Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, 6767-6771 [E6-1805]
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expenditure information as specified by
the Secretary in 34 CFR 75.118.
4. Performance Measures: The
Secretary may choose to develop
performance measures for the Alcohol
and Other Drug Prevention Models on
College Campuses Program in
accordance with the Government
Performance and Results Act (GPRA). If
indicators are developed, grantees will
be asked to provide information that
relates to participant outcomes and
project management.
VII. Agency Contacts
Vera
Messina, U.S. Department of Education,
400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room
3E258, Washington, DC 20202–6450.
Telephone: (202) 260–8273 or by e-mail:
vera.messina@ed.gov or Ruth Tringo,
U.S. Department of Education, 400
Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3E338,
Washington, DC 20202–6450.
Telephone: (202) 260–2838 or by e-mail:
ruth.tringo@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD), you may call
the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1–
888–877–8339.
Individuals with disabilities may
obtain this document in an alternative
format (e.g., Braille, large print,
audiotape, or computer diskette) on
request to the program contact persons
listed in this section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
VIII. Other Information
Electronic Access to This Document:
You may view this document, as well as
all other documents of this Department
published in the Federal Register, in
text or Adobe Portable Document
Format (PDF) on the Internet at the
following site: https://www.ed.gov/news/
fedregister.
To use PDF you must have Adobe
Acrobat Reader, which is available free
at this site. If you have questions about
using PDF, call the U.S. Government
Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1–
888–293–6498; or in the Washington,
DC, area at (202) 512–1530.
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Note: The official version of this document
is the document published in the Federal
Register. Free Internet access to the official
edition of the Federal Register and the Code
of Federal Regulations is available on GPO
Access at: https://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/
index.html.
Dated: February 3, 2006.
Deborah A. Price,
Assistant Deputy Secretary for Safe and DrugFree Schools.
[FR Doc. E6–1812 Filed 2–9–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services
Overview Information
Personnel Development to Improve
Services and Results for Children with
Disabilities—Principal Leadership
Professional Development Center to
Support School Improvement to Ensure
Access to, and Participation and
Progress in the General Education
Curriculum in the Least Restrictive
Environment.
Notice inviting applications for new
awards for fiscal year (FY) 2006.
Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.325P.
Dates:
Applications Available: February 9,
2006.
Deadline for Transmittal of
Applications: March 24, 2006.
Deadline for Intergovernmental
Review: May 23, 2006.
Eligible Applicants: Institutions of
higher education (IHEs).
Estimated Available Funds: $285,000.
Maximum Award: We will reject any
application that proposes a budget
exceeding $285,000 for a single budget
period of 12 months. The Assistant
Secretary for Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services may change the
maximum amount through a notice
published in the Federal Register.
Number of Awards: 1.
Note: The Department is not bound by any
estimates in this notice.
Project Period: Up to 60 months.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: The purposes of
this program are to (1) help address
State-identified needs for highly
qualified personnel—in special
education, related services, early
intervention, and regular education—to
work with infants or toddlers with
disabilities, or children with
disabilities; and (2) ensure that those
personnel have the skills and
knowledge—derived from practices that
have been determined through research
and experience to be successful—that
are needed to serve those children.
Priority: In accordance with 34 CFR
75.105(b)(2)(v), this priority is from
allowable activities specified in the
statute (see sections 662(d) and 681(d)
of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA)).
Absolute Priority: For FY 2006 this
priority is an absolute priority. Under 34
CFR 75.105(c)(3), we consider only
applications that meet this priority.
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This priority is:
Principal Leadership Professional
Development Center to Support School
Improvement to Ensure Access to, and
Participation and Progress in the
General Education Curriculum in the
Least Restrictive Environment
Background
Principal leadership is an essential
element of school improvement that
entails simultaneous attention to
effective and efficient service delivery,
use of resources, and academic
performance. Successful principals use
a variety of strategies and tools to
leverage improvement on a school-wide
basis, for all students including students
with disabilities. For example, effective
principals often build partnerships with
families, business leaders, and
community organizations, and establish
and mobilize leadership teams to assess
community resources, align initiatives,
and design and implement coherent
strategic plans to support student
success. Principal leadership guides
students, families, school personnel,
and community partners through the
development, design, implementation,
and evaluation of coherent and
evidence-based systemic school
improvement strategies. Effective
principals also mentor and coach
teachers to build school capacity to
ensure that all students have access to
a content-rich general education
curriculum and instructional supports
to achieve academic success.
Unfortunately, there is a gap between
evidence-based best practice and
current practice in principal leadership
and implementation of school
improvement activities. This gap is
particularly evident in providing access
to the general education curriculum in
the least restrictive environment for
students with disabilities.
Many principals have difficulty with
the logistics of establishing inclusive
classrooms due to the small number of
highly qualified special education
teachers who have full schedules and
caseloads, causing many schools to
group special education students
together rather than assign them general
education classrooms with
supplementary supports. According to
the Special Education Elementary
Longitudinal Study (2004), 45 percent of
elementary and middle school students
with disabilities receive their primary
language arts instruction in special
education settings—resource rooms,
self-contained special education classes,
or one-to-one instruction rather than in
the general education classroom.
According to the National Longitudinal
Transition Study 2 (2003), even when
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physically present in the general
education classroom, students with
disabilities consistently participate less
actively than their classmates in their
general education academic classes. In
2005, of the students with disabilities
included in the sample for the National
Assessment of Educational Progress, 35
percent were excluded from the fourthgrade reading assessment and 19
percent were excluded from fourthgrade math assessment because of their
disability. Furthermore, according to the
22nd Annual Report to Congress, 31
percent of special education students
ages 14 to 21 drop out of school. These
statistics demonstrate that there is a
compelling need for principals to
implement school improvement
activities that ensure that students with
disabilities have access to, and
participate and progress in the general
education curriculum in the least
restrictive environment.
