Department of Education 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Secretary proposes to amend the regulations governing the Assistance to States for Education of Children with Disabilities Program, the Preschool Grants for Children With Disabilities Program, and Service Obligations under Special Education Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities. These amendments are needed to implement recently enacted changes made to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as amended by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act), the Department of Education (Department) publishes this notice of a new system of records entitled Evaluation of the Impact of Teacher Induction Programs (18-13-11). Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., in collaboration with the Center for Educational Leadership, is conducting the Evaluation of the Impact of Teacher Induction Programs. The evaluation has been commissioned by the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance at the Department's Institute of Education Sciences (IES). The study will address the following questions: (1) Do elementary school teachers who participate in a high- intensity program of induction have increased retention rates as compared to teachers who participate in the induction program that the school district normally offers? (2) If the high-intensity program of induction support is more effective in retaining elementary school teachers, is the increase in teacher retention large enough to warrant the added cost of the program? (3) For teachers who participate in the high-intensity program or the induction program that the school district normally offers, what are the characteristics of those who are retained versus those who leave the school, district, or profession? (4) Does participation in a high-intensity induction program affect teacher practices, as compared to the practices of teachers who participate in the induction program that the district normally offers? (5) Does participation in a high-intensity induction program result in increased student achievement? The system of records will contain information about teachers participating in the evaluation. It will include, but is not limited to the following data: Names; social security numbers; home addresses; home phone numbers; cell phone numbers; e-mail addresses; race/ ethnicity; age; income; marital status; household composition; home ownership; educational background and credentials; and ACT or SAT college examination scores.

The Director of the Institute of Education Sciences (Institute) has developed priorities to guide the work of the Institute. The National Board for Education Sciences (Board) must approve the priorities, but before proposing the priorities to the Board, the Director must seek public comment on the priorities. The public comments will be provided to the Board prior to its action on the priorities.

On April 19, 2005, the Secretary published in the Federal Register (70 FR 20360) a notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year (FY) 2005 under the Enhanced Assessment Instruments Grants program. Subsequent to the publication of this notice, the Secretary announced that the Department will be publishing a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) related to modified achievement standards for a limited group of students with disabilities. These regulations may affect the criteria for awarding Enhanced Assessment Instruments Grants. The purpose of this notice is to withdraw the invitation for applications for new awards for Enhanced Assessment Instrument Grants for fiscal year 2005.

The Leader, Information Management Case Services Team, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of the Chief Information Officer invites comments on the submission for OMB review as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Assistant Deputy Secretary for Safe and Drug-Free Schools announces priorities and requirements under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act (SDFSCA) National Programs for Grants to States to Improve Management of Drug and Violence Prevention Programs. We may use one or more of these priorities and requirements for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2005 and later years. We take this action to focus Federal financial assistance on an identified national need. We intend the priorities and requirements to facilitate the development, enhancement, or expansion of the capacity of States and other entities that receive SDFSCA State Grants program funds to collect, analyze, and use data to improve the management of drug and violence prevention programs.

The Leader, Information Management Case Services Team, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of the Chief Information Officer invites comments on the submission for OMB review as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Secretary announces deadline dates for the receipt of documents and other information from institutions and applicants for the Federal student aid programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, for the 2005-2006 award year. The Federal student aid programs include the Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Work-Study, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Federal Family Education Loan, William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan, Federal Pell Grant, and Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership programs. These programs, administered by the U.S. Department of Education (Department), provide financial assistance to students attending eligible postsecondary educational institutions to help them pay their educational costs. Deadline and Submission Dates: See Tables A and B at the end of this notice.

On March 10, 2005, we published in the Federal Register (70 FR 11954) a notice inviting applications for the SBIR program's FY 2005 competition. The original notice for this FY 2005 competition established a May 9, 2005 deadline date for eligible applicants to apply for funding under this program. In order to afford as many eligible applicants as possible an opportunity to receive funding under this program, we are reopening the SBIR Phase I program FY 2005 competition. The new application deadline date for the competition is June 10, 2005.

On May 24, 2005, we published in the Federal Register (70 FR 29727) a notice of implementation of Constitution Day and Citizenship Day under the Office of Innovation and Improvement. On page 29727, first column, under the heading FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, the telephone number provided for Alex Stein is corrected to read (202) 205-9085 and the Internet address is corrected to read constitutionday@ed.gov. In the last sentence of the section, under the heading FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, the words ``in section'' are removed. For Further Information Contact: Alex Stein, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4W218, Washington, DC 20202- 2110. Telephone (202) 205-9085 or via Internet: constitutionday@ed.gov If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TTD), you may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339. Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) on request by contacting the person listed above. Electronic Access to This Document: You may view this document, as well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site: https://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister. To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.

The Secretary of Education announces the annual updates to the tables that will be used in the statutory ``Federal Need Analysis Methodology'' to determine a student's expected family contribution (EFC) for award year 2006-2007 under Part F of Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). An EFC is the amount a student and his or her family may reasonably be expected to contribute toward the student's postsecondary educational costs for purposes of determining financial aid eligibility. The Part F Programs include the Federal Pell Grant, campus-based (Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Work- Study, and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Programs), Federal Family Education Loan, and William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Programs (Title IV, HEA Programs).

The Leader, Information Management Case Services Team, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of the Chief Information Officer, invites comments on the proposed information collection requests as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Leader, Information Management Case Services Team, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of the Chief Information Officer, invites comments on the proposed information collection requests as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Leader, Information Management Case Services Team, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of the Chief Information Officer invites comments on the submission for OMB review as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of an upcoming meeting of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Capital Financing Advisory Board. The notice also describes the functions of the Board. Notice of this meeting is required by Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act and is intended to notify the public of their opportunity to attend.

The Leader, Information Management Case Services Team, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of the Chief Information Officer, invites comments on the proposed information collection requests as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Leader, Information Management Case Services Team, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of the Chief Information Officer invites comments on the submission for OMB review as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Leader, Information Management Case Services Team, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of the Chief Information Officer invites comments on the submission for OMB review as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

On March 8, 2005, we published in the Federal Register (70 FR 11202) a notice inviting applications for the Star Schools program's FY 2005 competition. The original notice for this FY 2005 competition established a May 9, 2005, deadline date for eligible applicants to apply for funding under this program. In order to afford as many eligible applicants as possible an opportunity to receive funding under this program, we are reopening the Star Schools program FY 2005 competition. The new application deadline date for the competition is May 20, 2005.

The Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education proposes priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria under the School Dropout Prevention (SDP) program. The Assistant Secretary may use one or more of these priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2005 and later years. We intend the priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria to strengthen the quality of applications and provide greater understanding of the Department's intent regarding the direction of this program.