[Federal Register: July 21, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 139)]
[Notices]
[Page 39167-39170]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21jy98-110]
[[Page 39167]]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part III
Department of Education
_______________________________________________________________________
Special Education--Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve
Services and Results for Children With Disabilities; Inviting
Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year 1998; Notice
[[Page 39168]]
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Special Education--Technical Assistance and Dissemination to
Improve Services and Results for Children With Disabilities; Notice
Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year 1998
SUMMARY: On June 4, 1997, the President signed into law Public Law 105-
17, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997,
amending the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
This notice provides closing dates and other information regarding
the transmittal of applications for fiscal year 1998 competitions under
one program authorized by IDEA, as amended: Special Education--
Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results
for Children with Disabilities (one priority).
This notice supports the National Education Goals by helping to
improve results for children with disabilities.
Waiver of Rulemaking
It is generally the practice of the Secretary to offer interested
parties the opportunity to comment on proposed priorities. However,
section 661(e)(2) of IDEA makes the Administrative Procedure Act (5
U.S.C. 553) inapplicable to the priorities in this notice. In order to
make awards on a timely basis, the Secretary has decided to publish
this priority in final under the authority of section 661(e)(2).
General Requirements
(a) Projects funded under this notice must make positive efforts to
employ and advance in employment qualified individuals with
disabilities in project activities (see Section 606 of IDEA);
(b) Applicants and grant recipients funded under this notice must
involve individuals with disabilities or parents of individuals with
disabilities in planning, implementing, and evaluating the projects
(see Section 661(f)(1)(A) of IDEA);
(c) Projects funded under these priorities must budget for a two-
day Project Directors' meeting in Washington, D.C. during each year of
the project; and
(d) Grant recipients funded under this notice must carry out
activities that benefit, directly or indirectly, children with
disabilities of all ages (see Section 661(a)(4) of IDEA.
Note: The Department of Education is not bound by any estimates
in this notice.
Special Education--Technical Assistance and Dissemination To
Improve Services and Results for Children With Disabilities
Purpose of Program: The purpose of this program is to provide
technical assistance and information through such mechanisms as
institutes, regional resource centers, clearinghouses and programs that
support States and local entities in building capacity, to improve
early intervention, educational, and transitional services and results
for children with disabilities and their families, and address
systemic-change goals and priorities.
Eligible Applicants: State and local educational agencies;
institutions of higher education; other public agencies; private
nonprofit organizations; outlying areas; freely associated States;
Indian tribes or tribal organizations; and for-profit organizations.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80,
81, 82, 85, and 86; and (b) The selection criteria included in
regulations for this program in 34 CFR 320.30.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to institutions of
higher education only.
Priority: Under section 685 of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act and 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), the Secretary gives an absolute
preference to applications that meet the following priority. The
Secretary funds under this competitions only those applications that
meet this absolute priority:
Absolute Priority--National Clearinghouse on Careers and Professions
Related to Early Intervention and Education for Children With
Disabilities (84.326P)
Background
During the last ten years, significant changes have had an impact
on professional development programs. The characteristics of children
with disabilities have changed and in many ways have become more
complex. Today, there are more children who have entered life with
marked disabilities, who are expected to continue to thrive, and who
require interdisciplinary approaches that provide them with essential
support. Additionally, the cultural and linguistic characteristics of
the student population have changed significantly. In order for
educational programs to be effective, the Nation's schools need a work
force of educators, related services providers, and early intervention
personnels that is more culturally and linguistically diverse than in
the past. Professional development programs have significantly changed
as well, through new developments in assistive technology, changes in
financial support for students entering special education fields, and,
in particular, changes in Federal legislation.
The IDEA Amendments of 1997 direct the Secretary to provide
technical assistance through clearinghouses and other means in order to
build capacity for improving early intervention, education, and
transition services and results for children with disabilities, and
their families. The National Clearinghouse on Careers and Professions
Related to Early Intervention and Education for Children with
Disabilities supported through this priority will be responsible for
identifying and responding to exigent issues, emerging trends, and
strategies for ensuring an adequate supply of qualified professionals
and paraprofessionals available to meet the needs of children with
disabilities.
It is essential that the Clearinghouse establishes and maintains
varied paths for the dissemination of a wide array of critical
information, and provides information to a broad base of individuals,
including students, parents, administrators, and researchers. It is
also necessary for the Clearinghouse to coordinate its services with
individuals and professional organizations and disseminate
comprehensive materials related to the recruitment, preparation and
effectiveness of professionals and paraprofessionals who provide
services to children with disabilities and their families. For the
purposes of this priority, ``professionals'' include early intervention
personnel, special education teachers, general education teachers,
adapted physical educators, and related services providers such as
psychologists, occupational and physical therapists, orientation and
mobility specialists, and speech-language pathologists.