Priority
The Assistant Secretary establishes an
absolute priority for the establishment
of a Principal Leadership Professional
Development Center to Support School
Improvement to Ensure Access to, and
Participation and Progress in the
General Education Curriculum in the
Least Restrictive Environment (PD
Center). The purpose of the PD Center
is to support principals in their efforts
to implement unified school
improvement initiatives that are
designed to ensure students with
disabilities have access to, and
participate and progress in the general
education curriculum in the least
restrictive environment.
The PD Center must:
• Assist a cadre of principals in the
development, implementation, and
continuous improvement of school
improvement efforts using evidencebased practices to ensure that students
with disabilities have access to, and
participate and progress in the general
education curriculum in the least
restrictive environment;
• Support networks of principals
engaged in school improvement efforts
that include students with disabilities;
• Create partnerships among
principal professional associations,
school and university personnel, and
business leaders to promote and support
principal leadership for school
improvement and inclusion of students
with disabilities across the Nation; and
• Use existing principal professional
organization networks to inform the PD
Center’s activities and serve as
dissemination vehicles.
To meet this priority, the PD Center
must:
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(a) Build the capacity of principals to
use evidence-based school improvement
practices to ensure access to, and
participation and progress in the general
education curriculum in the least
restrictive environment for students
with disabilities at the kindergarten
through grade 12 levels;
(b) Provide training and onsite
professional development to principals
in partnership with at least 30 schools
to lead school improvement initiatives
that focus on enhancing access to, and
participation and progress in the general
education curriculum in the least
restrictive environment for students
with disabilities;
(c) Identify and widely disseminate
the most successful evidence-based
school systemic improvement practices
available to principals throughout the
United States for school improvement
activities that ensure access to, and
participation and progress in the general
education curriculum in the least
restrictive environment for students
with disabilities. To the extent possible,
the Center should use criteria from the
What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) and
other rigorous sources in determining
what is ‘‘evidenced-based’’;
(d) Complete a synthesis of available
research literature within the first six
months of the project start date. To the
extent possible, the PD Center will
consult with sources such as the WWC,
the Access Center: Improving Outcomes
for All Students K–9 that is funded by
the Department’s Office of Special
Education Programs (OSEP), and the
review board of OSEP’s Dissemination
Center. The synthesis must include: (1)
A summary of the research literature
describing promising evidence-based
school improvement instruction and
progress-monitoring practices in
elementary, middle, and secondary
schools that ensure access to, and
participation and progress in the general
education curriculum in the least
restrictive environment for students
with disabilities to ensure schools meet
adequate yearly progress indicators; (2)
a conceptual framework using evidencebased research practices within a
coherent decision-making model to
support the adoption, implementation,
evaluation, sustainability, and scaling
up of school improvement strategies
that ensure access to, and participation
and progress in the general education
curriculum in the least restrictive
environment for students with
disabilities; (3) a description of
evidence-based practices that may be
used to foster and maintain partnerships
between schools and families to support
school improvement activities; (4) a
description of effective approaches to
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professional development and capacitybuilding within schools that ensure
access to, and participation and progress
in the general education curriculum in
the least restrictive environment for
students with disabilities; and (5) a
description of how effective principal
leaders integrate assessment, curriculum
and instruction with learning standards,
teaching design and practicum, and
family participation in teaching and
learning, in a comprehensive aligned
professional development model to
guide systemic implementation at
classroom and school levels;
(e) In years 1 through 3 of the project
period, identify, implement, and
evaluate strategies that support effective
principals in partnership with at least
30 schools to provide examples of
effective school improvement
implementation of evidence-based and
promising practices that ensure access
to, and participation and progress in the
general education curriculum in the
least restrictive environment for
students with disabilities. At a
minimum, the PD Center must work
with these 30 partner schools to: (1)
Identify and define the scope and
sequence of ongoing professional
development training content as well as
strategies to measure the acquisition,
fidelity, and fluency of implementation
at the classroom and school levels; (2)
establish classroom and school
structures to increase school
improvement capacity for ongoing
professional development and training;
and (3) describe how principals work
with school and district leaders to
incorporate these strategies into ongoing
district policy and practice;
(f) Based on lessons learned with
principal leaders and school
improvement efforts in years 1 through
3 of the project period, replicate and
scale up the PD Center’s
implementation with an additional 200
schools in year 4 of the project period;
(g) Establish, maintain, and meet at
least annually with a national advisory
group of principal leaders from urban,
suburban, and rural schools to provide
feedback on the plans, activities, and
accomplishments of the PD Center in
collaboration with the OSEP Project
Officer;
(h) Use external and internal
evaluators to measure and report to
OSEP on the progress of the PD Center
activities included in paragraphs (a)
through (f) in this priority;
(i) Meet with the OSEP Project Officer
and appropriate OSEP staff within the
first month of the project start date;
(j) Budget for the PD Center’s project
director to attend a three-day Project
Director’s Meeting in Washington, DC
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and an additional two-day trip annually
to Washington, DC to attend an
additional Project Director’s meeting
and to meet and collaborate with the
OSEP Project Officer and other funded
projects for purposes of cross-project
collaboration and information exchange;
and
(k) If a Web site is maintained, ensure
that the information and documents
available on the Web site are in a format
that meets a government or industryrecognized standard for accessibility.
Fourth and Fifth Years of the Project
In deciding whether to continue
funding the PD Center for the fourth and
fifth years, the Secretary, will consider
the requirements of 34 CFR 75.253(a),
and in addition:
(a) The recommendation of a review
team consisting of experts selected by
the Secretary, which review will be
conducted during the last half of the
project’s second year in Washington,
DC. Projects must budget for the travel
associated with this review;
(b) The timeliness and effectiveness
with which all requirements of the
negotiated cooperative agreement have
been or are being met by the project; and
(c) The degree to which the project’s
design and methodology demonstrate
the potential for advancing significant
new knowledge.
Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking:
Under the Administrative Procedure Act
(APA) (5 U.S.C. 553) the Department
generally offers interested parties the
opportunity to comment on a proposed
priority. However, section 681(d) of
IDEA makes the public comment
requirements of the APA inapplicable to
the priority in this notice.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1462
and 1481(d).
