[Notices] [Page 23641-23642] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr29ap98-129] [[Page 23641]] _______________________________________________________________________ Part VIII Department of Education _______________________________________________________________________ National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Program; Applications Invitation for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 1998; Notice [[Page 23642]] DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION [CFDA No.: 84.902F] The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 1998 Purpose of Program: To conduct the development, scoring, analysis, and reporting component for the 2000, 2001, and 2002 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). NAEP supports the National Education Goals by providing measures of progress toward the Goals. Eligible Applicants: Public, private, for-profit, and non-profit individuals, institutions, agencies, and other qualified organizations or consortia of these institutions, agencies, and organizations. Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: July 1, 1998. Applications Available: May 1, 1998. Available Funds: In FY 1998, $640,000 will be available for the development, scoring, analysis, and reporting component. It is anticipated that in FYs 1999 to 2002 an average of $16,000,000 will be available annually in FYs 1999 through 2002, and $6,000,000 available in FY 2003. Estimated Number of Awards: 1. Project Period: Up to 60 months. Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 80, 81, 82, 85, and 86; (b) The regulations in 34 CFR 700.30 and 34 CFR part 98; and (c) 48 CFR Part 31 (Contracts with Commercial Organizations). Supplementary Information: The NAEP is authorized by section 411 of the National Education Statistics Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 9010). Section 412 of this law provides for the establishment of the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) (20 U.S.C. 9011). The law requires the NAGB, among other responsibilities, to formulate the policy guidelines for the National Assessment and select the subject areas to be assessed. A cooperative agreement is currently in operation to develop assessment instruments for the 2000 assessment. Priority Absolute Priority Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) and 20 U.S.C. 9010-9011, the Secretary gives an absolute preference to applications that meet the priority in the next paragraph. The Secretary funds under this competition only applications that meet this absolute priority. Development, Scoring, Analysis and Reporting of Data From the National Assessment of Educational Progress The grantee must develop assessment booklets for history, geography, reading and writing. The grantee must score, analyze, and report data collected for mathematics, science, history, geography, reading and writing in grades 4, 8, and 12 from a nationally representative sample. The grantee must also score, analyze, and report data collected from samples representative of each participating State in mathematics, science, reading and writing in fourth and eighth grades. The NAEP must be reported in ways that increase the information available to educational policymakers and the general public regarding the educational achievement of American students. Section 412 requires the NAGB to develop the guidelines for the analysis and reporting of the NAEP results. The grantee must score, analyze, and report in accordance with guidelines specified by the National Assessment Governing Board. Each report must be published and disseminated after completing the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) peer review procedure. Evaluation Criteria The Secretary selects from the criteria in 34 CFR 700.30(e) to evaluate applications for new grants under this competition. Under 34 CFR 700.30(a), the Secretary announces in the application package the evaluation criteria selected for this competition and the maximum weight assigned to each criterion. For Applications or Information Contact: Steve Gorman, U.S. Department of Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW., room 404g, Washington, DC 20208-5653. E-mail: sgorman@inet.ed.gov; or FAX your request to: (202) 219-1801 with the surface mail address to which the application should be sent. For information call (202) 219-1761. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday. Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in alternate 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 alternate format, also, by contacting that person. However, the Department is not able to reproduce in alternate format the standard forms included in the application package. Electronic Access to This Document Anyone may view this document, as well as all other Department of Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or portable document format (pdf) on the World Wide Web at either of the following sites: http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm http://www.ed.gov/news.html To use the pdf you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with Search, which is available free at either of the previous sites. If you have questions about using the pdf, call the U.S. Government Printing Office toll free at 1-888-293-6498. Anyone may also view these documents in text copy only on an electronic bulletin board of the Department. Telephone: (202) 219-1511 or, toll free, 1-800-222-4922. The documents are located under Option G--Files/Announcements, Bulletins and Press Releases. Note: The official version of a document is the document published in the Federal Register. Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 9010-9011. Dated: April 24, 1998. Ricky Takai, Acting Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement. [FR Doc. 98-11375 Filed 4-28-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4000-01-P