Department of Education 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act) (5 U.S.C. 552a), the Department of Education (Department) deletes two systems of records from its existing inventory of systems of records subject to the Privacy Act.

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 Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems (TBIMS) 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 Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education announces priorities, requirements, and selection criteria under the Comprehensive Centers Program. The Assistant Secretary may use one or more of these priorities, requirements, and selection criteria for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2012 and later years. We take this action to focus Federal technical assistance on identified State-led reforms. We intend these priorities, requirements, and selection criteria to increase the relevance and usefulness of Comprehensive Center technical assistance.

On May 14, 2012, the U.S. Department of Education published a 60-day comment period notice in the Federal Register (Page 29360, Column 1) seeking public comment for an information collection entitled, ``Exploratory Study on the Identification of English Learners with Disabilities.'' The number of school districts and schools in the abstract was incorrect. The Abstract is corrected as follows: The purpose of this study is to learn more about current processes and personnel involved in the identification of English Learners (ELs) for special education services. The study has two main components: (1) A review of recent research on the identification of ELs with special needs, and (2) case studies of six school districts and three schools in each district. Findings will be descriptive in nature. The study is not a program evaluation and does not purport to assess program outcomes; however, findings may be useful in informing a future, nationally representative study. The Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Privacy, Information and Records Management Services, Office of Management, hereby issues a correction notice as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

This document provides notice of the renewal of the computer matching program between the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The computer matching program will begin on the effective date specified in paragraph 5.

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) was established to develop, maintain, and make accessible a system of high-quality reviews of studies of the effectiveness of education-related interventions.

The Secretary 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 2013-2014 for the student financial aid programs authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). An EFC is the amount that 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 title IV programs include the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Work-Study, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan, and the Teach Grant Programs (title IV, HEA programs).

The purpose of the National Professional Development Program, which is administered by the Office of English Language Acquisition, is to support pre-service education and professional development activities intended to improve instruction for English Learners (ELs).

For 60-month projects funded in fiscal year (FY) 2007 under the Native American Career and Technical Education Program (NACTEP), the Secretary waives 34 CFR 75.250 and 75.261(c)(2) in order to extend the project period of these current NACTEP grants for an additional 12 months. This will enable the 30 current NACTEP grantees to seek FY 2012 continuation awards for their current projects through FY 2013, and we will not announce a new NACTEP competition in FY 2012.

Strategies for Preparing At-Risk Youth for Postsecondary Success focuses on preventing students from dropping out and preparing them for postsecondary education or training.

This form serves as the means by which a borrower who is repaying Direct Loan Program loans under the Income-Contigent Repayment (ICR) Plan or the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan provides the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) with alternative documentation of the borrower's income. For additional information, see the Abstract below.

These forms serve as the means by which borrowers in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) and Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Programs may request deferment of repayment on their loans if they meet certain statutory and regulatory criteria.

This notice sets forth the schedule and agenda of the meeting of the President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The notice also describes the functions of the Board. Notice of the meeting is required by section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act and intended to notify the public of its opportunity to attend.

The Office of Indian Education of the U.S. Department of Education requests clearance for the Indian Education Discretionary Grant Applications authorized under Title VII, Part A, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended. The Professional Development (CFDA 84.299B) program is a competitive discretionary grant program. The grant applications submitted for this program are evaluated on the basis of how well an applicant addresses the selection criteria, and are used to determine applicant eligibility and amount of award for projects selected for funding.

This study will examine state subgrant competitions conducted under the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) program in order to glean ``lessons learned'' that can inform efforts to improve the state capacity for conducting state competitions for similarly- structured grant programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended. More specifically, the study will examine how states conduct their 21st CCLC competitions; state-level conditions and capacity issues affecting the conduct of such competitions; how states evaluate the quality of local applications and plans; and potential strategies for improvement.

On April 20, 2012, the Office of Innovation and Improvement in the U.S. Department of Education published in the Federal Register (77 FR 23675) a notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year (FY) 2012 for the Promise Neighborhoods implementation grant competition (2012 Implementation Grant NIA). This notice corrects an error in the deadline for transmittal of applications.

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services proposes a funding priority for the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program administered by NIDRR. Specifically, this notice proposes a priority for an RRTC on Vocational Rehabilitation and Developing Strategies to Meet Employer Needs in Changing Economic Environments. The Assistant Secretary may use this priority 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 this priority to improve employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) is seeking to gather and share information about practices and policies regarding existing education data systems that disaggregate data on subgroups within the Asian and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Island (ANHPI) student population. The Department anticipates making use of this information to help State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), schools, and institutions of higher education (IHEs) identify, share, and implement promising practices and policies for identifying and overcoming challenges to gathering and disaggregating data on subgroups within the ANHPI student population. SEAs, LEAs, schools, and IHEs might then use those data to improve their ability to respond to the unique needs and issues that might exist for these subgroups. The Department is issuing this request for information (RFI) to collect information about promising practices and policies regarding existing education data systems and models that disaggregate data on subgroups within the ANHPI student population. The Department poses a series of questions to which we invite interested members of the public, including experts and data collection practitioners, to respond. The Department will publish a document that contains a summary of the recommendations that we will develop using information obtained as a result of the RFI and through other outreach efforts. This RFI has no effect on the existing Federal data collection and aggregate reporting requirements for racial and ethnic data by educational agencies and institutions. The Department is not considering modifying its racial and ethnic data collection and reporting requirements set forth in its 2007 Final Guidance on Maintaining, Collecting, and Reporting Racial and Ethnic Data to the U.S. Department of Education (2007 Guidance), 72 FR 59266 (October 19, 2007). https://www2.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2007-4/ 101907c.html.

The Pell Grant Expansions under the PGE is a two-part, five- year demonstration study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education that focuses on the effects of expanded access to Pell grants on students' employment and earnings outcomes. The primary outcome of interest is (1) the employment status and earnings of students who participate in the study while secondary outcomes include (2) students' experiences with and participation in education and training, (3) measures of student debt and financial aid, and (4) the extent of participation in job search assistance services.