National Science Foundation Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program Proposal Writing Webinar January 2014

Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program Initiated by Act of Congress in 2002 Reauthorized in 2007 (America COMPETES Act) and in 2010 under America COMPETES Reauthorization of Act of 2010 To encourage talented mathematics, science, and engineering undergraduates to pursue teaching careers To encourage STEM professionals to become teachers To prepare Master Teachers

2014 Noyce Scholarship Program (NSF 14-508) Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Track Scholarships for undergraduate STEM majors preparing to become K12 Teachers Internships for freshmen and sophomores Stipends for STEM professionals seeking to become K12 teachers NSF Teaching Fellowships & Master Teaching Fellowships (TF/MTF) Track Fellowships for STEM professionals receiving teacher certification through a master’s degree program Fellowships for science and math teachers preparing to become Master Teachers

2014 Noyce Scholarship Program (NSF 14-508) Capacity Building Track To establish the infrastructure and partnerships for implementing a future Noyce Teacher Scholarship or NSF Teaching Fellowship (TF/MTF) project: Development of new teacher preparation programs for STEM majors and STEM professionals Development of new programs for developing Master STEM Teachers To synthesize and disseminate effective practices developed by the Noyce community

Noyce Scholarship Program Eligibility Proposals may only be submitted by: U.S. Universities & 2- or 4-year colleges (including community colleges) Nonprofit entities that have established consortia among such IHEs Principal Investigators: The PI, or at least one Co-PI, must be a faculty member in a STEM department.

Noyce Scholarship Program: Scholarship Track To recruit undergraduate STEM majors and STEM career changers who might otherwise not have considered a career in K-12 teaching: Summer internships for freshmen and sophomores to interest students in STEM teaching Undergraduate Scholarships of at least $10,000 per year for up to three years beginning in junior year Undergraduate students graduate with a degree in a STEM discipline and teacher certification and/or licensing. One-year stipends of at least $10,000 for STEM professionals (career-changers) and post-baccalaureate students to obtain teacher certification

Noyce Scholarship Program: Scholarship Track Scholarship and stipend capped by cost of attendance Recipients commit to teaching in a high need school district for 2 years for each year of scholarship/stipend support. Recipients failing to meet service requirement must repay scholarship

Noyce Scholarship Program: Scholarship Track Phase I: New awardees or new project with different focus Phase II: For previously funded awardees - Scholarships & Stipends: To expand and extend evaluation efforts begun under previous award and support additional cohorts of scholarship and stipend recipients Monitoring and evaluation: To expand and extend evaluation efforts of previous project without support for additional cohorts.

Noyce Scholarship Program Projects include: STEM faculty collaborating with Education faculty Strong partnership with school district Recruitment and selection strategies Exemplary teacher preparation programs leading to certification and/or professional development programs for Master Teaching Fellows) Support for new teachers Mechanism for monitoring recipients Institutional support Evaluation

Noyce Scholarship Program: Scholarship Track Phase I: Scholarships, Stipends, Internships Award size up to $1,200,000 Additional $250,000 for collaboration with two-year colleges Duration up to 5 years Administrative/programmatic costs may not exceed 25% of total direct costs 75% of total direct costs must directly support participants Must use fully negotiated rate for indirect costs No cost sharing

Noyce Scholarship Program: Scholarship Track Phase II: Scholarships and Stipends plus longitudinal evaluation studies of previously supported cohorts of students Award size up to $800,000; up to 5 yrs. Up to 25% of direct costs for admin./programmatic costs) 75% of direct costs for direct support to participants No cost sharing Monitoring and Evaluation Award size up to $300,000; up to 3 yrs.

NSF Teaching Fellowships & Master Teaching Fellowships Track (TF/MTF) STEM professionals enroll in a master’s degree program leading to teacher certification or licensing Receive one-year stipend of at least $10,000 while enrolled in the Master’s degree program Selection of Fellows based on professional achievement, academic merit, and demonstration of advanced content knowledge in STEM Commit to teach for 4 years in a high need school district Receive annual salary supplement of at least $10,000 while fulfilling four-year teaching commitment

NSF Teaching Fellowships & Master Teaching Fellowships Track (TF/MTF) NSF Master Teaching Fellows: Fellowships for math and science teachers preparing to become Master Teachers Selection of Fellows based on professional achievement, academic merit, demonstration of advanced content knowledge in STEM, demonstrated success in improving student achievement Must have Master’s degree Commit to teach for 5 years in a high need school district Receive annual salary supplement of at least $10,000 for 5 years plus professional development while fulfilling the teaching commitment

TF/MTF Proposals Must Include: A department within an IHE that provides an advanced program of study in math and science, A department or entity within an IHE that provides teacher preparation or a 2-year institution that offers a teacher preparation program or a dual enrollment or an articulation agreement with an IHE that credentials teachers, At least one high need school district and public school(s) within this district, and At least one nonprofit organization with the capacity and expertise to support the goals of the project.

