FR Doc 04-2127
[Federal Register: February 3, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 22)]
[Notices]
[Page 5249-5251]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03fe04-135]
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Part II
Department of Education
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Institute of Education Sciences; Notice Inviting Applications for
Grants To Support Education Research for Fiscal Year (FY) 2004; Notice
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA Nos. 84.305A, 84.305B, and 84.902B]
Institute of Education Sciences; Notice Inviting Applications for
Grants To Support Education Research for Fiscal Year (FY) 2004
SUMMARY: The Director of the Institute of Education Sciences
(Institute) announces three FY 2004 competitions for grants to support
education research. The Director takes this action under the Education
Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (Act), Title I of Public Law 107-279. The
intent of these grants is to provide national leadership in expanding
fundamental knowledge and understanding of education from early
childhood education through postsecondary study.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Mission of Institute: A central purpose of the Institute is to
provide parents, educators, students, researchers, policymakers, and
the general public with reliable information about education practices
that support learning and improve academic achievement and access to
education opportunities for all students. In carrying out its mission,
the Institute provides support for programs of research in areas of
demonstrated national need.
Competitions in this notice: The Institute will support the
following competitions in FY 2004:
National research and development centers. The
centers will focus on the following topic areas: rural education,
postsecondary education, improving low achieving schools, and
innovation in education reform.
Predoctoral research training.
Secondary analysis of data from the National
Assessment of Educational Progress.
These competitions are in addition to those previously announced
and are the final Institute competitions for FY 2004.
Eligible Applicants: Applicants that have the ability and capacity
to conduct scientifically valid research are eligible to apply.
Eligible applicants include, but are not limited to, non-profit and
for-profit organizations and public and private agencies and
institutions, such as colleges and universities.
Request for Applications and Other Information: Information
regarding program and application requirements for each of the
Institute's competitions is contained in the applicable Request for
Applications package (RFA), which will be available at the following
Web site: http://www.ed.gov/programs/edresearch/applicant.html.
The RFAs will be available as follows: on February 4, 2004 for the
national research and development centers and predoctoral research
training competitions, and on February 11, 2004 for the secondary
analysis of data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress
competition. Interested potential applicants should periodically check
the Institute's Web site.
Information regarding selection criteria and review procedures will
also be posted at this Web site.
Fiscal Information: For national research and development centers,
funds will support four centers. We expect these awards to range in
size from approximately $1 million to $2 million per year. Awards will
be for 5 years.
For predoctoral research training, we expect to make from five to
15 awards, depending upon the quality of applications received. We
expect these awards to range from approximately $500,000 to $1 million
per year. Awards will be made for 5 years.
For secondary analysis of National Assessment of Educational
Progress data, $700,000 is available and will support up to 10 awards
for periods generally ranging from 12 to 18 months.
The figures above are estimates and are not binding.
Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 77, 80, 81, 82,
84, 85, 86 (part 86 applies only to institutions of higher education),
97, 98, and 99. In addition 34 CFR part 75 is applicable, except for
the provisions in 34 CFR 75.100, 75.101(b), 75.102, 75.103, 75.105,
75.109(a), 75.200, 75.201, 75.209, 75.210, 75.211, 75.217, 75.219,
75.220, and 75.230.
Performance Measures
To evaluate the overall success of its education research program,
the Institute annually assesses the quality and relevance of newly
funded research projects, as well as the quality of research
publications that result from its funded research projects. Two
indicators address the quality of new projects. First, an external
panel of eminent senior scientists reviews the quality of a randomly
selected sample of newly funded research applications, and the
percentage of new projects that are deemed to be of high quality is
determined. Second, because much of the Institute's work focuses on
questions of effectiveness, newly funded applications are evaluated to
identify those that address causal questions and then to determine what
percentage of those projects use randomized field trials to answer the
causal questions. To evaluate the relevance of newly funded research
projects, a panel of experienced education practitioners and
administrators reviews descriptions of a randomly selected sample of
newly funded projects and rates the degree to which the projects are
relevant to educational practice.
Two indicators address the quality of new research publications,
both print and web-based, which are the products of funded research
projects. First, an external panel of eminent scientists reviews the
quality of a randomly selected sample of new publications, and the
percentage of new publications that are deemed to be of high quality is
determined. Second, publications that address causal questions are
identified, and are then reviewed to determine the percentage that
employ randomized experimental designs. As funded research projects are
completed, the Institute will subject the final reports to similar
reviews.
To evaluate impact, the Institute surveys a random sample of K-16
policymakers and administrators once every 3 years to determine the
percentage who report routinely considering evidence of effectiveness
before adopting educational products and approaches.
Application Procedures
The Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA) of 1998, (Pub. L.
105-277) and the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement
Act of 1999, (Pub. L. 106-107) encourage us to undertake initiatives to
improve our grant processes. Enhancing the ability of individuals and
entities to conduct business with us electronically is a major part of
our response to these Acts. Therefore, we are taking steps to adopt the
Internet as our chief means of conducting transactions in order to
improve services to our customers and to simplify and expedite our
business processes.
We are requiring that applications for the FY 2004 competitions be
submitted electronically to the following Web site:
http://ies.constellagroup.com.
Information on the software to be used in submitting applications
will be available at the same Web site.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The contact person (and the deadline
for receipt of applications associated with a particular program of
research) is listed in the following chart and in the RFA that will be
posted at: http://www.ed.gov/programs/edresearch/applicant.html.
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Deadline for
CFDA No. and program of research receipt of For further information contact
applications
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84.305A National Research and 5/27/2004
Development Centers.
Rural ............... Ram Singh
education. e-mail: Ram.Singh@ed.gov
Postsecondary ............... Jon Oberg
education. e-mail: Jon.Oberg@ed.gov
Improving low ............... David Sweet
achieving schools. e-mail: David.Sweet@ed.gov
Innovation in ............... Michael Wiatrowski
education reform. e-mail: Michael.Wiatrowski@ed.gov
84.305B Predoctoral Training........ 5/27/2004 James Griffin
e-mail: James.Griffin@ed.gov
84.902B Secondary Analysis of 5/13/2004 Alex Sedlacek
National Assessment of Educational e-mail: Alex.Sedlacek@ed.gov
Progress Data.
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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 this document in an
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to the program contact person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format by contacting that person.
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
.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 9501 et seq. (the ``Education
Sciences Reform Act of 2002'', Title 1 of Public Law 107-279,
November 5, 2002).
Dated: January 29, 2004.
Grover J. Whitehurst,
Director, Institute of Education Sciences.
[FR Doc. 04-2127 Filed 2-2-04; 8:45 am]
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