Notice2024-25439
Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request; National Science Foundation's Evaluation of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program
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Published
November 1, 2024
Issuing agencies
National Science Foundation
Abstract
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has submitted the following information collection requirement to OMB for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This is the second notice for public comment; the first was published in the Federal Register, and no comments were received. NSF is forwarding the proposed submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance simultaneously with the publication of this second notice.
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 212 (Friday, November 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87428-87430]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-25439]
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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request;
National Science Foundation's Evaluation of the Robert Noyce Teacher
Scholarship Program
AGENCY: National Science Foundation (NSF).
ACTION: Submission for OMB review; comment request.
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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) has submitted the
following information collection requirement to OMB for review and
clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This is the second
notice for public comment; the first was published in the Federal
Register, and no comments were received. NSF is forwarding the proposed
submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance
simultaneously with the publication of this second notice.
DATES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAmain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAmain</a>. Find this particular
information collection by selecting ``Currently Under 30-Day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports Clearance
Officer, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue,
Alexandria, Virginia 22314; telephone (703) 292-7556; or send email to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e89b98848185989c87a8869b8ec68f879e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4635362a2f2b3632290628352068212930">[email protected]</span></a>. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for
the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at
1-800-877-8339, which is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365
days a year (including Federal holidays).
Comments: Comments regarding (a) whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the NSF, including whether the information shall have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the NSF's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality,
use, and clarity of the information on respondents; and (d) ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are
to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology should be addressed to the points
of contact in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
Copies of the submission may be obtained by calling 703-292-7556.
NSF may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless the
collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control
number, and the agency informs potential persons who are to respond to
the collection of information that such persons are not required to
respond to the collection of information unless it displays a currently
valid OMB control number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title of Collection: The Evaluation of the National Science
Foundation's (NSF) Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program.
OMB Number: 3145-NEW.
Abstract: The National Science Foundation (NSF) has been committed
to broadening participation of underrepresented groups and diverse
institutions in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)
through an array of means. One way that NSF supports this is through
its Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce Program; <a href="https://www.nsfnoyce.org/">https://www.nsfnoyce.org/</a>), which was authorized in 2002 under the National
Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-368) and
reauthorized in 2007 under the American COMPETES Act (Pub. L. 110-69;
<a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-110publ69/pdf/PLAW-110publ69.pdf">https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-110publ69/pdf/PLAW-110publ69.pdf</a>). The program provides funding to higher education
institutions via (a) scholarships, (b) stipends, and (c) other means of
programmatic support to recruit and prepare science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors and other professionals to
become K-12 STEM teachers.
The overall goal of the Noyce Program is to ``increase the number
of K-12 teachers with strong STEM content knowledge who teach in high-
need school districts'' (The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program
[<a href="http://nsfnoyce.org">nsfnoyce.org</a>]). Specifically, the Noyce Program's goals include aiding
in establishing and facilitating the awarding of scholarships,
fellowships, funding, and programming that help to recruit, train, and
retain K-12 STEM teachers for high-need school districts. Additional
Noyce Program goals include supporting research on K-12 STEM teachers
in high-need school districts to understand patterns of teacher
retention and effectiveness in these settings. Program objectives for
the Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program include increasing the (a) number
and (b) diversity of students from groups underrepresented in STEM
fields who pursue careers in K-12 STEM teaching, especially in high-
need school districts.
The NSF STEM Education (EDU) Directorate requests the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) approval of this clearance to initiate new
data collections to be conducted as part of an external evaluation of
the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. These collections, to be
conducted by the evaluation contractor, include:
Demographic Questionnaire. A one-time, web-based survey of selected
individuals who have been involved in various aspects of NSF's Robert
Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program from FY2014 to FY2024 (i.e., PIs,
program coordinators, faculty, current and former scholars/fellows, K-
12 school leaders, external evaluators) as well as representative
individuals who are eligible for Noyce funding but have not received
it. The purpose of this questionnaire is to (a) ensure that the
participants recruited are diverse, and (b) support the qualitative
data analytic approaches. Information about the respondents that will
be captured within the questionnaire will include demographic data
(e.g., race/ethnicity, gender identity), length of time with the
institution, and experience with the Noyce Program (as applicable). The
survey data will enable NSF to supplement the information gleaned from
the interviews and focus groups, encouraging further understanding of
what is working well and growth opportunities for the Noyce Program.
Interviews with Principal Investigators. Interviews with a
purposive sample of up to 50 PIs or Co-PIs who had NSF's Robert Noyce
Teacher Scholarship Program funded between FY2014 and FY2024. The
interviews will be conducted either in-person during the annual Noyce
Summit (2025), in-person during regional Noyce conferences (Fall 2024-
Summer 2025), or using a virtual meeting platform at a time convenient
for the respondents. The interviews will elicit information about how
the Noyce Program can support the STEM teacher preparation field, the
impact of the award, barriers and facilitators to applying for Noyce
funding, and how changes to the solicitation over the past 10 years
have impacted the perception of the Noyce award, as well as perceptions
of the merit review process. This information will be triangulated with
the other data collected as well as with information from the review of
documents to provide a holistic understanding of the context of the
[[Page 87429]]
Noyce Program, what is working well, and growth opportunities.
