FR Doc 03-5784
[Federal Register: March 11, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 47)]
[Notices]
[Page 11705-11711]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11mr03-141]
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Part III
Department of Education
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Early Reading First Program; Notice Inviting Local Applications for New
Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2003; Notice
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA No.: 84.359A (Pre-Application) and 84.359B (Full Application)]
Early Reading First Program; Notice Inviting Local Applications
for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2003
SUMMARY: The Secretary invites applications for new grant awards for FY
2003 for the Early Reading First Program. These grants are authorized
by subpart 2, part B, title I, of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act,
Public Law 107-110. The Secretary also announces final eligibility,
procedures, requirements, priorities, and selection criteria for this
competition.
Purpose of Program
The purpose of the Early Reading First Program is to create
preschool centers of excellence by improving the instruction and
classroom environment of early childhood programs that are located in
urban or rural high-poverty communities and that serve primarily
children from low-income families. These programs will provide
preschool-age children, including children with disabilities and
children with limited English proficiency, with high-quality
environments and early reading curricula and activities, based on
scientifically based reading research, to support the age-appropriate
development of: oral language, phonological awareness, print awareness,
and alphabet knowledge. These activities (with tactile and
communication accommodations for children with disabilities, as
appropriate), in combination with professional development based on
scientific research and with screening assessments, will form a
seamlessly integrated instructional program that will further
children's development of language, cognitive, and early reading skills
and prevent them from encountering reading difficulties when they enter
school.
Applications Available: March 17, 2003.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: Pre-Application: April
11, 2003. Full Application (for invited applicants only): June 27, 2003
(which is approximately 6 weeks after the date applicants will be
invited to submit Full Applications).
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: August 26, 2003.
Estimated Available Funds: $75,000,000.
Estimated Range of Awards: $300,000-$1,500,000 per year; $900,000-
$4,500,000 for a 3-year period.
Estimated Number of Awards: 17-250.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to three years.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Early Reading First Program is part of the President's early
childhood initiative, ``Good Start, Grow Smart.'' As part of that
initiative, these grants will strengthen early learning environments
and instruction for young children. They also will help ensure that
preschool programs are more closely coordinated with State educational
goals, so that there is continuity with formal school instruction and
so that what children are doing before they enter school is aligned
with what is expected of them once they are in school.
Early Reading First grants will use research-based strategies to
generate information about effective practices in providing younger
children with the essential language, literacy, and cognitive
experiences that will best prepare them for later school success. The
Department plans to disseminate information about Early Reading First
projects that prove to be effective.
Specifically, Early Reading First projects provide the following
activities, with accommodations as needed for children with
disabilities: High-quality oral language and print-rich environments;
professional development for staff based on scientifically based
reading research knowledge of language, cognitive, and early reading
development that will assist in developing preschool-age children's
oral language, phonological awareness, print awareness, and alphabet
knowledge; activities and instructional materials based on
scientifically based reading research for use in developing language,
cognitive, and early reading skills; acquisition, training, and
implementation of screening reading assessments; and integration of the
instructional materials, activities, tools, and measures into the
applicant's overall programs.
Eligible Applicants
(1) One or more LEAs identified as being eligible on the list of
``Eligible LEAs'' that will be posted on the Department's Web site at
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/earlyreading/index.html by the date
that applications are available; (2) one or more public or private
organizations or agencies (including faith-based organizations) located
in a community served by one of those LEAs, which organization or
agency is acting on behalf of one or more programs (which may include
themselves) that serve young children, such as a Head Start program, a
child care program, an Even Start program; or (3) one or more of the
eligible LEAs, applying in collaboration with one or more of the
eligible organizations or agencies. In addition to obtaining the list
of ``Eligible LEAs'' from the Department's web site, the public may
obtain that list on or after the date that applications are available
by contacting the individual identified under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.
Applicability of Regulations
The following provisions of the Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) contained in Title 34 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) apply to these Early Reading First Program
grants: 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 85, 86, 97, 98, and
99.
