[Federal Register: July 24, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 142)]
[Notices]
[Page 43717-43719]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24jy03-68]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA No.: 84.299A]
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Indian
Education Demonstration Grants for Indian Children, Notice Inviting
Applications for New Discretionary Program Awards for Fiscal Year (FY)
2003
Purpose of Program: The purpose of the Demonstration Grants program
is to provide financial assistance to projects to develop, test, and
demonstrate the effectiveness of services and programs to improve the
educational opportunities and achievement of preschool, elementary, and
secondary students. For FY 2003 the competition for new awards focuses
on projects designed to meet the priorities we describe in the
Priorities section of this application notice.
Eligible Applicants: Eligible applicants for this program are:
State educational agencies (SEAs); local educational agencies (LEAs);
Indian tribes; Indian organizations; federally supported elementary or
secondary schools for Indian students; Indian institutions, including
Indian institutions of higher education; or a consortium of such
institutions that meet the requirements of 34 CFR 75.127 through
75.129. An application from a consortium of eligible entities must meet
the requirements of 34 CFR 75.127 through 75.129. The consortium
agreement, signed by all parties, must be submitted with the
application in order to be considered as a consortium application.
Note: Letters of support do not meet the consortium
requirements. The Secretary rejects any application that does not
meet these requirements.
Applications Available: July 24, 2003.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: August 25, 2003.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: September 9, 2003.
Estimated Available Funds: $2,484,000.
Estimated Range of Awards: $150,000 to $400,000.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $310,500.
Estimated Number of Awards: 8.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 36 months.
Budget Requirement: Projects funded under this competition must
budget for a one and one-half day Project Directors' meeting in
Washington, DC during each year of the project.
Maximum Annual Award Amount: In no case does the Secretary make an
award greater than $400,000 during any single budget period in the
award period. The Secretary rejects any application that proposes a
budget exceeding this maximum amount.
Page Limit: The application narrative is where an applicant
addresses the selection criteria that are used by reviewers in
evaluating the application. An applicant must limit the narrative to
the equivalent of no more than 50 double-spaced pages, using the
following standards:
(1) A ``page'' is 8\1/2\'' x 11'' (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 three lines per vertical inch).
(3) For all text (including charts, tables, and graphs), use a font
that is either 12-point or larger or no smaller than 10 pitch
(characters per inch).
The page limit does not apply to the cover sheet; the assurances
and certifications; or the one-page abstract, appendices, resumes,
bibliography, and letters of support. However, all of the application
narrative addressing the selection criteria must be included in the
narrative section.
Reviewers will not read any pages of applications that--
[sbull] Exceed the page limit if you apply these standards; or
[sbull] Exceed the equivalent of the page limit if you apply other
standards.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80,
81, 82, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99; and (b) 34 CFR part 263.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to institutions of
higher education only.
Priorities
Absolute Priority
Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), the Secretary gives an absolute
preference to applications that meet the priority selected. The program
regulations at 34 CFR 263.21(c) identify the absolute priorities for
the Demonstration Grants for Indian Children program that may be
selected by the Secretary. For the FY 2003 grant competition, the
Secretary reserves all of the funds available for new awards under the
Demonstration Grants for Indian Children program to fund only those
applications that meet one or more of the following absolute priorities
found at 34 CFR 263.21(c)(1) and (3):
(1) School readiness projects that provide age appropriate
educational programs and language skills to three- and four-year old
Indian students to prepare them for successful entry into school at the
kindergarten school level.
(3) College preparatory programs for secondary school students
designed to increase competency and skills in challenging subject
matters, including math and science, to enable Indian students to
successfully transition to postsecondary education.
Competitive Preference
(1) In making multiyear grants under this program, the Secretary
will award five (5) additional points to an application that presents a
plan for combining two or more of the activities described in section
7121(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended, over
a period of more than one year.
(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7441(d)(1)(B).)
(2) In making grants under this program, the Secretary will award
five (5) additional points to an application submitted by an Indian
tribe, Indian
[[Page 43718]]
organization, or Indian institution of higher education, including a
consortium of any of these entities with other eligible entities. An
application from a consortium of eligible entities that meet the
requirements of 34 CFR 75.127 through 75.129 and includes an Indian
tribe, Indian organization, or Indian institution of higher education
will be considered eligible to receive the five (5) additional priority
points. The consortium agreement, signed by all parties, must be
submitted with the application in order to be considered a consortium
application.
Note: Letters of support do not meet the consortium
requirements. The Secretary rejects any application that does not
meet these requirements.
These competitive preference points are in addition to the five
competitive preference points that may be given under Competitive
Preference 1.
(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7473.)
Selection Criteria
The selection criteria are included in full in the application
package for this competition. These selection criteria were established
based on the regulations for evaluating discretionary grants found in
34 CFR 75.200 through 75.209. Under the selection criteria ``Quality of
project services'' and ``Quality of the project evaluation,'' the
Secretary considers the extent to which the applicant demonstrates a
strong capacity to provide reliable data on these indicators.
