25156 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 83 / Friday, April 28, 2000 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Office of Special Education and

Rehabilitative Services; Grant

Applications Under Part D, Subpart 2

of the Individuals With Disabilities

Education Act

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice inviting applications for

new awards for fiscal year (FY) 2000.

SUMMARY: This notice provides closing

dates and other information regarding

the transmittal of applications for FY

2000 competitions under five programs

authorized by the Individuals with

Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as

amended. The five programs are: (1)

Special Education—Research and

Innovation to Improve Services and

Results for Children with Disabilities

(one priority); (2) Special Education—

Personnel Preparation to Improve

Services and Results for Children with

Disabilities (four priorities); (3) Special

Education—Technology and Media

Services for Individuals with

Disabilities (two priorities); (4) Special

Education—Training and Information

for Parents of Children with Disabilities

(one priority); and (5) Special

Education—Studies and Evaluations

Program (one priority).

This notice supports the National

Education Goals by helping to improve

results for children with disabilities.

Waiver of Rulemaking

In most instances the Assistant

Secretary is required 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.

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, DC during each year of the

project.

(d) In a single application, an

applicant must address only one

absolute priority in this notice.

(e) Part III of each application

submitted under a priority in this

notice, the application narrative, is

where an applicant addresses the

selection criteria that are used by

reviewers in evaluating the application.

You must limit Part III to the equivalent

of no more than the number of pages

listed in the ‘‘Page Limits’’ section

under the applicable priority in this

notice using the following standards:

• A ‘‘page’’ is 8.5′′ × 11′′ (on one side

only) with one-inch margins (top,

bottom, and sides).

• Double-space (no more than three

lines per vertical inch) all text in the

application narrative, including titles,

headings, footnotes, quotations, and

captions, as well as all text in charts,

tables, figures, and graphs.

• 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 per 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,

the resumes, the bibliography or

references, or the letters of support.

However, you must include all of the

application narrative in Part III.

We will reject your application if —

• You apply these standards and

exceed the page limit; or

You apply other standards and exceed

the equivalent of the page limit.

Information collection resulting from

this notice has been submitted to OMB

for review under the Paperwork

Reduction Act and has been approved

under control number 1820–0028,

expiration date July 31, 2000.

Research and Innovation To Improve

Services and Results for Children With

Disabilities [CFDA 84.324]

Purpose of Program: To produce, and

advance the use of, knowledge to: (1)

Improve services provided under IDEA,

including the practices of professionals

and others involved in providing those

services to children with disabilities;

and (2) Improve educational and early

intervention results for infants, toddlers,

and children with disabilities.

Eligible Applicants: For focus 2

eligible applicants are Local educational

agencies (LEAs), or consortia of local

educational agencies, and institutions of

higher education (IHEs). For focus 2

eligible applicants are LEAs or IHEs or

consortia of LEAs and IHEs.

Applicable Regulations: (a) The

Education Department General

Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in

34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 80, 81, 82, 85,

97, 98, and 99; (b) The selection criteria

for the priorities under this program are

drawn from the EDGAR general

selection criteria menu. The specific

selection criteria for this priority are

included in the funding application

packet for this competition.

Priority

Under section 672 of the Act and 34

CFR 75.105(c)(3), we consider only

applications that meet the following

priority:

Absolute Priority—Model

Demonstration Projects for Children

With Disabilities (84.324T)

This priority supports model

demonstration projects that develop,

implement, evaluate, and disseminate

new or improved approaches for

providing special education and related

services to children with disabilities.

Projects supported under this priority

are expected to be major contributors of

models or components of models for

service providers and for outreach

projects funded under IDEA.

Under this absolute priority, the

Assistant Secretary will fund projects

only in the focus areas listed below.

Requirements for All Demonstration

Projects

A model demonstration project

must—

(a) Use rigorous quantitative or

qualitative research and evaluation

methods and data and research-based

strategies and practices;

(b) Evaluate the model by using

multiple measures of results to

determine the effectiveness of the model

and its components or strategies;

(c) Produce detailed procedures and

materials that would enable others to

replicate the model; and

(d) Communicate with appropriate

audiences through means such as,

special education technical assistance

providers and disseminators, refereed

journal publications and other

publications, conference presentations,

and a web site.

If the project maintains a web site, it

must include relevant information and

documents in an accessible form.

Federal financial participation for a

project funded under this priority will

not exceed 90 percent of the total

annual costs of the project (see section

661(f)(2)(A) of IDEA).

In addition to the annual two-day

Project Directors’ meeting in

Washington, DC mentioned in the

General Requirements section of this

notice, projects must budget for another

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 83 / Friday, April 28, 2000 / Notices 25157

annual meeting in Washington, DC to

collaborate with the Federal project

officer and the other projects funded

under this priority, to share information

and discuss model development,

evaluation, and project implementation

issues.

Focus 1—Model Demonstration Projects

To Support Whole-School Reforms of

Services for Children With Disabilities

The reauthorization of IDEA in 1997

(Public Law 105–17) encouraged

‘‘incentives for whole-school

approaches and pre-referral intervention

to reduce the need to label children as

disabled in order to address their

learning needs’’ (section 601(5)(F)) and

authorized: (1) IDEA support for schoolwide programs under Title I of the

Elementary and Secondary Education

Act of 1965 (section 613(a)(2)(D)); (2)

Services and aids that also benefit

nondisabled children (section

613(a)(4)(A)); (3) Integrated and

coordinated service systems (section

613(a)(4)(B) and 613(f)); and (4) Schoolbased improvement plans (section

613(g)).

This priority supports model projects

that demonstrate how promising and

proven research based practices and

strategies can be used to develop wholeschool approaches that benefit all

students, including students with

disabilities, and fully implement all

other requirements of the law. For

example, it is essential that students

with disabilities are provided with

Individualized Education Plans (IEPs)

that address their unique needs and

provide for the services and supports,

including intensive interventions when

necessary, that will optimize their

achievement. Applicants must

demonstrate how they will improve

results for students with disabilities.

Specifically, applicants must describe

activities to ensure that students with

disabilities have access to and succeed

in the regular curriculum; receive

positive behavioral interventions,

supports, and services when

appropriate; and are included in State

and local assessments.

Flexibility and innovation are

encouraged in the design of the models,

but every model must involve regular

and special education staff in early

childhood and prevention services;

provide for parent participation; and

make available a continuum of services,

aids, and supports to meet the needs of

students with disabilities in the least

restrictive environment. It is expected

that models funded under this priority

will build upon other models, strategies,

and practices including those supported

under IDEA national activities.

Local educational agencies or

consortia of LEAs or institutions of

higher education are invited to apply for

these grants to foster whole-school

projects at (a) primary and elementary

school, (b) middle and junior high

school, or (c) high school levels.

Applicants are encouraged to address at

least two of these grade ranges, unless

only one grade range is served in the

LEA. Regardless of who the project

applicant is, a partnership between an

LEA and IHE must be demonstrated and

maintained throughout the duration of

the project. Applicants are required to

collaborate with existing OSEP

technical assistance centers and

evaluation efforts throughout the course

of the project.

Project Periods and Associated Funding

Levels

Projects will be funded for up to 48

months. During the first two funding

years, projects may request $150,000 per

year. During the third and fourth years

of funding, the projects may request up

to $75,000 per year.

The Assistant Secretary intends to

make approximately 15 awards under

this priority. Each of the three grade

ranges will be represented in the awards

with at least three awards at each level.

Special Requirements Under This Focus

Area

Applicants must specify at least one

school building, at each grade range

addressed in the project, that will

participate in the model demonstration

project throughout the duration of the

grant. Further, the LEA or consortia of

LEAs or IHEs must agree to share

evaluation data (with protections for

anonymity of subjects) on student

achievement and project effectiveness

with OSEP-sponsored activities, which

will synthesize research and evaluation

information across the grantees. In

addition projects must ensure and

demonstrate how they will monitor and

document challenges and progress

throughout the project.

