Department of Education October 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a final priority for the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program administered by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). Specifically, this notice announces a priority for a DRRP on Vocational Rehabilitation (VR): Transition Services that Lead to Competitive Employment Outcomes for Transition-Age Individuals With Blindness or Other Visual Impairments. The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2007 and later years. We take this action to focus research attention on areas of national need. We intend this priority to improve rehabilitation services and outcomes for individuals with disabilities. Effective Date: This priority is effective November 30, 2006.

The IC Clearance Official, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of Management, invites comments on the proposed information collection requests as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The IC Clearance Official, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of Management, invites comments on the proposed information collection requests as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Secretary amends the regulations implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX), which prohibits sex discrimination in federally assisted education programs and activities. These amendments clarify and modify Title IX regulatory requirements pertaining to the provision of single-sex schools, classes,\1\ and extracurricular activities in elementary and secondary schools. The amendments expand flexibility for recipients to provide single-sex education, and they explain how single-sex education may be provided consistent with the requirements of Title IX.

On October 17, 2006 the Secretary published in the Federal Register (71 FR 61032) a notice of open meeting and public hearing for the National Mathematics Advisory Panel. This notice amends the October 17 notice by adding an additional session on Research and Instructional Practice and republishes the entire notice to read as follows: This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of an upcoming meeting, including a public hearing, with members of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel. The notice also describes the functions of the Panel. 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 IC Clearance Official, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of Management invites comments on the submission for OMB review as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of a forthcoming meeting of the National Assessment Governing Board. This notice also describes the functions of the Board. Notice of this meeting is required under Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. This document is intended to notify members of the general public of their opportunity to attend. Individuals who will need special accommodations in order to attend the meeting (i.e.; interpreting services, assistive listening devices, materials in alternative format) should notify Munira Mwalimu at 202-357-6938 or at Munira.Mwalimu@ed.gov no later than November 6, 2006. We will attempt to meet requests after this date, but cannot guarantee availability of the requested accommodation. The meeting site is accessible to individuals with disabilities.

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. This notice is appearing less than 15 days prior to the meeting because of scheduling difficulties in obtaining a quorum for the meeting.

The Secretary proposes to establish procedures for determining the suitability of tests for use in the National Reporting System for Adult Education (NRS). These proposed regulations also include procedures that States and local eligible providers would follow when using suitable tests for NRS reporting.

This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of an upcoming meeting, including a public hearing, with members of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel. The notice also describes the functions of the Panel. 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 IC Clearance Official, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of Management, invites comments on the proposed information collection requests as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The IC Clearance Official, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of Management, invites comments on the proposed information collection requests as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Secretary of Education establishes priorities that the Department of Education (Department) may use for any appropriate discretionary grant program in fiscal year (FY) 2007 and in FY 2008. We take this action to focus Federal financial assistance on expanding the number of programs and projects Department-wide that support activities in areas of greatest educational need. Although we expect that these priorities will have the greatest applicability to programs authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001), we are establishing the priorities on a Department-wide basis, so that Department offices can use one or more of these priorities in any discretionary grant competition, as appropriate.

The IC Clearance Official, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of Management, invites comments on the proposed information collection requests as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The IC Clearance Official, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of Management, invites comments on the proposed information collection requests as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The IC Clearance Official, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of Management, invites comments on the proposed information collection requests as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act), the Department of Education (the Department) publishes this notice of a new system of records entitled ``Impact Evaluation of a School-based Violence Prevention Program,'' 18-13-15. The purpose of the impact evaluation is to determine the effectiveness of a violence prevention program comprised of two violence prevention interventions for middle schools using a rigorous research design. Currently, there is lack of rigorous research concerning school-based violence prevention in middle schools. The Department's contractor, RTI International (RTI), selected the violence prevention interventions to be evaluated through an open competition with advisement from a panel of experts in the field of violence prevention. RTI selected the Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways (RiPP) and Best Behavior interventions and combined the two approaches into a single violence prevention program with two components: (1) A curriculum-based model to facilitate students' social competency, problem solving, and self- control skills, and (2) a whole-school model that targets school practices and policies usually through classroom management or teaching strategies, or through systemic reorganization and modification of school management, disciplinary policies, and enforcement procedures. The RiPP intervention will provide the curriculum-based component of the program , and the Best Behavior intervention will provide the whole-school component of the program. The system will contain information about students, teachers, and other school staff members in schools that are randomly assigned either to implement the violence prevention program or not to implement the program. The sample will consist of approximately 20,000 students and approximately 3,000 teachers and other school staff members drawn from approximately 40 schools over 3 years. Each of the 40 schools that participate in the study will be randomly assigned either to receive the violence prevention program or not to receive the program so that approximately 20 schools are in each study condition. At each school, sixth graders will be surveyed in the 2006-2007 school year, seventh graders in the 2007-2008 school year, and eighth graders in the 2008- 2009 school year. The teacher survey will be administered to a random sample of 24 teachers (stratified by grade) at each of the middle schools participating in the study. Teachers will complete the survey in spring of 2007, 2008, and 2009, with a new random sample of teachers selected each year. Other school staff members will be interviewed about victimization and their experiences implementing the program. The system of records will include students' names, demographic information (such as date of birth and race/ethnicity), self-reported attitudes about violence and feelings of safety, self-reported victimization, and self-reported violent and delinquent behaviors. The system also will include information from school records such as records of students' attendance, suspensions, expulsions, and school policy violations. The system also will include teachers' and other school staff members' self-reported victimization at school as well as their experiences with training and technical assistance related to their schools' violence prevention efforts.