Applications for New Awards; School Climate Transformation Grant Program-State Educational Agency Grants, 26233-26240 [2014-10501]
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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 88 / Wednesday, May 7, 2014 / Notices
(d) Performance measure targets. In
addition, the applicant must propose
annual targets for the measures listed in
paragraph (b) in their application.
Applications must also provide the
following information as directed CFR
75.110(b) and (c):
(1) Why each proposed performance
target is ambitious (as defined in this
notice) yet achievable compared to the
baseline for the performance measure.
(2)(a) The data collection and
reporting methods the applicant would
use and why those methods are likely to
yield reliable, valid, and meaningful
performance data; and (b) the
applicant’s capacity to collect and
report reliable, valid, and meaningful
performance data, as evidenced by highquality data collection, analysis, and
reporting in other projects or research.
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Note: If the applicant does not have
experience with collection and reporting of
performance data through other projects or
research, the applicant should provide other
evidence of capacity to successfully carry out
data collection and reporting for its proposed
project.
The reviewers of each application will
score related selection criteria on the
basis of how well an applicant has
considered these measures in
paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) in
conceptualizing the approach and
evaluation of the project.
All grantees must submit an annual
performance report and final
performance report with information
that is responsive to these performance
measures. The Department will consider
this data in making annual continuation
awards.
Consistent with 34 CFR 75.591,
grantees funded under this program
shall comply with the requirements of
any evaluation of the program
conducted by the Department or an
evaluator selected by the Department.
5. Continuation Awards: In making a
continuation award, the Secretary may
consider, under 34 CFR 75.253, the
extent to which a grantee has made
‘‘substantial progress toward meeting
the objectives in its approved
application’’ and the performance
measurement and target requirements in
the application notice. This
consideration includes the review of a
grantee’s progress in meeting the targets
and projected outcomes in its approved
application, and whether the grantee
has expended funds in a manner that is
consistent with its approved application
and budget. In making a continuation
grant, the Secretary also considers
whether the grantee is operating in
compliance with the assurances in its
approved application, including those
applicable to Federal civil rights laws
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that prohibit discrimination in programs
or activities receiving Federal financial
assistance from the Department (34 CFR
100.4, 104.5, 106.4, 108.8, and 110.23).
VII. Agency Contact
Eve
Birge, U.S. Department of Education,
400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room
3E248, Washington, DC 20202–6450.
Telephone: (202) 453–6717 or by email:
eve.birge@ed.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
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 compact disc) on
request to the program contact person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT in section VII of this notice.
Electronic Access to This Document:
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 via the Federal Digital System
at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site 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). To use PDF you must
have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is
available free at the site.
You may also access documents of the
Department published in the Federal
Register by using the article search
feature at: www.federalregister.gov.
Specifically, through the advanced
search feature at this site, you can limit
your search to documents published by
the Department.
Dated: May 2, 2014.
Deborah S. Delisle,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and
Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2014–10497 Filed 5–6–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Applications for New Awards; School
Climate Transformation Grant
Program—State Educational Agency
Grants
Office of Elementary and
Secondary Education, Department of
Education.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
Overview Information:
School Climate Transformation Grant
Program—State Educational Agency
Grants.
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26233
Notice inviting applications for new
awards for fiscal year (FY) 2014.
Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.184F.
DATES: Applications Available: May 7,
2014.
Deadline for Transmittal of
Applications: June 23, 2014.
Deadline for Intergovernmental
Review: August 20, 2014.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: The School
Climate Transformation Grant
Program—State Educational Agency
Grants provides competitive grants to
State educational agencies (SEAs) to
develop, enhance, or expand statewide
systems of support for, and technical
assistance to, local educational agencies
(LEAs) and schools implementing an
evidence-based, multi-tiered behavioral
framework for improving behavioral
outcomes and learning conditions for all
students.
Background:
Although schools have long attempted
to address issues of discipline,
disruptive and problem behavior,
violence, and bullying, the vast majority
of our Nation’s schools have not
implemented comprehensive, effective
supports that address the full range of
students’ social, emotional, and
behavioral needs.1
A report issued by the U.S. Secret
Service and the Department of
Education following the Columbine
shooting found that one of the most
effective ways schools can reduce
violence and bullying is to improve a
school’s climate and thereby increase
trust and communication between
students and staff.2 Research
demonstrates that the implementation of
an evidence-based, multi-tiered
behavioral framework, such as positive
behavioral interventions and supports
(PBIS), can help improve overall school
climate and safety.3 A key aspect of this
multi-tiered approach is providing
differing levels of support and
interventions to students based on their
needs. Certain supports involve the
1 Horner, R., Sugai, G., and Vincent, C. (2005).
School-wide Positive Behavior Support: Investing
in student success. Impact: Feature Issue on
Fostering Success in School and Beyond for
Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders.
Retrieved from: https://ici.umn.edu.
2 Borum, R., Fein, R., Modzeleski, W., Pollack,
W., Reddy, M., Vossekuil, B., Threat Assessment in
Schools: A Guide to Managing Threatening
Situations and Creating Safe School Climates, 2002.
3 Bradshaw, C., Koth, C.W., Thornton, L.A., &
Leaf, P.J. (2009). Altering school climate through
school-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and
Supports: Findings from a group-randomized
effectiveness trial. Prevention Science.
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whole school (e.g., consistent rules,
consequences, and reinforcement of
appropriate behavior), with more
intensive supports for groups of
students exhibiting at-risk behavior and
individualized services for students
who continue to exhibit troubling
behavior.
When a multi-tiered behavioral
framework has been implemented with
fidelity, studies have found the
following statistically significant results:
An increase in perceived school safety,
reductions in overall problem behaviors,
reductions in bullying behaviors,4 and
reductions in office discipline referrals
and suspensions.5 Studies have also
found a correlation between the use of
multi-tiered behavioral frameworks and
improved social skills.6 Emerging
evidence also links implementing a
multi-tiered behavioral framework with
improved academic achievement.7 In
addition to being effective, school-wide
multi-tiered behavioral frameworks are
attractive to SEAs and LEAs because
they are designed to enhance the
learning environment for all students
while having additional supports in
place for students who have greater
social, emotional, and behavioral needs.
Under this program, grant funds will
help build SEA capacity to develop and
adopt, or expand to more schools, a
multi-tiered behavioral framework that
guides the selection, integration, and
implementation of the best evidencebased behavioral practices for
improving school climate and
behavioral outcomes for all students.
In 2013, the President proposed a
comprehensive plan, ‘‘Now is the
Time,’’ to protect our children and
communities by reducing gun violence,
making schools safer, and increasing
access to mental health services.8 The
School Climate Transformation Grant
Program is one of several Federal
4 Bradshaw, C., Goldweber, A., Leaf, P., Pasa, E.,
Rosenberg, M. (2012). Integrating school-wide
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
with tier 2 coaching to student support teams: The
PBISplus model. Advances in School Mental Health
Promotion.
5 Bradshaw, C., Leaf, P., Mitchell, M. (2009).
Examining the effects of schoolwide Positive
Behavioral Interventions and Supports on student
outcomes: Results From a randomized controlled
effectiveness trial in elementary schools. Journal of
Positive Behavior Interventions.
6 Barrett, S.B., Bradshaw, C.P. & Lewis-Palmer, T.
(2008). Maryland statewide PBIS initiative:
Systems, evaluation, and next steps. Journal of
Positive Behavior Interventions.
