National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research; Notice of proposed priorities for knowledge dissemination and utilization projects. [OSERS]

FR Doc E4-1955
[Federal Register: August 27, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 166)]
[Notices]
[Page 52651-52654]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27au04-27]

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

RIN 1820-ZA36

National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research

AGENCY: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services,
Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of proposed priorities for knowledge dissemination and
utilization projects.

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SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services proposes priorities for three knowledge
dissemination and utilization projects under the National Institute on
Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) Disability and
Rehabilitation Research Projects (DRRP) Program. The Assistant
Secretary may use these priorities for competitions in fiscal year (FY)
2005 and later years. We take this action to focus attention on an
identified national need. We intend these priorities to improve
rehabilitation outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before September 27, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this proposed priority to Donna
Nangle, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Room
6030, Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-2600. If you prefer to
send your comments through the Internet, use the following address:
donna.nangle@ed.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donna Nangle. Telephone: (202) 245-
7462.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339
or via Internet: donna.nangle@ed.gov.
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
clearly the specific proposed priority or topic 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 program.
During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public
comments about these priorities in Room 6032, 550 12th Street, SW.,
Potomac Center Plaza, 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

[[Page 52652]]

person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
We will announce the final priorities in a notice in the Federal
Register. We will determine the final priorities after considering
responses to this notice and other information available to the
Department. This notice does not preclude us 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 any of these proposed priorities, we invite
applications through a notice in the Federal Register. When inviting
applications we designate each priority 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 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)).
Note: NIDRR supports the goals of President Bush's New Freedom
Initiative (NFI). The NFI can be accessed on the Internet at the
following site:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/newfreedom/.

These proposed priorities are in concert with NIDRR's 1999-2003
Long-Range Plan (Plan). The Plan is comprehensive and integrates many
issues relating to disability and rehabilitation research topics. While
applicants will find many sections throughout the Plan that support the
activities to be conducted under these proposed priorities, specific
references are included for the topics presented in this notice. The
Plan can be accessed on the Internet at the following site:
http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/index.html.

Through the implementation of the Plan, NIDRR seeks to: (1) Improve
the quality and utility of disability and rehabilitation research; (2)
foster an exchange of expertise, information, and training to
facilitate the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the unique
needs of traditionally underserved populations; (3) determine best
strategies and programs to improve rehabilitation outcomes for
underserved populations; (4) identify research gaps; (5) identify
mechanisms of integrating research and practice; and (6) disseminate
findings.

Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects (DRRP) Program

The purpose of the DRRP Program is to plan and conduct research,
demonstration projects, training, and related activities that help to
maximize the full inclusion and integration of individuals with
disabilities into society and to improve the effectiveness of services
authorized under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (Act).
Under the DRRP program, we define a development activity as using
knowledge and understanding gained from research to create materials,
devices, systems, or methods beneficial to the target population,
including design and development of prototypes and processes. We define
a dissemination activity as the systematic distribution of information
or knowledge through a variety of ways to potential users or
beneficiaries. We define a technical assistance activity as the
provision of expertise or information for use in problem-solving.

Background

Priorities

Knowledge Dissemination and Utilization (KDU) projects ensure
widespread distribution, in usable formats, of practical scientific and
technological information generated by research, development, and
demonstration projects. The effective dissemination and utilization of
disability and rehabilitation research results are critical to
achieving NIDRR's mission. Research findings can improve the quality of
life of people with disabilities and further their full inclusion into
society. These benefits are feasible only if the findings and
technologies are available to, known by, and accessible to potential
users.
NIDRR is particularly interested in ensuring that information to be
disseminated is of high quality and is based on scientifically rigorous
research and development and that potential users have the information
they need to judge the quality of research and development findings and
products and the relevance of these findings and products to their
particular needs. End-users with limited scientific training, in
particular, may need assistance in order to understand competing
research claims or determine the relevance of particular findings to
their individual situations. In addition, given the nature of
scientific study, practical information often is based on cumulative
knowledge, not upon the results of any one study. Therefore, we
encourage potential applicants to examine procedures used by such
organizations as the Campbell Collaboration (http://www.campbellcollaboration.org/),
the Cochrane Collaboration (http://www.cochrane.org/), and the Department of
Education What Works Clearinghouse (http://www.w-w-c.org/) when designing synthesis and dissemination activities.

