Office of Innovation and Improvement; Overview Information; Women's Educational Equity Act Program (WEEA); Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, 101-105 [E8-31226]
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 1 / Friday, January 2, 2009 / Notices
collected; and (5) how might the
Department minimize the burden of this
collection on the respondents, including
through the use of information
technology.
Dated: December 29, 2008.
James Hyler,
Acting Leader, Information Collections
Clearance Division, Regulatory Information
Management Services, Office of Management.
Institute of Education Sciences
Type of Review: New.
Title: Summer Reading Program
Study.
Frequency: On Occasion.
Affected Public: Individuals or
household; State, Local, or Tribal Gov’t,
SEAs or LEAs.
Reporting and Recordkeeping Hour
Burden:
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Responses: 11,379.
Burden Hours: 611.
Abstract: The current OMB package
requests clearance for the instruments to
be used in the Summer Reading
Program Study (SRP). The SRP study is
a project designed to test a summer
reading program’s impact of reducing
summer reading loss, especially for
struggling readers. The data collection
instruments will measure the
background characteristics of the
sample, the level of implementation and
outcomes of the summer reading
program.
Requests for copies of the proposed
information collection request may be
accessed from https://edicsweb.ed.gov,
by selecting the ‘‘Browse Pending
Collections’’ link and by clicking on
link number 3925. When you access the
information collection, click on
‘‘Download Attachments’’ to view.
Written requests for information should
be addressed to U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
LBJ, Washington, DC 20202–4537.
Requests may also be electronically
mailed to ICDocketMgr@ed.gov or faxed
to 202–401–0920. Please specify the
complete title of the information
collection when making your request.
Comments regarding burden and/or
the collection activity requirements
should be electronically mailed to
ICDocketMgr@ed.gov. Individuals who
use a telecommunications device for the
deaf (TDD) may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–
800–877–8339.
[FR Doc. E8–31215 Filed 12–31–08; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Innovation and Improvement;
Overview Information; Women’s
Educational Equity Act Program
(WEEA); Notice Inviting Applications
for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY)
2009
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
(CFDA) Number: 84.083A.
Note: The Department is not inviting
applications under CFDA Number 84.083B
(research and development grants) for FY
2009.
DATES: Applications Available: January
2, 2009.
Deadline for Transmittal of
Applications: February 23, 2009.
Deadline for Intergovernmental
Review: April 22, 2009.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: The purpose of
the WEEA program is: (a) To promote
gender equity in education in the
United States; (b) to provide financial
assistance to enable educational
agencies and institutions to meet the
requirements of title IX of the
Educational Amendments of 1972 (20
U.S.C. 1681 et seq.); and (c) to promote
equity in education for women and girls
who suffer from multiple forms of
discrimination based on sex, race,
ethnic origin, limited English
proficiency, disability, or age.
Note: Men and boys may participate in any
program or activity assisted with funds under
this program.
Priorities: This competition includes
three absolute priorities and one
competitive preference priority that are
explained in the following paragraphs.
These priorities are from the notice of
final discretionary grant priorities for
FY 2009, published in the Federal
Register on November 21, 2008 (73 FR
70627).
Absolute Priorities: For FY 2009 and
any subsequent year in which we make
awards from the list of unfunded
applicants from this competition, these
priorities are absolute priorities. Under
34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) we consider only
applications that meet Priority 3 and
one or both of Priority 1 and Priority 2.
These priorities are:
Priority 1—Mathematics. Projects that
support activities to enable students to
achieve proficiency or advanced
proficiency in mathematics.
Priority 2—Science. Projects that
support activities to enable students to
achieve proficiency or advanced
proficiency in science.
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Priority 3—Student Achievement
Data. Projects that collect pre- and postintervention test data to assess the effect
of the projects on the academic
achievement of student participants
relative to appropriate comparison or
control groups.
Note: All applicants must address Priority
3—Student Achievement Data. All applicants
must also address either Priority 1—
Mathematics or Priority 2—Science.
Applicants may address both Priority 1—
Mathematics and Priority 2—Science if they
believe they have the capacity and personnel
to successfully address both of these
priorities. However, no additional points will
be earned by addressing both the
mathematics and science priorities.
Note: The Department suggests that
applicants that are not part of a school
system establish a relationship with their
project’s targeted school(s) to facilitate
accessing the required pre- and postintervention test data regarding proficiency
and advanced proficiency.
