FR Doc E6-3006
[Federal Register: March 2, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 41)]
[Notices]
[Page 10656-10658]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02mr06-38]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Special Education Programs; State Personnel Development
Grants Program
AGENCY: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services,
Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of proposed priority for State Personnel Development
Grants Program.
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SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services proposes a funding priority for the Office of
Special Education Programs--State Personnel
[[Page 10657]]
Development Grants Program authorized under the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This priority may be used for
competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2006 and later years. We take this
action to focus attention on an identified national need to assist
State educational agencies (SEAs) improving their systems for personnel
preparation and professional development in early intervention,
educational, and transition services in order to improve results for
children with disabilities; to promote the professional development of
personnel as defined in section 651(b) of the IDEA to ensure that they
have the knowledge and skills to deliver scientifically based
instruction; and to recruit, and retain highly qualified special
education teachers in accordance with section 602(10) and section
612(a)(14) of the IDEA.
DATES: We must receive your comments on or before April 3, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this proposed priority to Larry
Wexler, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Room
4019, Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20204-2700. If you prefer to
send your comments through the Internet, use the following address:
larry.wexler@ed.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Wexler. Telephone: (202) 245-
7571.
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 this proposed priority.
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 this proposed
priority. 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 this proposed priority in room 4019, 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 this proposed priority. If you want to schedule
an appointment for this type of aid, please contact the person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
We will announce the final priority in a notice in the Federal
Register. We will determine the final priority 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 this proposed priority, we invite
applications through a notice in the Federal Register. When inviting
applications we designate the 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)).
Proposed Priority
State Personnel Development Grants (SPDG)
Background of Proposed Priority
Research shows that teacher quality is strongly correlated with
student academic achievement and that effective teachers are key to
improving student outcomes. High quality, comprehensive professional
development programs are essential to ensuring that personnel
responsible for providing early intervention, education, and transition
services to children with disabilities possess the knowledge and skills
necessary to address their particular needs. The Department also
believes that Federal support provided under the IDEA should be
targeted to those educational programs, activities, and strategies that
have been demonstrated through rigorous scientific research to be
effective and have a proven track record of success. Many schools have
experimented with lessons and materials that have proven to be
ineffective at the expense of their students.
The State Personnel Development Grants program provides a vehicle
for helping States ensure that SEAs and LEAs take steps to recruit,
hire, and retain highly qualified special education teachers and that
the professional development of special education teachers and other
personnel is aimed at providing them with the knowledge and skills to
deliver scientifically based instruction that is likely to improve
outcomes for children with disabilities.
Proposed Priority
The Assistant Secretary proposes a priority to assist SEAs in
reforming and improving their personnel preparation and professional
development systems for teachers, principals, administrators, related
services personnel, paraprofessionals, and early intervention
personnel. The intent of the priority is to improve educational results
for children with disabilities through the delivery of high quality
instruction and the recruitment, hiring, and retention of highly
qualified special education teachers.
In order to meet this priority an applicant must demonstrate that
the project for which it seeks funding: (1) Provides professional
development activities that improve the knowledge and skills of
personnel as defined in section 651(b) of the IDEA in delivering
scientifically based instruction to meet the needs of, and improve the
performance and achievement of infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and
children with disabilities; (2) implements practices to sustain the
knowledge and skills of personnel who have received training in
scientifically based instruction; and (3) implements strategies that
are effective in promoting the recruitment, hiring, and retention of
highly qualified special education teachers in accordance with section
602(10) and section 612(a)(14) of the IDEA.
Projects funded under this priority also must:
(a) Budget for a three-day Project Directors' meeting in
Washington, DC during each year of the project;
[[Page 10658]]
(b) Budget $4,000 annually for support of the State Personnel
Development Program Web site currently administered by the University
of Oregon (http://www.signetwork.org); and
(c) If a project receiving assistance under this program authority
maintains a Web site, include relevant information and documents in a
form that meets a government or industry-recognized standard for
accessibility.
Executive Order 12866
This notice of proposed priority 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 this notice 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 the actions proposed in this notice, we have
determined that the benefits of the proposed priority 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.
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/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.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1451-1455.
Dated: February 27, 2006.
John H. Hager,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. E6-3006 Filed 3-1-06; 8:45 am]
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