Vol. 77 Wednesday, 

No. 153 August 8, 2012 

Part II 

Department of Education 

34 CFR Chapter III 

Final Priority; Technical Assistance on State Data Collection, Analysis, and 

Reporting—National IDEA Technical Assistance Center on Early Childhood 

Longitudinal Data Systems; Rule 


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47496 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 153 / Wednesday, August 8, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

34 CFR Chapter III 

[CFDA Number 84.373Z] 

Final Priority; Technical Assistance on 

State Data Collection, Analysis, and 

Reporting—National IDEA Technical 

Assistance Center on Early Childhood 

Longitudinal Data Systems 

AGENCY: Office of Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services, Department of 

Education. 

ACTION: Final Priority. 

SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for 

Special Education and Rehabilitative 

Services announces a priority under the 

Technical Assistance on State Data 

Collection program. The Assistant 

Secretary may use this priority for 

competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2012 

and later years. We take this action to 

focus attention on an identified national 

need to provide technical assistance 

(TA) to States to improve their capacity 

to meet the Individuals with Disabilities 

Education Act (IDEA) data collection, 

analysis, and reporting requirements. 

We intend this priority to establish a 

TA center to assist States in developing 

or enhancing statewide early childhood 

longitudinal data systems, by which we 

mean data systems that include childlevel data for infants, toddlers, and 

young children with disabilities (birth 

through age 5) served through early 

childhood programs under IDEA Part C 

and Part B preschool programs. These 

statewide early childhood longitudinal 

data systems would be part of a 

coordinated early learning data system, 

by which we mean data systems that 

vertically and horizontally link child, 

program, and workforce data elements 

related to children (birth through age 5). 

This TA will build States’ capacity to 

report high-quality data to meet IDEA 

reporting requirements. 

DATES: Effective Date: This priority is 

effective September 7, 2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Meredith Miceli, U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., 

Room 4069, Potomac Center Plaza 

(PCP), Washington, DC 20202–2600. 

Telephone: (202) 245–6028 or by email: 

meredith.miceli@ed.gov. 

If you use a telecommunications 

device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 

telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay 

Service (FRS), toll free, at 1–800–877– 

8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose of Program: The purpose of 

the Technical Assistance on State Data 

Collection program is to improve the 

capacity of States to meet IDEA data 

collection and reporting requirements. 

Funding for the program is authorized 

under section 611(c)(1) of IDEA, which 

gives the Secretary the authority to 

reserve funds appropriated under Part B 

to provide TA activities authorized 

under section 616(i). Section 616(i) 

requires the Secretary to review the data 

collection and analysis capacity of 

States to ensure that data and 

information determined necessary for 

implementation of section 616 of IDEA 

are collected, analyzed, and accurately 

reported. It also requires the Secretary to 

provide TA, where needed, to improve 

the capacity of States to meet the data 

collection requirements under IDEA. 

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1411(c), 

1416(i), and 1418(c). 

Applicable Program Regulations: 34 

CFR 300.702. 

We published a notice of proposed 

priority (NPP) for this competition in 

the Federal Register on May 4, 2012 (77 

FR 26522). That notice contained 

background information and our reasons 

for proposing the particular priority. 

There are no differences between the 

proposed priority and this final priority. 

Public Comment: In response to our 

invitation in the NPP, we did not 

receive any comments on the proposed 

priority. 