Competitive Preference Priority: For
FY 2009 and any subsequent year in
which we make awards from the list of
unfunded applicants from this
competition, this priority is a
competitive preference priority. Under
34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i) we award up to
an additional 10 points to an
application, depending on how well the
application meets this priority.
This priority is:
Secondary Schools. Projects that
support activities and interventions
aimed at improving the academic
achievement of secondary school
students who are at greatest risk of not
meeting challenging State academic
standards and not completing high
school.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7283–7283g.
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 discretionary grant priorities for
FY 2009, published in the Federal
Register on November 21, 2008 (73 FR
70627).
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:
$1,827,714.
Contingent upon the availability of
funds and the quality of applications,
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we may make additional awards in FY
2010 from the list of unfunded
applicants from this competition.
Estimated Range of Awards:
$125,000–$225,000.
Estimated Average Size of Awards:
$182,770.
Estimated Number of Awards: 10.
Note: The Department is not bound by any
estimates in this notice.
Project Period: Up to 48 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: Public
agencies; private nonprofit agencies;
organizations, including communityand faith-based organizations;
institutions; student groups; community
groups; and individuals.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This
program does not require cost sharing or
matching.
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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 package
from ED Pubs, be sure to identify this
program or competition as follows:
CFDA number 84.083A.
Individuals with disabilities can
obtain a copy of the application package
in an accessible format (e.g., braille,
large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) by contacting the person listed
under Accessible 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
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. We strongly encourage
you to limit the application narrative
(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
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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 2, 2009.
Deadline for Transmittal of
Applications: February 23, 2009.
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 of 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 of 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 22, 2009.
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
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restrictions in the Applicable
Regulations section of this notice.
6. Other Submission Requirements:
Applications for grants under this
competition 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
WEEA program, CFDA Number
84.083A, must be submitted
electronically using the
Governmentwide 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 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
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 WEEA program at
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 84.083, not 84.083A).
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 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC
time, on the application deadline date.
Except as otherwise noted in this
section, we will not accept your
application if it is received—that is, date
and time stamped by the Grants.gov
system—after 4:30:00 p.m., Washington,
DC time, on the application deadline
date. We do not consider an application
that does not comply with the deadline
requirements. When we retrieve your
application from Grants.gov, we will
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notify you if we are rejecting your
application because it was date and time
stamped by the Grants.gov system after
4:30:00 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 all steps
in the Grants.gov registration process
(see 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 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
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SF 424, Budget Information—NonConstruction Programs (ED 524), and all
necessary assurances and certifications.
• 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).
• 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 4:30:00 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
4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, on
the application deadline date, please
contact the person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in
section VII of 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
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application by 4:30:00 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
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: Beverly A. Farrar, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland
Avenue, SW., room 4W242,
Washington, DC 20202–5950. Fax: (202)
205–5630.
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 following address:
U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center, Attention:
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(CFDA Number 84.083A), LBJ Basement
Level 1, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20202–4260.
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.
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Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not
uniformly provide a dated postmark. Before
relying on this method, you should check
with your local post office.
c. Submission of Paper Applications
by Hand Delivery.
If you 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 84.083A), 550 12th
Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center
Plaza, Washington, DC 20202–4260.
The Application Control Center
accepts hand deliveries daily between
8:00 a.m. and 4:30:00 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.
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V. Application Review Information
Selection Criteria: The selection
criteria for this competition are from
WEEA and 34 CFR 75.210 of EDGAR.
The maximum possible score for each
criterion is indicated in parentheses
after each criterion. Each criterion also
includes the factors that the reviewers
will consider in determining how well
an application meets the criterion. The
maximum score for all of the criteria is
100 points. The note following selection
criterion (5) is guidance to help
applicants in preparing the applications
and is not required by statute or
regulations. The selection criteria are as
follows:
(1) Project as a component of a
comprehensive plan (15 points). The
Secretary reviews each application to
determine the extent to which the
project is a significant component of a
comprehensive plan for education
equity and compliance with title IX of
the Education Amendments of 1972 (20
U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) in the particular
local educational agency, institution of
higher education, vocational-technical
institution, or other education agency or
institution.
(2) Implementing an institutional
change strategy (15 points). The
Secretary reviews each application to
determine the extent to which the
project would implement an
institutional change strategy with longterm impact that will continue as a
central activity of the applicant after the
grant has been terminated.
