Office of Innovation and Improvement; Overview Information; Professional Development for Arts Educators (PDAE) Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008, 1956-1960 [E8-217]
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 7 / Thursday, January 10, 2008 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Innovation and Improvement;
Overview Information; Professional
Development for Arts Educators
(PDAE) Program; Notice Inviting
Applications for New Awards for Fiscal
Year (FY) 2008
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
(CFDA) Number: 84.351C.
Dates:
Applications Available: January 10,
2008.
Deadline for Notice of Intent To
Apply: February 11, 2008.
Deadline for Transmittal of
Applications: February 29, 2008.
Deadline for Intergovernmental
Review: April 29, 2008.
Full Text of Announcement
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I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: This program
supports the implementation of highquality professional development model
programs in music, dance, drama, media
arts, or visual arts, including folk arts,
for arts educators and other
instructional staff of kindergarten
through grade 12 (K–12) students in
high-poverty schools. Grants are
intended to strengthen the capacity of
teachers and schools to deliver
standards-based arts education
programs and to raise student academic
achievement in the arts and ensure that
all students meet challenging State
academic content standards.
Priority: This priority is from the
notice of final priority, requirements,
and definitions for this program (NFP),
published in the Federal Register on
March 30, 2005 (70 FR 16242).
Absolute Priority: For FY 2008 and
any subsequent year in which we make
awards from the list of unfunded
applicants from this competition, this
priority is an absolute priority. Under 34
CFR 75.105(c)(3) we consider only
applications that meet this priority.
This priority is:
This priority supports professional
development programs for K–12 arts
educators and other instructional staff
that use innovative instructional
methods and current knowledge from
education research and focus on—
(1) The development, enhancement,
or expansion of standards-based arts
education programs; or
(2) The integration of standards-based
arts instruction with other core
academic area content.
In order to meet this priority, an
applicant must demonstrate that the
project for which it seeks funding is
linked to State and national standards
intended to enable all students to meet
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challenging expectations, and to
improve student and school
performance.
Note: National standards refers to the arts
standards developed by the Consortium of
National Arts Education Association. The
standards outline what students should know
and be able to do in the arts. These are not
Department standards.
Application Requirement: To be
eligible for PDAE Program funds,
applicants must propose to carry out
professional development programs for
arts educators and other instructional
staff of K–12 low-income children and
youth by implementing projects in
schools in which 50 percent or more of
the children enrolled are from lowincome families (based on the poverty
criteria in Title I, section 1113(a)(5) of
the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965, as amended by
the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
(ESEA)). (This requirement is from the
NFP (see 70 FR 16242–16243)).
Note: Applicants will be required to
provide evidence that they are serving such
schools.
Definitions: As used in this notice—
Arts includes music, dance, theater,
media arts, or visual arts, including folk
arts.
Arts educator means a teacher who
works in music, dance, theater, media
arts, or visual arts, including folk arts.
Integrate means to strengthen (i) the
use of high-quality arts instruction
within other academic content areas,
and (ii) the place of the arts as a core
academic subject in the school
curriculum.
Local educational agency (LEA)
means—
(a) A public board of education or
other public authority legally
constituted within a State for either
administrative control of or direction of,
or to perform service functions for,
public elementary or secondary schools
in—
(1) A city, county, township, school
district, or other political subdivision of
a State; or
(2) Such combination of school
districts or counties a State recognizes
as an administrative agency for its
public elementary or secondary schools;
or
(b) Any other public institution or
agency that has administrative control
and direction of a public elementary or
secondary school.
(c) As used in 34 CFR parts 400, 408,
525, 526 and 527 (vocational education
programs), the term also includes any
other public institution or agency that
has administrative control and direction
of a vocational education program.
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Note: The definitions for art, art educator
and integrate are from the NFP (see 70 FR
16242, 16244). The definition for LEA is from
34 CFR 77.1.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7271.
Applicable Regulations: (a) 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. (b) The notice
of final priority, requirements, and
definitions for this program, published
in the Federal Register on March 30,
2005 (70 FR 16242).