Maximum Award: We will reject and

will not consider an application that

proposes a budget exceeding $150,000

(exclusive of any matching funds)

during the first two 12-month funding

periods, or proposes a budget exceeding

$75,000 (exclusive of any matching

funds) during the final two 12-month

funding periods. The Assistant

Secretary for Special Education and

Rehabilitative Services may change the

maximum amount through a notice

published in the Federal Register.

Page Limits: The maximum page limit

for this focus area is 50 double-spaced

pages.

Note: Applications must meet the required

page limit standards that are described in the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice.

Focus 2—K–3 Behavior and Reading

Intervention Models

Effective strategies that intervene

early in a child’s development are well

recognized in improving results for

children with disabilities.

Unfortunately, approximately sixty

percent of the children currently being

served under IDEA are typically

identified too late to receive full benefit

from those interventions. This problem

is most prominent with two specific

populations of children—those

identified for special education and

related services under the categories

‘‘emotional disturbance’’ (ED) and

‘‘specific learning disabilities’’ (LD),

particularly the 80 percent of LD

children who have their primary deficit

in reading. These children are often not

identified as being eligible for special

education and related services until

after their disabilities have reached

severe proportions. These are children

who, very early in their education,

experience marked difficulties learning

to read or exhibit behaviors that lead to

discipline problems as they get older.

There currently exists a substantial

and compelling body of research

describing these children and telling us

how to assess, identify, and help them.

For instance, research indicates that

both populations of children:

(1) Can be assessed and identified

early and with relative ease and

accuracy; (2) based on the nature of

their disabilities, are at high risk for

dropping out of school, becoming

discipline problems, and failing in

school; (3) often fall behind because

they do not receive appropriate

interventions earlier; (4) can make

tremendous gains when provided with

effective services during early

childhood; and (5) may need

individually tailored interventions

because one approach may not fit all

children.

A key feature of promising schoolwide programs is their emphasis on the

inclusion of all students in the school.

Effective support for reading and

behavior begins by attending to all

students. Providing such support, in

turn, requires understanding the range

of reading difficulties and behavioral

challenges students present to schools

and a knowledge of the research-based

strategies and practices for addressing

those difficulties and challenges. To

meet these varied needs, intervention

systems are often organized into three

groups, representing three levels of

25158 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 83 / Friday, April 28, 2000 / Notices

means to intervene with difficulties in

reading and behavior problems:

(a) Primary prevention involves

universal instruction and intervention

efforts to avert the onset of problem

behaviors and reading deficits such as

research-based school-wide reading and

behavior programs.

(b) Secondary prevention refers to

strategies and procedures that address

small groups of students who need

additional support or assistance to

successfully acquire new skills in

reading and behavior.

(c) Tertiary prevention involves more

intense, specialized interventions, such

as one on one interventions, for

individual students who despite

previous efforts experience chronic

problem behavior or marked difficulties

in learning to read.

Although previous research and

model demonstration projects have

evaluated many aspects of the reading

process and approaches to behavior

management, model demonstration

projects have not been implemented and

sustained extensively in LEAs to

systematically evaluate—

(a) Professional development for

regular and special education teachers

related to intervening early with

children with marked difficulties in

reading and behavior;

(b) A continuum of varied

interventions for children with reading

and behavior difficulties;

(c) Scaffolding or support in all

curriculum areas for children in K–3

with reading and behavior difficulties

while providing support for specialized

or intensive interventions in reading or

behavior;

(d) Continuous assessment to

determine and predict progress; and

(e) Simultaneous reading and

behavior interventions to target the

interdependence of the two.

The purpose of this priority is to

support demonstrations of school-based

models of effective programs and

practices to serve children grades K–3

who are identified as having a marked

difficulty learning to read or who

exhibit serious behaviors that lead to

discipline problems as they get older.

Projects funded under this priority

must:

(a) Identify students to participate

who have a marked difficulty learning

to read or who exhibit serious behaviors

that lead to discipline problems later.

(b) Provide evidence of an existing

school-wide focus that includes setting

and reaching high expectations in

reading or behavior and that reflects

proven research-based model practices

in reading or behavior for all children—

(1) For a school-wide focus on

reading, projects must address, if

applicable, support from Title I of the

Improving America’s Schools Act, the

Reading Excellence Act, or other

Federal or State programs by explicitly

stating how those efforts will be

coordinated with the activities and

budgets of these projects for students

with disabilities or developmental

delays;

(2) For a school-wide focus on

behavior, projects must include or be

working toward including the following

components—

(i) A mission or purpose statement;

(ii) A list of positively stated

behavioral expectations or rules;

(iii) Procedures for directly teaching

these expectations to students;

(iv) A continuum of strategies for

encouraging these expectations;

(v) A continuum of strategies for

discouraging rule violations; and

(vi) Procedures for record keeping and

evaluation; and

(3) All projects must demonstrate a

commitment of the faculty to address

behavior or reading as a school-wide

priority.

(c) Demonstrate ongoing linkages,

partnerships, and collaboration between

local educational agencies (LEAs) and

research and training programs at

institutions of higher education (IHEs)

in the design, implementation and

evaluation of the project.

(d) Designate an implementation

coordinator and establish a committee,

including the principal in each school,

to support the project.

(e) Collaborate and link with OSEP

supported researchers and technical

assistance providers.

(f) Describe how their evaluations will

address the following—

(1) Provide information about how

children at highest risk are identified;

(2) Monitor each child’s progress on a

frequent basis, including both formative

and summative evaluations;

(3) Establish criteria for a successful

program; and

(4) Cooperate with the other OSEP

projects and OSEP evaluation efforts

throughout the project period to

determine core measures and

instruments to use for assessment across

projects, collect data on project

challenges and progress throughout the

project, and comply with established

data collection procedures.

(g) For reading projects—

(1) Describe the social, environmental,

and cultural characteristics of each

child; and

(2) Develop comprehensive case

studies of each child to determine what

is impacting risk, how they perform in

other areas, how they performed in preschool, characteristics related to reading

(e.g., pre-reading development;

language, speech and articulation;

primary and secondary language).

(h) For behavior projects—

(1) Describe the social, environmental

and cultural characteristics of

participating groups of children or

individual children; and

(2) Develop comprehensive case

studies of participating groups of

children or individual children to

determine what is impacting risk, how

they perform in other areas, how they

performed in pre-school, and

characteristics related to behavior.

(i) Establish a school and family link

related to reading or behavior.

(j) Describe how an effective model

will be sustained when the grant ends

and describe how the LEA and IHEs will

disseminate the model to other schools

and LEAs.

(k) Describe the relationship between

the size of the schools where the project

will be implemented, number of target

students, and amount of money

requested.

Projects funded under this priority

must schedule one trip, annually to

Washington, DC (as specified in the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice), one trip, annually to

Washington, DC (as specified in the

‘‘Requirements for All Demonstration

Projects’’ section of this notice), and an

additional meeting to take place by the

end of the first month of the project.

The Assistant Secretary intends to

make up to 5 awards under reading, 5

awards under behavior, and 4 awards

under reading and behavior for this

focus area. At least one award in each

area will be made in high poverty rural

or inner city areas based on the

submission of credible information by

the applicant.

Resource Packet: A resource packet

providing information on researchbased practices and strategies in reading

and behavior is available to assist

applicants in choosing research-based

models and strategies to implement as

part of their model programs.

Applicants are encouraged to make use

of this information. See the ERIC

Clearinghouse web site at http://

ericec.org/osep-sp.htm or call 800–328–

0272 (phone/TTY).