(3) Quality of project services (20
points). The Secretary considers the
quality of the services to be provided by
the proposed project. In determining the
quality of the services to be provided by
the proposed project, the Secretary
considers 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. In addition, the Secretary
considers the following factors:
(a) The extent to which the services to
be provided by the proposed project are
appropriate to the needs of the intended
recipients or beneficiaries of those
services.
(b) 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 the management plan
(25 points). The Secretary considers the
quality of the management plan for the
proposed project. In determining the
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quality of the management plan for the
proposed project, the Secretary
considers the following factors:
(a) The adequacy of the management
plan to achieve the objectives of the
proposed project on time and within
budget, including clearly defined
responsibilities, time lines, and
milestones for accomplishing project
tasks.
(b) The extent to which the time
commitments of the project director and
other key project personnel are
appropriate and adequate to meet the
objectives of the proposed project.
(c) How the applicant will ensure that
a diversity of perspectives are brought to
bear in the operation of the proposed
project, including those of parents,
teachers, the business community, a
variety of disciplinary and professional
fields, recipients or beneficiaries of
services, or others, as appropriate.
(5) Quality of the project evaluation
(25 points). The Secretary considers the
quality of the evaluation to be
conducted of the proposed project. In
determining the quality of the
evaluation, the Secretary considers 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: Applicants may wish to consider
using the evaluation plan to shape the
development of the project from the
beginning of the grant period. Applicants
also may wish to 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. Grantees will be expected to
report on the progress of their evaluation
through the required annual performance
report as discussed in VI.3 below.
VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices: If your application
is successful, we notify your U.S.
Representative and U.S. Senators and
send you a Grant Award Notification
(GAN). We may 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
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requirements in the Applicable
Regulations section of this notice.
We reference the regulations outlining
the terms and conditions of an award in
the Applicable Regulations section of
this notice and include these and other
specific conditions in the GAN. The
GAN also incorporates your approved
application as part of your binding
commitments under the grant.
3. Reporting: At the end of your
project period, you must submit a final
performance report, including financial
information, as directed by the
Secretary. If you receive a multi-year
award, you must submit an annual
performance report that provides the
most current performance and financial
expenditure information as 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 Secretary has
established the following five
performance measures for assessing the
effectiveness of this program. Grantees
funded under this competition will be
expected to collect and report to the
Department data related to these
measures. Applicants should discuss in
the application narrative how they
propose to collect these data. These
GPRA performance measures are (1) the
percentage of female students served by
the WEEA program who achieve
proficiency on State mathematics
assessments; (2) the percentage of
female students served by the WEEA
program who achieve advanced
proficiency on State mathematics
assessments; and/or (3) the percentage
of female students served by the WEEA
program who achieve proficiency on
State science assessments; (4) the
percentage of female students served by
the WEEA program who achieve
advanced proficiency on State science
assessments; and (5) the percentage of
WEEA projects whose female
participants demonstrate statistically
significant higher mean increases in
achievement compared to mean
increases of a comparison group, based
on pre- and post-test data.
All applicants will be expected to
collect and report data for GPRA
performance measure 5. Applicants will
be expected to collect and report data on
measures 1 through 4 based upon the
absolute priority addressed in their
application and the targeted proficiency
level. For example, if the applicant
proposes to develop a program that
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:23 Dec 31, 2008
Jkt 217001
focuses on helping students achieve
proficiency on State mathematics
assessments, data would be collected
and reported only on GPRA
performance measures 1 and 5.
Applicants should discuss in the
application narrative how they propose
to collect these data.
Notes for the GPRA measures: If the
applicant uses an instrument other than
assessments used for No Child Left
Behind of 2001 (NCLB) purposes or for
other State-level assessments, the
applicant is encouraged to demonstrate
that the instrument is both of the
following:
(1) Valid for the subject and age range
of students included in the project.
Validity is the extent to which the test
measures what it was supposed to (e.g.
mathematics aptitude). There are several
types of validity including content,
construct, and predictive validity.
Evidence of validity is often available
from the publisher of the assessment
instrument.
(2) Reliable with regard to the
consistency and repeatability of
measurement. Several types of
reliability are routinely established,
including the internal consistency of an
instrument (how well different items on
an instrument measure the same
construct) and test/retest reliability (the
consistency of measurement at two
different points in time). Evidence of
reliability is often available from the
publisher of the assessment instrument.