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
only.
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
Estimated Available Funds:
$6,275,939.
Contingent upon the availability of
funds and the quality of applications,
we may make additional awards in FY
2009 from the list of unfunded
applicants from this competition.
Estimated Range of Awards:
$100,000–$350,000 for the first year of
the project. Funding for the second and
third years is subject to the availability
of funds and the approval of
continuation awards (see 34 CFR
75.253).
Estimated Average Size of Awards:
$200,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 30.
Note: The Department is not bound by any
estimates in this notice.
Project Period: Up to 36 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: An LEA, which
may be a charter school that is
considered an LEA under State law and
regulations, that is acting on behalf of an
individual school or schools that meets
the poverty criterion with respect to
children from low-income families that
is specified in the application
requirement section elsewhere in this
notice, and that must work in
partnership with one or more of the
following—
• A State or local non-profit or
governmental arts organization;
• A State educational agency (SEA) or
regional educational service agency;
• An institution of higher education;
or
• A public or private agency,
institution, or organization, including a
museum, an arts education association,
a library, a theater, or a community- or
faith-based organization.
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2. a. Cost Sharing or Matching: This
program does not require cost sharing or
matching.
b. Supplement—Not-Supplant: This
program involves supplement-notsupplant funding requirements. Under
section 5551(f)(2) of the ESEA, the
Secretary requires that assistance
provided under this program be used
only to supplement, and not to
supplant, any other assistance or funds
made available from non-Federal
sources for the activities assisted under
the program. This restriction also has
the effect of allowing projects to recover
indirect costs only on the basis of a
restricted indirect cost rate, according to
the requirements in 34 CFR 75.563 and
34 CFR 76.564 through 76.569. As soon
as they decide to apply, applicants are
urged to contact the ED Indirect Cost
Group at (202) 377–3833 for guidance
about obtaining a restricted indirect cost
rate to use on the Budget Information
form (ED Form 524) included with the
application package.
3. Coordination Requirement: Under
section 5551(f)(1) of the ESEA, the
Secretary requires that each entity
funded under this program coordinate,
to the extent practicable, each project or
program carried out through its grant
with appropriate activities of public or
private cultural agencies, institutions,
and organizations, including museums,
arts education associations, libraries,
and theaters.
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: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/
edpubs.html or at its e-mail address:
edpubs@inet.ed.gov.
If you request an application package
from ED Pubs, be sure to identify this
program or competition as follows:
CFDA number 84.351C.
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 Alternative Format in
section VIII 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
program.
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Notice of Intent To Apply: The
Department will be able to develop a
more efficient process for reviewing
grant applications if it has a better
understanding of the number of entities
that intend to apply for funding under
this competition. Therefore, the
Secretary strongly encourages each
potential applicant to notify the
Department by sending a short e-mail
message indicating the applicant’s
intent to submit an application for
funding. The e-mail need not include
information regarding the content of the
proposed application, only the
applicant’s intent to submit it. The email notification should be sent to
Isadora Binder at
Isadora.Binder@ed.gov.
Applicants that fail to provide this email notification may still apply for
funding.
Page Limit: The application narrative
is where you, the applicant, address the
selection criteria that reviewers use to
evaluate your application. Applicants
are strongly encouraged to limit the
application (Part III) to the equivalent of
no more than 25 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).
• Use one of the following fonts:
Times New Roman, Courier, Courier
New, or Arial. An application submitted
in any other font (including Times
Roman or Arial Narrow) will not be
accepted.
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, or the
letters of support. However, the page
limit does apply to all of the application
narrative section (Part III).
3. Submission Dates and Times:
Applications Available: January 10,
2008.
Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply:
February 11, 2008.
Deadline for Transmittal of
Applications: February 29, 2008.
Applications for grants under this
program must be submitted
electronically using the Grants.gov
Apply site (Grants.gov). For information
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(including dates and times) about how
to submit your application
electronically, or in paper format by
mail or hand delivery if you qualify for
an exception to the electronic
submission requirement, 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: April 29, 2008.