7 McIntosh, K., Bennett, J.L., & Price, K. (2011).
Evaluation of social and academic effects of schoolwide positive behaviour support in a Canadian
school district. Exceptionality Education
International.
8 See the President’s ‘‘Now is the Time’’ Plan at:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/
whlnowlisltheltimelfull.pdf
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programs designed to work together to
help make schools safer and improve
mental health services for students and
young adults. The Departments of
Education, Health and Human Services,
and Justice are implementing
coordinated programs consistent with
the initiative and the FY 2014
Consolidated Appropriations Act. The
Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA) is implementing the
Administration’s ‘‘Now is the Time’’
Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness
and Resilience in Education), which
provides grants to SEAs and LEAs to
increase awareness of mental health
issues among school-aged youth. Project
AWARE grants provide funding to
support training in detection and
response to mental illness in youth for
adults who interact with youth in
school and community settings. Later
this year the Department of Justice,
under the School Justice Collaboration
Program: Keeping Kids in School and
Out of Court, will be awarding
competitive grants to juvenile and
family courts in communities that
receive School Climate Transformation
Grants to collaborate on use of evidencebased positive behavior strategies to
increase school safety and reduce
suspensions, expulsions, and referrals to
court. The Department of Education is
implementing SEA and LEA School
Climate Transformation Grants to assist
States and LEAs in developing,
enhancing, or expanding systems of
support for, and technical assistance to,
schools implementing evidence-based
multi-tiered behavior frameworks for
improving behavioral outcomes and
learning conditions for all students.
SEAs that implement this suite of
programs as part of a coordinated
strategy will enhance their ability to
achieve the goals and objectives of the
various programs. The combination and
coordination of these programs will
facilitate interagency partnerships and
strategies to address the issues of school
climate, school safety, and mental
health needs in a comprehensive
manner.
This notice invites SEAs to apply for
grants under the School Climate
Transformation Grant Program. A notice
inviting applications from LEAs is
published elsewhere in this issue of the
Federal Register.
Priorities: We are establishing these
priorities for the FY 2014 grant
competition and any subsequent year in
which we make awards from the list of
unfunded applicants from this
competition, in accordance with section
437(d)(1) of the General Education
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Provisions Act (GEPA), 20 U.S.C.
1232(d)(1).
Absolute Priority: For FY 2014 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:
Grants to State Educational Agencies
(SEAs) to Implement Statewide Systems
of Support for Multi-Tiered Behavioral
Frameworks to Improve School Climate.
Under this priority, we provide grants
to SEAs to develop, enhance, or expand
statewide systems of support for, and
provide technical assistance to, LEAs
implementing a multi-tiered behavioral
framework to improve school climate
and behavioral outcomes for all
students.
Competitive Preference Priority: For
FY 2014 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)(1) we award up to
an additional 5 points to an application,
depending on how well the applicant
meets this priority. Therefore, the
maximum number of competitive
preference points that an application
can receive under this competition is 5
points.
Note: An applicant must clearly identify in
the abstract section of its application that it
is applying for the competitive preference
priority. The Department will not review or
award points under this competitive
preference priority for any application that
fails to do so.
This priority is:
Coordination with Other Related
Activities (0–5 points).
Under this priority, we provide
additional points to an applicant based
on the application’s description of a
credible, high-quality plan to coordinate
activities that would be funded under
this competition with related activities
that are funded through other available
resources in such a manner as to
enhance the overall impact of the multitiered behavioral frameworks
implemented through a School Climate
Transformation grant. The coordination
may be with related activities that are
currently in progress, such as the
SAMHSA’s Safe and Healthy Students
program (CFDA 93.243) and HHS’s
Health Resources Services
Administration’s Center for School
Mental Health (Project U45 MC 00174);
as well as with related activities that
would be conducted under other
programs for which the applicant is
currently seeking funding, such as the
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Mental Health First Aid program being
funded by SAMHSA under the Project
AWARE State Educational Agency
Grants.
The plan must also describe how, in
the event and to the extent an applicant
does not receive funding that it seeks
from other sources to support such
related activities, the applicant will
adjust its proposed coordination
strategies. Applicants that receive
additional competitive preference
points under this priority and are
ultimately awarded a School Climate
Transformation Grant will finalize the
high-quality plan described in response
to this priority post-award.
Program Requirements
Each grantee must implement a plan
that:
(a) Builds SEA capacity for supporting
the sustained and broad-scale
implementation of a multi-tiered
behavioral framework by LEAs by:
(1) Improving the skills of SEA
personnel to assist LEA implementation
of the components of a multi-tiered
behavioral framework, such as policies,
funding, professional development,
coaching, and interagency coordination
for providing services;
(2) Developing a cadre of trained and
experienced staff to provide training
and ongoing coaching to LEA leadership
teams on the multi-tiered behavioral
framework; and
(3) Improving the quality,
accessibility, and usefulness of
statewide data collection and analysis;
(b) Enhances LEA capacity for
implementing and sustaining a multitiered behavioral framework by
providing training and technical
assistance to LEAs on all of the
following:
(1) Developing or improving the
quality, accessibility, and usefulness of
LEA data collection and data-based
decision making;
(2) Improving the skills and expertise
of LEA personnel to develop,
implement, and sustain a multi-tiered
behavioral framework;
(3) Using evidence-based practices
and reliable and valid tools and
processes for evaluating the fidelity of
implementation of the multi-tiered
behavioral framework, and for
measuring its outcomes, including
reductions in discipline referrals,
suspensions, expulsions, and the use of
restraints and seclusion; improvements
in school climate; increases in
instructional time; and improvement in
overall academic achievement; and
(4) Coordinating SEA efforts with
appropriate Federal, State, and local
resources.
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(c) Coordinates SEA efforts with
appropriate Federal, State and local
resources, including LEAs funded under
the School Climate Transformation
Grants LEA Program (84.184G) and the
PBIS Technical Assistance Center
funded by the Department.
Application Requirements:
Applications that fail to meet any one of
these requirements will not be read or
scored. The applicant must:
(a) Describe the current efforts by the
SEA to support implementation of a
multi-tiered behavioral framework in its
LEAs and schools, as well as evidence
of the need to implement, scale-up, and
sustain such a framework in additional
LEAs and schools. The applicant must
also present State and local data
demonstrating this need, including, but
not limited to, the number and types of
LEAs and schools that are currently
implementing a multi-tiered behavioral
framework.
(b) Describe its plan to build,
improve, or enhance SEA capacity to
provide effective training, technical
assistance, and support to LEAs and
their schools on implementing a schoolwide multi-tiered behavioral framework,
including the estimated number of LEAs
that will be assisted, how the SEA will
assess readiness for implementation,
and how the SEA will help build
capacity for implementation at the local
level.
(c) Describe how the proposed project
will address the needs of high-need
LEAs (as defined in this notice),
including those with high-poverty
schools (as defined in this notice), lowperforming schools (including
persistently lowest-achieving schools
(both as defined in this notice)), and
priority schools (as defined in this
notice).
(d) Explain how the SEA’s efforts to
build LEA and school capacity to
implement, expand, and sustain a multitiered behavioral framework will be
linked to other SEA and LEA school
safety, school improvement, and school
reform efforts.
Definitions: We are establishing the
definitions of ‘‘high-need LEA,’’ ‘‘low
performing school,’’ ‘‘multi-tiered
behavioral framework,’’ and ‘‘priority
school’’ in this notice for the FY 2014
grant competition and any subsequent
year in which we make awards from the
list of unfunded applications from this
competition, in accordance with section
437(d)(1) of GEPA, 20 U.S.C. 1232(d)(1).
