to define the target population, the need to define an exceptional approach to the priority selected, and the use of a framework for the conceptual design of the entire project. The logic model should be made up of inputs, activities, outcomes, and include a timeline. Be sure to highlight any changes or revisions in the updated logic model.

7. Other Documents (Optional). You may upload electronic copies of important materials and resources developed during the time of the project, memorandum of understanding (1st year reports only), short-form resume of the independent evaluator (1st year reports only, unless there is a change of personnel), including course outlines, books, media materials, and other significant products.

8. Performance Measures. Review the performance measures for FITW grants. When applicable, report on each performance measure.

9. Preview Report. Click the "Preview Report" link to view your report information. Make sure all of the information is correct before you submit your report.

10. Submit Report. After you have completed the required sections of the report, a "Submit Report" button will display. Click this button to submit your report to FIPSE. When you click on the submit button, a cover sheet will be generated automatically for your review, based on the information you provided. Make sure that all parts of the cover sheet are complete.

Enter your authorized representative and click the "Submit Report" button. A confirmation email will be sent after the report is submitted.

Step 1 - Edit Abstract
Enter your project title and a brief abstract in the form provided below. You may copy and paste your abstract from a word processor, or you may type in your abstract manually.
Project Title:
Abstract:

Step 2 - Edit Project Highlights
Enter any highlights for your project in the form provided below and click the "Save" button. The highlights you enter will be made available on the public web site.
Highlights:

Step 3 - Add Project Web Site
Enter the Web site name or title and the URL. Use the actual title of the Web site, if available. The URL should follow the format: http://host.domain/path/filename, for example, http://www.ed.gov/fipse.
Name:
URL:

Step 4 - Rank Relevant Subjects

From the subject categories listed below, choose and rank the subjects that directly relate to your project. Limit the number of subjects to four or fewer, while properly ranking the relevance of each subject.

 

Topic Areas	Ranking
Access
Accreditation
Active Learning
Administration
Adult Education
Articulation and School-College Partnerships
Assessment and Evaluation
Campus Climate
Career Counseling
Civic Education & Engagement
Community Service
Completion
Conflict Resolution
Cooperative Education
Cost Effectiveness/Restructuring
Course Materials Rental
Critical Thinking
Curricular Reform
Dissemination
Distance Learning
Entrepreneurship
Equipment and Materials Acquisition
Experiential Education
Faculty Development
Faculty Roles and Rewards
General Education/Core Curriculum
Graduate and Professional Education
Institutional Effectiveness
International Education
Labor Issues
Leadership
Learners with Disabilities
Mentoring
Multicultural Curriculum
Problem-Based Learning
Quantitative Reasoning
Retention/Persistence
School-to-Work Initiatives
Service Learning
Special Education
Student Life and Services
Teacher Assistant Training/Preparing College Teachers
Teacher Education
Teaching Effectiveness
Technology/Instructional Technologies
Undergraduate Research
Veteran's Support Services
Vocational Education
Women's Issues
Workplace Training
Writing

Disciplines	Ranking
African American Studies
Agribusiness
Agriculture
Agroecology
Agronomy
Anatomy
Animal Science
Anthropology
Archaeology
Architecture
Art History
Astronomy
Biology
Biotechnology
Business and Economics
Chemistry
Communication
Computer Science and Information Technology
Construction
Criminal Justice
Culinary Arts
Dance
Dentistry
Ecology
Education
Engineering
Environmental Sciences
Ethics
Film
Fine and Performing Arts
Forestry
Geography
Geology
Gerontology
Graphic Design
Health and Medicine
History
Hospitality and Tourism
Humanities
Interdisciplinary Studies
Language Learning
Law
Library and Information Science
Linguistics
Literacy
Management
Manufacturing
Marine Science
Mathematics
Mining
Music
Natural Resources
Natural Sciences
Nursing
Optometry
Petroleum Engineering
Pharmacy
Philosophy
Physical and Occupation Therapy
Physical Education
Physics
Psychiatry
Psychology
Public Policy and Administration
Realtime Writing
Regional Studies
Rehabilitation
Religion and Theology
Social Sciences
Social Work
Sociology
Statistics
Sustainable Development
Transportation
Urban Studies
Veterinary Medicine
Women's Studies

Critical Needs	Ranking
STEM

Disciplines	Ranking
African American Studies
Agribusiness
Agriculture
Agronomy
Anatomy

Critical Needs	Ranking
STEM

Step 5 - Edit Evaluator

Enter the evaluator information and click the "Save" button.