Final Priority 

National IDEA Technical Assistance 

Center on Early Childhood Longitudinal 

Data Systems 

The purpose of this priority is to fund 

a cooperative agreement to support the 

establishment and operation of a 

National IDEA Technical Assistance 

Center on Early Childhood Longitudinal 

Data Systems (Center). This Center will 

provide TA to States on the 

development and enhancement of 

statewide early childhood longitudinal 

data systems to improve the States’ 

capacity to collect, analyze, and report 

high-quality data required under 

sections 616 and 618 of IDEA. This 

Center must provide TA to States on 

developing or enhancing statewide early 

childhood longitudinal data systems 

that horizontally link child-level data on 

infants, toddlers, and young children 

with disabilities (birth through age 5) 

from one data system to child-level data 

in other early learning data systems 

(including those developed with 

funding provided by the Department’s 

Race to the Top—Early Learning 

Challenge program), vertically link these 

child-level data to statewide 

longitudinal data systems (SLDS) for 

school-aged children (including those 

developed with funding provided by the 

Department’s SLDS program), and meet 

the data system capabilities and 

elements described under paragraph (b) 

in the Technical Assistance and 

Dissemination Activities section of this 

notice. These statewide early childhood 

longitudinal data systems should allow 

States to: (1) Accurately and efficiently 

respond to IDEA-related data 

submission requirements (e.g., IDEA 

sections 616 and 618 requirements); (2) 

continuously improve processes for 

defining, acquiring, and validating the 

data; and (3) comply with applicable 

Federal, State, and local privacy laws, 

including the requirements of the 

Family Educational Rights and Privacy 

Act and privacy requirements in IDEA. 

This TA must be focused on building 

the State’s capacity to report highquality data to meet IDEA reporting 

requirements and must be conducted in 

coordination with other SLDS work 

being conducted in the State. 

To be considered for funding under 

this absolute priority, applicants must 

meet the application requirements 

contained in this priority. Any project 

funded under this priority also must 

meet the programmatic and 

administrative requirements specified in 

the priority. 

Application Requirements. An 

applicant must include in its 

application— 

(a) A logic model that depicts, at a 

minimum, the goals, activities, outputs, 

and outcomes of the proposed project. A 

logic model communicates how a 

project will achieve its outcomes and 

provides a framework for both the 

formative and summative evaluations of 

the project; Note: The following Web 

sites provide more information on logic 

models: www.researchutilization.org/ 

matrix/logicmodel_resource3c.html and 

www.tadnet.org/ 

model_and_performance. 

(b) A plan to implement the activities 

described in the Project Activities 

section of this priority; 

(c) A plan, linked to the proposed 

project’s logic model, for a formative 

evaluation of the proposed project’s 

activities. The plan must describe how 

the formative evaluation will use clear 

performance objectives to ensure 

continuous improvement in the 

operation of the proposed project, 

including objective measures of progress 

in implementing the project and 

ensuring the quality of products and 

services; 

(d) A plan for recruiting and selecting 

a minimum of 10 States to receive 

intensive TA on developing or 

enhancing their statewide early 

childhood longitudinal data systems to 

improve the States’ capacity to collect 


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1More information on the SLDS TA efforts is 

available at http://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/pdf/ 

TechAssistance.pdf. 

2The Privacy Technical Assistance Center is one 

component of the Department’s comprehensive 

privacy initiatives. It offers technical assistance to 

State education agencies, local education agencies, 

and institutions of higher education related to the 

Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality of student 

records. For the Privacy Technical Assistance 

Center Help Desk, email PrivacyTA@ed.gov or call, 

toll free, 855–249–3072. For more information, see 

http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/ptac/ 

index.html. 

3The Comprehensive Center program ‘‘supports 

21 comprehensive centers to help increase state 

capacity to assist districts and schools meet their 

student achievement goals. The 16 regional centers 

provide services primarily to State Education 

Agencies (SEAs) to enable them to assist school 

districts and schools, especially low performing 

schools. At a minimum, each regional center 

provides training and technical assistance in the 

implementation and administration of programs 

authorized under the Elementary and Secondary 

Education Act (ESEA) and the use of research-based 

information and strategies. The five content centers 

focus on specific areas, with one center in each of 

five areas: Assessment and accountability, 

instruction, teacher quality, innovation and 

improvement, and high schools. These centers 

supply much of the research-based information and 

products in the specific area that regional centers 

use when working with SEAs.’’ U.S. Department of 

Education. Comprehensive Centers Program. 