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
program.
5. Funding Restrictions: We reference
regulations outlining funding
restrictions in the Applicable
Regulations section in this notice.
6. Other Submission Requirements:
Applications for grants under this
program must be submitted
electronically unless you qualify for an
exception to this requirement in
accordance with the instructions in this
section.
a. Electronic Submission of
Applications.
Applications for grants under the
PDAE Program, CFDA Number 84.351C,
must be submitted electronically using
the Governmentwide Grants.gov Apply
site at http://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 email an electronic copy of a grant
application to us.
We will reject your application if you
submit it in paper format unless, as
described elsewhere in this section, you
qualify for one of the exceptions to the
electronic submission requirement and
submit, no later than two weeks before
the application deadline date, a written
statement to the Department that you
qualify for one of these exceptions.
Further information regarding
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calculation of the date that is two weeks
before the application deadline date is
provided later in this section under
Exception to Electronic Submission
Requirement.
You may access the electronic grant
application for the PDAE Program at
http://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
(e.g., search for 84.351, not 84.351C).
Please note the following:
• 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 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 program 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 http://e-Grants.ed.gov/
help/
GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf.
• To submit your application via
Grants.gov, you must complete all steps
in the Grants.gov registration process
(see http://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
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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 http://
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 submit
successfully 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 qualify for
an exception to the electronic
submission requirement, as described
elsewhere in this section, and submit
your application in paper format.
• 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—NonConstruction 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).
• 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 EDspecified identifying number unique to
your application).
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• We may request that you provide us
original signatures on forms at a later
date.
Application Deadline Date Extension
in Case of Technical Issues with the
Grants.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.
Exception to Electronic Submission
Requirement: You qualify for an
exception to the electronic submission
requirement, and may submit your
application in paper format, if you are
unable to submit an application through
the Grants.gov system because—
• You do not have access to the
Internet; or
• You do not have the capacity to
upload large documents to the
Grants.gov system; and
• No later than two weeks before the
application deadline date (14 calendar
days or, if the fourteenth calendar day
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before the application deadline date
falls on a Federal holiday, the next
business day following the Federal
holiday), you mail or fax a written
statement to the Department, explaining
which of the two grounds for an
exception prevent you from using the
Internet to submit your application.
If you mail your written statement to
the Department, it must be postmarked
no later than two weeks before the
application deadline date. If you fax
your written statement to the
Department, we must receive the faxed
statement no later than two weeks
before the application deadline date.
Address and mail or fax your
statement to: Isadora Binder, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland
Avenue, SW., Room 4W246A,
Washington, DC 20202–5950.
Fax: (202) 502–5630.
Your paper application must be
submitted in accordance with the mail
or hand delivery instructions described
in this notice.
b. Submission of Paper Applications
by Mail.
If you qualify for an exception to the
electronic submission requirement, you
may mail (through the U.S. Postal
Service or a commercial carrier) your
application to the Department. 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 84.351C), 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 84.351C),
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
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.
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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 qualify for an exception to the
electronic submission requirement, you
(or a courier service) may deliver your
paper application to the Department by
hand. You 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 84.351C), 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
1. Selection Criteria: The selection
criteria for this program are from 34 CFR
75.210. The maximum score for all of
the selection criteria is 100 points. The
maximum score for each criterion is
indicated in parentheses. Each criterion
also includes the factors that the
reviewers will consider in determining
how well an application meets the
criterion. A note following a selection
criterion is guidance to help applicants
in preparing their applications, and is
not required by statute or regulations.
The criteria are as follows:
(1) Significance (20 points). The
Secretary considers the significance of
the proposed project by considering the
following factors:
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(a) The extent to which the proposed
project is likely to build local capacity
to provide, improve, or expand services
that address the needs of the target
population.
(b) The potential replicability of the
proposed project or strategies,
including, as appropriate, the potential
for implementation in a variety of
settings.
