Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; Overview Information; Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities-Building State Capacity to Improve the Achievement of Students With Disabilities Under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); Notice Inviting Applications for new Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007, 43629-43634 [E7-15228]
Download as PDF
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 150 / Monday, August 6, 2007 / Notices
Innovation in the 21st Century Economy
Advisory Committee (the ‘‘Committee’’)
was in the public interest in connection
with the performance of duties imposed
on the Department by law.
The Committee will advise the
Secretary on new or improved measures
of innovation to help explain how
innovation occurs in different sectors of
the economy, how it is diffuses, and
how it impacts economic growth and
productivity. The Committee consists of
fifteen members from business and
academia appointed by the Secretary of
Commerce. The Committee functions
solely as an advisory body, in
compliance with the provisions of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act. The
Charter was filed under the Federal
Advisory Committee Act. Additional
information on the Advisory Committee
on Measuring Innovation in the 21st
Century Economy can be found online
at: https://www.innovationmetrics.gov.
The meeting is physically accessible
to people with disabilities. Individuals
requiring special accommodations at
this meeting including sign language
interpretation or other auxiliary aids
should contact Sabrina Montes at the
address listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT at least 5 business
days prior to the meeting so that
appropriate arrangements can be made.
The meeting will be transcribed and the
transcription will be made public on the
Committee Web site within one month
of the meeting date.
Elizabeth ‘‘E.R.’’ Anderson,
Deputy Under Secretary for Economic Affairs.
[FR Doc. E7–15167 Filed 8–3–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–06–P
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services; Overview
Information; Technical Assistance and
Dissemination to Improve Services and
Results for Children with Disabilities—
Building State Capacity to Improve the
Achievement of Students With
Disabilities Under the No Child Left
Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals
With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA);
Notice Inviting Applications for new
Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
(CFDA) Number: 84.326K.
Dates:
Applications Available: August 6,
2007.
Deadline for Transmittal of
Applications: September 5, 2007.
Deadline for Intergovernmental
Review: September 10, 2007.
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Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: The purpose of
this program is to promote academic
achievement and improve results for
children with disabilities by supporting
technical assistance (TA), model
demonstration projects, dissemination
of useful information, and
implementation activities that are
supported by scientifically based
research.
Priority: In accordance with 34 CFR
75.105(b)(2)(v), this priority is from
allowable activities specified in sections
663 and 681(d) of the IDEA, 20 U.S.C.
1400 et seq.
Absolute Priority: For FY 2007, this is
an absolute priority. Under 34 CFR
75.105(c)(3), we consider only
applications that meet this priority.
This priority is: Building State
Capacity to Improve the Achievement of
Students With Disabilities under NCLB
and IDEA
Background:
One of the primary goals of Title I of
the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965, as amended by
the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
(NCLB), is for all students to reach
proficiency in reading and math by
2014. Available data indicate that there
is still much work to be done to reach
this goal, particularly for students with
disabilities. In 2004, 37 percent of
schools missed AYP for the students
with disabilities subgroup (Department
of Education, 2006). Furthermore, while
the achievement gaps between various
groups of students have decreased, the
gap between students with disabilities
and students without disabilities
remains significant and a cause for
concern (Center on Education Policy,
2007a). For example, O’Reilly and
colleagues (2006) note that achievement
data from standardized reading and
mathematics tests collected in two
nationally representative longitudinal
studies (Special Education Elementary
Longitudinal Study and the National
Longitudinal Transition Study 2)
indicate that almost two-thirds of
students with disabilities scored at or
below the 25th percentile.
In order to raise the achievement of
students with disabilities, State
educational agencies (SEAs) must have
the capacity to provide support and TA
to their districts and schools. While
most SEAs agree that they should play
a key role in supporting their districts’
and schools’ efforts to improve the
achievement of students, many SEAs do
not have the capacity to do so (Center
on Education Policy, 2007b). The Center
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on Education Policy (2007a) found that
providing TA to districts with schools
in need of improvement continues to be
very challenging for SEAs.
SEA officials report that one reason
for their inability to provide support to
their districts and schools is a lack of inhouse expertise in providing TA. In fact,
many of the SEAs surveyed by the
Center on Education Policy (2007a)
stated that they were ‘‘experimenting’’
with providing TA and did not know
the best way to provide support to their
districts and schools. This has resulted
in delivery of TA that is fragmented and
episodic, rather than ongoing and
systematic (Department of Education,
2006).
For TA to be effective, SEAs must take
the following steps: (1) Identify available
TA that addresses the unique needs of
their districts; (2) create an
infrastructure that coordinates TA
between regular and special education;
(3) support districts in sustaining the
implementation of evidence-based
practices; and (4) support the scaling-up
of evidence-based practices Statewide
(see Learning Point Associates, 2007).
Each of these steps is detailed below.
Identify available TA that addresses
the unique needs of districts. States
should consider using the significant
TA resources that are currently available
to support their districts and schools.
For example, the Department’s Office of
Special Education Programs (OSEP)
funds over 50 TA centers, including six
Regional Resource Centers (RRCs), to
support the effective implementation of
the IDEA. The Department’s Office of
Elementary and Secondary Education
(OESE) funds 21 comprehensive TA
centers to support the implementation
of NCLB. Regional educational
laboratories, funded by the
Department’s Institute of Education
Sciences (IES), provide information on
scientifically based research and focus
on topics such as distributed leadership,
effective instructional strategies, and
standards-based curricula. These
providers of research and TA provide a
rich source of information and support;
yet SEAs may not effectively utilize
these resources to meet their needs due
to insufficient staff (Center on Education
Policy, 2007a) or a lack of awareness
about available resources.