Retrieved April 17, 2012 from: http://www2.ed.gov/ 

programs/newccp/index.html. 

and report high-quality data required 

under sections 616 and 618 of IDEA. 

This TA may include supporting each 

State in developing a statewide early 

childhood longitudinal data system that 

links to other statewide data systems 

(i.e., other statewide early learning data 

systems and statewide longitudinal 

education data systems) in order to 

accurately and efficiently respond to all 

of a State’s IDEA-related data 

submission requirements for infants, 

toddlers, and young children (birth 

through age 5) with disabilities. The 

intensive TA may also include 

enhancing an existing statewide data 

system (e.g., SLDS) by including the 

child-level data on infants, toddlers, and 

young children (birth through age 5) 

with disabilities that are needed to meet 

the IDEA reporting requirements. To 

ensure that the Center provides TA to 

support States in overcoming the 

additional challenge of sharing early 

childhood data between State agencies 

(e.g., State Department of Health and 

State Department of Education), when 

selecting States for intensive TA, a 

preference must be given to States that 

have IDEA Part C lead agencies (LAs) 

that are not the State educational agency 

(SEA). 

Note: The Center must obtain approval 

from OSEP on the final selection of intensive 

TA States. 

(e) To prevent duplication of TA 

efforts around early childhood data 

systems, a plan for, and description of, 

how the Center will collaborate with the 

SLDS program (including SLDS TA 

efforts 1), the Race to the Top—Early 

Learning Challenge program, the 

Common Education Data Standards 

initiative, the Privacy Technical 

Assistance Center,2 and, as appropriate, 

other Federal programs that provide TA 

in the area of early childhood data (e.g., 

Comprehensive Centers program 3); 

(f) A budget for a summative 

evaluation to be conducted by an 

independent third party; 

(g) A budget for attendance at the 

following: 

(1) A one and one-half day kick-off 

meeting to be held in Washington, DC, 

after receipt of the award, and an annual 

planning meeting held in Washington, 

DC, with the OSEP Project Officer and 

other relevant staff during each 

subsequent year of the project period. 

Note: Within 30 days of the award a postaward teleconference must be held between 

the OSEP Project Officer and grantee’s project 

director or other authorized representative. 

(2) A three-day Project Directors’ 

Conference in Washington, DC, during 

each year of the project period. 

(3) A two-day Leveraging Resources 

Conference in Washington, DC, during 

each year of the project period. 

(4) Two two-day trips annually to 

attend Department briefings, 

Department-sponsored conferences, and 

other meetings, as requested by OSEP; 

and 

(h) A line item in the proposed budget 

for an annual set-aside of five percent of 

the grant amount to support emerging 

needs that are consistent with the 

proposed project’s activities, as those 

needs are identified in consultation 

with OSEP. 

Note: With approval from the OSEP Project 

Officer, the Center must reallocate any 

remaining funds from this annual set-aside 

no later than the end of the third quarter of 

each budget period. 

Project Activities. To meet the 

requirements of this priority, the Center, 

at a minimum, must conduct the 

following activities: 

Knowledge Development Activities 

(a) Conduct a survey of all 56 Part C 

LAs and 56 IDEA Part B preschool 

programs administered by SEAs in the 

first year to assess their capacity to 

collect, analyze, and report high-quality 

data required under sections 616 and 

618 of IDEA and identify the policies 

and practices that facilitate or hinder a 

statewide early childhood longitudinal 

data system to link to other early 

learning data systems and the statewide 

longitudinal educational data system for 

school-aged children (e.g., SLDS). 

Additionally, review State information 

from sources such as SPPs and APRs to 

assess State data system and data 

quality needs for the 56 LAs that have 

IDEA Part C programs and 56 SEAs that 

have IDEA Part B preschool programs. 