Applicable Regulations: The
Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in
34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82,
84, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.
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II. Award Information
Type of Award: Cooperative
agreement.
Estimated Available Funds: $285,000.
Maximum Award: We will reject any
application that proposes a budget
exceeding $285,000 for a single budget
period of 12 months. The Assistant
Secretary for Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services may change the
maximum amount through a notice
published in the Federal Register.
Number of Awards: 1.
Note: The Department is not bound by any
estimates in this notice.
Project Period: Up to 60 months.
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III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: IHEs.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This
competition does not involve cost
sharing or matching.
3. Other: General Requirements— (a)
The projects funded under this
competition must make positive efforts
to employ and advance in employment
qualified individuals with disabilities
(see section 606 of IDEA).
(b) Applicants and grant recipients
funded under this competition must
involve individuals with disabilities or
parents of individuals with disabilities
ages birth through 26 in planning,
implementing, and evaluating the
projects (see section 682(a)(1)(A) of
IDEA).
IV. Application and Submission
Information
1. Address to Request Application
Package: Education Publications Center
(ED Pubs), P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD
20794–1398. Telephone (toll free): 1–
877–433–7827. FAX: (301) 470–1244. If
you use a telecommunications device
for the deaf (TDD), you may call (toll
free): 1–877–576–7734.
You may also contact ED Pubs at its
Web site: https://www.ed.gov/pubs/
edpubs.html or you may contact ED
Pubs at its e-mail address:
edpubs@inet.ed.gov.
If you request an application from ED
Pubs, be sure to identify this
competition as follows: CFDA number
84.325P.
Individuals with disabilities may
obtain a copy of the application package
in an alternative format (e.g., Braille,
large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) by contacting the Grants and
Contracts Services Team listed under
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in
section VII of this notice.
2. Content and Form of Application
Submission: Requirements concerning
the content of an application, together
with the forms you must submit, are in
the application package for this
competition. Page Limit: The
application narrative (Part III of the
application) is where you, the applicant,
address the selection criteria that
reviewers use to evaluate your
application. You must limit Part III to
the equivalent of no more than 70 pages,
using the following standards:
• A ‘‘page’’ is 8.5″ x 11″, on one side
only, with 1″ margins at the top, bottom,
and both sides.
• Double space (no more than three
lines per vertical inch) all text in the
application narrative, including titles,
headings, footnotes, quotations,
references, and captions, as well as all
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text in charts, tables, figures, and
graphs.
• Use a font that is either 12 point or
larger or no smaller than 10 pitch
(characters per inch).
The page limit does not apply to Part
I, the cover sheet; Part II, the budget
section, including the narrative budget
justification; Part IV, the assurances and
certifications; or the one-page abstract,
the resumes, the bibliography, the
references, or the letters of support.
However, you must include all of the
application narrative in Part III.
We will reject your application if:
• You apply these standards and
exceed the page limit; or
• You apply other standards and
exceed the equivalent of the page limit.
3. Submission Dates and Times:
Applications Available: February 9,
2006.
Deadline for Transmittal of
Applications: March 24, 2006.
Applications for grants under this
competition may be submitted
electronically using the Grants.gov
Apply site (Grants.gov), or in paper
format by mail or hand delivery. For
information (including dates and times)
about how to submit your application
electronically, or by mail or hand
delivery, please refer to section IV.6.
Other Submission Requirements in this
notice.
We do not consider an application
that does not comply with the deadline
requirements.
Deadline for Intergovernmental
Review: May 23, 2006.
4. Intergovernmental Review: This
program is subject to Executive Order
12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR
part 79. Information about
Intergovernmental Review of Federal
Programs under Executive Order 12372
is in the application package for this
competition.
5. Funding Restrictions: We reference
regulations outlining funding
restrictions in the Applicable
Regulations section of this notice.
6. Other Submission Requirements:
Applications for grants under this
competition may be submitted
electronically or in paper format by mail
or hand delivery.
a. Electronic Submission of
Applications.
We have been accepting applications
electronically through the Department’s
e-Application system since FY 2000. In
order to expand on those efforts and
comply with the President’s
Management Agenda, we are continuing
to participate as a partner in the new
government wide Grants.gov Apply site
in FY 2006. Principal Leadership
Professional Development Center to
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Support School Improvement to Ensure
Access to, and Participation and
Progress in the General Education
Curriculum in the Least Restrictive
Environment—CFDA Number 84.325P
is one of the competitions included in
this project. We request your
participation in Grants.gov.
If you choose to submit your
application electronically, you must use
the Grants.gov Apply site at https://
www.Grants.gov. Through this site, you
will be able to download a copy of the
application package, complete it offline,
and then upload and submit your
application. You may not e-mail an
electronic copy of a grant application to
us.
You may access the electronic grant
application for the Principal Leadership
Professional Development Center to
Support School Improvement to Ensure
Access to, and Participation and
Progress in the General Education
Curriculum in the Least Restrictive
Environment—CFDA Number 84.325P
competition at: https://www.grants.gov.
You must search for the downloadable
application package for this program by
the CFDA number. Do not include the
CFDA number’s alpha suffix in your
search.
Please note the following:
• Your participation in Grants.gov is
voluntary.
• When you enter the Grants.gov site,
you will find information about
submitting an application electronically
through the site, as well as the hours of
operation.
• Applications received by Grants.gov
are time and date stamped. Your
application must be fully uploaded and
submitted, and must be date/time
stamped by the Grants.gov system no
later than 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC
time, on the application deadline date.
Except as otherwise noted in this
section, we will not consider your
application if it is date/time stamped by
the Grants.gov system later than 4:30
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the
application deadline date. When we
retrieve your application from
Grants.gov, we will notify you if we are
rejecting your application because it
was date/time stamped by the
Grants.gov system after 4:30 p.m.,
Washington, DC time, on the
application deadline date.
• The amount of time it can take to
upload an application will vary
depending on a variety of factors
including the size of the application and
the speed of your Internet connection.
Therefore, we strongly recommend that
you do not wait until the application
deadline date to begin the application
process through Grants.gov.