FY 2003 Eligibility
Background
The Early Reading First statute ties grant applicant eligibility to
basic LEA eligibility for Reading First State Grants subgrants.
Specifically, to meet the basic eligibility criteria under the Reading
First State Grants Program (and, thus, the Early Reading First
Program), each eligible LEA must:
[sbull] Be among the LEAs in the State with the highest numbers or
percentages of students in kindergarten through grade 3 reading below
grade level, based on the most currently available data (and a State
may use the lowest grade for which it has those data, such as grade 4,
up through grade 5); and also qualify under one of the following
categories as an LEA that:
[sbull] Has jurisdiction over a geographic area that includes an
area designated as an empowerment zone (EZ) or an enterprise community
(EC).
[sbull] Has jurisdiction over a significant number or percentage of
schools that are identified for school improvement under section
1116(b) of title I of the ESEA (or the predecessor statutory
authority).
[sbull] Has the highest numbers or percentages of children in the
State who are counted under section 1124(c) of title I of the ESEA (the
number of children counted for Title I Basic Grants to LEAs).
At the time of the FY 2002 Early Reading First grant competition,
no State had yet obtained approval of its
[[Page 11707]]
Reading First plan. Therefore, for Early Reading First eligibility for
FY 2002, the Department allowed States to submit lists of eligible LEAs
using the above Reading First criteria. In the absence of those lists,
the Department used Title I Basic Grant allocation child count data for
FY 2001 (see Federal Register notice, 67 FR 17594 (April 10, 2002)).
FY 2003 Eligibility Lists
The Department will use the same eligibility lists for the FY 2003
Early Reading First competition that it used for the FY 2002
competition, supplemented as explained in this section under
``Supplemental Data.'' Therefore, all LEAs, and organizations and
agencies located in those LEAs, that were eligible for FY 2002 will
also be eligible for the FY 2003 Early Reading First competition.
Supplemental Data--States That Have Approved Reading First Plans by
February 28, 2003: A number of States now have approved Reading First
plans. For States that received approval of their Reading First plans
on or before February 28, 2003, the Department will supplement the FY
2002 Early Reading First eligible LEA list with any LEAs that are
eligible under those approved Reading First plans but that were not
included on the FY 2002 Early Reading First eligible LEA list.
Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking: It is the Secretary's practice, in
accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553), to
offer interested parties the opportunity to comment on proposed rules
that are not taken directly from statute. Ordinarily, this practice
would have applied to the priorities and requirements in this notice.
Section 437(d)(2) of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA),
however, exempts from this requirement rules that would cause extreme
hardship to the intended beneficiaries of the program that would be
affected by those regulations. The Secretary has determined that
extreme hardship would be caused in this case because: a two-stage
competition is necessary in order to obtain the highest-quality
applications for these grants because of the complex nature of the
program, the variety of potential applicants, and the expected large
number of applications; funding is available only until September 30,
2003; and there is insufficient time to publish the competition rules
for notice and comment and conduct a two-stage competition before that
date. The Secretary, in accordance with section 437(d)(2) of GEPA, has
decided to forgo public comment with respect to the rules in this grant
competition in order to ensure timely and high-quality awards. These
rules will apply only to the FY 2003 grant competition.
Application Process: The FY 2003 Early Reading First grant
competition will be conducted through a Pre-Application and Full
Application process. All applicants must submit a Pre-Application,
which must include a brief description of the context of the existing
preschool program(s) to be supported and improved with Early Reading
First funds, and then a short narrative that addresses four key
concepts related to the proposed project that are described under PRE-
APPLICATION SELECTION CRITERIA. The Pre-Application is limited to: 2
double-spaced pages for describing the context, and 10 double-spaced
pages to address the selection criteria, with a limited appendix and
formatting requirements that are described in the application package.
