[Federal Register: April 14, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 73)]
[Notices]
[Page 20315-20318]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14ap00-151]
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Part IV
Department of Education
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Office of Educational Research and Improvement; Fund for the
Improvement of Education--Comprehensive School Reform Capacity Building
Grants; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year
(FY) 2000; Notice
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA No. 84.215C]
Office of Educational Research and Improvement; Fund for the
Improvement of Education--Comprehensive School Reform Capacity Building
Grants; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year
(FY) 2000
Purpose of Program: The purpose of the Fund for the Improvement of
Education (FIE) is to support nationally significant programs to
improve the quality of education, assist all students to meet
challenging State content standards, and contribute to the achievement
of the National Education Goals. The purpose of this competition is to
develop the long-term capacity of comprehensive school reform models to
better serve schools as described in the Priorities section of this
application notice.
Eligible Applicants: State and local educational agencies,
institutions of higher education, and other public and private
agencies, organizations, and institutions.
Applications Available: April 21, 2000.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: June 9, 2000.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: August 8, 2000.
Estimated Available Funds: $15,000,000.
Estimated Range of Awards: $500,000--$1,000,000.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $750,000.
Maximum Award: We will reject any application that proposes a
budget exceeding $1,000,000 in any budget period.
Estimated Number of Awards: 20.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Budget Period: 12 months.
Project Period: Up to 36 months.
Page Limit: The application narrative is where you, the applicant,
address the selection criteria reviewers will use to evaluate your
application. You must limit the application narrative to the equivalent
of no more than 25 double-spaced pages using the following standards:
A page is 8.5" x 11", with printing on one side only.
* Double-space all text in the application narrative (no
more than three lines in a vertical inch)..
We strongly encourage applicants to use a font that is 12-point or
larger with one-inch margins.
The page limit does not apply to the cover sheet; the budget
section, including the narrative budget justification; the assurances
and certifications; or the one-page abstract, the resumes, the
bibliography, or the letters of support.
If the narrative section is more than the equivalent of the 25
double-spaced page limit, or if to meet the page limit, you use more
than one side of the page or you use a larger page, our reviewers will
not evaluate the portion of your application that goes beyond the
equivalent of the specified 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) The regulations in 34 CFR part
299.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of the Fund for the Improvement
of Education (FIE) is to support nationally significant programs to
improve the quality of education, assist all students to meet
challenging State content standards, and contribute to the achievement
of the National Education Goals. The purpose of this competition is to
develop the long-term capacity of comprehensive school reform models to
better serve schools as described in the Priorities section of this
notice.
The Conference Report for the Department's fiscal year 2000
appropriation directs the Secretary to make awards to providers of
comprehensive school reform models. A comprehensive school reform model
is one in which all systems within a school--organization, instruction,
professional development and management--and all of the school's
classrooms are actively engaged in and accountable for the
implementation of a common, articulated strategy to improve teaching
and learning for all students in the school.
The Secretary believes that the purpose of the Comprehensive School
Reform program is to substantially improve student achievement. These
programs are intended to stimulate school-wide change covering
virtually all aspects of school operations, rather than a piecemeal,
fragmented approach to reform. In order to enhance the long-term
capacity of models to provide higher quality services to greater
numbers of schools, the Secretary believes that the model developers
must engage in a process of continuous improvement based on careful
analysis of their work.
In shaping these priorities, the Secretary has consulted widely
with the field and drawn on the Department's experiences over the past
three years with the Comprehensive School Reform and Demonstration
Program (CSRDP). Recent reports on comprehensive school reform indicate
that issues surrounding the implementation of models are very important
to their success with teachers and students. Such issues as the
district's role in supporting schools undertaking comprehensive school
reform, the role of school leadership, community support, teacher
capacity and availability of time, the relationship of the model to the
existing curriculum in the school, the relationship of the model to the
State and local standards and performance measures, among others, have
a significant impact on the successful implementation of models in
multiple sites throughout the nation. Most models have not developed a
systematic way of collecting and analyzing information on
implementation of their approach in schools. The Secretary believes
that developing such systems will greatly enhance the long-term
capacity of models to improve their work and have a positive impact on
schools.