Applicants should adhere to the
following criteria when constructing a
comparison group for reporting on the
fifth GPRA measure. The comparison
group should (1) match WEEA
participants on a baseline measure of
the achievement outcome, baseline
demographics, or both; (2) be a group of
no less than 20 students, and should be
a group whose size is no less than 50
percent of the number of project
participants; and (3) not receive WEEA
project services.
For GPRA purposes, ‘‘proficiency’’
and ‘‘advanced proficiency’’ are defined
as follows: (1) ‘‘Proficiency’’ is defined
as the State standard for ‘‘proficient’’ for
the purposes of NCLB-reporting, or its
equivalent for standardized State tests;
and (2)’’Advanced proficiency’’ is
defined as the State standard for
‘‘advanced proficient’’ for purposes of
NCLB-reporting, or its equivalent for
standardized State tests.
VII. Agency Contact
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Beverly A. Farrar, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
room 4W242, Washington, DC 20202–
PO 00000
Frm 00037
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
105
5950. Telephone: (202) 205–3145 or by
e-mail: oiiweea@ed.gov.
If you use a TDD, call the Federal
Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1–800–
877–8339.
VIII. Other Information
Accessible Format: Individuals with
disabilities can obtain this document
and a copy of the application package in
an accessible format (e.g., braille, large
print, audiotape, or computer diskette)
on request to the program contact
person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT in section VII of
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: 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: December 29, 2008.
Amanda L. Farris,
Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and
Improvement.
[FR Doc. E8–31226 Filed 12–31–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[ER–FRL–8589–2]
Environmental Impact Statements and
Regulations; Availability of EPA
Comments
Availability of EPA comments
prepared pursuant to the Environmental
Review Process (ERP), under section
309 of the Clean Air Act and Section
102(2)(c) of the National Environmental
Policy Act as amended. Requests for
copies of EPA comments can be directed
to the Office of Federal Activities at
202–564–7146.
An explanation of the ratings assigned
to draft Environmental Impact
Statements (EISs) was published in
Federal Register dated April 6, 2008 (73
FR 19833).
E:\FR\FM\02JAN1.SGM
02JAN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 1 (Friday, January 2, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 101-105]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-31226]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Innovation and Improvement; Overview Information;
Women's Educational Equity Act Program (WEEA); Notice Inviting
Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.083A.
Note: The Department is not inviting applications under CFDA
Number 84.083B (research and development grants) for FY 2009.
DATES: Applications Available: January 2, 2009.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: February 23, 2009.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: April 22, 2009.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: The purpose of the WEEA program is: (a) To
promote gender equity in education in the United States; (b) to provide
financial assistance to enable educational agencies and institutions to
meet the requirements of title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972
(20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.); and (c) to promote equity in education for
women and girls who suffer from multiple forms of discrimination based
on sex, race, ethnic origin, limited English proficiency, disability,
or age.
Note: Men and boys may participate in any program or activity
assisted with funds under this program.
Priorities: This competition includes three absolute priorities and
one competitive preference priority that are explained in the following
paragraphs. These priorities are from the notice of final discretionary
grant priorities for FY 2009, published in the Federal Register on
November 21, 2008 (73 FR 70627).
Absolute Priorities: For FY 2009 and any subsequent year in which
we make awards from the list of unfunded applicants from this
competition, these priorities are absolute priorities. Under 34 CFR
75.105(c)(3) we consider only applications that meet Priority 3 and one
or both of Priority 1 and Priority 2.
These priorities are:
Priority 1--Mathematics. Projects that support activities to enable
students to achieve proficiency or advanced proficiency in mathematics.
Priority 2--Science. Projects that support activities to enable
students to achieve proficiency or advanced proficiency in science.
Priority 3--Student Achievement Data. Projects that collect pre-
and post-intervention test data to assess the effect of the projects on
the academic achievement of student participants relative to
appropriate comparison or control groups.
Note: All applicants must address Priority 3--Student
Achievement Data. All applicants must also address either Priority
1--Mathematics or Priority 2--Science. Applicants may address both
Priority 1--Mathematics and Priority 2--Science if they believe they
have the capacity and personnel to successfully address both of
these priorities. However, no additional points will be earned by
addressing both the mathematics and science priorities.
Note: The Department suggests that applicants that are not part
of a school system establish a relationship with their project's
targeted school(s) to facilitate accessing the required pre- and
post-intervention test data regarding proficiency and advanced
proficiency.
Competitive Preference Priority: For FY 2009 and any subsequent
year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applicants from
this competition, this priority is a competitive preference priority.
Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i) we award up to an additional 10 points to
an application, depending on how well the application meets this
priority.