The definitions of ‘‘high-poverty
school’’ and ‘‘persistently lowestachieving schools’’ are from the notice
of final supplemental priorities and
definitions for discretionary grant
programs published in the Federal
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Register on December 15, 2010 (75 FR
78486) and corrected on May 12, 2011
(76 FR 27637).
High-need LEA means an LEA (a) that
serves not fewer than 10,000 children
from families with incomes below the
poverty line; or (b) for which not less
than 20 percent of the children served
by the LEA are from families with
incomes below the poverty line.
High-poverty school means a school
in which at least 50 percent of students
are eligible for free or reduced-price
lunches under the Richard B. Russell
National School Lunch Act or in which
at least 50 percent of students are from
low-income families as determined
using one of the criteria specified under
section 1113(a)(5) of the ESEA. For
middle and high schools, eligibility may
be calculated on the basis of comparable
data from feeder schools. Eligibility as a
high-poverty school under this
definition is determined on the basis of
the most currently available data.
Low-performing school means a
school that is in the bottom 10 percent
of performance in the State, or that has
significant achievement gaps, based on
student academic performance in
reading/language arts and mathematics
on the assessments required under the
ESEA, or graduation rate gaps.
Multi-tiered behavioral framework
means a school-wide structure used to
improve the integration and
implementation of behavioral practices,
data-driven decision-making systems,
professional development opportunities,
school leadership, supportive SEA and
LEA policies, and evidence-based
instructional strategies.
Persistently lowest-achieving schools
means, as determined by the State—
(a)(1) Any Title I school in
improvement, corrective action, or
restructuring that—
(i) Is among the lowest-achieving five
percent of Title I schools in
improvement, corrective action, or
restructuring or the lowest-achieving
five Title I schools in improvement,
corrective action, or restructuring in the
State, whichever number of schools is
greater; or
(ii) Is a high school that has had a
graduation rate as defined in 34 CFR
200.19(b) that is less than 60 percent
over a number of years; and
(2) Any secondary school that is
eligible for, but does not receive, Title
I funds that—
(i) Is among the lowest-achieving five
percent of secondary schools or the
lowest-achieving five secondary schools
in the State that are eligible for, but do
not receive, Title I funds, whichever
number of schools is greater; or
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(ii) Is a high school that has had a
graduation rate as defined in 34 CFR
200.19(b) that is less than 60 percent
over a number of years.
(b) To identify the lowest-achieving
schools, a State must take into account
both—
(i) The academic achievement of the
‘‘all students’’ group in a school in
terms of proficiency on the State’s
assessments under section 1111(b)(3) of
the ESEA in reading/language arts and
mathematics combined; and
(ii) The school’s lack of progress on
those assessments over a number of
years in the ‘‘all students’’ group.
Note: The Department considers schools
that are identified as Tier I or Tier II schools
under the School Improvement Grants
Program (see 75 FR 66363) as part of a State’s
approved FY 2009, FY 2010, FY 2011, or FY
2012 application to be persistently lowestachieving schools. A list of these Tier I and
Tier II schools can be found on the
Department’s Web site at www2.ed.gov/
programs/sif/.
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Priority school means a school that
has been identified by the State as a
priority school pursuant to the State’s
approved request for ESEA flexibility.
Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking:
Under the Administrative Procedure Act
(5 U.S.C. 553), the Department generally
offers interested parties the opportunity
to comment on proposed priorities,
definitions, and requirements. Section
437(d)(1) of GEPA, however, allows the
Secretary to exempt from rulemaking
requirements, regulations governing the
first grant competition under a new or
substantially revised program authority.
This is the first grant competition for
this program under the appropriation
for Safe Schools and Citizenship
Education in the Department of
Education Appropriations Act, 2014,
Title III of Division H of Public Law
113–76, and section 4121 of the ESEA
(20 U.S.C. 7131) and therefore qualifies
for this exemption. In order to ensure
timely grant awards, the Secretary has
decided to forgo public comment on the
priorities, definitions, and requirements
under section 437(d)(1) of GEPA. These
priorities, definitions, and requirements
will apply to the FY 2014 grant
competition and any subsequent year in
which we make awards from the list of
unfunded applicants from this
competition.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7131; the
Department of Education Appropriations Act,
2014, Title III of Division H of Pub. L. 113–
76.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The
Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in
34 CFR parts, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84,
97, 98, and 99; the regulations in 34 CFR
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part 299. (b) The Education Department
suspension and debarment regulations
in 2 CFR part 3485.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 79
apply to all applicants except federally
recognized Indian tribes.
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
Estimated Available Funds:
$7,375,000.
Contingent upon the availability of
funds and the quality of applications,
we may make additional awards in FY
2015 and subsequent years from the list
of unfunded applicants from the
competition announced in this notice.
Estimated Range of Awards: $250,000
to $750,000 per year for up to 5 years.
Estimated Average Size of Awards:
$400,000.
Maximum Award: We will reject any
application that proposes a budget
exceeding $750,000 for a single budget
period of 12 months. The Assistant
Secretary for Elementary and Secondary
Education may change the maximum
amount through a notice published in
the Federal Register.
Estimated Number of Awards: 18.
Note: The Department is not bound by any
estimates in this notice.
Project Period: Up to 60 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: SEAs.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This
program does not require cost sharing or
matching.
3. Other:
(a) Participation by Private School
Children and Teachers. Section 9501 of
the ESEA requires that SEAs, LEAs, or
other entities receiving funds under the
Safe and Drug-Free Schools and
Communities Act provide for the
equitable participation of private school
children, their teachers, and other
educational personnel in private schools
located in geographic areas served by
the grant recipient.
In order to ensure that grant program
activities address the needs of private
school children, the applicant must
engage in timely and meaningful
consultation with appropriate private
school officials during the design and
development of the proposed program.
This consultation must take place before
the applicant makes any decision that
affects the opportunities of eligible
private school children, teachers, and
other educational personnel to
participate in grant program activities.
Administrative direction and control
over grant funds must remain with the
grantee.
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IV. Application and Submission
Information
1. Address to Request Application
Package: ED Pubs, U.S. Department of
Education, P.O. Box 22207, Alexandria,
VA 22304. Telephone, toll free: 1–877–
433–7827. FAX: (703) 605–6794. If you
use a telecommunications device for the
deaf (TDD) or a text telephone (TTY),
call, toll free: 1–877–576–7734.
You can contact ED Pubs at its Web
site, also: www.EDPubs.gov or at its
email 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 84.184F.
Individuals with disabilities can
obtain a copy of the application package
in an accessible format (e.g., braille,
large print, audiotape, or compact disc)
by contacting the person or team 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
program.
Page Limit: The application narrative
is where you, the applicant, provide the
project narrative to address the selection
criteria that reviewers use to evaluate
your application. The required budget
and budget narrative will be provided in
a separate section. You must limit the
application narrative 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.
The page limit does not apply to the
cover sheet; the budget section,
including the narrative budget
justification; 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.
Our reviewers will not read any pages
of your application that exceed the page
limit.
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3. Submission Dates and Times:
Applications Available: May 7, 2014.
Deadline for Transmittal of
Applications: June 23, 2014.
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.7. 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: August 20, 2014.