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• You should review and follow the
Education Submission Procedures for
submitting an application through
Grants.gov that are included in the
application package for this competition
to ensure that you submit your
application in a timely manner to the
Grants.gov system. You can also find the
Education Submission Procedures
pertaining to Grants.gov at https://eGrants.ed.gov/help/
GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf.
• To submit your application via
Grants.gov, you must complete all of the
steps in the Grants.gov registration
process (see https://www.Grants.gov/
GetStarted). These steps include (1)
registering your organization, (2)
registering yourself as an Authorized
Organization Representative (AOR), and
(3) getting authorized as an AOR by
your organization. Details on these steps
are outlined in the Grants.gov 3-Step
Registration Guide (see https://
www.grants.gov/assets/
GrantsgovCoBrandBrochure8X11.pdf).
You also must provide on your
application the same D-U-N-S Number
used with this registration. Please note
that the registration process may take
five or more business days to complete,
and you must have completed all
registration steps to allow you to
successfully submit an application via
Grants.gov.
• You will not receive additional
point value because you submit your
application in electronic format, nor
will we penalize you if you submit your
application in paper format.
• You may submit all documents
electronically, including all information
typically included on the Application
for Federal Education Assistance (ED
424), Budget Information—NonConstruction Programs (ED 524), and all
necessary assurances and certifications.
If you choose to submit your application
electronically, you must attach any
narrative sections of your application as
files in a .DOC (document), .RTF (rich
text) or .PDF (Portable Document)
format. If you upload a file type other
than the three file types specified above
or submit a password protected file, we
will not review that material.
• Your electronic application must
comply with any page limit
requirements described in this notice.
• After you electronically submit
your application, you will receive an
automatic acknowledgment from
Grants.gov that contains a Grants.gov
tracking number. The Department will
retrieve your application from
Grants.gov and send you a second
confirmation by e-mail that will include
a PR/Award number (an ED-specified
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identifying number unique to your
application).
• We may request that you provide us
original signatures on forms at a later
date.
Application Deadline Date Extension in
Case of System Unavailability
If you are prevented from
electronically submitting your
application on the application deadline
date because of technical problems with
the Grants.gov system, we will grant you
an extension until 4:30 p.m.,
Washington, DC time, the following
business day to enable you to transmit
your application electronically, or by
hand delivery. You also may mail your
application by following the mailing
instructions as described elsewhere in
this notice. If you submit an application
after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on
the deadline date, please contact the
person listed elsewhere in this notice
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT, and provide an explanation of
the technical problem you experienced
with Grants.gov, along with the
Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number
(if available). We will accept your
application if we can confirm that a
technical problem occurred with the
Grants.gov system and that that problem
affected your ability to submit your
application by 4:30 p.m., Washington,
DC time, on the application deadline
date. The Department will contact you
after a determination is made on
whether your application will be
accepted.
Note: Extensions referred to in this section
apply only to the unavailability of or
technical problems with the Grants.gov
system. We will not grant you an extension
if you failed to fully register to submit your
application to Grants.gov before the deadline
date and time or if the technical problem you
experienced is unrelated to the Grants.gov
system.
b. Submission of Paper Applications
by Mail.
If you submit your application in
paper format by mail (through the U.S.
Postal Service or a commercial carrier),
you must mail the original and two
copies of your application, on or before
the application deadline date, to the
Department at the applicable following
address:
By mail through the U.S. Postal
Service: U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center, Attention:
(CFDA Number 84.325P), 400 Maryland
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202–
4260; or
By mail through a commercial carrier:
U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center—Stop 4260,
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Attention: (CFDA Number 84.325P),
7100 Old Landover Road, Landover, MD
20785–1506.
Regardless of which address you use,
you must show proof of mailing
consisting of one of the following:
(1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service
postmark.
(2) A legible mail receipt with the
date of mailing stamped by the U.S.
Postal Service.
(3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or
receipt from a commercial carrier, or
(4) Any other proof of mailing
acceptable to the Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Education.
If you mail your application through
the U.S. Postal Service, we do not
accept either of the following as proof
of mailing:
(1) A private metered postmark, or
(2) A mail receipt that is not dated by
the U.S. Postal Service.
If your application is postmarked after
the application deadline date, we will
not consider your application.
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Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not
uniformly provide a dated postmark. Before
relying on this method, you should check
with your local post office.
c. Submission of Paper Applications
by Hand Delivery.
If you submit your application in
paper format by hand delivery, you (or
a courier service) must deliver the
original and two copies of your
application by hand, on or before the
application deadline date, to the
Department at the following address:
U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center, Attention:
(CFDA Number 84.325P), 550 12th
Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center
Plaza, Washington, DC 20202–4260.
The Application Control Center
accepts hand deliveries daily between 8
a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC
time, except Saturdays, Sundays and
Federal holidays.
Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of
Paper Applications: If you mail or hand
deliver your application to the
Department:
(1) You must indicate on the envelope
and—if not provided by the
Department—in Item 4 of ED 424 the
CFDA number—and suffix letter, if
any—of the competition under which
you are submitting your application.
(2) The Application Control Center
will mail a grant application receipt
acknowledgment to you. If you do not
receive the grant application receipt
acknowledgment within 15 business
days from the application deadline date,
you should call the U.S. Department of
Education Application Control Center at
(202) 245–6288.
VerDate Aug<31>2005
13:56 Feb 08, 2006
Jkt 208001
6771
V. Application Review Information
Selection Criteria: The selection
criteria for this competition are from 34
CFR 75.210 and are listed in the
application package.
performance in annual reports to the
Department (34 CFR 75.590).
VII. Agency Contact
VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices: If your application
is successful, we notify your U.S.
Representative and U.S. Senators and
send you a Grant Award Notification
(GAN). We may also notify you
informally.
If your application is not evaluated or
not selected for funding, we notify you.
2. Administrative and National Policy
Requirements: We identify
administrative and national policy
requirements in the application package
and reference these and other
requirements in the Applicable
Regulations section of this notice.