Create an infrastructure that
coordinates TA between regular and
special education. The challenge of
coordinating TA for special education
and regular education makes it difficult
for most SEAs to create an infrastructure
that provides ongoing and systematic
TA to improve the achievement of
students with disabilities. To provide
TA that focuses on improving the
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achievement of all students, including
students with disabilities, SEAs have
had to reorganize both their structure
and their function (Center on Education
Policy, 2007a). A review of Statewide
systems of support indicates that SEAs
typically provide TA in a piecemeal
fashion and do not coordinate TA across
regular and special education (Westat,
2006). In a study of the impact of TA
services on improved education for
students with disabilities, a major
finding was that the ‘‘* * *deep
attitudinal and philosophical barriers
that exist between general and special
education will continue to hinder
technical assistance activities if they are
not addressed by both policymakers and
practitioners’’ (SRI, 2000).
Support effective, efficient, and
sustained implementation of evidencebased practices. Capacity is needed at
both State and district levels to sustain
the implementation of evidence-based
practices. Twenty-one States noted that
an important objective of their
Statewide system of support involves
building district capacity to provide TA
so that districts are better able to
provide support to schools (Department
of Education, 2006). Currently, research
´
(Fixsen, Naoom, Blase, Friedman, &
Wallace, 2005) and exemplars of the
implementation of evidence-based
programs and practices funded by the
Department of Education, such as
positive behavior supports (PBS)
(Barrett, 2006) and Reading First (U.S.
Department of Education, 2006), suggest
that if a district or school is to
effectively implement a research-based
program or practice with fidelity, a
number of core implementation
components must be in place (e.g.,
ongoing consultation and coaching,
regular evaluation of staff performance,
data-based decision making). Research
and practice also suggest that TA
provided to districts and schools should
not solely focus on the research-based
practice, but also should include
assistance to help districts and schools
develop and support core
implementation components, noted
above, to ensure that the research-based
practices are effectively implemented
and sustained.
Support the scaling up of evidencebased practices. Scaling up and
sustaining the implementation of
evidence-based practices requires a
guide (i.e., a ‘‘blueprint’’) designed to
improve the efficiency and success of
large-scale replications of a specific
practice (Center on Positive Behavioral
Interventions and Supports, 2004). The
research and exemplars that inform best
practices in implementation and
sustainability of effective practices also
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inform the work of scaling up evidencebased practices and can be used to
create a blueprint to assist SEAs in
building capacity to provide TA to
districts and schools.
Specifically, an integrated system of
TA that supports the scaling up of
evidence-based practices will require:
State funding and public support from
State leaders, systems that support the
use of evidence-based practices, and
appropriate resources for consultation
and coaching for the implementation
sites (Fixsen et al., 2005).
In summary, as part of their efforts to
improve the achievement of students
with disabilities, SEAs need to provide
effective TA to districts. SEAs are
transforming their approaches to
supporting districts to implement
Federal programs so that they may
improve the quality of education
provided to students (Center on
Education Policy, 2007a). Indeed, in
some States, SEAs have gone from being
one of the least used sources of TA to
improve education, to the most used
source. SEAs, however, report that they
often have not had the time, personnel,
or guidance needed to transition from
being an agency focused on compliance
monitoring to an agency focused on TA
(Center on Education Policy, 2007a).
The purpose of this priority is to
support a center to assist SEAs to build
the necessary capacity to provide the
TA needed by districts to support the
achievement of students with
disabilities in grades K–12 and, in doing
so, improve the achievement of all
students.
References
Barrett, S. (2006, August). Maryland’s State
Implementation Strategies, Successes,
and Outcomes. Presented at the Office of
Special Education Programs’ Project
Director’s Meeting, Washington, DC.
Center on Education Policy. (2007a). Has
student achievement increased since No
Child Left Behind? Washington, DC.
Center on Education Policy. (2007b). State
Achievement Profiles. Retrieved June 29,
2007, from: https://www.cep-dc.org/
index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.view
Page&pageId=498&parentID=481.
Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions
and Supports (2004). School-wide
positive behavior support: Implementers’
blueprint and self-assessment. Eugene,
OR: OSEP PBIS Technical Assistance
Center.
´
Fixsen, D.L.; Naoom, S.F.; Blase, K.A.;
Friedman, R.M., Wallace, F. (2005).
Implementation research: A synthesis of
the literature. Tampa, FL: University of
South Florida.
Learning Point Associates. (2007).
Implementing response to intervention
(RTI): Considerations for practitioners.
Washington, DC: Mike Galvin.
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U.S. Department of Education, Institute of
Education Sciences. (2006). National
Assessment of Title I Interim Report:
Executive Summary. Washington, DC.
O’Reilly, F., Fafard, M., Wagner, M., Brown,
S.C., Fritts, J., Luallen, J., Carlson, E.,
Blackorby, J., Hebbeler, K., & Chambers,
J. (2006). Improving results for students
with disabilities: Key findings from the
1997 national assessment studies.
Bethesda, MD: Abt Associates, Inc.
Padilla, C., Marks, S., Adelman, N., Dove, T.,
Haertal, G., & Hopfendgardner Warren, S.
(2000). Understanding technical
assistance: The impact of technical
assistance services on improved
education for students with disabilities.
Menlo Park, CA: SRI International.
U.S. Department of Education. (2006).
Statewide System of Support Profiles.
