[Federal Register: April 28, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 83)]
[Notices]
[Page 25152-25153]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28ap00-152]

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.299B]


Indian Education Discretionary Grant Programs--Professional
Development

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year
(FY) 2000.

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Purpose of the Program

    The purposes of this program are to: (1) Increase the number of
qualified Indian individuals in professions that serve Indian people;
(2) provide training to qualified Indian individuals to become
teachers, administrators, teacher aides, social workers, and ancillary
educational personnel; and (3) improve the skills of qualified Indian
individuals who serve in the capacities described in (2). Activities
may include, but are not limited to, continuing programs, symposia,
workshops, conferences, and direct financial support.
    Grants for training educational personnel may be for preservice or
inservice training. For individuals who are being trained to enter any
field other than education, the training received must be in a program
resulting in a graduate degree.
    For FY 2000 the competition for new awards focuses on projects
designed to meet the priority described in the PRIORITY section of this
application notice.

Eligible Applicants

    Eligible applicants for this program are institutions of higher
education, including Indian institutions of higher education; State or
local educational agencies, in consortium with institutions of higher
education; and Indian tribes or organizations, in consortium with
institutions of higher education. An application from a consortium of
eligible entities must meet the requirements of 34 CFR 75.127 through
75.129. The consortium agreement must be submitted with the
application. Letters of support do not meet the consortium
requirements.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: May 31, 2000.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: July 31, 2000.
    Applications Available:April 28, 2000.
    Available Funds: $10,000,000.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $175,000 to $500,000.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $300,000.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 30.

Project Period

    Up to 24 months for projects that provide only in-service training,
and up to 36 months for projects that provide pre-service training.

    Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.

Budget Requirement

    All projects funded under this competition must budget for a two-
day Project Directors' meeting in Washington, DC during each year of
the project.

Maximum Annual Award Amount

    In no case does the Secretary make an award greater than $500,000
for a single budget period of 12 months for the first 24 months of the
award period. The last 12 months of a 36-month award will be limited to
induction services only at a cost not to exceed $75,000 for the third
12-month budget period. The Secretary rejects and does not consider an
application that proposes a budget exceeding these maximum amounts.

Page Limit

    The application narrative Part III of the application) is where
you, the applicant, addresses the selection criteria reviewers use to
evaluate your application. You must limit Part III to the equivalent of
no more than 75 pages, using the following standards:
    * A ``page'' is 8.5" x 11", 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 font or larger or no
smaller than 10 pitch (characters per inch).
    The page limit does not apply to Part I, the cover sheet; Part II,
the budget section, including the narrative budget justification; Part
IV, the assurances and certifications; or the one-page abstract, the
resumes, the bibliography, or the letters of support. However, you must
include all of the application narrative in Part III.
    We will reject your application if--
    * You apply these standards and exceed the page limit; or
    * You apply other standards and exceed the equivalent of the
page limit.

Applicable Regulations

    (a) The Education Department General Administrative Regulations
(EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 85, 86, 97, 98, and
99; and (b) for the Professional Development Program, the payback
provisions of 34 CFR 263.1(b), 263.3, and 263.35 through 263.37.

Absolute Priority

    Under section 34 CFR 75.105 of EDGAR, the Secretary gives an
absolute preference to applications that meet the priority selected.
The Secretary reserves all of the funds available for new awards under
the Professional Development program to fund only those applications
that meet this absolute priority:

Pre-Service Training for Teachers --

    Provide support and training to Indian individuals to complete a
pre-service education program that:
    (a) Enables individuals to meet the requirements for full state
certification or licensure as a teacher through --
    (i) Training that leads to a bachelor's degree in education within
a two-year period; or
    (ii) Training in a current or new specialized teaching assignment,
that requires at least a bachelor's degree, in which a teacher shortage
exists.
    (b) Provides graduates of the pre-service program with one year of
induction services while they are

[[Page 25153]]

working in schools with significant Indian student populations.

Selection Criteria

    The selection criteria are included in full in the application
package for this competition. These selection criteria were established
based on the regulations for evaluating discretionary grants found in
34 CFR 75.200 through 75.210.

Fiscal Information

    Stipends may be paid only to full-time students. For the payment of
stipends to project participants being trained, the Secretary expects
to set the stipend maximum at $1250 per month for full-time students
and $200 allowance per month per dependent during the academic year.
The terms ``stipend,'' ``full-time student,'' and ``dependent
allowance'' are defined in 34 CFR 263.3.

Competitive Preference

    (1) The Secretary will award a total of five additional points to
applications for programs that include only Indian individuals as
training participants.

    Authority: Section 9122(e)(2); 20 U.S.C. 7832(e)(2).

    (2) The Secretary will award a total of five additional points to
applications submitted by Indian tribes, Indian organizations, and
Indian institutions of higher education. A consortium application of
eligible entities that meets the requirements of 34 CFR 75.127 through
75.129 and includes an Indian tribe, Indian organization or Indian
institution of higher education shall be considered eligible to receive
the five additional priority points. Letters of support do not meet the
consortium requirements.

    Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7873.

    (3) The Secretary will award a total of five additional points to
applications submitted by a consortium of eligible applicants that
include a tribal college or university and which designate that tribal
college or university as the fiscal agent for the application. The
consortium application of eligible entities must meet the requirements
of 34 CFR 75.127 through 75.129 of EDGAR to be considered eligible to
receive the five priority points. Letters of support do not meet the
consortium requirements. These competitive preference points are in
addition to the five competitive preference points that may be given
under Competitive Priority 2--Preference for Indian Applicants.
    Tribal colleges and universities are those institutions cited in
section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994
(7 U.S.C. 301 note), any other institution that qualifies for funding
under the Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance Act of
1978 (25 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), and Navajo Community College, authorized
in the Navajo Community College Assistance Act of 1978, Public Law 95-
471, title II (25 U.S.C. 640a note).

    Authority: Section 9153; 20 U.S.C. 7873; and 20 U.S.C. 1221e-3.

For Applications Contact

    Education Publications Center (ED Pubs), P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD
20794-1398. Telephone (toll free): 1-877-433-7827. FAX: (301) 470-1244.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may call
(toll free): 1-877-576-7734. You may also contact ED Pubs via its Web
site
(http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html) or its E-mail address
(edpubs@inet.ed.gov). If you request an application from ED Pubs, be
sure to identify this competition as follows: CFDA number 84.299B.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cathie Martin, Office of Indian
Education, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Room
3W111, Washington, DC 20202-6335. Telephone: (202) 260-1683. Internet
address: Cathie_Martin@ed.gov
    Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD),
may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-
8339.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print,
audiotape, or computer diskette) on request to the contact person
listed in the preceding paragraph.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format, also, by contacting that person.
However, the Department is not able to reproduce in an alternative
format the standard forms included in the application package.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may view this document, as well as all other Department of
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe
Portable Document Format (pdf) on the Internet at either of the
following sites:
http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html
    To use the PDF you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program,
which is available free at either of the previous sites. If you have
questions about using the PDF, call the U.S. Government Printing
Office, toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in the Washington, DC, area at
(202) 512-1530.

    Note: The official version of this document is published in the
Federal Register. Free Internet access to the official edition of
the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations is
available on GPO Access at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/
index.html

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7832.

    Dated: April 24, 2000.
Michael Cohen,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 00-10645 Filed 4-27-00; 8:45 am]
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