``Paraprofessionals'' include paraeducators, teachers' aides,
instructional assistants, occupational and physical therapy assistants,
and speech-language pathology assistants.
Priority: The Secretary establishes an absolute priority to support
a national clearinghouse that works toward ensuring the availability of
an adequate number and the high quality of personnel to improve
services and results for infants and children with disabilities. In
order to accomplish these purposes, the clearinghouse must:
(a) Conduct nation-wide, outreach activities to encourage
individuals to
[[Page 39169]]
pursue careers in special education. To accomplish this objective, the
clearinghouse must develop, implement and maintain comprehensive and
coordinated communication campaigns that:
(1) Utilize the full range of media outlets;
(2) Reflect cutting edge formats and designs;
(3) Are customized in design and communication approach to promote
the full range of career opportunities in special education and related
services and early intervention services;
(4) Are customized in design and communication approach to attract
individuals from culturally and economically diverse backgrounds and
individuals with disabilities, across varying age levels and
professional experiences.
(b) Conduct activities that assist State educational agencies
(SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), institutions of higher
education (IHEs), agencies that administer the Infants and Toddlers
with Disabilities program under IDEA, and other appropriate entities in
improving the quality of professionals and paraprofessionals who serve
children with disabilities, including children with limited English
proficiency and children from culturally diverse backgrounds. To
accomplish this objective, the clearinghouse must:
(1) Collect, synthesize, and disseminate information on emerging
approaches to professional preparation and career development for
special education, related service, and early intervention personnel;
(2) Collect and disseminate information on current national, State,
and professional standards, competencies, dual certifications, and
reciprocity agreements applied by States and professional organizations
to the credentialing or licensing of professional and paraprofessional
personnel;
(3) Identify and disseminate information on effective strategies,
through collaboration with appropriate entities, to identify and
promote the credentialing of current early intervention, education,
transition, and related services personnel who are lacking permanent
certification or license;
(4) Develop and disseminate, through collaboration with appropriate
entities, guidelines for instituting standards or certifications for
paraprofessionals, where such standards do not exist; and
(5) Develop and disseminate periodic highlights or reviews of
pressing issues, trends, and emerging research regarding professional
development programs for special education, related service, and early
intervention personnel.
(c) Conduct activities that would promote an adequate supply of
qualified professionals and paraprofessionals who serve children with
disabilities. To accomplish this objective, the clearinghouse must:
(1) Collect and disseminate information on the ongoing and emerging
areas of personnel needs identified by States, LEAs, and other
entities;
(2) Collect and disseminate information on the availability of
qualified service providers, including those from traditionally
underrepresented populations (e.g., persons from culturally or
linguistically diverse backgrounds, and persons with disabilities);
(3) Collect and disseminate information on preservice professional
development programs that prepare both professionals and
paraprofessionals, including programs that provide special education
preparation for general educators. At a minimum, this information must
include, for each program: the areas of preparation and their academic
level, the program head or chair, telephone, e-mail, FAX, mailing
address and web address, if available, the number of full or part time
faculty, tuition costs, and the availability of stipends or
scholarships. Programs that receive Federal support for students should
be identified with the source of those funds, particularly if from the
Office of Special Education Programs or other offices in the U.S.
Department of Education. Preservice professional development programs
that provide specific services for students with disabilities, and the
description of those services, must also be included. The Clearinghouse
is also encouraged to collect information on the numbers of students
enrolled, and graduating from, each of the identified programs;
(4) Arrange with producers of scholarship publications to include
in such publications information on scholarship opportunities available
through OSEP-supported professional development programs; and
(5) Identify, synthesize, and disseminate information on effective
strategies used to recruit and retain both professionals and
paraprofessionals who provide services to children with disabilities.
Effective strategies should be identified for use by States, LEAs, and
IHEs. Special emphasis should be placed on identifying recruitment and
retention strategies and materials that have been particularly
effective in urban and rural settings, and with traditionally under-
represented populations (e.g., minorities and persons with
disabilities).