We reference the regulations outlining
the terms and conditions of an award in
the Applicable Regulations section of
this notice and include these and other
specific conditions in the GAN. The
GAN also incorporates your approved
application as part of your binding
commitments under the grant.
3. Reporting: At the end of your
project period, you must submit a final
performance report, including financial
information, as directed by the
Secretary. If you receive a multi-year
award, you must submit an annual
performance report that provides the
most current performance and financial
expenditure information as specified by
the Secretary in 34 CFR 75.118.
4. Performance Measures: Under the
Government Performance and Results
Act (GPRA), the Department has
developed measures that will yield
information on various aspects of the
technical assistance and dissemination
activities currently being supported
under IDEA Part D. These measures will
be used for the Principal Leadership
Professional Development Center to
Support School Improvement to Ensure
Access to, and Participation and
Progress in the General Education
Curriculum in the Least Restrictive
Environment competition, and they
focus on: The extent to which projects
provide high quality products and
services, the relevance of project
products and services to educational
and early intervention policy and
practice, and the use of products and
services to improve educational and
early intervention policy and practice.
We will notify grantees if they will be
required to provide any information
related to these measures.
Grantees will also be required to
report information on their projects’
PO 00000
Frm 00025
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Anne Smith, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
room 4086, Potomac Center Plaza,
Washington, DC 20202–2600.
Telephone: (202) 245–7529.
If you use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD), you may call
the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1–
800–877–8339.
Individuals with disabilities may
obtain this document in an alternative
format (e.g., Braille, large print,
audiotape, or computer diskette) on
request by contacting the following
office: The Grants and Contracts
Services Team, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, DC
20202–2550. Telephone: (202) 245–
7363.
VIII. Other Information
Electronic Access to This Document:
You may view this document, as well as
all other documents of this Department
published in the Federal Register, in
text or Adobe Portable Document
Format (PDF) on the Internet at the
following site: https://www.ed.gov/news/
fedregister.
To use PDF you must have Adobe
Acrobat Reader, which is available free
at this site. If you have questions about
using PDF, call the U.S. Government
Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1–
888–293–6498; or in the Washington,
DC, area at (202) 512–1530.
Note: The official version of this document
is the document published in the Federal
Register. Free Internet access to the official
edition of the Federal Register and the Code
of Federal Regulations is available on GPO
Access at: https://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/
index.html.
Dated: February 6, 2006.
John H. Hager,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. E6–1805 Filed 2–8–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[FRL–8030–5]
National Advisory Council for
Environmental Policy and Technology
Environmental Technology
Subcommittee
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
AGENCY:
E:\FR\FM\09FEN1.SGM
09FEN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 27 (Thursday, February 9, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6767-6771]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-1805]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
Overview Information
Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children
with Disabilities--Principal Leadership Professional Development Center
to Support School Improvement to Ensure Access to, and Participation
and Progress in the General Education Curriculum in the Least
Restrictive Environment.
Notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year (FY)
2006.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.325P.
Dates:
Applications Available: February 9, 2006.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: March 24, 2006.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: May 23, 2006.
Eligible Applicants: Institutions of higher education (IHEs).
Estimated Available Funds: $285,000.
Maximum Award: We will reject any application that proposes a
budget exceeding $285,000 for a single budget period of 12 months. The
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
may change the maximum amount through a notice published in the Federal
Register.
Number of Awards: 1.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 60 months.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: The purposes of this program are to (1) help
address State-identified needs for highly qualified personnel--in
special education, related services, early intervention, and regular
education--to work with infants or toddlers with disabilities, or
children with disabilities; and (2) ensure that those personnel have
the skills and knowledge--derived from practices that have been
determined through research and experience to be successful--that are
needed to serve those children.
Priority: In accordance with 34 CFR 75.105(b)(2)(v), this priority
is from allowable activities specified in the statute (see sections
662(d) and 681(d) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA)).
Absolute Priority: For FY 2006 this priority is an absolute
priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), we consider only applications that
meet this priority.
This priority is:
Principal Leadership Professional Development Center to Support
School Improvement to Ensure Access to, and Participation and Progress
in the General Education Curriculum in the Least Restrictive
Environment
Background
Principal leadership is an essential element of school improvement
that entails simultaneous attention to effective and efficient service
delivery, use of resources, and academic performance. Successful
principals use a variety of strategies and tools to leverage
improvement on a school-wide basis, for all students including students
with disabilities. For example, effective principals often build
partnerships with families, business leaders, and community
organizations, and establish and mobilize leadership teams to assess
community resources, align initiatives, and design and implement
coherent strategic plans to support student success. Principal
leadership guides students, families, school personnel, and community
partners through the development, design, implementation, and
evaluation of coherent and evidence-based systemic school improvement
strategies. Effective principals also mentor and coach teachers to
build school capacity to ensure that all students have access to a
content-rich general education curriculum and instructional supports to
achieve academic success.
Unfortunately, there is a gap between evidence-based best practice
and current practice in principal leadership and implementation of
school improvement activities. This gap is particularly evident in
providing access to the general education curriculum in the least
restrictive environment for students with disabilities.
Many principals have difficulty with the logistics of establishing
inclusive classrooms due to the small number of highly qualified
special education teachers who have full schedules and caseloads,
causing many schools to group special education students together
rather than assign them general education classrooms with supplementary
supports. According to the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal
Study (2004), 45 percent of elementary and middle school students with
disabilities receive their primary language arts instruction in special
education settings--resource rooms, self-contained special education
classes, or one-to-one instruction rather than in the general education
classroom. According to the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2
(2003), even when
[[Page 6768]]
physically present in the general education classroom, students with
disabilities consistently participate less actively than their
classmates in their general education academic classes. In 2005, of the
students with disabilities included in the sample for the National
Assessment of Educational Progress, 35 percent were excluded from the
fourth-grade reading assessment and 19 percent were excluded from
fourth-grade math assessment because of their disability. Furthermore,
according to the 22nd Annual Report to Congress, 31 percent of special
education students ages 14 to 21 drop out of school. These statistics
demonstrate that there is a compelling need for principals to implement
school improvement activities that ensure that students with
disabilities have access to, and participate and progress in the
general education curriculum in the least restrictive environment.