Proposed Priorities

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services proposes to fund up to three DRRPs to develop dissemination
methods and provide technical assistance that focus on innovative
knowledge sharing solutions to improve the lives of persons with
disabilities. The goal of the projects is to provide end-users with the
information they need to make choices based on high-quality scientific
research and development. Under each of these topics, the KDU project
must:
(1) Identify topic areas and target audiences, which must include
people with disabilities and their families;
(2) Develop standards to guide the systematic review and synthesis
of disability and rehabilitation research and development studies;
(3) Identify or develop effective outreach strategies for the
target audiences;
(4) Develop research syntheses in selected topic areas and make
this information available, in preferred formats, to the target
audiences; and
(5) Develop cost-effective outreach strategies to provide target
audiences with research-based information, and determine whether and
how the information is used.
In carrying out these project requirements, in consultation with
the NIDRR project officer, each project must:
Involve, as appropriate, individuals with disabilities or
their family members, or both, in all aspects of the design and
development of dissemination activities;
Demonstrate how the project will yield measurable results
for people with disabilities; and

[[Page 52653]]

Identify specific performance targets and propose outcome
indicators, along with timelines to reach these targets.
A project must focus on one of the following priority topic areas:
(a) Dissemination Using the Mainstream Media: The purpose of a
project under this topic area is to improve dissemination of disability
and rehabilitation research and development information via the
mainstream media and the disability press. Chapter 8 of the Plan calls
upon NIDRR to ``address general audiences that influence the
opportunities available to people with disabilities. These general
audiences include: Employers, manufacturers, educators at all levels,
economic development and planning personnel, service establishments,
the media and policy makers at local, state and national levels''.
Dissemination of research and development information through the
mainstream media--e.g., newspapers, popular magazines, radio,
television, and internet news and information sites--has the promise of
being an effective means of communication to these diverse audiences.
To provide information that ultimately will be used by the media, the
grantee must work with representatives from the mainstream media and
with researchers to establish strategies for providing timely
information on research and development activities and findings to the
media.
The reference to this topic may be found in the Plan, Chapter 8,
Knowledge Dissemination and Utilization, and Chapter 10, Enhancing
NIDRR's Management of Research.
(b) International Exchange of Information and Experts in
Rehabilitation and Independent Living: The purpose of a project under
this topic area is to improve the exchange of disability and
rehabilitation research and development information between the United
States and other countries in order to develop new knowledge and
methods in the rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities in the
United States, share information found useful in other nations, and
increase the skill levels of rehabilitation personnel. This project
must:
Develop innovative methods for compiling and exchanging
information between the United States and other nations on
rehabilitation research and development, as well as information on
disability policies that maximize the full inclusion, social
integration, employment, and independent living of individuals of all
ages with disabilities.
Provide targeted outreach to and obtain insight from
researchers; consumers; and voluntary, non-profit, and philanthropic
organizations that are operating programs related to disability and
rehabilitation research in other nations.
Conduct at least one rehabilitation research information
conference per funding cycle involving participants from the United
States and other countries to provide state-of-the-art information on
international rehabilitation research efforts and policies that affect
people with disabilities.
Conduct an international exchange of researchers and
technical assistance experts between other countries and the United
States to provide firsthand experiences in cross-cultural communication
and to form alliances for collaborative research or information
sharing.
The reference to this topic may be found in the Plan, Chapter 10,
Enhancing NIDRR's Management of Research.
(c) Innovative KDU for Disability and Professional Organizations
and Stakeholders: The purpose of a project under this topic is to
disseminate information on disability and rehabilitation research and
development findings to a particular constituency by using
organizations that serve that constituency as intermediaries. Such
organizations, because they have established strategies for providing
information to their constituencies--e.g., conferences, newsletters,
and workshops--may represent an effective means of dissemination. The
project must produce information digests that will be suitable for
further dissemination through the partner organizations. The project
must be knowledgeable about the target audiences represented by the
organizations and must develop innovative means of communication with
the publics served by the organizations. The project must serve as an
information conduit for interactive discussions with the organizations
that will help inform future NIDRR research priorities and disseminate
the findings of NIDRR-sponsored research.
The reference to this topic may be found in the Plan, Chapter 8,
Knowledge Dissemination and Utilization, and Chapter 10, Enhancing
NIDRR's Management of Research.

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 this program 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.

Summary of Potential Costs and Benefits

The potential costs associated with these proposed priorities are
minimal, while the benefits are significant. Grantees may anticipate
costs associated with completing the application process in terms of
staff time, copying, and mailing or delivery. The use of e-Application
technology reduces mailing and copying costs significantly.
The benefits of the DRRP Program have been well established over
the years. Similar projects have been completed successfully and have
produced findings that help improve the lives of individuals with
disabilities. These proposed priority will generate new strategies for
disseminating findings from disability and rehabilitation research and
development that will improve the full integration of individuals with
disabilities into society.
Applicable Program Regulations: 34 CFR part 350.

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 84.133A, Disability
Rehabilitation Research Project)

[[Page 52654]]

Program Authority: 29 U.S.C. 762(g) and 764(a).

Dated: August 24, 2004.
Troy R. Justesen,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. E4-1955 Filed 8-26-04; 8:45 am]

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