Washington, DC.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of
Planning, Evaluation and Policy
Development, Policy and Program
Studies Service. (2006). Washington, DC.
Priority
This priority will support a National
Center to Build State Capacity to
Provide TA to Districts (Center) to
ensure that the implementation of
evidence-based practices that improve
the achievement of students with
disabilities is sustained and brought to
scale for grades K–12. The Center will
work intensively with six States to help
them: (a) Identify available TA that
addresses the unique needs of the
districts; (b) create an infrastructure to
provide TA across regular and special
education to improve the achievement
of students with disabilities; (c) use
what is known about effective
implementation of evidence-based
practices at both the SEA and district
levels; and (d) use effective methods to
scale-up the use of evidence-based
practices. The Center will help six
selected States carry out the challenging
responsibility of providing districts with
the necessary TA to improve the
achievement of students with
disabilities. The Center will
disseminate, nationwide, the lessons
learned from their work with the six
States, including (a) How SEAs
effectively took steps to build the
capacity to provide coordinated TA to
districts and (b) TA strategies
appropriate for the unique needs of
specific sites that can be used by States
to improve their capacity to provide TA
to improve the achievement of students
with disabilities. Through the
dissemination of the Center’s work, the
capacity of all States to support their
districts and scale up the use of
evidence-based practices will be
enhanced.
To meet this priority, an applicant
must describe in its application—
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(a) The current research, theory, and
best practices on providing TA at a
systems level, including a review of the
concepts of systems change,
implementation, and scaling up of
evidence-based practices Statewide.
(b) A conceptual framework for how
States should provide TA to districts to
support them in implementing and
sustaining the use of evidence-based
practices across regular and special
education to improve the achievement
of students with disabilities, and how
SEAs should support scaling up the use
of these practices.
(c) A plan for how the Center will
work intensively with six selected SEAs
to establish, enhance, and coordinate a
State TA infrastructure across regular
and special education to support
districts in implementing evidencebased practices to improve the
achievement of students with
disabilities and scaling up the use of
these practices Statewide for grades K–
12.
(d) A logic model depicting, at a
minimum, the goals, activities, outputs,
and outcomes of the proposed Center.
One acceptable approach to logic
modeling is presented on the following
Web site: https://www.uwex.edu/ces/
lmcourse/. The model must include
descriptions of proposed service
delivery strategies, including the nature
and conditions under which various
strategies would be used; information
on who would implement these
strategies and how they would be
implemented; and a comprehensive
description of how the applicant would
measure, through benchmarks and
formative and summative evaluations,
the effectiveness of these strategies.
(e) A plan for recruiting and selecting
six States to work with the Center to
improve their capacity to support
districts in improving the achievement
of students with disabilities. Factors for
consideration in selecting these States
could include the demographic and
geographic characteristics of each State;
the SEA’s priorities and initiatives to
support school improvement; the SEA’s
current capacity for providing TA; and
the commitment of the State’s regular
and special education leadership to
coordinate their TA to improve the
achievement of students with
disabilities. (Final selection of States
will be made during the development of
the cooperative agreement in the
Department. The selection process will
be clear to interested States.)
(f) A plan for how the Center will
document the unique characteristics
and needs of each State and the work
that was necessary to effectively build
State and district capacity to provide TA
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to improve the achievement of students
with disabilities.
(g) A plan for establishing and
facilitating a community of practice
(CoP) of Federal and State TA providers
and others interested in building State
capacity, to share expertise and lessons
learned on a continuous basis. The
membership of the CoP must be
determined with input from OSEP and
OESE and include the following:
Representatives from the six selected
SEAs; experts in systems change and
implementation of evidence-based
practices; representatives from the
Department’s regional comprehensive
centers, regional resource centers,
regional educational laboratories, and
special and regular education content
centers; parents of students with
disabilities; State and local policy
makers; and distinguished teachers and
principals. The Center must support the
ongoing communication of the CoP
through e-mail, teleconferences, Webbased discussions, and face-to-face
meetings.
(h) A dissemination plan that
includes methods for disseminating the
lessons learned and context-specific TA
strategies. This plan must describe the
audiences that are most likely to benefit
from these lessons learned and TA
strategies and the methods the Center
will use to reach them. An annual
conference may be one of these
dissemination methods.
(i) An evaluation plan that measures
the impact of the Center’s activities.
Specifically, the evaluation must
document—
(1) What participants in the six
selected SEAs learned;
(2) How the Center’s TA affected the
SEAs’ ability to support districts in
implementing evidence-based practices
to improve the achievement of students
with disabilities;
(3) How the SEAs scaled-up the
implementation of the evidence-based
practices; and
(4) The degree to which the evidencebased practices contributed to improved
outcomes for students with disabilities.
To meet the requirements of this
priority, the Center, at a minimum,
must—
(a) Establish and maintain a Web site
that will include the Center’s products
and tools, links to CoP information, and
other resources. All Web site
information and documents must be
displayed in a form that meets a
government or industry-recognized
standard for accessibility;
(b) Select an advisory group from the
CoP that will meet at least annually
with the Center to provide feedback on
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Center plans, activities, and
accomplishments;
(c) Budget for the Center’s project
director to attend a three-day Project
Directors’ meeting in Washington, DC
during each year of the project and two
additional yearly meetings with OSEP;
and
(d) Budget five percent of the award
amount annually to support emerging
needs as identified jointly through
consultation with the OSEP project
officer.