The Secretary, through a peer review panel of experts convened
under section 1203(c)(2) of the ESEA in accordance with section 1222(c)
of the ESEA, will evaluate each Pre-Application based on the Pre-
Application selection criteria and will determine whether each Pre-
Application qualifies for additional points under two Pre-Application
competitive priorities included in this notice. In determining which
applicants to invite to submit Full Applications, the Secretary will
consider the rank order of applications, as determined by the total
score of the Pre-Application based on the selection criteria and the
awarding of competitive priority points, if any.
The Full Application must include a brief program context
description, a narrative addressing the Full Application selection
criteria (different than the Pre-Application selection criteria), a
budget, and a budget narrative. The Secretary, through a separate peer
review panel of experts also convened under section 1203(c)(2) of the
ESEA in accordance with section 1222(c) of the ESEA, will evaluate each
Full Application based on the Full Application selection criteria and
will determine whether each Full Application qualifies for additional
points under the Full Application competitive priority included in this
notice. The Full Application is limited to: 2 double-spaced pages for
the context description, 35 double-spaced pages for the narrative, and
5 double-spaced pages for the budget narrative, with formatting
requirements and limited appendices that are described in the
application package.
The Secretary will select applicants for funding based on the
quality of the Full Applications including their rank order as
determined by the total score of the Full Application based on the
selection criteria and the awarding of competitive priority points, if
any. In making funding decisions, the Department will use the
procedures in section 75.217 of EDGAR, 34 CFR 75.217. When making
awards, the Secretary may take into consideration other information
that is relevant to obtaining a variety of types of funded projects and
an equitable distribution of awards throughout the Nation, such as
geographical representation, location in high-need urban and rural
areas, project size, and type of program. The Department anticipates
making final awards in September 2003.
Priorities
Invitational Priorities
The Secretary is particularly interested in Early Reading First
proposals that will be operated by a partnership that includes at a
minimum, the following entities: (1) An SEA or a local educational
agency (LEA), or both; and (2) a preschool that is not under the
administrative control of an LEA. A preschool is considered to be under
the administrative control of an LEA for this purpose if the LEA is the
fiscal agent or operates, supervises, controls, or manages the
preschool. A preschool that is located in a school or LEA building is
not necessarily under the administrative control of an LEA. This
invitational priority will help ensure that the preschool programs
supported with Early Reading First funds are closely coordinated and
aligned with the State's kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12)
educational system and goals and will give State and local support to
preschools that are not formally a part of the State's K-12 public
education system. However, applications that meet this invitational
priority do not receive any absolute or competitive preference over
applications that do not meet the priority.
The Secretary also is particularly interested in Early Reading
First projects that will serve a significant number of children with
special needs, including those with disabilities and those with limited
English proficiency. These programs would provide those children
access, through appropriate accommodations, to the same high-quality
environments and early reading curricula and activities based on
scientifically based reading research as would be provided to children
without special needs, to support their age-appropriate development of
oral language, phonological awareness, print
[[Page 11708]]
awareness, and alphabet knowledge. Applications that meet this
invitational priority do not receive any absolute or competitive
preference over other applications.
Pre-Application Priorities
Pre-Application Competitive Priorities
Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2), the Secretary gives two separate
competitive preferences to Pre-Applications as follows:
Pre-Application Competitive Priority 1--Children from Low-Income
Families
To meet Pre-Application competitive priority 1, each preschool
center to be supported by the proposed Early Reading First project must
have at least 75 percent of the children enrolled in the preschool
center qualify to receive free or reduced price lunches; or at least 75
percent of the children enrolled in the elementary school, in the
school attendance area in which that center is located qualify to
receive free or reduced price lunches. In addition, each of those
preschool centers must be located in a community served by an
``eligible LEA,'' or primarily serve children who will attend
kindergarten in an ``eligible LEA.'' (``Eligible LEAs'' for the purpose
of this competitive priority are those LEAs that are listed as
``eligible LEAs'' for this FY 2003 grant competition on the Early
Reading First Web site at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/earlyreading/
index.html.