To determine the capacity and needs of model developer
organizations for funding under this competition, the Secretary
requires that the applicants provide a thorough description of their
evidence of effectiveness, particularly their student outcome data. He
also requires that applicants demonstrate that their models are
operating successfully in at least 15 schools to qualify as a national
model, and that the model developers demonstrate that there is a
significant unmet demand from schools and/or school districts for the
model.
The Secretary has determined that the following activities are most
likely to improve the long-term ability of models to provide high
quality services to larger numbers of schools.
The Secretary believes that more attention needs to be given to
activities that support the continuous improvement of models as they
scale up and reach larger numbers of schools. Most comprehensive school
reform models need to develop and implement data collection and
feedback systems that track and provide timely feedback on such
activities as: (a) the effectiveness of the professional development
provided by the model; (b) the usefulness of materials and technical
assistance provided by the model; (c) the model's effectiveness in
schools with special populations; (d) the on-going support of staff for
the model; and, (e) the model's success in achieving high fidelity
implementation in multiple sites. The Secretary believes that providers
of comprehensive school
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reform models will benefit from developing and implementing data
collection and feedback systems that track implementation in all
schools adopting their approach. Further, these systems should include
data to permit analysis of the role of the district in supporting
implementation. Through these efforts the providers of comprehensive
school reform models will increase their ability to serve more schools
well. The Secretary believes that the assistance of a third-party
evaluator will strengthen the effectiveness of some or all of the
activities of this part of the priority.
There is research that suggests that the most effective way to
increase student learning is to improve the curriculum and associated
teaching strategies in the core subject areas and align them with state
and local content standards and performance measures. The Secretary
believes that the impact of some comprehensive school reform models
would be improved by strengthening the teaching and learning that is a
part of the model's design.
There is evidence that some comprehensive school reform models do
not have the capacity to work effectively with the lowest performing
schools. Yet, students in these schools are most often most at risk of
failure. Therefore, the Secretary believes that some models would
improve their capacity by developing materials and processes that
specifically address the needs of the lowest performing schools which
will allow them to expand their services into more of these schools.
There is evidence that some of the comprehensive school reform
models do not address the concerns of special populations as
successfully as they could. English language learners or children with
disabilities or both often need specialized materials and support.
Therefore, the Secretary believes developers should augment their
models to better serve special populations of students.
The Secretary understands that developers of national comprehensive
school reform models are finding that it is difficult to meet the
demands of an increasing number of schools seeking assistance.
Therefore, the Secretary asks the applicants to articulate their
specific needs for increasing their capacity in order to scale-up their
operation, and to describe the activities that will expand their
ability to work more effectively with larger numbers of schools.
Finally, the Secretary believes that the projects funded under this
program will benefit from collaboration with other projects, both to
improve their individual efforts as well as to contribute to the
overall knowledge on comprehensive school reform. Projects will be
expected to collaborate with Department of Education staff and expert
consultants in the design of a core set of data collection instruments
and analytic measures. It is expected that these will be used to
provide continuous feedback on the quality of implementation across the
designs and provide the public with data about the effectiveness of the
designs in improving student achievement. Projects are required to set
aside a minimum of ten (10) percent of their budget for this purpose.
Priorities
Absolute Priority
The Secretary gives absolute preference to applications that meet
the absolute priority in the next paragraph. The Secretary funds under
this priority only applications that meet this absolute priority. (34
CFR 75.105(c)(3)).