Evaluator Company/Institution:

First Name:

Last Name:

Title:

Address Line 1:

Address Line 2:

Address Line 3:

City:

State:

                                                                                                   

Zip Code:

Telephone:

Fax:

Email:

Note:

 

Step 6 - Add Institution Partner
Enter the information below for your institution partner and click the "Save" button. Limit 4,000 characters and spaces on all text fields.
* Required
Partner Name:	*
Partner Role:	*
List your partner's activities:	*
Is this partner actively engaged?	*	Yes   No
If yes, list the partner's objectives:
If no, list the issues and challenges:

Step 7 - Add Contact

Enter the contact information and click the Save button to save it.

First Name:

Last Name:

Title:

Institution:

Address 1:

 
List the department, center, or other organizational unit. List larger units before smaller ones.

Address 2:

 
Building name, room number, campus box, mail stop, or P.O. Box

Address 3:

 
Street address

City:

State:

                                                                                                                     

Zip Code:

Telephone:

Fax:

Email:

Note:

Contact Type:

Project Director	The official single principal project point of contact. The name listed in block 3 of the Grant Award Notification (GAN) is considered the Project Director.
Project Co-Director	Any individual who also functions as a director for the project but is not listed in block 3 of the GAN
Other Contact	Any individual that serves as a secondary point of contact.

 

Report Budget Information
The Annual Performance Report must show the budget for the current budget period/year, federal and non-federal expenditures from the first day of the current year to the current date, the carryover balance, and next year's budget. Indirect costs are limited to 8%. You must also upload a budget narrative document with a breakdown of each category.
Budget Category	Actual Budget	Expenditures	Non-Federal Expenditures	Carryover Balance	Next Year's Actual Budget
Personnel	$	$	$	$	$
Fringe Benefits	$	$	$	$	$
Travel	$	$	$	$	$
Equipment	$	$	$	$	$
Supplies	$	$	$	$	$
Contractual	$	$	$	$	$
Construction	$	$	$	$	$
Indirect Costs	$	$	$	$	$
Other	$	$	$	$	$
Total

Upload a budget narrative spreadsheet with a detailed breakdown of how funds were spent for each category. Please explain in the document your reasons for any unexpended funds and any significant differences between the original budget and expenditures. This file is required before your report can be submitted.
Budget Narrative File:

Performance Data

Please answer all of the following questions. If any questions do not apply to your project, enter "N/A" for text answers and "0" for numeric answers.

 

Section 1 - Financial Data

1.

Did your organization expend more than $750,000 in Federal funds during the last fiscal year?

 

 Yes   No   N/A

2.

When was your most recent OMB Circular A-133 audit?

 

Fiscal Year: 

3.

Were there any findings under your most recent audit?

 

 Yes   No   N/A

4.

Have all the findings been resolved through corrective actions?

 

 Yes   No   N/A

5.

Does your organization maintain time distribution records for each employee to account for the total activity for which an employee is compensated from the present grant award?

 

 Yes   No   N/A

6.

Does your organization have procedures in place to minimize the time elapsing between the transfer of funds to your organization by a Federal agency and your organization’s expenditures of such funds?

 

 Yes   No   N/A

7.

Does your organization have a current negotiated indirect cost rate agreement?

 

 Yes   No

 

Negotiated Indirect Cost Percentage Rate:   % 
Expiration Date:   (mm/dd/yyyy)

8.