The Center must analyze the 

information from the surveys, SPPs/ 

APRs, and other sources, as appropriate, 

and prepare papers that summarize the 

findings that can be disseminated 

according to a dissemination plan 

described in paragraph (f) of the 

Technical Assistance and 

Dissemination Activities section of this 

priority. These findings must be used in 

the selection of States for intensive TA. 

(b) Using the findings from the survey 

described in paragraph (a), identify a 

minimum of four States to partner with 

to develop a statewide early childhood 

longitudinal data system framework (see 

paragraph (c)). This framework will be 

a TA resource for other States trying to 

develop or enhance statewide early 

childhood longitudinal data systems. 

Each partnering State must have 

commitments from its IDEA Part C early 

intervention and Part B preschool 

programs to participate in the activities 

of the Center. Additionally, the 

partnering States must be a combination 

of States with Department of Education 

LAs and non-Department of Education 

LAs (e.g., State Departments of Health, 

State Departments of Developmental 

Services). Factors for consideration in 

selecting these States could include the 

demographic and geographic 

characteristics of the State, the history 

of data system development in the State, 

and the collection and analysis of highquality data required under sections 616 

and 618 of IDEA. There may be overlap 

between these partnering States and 

those States selected to receive intensive 

TA. The Center must obtain approval 

from OSEP on the final selection of 

partnering States. 

Note: To fulfill the requirements of 

paragraph (b) of the Application 

Requirements section of this priority, 

applicants must describe the methods and 

criteria they propose to use to recruit and 

select the four partnering States. 

(c) Within the first year of the project 

period, partner with the States 

identified in paragraph (b) of this 

section to develop, implement, and 

evaluate a statewide early childhood 

longitudinal data system framework for 

IDEA Part C early intervention and Part 

B preschool programs. In developing 

this framework, the Center must work 

with the partner States to identify, 

describe, and document the components 


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4An outcome is formed by the impact that 

services and supports have on the functioning of 

children and families. Early Childhood Outcome 

Center. Outcomes 101: ECO Q&A. Available at: 

www.fpg.unc.edu/∼eco/pages/ 

faqs_view_item.cfm?id=7. For further information 

on early childhood child and family outcomes, see 

the Early Childhood Outcomes (ECO) Center Web 

site (www.fpg.unc.edu/∼eco/index.cfm). 

and processes needed to develop or 

enhance a statewide early childhood 

longitudinal data system that provides 

data necessary to accurately and 

efficiently respond to reporting 

requirements under sections 616 and 

618 of IDEA and addresses the data 

system requirements and capabilities 

listed under paragraph (b) of the 

Technical Assistance and 

Dissemination Activities section of this 

priority. Through this work, the Center 

must develop guidance and exemplar 

tools and processes that any State can 

use to develop or enhance and 

implement a statewide early childhood 

longitudinal data system framework 

within its unique setting. 

(d) Develop documents and resources 

on best practices and lessons learned 

that can be used to improve States’ 

capacity to develop or enhance their 

statewide early childhood longitudinal 

data systems for the purposes of 

collecting high-quality data required 

under sections 616 and 618 of IDEA. 

Technical Assistance and 

Dissemination Activities 

(a) Provide intensive TA to a 

minimum of 10 States to develop and 

implement a project management and 

data governance plan with the goal of a 

fully implemented statewide early 

childhood longitudinal data system, as 

described in paragraph (b) of this 

section. The intensive TA will be based 

on the statewide early childhood 

longitudinal data system framework 

described in paragraph (b) of the 

Knowledge Development Activities 

section of this priority. 

Note: To fulfill the requirements in 

paragraph (a) in the Technical Assistance 

and Dissemination Activities section of this 

priority, applicants must describe the 

methods and criteria they will use to recruit 

and select States. The Center must obtain 

approval from OSEP on the final selection of 

intensive TA States. 

