[Federal Register: March 28, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 59)]
[Notices]
[Page 15389-15392]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28mr06-35]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Overview
Information; Migrant Education Even Start Family Literacy Program;
Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Years (FY) 2005
and 2006
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.214A.
Dates: Applications Available: March 28, 2006. Deadline for
Transmittal of Applications: May 12, 2006. Deadline for
Intergovernmental Review: July 11, 2006.
Eligible Applicants: Any entity is eligible to apply for a grant
under the Migrant Education Even Start (MEES) Family Literacy Program.
For example, the following types of entities are eligible to apply:
State educational agencies (SEAs) that administer migrant education
programs; local educational agencies (LEAs) that have a high percentage
of migratory students; nonprofit community-based organizations that
work with migratory agricultural or fishing families; and faith-based
organizations.
Estimated Available Funds: $3,450,000. This is the combined
estimate from both FY 2005 and FY 2006 funds. Contingent upon the
availability of funds and the quality of applications, we may make
additional awards in FY 2007 from the list of unfunded applicants from
this competition.
Estimated Range of Awards: $150,000-$500,000 per year.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $345,000 per year.
Estimated Number of Awards: 10.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 48 months.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: MEES Family Literacy program grants are
intended to help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy of migratory
agricultural or fishing families by improving the educational
opportunities of these families through the integration of early
childhood education, adult literacy or adult basic education, and
parenting education into a unified family literacy program. This
program is implemented through cooperative activities that build on
high-quality existing community resources to create a new range of
educational services for most-in-need migratory agricultural or fishing
families; promote the academic achievement of migratory children and
adults; assist migratory children and adults from low-income families
in achieving challenging State content standards and challenging State
student achievement standards; and use instructional programs based on
scientifically based reading research on preventing and overcoming
reading difficulties for children and adults. The application package
contains a description of the 15 program elements that MEES projects
must provide, as required under Title I, Part B, Section 1235 of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA).
Priorities: This notice includes one competitive preference
priority and two invitational priorities.
Competitive Preference Priority: For the FY 2006 competition and
any subsequent year in which we make awards based on the list of
unfunded applicants from this competition, this priority is a
competitive preference priority. In accordance with 34 CFR 75.105, this
priority is from the Education Department General Administrative
Regulations (EDGAR) that apply to this program (34 CFR 75.225). Under
34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i) we award an additional five points to an
application that meets this competitive preference priority.
This Priority Is: Novice Applicant
The applicant must be a ``novice applicant.'' Under 34 CFR 75.225 a
novice applicant is an applicant that has never received a grant or
subgrant under the MEES program; has never been a participant in a
group application, submitted in accordance with Sec. Sec. 75.127
through 75.129 of EDGAR, that received a grant under the MEES program;
and has not had an active discretionary grant from the Federal
Government in the five years before the deadline date for applications
under the MEES program.
Invitational Priorities: For the FY 2006 competition and any
subsequent year in which we make awards based on the list of unfunded
applicants from this competition, these priorities are invitational
priorities. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) we do not give an application
that meets these invitational priorities a competitive or absolute
preference over other applications.
These Priorities Are: Invitational Priority 1--Partnerships to Improve
School Readiness
The Secretary is especially interested in applications for projects
that would develop collaborative efforts and partnerships that leverage
Federal, State, and local funding in order to improve reading
proficiency and advance English language acquisition so that migratory
children enter elementary school with strong early reading skills.
Invitational Priority 2--Collaboration With Experienced MEES Projects
The Secretary is especially interested in applications that would
build networks among novice applicants and experienced MEES projects in
order to eliminate disruptions in the education of participating
families and engage migrant agricultural or fishing families wherever
they move outside the area in which the project operates. Networks
among experienced and novice projects increase the likelihood of
maintaining the academic progress of migratory adults and children
regardless of where migratory families travel to perform qualifying
agricultural or fishing work.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6381a(a)(1)(A).
Applicable Regulations: EDGAR in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80,
81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 79 apply to all applicants
except federally recognized Indian tribes.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to institutions of
higher education only.
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
Estimated Available Funds: $3,450,000. This is the combined
estimate from both FY 2005 and FY 2006 funds. Contingent upon the
availability of funds and the quality of applications, we may make
additional awards in FY 2007 from the list of unfunded applicants from
this competition.