NSF Teaching Fellowships & Master Teaching Fellowships Track (TF/MTF) Phase I: new awardees or new projects with different focus Phase II: For previously funded awardees: Fellowships: To expand and extend evaluation efforts begun under previous award and support additional cohorts of Fellows Monitoring and evaluation: To expand and extend evaluation efforts of previous project without support for additional cohorts.)

NSF Teaching Fellowships & Master Teaching Fellowships Track (TF/MTF) Award size up to $3 million over 5-6 years Additional $250,000 for collaboration with two-year colleges Matching funds required: 30% of total budget for request less than $1.5 million, excluding two-year college incentive 50% of total budget if request is $1.5 million or more, excluding two-year college incentive At least 50% of cost share must be cash At least 75% of total direct costs must be for direct support to participants (stipends, salary supplements, professional development)

NSF Teaching Fellowships & Master Teaching Fellowships Track Phase II Award size up to $1.8 million up to 5 years At least 75% of total direct costs must be for direct support to participants (stipends, salary supplements, professional development) Matching funds required: 30% of total budget for request less than $1.5 million, excluding two-year college incentive 50% of total budget if request is $1.5 million or more, excluding two-year college incentive At least 50% of cost share must be cash Monitoring and Evaluation: Award size up to $300,000 up to 3 years No cost sharing Duplicate of 16?

Noyce Scholarship Program: Capacity Building Track Award size up to $300,000; up to 2 yrs. May include an additional $50,000 over 2 years for collaborations between two-year and four-year institutions. No restriction on budget allocation (within standard NSF policies) No cost sharing

Preparing the Proposal

Preparing the Proposal Consult the Program Solicitation (NSF 14-508) Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 14-1)

Project Summary Three text boxes: Overview Statement on Intellectual Merit Statement on Broader Impacts Proposals with special characters may upload Project Summary as a PDF document Text boxes must be filled out or a project summary must be uploaded or FastLane will not accept the proposal.

Project Description: Phase I Scholarship Track Results from relevant prior NSF support (address intellectual merit and broader impact) Discuss the Broader Impacts of the proposed activities Describe: proposed scholarship or stipend program teacher preparation program recruitment and marketing activities selection process management & administrative structure for administering scholarship or stipend program plans to monitor & enforce compliance with the required teaching commitment

Project Description: Phase I Scholarship Track Provide evidence of: infrastructure to support new teachers, collaboration between STEM & education faculty, a functioning partnership between the IHE(s) & school districts, a commitment to making the program a central institutional focus Include an objective evaluation plan

Project Description: Phase II S&S Similar to Phase I, with addition of: Results from prior Noyce scholarship grant Discussion of how new project builds on & expands activities established under prior support Plans to sustain activities after end of Phase II funding Provide evidence of how the institution has made the program a central institutional focus impact of Noyce scholarship program on STEM departments Details of plan to expand & extend evaluation activities MSP Fall 2003

AAAS Noyce Workshops 2010 - Breakout Session on Track 1 (Scholarships) NSF Review Criteria NSF Merit Review Criteria: Intellectual Merit: Encompasses the potential to advance knowledge Broader Impacts: Encompasses the potential to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes Additional Noyce Program specific review criteria, dependent on proposal type

Review Criteria: Phase I Scholarship Proposals AAAS Noyce Workshops 2010 - Breakout Session on Track 1 (Scholarships) Review Criteria: Phase I Scholarship Proposals Capacity and ability of institution to effectively conduct the program Number and quality of students that will be served by the program Justification for number of students and amount of stipend & scholarship support Ability of the program to recruit STEM majors who would not otherwise pursue a teaching career Quality and feasibility of recruitment & marketing strategies Quality of the preservice educational program

Review Criteria: Phase I Scholarship Proposals AAAS Noyce Workshops 2010 - Breakout Session on Track 1 (Scholarships) Review Criteria: Phase I Scholarship Proposals Extent to which STEM & education faculty are collaborating in developing & implementing the program Quality of the preservice student support and new teacher support infrastructure Extent to which the proposed strategies reflect effective practices based on research Degree to which the proposed programming will enable scholarship or stipend recipients to become successful mathematics & science teachers Feasibility & completeness of an evaluation plan that will measure the effectiveness of the proposed strategies Institutional support for the program and the extent to which the institution is committed to making the program a central organizational focus Dissemination plans