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: Program
funds may be used for training and
technical assistance and costs related to
carrying out these activities, in addition
to other allowable costs. We reference
additional regulations outlining funding
restrictions in the Applicable
Regulations section of this notice.
6. Data Universal Numbering System
Number, Taxpayer Identification
Number, and System for Award
Management: To do business with the
Department of Education, you must—
a. Have a Data Universal Numbering
System (DUNS) number and a Taxpayer
Identification Number (TIN);
b. Register both your DUNS number
and TIN with the System for Award
Management (SAM) (formerly the
Central Contractor Registry (CCR)), the
Government’s primary registrant
database;
c. Provide your DUNS number and
TIN on your application; and
d. Maintain an active SAM
registration with current information
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while your application is under review
by the Department and, if you are
awarded a grant, during the project
period.
You can obtain a DUNS number from
Dun and Bradstreet. A DUNS number
can be created within one-to-two
business days.
If you are a corporate entity, agency,
institution, or organization, you can
obtain a TIN from the Internal Revenue
Service. If you are an individual, you
can obtain a TIN from the Internal
Revenue Service or the Social Security
Administration. If you need a new TIN,
please allow 2–5 weeks for your TIN to
become active.
The SAM registration process can take
approximately seven business days, but
may take upwards of several weeks,
depending on the completeness and
accuracy of the data entered into the
SAM database by an entity. Thus, if you
think you might want to apply for
Federal financial assistance under a
program administered by the
Department, please allow sufficient time
to obtain and register your DUNS
number and TIN. We strongly
recommend that you register early.
Note: Once your SAM registration is active,
you will need to allow 24 to 48 hours for the
information to be available in Grants.gov and
before you can submit an application through
Grants.gov.
If you are currently registered with
SAM, you may not need to make any
changes. However, please make certain
that the TIN associated with your DUNS
number is correct. Also note that you
will need to update your registration
annually. This may take three or more
business days.
Information about SAM is available at
www.SAM.gov. To further assist you
with obtaining and registering your
DUNS number and TIN in SAM or
updating your existing SAM account,
we have prepared a SAM.gov Tip Sheet,
which you can find at: https://
www2.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/samfaqs.html.
In addition, if you are submitting your
application via Grants.gov, you must (1)
be designated by your organization as an
Authorized Organization Representative
(AOR); and (2) register yourself with
Grants.gov as an AOR. Details on these
steps are outlined at the following
Grants.gov Web page: https://
www.grants.gov/web/grants/
register.html.
7. 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.
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a. Electronic Submission of
Applications.
Applications for grants under the
School Climate Transformation Grant
Program, CFDA numbers 84.184F (SEA
grants), must be submitted
electronically using the
Governmentwide Grants.gov Apply site
at 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 School Climate
Transformation Grant Program at
www.Grants.gov. You must search for
the downloadable application package
for this competition by the CFDA
numbers. Do not include the CFDA
number’s alpha suffix in your search
(e.g., search for 84.184, not 84.184F).
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
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
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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 under News
and Events on the Department’s G5
system home page at https://www.G5.gov.
• 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: The 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.
• You must upload any narrative
sections and all other attachments to
your application as files in a PDF
(Portable Document) read-only, nonmodifiable format. Do not upload an
interactive or fillable PDF file. If you
upload a file type other than a readonly, non-modifiable PDF or submit a
password-protected file, we will not
review that material. (Additional,
detailed information on how to attach
files is in the application instructions.]
• 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 email.
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 4:30:00 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
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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: Bryan Williams, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland
Avenue SW., Room 3C152, Washington,
DC 20202. FAX: (202) 453–6742.
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:
CFDA Number 84.184F, 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.
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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 84.184F, 550 12th Street
SW., Room 7039, 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.
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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 of EDGAR and are listed in the
application package.
2. Review and Selection Process: We
remind potential applicants that in
reviewing applications in any
discretionary grant competition, the
Secretary may consider, under 34 CFR
75.217(d)(3), the past performance of the
applicant in carrying out a previous
award, such as the applicant’s use of
funds, achievement of project
objectives, and compliance with grant
conditions. The Secretary may also
consider whether the applicant failed to
submit a timely performance report or
submitted a report of unacceptable
quality.
In addition, in making a competitive
grant award, the Secretary also requires
various assurances including those
applicable to Federal civil rights laws
that prohibit discrimination in programs
or activities receiving Federal financial
assistance from the Department of
Education (34 CFR 100.4, 104.5, 106.4,
108.8, and 110.23).
3. Special Conditions: Under 34 CFR
74.14 and 80.12, the Secretary may
impose special conditions on a grant if
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the applicant or grantee is not
financially stable; has a history of
unsatisfactory performance; has a
financial or other management system
that does not meet the standards in 34
CFR parts 74 or 80, as applicable; has
not fulfilled the conditions of a prior
grant; or is otherwise not responsible.
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); or we may send you an email
containing a link to access an electronic
version of your 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 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: (a) If you apply for a
grant under this competition, you must
ensure that you have in place the
necessary processes and systems to
comply with the reporting requirements
in 2 CFR part 170 should you receive
funding under the competition. This
does not apply if you have an exception
under 2 CFR 170.110(b).
(b) 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 www.ed.gov/
fund/grant/apply/appforms/
appforms.html.
4. Performance Measures: The
Department has established the
following Government Performance and
Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) performance
measures for the School Climate
Transformation Grant Program—State
Educational Agency Grants:
1. The number of training and
technical assistance events provided by
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26239
the SEA School Climate Transformation
Grant Program to assist LEAs in
implementing a multi-tiered behavioral
framework.
2. The number and percentage of
LEAs provided training or technical by
the SEA School Climate Transformation
Grant Program that report an
improvement in knowledge and
understanding of the implementation of
a multi-tiered behavioral framework.
3. The number and percentage of
schools in LEAs provided training or
technical assistance by the SEA School
Climate Transformation Grant Program
that implement a multi-tiered
behavioral framework.
These measures constitute the
Department’s indicators of success for
this program. Consequently, we advise
an applicant for a grant under this
program to give careful consideration to
these measures in conceptualizing the
approach and evaluation for its
proposed project. Each grantee will be
required to provide, in its annual
performance and final reports, data
about its progress in meeting these
measures. This data will be considered
by the Department in making
continuation awards.
Consistent with 34 CFR 75.591,
grantees funded under this program
shall comply with the requirements of
any evaluation of the program
conducted by the Department or an
evaluator selected by the Department.
5. Continuation Awards: In making a
continuation award, the Secretary may
consider, under 34 CFR 75.253, the
extent to which a grantee has made
‘‘substantial progress toward meeting
the objectives in its approved
application.’’ This consideration
includes the review of a grantee’s
progress in meeting the projected
outcomes in its approved application,
and whether the grantee has expended
funds in a manner that is consistent
with its approved application and
budget. In making a continuation grant,
the Secretary also considers whether the
grantee is operating in compliance with
the assurances in its approved
application, including those applicable
to Federal civil rights laws that prohibit
discrimination in programs or activities
receiving Federal financial assistance
from the Department (34 CFR 100.4,
104.5, 106.4, 108.8, and 110.23).
VII. Agency Contact
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Bryan Williams, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW.,
Room 3C152, Washington, DC 20202–
6450. Telephone: (202) 453–6715, or by
email: bryan.williams@ed.gov.
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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 compact disc) on
request to the program contact person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT in section VII of this notice.
Electronic Access to This Document:
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 via the Federal Digital System
at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site 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). To use PDF you must
have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is
available free at the site.