Fourth and Fifth Years of the Project:
In deciding whether to continue
funding the 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 travel
expenses associated with this one-day
intensive review;
(b) The timeliness and effectiveness
with which all requirements of the
negotiated cooperative agreement have
been, or are being, met by the Center;
and
(c) The degree to which the project
promotes best practices in educational
services to children.
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 the
IDEA makes the public comment
requirements under the APA
inapplicable to the priority in this
notice.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1463
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.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 79
apply to all applicants except federally
recognized Indian tribes.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86
apply to institutions of higher education
(IHEs) only.
Type of Award: Cooperative
agreement.
Estimated Available Funds:
$1,000,000.
Maximum Award: We will reject any
application that proposes a budget
exceeding $1,000,000 for a single budget
period of 12 months. The Assistant
Secretary for Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services may change the
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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: SEAs; local
educational agencies (LEAs); public
charter schools that are LEAs under
State law; IHEs; other public agencies;
private nonprofit organizations; outlying
areas; freely associated States; Indian
tribes or tribal organizations; and forprofit organizations.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This
competition does not require cost
sharing or matching.
3. Other: General Requirements—
(a) The project funded under this
competition must make positive efforts
to employ and advance in employment
qualified individuals with disabilities
(see section 606 of the IDEA).
(b) Applicants and the award
recipient 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 project (see section 682(a)(1)(A) of
the IDEA).
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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), call, toll free: 1–877–
576–7734.
You can contact ED Pubs at its Web
site, also: https://www.ed.gov/pubs/
edpubs.html or 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
84.326K.
Individuals with disabilities can
obtain a copy of the application package
in an alternative format (e.g., Braille,
large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) by contacting the person or
team listed under Alternate Format in
section VIII in 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 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
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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 coversheet; 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,
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: August 6, 2007.
Deadline for Transmittal of
Applications: September 5, 2007.
Applications for awards 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 in paper format 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.
Individuals with disabilities who
need an accommodation or auxiliary aid
in connection with the application
process should contact the person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT in section VII in this notice. If
the Department provides an
accommodation or auxiliary aid to an
individual with a disability in
connection with the application
process, the individual’s application
remains subject to all other
requirements and limitations in this
notice.
Deadline for Intergovernmental
Review: September 10, 2007.
4. Intergovernmental Review: This
competition is subject to Executive
Order 12372 and the regulations in 34
CFR part 79. Information about
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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 2007. The Building State Capacity
to Improve the Achievement of Students
With Disabilities under the No Child
Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the
Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA), CFDA Number 84.326K, 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 an application to us.
You may access the electronic
application for the Building State
Capacity to Improve the Achievement of
Students With Disabilities under the No
Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the
Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA) at https://www.Grants.gov
You must search for the downloadable
application package for this competition
by the CFDA number. Do not include
the CFDA number’s alpha suffix in your
search (e.g., search for 84.326, not
84.326K).
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 date and time stamped.
Your application must be fully
uploaded and submitted, and must be
date and time stamped by the
Grants.gov system no later than 4:30
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the
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application deadline date. Except as
otherwise noted in this section, we will
not consider your application if it is
date and 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 and 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 submission
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://eGrants.ed.gov/help/
GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf.
• To submit your application via
Grants.gov, you must complete the steps
in the Grants.gov registration process
(https://www.Grants.gov/applicants/
get_registered.jsp). These steps include
(1) Registering your organization, a
multi-part process that includes
registration with the Central Contractor
Registry (CCR); (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/section910/
Grants.govRegistrationBrochure.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. In addition you will need to
update your CCR registration on an
annual basis. This may take three or
more business days to complete.
• 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.
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• If you submit your application
electronically, you must submit all
documents electronically, including all
information you typically provide on
the following forms: Application for
Federal Assistance (SF 424), the
Department of Education Supplemental
Information for SF 424, Budget
Information—Non-Construction
Programs (ED 524), and all necessary
assurances and certifications. Please
note that two of these forms—the SF 424
and the Department of Education
Supplemental Information for SF 424—
have replaced the ED 424 (Application
for Federal Education Assistance).
• If you 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 in this
paragraph or submit a passwordprotected 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 from
Grants.gov an automatic notification of
receipt that contains a Grants.gov
tracking number. (This notification
indicates receipt by Grants.gov only, not
receipt by the Department.) The
Department then will retrieve your
application from Grants.gov and send a
second notification to you by e-mail.
This second notification indicates that
the Department has received your
application and has assigned your
application a PR/Award number (an EDspecified 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 Technical Issues with
the Grant.Gov System: If you are
experiencing problems submitting your
application through Grants.gov, please
contact the Grants.gov Support Desk,
toll free, at 1–800–518–4726. You must
obtain a Grants.gov Support Desk Case
Number and must keep a record of it.
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
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instructions described elsewhere in this
notice.
If you submit an application after 4:30
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the
application deadline date, please
contact the person listed under For
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in
Section VII in this notice and provide an
explanation of the technical problem
you experienced with Grants.gov, along
with the Grants.gov Support Desk Case
Number. 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: The extensions to which we refer 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
application 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 84.326K) 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,
Attention: (CFDA Number 84.326K)
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.
(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
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accept either of the following as proof
of mailing:
(1) A private metered postmark.
(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 84.326K) 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 11 of the SF 424
the CFDA number, including suffix
letter, if any, of the competition under
which you are submitting your
application; and
(2) The Application Control Center
will mail to you a notification of receipt
of your grant application. If you do not
receive this notification 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.
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
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 Notice (GAN).
We may notify you informally, also.
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
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and reference these and other
requirements in the Applicable
Regulations section in this notice.
We reference the regulations outlining
the terms and conditions of an award in
the Applicable Regulations section in
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 award.