Maximum Award: We will reject and

will not consider an application that

proposes a budget exceeding $130,000

for one component or $180,000 for two

components (exclusive of any matching

funds) for any single budget period of 12

months. The Assistant Secretary for

Special Education and Rehabilitative

Services may change the maximum

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 83 / Friday, April 28, 2000 / Notices 25159

amount through a notice published in

the Federal Register.

Project Period. Up to 48 months.

Page Limits: The maximum page

limits for this focus are 50 doublespaced pages for one component

(reading or behavior) and 80 doublespaced pages for two components

(reading and behavior).

Note: Applications must meet the required

page limit standards that are described in the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice.

Competitive Preference

Within this absolute priority, we will

give the following competitive

preference under section 606 of IDEA

and 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i), to

applications that are otherwise eligible

for funding under this priority:

Up to ten (10) points based on the

effectiveness of the applicant’s strategies

for employing and advancing in

employment qualified individuals with

disabilities in project activities as

required under paragraph (a) of the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice. In determining the effectiveness

of those strategies, the Assistant

Secretary can consider the applicant’s

past success in pursuit of this goal.

For this competitive preference,

applicants can be awarded up to a total

of 10 points in addition to those

awarded under the published selection

criteria for this priority. That is, an

applicant meeting this competitive

preference could earn a maximum total

of 110 points.

Special Education—Personnel

Preparation to Improve Services and

Results for Children With Disabilities

[CFDA 84.325]

Purpose of Program: The purposes of

this program are to (1) help address

State-identified needs for qualified

personnel in special education, related

services, early intervention, and regular

education, to work with children with

disabilities; and (2) to ensure that those

personnel have the skills and

knowledge, derived from practices that

have been determined through research

and experience to be successful, that are

needed to serve those children.

Eligible Applicants: State and local

educational agencies; institutions of

higher education; other public agencies;

private nonprofit organizations; outlying

areas; freely associated States; and

Indian tribes or tribal organizations.

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; (b) The selection

criteria for these priorities are drawn

from the EDGAR general selection

criteria menu. The specific selection

criteria for these priorities are included

in the funding application packet for

this competition.

Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86

apply to institutions of higher education

only.

Priority

Under section 673(d) of the Act and

34 CFR 75.105 (c)(3), we consider only

those applications that meet the

following priority:

Absolute Priority 1—Training Center in

Early Intervention for Infants and

Toddlers Who Have Visual

Impairments, Including Blindness

(84.325B)

Services for infants and toddlers with

visual impairments, including

blindness, and their families are

required under Part C of IDEA. Vision

specialists and orientation and mobility

instructors are key personnel in

providing these services.

Most training programs for vision

specialists and orientation and mobility

instructors focus on the development of

professional skills and competencies

needed to work with preschool and

school-aged learners. A program of

study specifically focused on the

developmental, conceptual, etiological,

and technological needs of infants and

toddlers with visual impairments,

including blindness, is needed to ensure

that professionals have the skills and

competencies to meet these unique

needs and to assist and support families

to enhance the development of their

young children.

The purpose of this priority is to

support the development of a Center

designed to assist training institutions

in building their capacity to train early

intervention professionals, particularly

vision specialists and orientation and

mobility instructors, to provide

appropriate, effective services to infants

and toddlers who have visual

impairments, including blindness, and

to their families.

Priority

The Assistant Secretary establishes an

absolute priority to support a training

center to carry out a coordinated,

integrated, and advanced project to

develop, field-test, and disseminate

empirically-based pre-service training

program modules for personnel in the

area of early intervention for infants and

toddlers with visual impairment,

including blindness, and their families.

The program modules must incorporate:

(a) Relevant, research-based curricular

content and pedagogical practices

designed to meet the unique needs of

infants and toddlers with visual

impairments, including blindness, and

their families in the following areas—

(1) Screening and early identification;

(2) Developmental assessment and

evaluation;

(3) Development as it relates to

etiological aspects of visual

impairments, including blindness;

(4) Intervention practices;

(5) Concept development; and

(6) Knowledge and application of

current technologies for use in

enhancing growth and development.

(b) Effective practices for working

with families of infants and toddlers

with visual impairments, including

blindness, to enhance the development

of their children including—

(1) Partnering with families in

Individualized Family Service Plan

(IFSP) development;

(2) Working and communicating with

parents of children with visual

impairments, including blindness, using

effective strategies for teaching adults;

and

(3) Assisting and supporting families

to identify their strengths, concerns, and

priorities.

The Center must—

(a) Partner with Part C lead agencies;

the medical community; parent training

and information centers and community

parent resource centers supported under

Part D of IDEA; professional and

advocacy organizations; IHEs, including

Historically Black Colleges and

Universities (HBCUs); and other

agencies and organizations involved in

providing services to infants and

toddlers with visual impairments,

including blindness, and their families,

in developing and field testing its

training program;

(b) Provide training and research

opportunities for a limited number of

graduate students;

(c) Meet with the Office of Special

Education Programs (OSEP) project

officer in the first three months of the

project to review the proposed project

activities;

(d) Prepare and disseminate the

products and training modules from the

Center in formats that are useful for

appropriate audiences;

(e) Conduct research and

development activities, using rigorous

research methodologies; and

(f) Provide information through a web

site. Documents must be in an

accessible form.

Project Period: Under this priority, the

Assistant Secretary will make one award

for a cooperative agreement with a

project period of up to 60 months

25160 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 83 / Friday, April 28, 2000 / Notices

subject to the requirements of 34 CFR

75.253(a) for continuation awards.

During the second year of the project,

the Assistant Secretary will determine

whether to continue the Center for the

fourth and fifth years of the project

period and will consider in addition to

the requirements of 34 CFR 75.253(a):

(a) The recommendation of a review

team consisting of three experts selected

by the Assistant Secretary. The services

of the review team, including a two-day

site visit to the project, are to be

performed during the last half of the

project’s second year and may be

included in that year’s evaluation

required under 34 CFR 75.590. Costs

associated with the services to be

performed by the review team must also

be included in the project’s budget for

year two. These costs are estimated to be

approximately $6,000;

(b) The timeliness and effectiveness

with which all requirements of the

negotiated cooperative agreement have

been or are being met by the project; and

(c) The degree to which the project’s

design and technical strategies

demonstrate the potential for

disseminating significant new

knowledge.

Competitive Preferences

Within this absolute priority, we will

give the following competitive

preference under section 606 of IDEA

and 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i), to

applications that are otherwise eligible

for funding under this priority:

Up to ten (10) points based on the

effectiveness of the applicant’s strategies

for employing and advancing in

employment qualified individuals with

disabilities in project activities as

required under paragraph (a) of the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice. In determining the effectiveness

of those strategies, the Assistant

Secretary can consider the applicant’s

past success in pursuit of this goal.

For purposes of this competitive

preference, applicants can be awarded

up to a total of 10 points in addition to

those awarded under the published

selection criteria for this priority. That

is, an applicant meeting this

competitive preference could earn a

maximum total of 110 points.

Maximum Award: We will reject and

will not consider an application that

proposes a budget exceeding $500,000

for any single budget period of 12

months. The Assistant Secretary for

Special Education and Rehabilitative

Services may change the maximum

amount through a notice published in

the Federal Register.

Page Limits: The maximum page limit

for this priority is 70 double-spaced

pages.

Note: Applications must meet the required

page limit standards that are described in the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice.

Absolute Priority 2—Training Center in

Early Intervention for Infants and

Toddlers Who Have Hearing

Impairments, Including Deafness

(84.325C)

Background

Traditionally, university programs

preparing personnel to work with

hearing impaired children have trained

professionals to work with the preschool through high school population.