You may also access documents of the
Department published in the Federal
Register by using the article search
feature at: www.federalregister.gov.
Specifically, through the advanced
search feature at this site, you can limit
your search to documents published by
the Department.
Dated: May 2, 2014.
Deborah S. Delisle,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and
Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2014–10501 Filed 5–6–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
National Advisory Committee on
Institutional Quality and Integrity
(NACIQI)
National Advisory Committee
on Institutional Quality and Integrity,
Office of Postsecondary Education, U.S.
Department of Education.
ACTION: Revision to the agenda for the
June 18–19, 2014 meeting of the
National Advisory Committee on
Institutional Quality and Integrity
(NACIQI) meeting and a solicitation for
third party comments.
AGENCY:
This meeting notice is an
update to the previous notices
published in the Federal Register on
February 25, 2014 (79 FR 10508) and on
March 31, 2014 (79 FR 18021). This
notice identifies a revision to the agenda
and invites written third party comment
on the question ‘‘What issues are critical
to consider in advancing quality
assurance in higher education?’’
ADDRESSES: U.S. Department of
Education, Office of Postsecondary
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SUMMARY:
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Education, 1990 K Street NW., Room
8072, Washington, DC 20006.
NACIQI’S Statutory Authority and
Function: The NACIQI is established
under Section 114 of the HEA of 1965,
as amended, 20 U.S.C. 1011c. The
NACIQI advises the Secretary of
Education about:
• The establishment and enforcement
of the criteria for recognition of
accrediting agencies or associations
under Subpart 2, Part H, Title IV, of the
HEA, as amended.
• The recognition of specific
accrediting agencies or associations or a
specific State approval agency.
• The preparation and publication of
the list of nationally recognized
accrediting agencies and associations.
• The eligibility and certification
process for institutions of higher
education under Title IV, of the HEA,
together with recommendations for
improvement in such process.
• The relationship between (1)
accreditation of institutions of higher
education and the certification and
eligibility of such institutions, and (2)
State licensing responsibilities with
respect to such institutions.
• Any other advisory function
relating to accreditation and
institutional eligibility that the
Secretary may prescribe.
Meeting Agenda: The following
agency, originally scheduled for a
review for initial recognition, has been
removed from the NACIQI review
agenda and will be rescheduled at a
later date:
Commission on Accreditation of
Educator Preparation (CAEP).
(Requested Scope: The accreditation of
educator preparation programs in
degree-granting institutions of higher
education throughout the United States
that offer certificates/licensure, or an
associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, postbaccalaureate, and doctoral degrees
including those offered via distance
education.)
Submission of Written Comments:
The meeting agenda will include
NACIQI discussion sessions regarding
the Committee’s 2012 Policy Report of
Recommendations on Accreditation
(https://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/
list/naciqi-dir/2012-spring/
teleconference-2012/naciqi-finalreport.pdf) and/or on developing new
policy recommendations to advise the
Secretary in preparation for the
reauthorization of the Higher Education
Act (HEA). To enhance its discussions,
the NACIQI invites written, third-party
comment on current issues and
initiatives in postsecondary education
accreditation, specifically, on the
question ‘‘What issues are critical to
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consider in advancing quality assurance
in higher education?’’ Written
comments must be received by May 30,
2014, in the
accreditationcommittees@ed.gov
mailbox and include the subject line
‘‘Comment: Advancing Quality
Assurance in Higher Education.’’ The
email must include the name, title,
affiliation, mailing address, email
address, telephone number, and Web
site (if any) of the person/group making
the comment. Comments (including any
attachments) may not exceed four (4)
8.5″ x 11″ pages (on one side only) in
either a 10 or 12 point font, and are to
be submitted as a Microsoft Word
document or in a medium compatible
with Microsoft Word (not a PDF file)
that is attached to an electronic mail
message (email) or provided in the body
of an email message. Comments must
relate specifically to ‘‘What issues are
critical to consider in advancing quality
assurance in higher education?’’ No
comments pertaining to the review of
any individual accrediting or State
agency under review will be accepted
under this notice. Only material
submitted in accordance with the above
instructions may be forwarded to the
NACIQI for its consideration by the
deadline to the email address listed in
this notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Carol Griffiths, Executive Director,
NACIQI, U.S. Department of Education,
1990 K Street NW., Room 8073,
Washington, DC 20006–8129, telephone:
(202) 219–7035, fax: (202) 219–7005, or
email: Carol.Griffiths@ed.gov.
Electronic Access to This Document:
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 via the Federal Digital System
at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site 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). To use PDF, you must
have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is
available free at the site.
You may also access documents of the
Department published in the Federal
Register by using the article search
feature at: www.federalregister.gov.
Specifically, through the advanced
search feature at this site, you can limit
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 88 (Wednesday, May 7, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26233-26240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-10501]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Applications for New Awards; School Climate Transformation Grant
Program--State Educational Agency Grants
AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of
Education.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Overview Information:
School Climate Transformation Grant Program--State Educational
Agency Grants.
Notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year (FY)
2014.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.184F.
DATES: Applications Available: May 7, 2014.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: June 23, 2014.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: August 20, 2014.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: The School Climate Transformation Grant
Program--State Educational Agency Grants provides competitive grants to
State educational agencies (SEAs) to develop, enhance, or expand
statewide systems of support for, and technical assistance to, local
educational agencies (LEAs) and schools implementing an evidence-based,
multi-tiered behavioral framework for improving behavioral outcomes and
learning conditions for all students.
Background:
Although schools have long attempted to address issues of
discipline, disruptive and problem behavior, violence, and bullying,
the vast majority of our Nation's schools have not implemented
comprehensive, effective supports that address the full range of
students' social, emotional, and behavioral needs.\1\
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\1\ Horner, R., Sugai, G., and Vincent, C. (2005). School-wide
Positive Behavior Support: Investing in student success. Impact:
Feature Issue on Fostering Success in School and Beyond for Students
with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders. Retrieved from: https://ici.umn.edu.
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A report issued by the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of
Education following the Columbine shooting found that one of the most
effective ways schools can reduce violence and bullying is to improve a
school's climate and thereby increase trust and communication between
students and staff.\2\ Research demonstrates that the implementation of
an evidence-based, multi-tiered behavioral framework, such as positive
behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS), can help improve overall
school climate and safety.\3\ A key aspect of this multi-tiered
approach is providing differing levels of support and interventions to
students based on their needs. Certain supports involve the
[[Page 26234]]
whole school (e.g., consistent rules, consequences, and reinforcement
of appropriate behavior), with more intensive supports for groups of
students exhibiting at-risk behavior and individualized services for
students who continue to exhibit troubling behavior.
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\2\ Borum, R., Fein, R., Modzeleski, W., Pollack, W., Reddy, M.,
Vossekuil, B., Threat Assessment in Schools: A Guide to Managing
Threatening Situations and Creating Safe School Climates, 2002.
\3\ Bradshaw, C., Koth, C.W., Thornton, L.A., & Leaf, P.J.
(2009). Altering school climate through school-wide Positive
Behavioral Interventions and Supports: Findings from a group-
randomized effectiveness trial. Prevention Science.
