FR Doc E5-125
[Federal Register: January 13, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 9)]
[Notices]
[Page 2399-2401]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13ja05-61]
Download: 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Professional Development for Arts Educators Program
AGENCY: Office of Innovation and Improvement, Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of proposed priority, requirements, and definitions.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement
proposes a priority, requirements, and definitions under the
Professional Development for Arts Educators program. We may use this
priority and these requirements and definitions for competitions in
fiscal year (FY) 2005 and later years. We take this action to focus
Federal financial assistance on an identified national need for
professional development for arts educators that focuses on the
development, enhancement, and expansion of standards-based arts
instruction or that integrates arts instruction with other subject area
content, and to improve student achievement of low-income students in
kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12). We intend the priority,
requirements, and definitions to improve the performance of needy
children and to increase the amount of information on effective
professional development for arts educators that is available
nationally.
DATES: We must receive your comments on or before February 14, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments about the proposed priority,
requirements, and definitions to Carol Sue Fromboluti, U.S. Department
of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4W233, Washington, DC
20202-5943. If you prefer to send your comments through the Internet,
use the following address: comments@ed.gov.
You must include the term ``artspd'' in the subject line of your
electronic message.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carol Sue Fromboluti. Telephone: (202)
205-9654 or via Internet:
Carol.Fromboluti@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative
[[Page 2400]]
format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) on
request to the contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Invitation To Comment
We invite you to submit comments regarding the proposed priority,
requirements, and definitions in this notice. To ensure that your
comments have maximum effect in developing the notice of final
priority, requirements, and definitions, we urge you to identify
clearly the specific proposed priority, requirement, or definition that
each comment addresses.
We invite you to assist us in complying with the specific
requirements of Executive Order 12866 and its overall requirement of
reducing regulatory burden that might result from the proposed
priority, requirements, and definitions. Please let us know of any
further opportunities we should take to reduce potential costs or
increase potential benefits while preserving the effective and
efficient administration of the program.
During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public
comments about the proposed priority, requirements, and definitions in
room 4W242, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, between the hours
of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., eastern time, Monday through Friday of each
week except Federal holidays.
Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Rulemaking
Record
On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs
assistance to review the comments or other documents in the public
rulemaking record for the proposed priority, requirements, and
definitions. If you want to schedule an appointment for this type of
aid, please contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.
We will announce the final priority, requirements, and definitions
in a notice in the Federal Register. We will determine the final
priority, requirements, and definitions after considering responses to
this notice and other information available to the Department. This
notice does not preclude us from proposing additional priorities,
requirements, and definitions, subject to meeting applicable rulemaking
requirements.
Note: This notice does not solicit applications. In any year in
which we choose to use the proposed priority, requirements, and
definitions, we invite applications through a notice in the Federal
Register. When inviting applications, we designate the priority as
absolute, competitive preference, or invitational. The effect of each
type of priority follows:
Absolute Priority: Under an absolute priority we consider only
applications that meet the priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(3)).
Competitive Preference Priority: Under a competitive preference
priority we give competitive preference to an application by either (1)
awarding additional points, depending on how well or the extent to
which the application meets the priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i)); or
(2) selecting an application that meets the competitive priority over
an application of comparable merit that does not meet the priority (34
CFR 75.105(c)(2)(ii)).
Invitational Priority: Under an invitational priority we are
particularly interested in applications that meet the invitational
priority. However, we do not give an application that meets the
invitational priority a competitive or absolute preference over other
applications (34 CFR 75.105(c)(1)).
Discussion of Proposed Priority, Requirements, and Definitions
Through this program, the Department intends to fund model
professional development programs for music, dance, drama, and visual
arts educators of K-12 students in high-poverty schools. The purpose of
this program is to strengthen standards-based arts education programs
and to help ensure that all students meet challenging State academic
content standards and challenging State student academic achievement
standards in the arts.
Priority
Proposed Priority
We propose the following priority for this program:
This priority supports professional development programs for K-12
arts educators that use innovative instructional methods and current
knowledge from education research and focus on--
(1) The development, enhancement, or expansion of standards-based
arts education programs; or
(2) The integration of standards-based arts instruction with other
core academic area content.
In order to meet this priority, an applicant must demonstrate that
the project for which it seeks funding is linked to State and national
standards intended to enable all students to meet challenging
expectations, and to improving student and school performance.