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 directed by
the Secretary under 34 CFR 75.118. The
Secretary may also require more
frequent performance reports under 34
CFR 75.720(c). For specific
requirements on reporting, please go to
https://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/
appforms/appforms.html.
4. Performance Measures: Under the
Government Performance and Results
Act of 1993 (GPRA), the Department has
developed measures that will yield
information on various aspects of the
Technical Assistance and Dissemination
to Improve Services and Results for
Children with Disabilities program.
These measures 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.
The awardee will be required to
provide information related to these
measures.
The awardee also will be required to
report information on the project’s
performance in annual reports to the
Department (34 CFR 75.590).
VII. Agency Contact
For Further Information Contact:
Debra Price-Ellingstad, U.S. Department
of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue,
SW., room 4097, Potomac Center Plaza,
Washington, DC 20202–2550.
Telephone: (202) 245–7481.
If you use a TDD, call the Federal
Relay Service (FRS), toll-free, at 1–800–
877–8339.
VIII. Other Information
Alternative Format: Individuals with
disabilities can obtain this document
and a copy of the application package in
an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large
print, audiotape, or computer diskette)
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by contacting the Grants and Contracts
Services Team, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
room 5075, PCP, Washington, DC
20202–2550. Telephone: (202) 245–
7363. If you use a TDD, call the FRS, toll
free, at 1–800–877–8339.
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: July 31, 2007.
John H. Hager,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. E7–15228 Filed 8–3–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services; List of
Correspondence
Department of Education.
List of correspondence from
January 2, 2007 through March 31, 2007.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
SUMMARY: The Secretary is publishing
the following list pursuant to section
607(f) of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act, as amended
by the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Improvement Act of 2004
(IDEA). Under section 607(f) of IDEA,
the Secretary is required, on a quarterly
basis, to publish in the Federal Register
a list of correspondence from the U.S.
Department of Education (Department)
received by individuals during the
previous quarter that describes the
interpretations of the Department of
IDEA or the regulations that implement
IDEA.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Melisande Lee or JoLeta Reynolds.
Telephone: (202) 245–7468.
If you use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD), you may call
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[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 150 (Monday, August 6, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43629-43634]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-15228]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; Overview
Information; Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services
and Results for Children with Disabilities--Building State Capacity to
Improve the Achievement of Students With Disabilities Under the No
Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals With Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA); Notice Inviting Applications for new Awards for
Fiscal Year (FY) 2007
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.326K.
Dates:
Applications Available: August 6, 2007.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: September 5, 2007.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: September 10, 2007.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: The purpose of this program is to promote
academic achievement and improve results for children with disabilities
by supporting technical assistance (TA), model demonstration projects,
dissemination of useful information, and implementation activities that
are supported by scientifically based research.
Priority: In accordance with 34 CFR 75.105(b)(2)(v), this priority
is from allowable activities specified in sections 663 and 681(d) of
the IDEA, 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.
Absolute Priority: For FY 2007, this is an absolute priority. Under
34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), we consider only applications that meet this
priority.
This priority is: Building State Capacity to Improve the
Achievement of Students With Disabilities under NCLB and IDEA
Background:
One of the primary goals of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of
2001 (NCLB), is for all students to reach proficiency in reading and
math by 2014. Available data indicate that there is still much work to
be done to reach this goal, particularly for students with
disabilities. In 2004, 37 percent of schools missed AYP for the
students with disabilities subgroup (Department of Education, 2006).
Furthermore, while the achievement gaps between various groups of
students have decreased, the gap between students with disabilities and
students without disabilities remains significant and a cause for
concern (Center on Education Policy, 2007a). For example, O'Reilly and
colleagues (2006) note that achievement data from standardized reading
and mathematics tests collected in two nationally representative
longitudinal studies (Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study
and the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2) indicate that almost
two-thirds of students with disabilities scored at or below the 25th
percentile.
In order to raise the achievement of students with disabilities,
State educational agencies (SEAs) must have the capacity to provide
support and TA to their districts and schools. While most SEAs agree
that they should play a key role in supporting their districts' and
schools' efforts to improve the achievement of students, many SEAs do
not have the capacity to do so (Center on Education Policy, 2007b). The
Center on Education Policy (2007a) found that providing TA to districts
with schools in need of improvement continues to be very challenging
for SEAs.
SEA officials report that one reason for their inability to provide
support to their districts and schools is a lack of in-house expertise
in providing TA. In fact, many of the SEAs surveyed by the Center on
Education Policy (2007a) stated that they were ``experimenting'' with
providing TA and did not know the best way to provide support to their
districts and schools. This has resulted in delivery of TA that is
fragmented and episodic, rather than ongoing and systematic (Department
of Education, 2006).
For TA to be effective, SEAs must take the following steps: (1)
Identify available TA that addresses the unique needs of their
districts; (2) create an infrastructure that coordinates TA between
regular and special education; (3) support districts in sustaining the
implementation of evidence-based practices; and (4) support the
scaling-up of evidence-based practices Statewide (see Learning Point
Associates, 2007). Each of these steps is detailed below.
Identify available TA that addresses the unique needs of districts.
States should consider using the significant TA resources that are
currently available to support their districts and schools. For
example, the Department's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)
funds over 50 TA centers, including six Regional Resource Centers
(RRCs), to support the effective implementation of the IDEA. The
Department's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) funds
21 comprehensive TA centers to support the implementation of NCLB.