Despite well-trained personnel in the

classroom, academic achievement

results for these students have been

disappointing. These poor results have

been attributed to the fact that,

generally, the critical period for

language development is from birth to

three years of age. Yet, with hearing

screening for newborns and infants

becoming increasingly routine, hearing

impairments are now being diagnosed

with greater frequency during the first

few months of life, rather than at age

two or three, as had been the case

previously. Moreover, recent advances

in the technology of cochlear implants

and digital hearing aids provide the

potential for enhanced language

development at a much earlier age.

Thus, a program of study specifically

focused on the developmental,

communication, conceptual, medical,

and technological needs of infants and

toddlers with hearing impairments,

including deafness, is essential to

ensure that professionals are equipped

with the skills and competencies to

meet these unique needs and to assist

and support families to enhance the

development of their child.

Priority

The Assistant Secretary establishes an

absolute priority to support a training

center to carry out a coordinated and

integrated project that will develop,

field-test, and disseminate empiricallybased pre-service training program

modules for students in the area of early

intervention for infants and toddlers

with hearing impairments, including

deafness, and their families.

The model training modules must

include—

(a) Relevant, research-based curricular

content and pedagogical practices

designed to meet the unique needs of

infants and toddlers with hearing

impairments, including deafness, and

their families in the following areas—

(1) Developmental assessment and

evaluation;

(2) Medical aspects of hearing

impairments as they relate to the

developmental needs;

(3) General growth and development

of infants and toddlers;

(4) Concept development;

(5) The full range of communication

approaches from oral and aural through

American Sign Language (ASL); and

(6) Knowledge and application of

current technologies for use in

enhancing the growth and development

of the target population, including

cochlear implants and digital hearing

aid technology.

(b) Effective practices for working

with families of infants and toddlers

with hearing impairments, including

deafness, to enhance the development of

their children including—

(1) Partnering with families in

Individualized Family Service Plan

(IFSP) development;

(2) Working and communicating with

parents of children with hearing

impairments including deafness using

effective strategies for teaching adults;

and

(3) Assisting and supporting families

to identify their strengths, concerns, and

priorities.

The Center must—

(a) Partner with Part C lead agencies;

the medical community; parent training

and information centers and community

parent resource centers supported under

Part D of IDEA; professional and

advocacy organizations; IHEs, including

HBCUs; and other agencies and

organizations involved in providing

services to infants and toddlers with

hearing impairments, including

deafness, and their families, in

developing and field testing its training

program;

(b) Provide training opportunities for

a limited number of graduate students;

(c) Meet with the Office of Special

Education Programs (OSEP) project

officer in the first three months of the

project to review the proposed project

activities;

(d) Prepare and disseminate the

products and training modules from the

Center in formats that are useful for

appropriate audiences;

(e) Conduct research and

development activities, using rigorous

research methodologies; and

(f) Provide information through a web

site. Documents must be in an

accessible form.

Project Period: Under this priority, the

Assistant 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

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 83 / Friday, April 28, 2000 / Notices 25161

75.253(a) for continuation awards.

During the second year of the project,

the Assistant Secretary will determine

whether to continue the Center for the

fourth and fifth years of the project

period and will consider in addition to

the requirements of 34 CFR 75.253(a):

(a) The recommendation of a review

team consisting of three experts selected

by the Assistant Secretary. The services

of the review team, including a two-day

site visit to the project, are to be

performed during the last half of the

project’s second year and may be

included in that year’s evaluation

required under 34 CFR 75.590. Costs

associated with the services to be

performed by the review team must also

be included in the project’s budget for

year two. These costs are estimated to be

approximately $6,000;

(b) The timeliness and effectiveness

with which all requirements of the

negotiated cooperative agreement have

been or are being met by the project; and

(c) The degree to which the project’s

design and technical strategies

demonstrate the potential for

disseminating significant new

knowledge.

Competitive Preferences

Within this absolute priority, we will

give the following competitive

preference under section 606 of IDEA

and 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i), to

applications that are otherwise eligible

for funding under this priority:

Up to ten (10) points based on the

effectiveness of the applicant’s strategies

for employing and advancing in

employment qualified individuals with

disabilities in project activities as

required under paragraph (a) of the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice. In determining the effectiveness

of those strategies, the Assistant

Secretary can consider the applicant’s

past success in pursuit of this goal.

For purposes of this competitive

preference, applicants can be awarded

up to a total of 10 points in addition to

those awarded under the published

selection criteria for this priority. That

is, an applicant meeting this

competitive preference could earn a

maximum total of 110 points.

Maximum Award: We will reject and

will not consider an application that

proposes a budget exceeding $500,000

for any single budget period of 12

months. The Assistant Secretary for

Special Education and Rehabilitative

Services may change the maximum

amount through a notice published in

the Federal Register.

Page Limits: The maximum page limit

for this priority is 70 double-spaced

pages.

Note: Applications must meet the required

page limit standards that are described in the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice.

Absolute Priority 3—National IHE

Faculty Enhancement Center To

Improve Results for Children With

Disabilities in Schools (84.325F)

Children with disabilities are, in

growing numbers, joining their

nondisabled peers in schools and in

classrooms to receive instruction in the

general education curriculum with

appropriate supports and services. The

intent of the standards based reform

movement is for all students to have

access to and to enjoy meaningful

participation and progress in curricular

offerings that will enable them to

achieve to high standards. As schools

seek to ensure appropriate access to and

participation of students with

disabilities in the daily life of the

regular school and in the general

education curriculum within the

standards based reform movement,

many school administrative, general

instructional, and support personnel are

finding themselves ill-prepared to

effectively carry out their new and

emerging roles and responsibilities.

Unless a major initiative is mounted at

the preservice training level, incoming

personnel will continue to face these

challenges ill-prepared.

The purpose of this priority is to

support a National Center to enhance

the knowledge and skills of IHE faculty

in school administration, regular

education teacher training (including

bilingual teacher training), school

counseling, and school nursing, to

improve the preservice training of

personnel who share responsibility with

special educators for providing effective

services and ensuring improved results

for children with disabilities in our

schools. The Center must:

(a) Identify needs. Identify knowledge

and skill enhancement needs of IHE

faculty in each of the targeted training

programs (i.e., school administration;

regular education teacher training;

school counseling; and school nursing)

that are most critical to ensuring that

trainees in these programs are well

prepared to carry out their respective

roles and responsibilities in serving

children with disabilities in school

settings. This need identification

process must be guided by a

comprehensive review of the extant

literature base and supplemented with

methodologically sound investigative

activities to enhance the current

knowledge base where gaps are

identified. Informants to this process

should include recent program

graduates and parents of children with

disabilities.

(b) Identify appropriate existing

resources. Identify existing resources,

including those that have been

developed with IDEA discretionary

grant or contract support, that represent

state of the art, research-based

knowledge and practice that address the

critical needs identified in paragraph (a)

and that can be appropriately integrated

into training modules under paragraph

(c). Products developed by the IDEA

Partnerships Technical Assistance

projects currently supported by OSEP

must be reviewed and considered for

incorporation into proposed training

modules.

(c) Develop training modules. Develop

content-rich training modules that

address the critical knowledge and skill

enhancement needs identified in

paragraph (a), that integrate existing

resources identified in paragraph (b),

and that are designed for ease of

integration into existing curricular

courses and experiential opportunities

in the targeted IHE training programs.

Modules must be structured to

incorporate state of the art technology

that will serve to enhance dissemination

and use.

(d) Disseminate training modules.

Develop and implement mechanisms

that will result in broad, effective

dissemination and use of training

modules developed in paragraph (c).