[[Page 15390]]
Estimated Range of Awards: $150,000--$500,000 per year.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $345,000 per year.
Estimated Number of Awards: 10.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 48 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: Any entity is eligible to apply for a grant
under the MEES Family Literacy Program. For example, the following
types of entities are eligible to apply: SEAs that administer migrant
education programs; LEAs that have a high percentage of migratory
students; nonprofit community-based organizations that work with
migratory agricultural or fishing families; and faith-based
organizations.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: See ESEA section 1234(b). Matching
requirements for the MEES program begin at 10 percent of the total cost
of the project in the project's first year and increase incrementally
as the project continues to receive Federal support. A project funded
for a second cycle, years 5 through 8, must maintain a 50 percent cost
share of the total cost of the project. A project funded for cycles
beginning in year 9 must maintain a 65 percent cost share of the total
cost of the project.
3. Other: Eligible MEES participants consist of migratory children
and their parents who meet the definitions of a migratory child, a
migratory agricultural worker, or a migratory fisher in 34 CFR 200.81
and who also meet the conditions specified in section 1236(a) of the
ESEA.
IV: Application and Submission Information
1. Address to Request Application Package: Education Publications
Center (ED Pubs), P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Telephone (toll
free): 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.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html
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 number 84.214A.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print,
audiotape, or computer diskette) by contacting the program contact
person listed under section VII of this notice.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission: Requirements
concerning the content of an application, together with the forms you
must submit, are in the application package for this program.
Page, Appendices, and Other Limits: (1) The application narrative
(Part III of the application) is where you, the applicant, address the
selection criteria that reviewers use to evaluate your application. In
addition, the budget narrative is where you provide an itemized budget
breakdown, by project year, for each budget category listed in Sections
A and B of Budget Form 524. You are encouraged to limit your
application narrative (Part III of the application) to the equivalent
of no more than 25 pages and limit the additional budget narrative to
the equivalent of no more than 4 typed pages. Use the following
standards for both the application and budget narratives:
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)
text in the application and budget narratives, including titles,
headings, footnotes, quotations, references, and captions. However, you
may single space information in tables, charts, or graphs in the
application and budget narratives and appendices.
Use a font that is either 12-point or larger or no smaller
than 10 pitch (characters per inch). You may use other point fonts for
any tables, charts, and graphs, but those tables, charts, and graphs
should be in a font size that is easily readable by the reviewers of
your application.
Any application or budget narrative, table, chart, or
graph is included in the over-all narrative page limit. The appendices
are not part of these page limits.
(2) You are encouraged to limit the appendices, curriculum vitae,
or position descriptions of no more than five people (including key
contract personnel and consultants), and endnote citations to no more
than two pages for the scientifically based reading research upon which
your instructional programs are based.
(3) Additionally, please limit other application materials to the
specific materials indicated in the application package and do not
include any video or other non-print materials.
3. Submission Dates and Times: Applications Available: March 28,
2006. Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: May 12, 2006.
Applications for grants under this program may be submitted
electronically using the Grants.gov Apply site (Grants.gov), or in
paper format by mail or hand delivery. For information (including dates
and times) about how to submit your application electronically, or by
mail or hand delivery, please refer to section IV. 6. Other Submission
Requirements in this notice.
We do not consider an application that does not comply with the
deadline requirements. Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: July 11,
2006.
4. Intergovernmental Review: This program is subject to Executive
Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. Information about
Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs under Executive Order
12372 is in the application package for this program.
5. Funding Restrictions: Recipients of a MEES Family Literacy
program grant may not use funds awarded under this competition for the
indirect costs of a project or claim indirect costs as part of the
local project share. (ESEA section 1234(b)(3)) We reference regulations
outlining additional funding restrictions in the Applicable Regulations
section of this notice.
6. Other Submission Requirements: Applications for grants under
this program may be submitted electronically or in paper format by mail
or hand delivery.
a. Electronic Submission of Applications.
We have been accepting applications electronically through the
Department's e-Application system since FY 2000. In order to expand on
those efforts and comply with the President's Management Agenda, we are
continuing to participate as a partner in the new governmentwide
Grants.gov Apply site in FY 2006. The MEES Family Literacy Program--
CFDA Number 84.214A is one of the programs included in this project. We
request your participation in Grants.gov.