(b) The statewide early childhood 

longitudinal data system must meet the 

following requirements: 

(1) Have the following specific data 

system capabilities: 

(i) Enable the State staff to efficiently 

respond to all IDEA-related data 

submission requirements (e.g., sections 

616 and 618 data) with accurate and 

valid IDEA data by— 

(A) Improving the quality of IDEA 

data related to child find, child count, 

settings, and educational environments 

data; and Indicators C2, C5, C6, and B6, 

which are included in Appendices A 

and B to this notice, by linking early 

childhood IDEA Part C and Part B 

preschool child-level data horizontally 

to other statewide early learning data 

systems when available (e.g., child care, 

home visiting programs, Head Start, 

Early Head Start, and publicly-funded 

State preschool programs and services); 

(B) Improving the quality of the IDEA 

data related to early childhood and 

preschool outcomes; and Indicators C3, 

C8, B7, and B12 by linking early 

childhood IDEA Part C and Part B 

preschool child-level data vertically to 

other statewide longitudinal education 

data systems, including those funded 

under the Department’s SLDS grants 

(e.g., P–12 systems, K–12 systems, P–20 

systems, and K–20 systems); 

(C) Improving the quality of the IDEA 

personnel data by linking child-level 

early childhood IDEA Part C and Part B 

preschool data with early intervention 

and preschool service providers so that 

an individual child may be matched 

with the particular providers primarily 

responsible for providing services to 

that child; and 

(D) Improving the quality of the data 

about personnel providing services 

under IDEA Part B by linking early 

intervention and preschool service 

providers with data on their 

qualifications, certification, and 

preparation programs, including the 

institutions at which providers received 

their training; 

(ii) Enable the State to improve the 

accuracy of the IDEA data through 

validity and reliability checks (e.g., data 

verification) and to provide access to the 

information needed to analyze and 

explain progress or slippage in the Parts 

B and C indicators; 

(iii) Enable the State to examine 

progress in the implementation of IDEA 

(e.g., improving transitions from Part C 

to Part B IDEA services) and the 

outcomes (e.g., social-emotional skills, 

the use of appropriate behaviors to meet 

needs, and the acquisition and use of 

knowledge and skills) over time of 

infants, toddlers, and young children 

receiving services under IDEA and 

ensure data are easily generated for 

analysis and decision-making, including 

timely reporting to various IDEA Part C 

and preschool service providers across 

the State on the progress of infants, 

toddlers, and young children receiving 

services under IDEA; and 

(iv) Ensure the quality (i.e., validity 

and reliability) of all data. 

(2) In order to improve the State’s 

capacity to collect and analyze highquality data, have the following data 

system elements: 

(i) A unique statewide child identifier 

accepted by, and aligned with, the 

State’s P–20/P–12 unique identifier that 

does not permit a child to be 

individually identified by users of the 

system (except as allowed by Federal 

and State law). 

(ii) An early intervention and 

preschool service provider identifier 

system with the ability to match early 

intervention and preschool service 

providers to children; 

(iii) Child-level enrollment, 

demographic, and program participation 

data. 

(iv) Child-level data on the 

identification of the child under IDEA 

(including data on the timeliness of the 

child’s evaluation and assessment) and 

services identified as needed and 

received, including timeliness of 

services and service settings. 

(v) Child and family outcome 4 data. 

(vi) Child-level data about the points 

at which children start and stop 

receiving early intervention services or 

preschool special education services 

(including reasons for exiting). 

(vii) Child-level data about the extent 

to which children receive timely 

transition planning to support their 

movement to preschool and other 

appropriate community services by their 

third birthday. 

(viii) A State data audit system to 

assess data quality (i.e., reliability and 

validity). 

(3) Have a data system 

interoperability plan that— 

(i) Allows for linking the statewide 

early childhood longitudinal data 

systems to other statewide longitudinal 

education data systems and other 

statewide early learning data systems; 

and 

(ii) Complies with applicable Federal, 

State, and local privacy laws, including 

the requirements of FERPA and the 

privacy requirements in IDEA. 

