FR Doc E6-19193
[Federal Register: November 14, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 219)]
[Notices]
[Page 66317-66321]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14no06-28]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Overview
Information; Teacher Incentive Fund; Notice Inviting Applications for
New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2006
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.374A.
DATES: Applications Available: November 14, 2006.
Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply: December 29, 2006.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: February 12, 2007.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: April 13, 2007.
Eligible Applicants: Local educational agencies (LEAs), including
charter schools that are LEAs in their State; State educational
agencies (SEAs); or partnerships of (a) an LEA, an SEA, or both, and
(b) at least one non-profit organization.
Estimated Available Funds: $43,000,000.
Contingent upon the availability of funds and the receipt of a
sufficient number of high-quality applications, we may make additional
awards, using FY 2007 funds, from the rank-ordered list of unfunded
applications from this competition.
Estimated Range of Awards: $100,000--$10,000,000.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $3,500,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 10--20.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 60 months.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Description of Program: This competition is a reopening of a
competition run by the Department of Education for FY 2006 Teacher
Incentive Program funds. Sixteen awards were made on November 1, 2006.
At that time, applicants who were not awarded funding were notified. We
encourage applicants who applied previously for this competition and
did not receive funding to revise their applications and to reapply.
All other eligible applicants are also encouraged to apply.
Purpose of Program: The purpose of the Teacher Incentive Fund,
authorized as part of the FY 2006 Department of Education
Appropriations Act, Public Law 109-149, is to support programs that
develop and implement performance-based teacher and principal
compensation systems in high-need schools.
The specific goals of the Teacher Incentive Fund include: Improving
student achievement by increasing teacher and principal effectiveness;
reforming teacher and principal compensation systems so that teachers
and principals are rewarded for increases in student achievement;
increasing the number of effective teachers teaching poor, minority,
and disadvantaged students in hard-to-staff subjects; and creating
sustainable performance-based compensation systems.
Priorities: We are establishing these priorities for the FY 2006
grant competition (including any awards we make, using FY 2007 funds,
from the list of unfunded applications from this competition), in
accordance with section 437(d)(1) of the General Education Provisions
Act.
Absolute Priority: For the FY 2006 grant competition (including any
awards we may make, using FY 2007 funds, from the list of unfunded
applications from this competition), this priority is an absolute
priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) we consider only applications that
meet this priority.
Consistent with the program purpose, the grantee must establish a
system that provides teachers and principals, or principals only,
serving in high-need schools with differentiated levels of compensation
based primarily on student achievement gains at the school
[[Page 66318]]
and classroom levels. This performance-based compensation system must
also (a) consider classroom evaluations conducted multiple times during
each school year and (b) provide educators with incentives to take on
additional responsibilities and leadership roles.
Competitive Preference Priorities: For the FY 2006 grant
competition (including any awards we make, using FY 2007 funds, from
the list of unfunded applications from this competition), these
priorities are competitive preference priorities. Under 34 CFR
75.105(c)(2)(i) we award up to an additional 5 points to an
application, depending on the extent to which the application meets the
priority.
These priorities are:
Competitive Preference Priority 1: We will award up to an
additional 5 points depending on the extent to which the applicant
documents or provides a plan to establish ongoing support for and
commitment to the performance-based compensation system from a
significant proportion of the teachers, the principal, and the
community, including the applicable governing authority or LEA, for
each participating high-need school.
Competitive Preference Priority 2: We will award up to an
additional 5 points depending on the extent to which the applicant will
provide differentiated levels of compensation, which may include
incentives, to recruit or retain effective teachers and principals (as
measured by student achievement gains) in high-need urban and rural
schools, and/or in hard-to-staff subject areas such as mathematics and
science.
Definitions: The following definitions apply:
A high-need school means a school with more than 30 percent of its
enrollment from low-income families, based on eligibility for free and
reduced price lunch subsidies or other poverty measures that the State
permits the LEAs to use. A middle or high school may be determined to
meet this definition on the basis of poverty data from feeder
elementary schools.
Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking: Under the Administrative Procedure
Act (5 U.S.C. 553), the Department generally offers interested parties
the opportunity to comment on proposed priorities, definitions, cost-
sharing requirements, selection criteria, and performance measures.
Section 437(d)(1) of the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C.