Regional educational laboratories, funded by the Department's Institute
of Education Sciences (IES), provide information on scientifically
based research and focus on topics such as distributed leadership,
effective instructional strategies, and standards-based curricula.
These providers of research and TA provide a rich source of information
and support; yet SEAs may not effectively utilize these resources to
meet their needs due to insufficient staff (Center on Education Policy,
2007a) or a lack of awareness about available resources.
Create an infrastructure that coordinates TA between regular and
special education. The challenge of coordinating TA for special
education and regular education makes it difficult for most SEAs to
create an infrastructure that provides ongoing and systematic TA to
improve the achievement of students with disabilities. To provide TA
that focuses on improving the
[[Page 43630]]
achievement of all students, including students with disabilities, SEAs
have had to reorganize both their structure and their function (Center
on Education Policy, 2007a). A review of Statewide systems of support
indicates that SEAs typically provide TA in a piecemeal fashion and do
not coordinate TA across regular and special education (Westat, 2006).
In a study of the impact of TA services on improved education for
students with disabilities, a major finding was that the ``* * *deep
attitudinal and philosophical barriers that exist between general and
special education will continue to hinder technical assistance
activities if they are not addressed by both policymakers and
practitioners'' (SRI, 2000).
Support effective, efficient, and sustained implementation of
evidence-based practices. Capacity is needed at both State and district
levels to sustain the implementation of evidence-based practices.
Twenty-one States noted that an important objective of their Statewide
system of support involves building district capacity to provide TA so
that districts are better able to provide support to schools
(Department of Education, 2006). Currently, research (Fixsen, Naoom,
Blas[eacute], Friedman, & Wallace, 2005) and exemplars of the
implementation of evidence-based programs and practices funded by the
Department of Education, such as positive behavior supports (PBS)
(Barrett, 2006) and Reading First (U.S. Department of Education, 2006),
suggest that if a district or school is to effectively implement a
research-based program or practice with fidelity, a number of core
implementation components must be in place (e.g., ongoing consultation
and coaching, regular evaluation of staff performance, data-based
decision making). Research and practice also suggest that TA provided
to districts and schools should not solely focus on the research-based
practice, but also should include assistance to help districts and
schools develop and support core implementation components, noted
above, to ensure that the research-based practices are effectively
implemented and sustained.
Support the scaling up of evidence-based practices. Scaling up and
sustaining the implementation of evidence-based practices requires a
guide (i.e., a ``blueprint'') designed to improve the efficiency and
success of large-scale replications of a specific practice (Center on
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, 2004). The research and
exemplars that inform best practices in implementation and
sustainability of effective practices also inform the work of scaling
up evidence-based practices and can be used to create a blueprint to
assist SEAs in building capacity to provide TA to districts and
schools.
Specifically, an integrated system of TA that supports the scaling
up of evidence-based practices will require: State funding and public
support from State leaders, systems that support the use of evidence-
based practices, and appropriate resources for consultation and
coaching for the implementation sites (Fixsen et al., 2005).
In summary, as part of their efforts to improve the achievement of
students with disabilities, SEAs need to provide effective TA to
districts. SEAs are transforming their approaches to supporting
districts to implement Federal programs so that they may improve the
quality of education provided to students (Center on Education Policy,
2007a). Indeed, in some States, SEAs have gone from being one of the
least used sources of TA to improve education, to the most used source.
SEAs, however, report that they often have not had the time, personnel,
or guidance needed to transition from being an agency focused on
compliance monitoring to an agency focused on TA (Center on Education
Policy, 2007a). The purpose of this priority is to support a center to
assist SEAs to build the necessary capacity to provide the TA needed by
districts to support the achievement of students with disabilities in
grades K-12 and, in doing so, improve the achievement of all students.
References
Barrett, S. (2006, August). Maryland's State Implementation
Strategies, Successes, and Outcomes. Presented at the Office of
Special Education Programs' Project Director's Meeting, Washington,
DC.
Center on Education Policy. (2007a). Has student achievement
increased since No Child Left Behind? Washington, DC.
Center on Education Policy. (2007b). State Achievement Profiles.
Retrieved June 29, 2007, from: https://www.cep-dc.org/
index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=498&parentID=481.
Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (2004).
School-wide positive behavior support: Implementers' blueprint and
self-assessment. Eugene, OR: OSEP PBIS Technical Assistance Center.
Fixsen, D.L.; Naoom, S.F.; Blas[eacute], K.A.; Friedman, R.M.,
Wallace, F. (2005). Implementation research: A synthesis of the
literature. Tampa, FL: University of South Florida.
Learning Point Associates. (2007). Implementing response to
intervention (RTI): Considerations for practitioners. Washington,
DC: Mike Galvin.
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences.
(2006). National Assessment of Title I Interim Report: Executive
Summary. Washington, DC.
O'Reilly, F., Fafard, M., Wagner, M., Brown, S.C., Fritts, J.,
Luallen, J., Carlson, E., Blackorby, J., Hebbeler, K., & Chambers,
J. (2006). Improving results for students with disabilities: Key
findings from the 1997 national assessment studies. Bethesda, MD:
Abt Associates, Inc.
Padilla, C., Marks, S., Adelman, N., Dove, T., Haertal, G., &
Hopfendgardner Warren, S. (2000). Understanding technical
assistance: The impact of technical assistance services on improved
education for students with disabilities. Menlo Park, CA: SRI
International.
U.S. Department of Education. (2006). Statewide System of Support
Profiles. Washington, DC.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation and
Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies Service. (2006).
Washington, DC.
