Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2003, CFDA NO: 84.349A [OESE]

[Federal Register: March 31, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 61)]
[Notices]
[Page 15643-15646]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31mr03-145]

[[Page 15643]]

Download:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Part V

Department of Education

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program; Notice of
Final Achievement Indicators and Invitation for Applications for New
Awards for Fiscal Year 2003; Notices

[[Page 15644]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA NO: 84.349A]

Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program; Notice
Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2003

Purpose of Program

The purpose of the Early Childhood Educator Professional
Development Program, authorized by section 2151(e) of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as added by the No Child Left Behind
Act, Public Law 107-110, is to enhance the school readiness of young
children, particularly disadvantaged young children, and to prevent
them from encountering difficulties once they enter school. The program
is designed to improve the knowledge and skills of early childhood
educators who work in communities that have high concentrations of
children living in poverty.
Projects funded under the Early Childhood Educator Professional
Development Program provide high-quality, sustained, and intensive
professional development for these early childhood educators in how to
provide developmentally appropriate school-readiness services for
preschool-age children that are based on the best available research on
early childhood pedagogy and on child development and learning,
including the age-appropriate development of oral language,
phonological awareness, print awareness, alphabet knowledge, and
numeracy skills. These grants are part of the President's early
childhood initiative, ``Good Start, Grow Smart,'' and complement other
early learning grant programs, such as Early Reading First, by helping
States and local communities strengthen early learning for young
children. The Department intends to disseminate information about the
funded projects that prove to be effective professional development.

Eligible Applicants

A partnership consisting of at least one entity from each of the
following categories, as indicated below--
(i) One or more institutions of higher education, or other public
or private entities (including faith-based organizations), that provide
professional development for early childhood educators who work with
children from low-income families in high-need communities; and
(ii) One or more public agencies (including local educational
agencies, State educational agencies, State human services agencies,
and State and local agencies administering programs under the Child
Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990), Head Start agencies, or
private organizations (including faith-based organizations); and
(iii) If feasible, an entity with demonstrated experience in
providing training to educators in early childhood education programs
concerning identifying and preventing behavior problems or working with
children identified as or suspected to be victims of abuse. This entity
may be one of the partners described above, if appropriate.
Applications Available: March 31, 2003.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: May 16, 2003.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: July 15, 2003.
Estimated Available Funds: $14,875,000.
Estimated Range of Awards: $1,200,000-$2,800,000.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $2,000,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 5-12 awards.

Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.

Project Period: Up to 2 years.
Applicable Regulations: The following provisions of the Education
Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) apply to these
Early Childhood Educator Professional Development program grants: 34
CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.
These regulations are available at the following Web site: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCFO/grants/edgar.html.

Matching and Use of Funds Requirements

Cost-sharing: Each partnership carrying out a project through an
Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program grant under
this program must provide a cost share of (1) at least 50 percent of
the total cost of the project for the entire grant period; and (2) at
least 20 percent of the project cost for each year. The project may
provide this cost share from any source other than funds under this
program, including other Federal sources.
The partnership may provide the project cost share through
contributions of cash or in-kind, fairly evaluated, including plant,
equipment, and services. Only allowable costs may be counted as part of
the cost share. For example, any indirect costs over and above the
allowable amount (see ``Indirect Costs'' section under this heading)
may not be counted toward a grantee's cost share.
Indirect Costs: For purposes of indirect cost charges, the
Secretary considers all Early Childhood Educator Professional
Development Program grants to be ``educational training grants'' within
the meaning of section 75.562(a) of EDGAR (34 CFR 75.562(a)).
Consistent with 34 CFR 75.562, the indirect cost rate for any fiscal
agent other than a State agency or agency of local government (such as
a local educational agency) is limited to a maximum of eight percent or
the amount permitted by the fiscal agent's negotiated indirect cost
rate agreement, whichever is less. Further information about indirect
cost rates, and on how to apply for a negotiated indirect cost rate for
fiscal agents that do not yet have one, is available at the following
Web site: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCFO/FIPAO/icgindex.html.
Pre-award Costs: The Department's regulations authorize grant
recipients to incur allowable pre-award costs up to 90 calendar days
before the grant award (sections 75.263 and 74.25(e)(1) of EDGAR, 34
CFR 75.263 and 74.25(e)(1)). In this case, pre-award costs may include
the necessary and reasonable costs of the needs assessment that the
statute requires applicants to conduct before submitting their
applications, to determine the most critical professional development
needs of the early childhood educators to be served by the project and
in the broader community. The Secretary extends the period for
recipients to charge necessary and reasonable pre-award costs incurred
related to the needs assessment for these grants for up to 90 days
before the application due date. Applicants incur any pre-award costs
at their own risk. That is, the Secretary is under no obligation to
reimburse these costs if for any reason the applicant does not receive
an award or if the award is less than anticipated and inadequate to
cover these costs.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

These Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program
grants will provide a small but significant base of high-quality,
intensive, replicable, professional development programs for early
childhood educators. These programs will be based on the best available
research on both effective adult professional development approaches,
and on early childhood pedagogy and on child development and learning,
including the age-appropriate development of oral language,
phonological awareness, print

[[Page 15645]]

awareness, alphabet knowledge, and numeracy skills. The grants are
particularly important because there is a critical need for more high-
quality, intensive, research-based professional development programs
for early childhood educators to enable them to help young children
better develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for
school readiness.
These grants will fund projects that carry out activities to
improve the knowledge and skills of early childhood educators working
in early childhood programs that are located in high-need communities.
Under the invitational priority identified in this notice, the
Secretary is particularly interested in proposals that focus on
providing professional development for early childhood educators to
work with children who have limited English proficiency, children with
disabilities as identified under Parts B or C of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act, and children with other special needs. An
application that meets this invitational priority, however, receives no
competitive or absolute preference over applications that do not meet
the priority.
The specific activities for which recipients may use grant funds
are identified in the application package. The Secretary will expect
funded projects to use rigorous methodologies to measure progress
toward attaining project objectives and the final achievement
indicators that are described in this notice under Achievement
Indicators.

Definitions

The following terms used in the application package for this grant
competition have specific statutory meanings that are included in that
package: ``child with a disability,'' ``early childhood educator,''
``high-need community,'' ``low-income family,'' ``poverty line,''
``professional development,'' and ``scientifically based research.''
The Secretary strongly encourages applicants to review the statutory
definitions of these terms before preparing their grant applications.

Applications

Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program grants
for FY 2003 will be awarded through a competitive process. The statute
requires each applicant to submit an application that contains specific
information and assurances that are described in the application
package. Applicants must meet a statutory requirement to be eligible
for consideration for funding, and must address the selection criteria
from section 75.210 of EDGAR that are identified in the application
package. The application narrative addressing the statutory
requirement, the selection criteria, and other information identified
in the application package is limited to 30 double-spaced, typed pages.
The Appendices, including the required Partnership Agreement, are not
part of this page limit. The additional budget narrative is limited to
5 double-spaced, typed pages. Other application materials are limited
to the specific materials indicated in the application package, and may
not include any video or other non-print materials.

Achievement Indicators

On January 6, 2003, the Secretary published in the Federal Register
(68 FR 547-548) proposed achievement indicators for these grants. After
receiving public comment, the Secretary now is publishing the following
final achievement indicators in accordance with section 2151(e)(6) of
the ESEA, elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register. That Notice
of Final Achievement Indicators contains the Secretary's response to
submitted public comments to the proposed achievement indicators. The
Notice of Final Achievement Indicators also is posted on the
Department's website at the following address: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SASA/ecprofdev.html.
These final achievement indicators will govern these FY 2003
grants. Applicants must describe in their applications how their
project objectives and measurement methods are aligned with these final
achievement indicators, and report annually on their progress toward
attaining these indicators.