1232(d)(1)), however, allows the Secretary to exempt from rulemaking
requirements regulations governing the first grant competition under a
new or substantially revised program authority. This is the first grant
competition for this program authorized as part of the FY 2006
Department of Education Appropriations Act, Public Law 109-149, and
therefore these rules qualify for this exemption. To ensure timely
grant awards, the Secretary has decided, under section 437(d)(1), to
forego public comment on the priorities, definitions, cost-sharing
requirements, selection criteria, and performance measures. These
priorities, definitions, cost-sharing requirements, selection criteria,
and performance measures will apply to the FY 2006 grant competition
(including any awards we make, using FY 2007 funds, from the list of
unfunded applications from this competition).
Program Authority: Pub. L. No. 109-149, 119 Stat. 2864-65.
Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80,
81, 82, 84, 85, 97, 98, and 99.
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Discretionary grant.
Estimated Available Funds: $43,000,000.
Contingent upon the availability of funds and the receipt of a
sufficient number of high-quality applications, we may make additional
awards, using FY 2007 funds, from the rank-ordered list of unfunded
applications from this competition.
Estimated Range of Awards: $100,000-$10,000,000.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $3,500,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 10-20.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 60 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: LEAs, including charter schools that are
LEAs in their State; SEAs; or partnerships of (a) an LEA, an SEA, or
both, and (b) at least one non-profit organization.
2. Cost-Sharing: The grantee must ensure that, in each applicable
budget year, an increasing share of funds from sources other than this
grant will be used to pay for earned differential compensation costs as
they are phased in during the performance period. In the final year of
the performance period, the grantee must ensure that at least 75
percent of the differentiated compensation costs are not paid from this
grant.
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 84.374A.
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 one of the individuals
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in 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 competition.
Notice of Intent to Apply: We will be able to develop a more
efficient process for reviewing grant applications if we have a better
understanding of the number of entities that intend to apply for
funding.
Therefore, we strongly encourage each potential applicant to send a
notification of its intent to apply for funding to the following e-mail
address: TIF@ed.gov. The notification of intent to apply for funding is
optional and should not include information regarding the proposed
application.
Page Limit: Applicants are strongly encouraged to limit their
application to 40 pages.
3. Submission Dates and Times:
Applications Available: November 14, 2006.
Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply: December 29, 2006.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: February 12, 2007.
Applications for grants under this competition must be submitted
electronically using the Grants.gov Apply site (Grants.gov). For
information (including dates and times) about how to submit your
application electronically or by mail or hand delivery if you qualify
for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, please refer
to section IV. 6. Other Submission Requirements in this notice.
[[Page 66319]]
We do not consider an application that does not comply with the
application requirements.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: April 13, 2007.
4. Intergovernmental Review: This competition 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
competition.
5. Funding Restrictions: We reference regulations outlining funding
restrictions in the Applicable Regulations section in this notice.
6. Other Submission Requirements: Applications for grants under
this competition must be submitted electronically unless you qualify
for an exception to this requirement in accordance with the
instructions in this section.
a. Electronic Submission of Applications.
Applications for grants under this competition-CFDA Number 84.374A
must be submitted electronically using 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.
We will reject your application if you submit it in paper format
unless, as described elsewhere in this section, you qualify for one of
the exceptions to the electronic submission requirement and submit, no
later than two weeks before the application deadline date, a written
statement to the Department that you qualify for one of these
exceptions. Further information regarding calculation of the date that
is two weeks before the application deadline date is provided later in
this section under Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement.
You may access the electronic grant application for the TIF program
at: 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:
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 submission 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 competition to ensure that
you submit your application in a timely manner to the Grants.gov
system. You can also find the Education Submission 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/GrantsgovCoBrandBrochure8X11.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 successfully submit an application 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 qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, as described elsewhere in this section, and submit your
application in paper format.
You must 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. 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 Technical Issues
With the Grants.gov System: 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
[[Page 66320]]
technical problems with the Grants.gov system. We will not grant you
an extension if you failed to fully register 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.
Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement: You qualify for an
exception to the electronic submission requirement, and may submit your
application in paper format, if you are unable to submit an application
through the Grants.gov system because--
You do not have access to the Internet; or
You do not have the capacity to upload large documents to
the Grants.gov system; and
No later than two weeks before the application deadline
date (14 calendar days or, if the fourteenth calendar day before the
application deadline date falls on a Federal holiday, the next business
day following the Federal holiday), you mail or fax a written statement
to the Department, explaining which of the two grounds for an exception
prevent you from using the Internet to submit your application. If you
mail your written statement to the Department, it must be postmarked no
later than two weeks before the application deadline date. If you fax
your written statement to the Department, we must receive the faxed
statement no later than two weeks before the application deadline date.