Priority
This priority will support a National Center to Build State
Capacity to Provide TA to Districts (Center) to ensure that the
implementation of evidence-based practices that improve the achievement
of students with disabilities is sustained and brought to scale for
grades K-12. The Center will work intensively with six States to help
them: (a) Identify available TA that addresses the unique needs of the
districts; (b) create an infrastructure to provide TA across regular
and special education to improve the achievement of students with
disabilities; (c) use what is known about effective implementation of
evidence-based practices at both the SEA and district levels; and (d)
use effective methods to scale-up the use of evidence-based practices.
The Center will help six selected States carry out the challenging
responsibility of providing districts with the necessary TA to improve
the achievement of students with disabilities. The Center will
disseminate, nationwide, the lessons learned from their work with the
six States, including (a) How SEAs effectively took steps to build the
capacity to provide coordinated TA to districts and (b) TA strategies
appropriate for the unique needs of specific sites that can be used by
States to improve their capacity to provide TA to improve the
achievement of students with disabilities. Through the dissemination of
the Center's work, the capacity of all States to support their
districts and scale up the use of evidence-based practices will be
enhanced.
To meet this priority, an applicant must describe in its
application--
[[Page 43631]]
(a) The current research, theory, and best practices on providing
TA at a systems level, including a review of the concepts of systems
change, implementation, and scaling up of evidence-based practices
Statewide.
(b) A conceptual framework for how States should provide TA to
districts to support them in implementing and sustaining the use of
evidence-based practices across regular and special education to
improve the achievement of students with disabilities, and how SEAs
should support scaling up the use of these practices.
(c) A plan for how the Center will work intensively with six
selected SEAs to establish, enhance, and coordinate a State TA
infrastructure across regular and special education to support
districts in implementing evidence-based practices to improve the
achievement of students with disabilities and scaling up the use of
these practices Statewide for grades K-12.
(d) A logic model depicting, at a minimum, the goals, activities,
outputs, and outcomes of the proposed Center. One acceptable approach
to logic modeling is presented on the following Web site: https://
www.uwex.edu/ces/lmcourse/. The model must include descriptions of
proposed service delivery strategies, including the nature and
conditions under which various strategies would be used; information on
who would implement these strategies and how they would be implemented;
and a comprehensive description of how the applicant would measure,
through benchmarks and formative and summative evaluations, the
effectiveness of these strategies.
(e) A plan for recruiting and selecting six States to work with the
Center to improve their capacity to support districts in improving the
achievement of students with disabilities. Factors for consideration in
selecting these States could include the demographic and geographic
characteristics of each State; the SEA's priorities and initiatives to
support school improvement; the SEA's current capacity for providing
TA; and the commitment of the State's regular and special education
leadership to coordinate their TA to improve the achievement of
students with disabilities. (Final selection of States will be made
during the development of the cooperative agreement in the Department.
The selection process will be clear to interested States.)
(f) A plan for how the Center will document the unique
characteristics and needs of each State and the work that was necessary
to effectively build State and district capacity to provide TA to
improve the achievement of students with disabilities.
(g) A plan for establishing and facilitating a community of
practice (CoP) of Federal and State TA providers and others interested
in building State capacity, to share expertise and lessons learned on a
continuous basis. The membership of the CoP must be determined with
input from OSEP and OESE and include the following: Representatives
from the six selected SEAs; experts in systems change and
implementation of evidence-based practices; representatives from the
Department's regional comprehensive centers, regional resource centers,
regional educational laboratories, and special and regular education
content centers; parents of students with disabilities; State and local
policy makers; and distinguished teachers and principals. The Center
must support the ongoing communication of the CoP through e-mail,
teleconferences, Web-based discussions, and face-to-face meetings.
(h) A dissemination plan that includes methods for disseminating
the lessons learned and context-specific TA strategies. This plan must
describe the audiences that are most likely to benefit from these
lessons learned and TA strategies and the methods the Center will use
to reach them. An annual conference may be one of these dissemination
methods.
(i) An evaluation plan that measures the impact of the Center's
activities. Specifically, the evaluation must document--
(1) What participants in the six selected SEAs learned;
(2) How the Center's TA affected the SEAs' ability to support
districts in implementing evidence-based practices to improve the
achievement of students with disabilities;
(3) How the SEAs scaled-up the implementation of the evidence-based
practices; and
(4) The degree to which the evidence-based practices contributed to
improved outcomes for students with disabilities.
To meet the requirements of this priority, the Center, at a
minimum, must--
(a) Establish and maintain a Web site that will include the
Center's products and tools, links to CoP information, and other
resources. All Web site information and documents must be displayed in
a form that meets a government or industry-recognized standard for
accessibility;
(b) Select an advisory group from the CoP that will meet at least
annually with the Center to provide feedback on Center plans,
activities, and accomplishments;
(c) Budget for the Center's project director to attend a three-day
Project Directors' meeting in Washington, DC during each year of the
project and two additional yearly meetings with OSEP; and
(d) Budget five percent of the award amount annually to support
emerging needs as identified jointly through consultation with the OSEP
project officer.
Fourth and Fifth Years of the Project:
In deciding whether to continue funding the 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 travel expenses associated with this one-day intensive
review;
(b) The timeliness and effectiveness with which all requirements of
the negotiated cooperative agreement have been, or are being, met by
the Center; and
(c) The degree to which the project promotes best practices in
educational services to children.
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 the IDEA makes the public comment requirements under
the APA inapplicable to the priority in this notice.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1463 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.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 79 apply to all applicants
except federally recognized Indian tribes.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to institutions of
higher education (IHEs) only.