Total funds expended to for-profit? (Any funds from the present grant award that are expended to for-profit groups/individuals/organizations/companies.)

 

Equipment: $ 

 

Consultants: $ 

 

Contractual: $ 

 

Section 2 - Performance Data

1a.

Was there a change in the project director this year? (If yes, please follow the instructions in the How to Change your Project Director Guide to change your project director.)

 

 Yes   No

2.

Was there a change in your evaluator? (If yes, enter your new evaluator on the Evaluator screen.)

 

 Yes   No

2014 FITW absolute priorities

3a.

Select your primary absolute priority for high-need students.

 

 Increasing Access and Completion 
 Increasing Community College Transfer Rates to Four-Year Colleges 
 Increasing Enrollment and Completion in STEM Programs 
 Reducing Time to Completion 
 Improving College Affordability 

3b.

Select your other absolute priorities for high-need students.

 

 Increasing Access and Completion 
 Increasing Community College Transfer Rates to Four-Year Colleges 
 Increasing Enrollment and Completion in STEM Programs 
 Reducing Time to Completion 
 Improving College Affordability 

2015 FITW absolute priorities

3a.	Select your primary absolute priority for high-need students.
	Improving Teaching and Learning   Developing and Using Assessments of Learning   Facilitating Pathways to Credentialing and Transfer
3b.	Select your other absolute priorities for high-need students.
	Improving Teaching and Learning   Developing and Using Assessments of Learning   Facilitating Pathways to Credentialing and Transfer

2015 FITW Validation Absolute Priorities

3a.	Select your primary absolute priority for high-need students.
	Improving Success in Developmental Education   Improving Teaching and Learning   Improving Student Support Services   Influencing the Development of Non-cognitive Factors
3b.	Select your other absolute priorities for high-need students.
	Improving Success in Developmental Education   Improving Teaching and Learning   Improving Student Support Services   Influencing the Development of Non-cognitive Factors

4.

What is your type of research design?

 

 Quasi-experimental Design (QED) 
 Randomized Control Trial (RCT) 
 Other   (Please specify)

5a.

How many students did you propose to serve in your control or match comparison group this year?

 

  

5b.

How many students did you propose to serve in your treatment group this year?

 

  

6a.

How many students did you actually serve in your control or match comparison group this year?

 

  

6b.

How many students did you actually serve in your treatment group this year?

 

  

6c.

If the actual number of students served is less than the proposed number of students, please explain why.

 

7a.

How many high-need students did you actually serve in your control or match comparison group this year?

 

  

7b.

How many high-need students did you actually serve in your treatment group this year?

 

  

8.

How much did you spend for each student in the treatment group?

 

$ 

9.

Rate all of the intervention activities that you are using.

 

	Very Effective	Effective	Slightly Effective	Not Effective	Not Yet Known
Adaptable Technology
Advising and Counseling
Bridge Programs
College Matching
Curriculum Development
Faculty Development
Gaming Technology
Institutional Restructuring
Peer to Peer Mentoring
Predictive Analytics
Other
Other 2

10a.

Have you had any significant delays?

 

 Yes   No

10b.

If yes, please explain them?

 

11a.

Have there been any changes in the number of partner institutions?

 

 Yes   No

11b.

If yes, please explain them.

 

 Form Completed (must be checked in order to submit report)

 

Performance Narrative Instructions

Upload your Performance Narrative as one or more attachments in MS Word (DOC/DOCX), Rich Text Format (RTF), or PDF format. Include the grant number and institution name at the top of the document. Maximum size of each file is 10 MB. You may upload as many Performance Narrative files as you need.

Instructions
Please integrate into your essay a discussion of each of the following issues:

1. Report your progress in accomplishing the objectives of the project. For each project objective, describe project activities and outcomes since the submission of the last performance report or (if you are currently in the first budget period) since the start of the project. Include quantifiable data in your narrative when available.