(d) In order to satisfy the objectives in paragraphs (a), (b), and
(c), the clearinghouse must also:
(1) Conduct timely updates of all information and data bases to
ensure that information disseminated is accurate and current;
(2) Establish advisory groups to provide recommendations to the
clearinghouse relative to the activities or products described above
and to ensure that all constituency needs are met;
(3) Employ multiple dissemination mechanisms and approaches,
including the establishment and maintenance of a user-friendly web site
that permits the downloading of all clearinghouse information bases and
incorporates hotlinks to available training programs and other relevant
information sources; and
(4) Establish and implement a comprehensive system of evaluation to
determine the impact of the clearinghouse activities. Evaluations
should be conducted at least annually, identify strategies for
improvement, and include relevant achievements.
Under this priority, the Secretary will make one award for a
cooperative agreement with a project period of up to 60 months subject
to the requirements of 34 CFR 75.253(a) for continuation awards. In
determining whether to continue the clearinghouse for the fourth and
fifth years of the project period, the Secretary, in addition to the
requirements of 34 CFR 75.253(a) will consider:
(a) The recommendation of a review team consisting of three experts
selected by the Secretary. The team's review, including a two-day site
visit to the clearinghouse, is to be conducted during the last half of
the project's second year. Costs associated with the services to be
performed by the review team must also be included in the clearinghouse
budget for year two. These costs are estimated to be approximately
$4,000; and
(b) The timeliness and effectiveness with which all requirements of
the negotiated cooperative agreement have been or are being met by the
clearinghouse.
Project Period: Up to 60 months.
Maximum Award: The Secretary rejects and does not consider an
application that proposes a budget exceeding $700,000 for any single
budget period of twelve months. The Secretary may change the maximum
amount through a notice published in the Federal Register.
Page Limits: Part III of the application, the application
narrative, is where an
[[Page 39170]]
applicant addresses the selection criteria that are used by reviewers
in evaluating the application. An applicant must limit Part III to the
equivalent of no more than 70 double-spaced pages, using the following
standards: (1) A ``page'' is 8\1/2\'' x 11'' (on one side only) with
one-inch margins (top, bottom, and sides). (2) All text in the
application narrative, including titles, headings, footnotes,
quotations, references, and captions, as well as all text in charts,
tables, figures, and graphs, must be double-spaced (no more than 3
lines per vertical inch). If using a proportional computer font, use no
smaller than a 12-point font, and an average character density no
greater than 18 characters per inch. If using a nonproportional font or
a typewriter, do not use more than 12 characters to the inch.
The page limit does not apply to Part I--the cover sheet; Part II--
the budget section (including the narrative budget justification); Part
IV--the assurances and certifications; or the one-page abstract,
resumes, bibliography, and letters of support. However, all of the
application narrative must be included in Part III. If an application
narrative uses a smaller print size, spacing, or margin that would make
the narrative exceed the equivalent of the page limit, the application
will not be considered for funding.
For Applications and General Information Contact: Requests for
applications and general information should be addressed to the Grants
and Contracts Services Team, 600 Independence Avenue, S.W., room 3317,
Switzer Building, Washington, D.C. 20202-2641. The preferred method for
requesting information is to FAX your request to: (202) 205-8717.
Telephone: (202) 260-9182.
Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD)
may call the TDD number: (202) 205-8953.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of this notice or
the application packages referred to in this notice in an alternate
format (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) by
contacting the Department as listed above. However, the Department is
not able to reproduce in an alternate format the standard forms
included in the application package.
Intergovernmental Review: This program is subject to the
requirements of Executive Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR
Part 79. The objective of the Executive order is to foster an
intergovernmental partnership and a strengthened federalism by relying
on processes developed by State and local governments for coordination
and review of proposed Federal financial assistance.
In accordance with the order, this document is intended to provide
early notification of the Department's specific plans and actions for
those programs.
Individuals With Disabilities Education Act Application Notice for Fiscal Year 1998
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Application Deadline for Maximum Estimated
CFDA No. and name Applications deadline intergovernmental award (per Page limit number of
available date review year) * ** awards
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
84.326P National Clearinghouse on Careers and Professions
Related to Early Intervention and Education for Children with
Disabilities.................................................. 7/24/98 8/24/98 9/22/98 $700,000 70 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The Secretary rejects and does not consider an application that proposes a budget exceeding the amount listed for each priority for any single budget
period of 12 months.
** Applicants must limit the Application Narrative, Part III of the Application, to the page limits noted above. Please refer to the ``Page Limit''
section of this notice for the specific requirements. The Secretary rejects and does not consider an application that does not adhere to this
requirement.
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 at (202) 512-1530 or, 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.
Dated: July 14, 1998.
Judith E. Heumann,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 98-19342 Filed 7-20-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P