Final Achievement Indicators

In accordance with the timeline included in the approved
application:
Indicator 1: Projects will offer an increasing number of hours of
high-quality professional development to early childhood educators.
High-quality professional development is ongoing, intensive, classroom-
focused, and based on scientific research on early childhood cognitive
and social development, including the age-appropriate development of
oral language, phonological awareness, print awareness, alphabet
knowledge, and numeracy skills, and on effective pedagogy for young
children. High-quality professional development also includes
instruction in the effective administration of age-appropriate
assessments of young children and the use of assessment results.
Indicator 2: Early childhood educators who work in early childhood
programs serving low-income children will participate in greater
numbers, and in increasing numbers of hours, in high-quality
professional development.
Indicator 3: Early childhood educators will demonstrate increased
knowledge and understanding of effective strategies to support school
readiness based on scientific research on cognitive and social
development in early childhood and effective pedagogy for young
children, and in the effective administration of age-appropriate
assessments of young children and the use of assessment results.
Indicator 4: Early childhood educators will more frequently apply
research-based approaches in early childhood pedagogy and child
development and learning domains, including using a content-rich
curriculum and activities that promote the age-appropriate development
of oral language, age-appropriate social and emotional behavior,
phonological awareness, print awareness, alphabet knowledge, and
numeracy skills. Early childhood educators also will more frequently
participate in the effective administration of age-appropriate
assessments of young children and the use of assessment results.
Indicator 5: Children will demonstrate improved readiness for
school, especially in the areas of appropriate social and emotional
behavior and early language, literacy, and numeracy skills.
Statutory Requirement--High-Need Communities: Section 2151(e)(5)(A)
of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 6651(e)(5)(A)) requires that grant funds be used
to carry out activities that will improve the knowledge and skills of
early childhood educators who are working in early childhood programs
that are located in high-need communities. Thus, the statute requires
that each early childhood program, in which the early childhood
educators work who will receive professional development under the
project, must be located in a ``high-need community.'' To be considered
for funding under this program, an eligible applicant must demonstrate
in its application narrative how it meets this statutory requirement by
including relevant demographic and socioeconomic information about
those communities. ``High-need community,'' as defined in section
2151(e)(9)(B) of the ESEA, means: (a) A political subdivision of a
State, or a portion of a political subdivision of a State, in which at
least 50 percent of the children are from low-income families; or (b) a
political subdivision of a State that is among the

[[Page 15646]]

10 percent of political subdivisions of the State having the greatest
numbers of such children.
The Secretary will fund under this competition only applications
that meet this statutory requirement.

Note: The following terms used in this statutory requirement
have statutory definitions that are included in the application
package: ``early childhood educator,'' ``high-need community,''
``low-income family,'' and ``professional development.''

Invitational Priority--Special Needs Children: The Secretary is
particularly interested in receiving applications that propose to focus
on providing professional development for early childhood educators to
work with young children who have limited English proficiency, children
with disabilities as identified under parts B or C of the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act, and children with other special needs.

Note: The following term used in this invitational priority has
a statutory definition that is included in the application package:
``child with a disability.''

Under section 75.105(c)(1) of EDGAR (34 CFR 75.105(c)(1)), an
application that meets this invitational priority receives no
competitive or absolute preference over applications that do not meet
the priority.

Selection Criteria

The Secretary will use selection criteria from section 75.210 of
EDGAR (34 CFR 75.210) to evaluate applications under this competition.
Those selection criteria are identified in the application package. The
Secretary will use the procedures in Sec. 75.217 of EDGAR (34 CFR
75.217) to select applications for funding.
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.edpubs.org/webstore/Content/search.asp
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 84.349A. The public also may
obtain a copy of the application package on the Department's website at
the following address: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SASA/ecprofdev.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Melanie Kadlic, U.S. Department of
Education, Student Achievement and School Accountability Programs,
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20202-6132. Telephone: (202) 260-3793, or via Internet:
Melanie.Kadlic@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 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 that 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.

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6651(e).

Dated: March 26, 2003.
Eugene W. Hickok,
Under Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-7763 Filed 3-28-03; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000-01-P