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
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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
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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
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Noyce Scholarship Program:
Scholarship Track
Phase I:
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Scholarships, Stipends, Internships
Award size up to $1,200,000
• Additional $250,000 for collaboration with two-year colleges
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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.
• No cost sharing
NSF Teaching Fellowships & Master
Teaching Fellowships Track (TF/MTF)
NSF Teaching Fellows:
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
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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:
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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)
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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
Fellowships:
• 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
Noyce Scholarship Program:
Capacity Building Track
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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:
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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
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
• 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
• 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
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
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
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
 Selection
activities
process
 Management
 Cost
and administrative structure
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 nonprofit organizations
 Commitment to make the program a central institutional focus
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
• 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
• 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
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
• 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=nsf
13126
• Related FAQs (NSF 13-127):
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13127/nsf13127.jsp
NSF Proposal Writing Tips
What Makes a Proposal Competitive?
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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
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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
• 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_D
UE_Reviewer_Info
Questions?
Contact a Noyce Program Officer:
Joan Prival
jprival@nsf.gov
Nicole Bennett
nbennett@nsf.gov
www.nsf.gov
www.nsfnoyce.org