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When a multi-tiered behavioral framework has been implemented with
fidelity, studies have found the following statistically significant
results: An increase in perceived school safety, reductions in overall
problem behaviors, reductions in bullying behaviors,\4\ and reductions
in office discipline referrals and suspensions.\5\ Studies have also
found a correlation between the use of multi-tiered behavioral
frameworks and improved social skills.\6\ Emerging evidence also links
implementing a multi-tiered behavioral framework with improved academic
achievement.\7\ In addition to being effective, school-wide multi-
tiered behavioral frameworks are attractive to SEAs and LEAs because
they are designed to enhance the learning environment for all students
while having additional supports in place for students who have greater
social, emotional, and behavioral needs.
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\4\ Bradshaw, C., Goldweber, A., Leaf, P., Pasa, E., Rosenberg,
M. (2012). Integrating school-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions
and Supports with tier 2 coaching to student support teams: The
PBISplus model. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion.
\5\ Bradshaw, C., Leaf, P., Mitchell, M. (2009). Examining the
effects of schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
on student outcomes: Results From a randomized controlled
effectiveness trial in elementary schools. Journal of Positive
Behavior Interventions.
\6\ Barrett, S.B., Bradshaw, C.P. & Lewis-Palmer, T. (2008).
Maryland statewide PBIS initiative: Systems, evaluation, and next
steps. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions.
\7\ McIntosh, K., Bennett, J.L., & Price, K. (2011). Evaluation
of social and academic effects of school-wide positive behaviour
support in a Canadian school district. Exceptionality Education
International.
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Under this program, grant funds will help build SEA capacity to
develop and adopt, or expand to more schools, a multi-tiered behavioral
framework that guides the selection, integration, and implementation of
the best evidence-based behavioral practices for improving school
climate and behavioral outcomes for all students.
In 2013, the President proposed a comprehensive plan, ``Now is the
Time,'' to protect our children and communities by reducing gun
violence, making schools safer, and increasing access to mental health
services.\8\ The School Climate Transformation Grant Program is one of
several Federal programs designed to work together to help make schools
safer and improve mental health services for students and young adults.
The Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice
are implementing coordinated programs consistent with the initiative
and the FY 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA) is implementing the Administration's
``Now is the Time'' Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resilience in
Education), which provides grants to SEAs and LEAs to increase
awareness of mental health issues among school-aged youth. Project
AWARE grants provide funding to support training in detection and
response to mental illness in youth for adults who interact with youth
in school and community settings. Later this year the Department of
Justice, under the School Justice Collaboration Program: Keeping Kids
in School and Out of Court, will be awarding competitive grants to
juvenile and family courts in communities that receive School Climate
Transformation Grants to collaborate on use of evidence-based positive
behavior strategies to increase school safety and reduce suspensions,
expulsions, and referrals to court. The Department of Education is
implementing SEA and LEA School Climate Transformation Grants to assist
States and LEAs in developing, enhancing, or expanding systems of
support for, and technical assistance to, schools implementing
evidence-based multi-tiered behavior frameworks for improving
behavioral outcomes and learning conditions for all students.
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\8\ See the President's ``Now is the Time'' Plan at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/wh_now_is_the_time_full.pdf
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SEAs that implement this suite of programs as part of a coordinated
strategy will enhance their ability to achieve the goals and objectives
of the various programs. The combination and coordination of these
programs will facilitate interagency partnerships and strategies to
address the issues of school climate, school safety, and mental health
needs in a comprehensive manner.
This notice invites SEAs to apply for grants under the School
Climate Transformation Grant Program. A notice inviting applications
from LEAs is published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register.
Priorities: We are establishing these priorities for the FY 2014
grant competition and any subsequent year in which we make awards from
the list of unfunded applicants from this competition, in accordance
with section 437(d)(1) of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA),
20 U.S.C. 1232(d)(1).
Absolute Priority: For FY 2014 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:
Grants to State Educational Agencies (SEAs) to Implement Statewide
Systems of Support for Multi-Tiered Behavioral Frameworks to Improve
School Climate.
Under this priority, we provide grants to SEAs to develop, enhance,
or expand statewide systems of support for, and provide technical
assistance to, LEAs implementing a multi-tiered behavioral framework to
improve school climate and behavioral outcomes for all students.
Competitive Preference Priority: For FY 2014 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)(1) we award up to an additional 5 points to
an application, depending on how well the applicant meets this
priority. Therefore, the maximum number of competitive preference
points that an application can receive under this competition is 5
points.
Note: An applicant must clearly identify in the abstract
section of its application that it is applying for the competitive
preference priority. The Department will not review or award points
under this competitive preference priority for any application that
fails to do so.
This priority is:
Coordination with Other Related Activities (0-5 points).
Under this priority, we provide additional points to an applicant
based on the application's description of a credible, high-quality plan
to coordinate activities that would be funded under this competition
with related activities that are funded through other available
resources in such a manner as to enhance the overall impact of the
multi-tiered behavioral frameworks implemented through a School Climate
Transformation grant. The coordination may be with related activities
that are currently in progress, such as the SAMHSA's Safe and Healthy
Students program (CFDA 93.243) and HHS's Health Resources Services
Administration's Center for School Mental Health (Project U45 MC
00174); as well as with related activities that would be conducted
under other programs for which the applicant is currently seeking
funding, such as the
[[Page 26235]]
Mental Health First Aid program being funded by SAMHSA under the
Project AWARE State Educational Agency Grants.
The plan must also describe how, in the event and to the extent an
applicant does not receive funding that it seeks from other sources to
support such related activities, the applicant will adjust its proposed
coordination strategies. Applicants that receive additional competitive
preference points under this priority and are ultimately awarded a
School Climate Transformation Grant will finalize the high-quality plan
described in response to this priority post-award.
Program Requirements
Each grantee must implement a plan that:
(a) Builds SEA capacity for supporting the sustained and broad-
scale implementation of a multi-tiered behavioral framework by LEAs by:
(1) Improving the skills of SEA personnel to assist LEA
implementation of the components of a multi-tiered behavioral
framework, such as policies, funding, professional development,
coaching, and interagency coordination for providing services;
(2) Developing a cadre of trained and experienced staff to provide
training and ongoing coaching to LEA leadership teams on the multi-
tiered behavioral framework; and
(3) Improving the quality, accessibility, and usefulness of
statewide data collection and analysis;
(b) Enhances LEA capacity for implementing and sustaining a multi-
tiered behavioral framework by providing training and technical
assistance to LEAs on all of the following:
(1) Developing or improving the quality, accessibility, and
usefulness of LEA data collection and data-based decision making;
(2) Improving the skills and expertise of LEA personnel to develop,
implement, and sustain a multi-tiered behavioral framework;
(3) Using evidence-based practices and reliable and valid tools and
processes for evaluating the fidelity of implementation of the multi-
tiered behavioral framework, and for measuring its outcomes, including
reductions in discipline referrals, suspensions, expulsions, and the
use of restraints and seclusion; improvements in school climate;
increases in instructional time; and improvement in overall academic
achievement; and
(4) Coordinating SEA efforts with appropriate Federal, State, and
local resources.
(c) Coordinates SEA efforts with appropriate Federal, State and
local resources, including LEAs funded under the School Climate
Transformation Grants LEA Program (84.184G) and the PBIS Technical
Assistance Center funded by the Department.
Application Requirements: Applications that fail to meet any one of
these requirements will not be read or scored. The applicant must:
(a) Describe the current efforts by the SEA to support
implementation of a multi-tiered behavioral framework in its LEAs and
schools, as well as evidence of the need to implement, scale-up, and
sustain such a framework in additional LEAs and schools. The applicant
must also present State and local data demonstrating this need,
including, but not limited to, the number and types of LEAs and schools
that are currently implementing a multi-tiered behavioral framework.
