FR Doc E6-12780
[Federal Register: August 7, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 151)]
[Notices]
[Page 44671-44673]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07au06-50]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Discretionary Grant Programs
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of proposed priorities.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary of Education proposes priorities that the
Department of Education (Department) may use for any appropriate
discretionary grant program in fiscal year (FY) 2007 and in FY 2008. We
take this action to focus Federal financial assistance on expanding the
number of programs and projects Department-wide that support activities
in areas of greatest educational need. Although we expect that these
priorities will have the greatest applicability to programs authorized
by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (as amended by
the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001), we are establishing 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 6, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments about these proposed priorities 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 ``Department 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 these proposed
priorities. To ensure that your comments have maximum effect in
developing the notice of final priorities, we urge you to identify the
specific proposed priority that each comment addresses.
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 these proposed
priorities. 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 these proposed priorities 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 these proposed priorities. If you want to
schedule an appointment for this type of aid, please contact the person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
General
In the four years since the enactment of the No Child Left Behind
Act of 2001, there have been significant changes in our educational
system that provide a strong framework for reaching the goal that all
students will be proficient in reading/language arts and mathematics by
the year 2014. States have put in place rigorous new accountability
systems and in this school year (2005-2006) administered reading and
mathematics assessments covering all students in grades 3 to 8 and at
least once for students in grades 10 to 12. By school year 2007-2008,
States will be assessing students in science at least once in each of
three grade spans (3-5, 6-9, 10-12). A focus on professional
development and teacher qualifications is helping States to ensure that
increasing numbers of students are being taught by highly qualified
teachers. School districts are providing new support and assistance to
schools in need of improvement, while making available public school
choice and supplemental educational services options to eligible
students who attend these schools.
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results for
older students provide a reminder of the need to continue to emphasize
high standards and accountability for all students, especially those in
the higher grades. The 2005 NAEP math results for 8th graders, for
example, are both illustrative and alarming: less than one-third of 8th
graders, and just 13 percent of low-income 8th graders, scored at the
proficient level or above. High school test scores in mathematics have
barely budged since the 1970s, and according to the American College
Testing, Inc. (ACT), less than half of high school graduates in 2005
were ready for college-level math and science coursework.
America's rapidly changing economy requires an educational system
that is producing 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, we must expand the number of Americans mastering foreign
languages critical to national security and to our participation in the
global economy. High schools must 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. The
Department believes that high-quality professional development for
secondary school teachers is a critical part of the solution, because
it can help ensure that these teachers have the content knowledge and
expertise required to improve student achievement.
Rigorous instruction, high standards, and accountability for
results are helping to raise achievement in the early grades. Now
America must complete the task. We must focus on improving the
mathematics and science achievement of secondary school students,
expanding foreign language learning to include critical-need languages,
providing teachers with better training and support, helping districts
improve all their schools, and ensuring that all students meet rigorous
[[Page 44672]]
State mathematics and science academic standards and graduate from high
school. Student performance is not just an education issue; it is an
economic issue, a civic issue, a social issue, and a national security
issue.
In addition to content-specific priorities, the Secretary is
proposing a priority for collecting data to assess the effect of
projects on the academic achievement of student participants relative
to appropriate comparison or control groups. The Secretary believes
that interventions must be designed to collect the best available data
to determine the impact of the proposed intervention on student
achievement and to inform future improvement efforts. Finally, to
assist schools and districts in using data effectively, we are
proposing a priority for projects that will help educators use
information from State data systems to improve student achievement or
other appropriate outcomes.
Discussion of Proposed Priorities
We will announce the final priorities in a notice in the Federal
Register. We will determine the final priorities after considering
public comments on the proposed priorities and other information
available to the Department. This notice does not preclude the
Secretary from proposing or funding additional priorities, subject to
meeting applicable rulemaking requirements.
Note: This notice does not solicit applications. In any year in
which we choose to use one or more of these proposed priorities, we
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)).
Priorities
The Secretary proposes priorities that the Department may use for
discretionary grant competitions in FY 2007 and FY 2008, as
appropriate. The Secretary intends that these priorities will allow
program participants and the Department to focus limited Federal
resources on areas of greatest educational need. The Secretary
recognizes that some of the priorities will not be appropriate for
particular programs.
Proposed Priority 1--Mathematics. Projects that support activities
to enable students to achieve proficiency or advanced proficiency in
mathematics.
Proposed Priority 2--Science. Projects that support activities to
enable students to achieve proficiency or advanced proficiency in
science.
Proposed 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.
Proposed 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.
Proposed 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.
Proposed 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.
Proposed 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.
Proposed 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 of proposed priorities 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 the notice of proposed
priorities 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 of proposed priorities, we have
determined that the benefits of the proposed priorities 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 these proposed priorities 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.)
[[Page 44673]]
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1221e-3; 20 U.S.C. 6301 et. seq.
Dated: August 1, 2006.
Margaret Spellings,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. E6-12780 Filed 8-4-06; 8:45 am]
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