)
An application that meets this first Pre-Application competitive
priority would receive 10 points in the Pre-Application portion of this
grant competition. To receive these points, an applicant that qualifies
must complete and submit Pre-Application Form B, included in the
application package. These points are in addition to any points the
applicant earns under the Pre-Application selection criteria or the
other Pre-Application competitive priority.
This competitive priority is designed to ensure that Early Reading
First funds are used to support local efforts to enhance the early
language, literacy, and prereading development, primarily of preschool
children who are from low-income families.
Pre-Application Competitive Priority 2--Novice Applicant
To meet Pre-Application competitive priority 2, the applicant must
be a novice applicant (or a group of novice applicants) under 34 CFR
75.225 that is otherwise eligible to apply under this competition, and
must check the appropriate box on ED Form 424 (Application for Federal
Assistance), Question 6. A ``novice applicant'' under 34 CFR 75.225
means the following for this Pre-Application competitive priority: an
applicant that has not had an active discretionary grant from the
Federal Government in the five years before the deadline date for the
Pre-Application in this grant competition. For the purposes of this
requirement, a grant is active until the end of the grant's project or
funding period, including any extensions of those periods that extend
the grantee's authority to obligate funds. In the case of applications
from more than one eligible applicant (that is, a group application),
every eligible applicant must be a novice applicant to meet this Pre-
Application competitive priority.
This competitive priority is included to broaden and diversify the
pool of qualified applicants and provide greater opportunities for
inexperienced applicants with high-quality applications to receive
funding. An application that meets this second Pre-Application
competitive priority would receive 5 points in the competition. These
points are in addition to any points the applicant earns under the Pre-
Application selection criteria or the other Pre-Application competitive
priority.
Full Application Priority
Under 34 CFR 75.225, the Secretary gives a competitive priority to
Full Applications as follows:
Full Application Competitive Priority--Novice Applicant
To meet the Full Application competitive priority, the applicant
must be a novice applicant (or a group of novice applicants) under 34
CFR 75.225 that is otherwise eligible to apply under this competition,
and must check the appropriate box on ED Form 424 (Application for
Federal Assistance), Question 6. A ``novice applicant'' under 34 CFR
75.225 means the following for this Full Application competitive
priority: an applicant that has not had an active discretionary grant
from the Federal Government in the five years before the deadline date
for a Full Application under this grant competition. For the purposes
of this requirement, a grant is active until the end of the grant's
project or funding period, including any extensions of those periods
that extend the grantee's authority to obligate funds. In the case of
applications from more than one eligible applicant (that is, a group
application), every eligible applicant must be a novice applicant to
meet this Full Application competitive priority.
This competitive priority is included to broaden and diversify the
pool of qualified applicants and provide greater opportunities for
inexperienced applicants with high-quality applications to receive
funding. An application that meets this Full Application competitive
priority would receive 5 points in the competition. These points are in
addition to any points the applicant earns under the selection
criteria.
Pre-Application Selection Criteria
The Secretary will use the following selection criteria in
accordance with 34 CFR 75.200(b)(2) and 75.209 to evaluate Pre-
Applications under this grant competition. The maximum score for all of
these selection criteria is 100 points. The maximum score for each
criterion is indicated in parenthesis with the criterion.
Each applicant must first use up to two (2) double-spaced pages of
its Pre-Application to describe the context of the existing early
childhood education programs serving preschool-age children (preschool
programs) that they propose to support with Early Reading First funds.
The Secretary recommends that, in the case of center-based programs,
applicants generally include no more than a total of 5 centers to
ensure that funds are sufficiently concentrated to achieve the program
goals. The context description of the current program must include the
following information: the ages and number of children being served;
demographic and socioeconomic information on those children;
information on the type of special needs that any of the children may
have; the average hours the children attend the program (hours/day,
days/week, and months/year); primary funding source(s) for the program;
the basic instructional program; and the number of staff and their
qualifications.