Priority
The Assistant Secretary establishes an absolute priority for the
establishment of a Principal Leadership Professional Development Center
to Support School Improvement to Ensure Access to, and Participation
and Progress in the General Education Curriculum in the Least
Restrictive Environment (PD Center). The purpose of the PD Center is to
support principals in their efforts to implement unified school
improvement initiatives that are designed to ensure students with
disabilities have access to, and participate and progress in the
general education curriculum in the least restrictive environment.
The PD Center must:
Assist a cadre of principals in the development,
implementation, and continuous improvement of school improvement
efforts using evidence-based practices to ensure that students with
disabilities have access to, and participate and progress in the
general education curriculum in the least restrictive environment;
Support networks of principals engaged in school
improvement efforts that include students with disabilities;
Create partnerships among principal professional
associations, school and university personnel, and business leaders to
promote and support principal leadership for school improvement and
inclusion of students with disabilities across the Nation; and
Use existing principal professional organization networks
to inform the PD Center's activities and serve as dissemination
vehicles.
To meet this priority, the PD Center must:
(a) Build the capacity of principals to use evidence-based school
improvement practices to ensure access to, and participation and
progress in the general education curriculum in the least restrictive
environment for students with disabilities at the kindergarten through
grade 12 levels;
(b) Provide training and onsite professional development to
principals in partnership with at least 30 schools to lead school
improvement initiatives that focus on enhancing access to, and
participation and progress in the general education curriculum in the
least restrictive environment for students with disabilities;
(c) Identify and widely disseminate the most successful evidence-
based school systemic improvement practices available to principals
throughout the United States for school improvement activities that
ensure access to, and participation and progress in the general
education curriculum in the least restrictive environment for students
with disabilities. To the extent possible, the Center should use
criteria from the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) and other rigorous
sources in determining what is ``evidenced-based'';
(d) Complete a synthesis of available research literature within
the first six months of the project start date. To the extent possible,
the PD Center will consult with sources such as the WWC, the Access
Center: Improving Outcomes for All Students K-9 that is funded by the
Department's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), and the
review board of OSEP's Dissemination Center. The synthesis must
include: (1) A summary of the research literature describing promising
evidence-based school improvement instruction and progress-monitoring
practices in elementary, middle, and secondary schools that ensure
access to, and participation and progress in the general education
curriculum in the least restrictive environment for students with
disabilities to ensure schools meet adequate yearly progress
indicators; (2) a conceptual framework using evidence-based research
practices within a coherent decision-making model to support the
adoption, implementation, evaluation, sustainability, and scaling up of
school improvement strategies that ensure access to, and participation
and progress in the general education curriculum in the least
restrictive environment for students with disabilities; (3) a
description of evidence-based practices that may be used to foster and
maintain partnerships between schools and families to support school
improvement activities; (4) a description of effective approaches to
professional development and capacity-building within schools that
ensure access to, and participation and progress in the general
education curriculum in the least restrictive environment for students
with disabilities; and (5) a description of how effective principal
leaders integrate assessment, curriculum and instruction with learning
standards, teaching design and practicum, and family participation in
teaching and learning, in a comprehensive aligned professional
development model to guide systemic implementation at classroom and
school levels;
(e) In years 1 through 3 of the project period, identify,
implement, and evaluate strategies that support effective principals in
partnership with at least 30 schools to provide examples of effective
school improvement implementation of evidence-based and promising
practices that ensure access to, and participation and progress in the
general education curriculum in the least restrictive environment for
students with disabilities. At a minimum, the PD Center must work with
these 30 partner schools to: (1) Identify and define the scope and
sequence of ongoing professional development training content as well
as strategies to measure the acquisition, fidelity, and fluency of
implementation at the classroom and school levels; (2) establish
classroom and school structures to increase school improvement capacity
for ongoing professional development and training; and (3) describe how
principals work with school and district leaders to incorporate these
strategies into ongoing district policy and practice;
(f) Based on lessons learned with principal leaders and school
improvement efforts in years 1 through 3 of the project period,
replicate and scale up the PD Center's implementation with an
additional 200 schools in year 4 of the project period;
(g) Establish, maintain, and meet at least annually with a national
advisory group of principal leaders from urban, suburban, and rural
schools to provide feedback on the plans, activities, and
accomplishments of the PD Center in collaboration with the OSEP Project
Officer;
(h) Use external and internal evaluators to measure and report to
OSEP on the progress of the PD Center activities included in paragraphs
(a) through (f) in this priority;
(i) Meet with the OSEP Project Officer and appropriate OSEP staff
within the first month of the project start date;
(j) Budget for the PD Center's project director to attend a three-
day Project Director's Meeting in Washington, DC
[[Page 6769]]
and an additional two-day trip annually to Washington, DC to attend an
additional Project Director's meeting and to meet and collaborate with
the OSEP Project Officer and other funded projects for purposes of
cross-project collaboration and information exchange; and
(k) If a Web site is maintained, ensure that the information and
documents available on the Web site are in a format that meets a
government or industry-recognized standard for accessibility.
Fourth and Fifth Years of the Project
In deciding whether to continue funding the PD Center for the
fourth and fifth years, the Secretary, will consider the requirements
of 34 CFR 75.253(a), and in addition:
(a) The recommendation of a review team consisting of experts
selected by the Secretary, which review will be conducted during the
last half of the project's second year in Washington, DC. Projects must
budget for the travel associated with this review;
(b) The timeliness and effectiveness with which all requirements of
the negotiated cooperative agreement have been or are being met by the
project; and
(c) The degree to which the project's design and methodology
demonstrate the potential for advancing significant new knowledge.
Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking: Under the Administrative Procedure
Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553) the Department generally offers interested
parties the opportunity to comment on a proposed priority. However,
section 681(d) of IDEA makes the public comment requirements of the APA
inapplicable to the priority in this notice.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1462 and 1481(d).
Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80,
81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Cooperative agreement.