Address and mail or fax your statement to: April Lee, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3W229,
Washington, DC 20202-6200. Fax: (202) 205-4921.
Your paper application must be submitted in accordance with the
mail or hand delivery instructions described in this notice.
b. Submission of Paper Applications by Mail.
If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, you may mail (through the U.S. Postal Service or a
commercial carrier), your application to the Department. 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
84.374A), 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
84.374A), 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 relying on this method, you should check with your
local post office.
c. Submission of Paper Applications by Hand Delivery.
If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, you (or a courier service) may deliver your paper
application to the Department by hand. You 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 84.374A), 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 Application for Federal Education
Assistance (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 competition are
as follows:
(a) Need (5 points).
The extent to which the applicant describes the scope and size of
the project and the need for the project, including information on
student academic achievement and the quality of the teachers and
principals in the LEA(s) and high-need schools that will be served by
the project.
(b) Project Design (50 points).
(1) The extent to which the performance-based compensation system
will reward teachers and principals who raise student academic
achievement.
(2) The extent to which the applicant describes the performance-
based teacher and principal compensation system that the applicant
proposes to develop, implement, or expand, including the extent to
which the applicant will build the capacity of teachers and principals
through activities such as professional development to raise student
achievement and to provide students with greater access to rigorous
coursework.
(3) The extent to which the applicant's proposed project includes
valid and reliable measures of student achievement--including statewide
assessment scores as appropriate for this purpose--as the primary
indicator of teacher and principal effectiveness in the proposed
performance-based compensation system.
(4) The extent to which the applicant proposes to develop and
implement a fair, rigorous and objective process to evaluate teacher
and principal performance multiple times throughout the school year.
(c) Adequacy of Resources (20 points).
(1) The extent to which the applicant provides a thorough
explanation of how the applicant will use funds awarded under the grant
together with the required matching funds to carry out the program
purpose.
(2) The extent to which the applicant provides a detailed plan,
including documentation of resources, for sustaining its performance-
based compensation system after the grant period ends.
(3) The extent to which the applicant includes a thorough
description of its current data-management capacity and proposed areas
of data management development in order to implement a performance-
based compensation system in which differentiated
[[Page 66321]]
compensation is based primarily on student academic achievement.
(d) Quality of the Management Plan and Key Personnel (15 points).
(1) The adequacy of the management plan to achieve the objectives
of the proposed project on time and within budget, including clearly
defined responsibilities, timelines, milestones, and processes for
continuous improvement to accomplish project tasks.
(2) The qualifications, including experience, education, and
training of proposed key personnel.
(e) Evaluation (10 points).
(1) The extent to which the applicant's evaluation plan includes
the use of objective measures that are clearly related to the goals of
the project to raise student achievement and increase teacher
effectiveness, including the extent to which the evaluation will
produce quantitative and qualitative data.
(2) The extent to which the applicant includes adequate evaluation
procedures for ensuring feedback and continuous improvement in the
operation of the proposed project.
(3) The extent to which the applicant commits to participating in a
rigorous national evaluation that will provide a common design
methodology, data collection instruments, and performance measures for
all grantees funded under this competition.
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 the project period, recipients 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: Pursuant to the Government Performance and
Results Act (GPRA), the Department has established the following
performance measures that it will use to evaluate the overall
effectiveness of the grantee's project, as well as the TIF program as a
whole:
(1) Changes in LEA personnel deployment practices, as measured by
changes over time in the percentage of teachers and principals in high-
need schools who have a record of effectiveness; and
(2) Changes in teacher and principal compensation systems in
participating LEAs, as measured by the percentage of a district's
personnel budget that is used for performance-related payments to
effective (as measured by student achievement gains) teachers and
principals.
All grantees will be expected to submit an annual performance
report documenting their success in addressing these performance
measures. The Department will use the applicant's performance data for
program management and administration, in such areas as determining new
and continuation funding and planning technical assistance.
VII. Agency Contacts
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: April Lee, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3W229, Washington, DC 20202-
6200. Telephone number: (202) 205-5224 or by e-mail: tif@ed.gov or by
Internet at the following Web site: http://www.ed.gov/programs/teacherincentive/index.html
.
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 individuals 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: November 8, 2006.
Henry L. Johnson,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. E6-19193 Filed 11-13-06; 8:45 am]
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