(2) Quality of the project design (20
points). The Secretary considers the
quality of the design of the proposed
project by considering the following
factors:
(a) The extent to which the goals,
objectives, and outcomes to be achieved
by the proposed project are clearly
specified and measurable.
(b) The extent to which the proposed
project is designed to build capacity and
yield results that will extend beyond the
period of Federal financial assistance.
(c) The extent to which the proposed
project is part of a comprehensive effort
to improve teaching and learning and
support rigorous academic standards for
students.
(3) Quality of project services (20
points). The Secretary considers the
quality of the services to be provided by
the proposed project by considering the
following factors:
(a) The quality and sufficiency of
strategies for ensuring equal access and
treatment for eligible project
participants who are members of groups
that have traditionally been
underrepresented based on race, color,
national origin, gender, age, or
disability.
(b) The extent to which the training or
professional development services to be
provided by the proposed project are of
sufficient quality, intensity, and
duration to lead to improvements in
practice among the recipients of those
services.
(c) The likelihood that the services to
be provided by the proposed project
will lead to improvements in the
achievement of students as measured
against rigorous academic standards.
(4) Quality of project personnel (10
points). The Secretary considers the
quality of the personnel who will carry
out the proposed project by considering
the following factors:
(a) The extent to which the applicant
encourages applications for employment
from persons who are members of
groups that have traditionally been
underrepresented based on race, color,
national origin, gender, age, or
disability.
(b) The qualifications, including
relevant training and experience, of key
project personnel.
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(c) The qualifications, including
relevant training and experience, of
project consultants or subcontractors.
(5) Quality of the management plan
(15 points). The Secretary considers the
quality of the management plan for the
proposed project by considering the
adequacy of the management plan to
achieve the objectives of the proposed
project on time and within budget,
including clearly defined
responsibilities, timelines, and
milestones for accomplishing project
tasks.
(6) Quality of the project evaluation
(15 points). The Secretary considers the
quality of the evaluation to be
conducted of the proposed project by
considering the following factors:
(a) The extent to which the methods
of evaluation include the use of
objective performance measures that are
clearly related to the intended outcomes
of the project and will produce
quantitative and qualitative data to the
extent possible.
(b) The extent to which the evaluation
will provide guidance about effective
strategies suitable for replication or
testing in other settings.
yshivers on PROD1PC62 with NOTICES2
Note: A strong evaluation plan should be
included in the application narrative and
should be used, as appropriate, to shape the
development of the project from the
beginning of the grant period. The evaluation
plan should include benchmarks to monitor
progress toward specific project objectives
and also outcome measures to assess the
impact on teaching and learning, or other
important outcomes for project participants.
More specifically, the plan should identify
the individual or organization that has agreed
to serve as evaluator for the project and
describe the qualifications of that evaluator.
The plan should describe the evaluation
design, indicating: (1) What types of data will
be collected; (2) when various types of data
will be collected; (3) what methods will be
used; (4) what instruments will be developed
and when these instruments will be
developed; (5) how data will be analyzed; (6)
when reports of results and outcomes will be
available; and (7) how the applicant will use
the information collected through the
evaluation to monitor progress of the funded
project and to provide accountability
information both about success at the initial
site and about effective strategies for
replication in other settings. Applicants are
encouraged to devote an appropriate level of
resources to project evaluation.
VerDate Aug<31>2005
14:32 Jan 09, 2008
Jkt 214001
2. Review and Selection Process:
Additional factors we consider in
selecting an application for an award are
as follows: In accordance with 34 CFR
75.217(d)(3)(ii) and (iii), the Secretary
may consider an applicant’s past
performance and compliance history
when evaluating applications and in
making funding decisions.
over the course of the school year,
which may include the summer, and
that includes a sufficient number of
hours of participation to make a
significant difference in teaching and
learning. Successful applicants will be
expected to include professional
development data in their annual
performance reports to the Department.
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 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 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
http://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/
appforms/appforms.html.