Estimated Available Funds: $285,000.
Maximum Award: We will reject any application that proposes a
budget exceeding $285,000 for a single budget period of 12 months. The
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
may change the maximum amount through a notice published in the Federal
Register.
Number of Awards: 1.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 60 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: IHEs.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This competition does not involve cost
sharing or matching.
3. Other: General Requirements-- (a) The projects funded under this
competition must make positive efforts to employ and advance in
employment qualified individuals with disabilities (see section 606 of
IDEA).
(b) Applicants and grant recipients funded under this competition
must involve individuals with disabilities or parents of individuals
with disabilities ages birth through 26 in planning, implementing, and
evaluating the projects (see section 682(a)(1)(A) of IDEA).
IV. Application and Submission Information
1. Address to Request Application Package: Education Publications
Center (ED Pubs), P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Telephone (toll
free): 1-877-433-7827. FAX: (301) 470-1244. If you use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may call (toll free):
1-877-576-7734.
You may also contact ED Pubs at its Web site: https://www.ed.gov/
pubs/edpubs.html or you may contact ED Pubs at its e-mail address:
edpubs@inet.ed.gov.
If you request an application from ED Pubs, be sure to identify
this competition as follows: CFDA number 84.325P.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print,
audiotape, or computer diskette) by contacting the Grants and Contracts
Services Team listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in section
VII of this notice.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission: Requirements
concerning the content of an application, together with the forms you
must submit, are in the application package for this competition. Page
Limit: The application narrative (Part III of the application) is where
you, the applicant, address the selection criteria that reviewers use
to evaluate your application. You must limit Part III to the equivalent
of no more than 70 pages, using the following standards:
A ``page'' is 8.5'' x 11'', on one side only, with
1 margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.
Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch)
all text in the application narrative, including titles, headings,
footnotes, quotations, references, and captions, as well as all text in
charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
Use a font that is either 12 point or larger or no smaller
than 10 pitch (characters per inch).
The page limit does not apply to Part I, the cover sheet; Part II,
the budget section, including the narrative budget justification; Part
IV, the assurances and certifications; or the one-page abstract, the
resumes, the bibliography, the references, or the letters of support.
However, you must include all of the application narrative in Part III.
We will reject your application if:
You apply these standards and exceed the page limit; or
You apply other standards and exceed the equivalent of the
page limit.
3. Submission Dates and Times:
Applications Available: February 9, 2006.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: March 24, 2006.
Applications for grants under this competition may be submitted
electronically using the Grants.gov Apply site (Grants.gov), or in
paper format by mail or hand delivery. For information (including dates
and times) about how to submit your application electronically, or by
mail or hand delivery, please refer to section IV.6. Other Submission
Requirements in this notice.
We do not consider an application that does not comply with the
deadline requirements.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: May 23, 2006.
4. Intergovernmental Review: This program is subject to Executive
Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. Information about
Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs under Executive Order
12372 is in the application package for this competition.
5. Funding Restrictions: We reference regulations outlining funding
restrictions in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice.
6. Other Submission Requirements: Applications for grants under
this competition may be submitted electronically or in paper format by
mail or hand delivery.
a. Electronic Submission of Applications.
We have been accepting applications electronically through the
Department's e-Application system since FY 2000. In order to expand on
those efforts and comply with the President's Management Agenda, we are
continuing to participate as a partner in the new government wide
Grants.gov Apply site in FY 2006. Principal Leadership Professional
Development Center to
[[Page 6770]]
Support School Improvement to Ensure Access to, and Participation and
Progress in the General Education Curriculum in the Least Restrictive
Environment--CFDA Number 84.325P is one of the competitions included in
this project. We request your participation in Grants.gov.
If you choose to submit your application electronically, you must
use the Grants.gov Apply site at https://www.Grants.gov. Through this
site, you will be able to download a copy of the application package,
complete it offline, and then upload and submit your application. You
may not e-mail an electronic copy of a grant application to us.
You may access the electronic grant application for the Principal
Leadership Professional Development Center to Support School
Improvement to Ensure Access to, and Participation and Progress in the
General Education Curriculum in the Least Restrictive Environment--CFDA
Number 84.325P competition at: https://www.grants.gov. You must search
for the downloadable application package for this program by the CFDA
number. Do not include the CFDA number's alpha suffix in your search.
Please note the following:
Your participation in Grants.gov is voluntary.
When you enter the Grants.gov site, you will find
information about submitting an application electronically through the
site, as well as the hours of operation.
Applications received by Grants.gov are time and date
stamped. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted, and
must be date/time stamped by the Grants.gov system no later than 4:30
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. Except as
otherwise noted in this section, we will not consider your application
if it is date/time stamped by the Grants.gov system later than 4:30
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. When we
retrieve your application from Grants.gov, we will notify you if we are
rejecting your application because it was date/time stamped by the
Grants.gov system after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the
application deadline date.
The amount of time it can take to upload an application
will vary depending on a variety of factors including the size of the
application and the speed of your Internet connection. Therefore, we
strongly recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline
date to begin the application process through Grants.gov.
You should review and follow the Education Submission
Procedures for submitting an application through Grants.gov that are
included in the application package for this competition to ensure that
you submit your application in a timely manner to the Grants.gov
system. You can also find the Education Submission Procedures
pertaining to Grants.gov at https://e-Grants.ed.gov/help/
GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf.
To submit your application via Grants.gov, you must
complete all of the steps in the Grants.gov registration process (see
https://www.Grants.gov/GetStarted). These steps include (1) registering
your organization, (2) registering yourself as an Authorized
Organization Representative (AOR), and (3) getting authorized as an AOR
by your organization. Details on these steps are outlined in the
Grants.gov 3-Step Registration Guide (see https://www.grants.gov/assets/
GrantsgovCoBrandBrochure8X11.pdf). You also must provide on your
application the same D-U-N-S Number used with this registration. Please
note that the registration process may take five or more business days
to complete, and you must have completed all registration steps to
allow you to successfully submit an application via Grants.gov.