(e) Conduct comprehensive

evaluation. Design and conduct a

comprehensive evaluation of the work,

accomplishments, outcomes, impact,

and effectiveness of the Center. This

evaluation must be designed to provide

information to guide necessary, ongoing,

refinements to the structure, activities,

workflow, and products that will

improve the ultimate impact and

effectiveness of the Center. This

comprehensive evaluation must also be

designed to measure the impact of this

National Center on the primary goal of

enhancing the knowledge and skills of

IHE faculty in school administration,

regular education teacher training,

school counseling, and school nursing

to improve the preservice training of

personnel who share responsibility for

providing effective services and

ensuring improved results for children

with disabilities in our public schools.

In designing and carrying out the

required activities of this National

Center, the project must collaborate

with individuals and groups of

individuals such as deans, IHE faculty,

practicing professionals in the targeted

training fields and in special education,

module design technology experts,

dissemination and training entities, and

25162 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 83 / Friday, April 28, 2000 / Notices

evaluation experts. Collaborators must

include appropriate professional

organizations and associations, federally

supported technical assistance

providers, and federally supported

higher education projects, as

appropriate.

In addition to the annual two-day

Project Directors’ meeting in

Washington, DC mentioned in the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice, projects must budget for two

additional meetings in Washington, DC

to collaborate with the Federal project

officer and the other projects funded

under this priority, to share information

and discuss model development,

evaluation, and project implementation

issues.

Project Period: Under this priority, the

Assistant 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.

During the second year of the project,

the Assistant Secretary will determine

whether to continue the Center for the

fourth and fifth years of the project

period and will consider in addition to

the requirements of 34 CFR 75.253(a):

(a) The recommendation of a review

team consisting of three experts selected

by the Assistant Secretary. The services

of the review team, including a two-day

site visit to the project, are to be

performed during the last half of the

project’s second year and may be

included in that year’s evaluation

required under 34 CFR 75.590. Costs

associated with the services to be

performed by the review team must also

be included in the project’s budget for

year two. These costs are estimated to be

approximately $6,000;

(b) The timeliness and effectiveness

with which all requirements of the

negotiated cooperative agreement have

been or are being met by the project; and

(c) The degree to which the project’s

design and technical strategies

demonstrate the potential for

disseminating significant new

knowledge.

Competitive Preferences

Within this absolute priority, we will

give the following competitive

preference under section 606 of IDEA

and 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i), to

applications that are otherwise eligible

for funding under this priority:

Up to ten (10) points based on the

effectiveness of the applicant’s strategies

for employing and advancing in

employment qualified individuals with

disabilities in project activities as

required under paragraph (a) of the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice. In determining the effectiveness

of those strategies, the Assistant

Secretary can consider the applicant’s

past success in pursuit of this goal.

For purposes of this competitive

preference, applicants can be awarded

up to a total of 10 points in addition to

those awarded under the published

selection criteria for this priority. That

is, an applicant meeting this

competitive preference could earn a

maximum total of 110 points.

Maximum Award: We will reject and

will not accept an application that

proposes a budget exceeding $850,000

for any single budget period of 12

months. The Assistant Secretary for

Special Education and Rehabilitative

Services may change the maximum

amount through a notice published in

the Federal Register.

Page Limits: The maximum page limit

for this priority is 70 double-spaced

pages.

Note: Applications must meet the required

page limit standards that are described in the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice.

Absolute Priority 4—Center To Inform

Personnel Preparation Policy and

Practice in Special Education (84.325Q)

Ensuring that children with

disabilities are served by an adequate

number of highly qualified personnel is

the cornerstone of successful

implementation of the IDEA

Amendments of 1997. Concerns

regarding the current and future supply

of quality service providers are at the

forefront of the national dialogue. There

is widespread agreement that ensuring

an adequate supply of well-trained,

highly qualified service providers into

the next decade and beyond will

demand informed, targeted, proactive

efforts by policy makers at the National,

State, and local levels. To be successful,

these efforts must be guided by a

knowledge base that is comprehensive,

meaningful, and accessible. There is a

critical need for a comprehensive,

coordinated effort to accumulate the

extant knowledge base and to address

identified gaps in that knowledge base.

Under this priority, the Assistant

Secretary will support a Center to

inform personnel preparation policy

and practice in special education by

examining issues and recommending

actions relevant to ensuring an adequate

supply of well qualified personnel to

serve children with disabilities. These

personnel include, early

interventionists, early childhood service

providers, special education teachers,

related service providers, regular

education teachers, and

paraprofessionals, as appropriate to

specific priority requirements. The

Center must:

(a) Conduct a comprehensive review

of the extant literature base in the

following areas:

(1) Licensure and certification

standards and requirements for

personnel serving children with

disabilities. This review must include,

at a minimum, available information,

across all States and for each type of

personnel, on:

(i) Current licensure and certification

standards and requirements including

alternative certification options;

(ii) Motivations for changes in, and

resulting modifications to licensure

standards and requirements; and

(iii) Intended vs. actual impacts of

these changes on personnel quantity

and quality;

(2) Pre-service preparation for

personnel to serve children with

disabilities. The purpose of this review

is to develop a profile of the current

status of training programs for all types

of personnel who serve children with

disabilities. This profile should be

designed to provide rich descriptions of

training programs at the institutional,

State, and National levels. This review

must include, at a minimum, available

information on:

(i) Program entry mechanisms such as

admissions criteria and recruitment

strategies;

(ii) Program structural features such

as program level (associate,

undergraduate, graduate), trainee and

faculty ratios, tenure track and adjunct

faculty ratios, internal and external

sources of support (including State

support and OSEP and other Federal

support), training emphasis (categorical,

multi-categorical, noncategorical), and

program history;

(iii) Program content features such as

alignment with the principles and

requirements of IDEA, alignment with

current licensure and certification

standards, extent to which program

content reflects research-based

knowledge and practice, depth and

breadth of practicum opportunities,

cross-disciplinary arrangements with

other relevant programs (particularly

regular education), and collaborative

relationships with LEAs to provide

induction support;

(iv) Student demographic

characteristics such as age, prior

training and experience, racial and

cultural diversity, and disability;

(v) Program quality assurance features

such as program quality indicators and

procedures for assessing program

quality (including on-the-job

performance of program completers);

and

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 83 / Friday, April 28, 2000 / Notices 25163

(vi) Program outcome features such as

the number of students completing the

program; entrance into, and retention in,

relevant positions for program

completers; and the extent to which

program completers assume positions in

proximity to, or distant from, the

training program location.

(3) Current and projected supply of,

and demand for, personnel to serve

children with disabilities. This review

must include, at a minimum, available

information, at the National, State and

local level, on:

(i) The extent to which there exists, or

will exist, an imbalance between

available personnel and demand for

personnel;

(ii) The extent to which identified

supply and demand discrepancies vary

by personnel type and locality; and

(iii) Factors that influence supply and

demand discrepancies such as salary

and wage structures, economic climate,

population demographics, licensure and

certification standards and

requirements, and proximity to relevant

training programs.

(b) Identify critical gaps in the current

knowledge base and design and conduct

a program of study to address these

gaps. The project must identify the most

critical gaps in the current knowledge

base on the basis of the comprehensive

review conducted in paragraph (a) and

design and conduct a program of study

to address the identified critical gaps.

The program of study must be guided by

a conceptual framework that integrates

the most pressing needs for expanded

knowledge and that will directly inform

needed changes in policies and

practices at all levels (Federal, State,

and local and in institutions of higher

education). The program of study must

employ a rigorous research and

evaluation methodology and must be

reviewed and accepted by panels of

content, research, and evaluation

experts. Panels of experts must be

identified in collaboration with OSEP

staff and convened by the applicant.

The program of study must be designed

to enhance, not duplicate, any current

research and evaluation efforts,

including those supported by OSEP and

other Federal agencies.