4. Performance Measures: We have
established one performance measure
for the PDAE Program. This measure is:
The percentage of teachers participating
in the PDAE Program who receive
professional development that is
sustained and intensive. In
implementing this measure, the
Department will collect from grantees
data on the extent to which they provide
professional development that occurs
VII. Agency Contacts
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4703
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Isadora Binder or Adrienne Dukes, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland
Avenue, SW., Room 4W246A,
Washington, DC 20202–4260 or by email: PDAE@ed.gov.
If you use a TDD, call the 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)
on request to the program contact
persons listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT in section VII in
this notice.
Electronic Access to This Document:
You can 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: http://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: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/
index.html.
Dated: January 4, 2008.
Morgan S. Brown,
Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and
Improvement.
[FR Doc. E8–217 Filed 1–9–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
E:\FR\FM\10JAN2.SGM
10JAN2
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 7 (Thursday, January 10, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1956-1960]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-217]
[[Page 1955]]
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Part III
Department of Education
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Professional Development for Arts Educators (PDAE) Program; Inviting
Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008; Notice
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 7 / Thursday, January 10, 2008 /
Notices
[[Page 1956]]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Innovation and Improvement; Overview Information;
Professional Development for Arts Educators (PDAE) Program; Notice
Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.351C.
Dates:
Applications Available: January 10, 2008.
Deadline for Notice of Intent To Apply: February 11, 2008.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: February 29, 2008.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: April 29, 2008.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: This program supports the implementation of
high-quality professional development model programs in music, dance,
drama, media arts, or visual arts, including folk arts, for arts
educators and other instructional staff of kindergarten through grade
12 (K-12) students in high-poverty schools. Grants are intended to
strengthen the capacity of teachers and schools to deliver standards-
based arts education programs and to raise student academic achievement
in the arts and ensure that all students meet challenging State
academic content standards.
Priority: This priority is from the notice of final priority,
requirements, and definitions for this program (NFP), published in the
Federal Register on March 30, 2005 (70 FR 16242).
Absolute Priority: For FY 2008 and any subsequent year in which we
make awards from the list of unfunded applicants from this competition,
this priority is an absolute priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) we
consider only applications that meet this priority.
This priority is:
This priority supports professional development programs for K-12
arts educators and other instructional staff that use innovative
instructional methods and current knowledge from education research and
focus on--
(1) The development, enhancement, or expansion of standards-based
arts education programs; or
(2) The integration of standards-based arts instruction with other
core academic area content.
In order to meet this priority, an applicant must demonstrate that
the project for which it seeks funding is linked to State and national
standards intended to enable all students to meet challenging
expectations, and to improve student and school performance.
Note: National standards refers to the arts standards developed
by the Consortium of National Arts Education Association. The
standards outline what students should know and be able to do in the
arts. These are not Department standards.
Application Requirement: To be eligible for PDAE Program funds,
applicants must propose to carry out professional development programs
for arts educators and other instructional staff of K-12 low-income
children and youth by implementing projects in schools in which 50
percent or more of the children enrolled are from low-income families
(based on the poverty criteria in Title I, section 1113(a)(5) of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (ESEA)). (This requirement is from the
NFP (see 70 FR 16242-16243)).
Note: Applicants will be required to provide evidence that they
are serving such schools.
Definitions: As used in this notice--
Arts includes music, dance, theater, media arts, or visual arts,
including folk arts.
Arts educator means a teacher who works in music, dance, theater,
media arts, or visual arts, including folk arts.
Integrate means to strengthen (i) the use of high-quality arts
instruction within other academic content areas, and (ii) the place of
the arts as a core academic subject in the school curriculum.
Local educational agency (LEA) means--
(a) A public board of education or other public authority legally
constituted within a State for either administrative control of or
direction of, or to perform service functions for, public elementary or
secondary schools in--
(1) A city, county, township, school district, or other political
subdivision of a State; or
(2) Such combination of school districts or counties a State
recognizes as an administrative agency for its public elementary or
secondary schools; or
(b) Any other public institution or agency that has administrative
control and direction of a public elementary or secondary school.