You will not receive additional point value because you
submit your application in electronic format, nor will we penalize you
if you submit your application in paper format.
You may submit all documents electronically, including all
information typically included on the Application for Federal Education
Assistance (ED 424), Budget Information--Non-Construction Programs (ED
524), and all necessary assurances and certifications. If you choose to
submit your application electronically, you must attach any narrative
sections of your application as files in a .DOC (document), .RTF (rich
text) or .PDF (Portable Document) format. If you upload a file type
other than the three file types specified above or submit a password
protected file, we will not review that material.
Your electronic application must comply with any page
limit requirements described in this notice.
After you electronically submit your application, you will
receive an automatic acknowledgment from Grants.gov that contains a
Grants.gov tracking number. The Department will retrieve your
application from Grants.gov and send you a second confirmation by e-
mail that will include a PR/Award number (an ED-specified identifying
number unique to your application).
We may request that you provide us original signatures on
forms at a later date.
Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of System Unavailability
If you are prevented from electronically submitting your
application on the application deadline date because of technical
problems with the Grants.gov system, we will grant you an extension
until 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, the following business day to
enable you to transmit your application electronically, or by hand
delivery. You also may mail your application by following the mailing
instructions as described elsewhere in this notice. If you submit an
application after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the deadline date,
please contact the person listed elsewhere in this notice under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, and provide an explanation of the
technical problem you experienced with Grants.gov, along with the
Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number (if available). We will accept your
application if we can confirm that a technical problem occurred with
the Grants.gov system and that that problem affected your ability to
submit your application by 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the
application deadline date. The Department will contact you after a
determination is made on whether your application will be accepted.
Note: Extensions referred to in this section apply only to the
unavailability of or technical problems with the Grants.gov system.
We will not grant you an extension if you failed to fully register
to submit your application to Grants.gov before the deadline date
and time or if the technical problem you experienced is unrelated to
the Grants.gov system.
b. Submission of Paper Applications by Mail.
If you submit your application in paper format by mail (through the
U.S. Postal Service or a commercial carrier), you must mail the
original and two copies of your application, on or before the
application deadline date, to the Department at the applicable
following address:
By mail through the U.S. Postal Service: U.S. Department of
Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number
84.325P), 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-4260; or
By mail through a commercial carrier: U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center--Stop 4260,
[[Page 6771]]
Attention: (CFDA Number 84.325P), 7100 Old Landover Road, Landover, MD
20785-1506.
Regardless of which address you use, you must show proof of mailing
consisting of one of the following:
(1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark.
(2) A legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the
U.S. Postal Service.
(3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from a commercial
carrier, or
(4) Any other proof of mailing acceptable to the Secretary of the
U.S. Department of Education.
If you mail your application through the U.S. Postal Service, we do
not accept either of the following as proof of mailing:
(1) A private metered postmark, or
(2) A mail receipt that is not dated by the U.S. Postal Service.
If your application is postmarked after the application deadline
date, we will not consider your application.
Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide a dated
postmark. Before relying on this method, you should check with your
local post office.
c. Submission of Paper Applications by Hand Delivery.
If you submit your application in paper format by hand delivery,
you (or a courier service) must deliver the original and two copies of
your application by hand, on or before the application deadline date,
to the Department at the following address: U.S. Department of
Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number
84.325P), 550 12th Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center Plaza,
Washington, DC 20202-4260.
The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily
between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, except Saturdays,
Sundays and Federal holidays.
Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of Paper Applications: If you mail
or hand deliver your application to the Department:
(1) You must indicate on the envelope and--if not provided by the
Department--in Item 4 of ED 424 the CFDA number--and suffix letter, if
any--of the competition under which you are submitting your
application.
(2) The Application Control Center will mail a grant application
receipt acknowledgment to you. If you do not receive the grant
application receipt acknowledgment within 15 business days from the
application deadline date, you should call the U.S. Department of
Education Application Control Center at (202) 245-6288.
V. Application Review Information
Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this competition are
from 34 CFR 75.210 and are listed in the application package.
VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices: If your application is successful, we notify your
U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators and send you a Grant Award
Notification (GAN). We may also notify you informally.
If your application is not evaluated or not selected for funding,
we notify you.
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: We identify
administrative and national policy requirements in the application
package and reference these and other requirements in the Applicable
Regulations section of this notice.
We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of
an award in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice and
include these and other specific conditions in the GAN. The GAN also
incorporates your approved application as part of your binding
commitments under the grant.
3. Reporting: At the end of your project period, you must submit a
final performance report, including financial information, as directed
by the Secretary. If you receive a multi-year award, you must submit an
annual performance report that provides the most current performance
and financial expenditure information as specified by the Secretary in
34 CFR 75.118.
4. Performance Measures: Under the Government Performance and
Results Act (GPRA), the Department has developed measures that will
yield information on various aspects of the technical assistance and
dissemination activities currently being supported under IDEA Part D.
These measures will be used for the Principal Leadership Professional
Development Center to Support School Improvement to Ensure Access to,
and Participation and Progress in the General Education Curriculum in
the Least Restrictive Environment competition, and they focus on: The
extent to which projects provide high quality products and services,
the relevance of project products and services to educational and early
intervention policy and practice, and the use of products and services
to improve educational and early intervention policy and practice.
We will notify grantees if they will be required to provide any
information related to these measures.
Grantees will also be required to report information on their
projects' performance in annual reports to the Department (34 CFR
75.590).
VII. Agency Contact
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anne Smith, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4086, Potomac Center Plaza,
Washington, DC 20202-2600. Telephone: (202) 245-7529.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request by contacting the following office: The Grants and
Contracts Services Team, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland
Avenue, SW., Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-2550.
Telephone: (202) 245-7363.
VIII. Other Information
Electronic Access to This Document: You may view this document, as
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the
Internet at the following site: https://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister.
To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S.
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in
the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.
Note: The official version of this document is the document
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: https://www.gpoaccess.gov/
nara/.
Dated: February 6, 2006.
John H. Hager,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. E6-1805 Filed 2-8-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P