[Federal Register: May 3, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 86)]
[Notices]
[Page 25815-25817]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03my00-137]
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Part III
Department of Education
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Office of Education Research and Improvement; Ready-To-Learn (RTL)
Television Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for
Fiscal Year (FY) 2000; Notice
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA No. 84.295A]
Office of Educational Research and Improvement; Ready-To-Learn
(RTL) Television Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards
for Fiscal Year (FY) 2000
Purpose of Program: The Ready-To-Learn Television program supports
the development of: (1) Educational programming for preschool and early
elementary school children and their families; (2) educational
television programming and ancillary materials to increase school
readiness for young children in limited-English proficient households
and to increase family literacy; and (3) accompanying support materials
and services that promote the effective use of educational programming.
For FY 2000 the competition for new awards focuses on projects
designed to meet the priority we describe in the PRIORITY section of
this application notice.
Eligible Applicants: Non-profit organizations, including public
telecommunication entities, able to demonstrate a capacity (1) To
develop and distribute educational and instructional television
programming of high quality for preschool and elementary school
children; and (2) to contract with the producers of children's
television programming for the purpose of developing educational
television programming of high quality for preschool and elementary
school children.
Deadline for the Transmittal of Applications: June 5, 2000.
Estimated Available Funds: $16 Million.
Estimated Range of Awards: Up to $16 Million.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: Up to $16 Million.
Estimated Number of Awards: One.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 60 months.
Page Limit: The application narrative (Part III of the application)
is where you, the applicant, address the selection criteria reviewers
use to evaluate your application. You must limit Part III to the
equivalent of no more than 60 pages, using the following standards:
* A page is 8.5" x 11", on 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 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.
If, to meet the page limit, you use more than one side of the page,
you use a larger page, or you use a print size, spacing, or margins
smaller than the standards in this notice, we will reject your
application.
Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 80, 81,
82, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.
Priority
Absolute Priority
The Secretary gives an absolute preference to applications that
meet the criteria in the next paragraph. The Secretary funds under this
competition only an application that meets this absolute priority (34
CFR 75.105(c)(3)).
The Secretary will only fund an application that documents how the
proposed project will--
(1) Collaborate with Head Start Centers and family based child care
organizations, public school pre-kindergarten programs, and Even Start
Family Literacy Programs;
(2) Work with after-school programs funded under the 21st Century
Community Learning Centers; and
(3) Work with early childhood literacy, language, and reading
organizations.
An application for funding under this program also must propose to:
(1) Develop a minimum of two new children's television shows during
the 5 year project, of which at least one will be designed to expand
the language, literacy, and reading competencies of young children who
do not use English as their primary language.
(2) Use state-of-the-art technology to create new programming and
materials especially targeted to families who: (a) Have limited
literacy; (b) do not use English as their primary language; (c) have
young children with disabilities; and (d) live in rural areas.
(3) Establish a technical assistance center for the Ready-To-Learn
coordinators and station representatives in order to provide on-going
training, using state-of-the-art methods, including: on-line training,
distance learning, and face-to-face education and professional
development, with an emphasis on developing strategies and materials
for reaching diverse populations of children and families.
(4) Establish performance indicators to determine Ready-To-Learn's
impact on children and families.
(5) Establish performance indicators to measure the impact of
training and education on Ready-To-Learn coordinators and station
representatives, including improving their knowledge, skills, and
competencies related to early childhood development and learning and
parenting education.
(6) Develop a management information system for collecting data
from all participating Ready-to-Learn Television stations and establish
criteria for measuring the effectiveness of local workshops.
(7) Convene an annual conference for the Ready-to-Learn Television
coordinators and station representatives, including community partners.
(8) Establish a National Advisory Board for Ready-To-Learn
Television.
Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking
In accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, (5 U.S.C.
553), it is the practice of the Department to offer interested parties
the opportunity to comment on proposed priorities that are not taken
directly from the statute. Ordinarily, this practice would have applied
to the priority in this notice. Section 437(d)(1) of the General
Education Provisions Act (GEPA), however, exempts rules that apply to
the first competition under a new program from this requirement. The
Ready-to-Learn Television program was first authorized by Congress as
part of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994, Pub L. 103-382.
This is the first competition to award a grant under this program.
Consequently, the Secretary, in accordance with section 437(d)(1) of
GEPA and to ensure a timely grant award, has decided to forego public
comment with respect to the absolute priority. This priority will apply
to the FY 2000 grant competition only.
For Applications and Further Information Contact: Joe Caliguro,
U.S. Department of Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW., room 604-I,
Washington, DC 20202-5520. Telephone: (202) 219-1596. If you use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
[[Page 25817]]
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 in the
previous paragraph.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format 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, 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. 6921-6928.
Dated: April 28, 2000.
C. Kent McGuire,
Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement.
[FR Doc. 00-11014 Filed 5-2-00; 8:45 am]
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