(c) Develop and coordinate a national 

TA network comprised of a cadre of 

experts that the Center will use to 

provide TA to States to assist them in 

developing or enhancing statewide early 

childhood longitudinal data systems to 

improve States’ capacity to collect and 

report high-quality data required under 

sections 616 and 618 of IDEA, which 

may include the development of open 

source data system software that 

addresses the unique needs of each 

State. General TA will be provided to all 

States and intensive TA will be 

provided to a minimum of 10 States. 

(d) Provide a continuum of general 

TA and dissemination activities (e.g., 


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5For more information regarding the TACC 

products and services database, please see: 

www.tadnet.org. 

6More information on the SLDS TA efforts is 

available at http://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/pdf/ 

TechAssistance.pdf. 

7 ‘‘The Common Education Data Standards is a 

specified set of the most commonly used education 

data elements to support the effective exchange of 

data within and across States, as students transition 

between educational sectors and levels, and for 

federal reporting.’’ National Center for Education 

Statistics. Common Education Data Standards. 

Retrieved February 8, 2012 from: http://nces.ed.gov/ 

programs/ceds/. For more information, see http:// 

ceds.ed.gov/Default.aspx. 

managing Web sites, listservs, and 

communities of practice, and holding 

conferences and training institutes) on 

best practices that promote the efficient 

collection of accurate and valid data 

required under sections 616 and 618 of 

IDEA to improve the educational results 

and functional outcomes of all children 

with disabilities. 

(e) Maintain a Web site that meets 

government or industry-recognized 

standards for accessibility and that links 

to the Web site operated by the 

Technical Assistance Coordination 

Center (TACC).5

(f) Prepare and disseminate reports, 

documents, and other materials on 

statewide early childhood longitudinal 

data systems, and related topics as 

requested by OSEP for specific 

audiences including IDEA Part C LAs, 

SEAs, policymakers, local educational 

agencies, service providers, and 

teachers. In consultation with the OSEP 

Project Officer, make selected reports, 

documents, and other materials 

available for Part C LAs, SEAs, 

policymakers, local educational 

agencies, service providers, and teachers 

in both English and Spanish. 

(g) Develop materials and guidance 

for States and provide targeted TA 

related to the performance and 

compliance indicator(s) on their APRs 

and SPPs, as requested by OSEP. 

Leadership and Coordination Activities 

(a) Establish and maintain an advisory 

committee to review the activities and 

outcomes of the Center and provide 

programmatic support and advice 

throughout the project period. At a 

minimum, the advisory committee must 

meet annually in Washington, DC, and 

consist of representatives of IDEA Part 

C LAs, representatives of SEAs, 

individuals with disabilities, other TA 

providers, parents of individuals with 

disabilities, data system experts, 

representatives of other early learning 

and development programs, 

representatives of other Federal offices 

working to improve State data systems, 

and software developers with expertise 

in statewide longitudinal data systems 

and interoperability. The Center must 

submit the names of proposed members 

of the advisory committee to OSEP for 

approval within eight weeks after 

receipt of the award. 

(b) Communicate and collaborate, on 

an ongoing basis, with OSEP-funded 

projects and other relevant Federalfunded projects, including the SLDS 

program, SLDS TA efforts,6 the Race to 

the Top—Early Learning Challenge 

program, the Common Education Data 

Standards initiative,7 the Privacy 

Technical Assistance Center, and, as 

appropriate, other Federal programs that 

provide TA in the area of early 

childhood data (e.g., Comprehensive 

Centers program). This collaboration 

could include the joint development of 

products, the coordination of TA 

services, and the planning and carrying 

out of TA meetings and events. 

(c) Participate in, organize, or 

facilitate communities of practice if they 

align with the needs of the project’s 

target audience. Communities of 

practice should align with the project’s 

objectives to support discussions and 

collaboration among key stakeholders. 