If you choose to submit your application electronically, you must
use the Grants.gov Apply site at http://www.Grants.gov. Through this
site, you will be able to download a copy of the application package,
complete it offline, and then upload and submit your application. You
may not e-mail an electronic copy of a grant application to us.
You may access the electronic grant application for the MEES Family
[[Page 15391]]
http://www.grants.gov. You must search for the downloadable application
package for this program by the CFDA number. Do not include the CFDA
number's alpha suffix in your search.
Please note the following:
Your participation in Grants.gov is voluntary.
When you enter the Grants.gov site, you will find
information about submitting an application electronically through the
site, as well as the hours of operation.
Applications received by Grants.gov are time and date
stamped. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted, and
must be date/time stamped by the Grants.gov system no later than 4:30
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. Except as
otherwise noted in this section, we will not consider your application
if it is date/time stamped by the Grants.gov system later than 4:30
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. When we
retrieve your application from Grants.gov, we will notify you if we are
rejecting your application because it was date/time stamped by the
Grants.gov system after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the
application deadline date.
The amount of time it can take to upload an application
will vary depending on a variety of factors including the size of the
application and the speed of your Internet connection. Therefore, we
strongly recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline
date to begin the application process through Grants.gov.
You should review and follow the Education Submission
Procedures for submitting an application through Grants.gov that are
included in the application package for this program to ensure that you
submit your application in a timely manner to the Grants.gov system.
You can also find the Education Submissions Procedures pertaining to
Grants.gov at http://e-grants.ed.gov/help/GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf
.
To submit your application via Grants.gov, you must
complete all of the steps in the Grants.gov registration process (see
http://www.Grants.gov/GetStarted). These steps include (1) Registering
your organization, (2) registering yourself as an Authorized
Organization Representative (AOR), and (3) getting authorized as an AOR
by your organization. Details on these steps are outlined in the
Grants.gov 3-Step Registration Guide (see http://www.grants.gov/
assets/GrantsgovCoBrandBrochure 8X11.pdf). You also must provide on
your application the same D-U-N-S Number used with this registration.
Please note that the registration process may take five or more
business days to complete, and you must have completed all registration
steps to allow you to submit an application successfully via
Grants.gov.
You will not receive additional point value because you
submit your application in electronic format, nor will we penalize you
if you submit your application in paper format.
You may submit all documents electronically, including all
information typically included on the Application for Federal Education
Assistance (ED 424), Budget Information--Non-Construction Programs (ED
524), and all necessary assurances and certifications. If you choose to
submit your application electronically, you must attach any narrative
sections of your application as files in a .DOC (document), .RTF (rich
text), or .PDF (Portable Document) format. If you upload a file type
other than the three file types specified above or submit a password-
protected file, we will not review that material.
Your electronic application must comply with any page-
limit requirements described in this notice.
After you electronically submit your application, you will
receive an automatic acknowledgment from Grants.gov that contains a
Grants.gov tracking number. The Department will retrieve your
application from Grants.gov and send you a second confirmation by e-
mail that will include a PR/Award number (an ED-specified identifying
number unique to your application).
We may request that you provide us original signatures on
forms at a later date.
Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of System Unavailability
If you are prevented from electronically submitting your
application on the application deadline date because of technical
problems with the Grants.gov system, we will grant you an extension
until 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, the following business day to
enable you to transmit your application electronically, or by hand
delivery. You also may mail your application by following the mailing
instructions as described elsewhere in this notice. If you submit an
application after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the deadline date,
please contact the person listed elsewhere in this notice under For
Further Information Contact, and provide an explanation of the
technical problem you experienced with Grants.gov, along with the
Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number (if available). We will accept your
application if we can confirm that a technical problem occurred with
the Grants.gov system and that that problem affected your ability to
submit your application by 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the
application deadline date. The Department will contact you after a
determination is made on whether your application will be accepted.
Note: Extensions referred to in this section apply only to the
unavailability of or technical problems with the Grants.gov system.
We will not grant you an extension if you failed to register fully
to submit your application to Grants.gov before the deadline date
and time or if the technical problem you experienced is unrelated to
the Grants.gov system.
b. Submission of Paper Applications by Mail.