(c) As used in 34 CFR parts 400, 408, 525, 526 and 527 (vocational
education programs), the term also includes any other public
institution or agency that has administrative control and direction of
a vocational education program.
Note: The definitions for art, art educator and integrate are
from the NFP (see 70 FR 16242, 16244). The definition for LEA is
from 34 CFR 77.1.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7271.
Applicable Regulations: (a) 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. (b) The notice of final priority,
requirements, and definitions for this program, published in the
Federal Register on March 30, 2005 (70 FR 16242).
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 only.
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
Estimated Available Funds: $6,275,939.
Contingent upon the availability of funds and the quality of
applications, we may make additional awards in FY 2009 from the list of
unfunded applicants from this competition.
Estimated Range of Awards: $100,000-$350,000 for the first year of
the project. Funding for the second and third years is subject to the
availability of funds and the approval of continuation awards (see 34
CFR 75.253).
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $200,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 30.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 36 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: An LEA, which may be a charter school that
is considered an LEA under State law and regulations, that is acting on
behalf of an individual school or schools that meets the poverty
criterion with respect to children from low-income families that is
specified in the application requirement section elsewhere in this
notice, and that must work in partnership with one or more of the
following--
A State or local non-profit or governmental arts
organization;
A State educational agency (SEA) or regional educational
service agency;
An institution of higher education; or
A public or private agency, institution, or organization,
including a museum, an arts education association, a library, a
theater, or a community- or faith-based organization.
[[Page 1957]]
2. a. Cost Sharing or Matching: This program does not require cost
sharing or matching.
b. Supplement--Not-Supplant: This program involves supplement-not-
supplant funding requirements. Under section 5551(f)(2) of the ESEA,
the Secretary requires that assistance provided under this program be
used only to supplement, and not to supplant, any other assistance or
funds made available from non-Federal sources for the activities
assisted under the program. This restriction also has the effect of
allowing projects to recover indirect costs only on the basis of a
restricted indirect cost rate, according to the requirements in 34 CFR
75.563 and 34 CFR 76.564 through 76.569. As soon as they decide to
apply, applicants are urged to contact the ED Indirect Cost Group at
(202) 377-3833 for guidance about obtaining a restricted indirect cost
rate to use on the Budget Information form (ED Form 524) included with
the application package.
3. Coordination Requirement: Under section 5551(f)(1) of the ESEA,
the Secretary requires that each entity funded under this program
coordinate, to the extent practicable, each project or program carried
out through its grant with appropriate activities of public or private
cultural agencies, institutions, and organizations, including museums,
arts education associations, libraries, and theaters.
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: http://www.ed.gov/
pubs/edpubs.html or at its e-mail address: edpubs@inet.ed.gov.
If you request an application package from ED Pubs, be sure to
identify this program or competition as follows: CFDA number 84.351C.
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 Alternative Format in section VIII 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 program.
Notice of Intent To Apply: The Department will be able to develop a
more efficient process for reviewing grant applications if it has a
better understanding of the number of entities that intend to apply for
funding under this competition. Therefore, the Secretary strongly
encourages each potential applicant to notify the Department by sending
a short e-mail message indicating the applicant's intent to submit an
application for funding. The e-mail need not include information
regarding the content of the proposed application, only the applicant's
intent to submit it. The e-mail notification should be sent to Isadora
Binder at Isadora.Binder@ed.gov.
Applicants that fail to provide this e-mail notification may still
apply for funding.
Page Limit: The application narrative is where you, the applicant,
address the selection criteria that reviewers use to evaluate your
application. Applicants are strongly encouraged to limit the
application (Part III) to the equivalent of no more than 25 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).
Use one of the following fonts: Times New Roman, Courier,
Courier New, or Arial. An application submitted in any other font
(including Times Roman or Arial Narrow) will not be accepted.
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, or the letters of support. However, the page
limit does apply to all of the application narrative section (Part
III).
3. Submission Dates and Times:
Applications Available: January 10, 2008.
Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply: February 11, 2008.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: February 29, 2008.