Performance Measures: The Secretary has established the following
key performance measures for assessing the effectiveness of the
Demonstration Grants for Indian Children program: (1) Increasing
percentages of pre-school American Indian and Alaska Native students
who will possess school readiness skills gained through a
scientifically based research based curriculum that prepares them for
kindergarten; and (2) The percentage of American Indian and Alaska
Native high school graduates who increase their competency and skills
in challenging subject matter, including math and science, to enable
successful transition to postsecondary education will increase.
Application Procedures
Note: Some of the procedures in these instructions for
transmitting applications differ from those in EDGAR (34 CFR
75.102). Under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553) the
Department generally offers interested parties the opportunity to
comment on proposed regulations. However, these amendments make
procedural changes only and do not establish new substantive policy.
Therefore, under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A), the Secretary has determined
that proposed rulemaking is not required.
Pilot Project for Electronic Submission of Applications
In FY 2003, the U.S. Department of Education is continuing to
expand its pilot project of electronic submission of applications to
include additional formula grant programs and additional discretionary
grant competitions. The Demonstration Grants for Indian Children
program, CFDA 84.299A, is one of the programs included in the pilot
project. If you are an applicant under the Demonstration Grants for
Indian Children program, you may submit your application to us in
either electronic or paper format.
The pilot project involves the use of the Electronic Grant
Application System (e-Application) portion of the Grant Administration
and Payment System (GAPS). Users of e-Application will be entering data
on-line while completing their applications. You may not e-mail a soft
copy of a grant application to us. If you participate in this voluntary
pilot project by submitting an application electronically, the data you
enter on-line will be saved into a database. We request your
participation in e-Application. We shall continue to evaluate its
success and solicit suggestions for improvement.
If you participate in e-APPLICATION, please note the following:
[sbull] Your participation is voluntary.
[sbull] You will not receive any additional point value or penalty
because you submit a grant application in electronic format, nor will
we penalize you if you submit an application in paper format. When you
enter the e-Application system, you will find information about its
hours of operation.
[sbull] You may submit all documents electronically, including the
Application for Federal Assistance (ED 424), Budget Information--Non-
Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and
certifications.
[sbull] After you electronically submit your application, you will
receive an automatic acknowledgement, which will include a PR/Award
number (an identifying number unique to your application).
[sbull] Within three working days after submitting your electronic
application, fax a signed copy of the Application for Federal
Assistance (ED 424) to the Application Control Center after following
these steps:
(1) Print the ED 424 form from the e-Application system.
(2) The institution's Authorizing Representative must sign this
form.
(3) Place the PR/Award number in the upper right hand corner of the
hard copy signature page of the ED 424.
(4) Fax the signed ED 424 to the Application Control Center at
(202) 260-1349.
[sbull] We may request that you give us original signatures on all
other forms at a later date.
[sbull] Closing Date Extension in Case of System Unavailability:
If you elect to participate in the e-Application pilot for the
Demonstration Grants for Indian Children program and you are prevented
from submitting your application on the closing date because the e-
Application system is unavailable, we will grant you an extension of
one business day in order to transmit your application electronically,
by mail, or by hand delivery. For us to grant this extension--
(1) You must be a registered user of e-Application, and have
initiated an e-Application for this competition; and
(2)(a) The e-Application system must be unavailable for 60 minutes
or more between the hours of 8:30 and 3:30 p.m., Washington, DC time,
on the deadline date; or
(b) The e-Application system must be unavailable for any period of
time during the last hour of operation (that is, for any period of time
between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time) on the deadline date.
The Department must acknowledge and confirm these periods of
unavailability before granting you an extension. To request an
extension you must contact either (1) the person listed elsewhere in
this notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT or (2) the e-GRANTS
help desk at 1-888-336-8930.
You may access the electronic grant application for the
Demonstration Grants for Indian Children program at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.
We have included additional information about the e-Application
pilot project (see Parity Guidelines between Paper and Electronic
Applications) in the application package.
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 telecommunication device for the
deaf (TDD), you may call (toll free): 1-877-576-7734. You may also
contact ED Pubs via its Web site (http://www.ed.gov/edpubs.html) or its
E-mail address (http://www.edpubs.org/webstore/Content/search.asp) or 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 84.299A.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative format by contacting the Grants and Contracts Services
Team, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room
3317, Switzer Building, Washington, DC 20202-2550. Telephone: (202)
205-8351. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf
(TDD), may call the Federal Information Relay Services (FIRS) at 1-800-
877-8339. However, the Department is not able to reproduce in an
alternative format the standard forms included in the application
package.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cathie Martin, Office of Indian
Education, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room
3W115, Washington, DC 20202-6335. Telephone: (202) 260-1683. Internet
address: Cathie.Martin@ed.gov.
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.
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:
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.
You may also view this document at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/oie/index.html.
Note: The official version of this document is 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. 7441.
Dated: July 21, 2003.
Eugene Hickok,
Under Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 03-18871 Filed 7-23-03; 8:45 am]
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