Department of Education June 20, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces two priorities for RERCs: Recreational Technologies and Exercise Physiology Benefiting Individuals with Disabilities (Priority 1) and Rehabilitation Robotics (Priority 2). The Assistant Secretary may use one or both of these priorities for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2012 and later years. We take this action to focus research attention on areas of national need. We intend to use these priorities to improve rehabilitation services and outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a 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 Burn Model Systems (BMS) Centers. The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for a competition in fiscal year (FY) 2012 and later years. We take this action to focus research attention on areas of national need.

The Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (hereafter ``the Secretaries'') propose requirements for Phase 2 of the Race to the TopEarly Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) program. In this phase (Phase 2 of the RTT-ELC program), we would make awards to certain States that applied for, but did not receive, funding under Phase 1 of the RTT-ELC competition held in fiscal year (FY) 2011 (FY 2011 RTT-ELC competition). Specifically, we would consider eligible the five highest-scoring applicants that did not receive funding in the FY 2011 RTT-ELC competition, each of which received approximately 75 percent or more of the available points under the competition. We take this action to fund down the slate of the FY 2011 RTT-ELC competition and to establish the information and assurances that the eligible applicants would need to provide in order to receive funding under Phase 2 of the RTT-ELC program.