Interviews with Eligible Individuals Who Have Not Received NSF's
Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program Funding. Interviews with a
purposive sample of up to 20 representatives who are eligible for Noyce
funding but have not received it. This sample includes individuals who
have never applied for Noyce funding and those who have applied for but
not received Noyce funding. The interviews will be conducted either in-
person during the annual Noyce Summit (2025), in-person during regional
Noyce conferences (Fall 2024-Summer 2025), or using a virtual meeting
platform at a time convenient for the respondents. These interviews
will elicit information about how the Noyce Program can support the
STEM teacher preparation field, the impact of the award, barriers and
facilitators to applying for Noyce funding, and how changes to the
solicitation over the past 10 years have impacted the perception of the
Noyce award (as applicable to the representatives' roles).
Focus groups. A series of up to 115 focus groups are also planned,
including program coordinators/program staff, faculty, current
scholars/fellows, former scholars/fellows, high-need K-12 school and
district leaders, external evaluators, American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS) staff, and current and former NSF staff.
This may include a total of up to 469 respondents. The focus groups
will be conducted either in-person during the annual Noyce Summit (in
2025), in-person during regional Noyce events (Fall 2024-Summer 2025),
or using a virtual meeting platform at a time convenient for the
respondents, and will elicit information about how the Noyce Program
can support the STEM teacher preparation field, the impact of the
award, barriers and facilitators to applying for Noyce funding, and how
changes to the solicitation over the past 10 years has impacted the
perception of the Noyce award, as well as perceptions of the merit
review process as applicable to the representatives' roles.
This data collection is necessary to provide NSF with actionable
information about the overall context of the Robert Noyce Teacher
Scholarship Program, as well as to (a) understand overall perceptions
of the Program from both Noyce and non-Noyce recipients, and (b)
identify what is working well and opportunities for growth. This
information will help support the overall goal of increasing the number
and diversity of qualified teachers within the STEM education field.
Further, the need is grounded in the importance and value of producing
a diverse pool of STEM professionals who choose to pursue a career as a
K-12 STEM teacher in a high-need school/school district.
Use of the Information: Aggregate results from the demographic
questionnaire, interviews, and focus groups will be synthesized and
summarized in reports developed by the evaluation contractor that will
be provided to NSF. Although questionnaire, interview, and focus group
responses will be identifiable to the contractor, the reports provided
to NSF will only include overall findings. No individual-level
responses will be attributable to an individual respondent.
Additionally, no information about individuals participating in the
data collection activities will be released to anyone outside the
contractor's organization. The data collected and reported on will be
used for planning, management, and evaluation purposes only. These data
are needed for effective administration, program monitoring,
evaluation, and for strategic reviews and measuring attainment of NSF's
program and strategic goals, as identified by the President's
Accountable Government Initiative, the Government Performance and
Results Act Modernization Act of 2010, Evidence-Based Policymaking Act
of 2018, and NSF's Strategic Plan.
Expected Respondents: The respondents are Principal Investigators
(PIs), representatives who are eligible for NSF's Robert Noyce Teacher
Scholarship Program funding but have not received it (Potential PIs),
program coordinators/program staff, faculty, current and former
scholars/fellows, high-need K-12 school and district leaders, external
evaluators, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
staff, and current and former NSF staff.
The demographic questionnaire respondents will include up to 78 PIs
with Noyce awards between FY2014 to FY2024, up to 56 representatives
who are eligible for NSF's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program
funding but have not received it, up to 94 program coordinators/program
staff, up to 188 faculty, up to 125 current scholars/fellows, up to 100
former scholars/fellows, up to 125 high-need K-12 school and district
leaders, and up to 63 external evaluators (approximately 827 total
respondents).
The interviews will include up to 50 PIs with NSF's Robert Noyce
Teacher Scholarship Program awards between FY2014 to FY2024 and up to
20 representatives who are eligible for funding but have not received
it (Potential PIs), all of whom will also have completed the
questionnaire (approximately 70 total). The focus groups will include
up to 60 program coordinators/program staff, up to 120 faculty, up to
80 current scholars/fellows, up to 64 former scholars/fellows, up to 80
high-need K-12 school and district leaders, and up to 40 external
evaluators, all of whom will have also completed the questionnaire.
Additionally, up to 3 AAAS staff, up to 6 current NSF staff, and up to
16 former NSF staff are expected to participate in focus groups
(approximately 469 total respondents).