(c) Identify and disseminate policy

and practice recommendations. On the

basis of the comprehensive literature

review conducted under paragraph (a),

and the results of the program of study

designed and conducted under

paragraph (b), the project must identify

emerging policy and practice

recommendations related to: meeting

current and projected demand;

establishing meaningful licensure and

certification standards and

requirements; and providing effective

training programs that produce highly

qualified personnel to serve children

with disabilities. Policy and practice

recommendations must be reviewed and

accepted by panels of experts in the

identified topics. Panel members must

be identified in collaboration with OSEP

staff and convened by the project.

Dissemination activities must be

designed and carried out in

collaboration with special education

technical assistance providers and

disseminators and with organizations

and associations that represent policy

maker audiences at the Federal, State,

and local levels. Dissemination

activities must also incorporate the use

of state of the art communications

technology and include information that

is available and accessible through a

web site. Documents must be in an

accessible form.

The project must collaborate with

OSEP staff in strategic planning

throughout the term of the project. A

face-to-face meeting must be scheduled

to occur within one month of the project

award date to review the proposed

project activities.

In addition to the annual two-day

Project Directors’ meeting in

Washington, DC mentioned in the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice, projects must budget for two

additional meetings in Washington, DC

to collaborate with the Federal project

officer and the other projects funded

under this priority, to share information

and discuss model development,

evaluation, and project implementation

issues.

Costs associated with convening

panels of experts as identified under

paragraphs (b) and (c) must also be

included in the project budget.

Maximum Award: We will reject and

will not consider an application that

proposes a budget exceeding $850,000

for any single budget period of 12

months. The Assistant Secretary for

Special Education and Rehabilitative

Services may change the maximum

amount through a notice published in

the Federal Register.

Project Period: Under this priority, the

Assistant 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.

During the second year of the project,

the Assistant Secretary will determine

whether to continue the Center for the

fourth and fifth years of the project

period and will consider in addition to

the requirements of 34 CFR 75.253(a):

(a) The recommendation of a review

team consisting of three experts selected

by the Assistant Secretary. The services

of the review team, including a two-day

site visit to the project, are to be

performed during the last half of the

project’s second year and may be

included in that year’s evaluation

required under 34 CFR 75.590. Costs

associated with the services to be

performed by the review team must also

be included in the project’s budget for

year two. These costs are estimated to be

approximately $6,000;

(b) The timeliness and effectiveness

with which all requirements of the

negotiated cooperative agreement have

been or are being met by the project; and

(c) The degree to which the project’s

design and technical strategies result in

the dissemination of significant new

knowledge.

Competitive Preference

Within this absolute priority, we will

give the following competitive

preference under section 606 of IDEA

and 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i), to

applications that are otherwise eligible

for funding under this priority:

Up to ten (10) points based on the

effectiveness of the applicant’s strategies

for employing and advancing in

employment qualified individuals with

disabilities in project activities as

required under paragraph (a) of the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice. In determining the effectiveness

of those strategies, the Assistant

Secretary can consider the applicant’s

past success in pursuit of this goal.

For purposes of this competitive

preference, applicants can be awarded

up to a total of 10 points in addition to

those awarded under the published

selection criteria for this priority. That

is, an applicant meeting this

competitive preference could earn a

maximum total of 110 points.

Page Limits: The maximum page limit

for this priority is 70 double-spaced

pages.

Note: Applications must meet the required

page limit standards that are described in the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice.

Technology and Media Services for

Individuals With Disabilities [CFDA

84.327]

Purpose of Program: The purpose of

this program is to promote the

development, demonstration, utilization

of technology and to support

educational media activities designed to

be of educational value to children with

disabilities. This program also provides

support for eligible captioning, video

description, and cultural activities.

Applicable Regulations: (a) The

Education Department General

25164 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 83 / Friday, April 28, 2000 / Notices

Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in

34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82,

85, 86, 97, 98, and 99; (b) The selection

criteria for the priorities under this

program are drawn from the EDGAR

general selection criteria menu. The

specific selection criteria for each of

these priorities are included in the

funding application packet for the

applicable competition.

Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86

apply to institutions of higher education

only.

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 forprofit organizations. Eligible applicants

for Absolute Priority 2 are limited to

local educational agencies as defined in

IDEA (20 U.S.C. 1401).

Priority

Under section 687 of IDEA and 34

CFR 75.105(c)(3), we consider only

applications that meet the following

priority:

Absolute Priority 1—Research Institute

on the Use of Assistive Technology In

Education (CFDA 84.327G)

Background

Technology has enhanced the lives of

children with disabilities by providing

them with access to the classroom and

to learning. The Congress recognized

this in passing the IDEA Amendments

of 1997, P.L. 105–17. These

amendments introduced a provision

requiring that teams responsible for

developing an individualized education

program (IEP) for a child with a

disability ‘‘consider whether the child

requires assistive technology devices

and services.’’

Section 602(1) of IDEA defines an

assistive technology (AT) device as ‘‘any

item, piece of equipment, or product

system, whether acquired commercially

off the shelf, modified, or customized,

that is used to increase, maintain, or

improve functional capabilities of a

child with a disability.’’ According to

Section 602(2), an AT service means,

‘‘any service that directly assists a child

with a disability in the selection,

acquisition, or use of an assistive

technology device * * *’’. The

definition further describes an AT

service as including such services as

evaluation, purchasing, selection,

coordination with other interventions,

and training for the child and family as

well as training or technical assistance

for professionals.

Data on children’s use of AT are

sparse. The statistics that do exist tend

to focus on AT devices that provide

physical or sensory access such as

hearing aids, Braille, or wheelchairs.

Less is known about the use of assistive

technologies that can be used to support

learning needs such as word-processing

software, spellcheckers, or calculators.

There is little argument that low,

medium, and high technology devices

can help individuals with disabilities

perform functions that foster

independence. Low-technology devices

are simple, nonelectrical aids such as

head pointers, adaptive eating utensils,

or communication boards. Medium

technology devices are aids that might

use electricity, but are not computer

driven, such as talking calculators or

electronic organizers. High technology

devices are computer based, such as

multimedia databases or voice

recognition systems.

While these devices foster access to

the classroom and to learning, there also

are factors that may limit their

widespread use. One factor is

awareness. School districts may not

have access to the latest information

about technology or may not know

where to go to get that information. A

second factor is financial. Purchasing

materials requires knowledge, trained

personnel, time, money, and planning.

Without such elements in place

students may not gain timely access to

AT devices. Training is another factor,

not just for the child using the

technology, but for practitioners who

need to understand how to use a full

continuum of technology in the

classroom. School districts are still

learning how best to provide students

with the technology they need and are

seeking alternative and cost-effective

means to gain access to key

technologies.

Priority

The Assistant Secretary establishes an

absolute priority for a research institute

to study the use of AT to improve the

provision of a free appropriate public

education for children with disabilities.

The Institute must study a range of

school districts, reflecting diverse

demographics in size, locale, and socioeconomic conditions. Methodologies

employed by the Institute may include

but need not be limited to: interviews;

case studies; focus groups; reviews of

records; observations; and policy

analyses.

The Institute must consider what

factors enhance or impede

decisionmaking, planning, acquisition,

maintenance, training, and instruction

in the use of AT. At a minimum, the

Institute must answer the following

research questions:

(a) Prevalence:

What percentage of children with

disabilities require various type of AT

devices and services? What functions do

these devices and services need to

perform for the individual child?

(b) School District Policy and

Resources:

What policies or guidelines and

processes are in place to help the IEP

team make decisions about AT devices

and services? What resources are in

place to finance AT devices and services

(e.g., medicaid)? How do districts

acquire AT? How is the technology

managed and maintained?