This priority is:
Secondary Schools. Projects that support activities and
interventions aimed at improving the academic achievement of secondary
school students who are at greatest risk of not meeting challenging
State academic standards and not completing high school.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7283-7283g.
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
discretionary grant priorities for FY 2009, published in the Federal
Register on November 21, 2008 (73 FR 70627).
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: $1,827,714.
Contingent upon the availability of funds and the quality of
applications,
[[Page 102]]
we may make additional awards in FY 2010 from the list of unfunded
applicants from this competition.
Estimated Range of Awards: $125,000-$225,000.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $182,770.
Estimated Number of Awards: 10.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 48 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: Public agencies; private nonprofit
agencies; organizations, including community- and faith-based
organizations; institutions; student groups; community groups; and
individuals.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This program does not require cost
sharing or matching.
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 package from ED Pubs, be sure to
identify this program or competition as follows: CFDA number 84.083A.
Individuals with disabilities can obtain a copy of the application
package in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, audiotape,
or computer diskette) by contacting the person listed under Accessible
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 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. We strongly encourage you
to limit the application narrative (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 2,
2009. Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: February 23, 2009.
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 of 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
of 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 22, 2009.
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 of this notice.
6. Other Submission Requirements: Applications for grants under
this competition 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 WEEA program, CFDA Number
84.083A, must be submitted electronically using the Governmentwide
Grants.gov Apply site at https://www.Grants.gov. Through this site, you
will be able to download a copy of the application package, complete it
offline, and then upload and submit your application. You may not e-
mail an electronic copy of a grant application to us.
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 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 WEEA
program at 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
84.083, not 84.083A).
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 4:30:00
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. Except as
otherwise noted in this section, we will not accept your application if
it is received--that is, date and time stamped by the Grants.gov
system--after 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application
deadline date. We do not consider an application that does not comply
with the deadline requirements. When we retrieve your application from
Grants.gov, we will
[[Page 103]]
notify you if we are rejecting your application because it was date and
time stamped by the Grants.gov system after 4:30:00 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 all steps in the Grants.gov registration process (see 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 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.
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 4:30:00 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 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC
time, on the application deadline date, please contact the person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in section VII of 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 4:30:00
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 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: Beverly A. Farrar, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4W242,
Washington, DC 20202-5950. Fax: (202) 205-5630.
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 following address:
U.S. Department of Education, Application Control Center, Attention:
[[Page 104]]
(CFDA Number 84.083A), LBJ Basement Level 1, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20202-4260.
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 84.083A), 550 12th Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center
Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-4260.
The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily
between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30:00 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 WEEA and 34 CFR 75.210 of EDGAR. The maximum possible score for
each criterion is indicated in parentheses after each criterion. Each
criterion also includes the factors that the reviewers will consider in
determining how well an application meets the criterion. The maximum
score for all of the criteria is 100 points. The note following
selection criterion (5) is guidance to help applicants in preparing the
applications and is not required by statute or regulations. The
selection criteria are as follows:
(1) Project as a component of a comprehensive plan (15 points). The
Secretary reviews each application to determine the extent to which the
project is a significant component of a comprehensive plan for
education equity and compliance with title IX of the Education
Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) in the particular local
educational agency, institution of higher education, vocational-
technical institution, or other education agency or institution.
(2) Implementing an institutional change strategy (15 points). The
Secretary reviews each application to determine the extent to which the
project would implement an institutional change strategy with long-term
impact that will continue as a central activity of the applicant after
the grant has been terminated.
(3) Quality of project services (20 points). The Secretary
considers the quality of the services to be provided by the proposed
project. In determining the quality of the services to be provided by
the proposed project, the Secretary considers 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. In addition, the Secretary
considers the following factors:
(a) The extent to which the services to be provided by the proposed
project are appropriate to the needs of the intended recipients or
beneficiaries of those services.
(b) 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 the management plan (25 points). The Secretary
considers the quality of the management plan for the proposed project.
In determining the quality of the management plan for the proposed
project, the Secretary considers the following factors:
(a) The adequacy of the management plan to achieve the objectives
of the proposed project on time and within budget, including clearly
defined responsibilities, time lines, and milestones for accomplishing
project tasks.
(b) The extent to which the time commitments of the project
director and other key project personnel are appropriate and adequate
to meet the objectives of the proposed project.