Estimate of Burden
Estimates of Annualized Cost to Respondents for the Hour Burdens
The overall annualized cost to the respondents is estimated to be
$50,455.69. The hourly wage estimates for completing the interviews
mentioned in the burden hours table are based on information from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics website (<a href="http://www.bls.gov">http://www.bls.gov</a>) and average GS-
15-Step 5 for the current POs (<a href="https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/24Tables/html/GS_h.aspx">https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/24Tables/html/GS_h.aspx</a>). Specifically, the ``May 2023 National Occupational
Employment and Wage Estimates'' were used. For Principal Investigators,
faculty, external evaluators, and former NSF staff, 25-1000
``Postsecondary Teachers'' was used; for this, the average hourly rate
was calculated for a 9-month contract because an hourly rate was
unavailable. For program coordinators, 25-9031 ``Instructional
Coordinators'' was used; for representatives who are eligible for NSF's
Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program funding but have not received
it, 11-9033 ``Education Administrators, Postsecondary'' was used; for
Current and Former Scholars/Fellows, 25-2000 ``Preschool, Elementary,
Middle, Secondary, and Special Education Teachers'' was used (for this,
the average hourly rate was calculated for a 9-month contract because
an hourly rate was unavailable); for K-12 School Leaders, 11-9032
``Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary'' was used
(for this, the average hourly rate was calculated for a 9-month
contract because an hourly rate was unavailable); and for AAAS staff,
19-0000 ``Life, Physical and Social Science Occupations'' was used.
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Total number of
Respondent type Collection title respondents in Burden hours per Total hours Average hourly Estimated
category respondent burden rate estimate annual cost
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Pretest:
PIs................................. Pretest Demographic 1 0.33 0.33 70.66 23.32
Questionnaire.
Potential PIs....................... 1 0.33 0.33 58.66 19.36
External Evaluators................. 1 0.33 0.33 70.66 23.32
PIs................................. Pretest Principal 5 1 5 70.66 353.30
Investigator Interview
Protocol.
Potential PIs....................... Pretest Potential 3 1 3 58.66 175.98
Principal Investigator
Interview Protocol.
Current Scholars/Fellows............ Pretest Scholars and 4 1 4 47.84 191.36
Fellows Focus Group
Protocol.
Program Coordinators................ Pretest Program 1 1 1 37.12 37.12
Coordinator Focus Group
Protocol.
External Evaluators................. Pretest External 1 1 1 70.66 70.66
Evaluators Focus Group
Protocol.
Demographic Questionnaire:
PIs................................. Demographic Questionnaire. 78 0.33 25.74 70.66 1,818.79
Potential PIs....................... 56 0.33 18.48 58.66 1,084.01
Program Coordinators................ 94 0.33 31.02 37.12 1,151.46
Faculty............................. 188 0.33 62.04 70.66 4,383.75
External Evaluators................. 63 0.33 20.79 70.66 1,469.02
Current Scholars/Fellows............ 125 0.33 41.25 47.84 1,973.40
Former Scholars/Fellows............. 100 0.33 33 47.84 1,578.72
High Need K-12 School Leaders....... 125 0.33 41.25 77.10 3,180.38
Interviews:
PIs................................. Principal Investigator 50 1 50 70.66 3,532.99
Interview Protocol.
Potential PIs....................... Potential Principal 20 1 20 58.66 1,173.20
Investigator Interview
Protocol.
Focus Groups:
Program Coordinators................ Program Coordinator Focus 60 1 60 37.12 2,227.20
Group Protocol.
Faculty............................. Faculty Focus Group 120 1 120 70.66 8,479.17
Protocol.
External Evaluators................. External Evaluators Focus 40 1 40 70.66 2,826.39
Group Protocol.
Current Scholars/Fellows............ Current Scholars/Fellows 80 1 80 47.84 3,827.22
Focus Group Protocol.
Former Scholars/Fellows............. Former Scholars/Fellows 64 1 64 47.84 3,061.78
Focus Group Protocol.
High Need K-12 School Leaders....... High Need K-12 School/ 80 1 80 77.10 6,167.78
District Leaders Focus
Group Protocol.
AAAS Staff.......................... AAAS Staff Focus Group 3 1 3 42.24 126.72
Protocol.
Current NSF Staff................... Current and Former NSF 6 1 6 66.82 400.92
Staff Focus Group
Protocol.
Former NSF Staff.................... Current and Former NSF 16 1 16 70.66 1,130.56
Staff Focus Group
Protocol.
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Total........................... .......................... 556 ................ 827.04 .............. 50,455.69
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Estimated Number of Responses per Report
It is estimated that there will be up to 1,366 responses (which
does not include the 17 pretest responses). Up to 827 of these
responses will be from the demographic questionnaire (excluding the 3
from the pretest), up to 70 from the interviews (excluding the 8 from
the pretest), and up to 469 for the focus groups from those directly or
indirectly affiliated with institutions eligible to receive Noyce
funding (excluding the 6 from the pretest).
Dated: October 28, 2024.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2024-25439 Filed 10-31-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
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