Review Criteria: Phase II S&S Evidence that previously funded project was consistent with the Phase I criteria Evidence of institution and school district support for continuing the project Demonstrated success of the previously funded project in terms of recruitment of STEM majors and/or STEM professionals into K-12 teaching & preparation to become effective teachers Evidence that the project has recruited STEM majors who would not otherwise pursue a career in teaching Evidence that a high quality new teacher structure is in place MSP Fall 2003

Review Criteria: Phase II S&S Plans for advancing the work beyond the original project Plans for conducting a longitudinal evaluation study of previous cohorts of Noyce Scholarship and/or stipend recipients as well as evaluation and monitoring of new cohorts to address teacher and student outcome Evaluation plans that build on & strengthen the previous evaluation effort Plans for disseminating results of the evaluation studies Plans for sustainability MSP Fall 2003

Review Criteria: Phase II M&E Evidence that the previously funded project was consistent with the Phase I criteria Plans for conducting a longitudinal evaluation study of previous cohorts of Noyce Scholarship and/or stipend recipients focusing on their effectiveness as teachers, their completion of the teaching requirement, and their retention in the teaching profession. Evaluation plans that build on and strengthen the previous evaluation effort Plans for disseminating results of the evaluation studies MSP Fall 2003

Project Description: TF/MTF Proposals Results from Prior NSF Support (intellectual merit and broader impacts) Discussion of Broader Impacts of proposed activities Description of proposed Fellowship program: For NSF Teaching Fellows Description of the Master’s degree program Evidence of an infrastructure that is supportive of new teachers For NSF Master Teaching Fellows Description of the professional development program Evidence of an infrastructure that will support and facilitate the Fellows’ work as Master Teachers

Project Description: TF/MTF Proposals Describe: Recruitment activities Selection process Management and administrative structure Cost sharing, including source and amount; enter amount on Budget form Line M

Project Description: TF/MTF Proposals Describe: Plans to monitor and enforce compliance with the required teaching commitment Plans for sustaining activities beyond NSF funding period Evaluation plan Provide evidence of: Collaboration between STEM faculty and education faculty Functioning partnerships between IHEs, school districts, and non-profit organizations Commitment to make the program a central institutional focus

Review Criteria: TF/MTF Proposals AAAS Noyce Workshops 2010 - Breakout Session on Track 1 (Scholarships) Review Criteria: TF/MTF Proposals Capacity & ability of institution to effectively conduct the program Number & quality of Fellows that will be served by the program Justification for number of Fellows served & amount of stipend & salary supplements Quality & feasibility of recruitment & marketing strategies

Review Criteria: TF/MTF Proposals AAAS Noyce Workshops 2010 - Breakout Session on Track 1 (Scholarships) Review Criteria: TF/MTF Proposals Extent to which the proposed strategies reflect effective practices based on research Extent to which STEM & education faculty are collaborating in developing & implementing a program with curriculum based on the specialized pedagogy needed to enable teachers to effectively teach math & science & to assume leadership roles in their schools. Degree to which the proposed programming will enable the participants to become successful mathematics and science teachers or Master Teachers

Review Criteria: TF/MTF Proposals AAAS Noyce Workshops 2010 - Breakout Session on Track 1 (Scholarships) Review Criteria: TF/MTF Proposals Feasibility & completeness of an objective evaluation plan that will measure the effectiveness of the proposed strategies Institutional support for the program & the extent to which the institution is committed to making the program a central organizational focus Evidence of cost sharing commitments Plans for sustainability beyond the period of NSF funding

Review Criteria: TF/MTF Proposals AAAS Noyce Workshops 2010 - Breakout Session on Track 1 (Scholarships) Review Criteria: TF/MTF Proposals NSF Teaching Fellows only: Ability of the program to recruit individuals who would not otherwise pursue a career in teaching & to recruit underrepresented groups Quality of the Master’s degree program leading to teacher certification Quality of the preservice student support and new teacher support infrastructure NSF Master Teaching Fellows only: Quality of the professional development that will be provided

Project Description: Capacity Building Projects Results from Prior NSF Support: Address prior support relevant to the proposed project A description of the activities planned, timeline, and outcomes expected to result from the proposal. Plans for evaluating progress and outcomes of the project.

Review Criteria: Capacity Building Proposals AAAS Noyce Workshops 2010 - Breakout Session on Track 1 (Scholarships) Review Criteria: Capacity Building Proposals Clarity of proposed plans and activities that will lead to a well-designed program consistent with the requirements of the Noyce Scholarship Program Clear statement of objectives to be completed and expected outcomes of the project. Evaluation plans that will measure stated objectives and outcomes.