(c) IEP Practices:

How are the individual’s needs for the

technology evaluated? How does the IEP

team, including the student and family,

determine when an AT device or service

is appropriate? How is the appropriate

technology selected, designed, or

adapted to the individual child?

(d) Training and Support:

What training and technical

assistance is available for teachers, other

service providers, families, students,

employers, and other appropriate

individuals regarding AT? Are

structures in place to promote

collaboration between regular and

special education teachers? What

coordination is there with other

agencies or service providers?

(e) Instruction:

What policies and practices are in

place to support the use of AT in the

learning environment? How is the

technology integrated into classroom

curriculum and instruction? Are

evaluation measures in place to ensure

that individual student’s access and

academic needs are being appropriately

met by the technology?

(f) Student Outcomes:

How do AT devices and services

affect student academic, social, and

functional outcomes? How do AT

devices and services affect school and

classroom environments?

The Institute must design and

implement a dissemination approach

that promotes the use of current

knowledge and ongoing research

findings. This approach must:

(a) Develop links with appropriate

Education Department technical

assistance providers to communicate

research findings and distribute

products;

(b) Collaborate as appropriate with

other research institutes supported

under the IDEA, other experts and

researchers in related subject matter and

methodological fields, and other related

agencies such as the National Institute

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 83 / Friday, April 28, 2000 / Notices 25165

on Disability and Rehabilitation

Research (NIDRR) and the

Rehabilitation Services Administration

(RSA).

(c) Develop an accessible website to

link participating school districts and to

provide up-to-date information on

findings;

(d) Prepare the research findings in

formats that are useful for specific

audiences, such as regular and special

education practitioners, administrators,

and policy makers;

(e) Fund at least three graduate

students per year as research assistants

who have concentrations in disability

issues and technology;

(f) Meet with the OSEP project officer

and appropriate OSEP staff in the first

three months of the project to review the

strategic work plan and the approach to

dissemination; and

(g) Budget three trips annually to

Washington, DC (two trips to meet and

collaborate with U.S. Department of

Education officials and one trip, as

specified in the ‘‘General Requirements’’

for all projects section of this notice, to

attend the two-day Office of Special

Education Programs Project Directors’

Conference).

Project Period: Under this priority, the

Assistant Secretary will make one award

for a cooperative agreement with a

project period of up to 48 months with

an option to extend the project for six

months for dissemination activities

subject to the requirements of 34 CFR

75.253(a) for continuation awards.

In determining whether to award the

third and fourth year of the project,

during the second year, the Assistant

Secretary will consider in addition to

the requirements of 34 CFR 75.253(a):

(a) The recommendation of a review

team consisting of three experts selected

by the Assistant Secretary. The services

of the review team, including a two-day

site visit to the project, are to be

performed in the sixth month of the

project’s second year and may be

included in that year’s evaluation

required under 34 CFR 75.590. Costs

associated with the services to be

performed by the review team must also

be included in the project’s budget for

year two. These costs are estimated to be

approximately $6,000;

(b) The timeliness and effectiveness

with which all requirements of the

negotiated cooperative agreement have

been or are being met by the Institute;

and

(c) The degree to which the Institute’s

design and technical strategies

demonstrate the potential for

disseminating significant new

knowledge.

Competitive Preferences

Within this absolute priority, we will

give the following competitive

preference under section 606 of IDEA

and 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i), to

applications that are otherwise eligible

for funding under this priority:

Up to ten (10) points based on the

effectiveness of the applicant’s strategies

for employing and advancing in

employment qualified individuals with

disabilities in project activities as

required under paragraph (a) of the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice. In determining the effectiveness

of those strategies, the Assistant

Secretary can consider the applicant’s

past success in pursuit of this goal.

For purposes of this competitive

preference, applicants can be awarded

up to a total of 10 points in addition to

those awarded under the published

selection criteria for this priority. That

is, an applicant meeting this

competitive preference could earn a

maximum total of 110 points.

Maximum Award: We will reject and

will not consider an application that

proposes a budget exceeding $700,000

for any single budget period of 12

months. The Assistant Secretary of

Special Education and Rehabilitative

Services may change the maximum

amount through a notice published in

the Federal Register.

Page Limits: The maximum page limit

for this priority is 70 double-spaced

pages.

Note: Applications must meet the required

page limit standards that are described in the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice.

Note: For further information or

clarification see the World Wide Web at:

http://www.air.org/TECHIDEAS

Absolute Priority 2—Technology

Research-To-Practice (84.327M)

Background

A number of recent research and

development efforts, many with Federal

support, have focused on using

technology to improve educational and

early intervention results for infants,

toddlers, and children with disabilities.

These efforts have spanned a range of

technologies, curriculum areas, student

ages, and special needs. In some cases,

these efforts have developed and tested

new technology devices or products.

Examples include devices that provide

access to educational and early

intervention for children with sensory

or physical impairments, and

instructional software for children with

special learning needs. Other efforts

have focused on using already-available

products or technologies to meet special

educational and early intervention

needs. Examples include new methods

for using the World Wide Web or

commercially available software to

address the needs of children with

disabilities.

The results of these research and

development efforts are not applied in

practice as widely as they should be. In

part, this is because the adoption of new

technology approaches in education or

early intervention can be a demanding

process, requiring a sustained

commitment from the school and

district, and often requiring guidance

and assistance from outside sources.

The 1995 Office of Technology

document entitled Teachers and

Technology: Making the Connection

(available on the World Wide Web at

http://www.wws.princeton.edu/∼ota/

disk1/1995/9541.html), and Office of

Special Education (OSEP) documents

(available on the World Wide Web at

http://www.air.org/TECHIDEAS)

delineate a number of factors and

approaches related to the

implementation of technology in

education and early intervention.

Important factors include leadership

and planning, access to appropriate

technology, training, ongoing technical

support and coaching, collaboration,

and adequate teacher time. Careful

consideration of factors, such as these,

is essential for the sustained and

effective implementation of new

approaches to using technology to

improve educational and early

intervention results for infants, toddlers,

and children with disabilities.

Priority

This priority supports local school

systems or early intervention providers

in implementing research-based

approaches for using technology to

improve educational or early

intervention results for infants, toddlers,

or children with disabilities. Projects

must:

(a) Describe and implement an

approach for using technology to

improve results for one or more of the

following levels: early intervention,

preschool, elementary, middle school,

or high school. Projects may use

technology in a way that benefits

children without disabilities, as long as

the benefits for children with

disabilities are clear and documented.

The Assistant Secretary intends to fund

at least two projects at each of the

following levels: early intervention,

preschool, elementary school, middle

school, and high school;

(b) Provide credible prior research

evidence of the effectiveness of the

approach for improving educational and

25166 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 83 / Friday, April 28, 2000 / Notices

early intervention results. Some

resources for identifying research-based

approaches are available on the World

Wide Web at http://www.air.org/

TECHIDEAS. Approaches not

referenced on this web site may also be

used if there is research evidence of

their effectiveness with infants,

toddlers, or children with disabilities;

(c) Describe and carry out a process

for implementing and sustaining the

approach in one or more schools,

including a process for continued

implementation of the approach after

the Federal funding awarded under this

priority ends;

(d) Describe and carry out a rigorous

evaluation of the effectiveness of the

approach in improving educational or

early intervention results for infants,

toddlers, or children with disabilities;

(e) Post quarterly updates on project

progress on a World Wide Web site

designated by OSEP, and participate in

topical discussions on the World Wide

Web site; and

(f) Spend no more than 25 percent of

the 36-month total of funds awarded

under this priority for technology

equipment and software.

Competitive Preferences

Within this absolute priority, we will

give the following competitive

preference under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i),

to applications that are otherwise

eligible for funding under this priority:

Up to ten (10) points based on the

extent to which an application

demonstrates that participating schools

are in high poverty rural or inner city

areas.