(c) How the applicant will ensure that a diversity of perspectives
are brought to bear in the operation of the proposed project, including
those of parents, teachers, the business community, a variety of
disciplinary and professional fields, recipients or beneficiaries of
services, or others, as appropriate.
(5) Quality of the project evaluation (25 points). The Secretary
considers the quality of the evaluation to be conducted of the proposed
project. In determining the quality of the evaluation, the Secretary
considers 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: Applicants may wish to consider using the evaluation plan
to shape the development of the project from the beginning of the
grant period. Applicants also may wish to 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. Grantees will be
expected to report on the progress of their evaluation through the
required annual performance report as discussed in VI.3 below.
VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices: If your application is successful, we notify your
U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators and send you a Grant Award
Notification (GAN). We may 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
[[Page 105]]
requirements in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice.
We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of
an award in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice and
include these and other specific conditions in the GAN. The GAN also
incorporates your approved application as part of your binding
commitments under the grant.
3. Reporting: At the end of your project period, you must submit a
final performance report, including financial information, as directed
by the Secretary. If you receive a multi-year award, you must submit an
annual performance report that provides the most current performance
and financial expenditure information as 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 Secretary has established the following
five performance measures for assessing the effectiveness of this
program. Grantees funded under this competition will be expected to
collect and report to the Department data related to these measures.
Applicants should discuss in the application narrative how they propose
to collect these data. These GPRA performance measures are (1) the
percentage of female students served by the WEEA program who achieve
proficiency on State mathematics assessments; (2) the percentage of
female students served by the WEEA program who achieve advanced
proficiency on State mathematics assessments; and/or (3) the percentage
of female students served by the WEEA program who achieve proficiency
on State science assessments; (4) the percentage of female students
served by the WEEA program who achieve advanced proficiency on State
science assessments; and (5) the percentage of WEEA projects whose
female participants demonstrate statistically significant higher mean
increases in achievement compared to mean increases of a comparison
group, based on pre- and post-test data.
All applicants will be expected to collect and report data for GPRA
performance measure 5. Applicants will be expected to collect and
report data on measures 1 through 4 based upon the absolute priority
addressed in their application and the targeted proficiency level. For
example, if the applicant proposes to develop a program that focuses on
helping students achieve proficiency on State mathematics assessments,
data would be collected and reported only on GPRA performance measures
1 and 5. Applicants should discuss in the application narrative how
they propose to collect these data.
Notes for the GPRA measures: If the applicant uses an instrument
other than assessments used for No Child Left Behind of 2001 (NCLB)
purposes or for other State-level assessments, the applicant is
encouraged to demonstrate that the instrument is both of the following:
(1) Valid for the subject and age range of students included in the
project. Validity is the extent to which the test measures what it was
supposed to (e.g. mathematics aptitude). There are several types of
validity including content, construct, and predictive validity.
Evidence of validity is often available from the publisher of the
assessment instrument.
(2) Reliable with regard to the consistency and repeatability of
measurement. Several types of reliability are routinely established,
including the internal consistency of an instrument (how well different
items on an instrument measure the same construct) and test/retest
reliability (the consistency of measurement at two different points in
time). Evidence of reliability is often available from the publisher of
the assessment instrument.
Applicants should adhere to the following criteria when
constructing a comparison group for reporting on the fifth GPRA
measure. The comparison group should (1) match WEEA participants on a
baseline measure of the achievement outcome, baseline demographics, or
both; (2) be a group of no less than 20 students, and should be a group
whose size is no less than 50 percent of the number of project
participants; and (3) not receive WEEA project services.
For GPRA purposes, ``proficiency'' and ``advanced proficiency'' are
defined as follows: (1) ``Proficiency'' is defined as the State
standard for ``proficient'' for the purposes of NCLB-reporting, or its
equivalent for standardized State tests; and (2)''Advanced
proficiency'' is defined as the State standard for ``advanced
proficient'' for purposes of NCLB-reporting, or its equivalent for
standardized State tests.
VII. Agency Contact
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly A. Farrar, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4W242, Washington, DC 20202-
5950. Telephone: (202) 205-3145 or by e-mail: oiiweea@ed.gov.
If you use a TDD, call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free,
at 1-800-877-8339.
VIII. Other Information
Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this
document and a copy of the application package in an accessible format
(e.g., braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) on
request to the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT in section VII of 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: 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: December 29, 2008.
Amanda L. Farris,
Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement.
[FR Doc. E8-31226 Filed 12-31-08; 8:45 am]
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