The Process Proposals may be submitted to FastLane or grants.gov (Use FastLane for TF/MTF proposals) All proposals are peer-reviewed according to standard NSF merit review criteria Notification of results within six months of receipt Reviewers’ comments may be accessed through FastLane after final decision is made

All Proposals Must Include: One page Project Summary consisting of 3 sections (text boxes): Overview, Intellectual Merit and Broader Impact Project description (15 pages) Must contain a separate section with a discussion of the broader impacts of the proposed activities Results from Prior Support (if any) must address intellectual merit and broader impacts

All Proposals Must Include: Budget forms and narrative for each year No cost sharing unless required (eg TF/MTF track) Budget should only list personnel (PI, Co-PIs, others) who will receive funding through the grant; other internal or external resources (not funded through the grant) that will support the project should be included in the Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources document Institutions must use the applicable indirect cost rate (F&A) that has been negotiated with the cognizant federal agency (except if cost sharing required in solicitation Biosketches for PI, Co-PIs Current & Pending Support Forms References

All Proposals Must Include: Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources document: Provides an aggregated description of the internal and external resources (both physical and personnel) that the organization and its collaborators will provide to the project. No reference to cost, date of acquisition, and whether the resources are currently available or would be provided upon receipt of award If there are no resources to describe, a statement to that effect should be included in this section of the proposal and uploaded into FastLane.

All Proposals Must Include: In Supplementary documents section: Mentoring Plan for Postdoctoral Researchers (if in budget) Data Management Plan (consult NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), NSF 14-1) Indicate Human Subjects status on cover sheet (pending, approved, or exempt)

Common Guidelines for Educational Research The Guidelines were developed to “establish cross-agency guidelines for improving the quality, coherence, and pace of knowledge development in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education” (NSF 13-126) The Common Guidelines (NSF 13-126): http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf13126 Related FAQs (NSF 13-127): http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13127/nsf13127.jsp

NSF Proposal Writing Tips

What Makes a Proposal Competitive? Original ideas Succinct, focused project plan Realistic amount of work Sufficient detail provided Cost effective High impact Knowledge and experience of PIs Contribution to the field Rationale and evidence of potential effectiveness Likelihood the project will be sustained Solid evaluation plan

Common Weaknesses: Scholarship Track Proposal does not follow guidelines for Noyce Program Failure to indicate students will complete STEM major (not change to Science Education or Math Education major Little information about teacher preparation program Unrealistic projections Recruitment and selection strategies not well described Lack of support for new teachers Lack of involvement of STEM faculty (or education faculty) Lacks plans for monitoring compliance with teaching requirement Weak evaluation or lacks objective evaluator Does not address Prior Results or Lessons Learned Lacks details

Common Weaknesses of TF/MTF Proposals Insufficient details for preservice and induction program for Teaching Fellows and professional development program for Master Teaching Fellows Vague recruitment plans Selection plans do not follow guidelines Master Teacher roles and responsibilities not discussed Matching funds not identified Role of non-profit organization not clear School district partnership not strong Evaluation weak

Tips for Success Consult the Noyce program solicitation and the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) Test drive FastLane Alert the Sponsored Research Office Follow page and font size limits Be aware of other projects and advances in the field Cite the literature Provide details Discuss prior results Include evaluation plan with timelines and benchmarks

Tips for Success Put yourself in the reviewers’ place Consider reviewers’ comments if resubmitting proposal Have someone else read the proposal Spell check; grammar check Meet deadlines Follow NSF requirements for proposals involving Human Subjects Call or email NSF Program Officers

Return Without Review FastLane will not accept if: Submitted after deadline Fail to follow formatting (e. g. page limitation, font size, and margin limits) requirements FastLane will not accept if: Fail to describe mentoring activities for postdoctoral researchers if any included in proposed budget Fail to include data management plan Fail to include complete Project Summary (3 text boxes: Overview, Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts statements)

FY 2014 Noyce Scholarship Program Deadlines Letters of Intent (optional): February 5, 2014 Full Proposal Deadline: March 5, 2014

Not ready to submit a proposal this year? Consider serving as a reviewer Send a letter of interest and a CV to one of the program officers or fill out the online form at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NSF_DUE_Reviewer_Info

Questions? Contact a Noyce Program Officer: Joan Prival jprival@nsf.gov Nicole Bennett nbennett@nsf.gov www.nsf.gov www.nsfnoyce.org