Absolute Priority--Comprehensive School Reform Models
An applicant must propose a set of activities that are designed to
improve the quality of the services provided by a comprehensive school
reform model and increase the number of schools served by the model. To
be considered for funding, the comprehensive school reform model
developer must provide evidence of the model's effectiveness in
improving student achievement in high-poverty schools, particularly by
providing information on the impact on student achievement. The model
must also be operating successfully in at least fifteen (15) schools to
be considered for funding under this program and demonstrate that there
is a demand from schools interested in adopting the model. The
applicant must explain the analytic process and the subsequent results
of that process that led to their proposed activities for improving the
quality and quantity of services to schools.
(a) Each application must propose one or more of the following
activities. We will not consider other activities for funding:
(1) Designing and using continuous improvement processes to track
and provide timely feedback on the model's services to adopting
schools. [Participation of a third-party evaluator strengthens this
effort. See Competitive Priority 1.]
(2) Strengthening the curriculum and instruction provided by the
model, particularly in reading and mathematics, and aligning it with
state and local content standards and performance measures.
(3) Developing processes and materials to better support the lowest
performing and most troubled schools.
(4) Developing processes and materials to enhance the model's
ability to serve special population of students (e.g., English language
learners and students with disabilities.)
(5) Supporting other activities that the applicant demonstrates
will allow them to serve a larger number of schools with high-quality
services.
(b) In addition to the above menu of activities, the applicant must
participate in the collaborative design and use of a core set of data
collection instruments and analytic measures to carry out the formative
and outcome evaluation activities. Department of Education staff will
facilitate a process of bringing together project staff funded through
this effort and expert consultants to collaborate on the design of the
formative and outcome evaluation activities. Each project must set
aside a minimum of 10 percent of its budget for this purpose.
Competitive Priorities
The Secretary will give competitive preference, as indicated under
each priority, to applications that meet one or both of the following
competitive priorities.
Competitive Priority 1
Priority will be given to projects that include a comprehensive
formative evaluation plan, including a third-party evaluator.
Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i) we award an additional five (5) points
to an application, depending on how well the application meets the
priority.
Competitive Priority 2
Priority will be given to projects that serve a school or schools
located in rural or isolated areas.
Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(ii) we give preference to an application
that meets the priority over an application of comparable merit that
does not meet the priority.
Intergovernmental Review
This program is subject to the requirements of Executive Order
12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. The objective of the
Executive order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a
strengthened federalism by relying on processes developed by State and
local governments for coordination and review of proposed Federal
financial assistance. In accordance with the order,
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this document is intended to provide early notification of the
Department's specific plans and actions for this purpose.
Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking
In accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553),
it is the practice of the Department of Education to offer interested
parties the opportunity to comment on proposed priorities that are not
taken directly from statute. Ordinarily, this practice would have
applied to the priorities in this notice. Section 437(d)(1) of the
General Education Provisions Act (GEPA), however, exempts rules that
apply to the first grant competition under a new program or
substantially revised program from this requirement. The Conference
Report for the Department's FY 2000 appropriation directs the Secretary
to make awards ``to providers of comprehensive school models.'' This
will be the first grant competition conducted under the authority of
the Fund for Improvement of Education program, 20 U.S.C. 8001, that
concerns comprehensive school reform. The Secretary, in accordance with
section 437(d)(1) of GEPA, to ensure timely awards, has decided to
forego public comment with respect to the priorities. The priorities
will apply only to the FY 2000 grant competition.
For Applications Contact: Julie Coplin, U.S. Department of
Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW., room 502J, Washington, DC 20202-
5645 Telephone: (202) 219-2089; e-mail julie__coplin@ed.gov. If you use
a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may call the
Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
For Further Information Contact: Cheryl Kane, U.S. Department of
Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW., room 604B Washington, DC 20202-
5530. Telephone: (202) 208-2991; e-mail: cheryl__kane@ed.gov. If you
use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may call the
Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Alternative Formats
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to the program contact person listed under For
Applications Contact.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format by contacting the person listed under
For Applications Contact. 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 with
Search, 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 (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.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 8001.
Dated: April 10, 2000.
C. Kent McGuire,
Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement.
[FR Doc. 00-9355 Filed 4-13-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U