Rationale: It is the intent of this program to provide professional
development programs for arts educators that can be linked to student
achievement, including performance on State or local standardized
tests. While arts content and achievement standards have been
voluntarily adopted in many States throughout the country, teachers
often need professional development on how to implement education
standards both for arts programs and for programs designed to integrate
arts with other subject areas. The proposed priority would support
projects that would provide professional development services that are
linked to learning standards.
Requirements
Proposed Application Requirement
We propose the following application requirement for this program:
To be eligible for Professional Development for Arts Educators
Program funds, applicants must propose to carry out professional
development programs for art educators of K-12 low-income children and
youth by implementing projects in schools in which 50 percent or more
of the children enrolled are from low-income families (based on the
poverty criteria set out in Title I, Section 1113(a)(5) of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (ESEA)).
Rationale: Studies have found that improving the quality of arts
education has a particularly positive impact on students from low-
income backgrounds. We believe this poverty requirement is necessary in
order to focus services on the most needy children.
Proposed Eligibility Requirement
We propose the following eligibility requirement for this program:
To be eligible to receive funding under the Professional
Development for Arts Educators program, an applicant must be--
A local educational agency (LEA), which may be a charter school
that is considered an LEA, that is acting on behalf of an individual
school or schools that meets the poverty criterion with respect to
children from low-income families that is specified in the application
requirement elsewhere in this notice, and that must work in partnership
with one or more of the following--
[[Page 2401]]
(1) A State or local non-profit or governmental arts organization;
(2) A State educational agency (SEA) or regional educational
service agency;
(3) An institution of higher education; or
(4) A public or private agency, institution, or organization,
including a museum, an arts education association, a library, a
theater, or a community-or faith-based organization.
Rationale: The most effective professional development programs are
systemic and have the full support of school leadership. Therefore, it
is essential that eligibility be limited to LEAs. Professional
development in the area of arts education is often enhanced when it
taps the expertise of professional arts organizations or other
entities. Accordingly, an LEA would be required to partner with one of
these organizations.
Definitions
Proposed Definitions
The terms ``arts educator'' and ``integrate'', which are important
concepts associated with this program, are not defined in the
authorizing statute. We, therefore, propose, for the purpose of this
program, to define these terms as follows:
Arts educator means a teacher who works in music, drama, dance, or
the visual arts.
Integrate means, in the context of projects funded under this
program, to strengthen (i) the use of high-quality arts instruction
within other academic content areas, and (ii) the place of the arts as
a core academic subject in the school curriculum.
Executive Order 12866
This notice of proposed priority, requirements, and definitions has
been reviewed in accordance with Executive Order 12866. Under the terms
of the order, we have assessed the potential costs and benefits of this
regulatory action.
The potential costs associated with the notice of proposed
priority, requirements, and definitions are those resulting from
statutory requirements and those we have determined as necessary for
administering this program effectively and efficiently.
In assessing the potential costs and benefits--both quantitative
and qualitative--of this notice of proposed priority, requirements, and
definitions, we have determined that the benefits of the proposed
priority, requirements, and definitions justify the costs.
We also have determined that this regulatory action does not unduly
interfere with State, local, and tribal governments in the exercise of
their governmental functions.
Summary of Potential Costs and Benefits
The potential costs associated with the proposed priority,
requirements, and definitions in this notice are minimal, while the
benefits are significant. Grantees may incur some costs associated with
completing the application process in terms of staff and partner time,
copying, and mailing or delivery.
The benefit of the proposed priority, requirements, and definitions
in this notice is that grantees will develop professional development
programs for arts educators, especially those programs that incorporate
arts education standards and are designed to improve the educational
performance of at-risk children and youth.
Intergovernmental Review
This program is subject to Executive Order 12372 and the
regulations in 34 CFR part 79. One of the objectives of the Executive
order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and strengthened
federalism. The Executive order relies on processes developed by State
and local governments for coordination and review of proposed Federal
financial assistance.
This document provides early notification of our specific plans and
action for this program.
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 the following site:
http://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.
Note: The official version of this document is the document
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.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html
.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7271.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.351C Professional
Development for Arts Educators)
Dated: January 7, 2005.
Nina Shokraii Rees,
Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement.
[FR Doc. E5-125 Filed 1-12-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P