(b) Describe its plan to build, improve, or enhance SEA capacity to
provide effective training, technical assistance, and support to LEAs
and their schools on implementing a school-wide multi-tiered behavioral
framework, including the estimated number of LEAs that will be
assisted, how the SEA will assess readiness for implementation, and how
the SEA will help build capacity for implementation at the local level.
(c) Describe how the proposed project will address the needs of
high-need LEAs (as defined in this notice), including those with high-
poverty schools (as defined in this notice), low-performing schools
(including persistently lowest-achieving schools (both as defined in
this notice)), and priority schools (as defined in this notice).
(d) Explain how the SEA's efforts to build LEA and school capacity
to implement, expand, and sustain a multi-tiered behavioral framework
will be linked to other SEA and LEA school safety, school improvement,
and school reform efforts.
Definitions: We are establishing the definitions of ``high-need
LEA,'' ``low performing school,'' ``multi-tiered behavioral
framework,'' and ``priority school'' in this notice for the FY 2014
grant competition and any subsequent year in which we make awards from
the list of unfunded applications from this competition, in accordance
with section 437(d)(1) of GEPA, 20 U.S.C. 1232(d)(1). The definitions
of ``high-poverty school'' and ``persistently lowest-achieving
schools'' are from the notice of final supplemental priorities and
definitions for discretionary grant programs published in the Federal
Register on December 15, 2010 (75 FR 78486) and corrected on May 12,
2011 (76 FR 27637).
High-need LEA means an LEA (a) that serves not fewer than 10,000
children from families with incomes below the poverty line; or (b) for
which not less than 20 percent of the children served by the LEA are
from families with incomes below the poverty line.
High-poverty school means a school in which at least 50 percent of
students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches under the
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act or in which at least 50
percent of students are from low-income families as determined using
one of the criteria specified under section 1113(a)(5) of the ESEA. For
middle and high schools, eligibility may be calculated on the basis of
comparable data from feeder schools. Eligibility as a high-poverty
school under this definition is determined on the basis of the most
currently available data.
Low-performing school means a school that is in the bottom 10
percent of performance in the State, or that has significant
achievement gaps, based on student academic performance in reading/
language arts and mathematics on the assessments required under the
ESEA, or graduation rate gaps.
Multi-tiered behavioral framework means a school-wide structure
used to improve the integration and implementation of behavioral
practices, data-driven decision-making systems, professional
development opportunities, school leadership, supportive SEA and LEA
policies, and evidence-based instructional strategies.
Persistently lowest-achieving schools means, as determined by the
State--
(a)(1) Any Title I school in improvement, corrective action, or
restructuring that--
(i) Is among the lowest-achieving five percent of Title I schools
in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring or the lowest-
achieving five Title I schools in improvement, corrective action, or
restructuring in the State, whichever number of schools is greater; or
(ii) Is a high school that has had a graduation rate as defined in
34 CFR 200.19(b) that is less than 60 percent over a number of years;
and
(2) Any secondary school that is eligible for, but does not
receive, Title I funds that--
(i) Is among the lowest-achieving five percent of secondary schools
or the lowest-achieving five secondary schools in the State that are
eligible for, but do not receive, Title I funds, whichever number of
schools is greater; or
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(ii) Is a high school that has had a graduation rate as defined in
34 CFR 200.19(b) that is less than 60 percent over a number of years.
(b) To identify the lowest-achieving schools, a State must take
into account both--
(i) The academic achievement of the ``all students'' group in a
school in terms of proficiency on the State's assessments under section
1111(b)(3) of the ESEA in reading/language arts and mathematics
combined; and
(ii) The school's lack of progress on those assessments over a
number of years in the ``all students'' group.
Note: The Department considers schools that are identified as
Tier I or Tier II schools under the School Improvement Grants
Program (see 75 FR 66363) as part of a State's approved FY 2009, FY
2010, FY 2011, or FY 2012 application to be persistently lowest-
achieving schools. A list of these Tier I and Tier II schools can be
found on the Department's Web site at www2.ed.gov/programs/sif/.
Priority school means a school that has been identified by the
State as a priority school pursuant to the State's approved request for
ESEA flexibility.
Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking: Under the Administrative Procedure
Act (5 U.S.C. 553), the Department generally offers interested parties
the opportunity to comment on proposed priorities, definitions, and
requirements. Section 437(d)(1) of GEPA, however, allows the Secretary
to exempt from rulemaking requirements, regulations governing the first
grant competition under a new or substantially revised program
authority. This is the first grant competition for this program under
the appropriation for Safe Schools and Citizenship Education in the
Department of Education Appropriations Act, 2014, Title III of Division
H of Public Law 113-76, and section 4121 of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 7131)
and therefore qualifies for this exemption. In order to ensure timely
grant awards, the Secretary has decided to forgo public comment on the
priorities, definitions, and requirements under section 437(d)(1) of
GEPA. These priorities, definitions, and requirements will apply to the
FY 2014 grant competition and any subsequent year in which we make
awards from the list of unfunded applicants from this competition.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7131; the Department of Education
Appropriations Act, 2014, Title III of Division H of Pub. L. 113-76.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81,
82, 84, 97, 98, and 99; the regulations in 34 CFR part 299. (b) The
Education Department suspension and debarment regulations in 2 CFR part
3485.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 79 apply to all applicants
except federally recognized Indian tribes.
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
Estimated Available Funds: $7,375,000.
Contingent upon the availability of funds and the quality of
applications, we may make additional awards in FY 2015 and subsequent
years from the list of unfunded applicants from the competition
announced in this notice.
Estimated Range of Awards: $250,000 to $750,000 per year for up to
5 years.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $400,000.
Maximum Award: We will reject any application that proposes a
budget exceeding $750,000 for a single budget period of 12 months. The
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education may change
the maximum amount through a notice published in the Federal Register.
Estimated Number of Awards: 18.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 60 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: SEAs.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This program does not require cost
sharing or matching.
3. Other:
(a) Participation by Private School Children and Teachers. Section
9501 of the ESEA requires that SEAs, LEAs, or other entities receiving
funds under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act provide
for the equitable participation of private school children, their
teachers, and other educational personnel in private schools located in
geographic areas served by the grant recipient.
In order to ensure that grant program activities address the needs
of private school children, the applicant must engage in timely and
meaningful consultation with appropriate private school officials
during the design and development of the proposed program. This
consultation must take place before the applicant makes any decision
that affects the opportunities of eligible private school children,
teachers, and other educational personnel to participate in grant
program activities. Administrative direction and control over grant
funds must remain with the grantee.
IV. Application and Submission Information
1. Address to Request Application Package: ED Pubs, U.S. Department
of Education, P.O. Box 22207, Alexandria, VA 22304. Telephone, toll
free: 1-877-433-7827. FAX: (703) 605-6794. If you use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text telephone (TTY),
call, toll free: 1-877-576-7734.
You can contact ED Pubs at its Web site, also: www.EDPubs.gov or at
its email 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 84.184F.
Individuals with disabilities can obtain a copy of the application
package in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, audiotape,
or compact disc) by contacting the person or team 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 program.
Page Limit: The application narrative is where you, the applicant,
provide the project narrative to address the selection criteria that
reviewers use to evaluate your application. The required budget and
budget narrative will be provided in a separate section. You must limit
the application narrative 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.