2. Discuss any setbacks or challenges you have experienced and describe the resulting changes or delays that occurred this year (e.g., changes in project leadership, staffing patterns, strategies, timelines, activities).

3. Discuss any significant changes proposed for the coming year. Why are changes necessary? If you have partner institutions or organizations, describe how your multi-institutional project is implementing the proposed activities and the evaluation components. Describe any changes from your original plan or from last year’s report.

4. Describe how you have set up the control and treatment groups. Describe any changes from your original group descriptions. (Your independent evaluator’s report will go into more detail, but you may summarize the most significant aspects here.)

5. How is your evaluation proceeding? Are than any changes or delays from your original evaluation plan? Describe the revision process for your evaluation plan. Describe how you have separated the activities that will be evaluated by non-What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) standards (i.e. implementation and fidelity evaluation) from those that will use WWC evidence standards. What are the challenges you have experienced in implementing the evaluation plan? How often do you collect evaluation data on your project? Are you experiencing any difficulties gathering evaluation data on your objectives? Are you experiencing any difficulties working with your independent evaluator? You may include some selected evaluation findings here, but the technical aspects of the evaluation evidence should be in the independent evaluator's report.

Performance Narrative File Upload

Upload your document in MS Word (DOC/DOCX), MS Excel (XLS/XLSX), Rich Text Format (RTF), or PDF format. Maximum file size is 10 MB. Enter a descriptive title for the file (e.g., Appendix A: Questionnaire) in the "Document Title:" field. Click the "Browse..." button and select the file from your computer. Click the "Save" button upload your file to the server.
Document Title:
File to Upload:

Evaluation Instructions

Upload your Evaluation as one or more attachments in MS Word (DOC/DOCX), Rich Text Format (RTF), or PDF format. Include the grant number and institution name at the top of the document. Maximum size of each file is 10 MB. You may upload as many Evaluation files as you need.

Instructions
This report must be written by the independent evaluator, not the project director. The report should be an evaluation of the learning outcomes of the project. It should not be a list of project activities or project management issues unless these relate to learning outcomes. It should contain more than a satisfaction survey. The report should discuss the 2-5 main project goals centering on educational outcomes for postsecondary students or professional development for those working in the field of postsecondary education. If the project impacts K-12 students or teachers, you may discuss that here, but it should not be the sole focus of your evaluation since FIPSE grants are to improve postsecondary education.

We are looking for assessment that focuses on gains or changes in knowledge, skills, behaviors, and/or attitudes. In this report you should explain the data gathering procedures you are using to monitor and assess progress toward the educational aims of the project. When describing the measurement instruments you are using (surveys, interviews, focus groups, assessments of e-portfolios or capstone projects, measures of class performance, scores on standardized tests, etc.), be sure to mention why they are appropriate to gauging the success of your endeavor. If you or the project director has received prior feedback from FIPSE staff regarding the project, the final section of this report should address those areas of project evaluation that were considered weak, unclear, or absent in previous submissions.

Components of your independent evaluation report.

Annual evaluation reports:

1. Year 1 Evaluation Report - The Evaluation Report contains a revised evaluation plan, details of baseline data collection, and draft data collection instruments.

2. Year 2 Evaluation Report - The Evaluation Report contains your early evaluation findings and a discussion of the resulting adjustments to project activities that were recommended and those that were implemented in order to increase the impact of the project.

3. Year 3 Evaluation Report – The Evaluation Report updates your evaluation findings to date and discusses any further adjustments to project activities that were recommended and those that were implemented in order to increase the impact of the project.

If you or the project director has received feedback on an evaluation plan or previous annual report from FIPSE's staff evaluator, then you should address those issues that were flagged as absent, unclear, or weak in the feedback. The program officer will be comparing the previous assessment with this report and filling in the missing information.

Note: A short-form resume of the independent project evaluator is required in the first year as well as with a change of personnel. Upload the resume separately under "Other Documents."