Applications for grants under this program must be submitted
electronically using the Grants.gov Apply site (Grants.gov). For
information (including dates and times) about how to submit your
application electronically, or in paper format by mail or hand delivery
if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, 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: April 29, 2008.
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 program.
5. Funding Restrictions: We reference regulations outlining funding
restrictions in the Applicable Regulations section in this notice.
6. Other Submission Requirements: Applications for grants under
this program must be submitted electronically unless you qualify for an
exception to this requirement in accordance with the instructions in
this section.
a. Electronic Submission of Applications.
Applications for grants under the PDAE Program, CFDA Number
84.351C, must be submitted electronically using the Governmentwide
Grants.gov Apply site at http://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.
We will reject your application if you submit it in paper format
unless, as described elsewhere in this section, you qualify for one of
the exceptions to the electronic submission requirement and submit, no
later than two weeks before the application deadline date, a written
statement to the Department that you qualify for one of these
exceptions. Further information regarding
[[Page 1958]]
calculation of the date that is two weeks before the application
deadline date is provided later in this section under Exception to
Electronic Submission Requirement.
You may access the electronic grant application for the PDAE
Program at http://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 (e.g., search for 84.351,
not 84.351C).
Please note the following:
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 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 program 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 http://e-Grants.ed.gov/help/
GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf.
To submit your application via Grants.gov, you must
complete all steps in the Grants.gov registration process (see http://
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 http://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 submit successfully 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 qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, as described elsewhere in this section, and submit your
application in paper format.
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).
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 Technical Issues
with the Grants.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.
Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement: You qualify for an
exception to the electronic submission requirement, and may submit your
application in paper format, if you are unable to submit an application
through the Grants.gov system because--
You do not have access to the Internet; or
You do not have the capacity to upload large documents to
the Grants.gov system; and
No later than two weeks before the application deadline
date (14 calendar days or, if the fourteenth calendar day
[[Page 1959]]
before the application deadline date falls on a Federal holiday, the
next business day following the Federal holiday), you mail or fax a
written statement to the Department, explaining which of the two
grounds for an exception prevent you from using the Internet to submit
your application.
If you mail your written statement to the Department, it must be
postmarked no later than two weeks before the application deadline
date. If you fax your written statement to the Department, we must
receive the faxed statement no later than two weeks before the
application deadline date.
Address and mail or fax your statement to: Isadora Binder, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Room 4W246A,
Washington, DC 20202-5950.
Fax: (202) 502-5630.
Your paper application must be submitted in accordance with the
mail or hand delivery instructions described in this notice.
b. Submission of Paper Applications by Mail.
If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, you may mail (through the U.S. Postal Service or a
commercial carrier) your application to the Department. 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
84.351C), 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
84.351C), 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 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 qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, you (or a courier service) may deliver your paper
application to the Department by hand. You 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 84.351C), 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
1. Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this program are
from 34 CFR 75.210. The maximum score for all of the selection criteria
is 100 points. The maximum score for each criterion is indicated in
parentheses. Each criterion also includes the factors that the
reviewers will consider in determining how well an application meets
the criterion. A note following a selection criterion is guidance to
help applicants in preparing their applications, and is not required by
statute or regulations. The criteria are as follows:
(1) Significance (20 points). The Secretary considers the
significance of the proposed project by considering the following
factors:
(a) The extent to which the proposed project is likely to build
local capacity to provide, improve, or expand services that address the
needs of the target population.
(b) The potential replicability of the proposed project or
strategies, including, as appropriate, the potential for implementation
in a variety of settings.
(2) Quality of the project design (20 points). The Secretary
considers the quality of the design of the proposed project by
considering the following factors:
(a) The extent to which the goals, objectives, and outcomes to be
achieved by the proposed project are clearly specified and measurable.
(b) The extent to which the proposed project is designed to build
capacity and yield results that will extend beyond the period of
Federal financial assistance.
(c) The extent to which the proposed project is part of a
comprehensive effort to improve teaching and learning and support
rigorous academic standards for students.