The page limit does not apply to the cover sheet; the budget
section, including the narrative budget justification; 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.
Our reviewers will not read any pages of your application that
exceed the page limit.
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3. Submission Dates and Times:
Applications Available: May 7, 2014.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: June 23, 2014.
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.7. 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: August 20, 2014.
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: Program funds may be used for training and
technical assistance and costs related to carrying out these
activities, in addition to other allowable costs. We reference
additional regulations outlining funding restrictions in the Applicable
Regulations section of this notice.
6. Data Universal Numbering System Number, Taxpayer Identification
Number, and System for Award Management: To do business with the
Department of Education, you must--
a. Have a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and a
Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN);
b. Register both your DUNS number and TIN with the System for Award
Management (SAM) (formerly the Central Contractor Registry (CCR)), the
Government's primary registrant database;
c. Provide your DUNS number and TIN on your application; and
d. Maintain an active SAM registration with current information
while your application is under review by the Department and, if you
are awarded a grant, during the project period.
You can obtain a DUNS number from Dun and Bradstreet. A DUNS number
can be created within one-to-two business days.
If you are a corporate entity, agency, institution, or
organization, you can obtain a TIN from the Internal Revenue Service.
If you are an individual, you can obtain a TIN from the Internal
Revenue Service or the Social Security Administration. If you need a
new TIN, please allow 2-5 weeks for your TIN to become active.
The SAM registration process can take approximately seven business
days, but may take upwards of several weeks, depending on the
completeness and accuracy of the data entered into the SAM database by
an entity. Thus, if you think you might want to apply for Federal
financial assistance under a program administered by the Department,
please allow sufficient time to obtain and register your DUNS number
and TIN. We strongly recommend that you register early.
Note: Once your SAM registration is active, you will need to
allow 24 to 48 hours for the information to be available in
Grants.gov and before you can submit an application through
Grants.gov.
If you are currently registered with SAM, you may not need to make
any changes. However, please make certain that the TIN associated with
your DUNS number is correct. Also note that you will need to update
your registration annually. This may take three or more business days.
Information about SAM is available at www.SAM.gov. To further
assist you with obtaining and registering your DUNS number and TIN in
SAM or updating your existing SAM account, we have prepared a SAM.gov
Tip Sheet, which you can find at: https://www2.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/sam-faqs.html.
In addition, if you are submitting your application via Grants.gov,
you must (1) be designated by your organization as an Authorized
Organization Representative (AOR); and (2) register yourself with
Grants.gov as an AOR. Details on these steps are outlined at the
following Grants.gov Web page: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html.
7. 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 School Climate Transformation
Grant Program, CFDA numbers 84.184F (SEA grants), must be submitted
electronically using the Governmentwide Grants.gov Apply site at
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 School
Climate Transformation Grant Program at www.Grants.gov. You must search
for the downloadable application package for this competition by the
CFDA numbers. Do not include the CFDA number's alpha suffix in your
search (e.g., search for 84.184, not 84.184F).
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 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
[[Page 26238]]
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 under News and Events on the Department's G5
system home page at https://www.G5.gov.
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: The
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 upload any narrative sections and all other
attachments to your application as files in a PDF (Portable Document)
read-only, non-modifiable format. Do not upload an interactive or
fillable PDF file. If you upload a file type other than a read-only,
non-modifiable PDF or submit a password-protected file, we will not
review that material. (Additional, detailed information on how to
attach files is in the application instructions.]
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 email. 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: Bryan Williams, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 3C152,
Washington, DC 20202. FAX: (202) 453-6742.
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:
CFDA Number 84.184F, 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.
[[Page 26239]]
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 84.184F, 550 12th Street SW., Room 7039, 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
1. Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this program are
from 34 CFR 75.210 of EDGAR and are listed in the application package.
2. Review and Selection Process: We remind potential applicants
that in reviewing applications in any discretionary grant competition,
the Secretary may consider, under 34 CFR 75.217(d)(3), the past
performance of the applicant in carrying out a previous award, such as
the applicant's use of funds, achievement of project objectives, and
compliance with grant conditions. The Secretary may also consider
whether the applicant failed to submit a timely performance report or
submitted a report of unacceptable quality.
In addition, in making a competitive grant award, the Secretary
also requires various assurances including those applicable to Federal
civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination in programs or
activities receiving Federal financial assistance from the Department
of Education (34 CFR 100.4, 104.5, 106.4, 108.8, and 110.23).
3. Special Conditions: Under 34 CFR 74.14 and 80.12, the Secretary
may impose special conditions on a grant if the applicant or grantee is
not financially stable; has a history of unsatisfactory performance;
has a financial or other management system that does not meet the
standards in 34 CFR parts 74 or 80, as applicable; has not fulfilled
the conditions of a prior grant; or is otherwise not responsible.
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); or we may send you an email containing a link to
access an electronic version of your 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 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: (a) If you apply for a grant under this competition,
you must ensure that you have in place the necessary processes and
systems to comply with the reporting requirements in 2 CFR part 170
should you receive funding under the competition. This does not apply
if you have an exception under 2 CFR 170.110(b).
(b) 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 www.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/appforms/appforms.html.
4. Performance Measures: The Department has established the
following Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA)
performance measures for the School Climate Transformation Grant
Program--State Educational Agency Grants:
1. The number of training and technical assistance events provided
by the SEA School Climate Transformation Grant Program to assist LEAs
in implementing a multi-tiered behavioral framework.
2. The number and percentage of LEAs provided training or technical
by the SEA School Climate Transformation Grant Program that report an
improvement in knowledge and understanding of the implementation of a
multi-tiered behavioral framework.
3. The number and percentage of schools in LEAs provided training
or technical assistance by the SEA School Climate Transformation Grant
Program that implement a multi-tiered behavioral framework.
These measures constitute the Department's indicators of success
for this program. Consequently, we advise an applicant for a grant
under this program to give careful consideration to these measures in
conceptualizing the approach and evaluation for its proposed project.
Each grantee will be required to provide, in its annual performance and
final reports, data about its progress in meeting these measures. This
data will be considered by the Department in making continuation
awards.
Consistent with 34 CFR 75.591, grantees funded under this program
shall comply with the requirements of any evaluation of the program
conducted by the Department or an evaluator selected by the Department.
5. Continuation Awards: In making a continuation award, the
Secretary may consider, under 34 CFR 75.253, the extent to which a
grantee has made ``substantial progress toward meeting the objectives
in its approved application.'' This consideration includes the review
of a grantee's progress in meeting the projected outcomes in its
approved application, and whether the grantee has expended funds in a
manner that is consistent with its approved application and budget. In
making a continuation grant, the Secretary also considers whether the
grantee is operating in compliance with the assurances in its approved
application, including those applicable to Federal civil rights laws
that prohibit discrimination in programs or activities receiving
Federal financial assistance from the Department (34 CFR 100.4, 104.5,
106.4, 108.8, and 110.23).
VII. Agency Contact
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bryan Williams, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 3C152, Washington, DC 20202-
6450. Telephone: (202) 453-6715, or by email: bryan.williams@ed.gov.
[[Page 26240]]
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 compact disc) on request to
the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
in section VII of this notice.
Electronic Access to This Document: 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 via the Federal Digital System
at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site 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). To use PDF
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the
site.
You may also access documents of the Department published in the
Federal Register by using the article search feature at:
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published
by the Department.
Dated: May 2, 2014.
Deborah S. Delisle,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2014-10501 Filed 5-6-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P