If you submit your application in paper format by mail (through the
U.S. Postal Service or a commercial carrier), you must mail the
original and two copies of your application, on or before the
application deadline date, to the Department at the applicable
following address:
By mail through the U.S. Postal Service: U.S. Department of
Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number
84.214A), 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-4260.
or
By mail through a commercial carrier: U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center--Stop 4260, Attention: (CFDA Number
84.214A), 7100 Old Landover Road, Landover, MD 20785-1506.
Regardless of which address you use, you must show proof of mailing
consisting of one of the following:
(1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark,
(2) A legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the
U.S. Postal Service,
(3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from a commercial
carrier, or
(4) Any other proof of mailing acceptable to the Secretary of the
U.S. Department of Education.
If you mail your application through the U.S. Postal Service, we do
not accept either of the following as proof of mailing:
(1) A private metered postmark, or
(2) A mail receipt that is not dated by the U.S. Postal Service.
If your application is postmarked after the application deadline
date, we will not consider your application.
Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide a dated
postmark. Before
[[Page 15392]]
relying on this method, you should check with your local post
office.
c. Submission of Paper Applications by Hand Delivery.
If you submit your application in paper format by hand delivery,
you (or a courier service) must deliver the original and two copies of
your application by hand, on or before the application deadline date,
to the Department at the following address: U.S. Department of
Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number
84.214A), 550 12th Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center Plaza,
Washington, DC 20202-4260.
The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily
between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, except Saturdays,
Sundays, and Federal holidays.
Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of Paper Applications:
If you mail or hand deliver your application to the Department:
(1) You must indicate on the envelope and--if not provided by
the Department--in Item 4 of the ED 424 the CFDA number--and suffix
letter, if any--of the competition under which you are submitting
your application.
(2) The Application Control Center will mail a grant application
receipt acknowledgment to you. If you do not receive the grant
application receipt acknowledgment within 15 business days from the
application deadline date, you should call the U.S. Department of
Education Application Control Center at (202) 245-6288.
V. Application Review Information
Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this program are in
34 CFR 75.210. The selection criteria are included in the application
package.
VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices: If your application is successful, we notify your
U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators and send you a Grant Award
Notification (GAN). We may also notify you informally.
If your application is not evaluated or not selected for funding,
we notify you.
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: We identify
administrative and national policy requirements in the application
package and reference these and other requirements in the Applicable
Regulations section of this notice.
We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of
an award in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice and
include these and other specific conditions in the GAN. The GAN also
incorporates your approved application as part of your binding
commitments under the grant.
3. Reporting: At the end of your project period, you must submit a
final performance report, including financial information, as directed
by the Secretary. If you receive a multi-year award, you must submit an
annual performance report that provides the most current performance
and financial expenditure information as specified by the Secretary in
34 CFR 75.118.
4. Performance Measures: The Government Performance and Results Act
(GPRA) directs Federal departments and agencies to improve the
effectiveness of their programs by engaging in strategic planning,
setting outcome-related goals for programs, and measuring program
results against those goals. Program officials must develop performance
measures for all of their grant programs in order to assess their
performance and effectiveness. The Department has established a set of
indicators to assess the effectiveness of the Even Start program. The
MEES Family Literacy projects will use these indicators to measure
increases in the (1) Percentage of adults showing significant learning
gains on measures of reading; (2) percentage of limited English
proficient (LEP) adults showing significant learning gains on measures
of English language acquisition; (3) percentage of school-age adults
who earn a high school diploma or GED; (4) percentage of non-school-age
adults who earn a high school diploma or GED; (5) percentage of
children entering kindergarten who are achieving significant learning
gains on measures of language development; (6) the average number of
letters children can identify as measured by the PALS Pre-K Uppercase
Letter Naming Subtask; (7) percentage of school-age children who are
reading on grade level; and (8) percentage of parents who show
improvement on measures of parental support for children's learning in
the home, school environment, and through interactive learning
activities.
All grantees will be expected to submit, as part of an annual
performance report, information documenting their progress with regard
to these performance measures.
VII. Agency Contact
For Further Information Contact: DonnaMarie Marlow, U.S. Department
of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3E313, Washington, DC
20202-6135. Telephone: (202) 260-2815 or by e-mail:
DonnaMarie.Marlow@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 program contact person listed in this
section.
VIII. Other Information
Electronic Access to This Document: You may view this document, as
well as all other documents of this Department 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
.
Dated: March 22, 2006.
Henry L. Johnson,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. E6-4435 Filed 3-27-06; 8:45 am]
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