FR Doc E8-19893[Federal Register: August 27, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 167)]
[Notices]
[Page 50601-50603]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27au08-26]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Discretionary Grant Programs
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of intent to use certain discretionary grant priorities
in fiscal year 2009.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes to continue the use in fiscal year (FY)
2009 of priorities that the Department of Education (Department)
previously established for use in any discretionary
[[Page 50602]]
grant program competition in FY 2007 and FY 2008. We take this action
in order to continue to focus Federal financial assistance on expanding
the number of programs and projects Department-wide that support
activities in areas of greatest educational need. We are proposing to
continue the use of 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.
DATES: We must receive your comments on or before September 26, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this proposed action to Margo K.
Anderson, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room
4W311, Washington, DC 20202-5910. If you prefer to send your comments
through the Internet, use the following address: comments@ed.gov.
You must include the term ``FY 2009 Use of Department-wide
Priorities'' in the subject line of your electronic message.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Margo Anderson. Telephone: (202) 205-
3010 or via Internet at Margo.Anderson@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 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 this proposed action.
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 this proposed action.
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 Department's
programs.
During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public
comments about this proposed action in room 4W333, 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 this proposed action. If you want to schedule an
appointment for this type of aid, please contact the person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
General
On October 11, 2006 (71 FR 60046), the Department established the
following menu of priorities for discretionary grant programs to help
support rigorous instruction, high standards, and accountability for
results:
1. Mathematics.
2. Science.
3. Critical-Need Languages.
4. Secondary Schools.
5. Professional Development for Secondary School Teachers.
6. School Districts with Schools in Need of Improvement, Corrective
Action, or Restructuring.
7. Student Achievement Data.
8. State Data Systems.
These priorities were available for use in FY 2007 and FY 2008. The
Department believes that these priorities are still relevant to the
Nation's educational needs and is proposing to continue their use in FY
2009.
These priorities were designed to respond to the fact that
America's rapidly changing economy requires an educational system that
produces high school graduates with the skills needed to be successful
in postsecondary education and the workforce. In addition to improving
the academic achievement of students in mathematics and science, the
content-specific priorities established for FY 2007 and FY 2008 were
designed to (a) expand the number of Americans mastering foreign
languages critical to national security and to our participation in the
global economy; (b) help high schools develop a larger pool of
technically adept and numerically literate Americans; a continual
supply of highly trained mathematicians, scientists, and engineers; and
more students with higher levels of proficiency in critical-need
languages; and (c) enhance high-quality professional development for
secondary school teachers to help ensure that these teachers have the
content knowledge and expertise required to improve student
achievement. Another priority was designed to focus assistance on
schools in need of improvement, corrective action, or restructuring. We
believe that extending the use of these priorities will continue
progress in these areas.
In addition, the Secretary established two priorities for use in FY
2007 and FY 2008 to ensure that data are available to inform decision-
making. One of these priorities focuses resources on collecting data to
assess the effects of projects on the academic achievement of student
participants relative to appropriate comparison or control groups.
Continued use of this priority will enable the Department to fund
interventions that are designed to collect the best available data to
determine the impact of the proposed interventions on student
achievement and to inform future improvement efforts. The second
focuses resources on projects to help educators use information from
State data systems to improve student achievement or other appropriate
outcomes.
Discussion of Proposed Action
We will announce the final action in a notice in the Federal
Register. We will determine the final action after considering public
comments on the proposal in this notice and other information available
to the Department. This notice does not preclude the Secretary from
proposing other actions, including the use of additional priorities,
subject to meeting applicable rulemaking requirements.
Note: This notice does not solicit applications. If we choose to
use one or more of the priorities referenced in this notice in FY
2009, we will invite applications for new awards under the
applicable program through a notice in the Federal Register. When
inviting applications we designate the priorities 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 competitive preference 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)).
[[Page 50603]]
Proposed Action
The Secretary proposes to continue to use certain priorities for
discretionary grant competitions in FY 2009, as appropriate. The
Secretary intends that these priorities, which were originally
established for use in FY 2007 and FY 2008, will allow the Department
to continue to focus limited Federal resources on areas of greatest
educational need in FY 2009. The Secretary recognizes that some of the
priorities will not be appropriate for particular programs.
The priorities the Secretary proposes to make available for use by
the Department in discretionary grant competitions in FY 2009 are as
follows:
Priority 1--Mathematics. Projects that support activities to enable
students to achieve proficiency or advanced proficiency in mathematics.
Priority 2--Science. Projects that support activities to enable
students to achieve proficiency or advanced proficiency in science.
Priority 3--Critical-Need Languages. Projects that support
activities to enable students to achieve proficiency or advanced
proficiency in one or more of the following less commonly taught
languages: Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian, and languages in
the Indic, Iranian, and Turkic language families.
Priority 4--Secondary Schools. Projects that support activities and
interventions aimed at improving the academic achievement of secondary
school students who are at greatest risk of not meeting challenging
State academic standards and not completing high school.
Priority 5--Professional Development for Secondary School Teachers.
Projects that support high-quality professional development for
secondary school teachers to help these teachers improve student
academic achievement.
Priority 6--School Districts with Schools in Need of Improvement,
Corrective Action, or Restructuring. Projects that help school
districts implement academic and structural interventions in schools
that have been identified for improvement, corrective action, or
restructuring under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965,
as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
Priority 7--Student Achievement Data. Projects that collect pre-
and post-intervention test data to assess the effect of the projects on
the academic achievement of student participants relative to
appropriate comparison or control groups.
Priority 8--State Data Systems. Projects that help educators use
information from State data systems to improve student achievement or
other appropriate outcomes.
Executive Order 12866
This notice 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 this notice are those resulting
from statutory requirements and those we have determined as necessary
for administering the Department's discretionary grant programs
effectively and efficiently.
In assessing the potential costs and benefits--both quantitative
and qualitative--of this notice we have determined that the benefits of
the proposed action justify the costs.
We have also determined that this regulatory action does not unduly
interfere with State, local, and tribal governments in the exercise of
their governmental functions.
Executive Order 12372
Some of the programs affected by this notice are 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 a 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
actions for these programs.
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.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number does not apply.)
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1221e-3; 20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.
Dated: August 22, 2008.
Margaret Spellings,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. E8-19893 Filed 8-26-08; 8:45 am]
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