The following Web site provides more 

information on communities of practice: 

www.tadnet.org/communities. 

(d) Prior to developing any new 

product, submit a proposal for the 

product to the TACC database for 

approval from the OSEP Project Officer. 

The development of new products 

should be consistent with the product 

definition and guidelines posted on the 

TACC Web site (www.tadnet.org). 

(e) Contribute, on an ongoing basis, 

updated information on the Center’s 

approved and finalized products and 

services to a database at the TACC. 

(f) Coordinate with the National 

Dissemination Center for Individuals 

with Disabilities to develop an efficient 

and high-quality dissemination strategy 

that reaches broad audiences. The 

Center must report to the OSEP Project 

Officer the outcomes of these 

coordination efforts. 

(g) Maintain ongoing communication 

with the OSEP Project Officer through 

monthly phone conversations and email 

communication. 

Fourth and Fifth Years of the Project 

In deciding whether to continue 

funding the Center for the fourth and 

fifth years, the Secretary will consider 

the requirements of 34 CFR 75.253(a), 

and in addition— 

(a) The recommendation of a review 

team consisting of experts selected by 

the Secretary. This review will be 

conducted during a one-day intensive 

meeting in Washington, DC, that will be 

held during the last half of the second 

year of the project period. The Center 

must budget for travel expenses 

associated with this one-day intensive 

review; 

(b) The timeliness and effectiveness 

with which all requirements of the 

negotiated cooperative agreement have 

been or are being met by the Center; and 

(c) The quality, relevance, and 

usefulness of the Center’s activities and 

products and the degree to which the 

Center’s activities and products have 

contributed to changed practice and 

improved the States’ capacity to collect 

and report high-quality data required 

under sections 616 and 618 of IDEA by 

developing and enhancing of statewide 

early childhood longitudinal data 

systems. 

Types of Priorities 

When inviting applications for a 

competition using one or more 

priorities, we designate the type of each 

priority as absolute, competitive 

preference, or invitational through a 

notice in the Federal Register. The 

effect of each type of priority follows: 

Absolute priority: Under an absolute 

priority, we consider only applications 

that meet the priority (34 CFR 

75.105(c)(3)). 

Competitive preference priority: 

Under a competitive preference priority, 

we give competitive preference to an 

application by (1) awarding additional 

points, depending on the extent to 

which the application meets the priority 

(34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i)); or (2) selecting 

an application that meets the priority 

over an application of comparable merit 

that does not meet the priority (34 CFR 

75.105(c)(2)(ii)). 

Invitational priority: Under an 

invitational priority, we are particularly 

interested in applications that meet the 

priority. However, we do not give an 

application that meets the priority a 

preference over other applications (34 

CFR 75.105(c)(1)). 

This notice does not preclude us from 

proposing additional priorities, 

requirements, definitions, or selection 

criteria, subject to meeting applicable 

rulemaking requirements. OSEP is 

under no obligation to make an award 

for this priority. The decision to make 

an award will be based on the quality 

of applications received and available 

funding. 

Note: This notice does not solicit 

applications. In any year in which we choose 

to use this priority, we invite applications 

through a notice in the Federal Register. 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563: 

Under Executive Order 12866, the 


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Secretary must determine whether this 

regulatory action is ‘‘significant’’ and 

therefore subject to the requirements of 

the Executive Order and subject to 

review by the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB). Section 3(f) of Executive 

Order 12866 defines a ‘‘significant 

regulatory action’’ as an action likely to 

result in a rule that may— 

(1) Have an annual effect on the 

economy of $100 million or more, or 

adversely affect a sector of the economy, 

productivity, competition, jobs, the 

environment, public health or safety, or 

State, local or Tribal governments or 

communities in a material way (also 

referred to as an ‘‘economically 

significant’’ rule); 

(2) Create serious inconsistency or 

otherwise interfere with an action taken 

or planned by another agency; 

(3) Materially alter the budgetary 

impacts of entitlement grants, user fees, 

or loan programs or the rights and 

obligations of recipients thereof; or 

(4) Raise novel legal or policy issues 

arising out of legal mandates, the 

President’s priorities, or the principles 

set forth in the Executive Order. 

