[Federal Register: May 27, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 101)]
[Notices]
[Page 28818-28821]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27my03-44]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
[CFDA No.: 84.323A]
Special Education: State Program Improvement Grants Program
Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2002
Purpose of Program: The purpose of this program, authorized under
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendments of
1997, is to assist State educational agencies and their partners
referred to in section 652(b) of IDEA with reforming and improving
their systems for providing educational, early intervention, and
transitional services, including their systems for professional
development, technical assistance, and dissemination of knowledge about
best practices, to improve results for children with disabilities.
Eligible Applicants: A State educational agency of one of the 50
States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or
an outlying area (United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa,
and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) that is not a
current grantee.
Applications Available: May 27, 2003.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: July 11, 2003.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: September 12, 2003.
Estimated Available Funds: $11 million.
Estimated Range of Awards: Awards will be not less than $530,000,
nor more than $2,199,000 in the case of the 50 States, the District of
Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and not less than
$84,800, in the case of an outlying area. Pursuant to subsection 655(b)
the Secretary has increased the maximum award amount above the maximum
award amount for the FY 2002 competition to account for inflation.
Note: Consistent with EDGAR 34 CFR 75.104(b), we will reject any
application that proposes a project funding level for any year that
exceeds the stated maximum award amount for that year.
We will set the amount of each grant after considering:
(1) The amount of funds available for making the grants;
(2) The relative population of the State or outlying area; and
(3) The types of activities proposed by the State or outlying area.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $1,000,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 10.
Note: The Department of Education is not bound by the estimated
size and number of awards in this notice.
Project Period: Not less than one year and not more than five
years.
Page Limits: Part III of each application submitted under a
priority in this notice, the application narrative, is where an
applicant addresses the selection criteria that are used by reviewers
in evaluating the application. You must limit part III to the
equivalent of no more than 100 pages, using the following standards:
[sbull] A ``page'' is 8.5'' x 11'' (on one side only) with one-inch
margins (top, bottom, and sides).
[sbull] Double-space (no more than three lines per vertical inch)
all text in the application narrative, including titles, headings,
footnotes, quotations, and captions, as well as all text in charts,
tables, figures, and graphs.
[sbull] If using a proportional computer font, use no smaller than
a 12-point font, and an average character density no greater than 18
characters per inch. If using a nonproportional font or a typewriter,
do not use more than 12 characters per inch.
The page limit does not apply to part I--the cover sheet; part II--
the budget
[[Page 28819]]
section, including the narrative budget justification; part IV, the
assurances and certifications; or the one-page abstract, the resumes,
the bibliography or references, or the letters of support. However, you
must include all of the application narrative in part III.
We will reject without consideration or evaluation any application
if--
[sbull] You apply these standards and exceed the page limit; or
[sbull] 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 75, 77, 79, 80, 81,
82, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99; and (b) the selection criteria for this
program are drawn from EDGAR in 34 CFR 75.210.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to institutions of
higher education only.
Description of Program
The statutory authorization, purpose of this program and the
application requirements that apply to this competition are set out in
sections 651-655 of the IDEA.
General Requirements
(a) Projects funded under this notice must make positive efforts to
employ and advance in employment qualified individuals with
disabilities in project activities (see section 606 of IDEA);
(b) Applicants and grant recipients funded under this notice must
involve individuals with disabilities or parents of individuals with
disabilities in planning, implementing, and evaluating the projects
(see section 661(f)(1)(A) of IDEA); and
(c) Projects funded under these priorities must budget for a two-
day Project Directors' meeting in Washington, DC during each year of
the project.
Absolute Priority: Under section 653 and 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), we
will give an absolute preference to applications that meet the
following priority. We will fund under this competition only those
applications that meet this absolute priority.
This priority supports projects that assist State educational
agencies and their partners in reforming and improving their systems
for providing educational, early intervention, and transitional
services, including their systems for professional development,
technical assistance, and dissemination of knowledge about best
practices, to improve results for children with disabilities.
State Improvement Plan. Applicants must submit a State improvement
plan that--
(a) Is integrated, to the maximum extent possible, with State plans
under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, if appropriate;
(b) Identifies those critical aspects of early intervention,
general education, and special education programs (including
professional development, based on an assessment of State and local
needs) that must be improved to enable children with disabilities to
meet the goals established by the State under section 612(a)(16) of
IDEA. Specifically, applicants must include:
(1) An analysis of all information, reasonably available to the
State educational agency, on the performance of children with
disabilities in the State, including--
(i) Their performance on State assessments and other performance
indicators established for all children, including drop-out rates and
graduation rates;
(ii) Their participation in postsecondary education and employment;
and
(iii) How their performance on the assessments and indicators
compares to that of non-disabled children;
(2) An analysis of State and local needs for professional
development for personnel to serve children with disabilities that
includes, at a minimum:
(i) The number of personnel providing special education and related
services; and
(ii) Relevant information on current and anticipated personnel
vacancies and shortages (including the number of individuals described
in paragraph (b)(2)(i) with temporary certification), and on the extent
of certification or retraining necessary to eliminate those shortages,
that is based, to the maximum extent possible, on existing assessments
of personnel needs;
(3) An analysis of the major findings of the Secretary's most
recent reviews of State compliance, as they relate to improving results
for children with disabilities; and
(4) An analysis of other information, reasonably available to the
State, on the effectiveness of the State's systems of early
intervention, special education, and general education in meeting the
needs of children with disabilities;
(c) Describes a partnership agreement that--
(1) Specifies--
(i) The nature and extent of the partnership among the State
educational agency, local educational agencies, and other State
agencies involved in, or concerned with, the education of children with
disabilities, and the respective roles of each member of the
partnership; and
(ii) How those agencies will work in partnership with other persons
and organizations involved in, and concerned with, the education of
children with disabilities, including the respective roles of each of
these persons and organizations; and
(2) Is in effect for the period of the grant;
(d) Describes how grant funds will be used in undertaking the
systemic-change activities, and the amount and nature of funds from any
other sources, including funds under part B of the Act retained for use
at the State level under sections 611(f) and 619(d) of the Act, that
will be committed to the systemic-change activities;
(e) Describes the strategies the State will use to address the
needs identified under paragraph (b), including how it will--
(1) Change State policies and procedures to address systemic
barriers to improving results for children with disabilities;
(2) Hold local educational agencies and schools accountable for
educational progress of children with disabilities;
(3) Provide technical assistance to local educational agencies and
schools to improve results for children with disabilities;
(4) Address the identified needs for in-service and pre-service
preparation to ensure that all personnel who work with children with
disabilities (including both professional and paraprofessional
personnel who provide special education, general education, related
services, or early intervention services) have the skills and knowledge
necessary to meet the needs of children with disabilities, including a
description of how it will--
(i) Prepare general and special education personnel with the
content knowledge and collaborative skills needed to meet the needs of
children with disabilities, including how the State will work with
other States on common certification criteria;
(ii) Prepare professionals and paraprofessionals in the area of
early intervention with the content knowledge and collaborative skills
needed to meet the needs of infants and toddlers with disabilities;
(iii) Work with institutions of higher education and other entities
that (on both a pre-service and an in-service basis) prepare personnel
who work with children with disabilities to ensure that those
institutions and entities develop
[[Page 28820]]
the capacity to support quality professional development programs that
meet State and local needs;
(iv) Work to develop collaborative agreements with other States for
the joint support and development of programs to prepare personnel for
which there is not sufficient demand within a single State to justify
support or development of a program of preparation;
(v) Work in collaboration with other States, particularly
neighboring States, to address the lack of uniformity and reciprocity
in the credentialing of teachers and other personnel;
(vi) Enhance the ability of teachers and others to use strategies,
like behavioral interventions, to address the conduct of children with
disabilities that impedes the learning of children with disabilities
and others;
(vii) Acquire and disseminate, to teachers, administrators, school
board members, and related services personnel, significant knowledge
derived from educational research and other sources, and how the State,
if appropriate, will adopt promising practices, materials, and
technology;
(viii) Recruit, prepare, and retain qualified personnel, including
personnel with disabilities and personnel from groups that are
underrepresented in the fields of regular education, special education,
and related services;
(ix) Integrate its plan, to the maximum extent possible, with other
professional development plans and activities, including plans and
activities developed and carried out under other Federal and State laws
that address personnel recruitment and training; and
(x) Provide for the joint training of parents and special
education, related services, and general education personnel;
(5) Address systemic problems identified in Federal compliance
reviews, including shortages of qualified personnel;
(6) Disseminate results of the local capacity-building and
improvement projects funded under section 611(f)(4) of the Act;
(7) Address improving results for children with disabilities in the
geographic areas of greatest need;
(8) Assess, on a regular basis, the extent to which the strategies
implemented under this subpart have been effective; and
(9) Coordinate its improvement strategies with public and private
sector resources.
Required partners. Applicants must:
(a) Establish a partnership with local educational agencies and
other State agencies involved in, or concerned with, the education of
children with disabilities; and
(b) Work in partnership with other persons and organizations
involved in, and concerned with, the education of children with
disabilities, including--
(1) The Governor;
(2) Parents of children with disabilities;
(3) Parents of nondisabled children;
(4) Individuals with disabilities;
(5) Organizations representing individuals with disabilities and
their parents, such as the parent training and information centers;
(6) Community-based and other nonprofit organizations involved in
the education and employment of individuals with disabilities;
(7) The lead State agency for part C of the Act;
(8) General and special education teachers, and early intervention
personnel;
(9) The State advisory panel established under part B of the Act;
(10) The State interagency coordinating council established under
part C of the Act; and
(11) Institutions of higher education within the State.
Optional partners. A partnership established by applicants may also
include--
(a) Individuals knowledgeable about vocational education;
(b) The State agency for higher education;
(c) The State vocational rehabilitation agency;
(d) Public agencies with jurisdiction in the areas of health,
mental health, social services, and juvenile justice; and
(e) Other individuals.
Reporting procedures. Each State educational agency that receives a
grant must submit performance reports to the Secretary pursuant to a
schedule to be determined by the Secretary, but not more frequently
than annually. The reports must describe the progress of the State in
meeting the performance goals established under section 612(a)(16) of
the Act, analyze the effectiveness of the State's strategies in meeting
those goals, and identify any changes in the strategies needed to
improve its performance. Grantees must also provide information
required under EDGAR at 34 CFR 80.40.
Use of funds. Each State educational agency that receives a State
Improvement Grant under this program--
(a) May use grant funds to carry out any activities that are
described in the State's application and that are consistent with the
purpose of this program;
(b) Shall, consistent with its partnership agreement established
under the grant, award contracts or subgrants to local educational
agencies, institutions of higher education, and parent training and
information centers, as appropriate, to carry out its State improvement
plan; and
(c) May award contracts and subgrants to other public and private
entities, including the lead agency under part C of the Act, to carry
out that plan;
(d)(1) Shall use not less than 75 percent of the funds it receives
under the grant for any fiscal year--
(i) To ensure that there are sufficient regular education, special
education, and related services personnel who have the skills and
knowledge necessary to meet the needs of children with disabilities and
developmental goals of young children; or
(ii) To work with other States on common certification criteria; or
(2) Shall use not less than 50 percent of those funds for these
purposes, if the State demonstrates to the Secretary's satisfaction
that it has the personnel described in paragraph (d)(1).
Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking: It is generally our practice to
offer interested parties the opportunity to comment on proposed
priorities. However, section 661(e)(2) of IDEA makes the public comment
requirements in the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553)
inapplicable to the priority in this notice.
For Applications Contact: Education Publications Center (ED Pubs),
P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, Maryland 20794-1398. Telephone (toll free): 1-
877-4ED-Pubs (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 at its Web site: http://www.edpubs.org/webstore/Content/search.asp
, or you may contact ED Pubs at 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 84.323A.
Application Procedures
Note: Some of the procedures in these instructions for
transmitting applications differ from those in the Education
Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) (34 CFR
75.102). Under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553) the
Department generally offers interested parties the opportunity to
comment on proposed regulations. However, these amendments make
procedural changes only and do not establish new substantive policy.
Therefore, under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A), the Secretary has determined
that proposed rulemaking is not required.
[[Page 28821]]
Pilot Project for Electronic Submission of Applications
In FY 2003, the U.S. Department of Education is continuing to
expand its pilot project of electronic submission of applications to
include additional formula grant programs and additional discretionary
grant competitions. The Special Education--State Program Improvement
Grants Program--CFDA No. 84.323A is one of the programs included in the
pilot project. If you are an applicant under this program, you may
submit your application to us in either electronic or paper format.
The pilot project involves the use of the Electronic Grant
Application System (e-Application) portion of the Grant Administration
and Payment System (GAPS). Users of e-Application will be entering data
on-line while completing their applications. You may not e-mail a soft
copy of a grant application to us. If you participate in this voluntary
pilot project by submitting an application electronically, the data you
enter on-line will be saved into a database. We request your
participation in e-Application. We shall continue to evaluate its
success and solicit suggestions for improvement.
If you participate in e-Application, please note the following:
[sbull] Your participation is voluntary.
[sbull] You will not receive any additional point value because you
submit a grant application in electronic format, nor will we penalize
you if you submit an application in paper format. When you enter the e-
Application system, you will find information about its hours of
operation.
[sbull] You may submit all documents electronically, including the
Application for Federal Assistance (ED 424), Budget Information--Non-
Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and
certifications.
[sbull] After you electronically submit your application, you will
receive an automatic acknowledgement, which will include a PR/Award
number (an identifying number unique to your application).
[sbull] Within three working days after submitting your electronic
application, fax a signed copy of the Application for Federal
Assistance (ED 424) to the Application Control Center after following
these steps:
(1) Print ED 424 from the e-Application system.
(2) The institution's Authorizing Representative must sign this
form.
(3) Place the PR/Award number in the upper right hand corner of the
hard copy signature page of the ED 424.
(4) Fax the signed ED 424 to the Application Control Center at
(202) 260-1349.
[sbull] We may request that you give us original signatures on all
other forms at a later date.
[sbull] Closing Date Extension in Case of System Unavailability: If
you elect to participate in the e-Application pilot for the Special
Education--State Program Improvement Grants Program and you are
prevented from submitting your application on the closing date because
the e-Application system is unavailable, we will grant you an extension
of one business day in order to transmit your application
electronically, by mail or hand delivery. For us to grant this
extension--
(1) You must be a registered user of e-Application, and have
initiated an e-Application for this competition; and
(2)(a) The e-Application system must be unavailable for 60 minutes
or more between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Washington, DC
time, on the deadline date; or
(b) The e-Application system must be unavailable for any period of
time during the last hour of operation (that is, for any period of time
between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time) on the deadline
date.
The Department must acknowledge and confirm these periods of
unavailability before granting you an extension.
To request this extension you must contact either (1) the person
listed elsewhere in this notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
or (2) the e-GRANTS help desk at 1-888-336-8930.
You may access the electronic grant application for the Special
Education--State Program Improvement Grants Program at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.
We have included additional information about the e-Application
pilot project (see Parity Guidelines between Paper and Electronic
Applications) in the application package.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Grants and Contracts Services
Team, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room
3317, Switzer Building, Washington, DC 20202-2550. Telephone: (202)
205-8207.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) 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 Grants and Contracts Services Team under
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. However, the Department is not able to
reproduce in an alternative format the standard forms included in the
application package.
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 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 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/legislation/FedRegister/.
To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available
free at the previous 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.access.gpo/nara/index.html.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1405, 1461, 1472, 1474, and 1487.
Dated: May 20, 2003.
Loretta Petty Chittum,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services.
[FR Doc. 03-13181 Filed 5-23-03; 8:45 am]
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