The Secretary believes that programs with the capacity and
potential to become Early Reading First preschool centers of
educational excellence are likely to be preschool programs that
currently are stable and effectively attend to the developmental
domains traditionally supported by preschool programs, including
social, emotional, and physical. The Secretary recommends that
applicants demonstrate the current program's capacity in these domains
when describing the context of the existing program.
In addition to the 2-page context description, applicants must also
include, in the Appendix to the Pre-Application, a list of the names
and addresses of the preschool programs
[[Page 11709]]
that the Early Reading First project will support.
Each applicant must then use no more than a total of 10 additional
double-spaced pages to address the following selection criteria. (Pre-
Application Competitive Priority 1--Children from Low-Income Families,
and Pre-Application Competitive Priority 2--Novice Applicant, are
addressed by separate forms in the Pre-Application package.)
Selection Criteria
(1) Vision (up to 25 points): Starting from the context of the
existing early childhood education program(s) that the Early Reading
First project would support, applicants must describe their vision for
what those programs would look like if they were to become centers of
educational excellence. Applicants must tie their vision to the
scientific reading research upon which that vision is based, and state
the overall goals for their proposed Early Reading First project based
on that vision and research.
In evaluating the response to this first Pre-Application selection
criterion, the Secretary will consider the information in the 2-page
context description, as well as the information in the 10-page
narrative. The Secretary will evaluate the clarity, creativity,
comprehensiveness, and feasibility of the overall vision, and the
capacity and potential of the project to achieve that vision. The
Secretary also will consider how well the goals are tied to the vision,
and the extent to which those goals incorporate high expectations,
based on scientific research, for improvements in the early learning
environment, curricula, teacher instruction, and will enhance
children's development of oral language, phonological awareness, print
awareness, and alphabet knowledge.
(2) Key Research and Program Design (up to 40 points): Applicants
must discuss the key scientifically based research in the areas of
language, cognitive, and early reading development for preschool-age
children, and include citations to the sources of that research.
Applicants must tie their program design to that research, by
explaining the research-based strategies they would use, and the
changes they would make to the existing program, which will
appropriately address the needs of all children in the project,
including children with special needs, in each of the following core
areas: classroom environment, professional development, curricula and
instruction, and on-going screening assessment or other appropriate
measures to monitor the children's progress. Applicants must explain
any changes that they would make in the amount of time the program
spends on developing children's language, cognition, and early reading
skills, and how they would engage parents in helping with their
children's development in those areas.
In evaluating the response to this second Pre-Application selection
criterion, the Secretary will consider the relevance and rigor of the
research cited, and how well the program design clearly links the
proposed strategies with the major findings of up-to-date
scientifically based reading research about best practices in language,
cognitive, and early reading development. These best practices may
include, for example, how the Early Reading First project will do the
following: create high-quality oral language and print-rich
environments; use strong, intensive, sustained, and classroom-focused
professional development for preschool staff; support the diverse needs
of all children's learning through the seamless integration of
curricula, materials, and instructional approaches, including the use
of explicit, contexualized, and scaffolded instruction in phonological
awareness, oral language skills, print awareness, and alphabet
knowledge; and use continuous screening assessments to monitor
children's progress.
The Secretary also will consider the clarity and feasibility of the
overall program design, including the extent to which, in the case of
center-based early education programs for preschool-age children, the
number of centers to be supported by Early Reading First is limited
enough (generally, to no more than five (5) centers) to achieve the
project goals with the amount of funds requested.
(3) Continuity and Coordination with Formal School Instruction (up
to 10 points): Applicants must indicate whether or not their State has
preschool standards in the cognitive domain, and if it does, briefly
describe those standards. Applicants must explain how their proposed
Early Reading First project would prepare young children to meet their
State's preschool content standards (if any) and their State's reading
or language arts content standards for kindergarten or the lowest
elementary grade for which the State has those content standards. In
evaluating the response to this third Pre-Application selection
criterion, the Secretary will consider how well the Early Reading First
strategies and activities would prepare children to meet the State's
preschool cognitive standards (if any), and the State's content
standards in reading or language arts for the lowest grade for which
the State has those standards.
