 NSF Merit Review Criteria Intellectual Merit Broader Impacts  Additional Considerations Integration of Research & Education Integrating Diversity into NSF Programs  Additional review criteria specific to Noyce Program, dependent on proposal type

 Capacity /ability of institution to effectively conduct program  Number /quality of students to be served by program  Justification for ◦ number of students ◦ amount of stipend ◦ scholarship support  Quality/feasibility of recruitment/marketing strategies Strong: Provides data to justify need and realistic expectations; indicates number of participants Weak: Projections not supported by data

 Ability of program to recruit STEM majors who would not otherwise pursue a teaching career Strong: Indicates they will recruit beyond those who are already in the program Weak: Not expanding beyond current pool

 Quality of the preservice educational program Strong:  Provides details about program  Provides evidence that graduates are successful  Research based Weak: Little information provided

 Extent to which STEM/education faculty are collaborating in developing/ implementing the program Strong: Good representation of STEM and education faculty Defined roles in management plan Shared responsibility Weak: No evidence of collaboration (“in name only”)

 Quality of preservice student support and new teacher support infrastructure Strong: Clear plan for supporting students and new teachers to ensure success Strong partnership with school district Weak: No support beyond the financial support

 Extent to which proposed strategies reflect effective practices based on research Strong: Based on educational literature and evidence from research findings Weak: No references or not clear how the project is based on research

 Degree to which proposed programming will enable scholarship/ stipend recipients to become successful math/ science teachers Strong: Program designed to address specific needs of Noyce Scholars Weak: Program does not appear to be designed to support needs of Noyce Scholars

 Feasibility/ completeness of evaluation plan measuring effectiveness of proposed strategies Strong:  Independent evaluator  Clear objectives and measures  Describes data collection and analysis aligned with evaluation questions Weak:  No objective evaluator  Evaluation not aligned with project objectives

 Institutional support for program and extent to which institution commits to making program a central organizational focus Strong:  Evidence of support from departments and administrators  Likely to be sustained  Integrated with other STEM initiatives Weak:  Lack of supporting letters from administrators  Little involvement beyond the PI

Proposal does not follow Noyce guidelines ◦ Students must complete STEM major ◦ Little information about teacher preparation program ◦ Unrealistic enrollment projections ◦ Recruitment/selection strategies not well described ◦ Lack of  support for new teachers  involvement of STEM faculty (or education faculty)  plans for monitoring compliance with teaching requirement ◦ Weak evaluation or lack of objective evaluator ◦ Lessons learned from prior work lacks details

 Capacity/ ability of institution to effectively conduct program  Number/ quality of Fellows the program will serve  Justification for ◦ number of Fellows served ◦ amount of stipend ◦ salary supplements  Quality/ feasibility of recruitment/ marketing strategies

 Extent to which proposed strategies reflect effective practices based on evidence from research  Degree to which proposed programming enables participants to become successful math/ science teachers or Master Teachers  Extent to which STEM/ education faculty collaborate in developing/ implementing a program with the specialized pedagogy needed to ◦ enable teachers to effectively teach math/science ◦ assume leadership roles in their schools.

 Feasibility/ completeness of an objective evaluation plan measuring effectiveness of proposed strategies  Institutional support for program and the extent to which it is committed to making the program a central organizational focus  Evidence of cost sharing commitments  Plans for sustainability beyond NSF funding

NSF Teaching Fellows only:  Ability of program to recruit ◦ Individuals not otherwise pursing teaching career ◦ Members of underrepresented groups  Quality of Master’s degree program leading to teacher certification  Quality of preservice student support and new teacher support infrastructure NSF Master Teaching Fellows only:  Quality of professional development that will be provided

 Strong partnership with participating school district  Required matching funds identified  Clear description of program elements for preservice for Teaching Fellows professional development for Master Teaching Fellows  Detailed recruitment and selection plans  Clear vision of Master Teacher roles/ responsibilities, including preservice involvement  Attention to content and pedagogy  Detailed evaluation plans

 Insufficient details for preservice and induction program for Teaching Fellows 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

 Individuals from all participating institutions have clear roles and communication structures  Management plan includes a description of communication, meetings, roles, division of responsibilities, and reporting  Distribution of resources is appropriate to the scope of the work  All partners contribute to the work and benefit from it  Letters of commitment are provided

 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

 Consult the program solicitation (NSF ) and NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (NSF 11-1)  Test drive FastLane  Alert your Sponsored Research Office and observe internal deadlines for signatures  Follow page and font size limits  Be aware of current literature in the field and cite it  Provide details for key areas of your project  Discuss prior results  Include evaluation plan with timelines and benchmarks

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

 Submitted after deadline  Fail to separately and explicitly address intellectual merit and broader impacts in the Project Summary  Fail to follow requirements for formatting (e. g. page limitation, font size, and margin limits)  Fail to describe mentoring activities for postdoctoral researchers, if any included in proposed budget  Fail to provide a data management plan

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