Evaluation File Upload

Upload your document in MS Word (DOC/DOCX), MS Excel (XLS/XLSX), Rich Text Format (RTF), or PDF format. Maximum file size is 10 MB. Enter a descriptive title for the file (e.g., Appendix A: Questionnaire) in the "Document Title:" field. Click the "Browse..." button and select the file from your computer. Click the "Save" button upload your file to the server.
Document Title:
File to Upload:

Logic Model Instructions

Upload your Logic Model as one or more attachments in MS Word (DOC/DOCX), Rich Text Format (RTF), or PDF format. Include the grant number and institution name at the top of the document. Maximum size of each file is 10 MB. You may upload as many Logic Model files as you need.

Instructions
The Logic Model (also referred to as a theory of action) is a well-specified conceptual framework that identifies key components of the proposed process, product, strategy, or practice (i.e., the active “ingredients” that are hypothesized to be critical to achieving the relevant outcomes) and describes the relationship among the key components and outcomes, theoretically and operationally. It is a constructive way to address the three sub-criteria, namely, the need to define the target population, the need to define an exceptional approach to the priority selected, and the use of a framework for the conceptual design of the entire project. The logic model should be made up of inputs, activities, outcomes, and include a timeline.

Logic Model File Upload

Upload your document in MS Word (DOC/DOCX), MS Excel (XLS/XLSX), Rich Text Format (RTF), or PDF format. Maximum file size is 10 MB. Enter a descriptive title for the file (e.g., Appendix A: Questionnaire) in the "Document Title:" field. Click the "Browse..." button and select the file from your computer. Click the "Save" button upload your file to the server.
Document Title:
File to Upload:

Other Documents Instructions

Upload your Other Documents as one or more attachments in MS Word (DOC/DOCX), Rich Text Format (RTF), or PDF format. Include the grant number and institution name at the top of the document. Maximum size of each file is 10 MB. You may upload as many Other Documents files as you need.

Instructions
Other documents are optional. As noted earlier, you may submit copies of important materials or resources generated during the time of the project, e.g., course outlines, journal articles, books, CD-ROMs, software, and other significant products. Your short-form resume for your independent evaluator may be uploaded here. NOTE: Include the grant number and institution name at the top of each document.

Other Documents File Upload

Upload your document in MS Word (DOC/DOCX), MS Excel (XLS/XLSX), Rich Text Format (RTF), or PDF format. Maximum file size is 10 MB. Enter a descriptive title for the file (e.g., Appendix A: Questionnaire) in the "Document Title:" field. Click the "Browse..." button and select the file from your computer. Click the "Save" button upload your file to the server.
Document Title:
File to Upload:

Performance Measures

Review the performance measures for FITW grants. When applicable, report below on each performance measure. Limit 4,000 characters and spaces on all responses.

Under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, the Department will use the following performance measures in assessing the successful performance of FIPSE’s FITW grants:

 

(1)

The extent to which funded projects are replicated (i.e., adopted or adapted by others). 
(Report at the end of the grant period – Final Report)

(2)

The extent to which projects are institutionalized and continued after funding. 
(Report at the end of the grant period – Final Report)

(3)

The extent to which the metrics used to assess and evaluate project results measure performance under the absolute priority the project is designed to address. (Report annually)

(4)

The percentage of projects supported by FITW grants that produce evidence of their effectiveness (i.e., meet What Works Clearinghouse Evidence Standards with or without reservations) at improving student outcomes and college affordability, especially for low-income students. 
(Report at the end of the grant period – Final Report)

(5)

The percentage of projects supported by FITW grants that provide high-quality implementation data and performance feedback that allow for periodic assessment of progress toward achieving intended outcomes. (Report annually)

(6)

The cost per student served by FITW grants. (Report annually using this equation):

	Expenditures ((Federal, non-Federal, and other costs expended) -  Evaluation Costs expended)		$
		=		=		$
	Students Served

(7)

The cost per successful student outcome. (Report at the end of the grant period – Final Report)

 

 

Authorized Representative:
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Phone: