[Federal Register: October 13, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 197)]
[Notices]
[Page 55605-55607]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13oc99-114]
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Part IV
Department of Education
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Visiting Scholars Fellowship Program, Office of Educational Research
and Improvement (OERI); Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for
Fiscal Year (FY) 2000; Notice
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA No.: 84.309V]
Visiting Scholars Fellowship Program, Office of Educational
Research and Improvement (OERI); Notice Inviting Applications for New
Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2000
Purpose of Program: The OERI Visiting Scholars Fellowship Program
allows individuals to conduct educational research at the OERI national
research institutes in Washington, DC for up to 12 months. For FY 2000
we encourage applicants to design projects that address the
invitational priorities in the Priorities section of this application
notice.
Aside from carrying out their research, fellows are expected to
interact in a collegial manner with OERI staff and be available to
share their insights and expertise when needed. At the onset of their
fellowship, fellows will work with their institute directors to
establish a schedule for their research projects and regular office
hours, and will discuss the manner in which their stay may be mutually
beneficial to the fellow and OERI.
Administration of Program: This fellowship competition will be
administered by the National Research Council (the Council). The
Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to
associate the broad community of science and technology with the
Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the Federal
Government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined
by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency
of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of
Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and
the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered
jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine.
Eligible Applicants: Scholars, researchers, policymakers,
educational practitioners, librarians, or statisticians who are engaged
in the use, collection, and dissemination of information about
education and educational research.
Applications Available: October 29, 1999.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: January 24, 2000.
Note: Decisions on awards will be announced by the Council by
April 2000, and fellows will be able to commence their appointments
anytime between June 2000 and September 2000.
Available Funds: $500,000 (FY 1998 funds).
Estimated Range of Awards: $50,000-$100,000 per fellow.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $75,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 5 to 8.
Project Period: Up to 12 months.
Note: Neither the U.S. Department of Education, nor the Council,
is bound by any estimates in this notice.
Applicable Regulations: See explanation under Supplementary
Information.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OERI is authorized to make fellowship awards
to visiting scholars under section 931(c)(1)(E) of the Educational
Research, Development, Dissemination, and Improvement Act of 1994, 20
U.S.C. 6001 et seq. This statute states, in relevant part, that the
fellowships ``shall be awarded competitively following the publication
of a notice in the Federal Register inviting the submission of
applications.'' OERI made a grant to the National Research Council to
carry out this activity pursuant to the regulations in 34 CFR part 700
and the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR)
in 34 CFR part 75. OERI is publishing this application notice on behalf
of the Council.
The Council will fund applications for fellowships for the OERI
national research institutes. General procedures governing the
application process and the evaluation and selection of fellows can be
found in the 1999 Program Announcement, prepared by the Council. The
announcement is available on the web site http://fellowships.nas.edu
and is also available from the address and telephone number listed at
the end of this notice. More specific procedures governing the panel
review process will be available from the Council after all
applications have been received.
The regulations in 34 CFR part 700 and in the Education Department
General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) govern the grant
relationship between OERI and the Council and apply to the Council's
administration of Federal funds under the grant.
Priorities
Invitational Priorities
The Council is particularly interested in applications that meet
one or both of the following priorities. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) we
do not give an application that meets one or both of these invitational
priorities a competitive or absolute preference over other
applications.
Invitational Priority 1--Issues Related to How People Learn: Brain,
Mind, Experience
OERI's research priorities include work that relates to two recent
reports published by the National Academy of Sciences. The first study
is entitled: How People Learn: Brain, Mind Experience, and School,
which is available online at http://www.nap.edu.
The Academy study recommends important future research related to
human learning. The report calls for more detailed research regarding
matters such as the role of learners' prior knowledge in acquiring new
information, the importance of social and cultural contexts to
learning, understanding how learning is transferred, how learning is
related to a discipline and how time, familiarity, and exploration
impact fluency in learning. The report calls for new approaches to the
learning sciences such as neuroscience and cognitive science, helping
basic researchers and educational researchers to work together,
including teachers in the process, melding qualitative and quantitative
methods, and designing and implementing new statistical techniques and
qualitative measures as needed to more effectively study the complex
area of human learning.
After How People Learn: (Brain, Mind, Experience and School) was
released, OERI posed the next questions, ``What research and
development could help incorporate the insights from the report into
classroom practice?'' In response to this question, the Academy
published, How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice. This study
is also available online at http://www.nap.edu.
Applicants are invited to discuss in their applications how their
work relates to these reports. Projects may focus on any aged learners,
including preschoolers, those in the K-12 years, those in postsecondary
institutions, and other adult learners. The projects proposed by the
applicants must include specific research to be conducted while at
OERI, and the application must discuss ways in which the fellows' stay
will be mutually beneficial.
Invitational Priority 2--Traditionally Underrepresented Groups and
Institutions
Based on section 931(c)(5) of OERI's authorizing statute, the
Council also invites applications from groups of researchers or
institutions that have been historically underutilized in Federal
educational research activities. The groups and institutions include:
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Women, African-Americans, Hispanics, Native American Indians, and
Alaskan Natives or other ethnic minorities; promising young or new
researchers in the field, such as postdoctoral students and recently
appointed assistant or associate professors, Historically Black
Colleges and Universities, Tribally Controlled Colleges, Hispanic
serving institutions, community colleges, and other institutions of
higher education with large numbers of minority students; institutions
of higher education located in rural areas; and institutions and
researchers located in States and regions of the United States which
have historically received the least Federal support for educational
research and development.
Applicants are invited to propose projects that are designed to
increase the participation in the activities of the institutes of the
groups and institutions described in the previous paragraph.
Evaluation and Selection of Fellows: According to the Council's
1999 Program Announcement for the OERI Visiting Scholars Fellowship
Program, qualifications of applications will be evaluated by panels of
distinguished scholars selected by the Council. The evaluation of
applications will be based on achievement, experience, and training as
evidenced by the application materials submitted, and by the importance
of the proposed work to the field of education and the goals of the
OERI. Promising new talent is especially welcomed. Panelists will
carefully consider the application, proposed project plan, letters of
recommendation, and other supporting documentation. The quality of the
proposed project and the appropriateness of the proposed study at the
OERI will also be carefully reviewed. The final selection of fellows,
based on the panelists' recommendations, will be made by the National
Research Council. The Council will establish the specific procedures
governing the panel review process in a 1999 ``Guide for Panelists''
after the number and composition of the applications have been
determined.
For Further Information or Applications Contact: Craig Gidney, The
Fellowship Program, National Research Council, 2101 Constitution
Avenue, Washington, DC 20418. Telephone: (202) 334-2872. The e-mail
address for Mr. Gidney is: c__gidney@ nas.edu. Individuals who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) 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 contact person listed 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.
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. 6001 et seq. (OERI) and 36 U.S.C.
253 (National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council).
Dated: October 7, 1999.
C. Kent McGuire,
Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement.
[FR Doc. 99-26686 Filed 10-12-99; 8:45 am]
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