(4) Measuring Success (up to 25 points): Applicants must describe
how they will evaluate the success of their Early Reading First
activities. Specifically, applicants must explain how they will
determine whether the early language, literacy, and pre-reading
development of the preschool-age children served by the Early Reading
First Program has improved and been enhanced as a result of their Early
Reading First strategies and changes. Applicants must describe the key
outcomes that they would expect to see in the classroom environment,
instructional practice, and children's development of oral language,
phonological awareness, print awareness, and alphabet knowledge, how
they plan to measure those outcomes, and how they would use the results
for continuous program improvement.
In evaluating the response to this fourth Pre-Application selection
criterion, the Secretary will consider how well the expected outcomes
are linked to the program's goals, and how well the proposed child
measures will demonstrate those outcomes. The Secretary will also
consider the validity and rigor of the proposed measures, their
appropriateness for the target population, and the degree to which the
program will use the results to inform future instruction and program
improvement.
Full Application Selection Criteria
The Secretary will use the following selection criteria in
accordance with 34 CFR 75.200(b)(2) and 75.209 to evaluate Full
Applications under this grant competition. The maximum score for all of
the Full Application selection criteria is 100 points. The maximum
score for each criterion is indicated in parenthesis with the
criterion.
When making funding decisions, the Secretary will consider the rank
order of the applications based on the selection criteria and
competitive priority. The Secretary will make award determinations
under section 75.217 of EDGAR, 34 CFR 75.217, and may take into
consideration other information that is relevant to obtaining a variety
of types of funded projects and an equitable distribution of awards
throughout the Nation, such as geographical representation, location in
high-need urban and rural areas, project size, and type of program.
Each applicant must first use up to two (2) double-spaced pages of
its Full Application to describe the context of
[[Page 11710]]
the existing early childhood education programs serving preschool-age
children (preschool programs) that it proposes to support with Early
Reading First funds. The peer reviewers will consider the information
in the context description of the existing preschool programs, as well
as all other information in the Full Application, in evaluating the
applicant's responses to the Full Application selection criteria. This
description may be the same description that the applicant included in
its Pre-Application, or a revised description, and must include the
following information: the ages and number of children being served;
demographic and socioeconomic information on those children;
information on the type of special needs that any of the children may
have; the average hours the children attend the program (hours/day,
days/week, and months/year); primary funding source(s) for the program;
the basic instructional program; and the number of staff and their
qualifications.
The Secretary believes that programs with the capacity and
potential to become Early Reading First preschool centers of
educational excellence are likely to be preschool programs that
currently are stable and effectively attend to the developmental
domains traditionally supported by preschool programs, including
social, emotional, and physical. The Secretary recommends that
applicants demonstrate the program's current capacity in these domains
when describing the context of the existing program.
Selection Criteria
(a) Capacity and Significance of Project (up to 15 points). (1) The
Secretary considers the capacity and significance of the proposed
project.
(2) In determining the capacity and significance of the proposed
project, the Secretary considers the following factors:
(i) The likelihood that the project will become a center of
educational excellence for at-risk preschool-age children, as
demonstrated by the goals articulated and the program's capacity and
potential for achieving those goals.
(ii) The extent to which the project will provide unique research-
based benefit to the field of early childhood education, such as
through information, materials, and techniques, and the potential for
those resources being used effectively in other settings.
(b) Quality of Project Activities and Services (up to 35 points).
(1) The Secretary considers the quality of the proposed project's
activities and services.
(2) In determining the quality of the proposed project's activities
and services, the Secretary considers the following factors:
(i) The extent to which the applicant presents a detailed plan that
explains how the project will provide the following activities and
services to support the development of language, cognitive, and early
reading skills for preschool-age children; and how the project will
incorporate strategies that meet the diverse needs of all of the
project's preschool-age children (including those with limited English
proficiency, disabilities, and other special needs) into those
activities and services:
(A) Providing a rich oral language and print-rich environment and
developing preschool-age children's oral language, phonological
awareness, print awareness, and alphabet knowledge.