(3) Quality of project services (20 points). The Secretary
considers the quality of the services to be provided by the proposed
project by considering the following factors:
(a) The quality and sufficiency of strategies for ensuring equal
access and treatment for eligible project participants who are members
of groups that have traditionally been underrepresented based on race,
color, national origin, gender, age, or disability.
(b) The extent to which the training or professional development
services to be provided by the proposed project are of sufficient
quality, intensity, and duration to lead to improvements in practice
among the recipients of those services.
(c) The likelihood that the services to be provided by the proposed
project will lead to improvements in the achievement of students as
measured against rigorous academic standards.
(4) Quality of project personnel (10 points). The Secretary
considers the quality of the personnel who will carry out the proposed
project by considering the following factors:
(a) The extent to which the applicant encourages applications for
employment from persons who are members of groups that have
traditionally been underrepresented based on race, color, national
origin, gender, age, or disability.
(b) The qualifications, including relevant training and experience,
of key project personnel.
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(c) The qualifications, including relevant training and experience,
of project consultants or subcontractors.
(5) Quality of the management plan (15 points). The Secretary
considers the quality of the management plan for the proposed project
by considering the adequacy of the management plan to achieve the
objectives of the proposed project on time and within budget, including
clearly defined responsibilities, timelines, and milestones for
accomplishing project tasks.
(6) Quality of the project evaluation (15 points). The Secretary
considers the quality of the evaluation to be conducted of the proposed
project by considering the following factors:
(a) The extent to which the methods of evaluation include the use
of objective performance measures that are clearly related to the
intended outcomes of the project and will produce quantitative and
qualitative data to the extent possible.
(b) The extent to which the evaluation will provide guidance about
effective strategies suitable for replication or testing in other
settings.
Note: A strong evaluation plan should be included in the
application narrative and should be used, as appropriate, to shape
the development of the project from the beginning of the grant
period. The evaluation plan should include benchmarks to monitor
progress toward specific project objectives and also outcome
measures to assess the impact on teaching and learning, or other
important outcomes for project participants. More specifically, the
plan should identify the individual or organization that has agreed
to serve as evaluator for the project and describe the
qualifications of that evaluator. The plan should describe the
evaluation design, indicating: (1) What types of data will be
collected; (2) when various types of data will be collected; (3)
what methods will be used; (4) what instruments will be developed
and when these instruments will be developed; (5) how data will be
analyzed; (6) when reports of results and outcomes will be
available; and (7) how the applicant will use the information
collected through the evaluation to monitor progress of the funded
project and to provide accountability information both about success
at the initial site and about effective strategies for replication
in other settings. Applicants are encouraged to devote an
appropriate level of resources to project evaluation.
2. Review and Selection Process: Additional factors we consider in
selecting an application for an award are as follows: In accordance
with 34 CFR 75.217(d)(3)(ii) and (iii), the Secretary may consider an
applicant's past performance and compliance history when evaluating
applications and in making funding decisions.
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 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 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 http://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/appforms/
appforms.html.
4. Performance Measures: We have established one performance
measure for the PDAE Program. This measure is: The percentage of
teachers participating in the PDAE Program who receive professional
development that is sustained and intensive. In implementing this
measure, the Department will collect from grantees data on the extent
to which they provide professional development that occurs over the
course of the school year, which may include the summer, and that
includes a sufficient number of hours of participation to make a
significant difference in teaching and learning. Successful applicants
will be expected to include professional development data in their
annual performance reports to the Department.
VII. Agency Contacts
For Further Information Contact: Isadora Binder or Adrienne Dukes, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Room 4W246A,
Washington, DC 20202-4260 or by e-mail: PDAE@ed.gov.
If you use a TDD, call the 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) on
request to the program contact persons listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT in section VII in this notice.
Electronic Access to This Document: You can 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: http://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: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/
nara/.
Dated: January 4, 2008.
Morgan S. Brown,
Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement.
[FR Doc. E8-217 Filed 1-9-08; 8:45 am]
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