Type of Award: Cooperative agreement.
Estimated Available Funds: $1,000,000.
Maximum Award: We will reject any application that proposes a
budget exceeding $1,000,000 for a single budget period of 12 months.
The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services may change the
[[Page 43632]]
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: SEAs; local educational agencies (LEAs);
public charter schools that are LEAs under State law; IHEs; other
public agencies; private nonprofit organizations; outlying areas;
freely associated States; Indian tribes or tribal organizations; and
for-profit organizations.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This competition does not require cost
sharing or matching.
3. Other: General Requirements--
(a) The project funded under this competition must make positive
efforts to employ and advance in employment qualified individuals with
disabilities (see section 606 of the IDEA).
(b) Applicants and the award recipient 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 project (see section 682(a)(1)(A) of
the 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), call, toll free: 1-877-
576-7734.
You can contact ED Pubs at its Web site, also: https://www.ed.gov/
pubs/edpubs.html or 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 84.326K.
Individuals with disabilities can obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print,
audiotape, or computer diskette) by contacting the person or team
listed under Alternate Format in section VIII in 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 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 coversheet; 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, 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: August 6,
2007. Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: September 5, 2007.
Applications for awards 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 in
paper format 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.
Individuals with disabilities who need an accommodation or
auxiliary aid in connection with the application process should contact
the person listed under For Further Information Contact in section VII
in this notice. If the Department provides an accommodation or
auxiliary aid to an individual with a disability in connection with the
application process, the individual's application remains subject to
all other requirements and limitations in this notice.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: September 10, 2007.
4. Intergovernmental Review: This competition 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 2007. The Building State Capacity to
Improve the Achievement of Students With Disabilities under the No
Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA), CFDA Number 84.326K, 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 an application to us.
You may access the electronic application for the Building State
Capacity to Improve the Achievement of Students With Disabilities under
the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) at https://www.Grants.gov You must
search for the downloadable application package for this competition by
the CFDA number. Do not include the CFDA number's alpha suffix in your
search (e.g., search for 84.326, not 84.326K).
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 date and time
stamped. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted, and
must be date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system no later than
4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the
[[Page 43633]]
application deadline date. Except as otherwise noted in this section,
we will not consider your application if it is date and 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 and 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 submission 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 the steps in the Grants.gov registration process (https://
www.Grants.gov/applicants/get--registered.jsp). These steps include (1)
Registering your organization, a multi-part process that includes
registration with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR); (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/section910/
Grants.govRegistrationBrochure.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. In
addition you will need to update your CCR registration on an annual
basis. This may take three or more business days to complete.
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.
If you submit your application electronically, you must
submit all documents electronically, including all information you
typically provide on the following forms: Application for Federal
Assistance (SF 424), the Department of Education Supplemental
Information for SF 424, Budget Information--Non-Construction Programs
(ED 524), and all necessary assurances and certifications. Please note
that two of these forms--the SF 424 and the Department of Education
Supplemental Information for SF 424--have replaced the ED 424
(Application for Federal Education Assistance).
If you 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 in
this paragraph 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 from Grants.gov an automatic notification of receipt that
contains a Grants.gov tracking number. (This notification indicates
receipt by Grants.gov only, not receipt by the Department.) The
Department then will retrieve your application from Grants.gov and send
a second notification to you by e-mail. This second notification
indicates that the Department has received your application and has
assigned your application 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 Technical
Issues with the Grant.Gov System: If you are experiencing problems
submitting your application through Grants.gov, please contact the
Grants.gov Support Desk, toll free, at 1-800-518-4726. You must obtain
a Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number and must keep a record of it.
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 described elsewhere in this notice.
If you submit an application after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time,
on the application deadline date, please contact the person listed
under For Further Information Contact in Section VII in this notice and
provide an explanation of the technical problem you experienced with
Grants.gov, along with the Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number. 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: The extensions to which we refer 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 application 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 84.326K)
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, Attention: (CFDA Number 84.326K)
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.
(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
[[Page 43634]]
accept either of the following as proof of mailing:
(1) A private metered postmark.
(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 84.326K)
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 11 of the SF 424 the CFDA number, including suffix
letter, if any, of the competition under which you are submitting your
application; and
(2) The Application Control Center will mail to you a notification
of receipt of your grant application. If you do not receive this
notification 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 Notice
(GAN). We may notify you informally, also.
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 in this notice.
We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of
an award in the Applicable Regulations section in 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 award.
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 directed by the Secretary
under 34 CFR 75.118. The Secretary may also require more frequent
performance reports under 34 CFR 75.720(c). For specific requirements
on reporting, please go to https://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/appforms/
appforms.html.
4. Performance Measures: Under the Government Performance and
Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), the Department has developed measures that
will yield information on various aspects of the Technical Assistance
and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results for Children with
Disabilities program. These measures 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.
The awardee will be required to provide information related to
these measures.
The awardee also will be required to report information on the
project's performance in annual reports to the Department (34 CFR
75.590).
VII. Agency Contact
For Further Information Contact: Debra Price-Ellingstad, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4097, Potomac
Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-2550.
Telephone: (202) 245-7481.
If you use a TDD, call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll-free,
at 1-800-877-8339.
VIII. Other Information
Alternative Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this
document and 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, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 5075, PCP, Washington, DC
20202-2550. Telephone: (202) 245-7363. If you use a TDD, call the FRS,
toll free, at 1-800-877-8339.
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: July 31, 2007.
John H. Hager,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. E7-15228 Filed 8-3-07; 8:45 am]
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