This final regulatory action is not a 

significant regulatory action subject to 

review by OMB under section 3(f) of 

Executive Order 12866. 

We have also reviewed this final 

regulatory action under Executive Order 

13563, which supplements and 

explicitly reaffirms the principles, 

structures, and definitions governing 

regulatory review established in 

Executive Order 12866. To the extent 

permitted by law, Executive Order 

13563 requires that an agency— 

(1) Propose or adopt regulations only 

upon a reasoned determination that 

their benefits justify their costs 

(recognizing that some benefits and 

costs are difficult to quantify); 

(2) Tailor its regulations to impose the 

least burden on society, consistent with 

obtaining regulatory objectives and 

taking into account—among other things 

and to the extent practicable—the costs 

of cumulative regulations; 

(3) In choosing among alternative 

regulatory approaches, select those 

approaches that maximize net benefits 

(including potential economic, 

environmental, public health and safety, 

and other advantages; distributive 

impacts; and equity); 

(4) To the extent feasible, specify 

performance objectives, rather than the 

behavior or manner of compliance a 

regulated entity must adopt; and 

(5) Identify and assess available 

alternatives to direct regulation, 

including economic incentives—such as 

user fees or marketable permits—to 

encourage the desired behavior, or 

provide information that enables the 

public to make choices. 

Executive Order 13563 also requires 

an agency ‘‘to use the best available 

techniques to quantify anticipated 

present and future benefits and costs as 

accurately as possible.’’ The Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs of 

OMB has emphasized that these 

techniques may include ‘‘identifying 

changing future compliance costs that 

might result from technological 

innovation or anticipated behavioral 

changes.’’ 

We are issuing this final priority only 

on a reasoned determination that its 

benefits justify its costs. In choosing 

among alternative regulatory 

approaches, we selected those 

approaches that maximize net benefits. 

Based on the analysis that follows, the 

Department believes that this regulatory 

action is consistent with the principles 

in Executive Order 13563. 

We also have determined that this 

regulatory action does not unduly 

interfere with State, local, and Tribal 

governments in the exercise of their 

governmental functions. 

In accordance with both Executive 

Orders, the Department has assessed the 

potential costs and benefits, both 

quantitative and qualitative, of this 

regulatory action. The potential costs 

are those resulting from statutory 

requirements and those we have 

determined as necessary for 

administering the Department’s 

programs and activities. 

Intergovernmental Review: This 

program is subject to Executive Order 

12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR 

part 79. One of the objectives of the 

Executive order is to foster an 

intergovernmental partnership and a 

strengthened federalism. The Executive 

Order relies on processes developed by 

State and local governments for 

coordination and review of proposed 

Federal financial assistance. 

This document provides early 

notification of our specific plans and 

actions for this program. 

Accessible Format: Individuals with 

disabilities can obtain this document in 

an accessible format (e.g., braille, large 

print, audiotape, or compact disc) by 

contacting the Grants and Contracts 

Services Team, U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., 

room 5075, PCP, Washington, DC 

20202–2550. Telephone: (202) 245– 

7363. If you use a TDD or a TTY, call 

the FRS, toll free, at 1–800–877–8339. 

Electronic Access to This Document: 

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 via the Federal Digital System 

at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you 

can 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). To use PDF you must 

have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is 

available free at the site. 

You may also access documents of the 

Department published in the Federal 

Register by using the article search 

feature at: www.federalregister.gov. 

Specifically, through the advanced 

search feature at this site, you can limit 

your search to documents published by 

the Department. 

Dated: August 2, 2012. 

Alexa Posny, 

Assistant Secretary for Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services. 

[FR Doc. 2012–19478 Filed 8–7–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 


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