(B) Preparing and providing ongoing assistance to staff, through
professional development and other support.
(C) Providing services and using instructional materials and
activities, including explicit, contextualized, and scaffolded
instruction, and integrating those instructional materials and
activities into the applicant's preschool programs and family literacy
services.
(D) Using screening reading assessments or other appropriate
measures to determine the skills children are learning and identify
children who might be at risk of reading failure.
(E) Helping children, especially those experiencing difficulty with
language and early reading skills, to make the transition from
preschool to formal classroom instruction.
(F) Involving parents meaningfully in their children's early
education.
(ii) The reviewers also will evaluate the extent to which the
applicant's detailed plan explains how each of the project's activities
and services are based on up-to-date knowledge from scientifically
based reading research, with research citations where appropriate.
(c) Quality of Project Personnel (up to 10 points). (1) The
Secretary considers the quality of project personnel.
(1) The Secretary considers the quality of project personnel.
(2) In determining the quality of project personnel, the Secretary
considers the following factors:
(i) The strength of the qualifications, including relevant training
and experience, of the project staff.
(ii) The strength of the qualifications, including relevant
training and experience, of personnel with whom the project will
contract to assist in project activities, including research-based
professional development for staff to support children's development of
language, cognitive, and early reading skills.
(d) Quality of Management Plan (up to 20 total points).
(1) The Secretary considers the quality of the management plan for
the proposed project.
(2) In determining the quality of the management plan, the
Secretary considers the feasibility of the proposed project and the
likelihood that the project will be able to achieve its expected goals,
taking into consideration the strength of any partnership, and using
the following factors:
(i) The adequacy of the management plan to achieve the goals of the
proposed project on time and within budget, including: clearly defined
goals, activities, responsibilities, and a timeline for accomplishing
project tasks.
(ii) The extent to which the time commitments of the project
director and principal investigator and other key project personnel,
including any partnership commitments, are appropriate and adequate to
meet the objectives of the proposed project.
(iii) The extent to which the proposed costs are adequate in
relation to the proposed activities, the number of persons to be
served, and the anticipated results and benefits.
(e) Quality of the Project Evaluation (up to 20 total points).
(1) The Secretary considers the quality of the proposed project
evaluation.
(2) In considering the quality of the proposed project evaluation,
the Secretary considers the extent to which the methods of evaluation
include the use of objective, valid, and reliable performance measures
that are clearly related to the intended outcomes of the project and
will produce quantitative and qualitative data in the following areas:
(i) Improvement in classroom environment.
(ii) Improvement in teacher knowledge and qualifications.
(iii) Improvement in teacher instruction and planning.
(iv) Improvement in outcomes for children's development of oral
language, phonological awareness, print awareness, and alphabet
knowledge.
Paperwork Reduction Act Considerations
The procedures and requirements contained in this notice relate to
an application package that the Department has developed for the Early
Reading
[[Page 11711]]
First Program grants. The public may obtain copies of this application
package by calling or writing the individual identified below as the
Department's contact, or through the Department's Web site at: http://
www.ed.gov/GrantApps/84.359
or http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/
www.ed.gov/GrantApps/84.359 or http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/
earlyreading/index.html.
As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Office of
Management and Budget has approved the use of this application package
under OMB control number 1810-0654, which expires October 31, 2004.
For Applications Contact
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/
about/ordering.jsp.
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 84.359(A and B).
The public also may obtain a copy of the application package on the
Department's Web site at the following address: http://www.ed.gov/
GrantApps/84.359A.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Anne Lesiak or Jill Stewart,
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20202-6132. Telephone: (202) 260-4555, or via Internet:
erf@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you 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 in the preceding
paragraph.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format by contacting that person. 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 the following site:
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/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.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html.
www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6371-6376 and Public Law No. 107-
110.
Dated: March 6, 2003.
Eugene W. Hickok,
Under Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-5784 Filed 3-10-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P