We will also give the following

competitive preference under section

606 of IDEA and 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i),

to applications that are otherwise

eligible for funding under this priority:

Up to ten (10) points based on the

effectiveness of the applicant’s strategies

for employing and advancing in

employment qualified individuals with

disabilities in project activities as

required under paragraph (a) of the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice. In determining the effectiveness

of those strategies, the Assistant

Secretary can consider the applicant’s

past success in pursuit of this goal.

For purposes of these competitive

preferences, applicants can be awarded

up to a total of 20 points in addition to

those awarded under the published

selection criteria for this priority. That

is, an applicant meeting this

competitive preference could earn a

maximum total of 120 points.

Project Period: 36 months.

Maximum Award: We will reject and

will not consider an application that

proposes a budget exceeding $170,000

for any single budget period of 12

months. The Assistant Secretary for

Special Education and Rehabilitative

Services may change the maximum

amount through a notice published in

the Federal Register.

Page Limits: The maximum page limit

for this priority is 50 double-spaced

pages.

Note: Applications must meet the required

page limit standards that are described in the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice.

Special Education—Training and

Information for Parents of Children

With Disabilities [CFDA 84.328]

Purpose of Program: The purpose of

this program is to ensure that parents of

children with disabilities receive

training and information to help

improve results for their children.

Under section 682(e) of IDEA, the

Assistant Secretary is required to: (a)

Make at least one award to a parent

organization in each State, unless the

Assistant Secretary does not receive an

application from such an organization

in each State of sufficient quality to

warrant approval; and (b) select among

applications submitted by parent

organizations in a State in a manner that

ensures the most effective assistance to

parents, including parents in urban and

rural areas, in the State.

Eligible Applicants: Parent

organizations, as defined in section

682(g) of IDEA. A parent organization is

a private nonprofit organization (other

than an institution of higher education)

that:

(a) Has a board of directors, the parent

and professional members of which are

broadly representative of the population

to be served and the majority of whom

are parents of children with disabilities,

that includes individuals with

disabilities and individuals working in

the fields of special education, related

services, and early intervention; or

(b) Has a membership that represents

the interest of individuals with

disabilities and must establish a special

governing board meeting the

requirements for a board of directors in

paragraph (a) and develops a

memorandum of understanding between

this special governing board and the

board of directors of the organization

that clearly outlines the relationship

between the board and the committee

and the decisionmaking responsibilities

and authority of each.

Applicable Regulations: (a) The

Education Department General

Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in

34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82,

85, 97, 98, and 99; (b) The selection

criteria for this priority are drawn from

the EDGAR general selection criteria

menu. The specific selection criteria for

this priority are included in the funding

application packet for this competition.

Priority

Under section 682 of the Act and 34

CFR 75.105(c)(3), the Assistant

Secretary gives an absolute preference to

applications that meet the following

priority. The Assistant Secretary funds

under this competition only those

applications that meet this priority:

Absolute Priority—Parent Training and

Information Centers (84.328M)

Background

The IDEA Amendments of 1997

strengthen the role of parents and

increase their involvement in decisions

about their children’s education. In

order to allocate resources more

equitably, create a unified system of

service delivery, and provide the

broadest coverage for the parents and

families in every State, the Department

is making awards in five (5)-year cycles

for each State. In fiscal year 2000,

applications for 5-year awards will be

accepted for the following States:

Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, New

Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma,

Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee,

and West Virginia.

In addition to the above State awards,

the Assistant Secretary intends to fund

one award in the Virgin Islands and one

award in American Samoa.

Until the first five (5)-year cycle is

completed, there is a need to have an

interim schedule for awards in States

where there is more than one PTI and

their current awards do not have the

same end date. We are holding

competitions for one or more awards in

these States for the time periods needed

to match the end date of the last Center

funded.

Applications will be accepted for FY

2000 interim competitions in the State

of New York. The Assistant Secretary

intends to fund two awards for one year

each for the following:

(a) One Center in the State of New

York that will serve one or more

underserved populations in a

metropolitan area. This award will be

for $185,000; and

(b) One Center in the State of New

York that will serve a metropolitan area

with an emphasis on outreach to

unserved or underserved populations.

This award will be for $154,800.

Priority

The Assistant Secretary proposes to

establish an absolute priority to support

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 83 / Friday, April 28, 2000 / Notices 25167

Parent Training and Information Centers

that—

(a) Provide training and information

that meets the training and information

needs of parents of children with

disabilities in the area served by the

Center, particularly underserved parents

and parents of children who may be

inappropriately identified, including

those who are not identified at all;

(b) Assist parents to understand the

availability of, and how to effectively

use, procedural safeguards under IDEA,

including encouraging the use, and

explaining the benefits, of alternative

methods of dispute resolution, such as

the mediation process described in

IDEA;

(c) Serve the parents of infants,

toddlers, and children with the full

range of disabilities;

(d) Assist parents to—

(1) Better understand the nature of

their children’s disabilities and their

educational and developmental needs;

(2) Communicate effectively with

personnel responsible for providing

special education, early intervention,

and related services;

(3) Participate in decisionmaking

processes and the development of

individualized education programs and

individualized family service plans;

(4) Obtain appropriate information

about the range of options, programs,

services, and resources available to

assist children with disabilities and

their families;

(5) Understand the provisions of the

Act for the education of, and the

provision of early intervention services

to, children with disabilities; and

(6) Participate in school reform

activities;

(e) Contract with the State education

agency, if the State elects to contract

with the Parent Training and

Information Center, for the purpose of

meeting with parents who choose not to

use the mediation process to encourage

the use, and explain the benefits, of

mediation consistent with section

615(e)(2)(B) and (D) of IDEA;

(f) Establish cooperative relations

with the Community Parent Resource

Center or Centers in their State in

accordance with section 683(b)(3) of

IDEA;

(g) Network with appropriate

clearinghouses, including organizations

conducting national dissemination

activities under section 685(d) of IDEA,

and with other national, State, and local

organizations and agencies, such as

protection and advocacy agencies, that

serve parents and families of children

with the full range of disabilities;

(h) Annually report to the Assistant

Secretary on—

(1) The number of parents to whom

Parent Training and Information Centers

provided information and training in

the most recently concluded fiscal year,

and

(2) The effectiveness of strategies used

to reach and serve parents, including

underserved parents of children with

disabilities; and

(i) If there is more than one parent

center in a particular State, coordinate

their activities to ensure the most

effective assistance to parents in that

State.

An applicant must identify the

strategies it will undertake—

(a) To ensure that the needs for

training and information of underserved

parents of children with disabilities in

the areas to be served are effectively

met, particularly in underserved areas of

the State; and

(b) To work with the communitybased organizations, particularly in the

underserved areas of the State.

A Parent Training and Information

Center that receives assistance under

this absolute priority may also conduct

the following activities—

(a) Provide information to teachers

and other professionals who provide

special education and related services to

children with disabilities;

(b) Assist students with disabilities to

understand their rights and

responsibilities on reaching the age of

majority, as stated in section 615(m) of

IDEA; and

(c) Assist parents of children with

disabilities to be informed participants

in the development and implementation

of the State improvement plan under

IDEA.

In addition to the annual Project

Directors’ meeting included in the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice, a project’s budget must include

funds to attend a regional Project

Directors’ meeting to be held each year

of the project.

In order to demonstrate eligibility to

receive a grant, an applicant must

describe how its board or special

governing committee meets the criteria

for a parent organization in section

682(g) of IDEA. In addition, any parent

organization that establishes a special

governing committee under section

682(g)(2) of IDEA must demonstrate that

the by-laws of its organization allows

the governing committee to be

responsible for operating the project

(consistent with existing fiscal policies

of its organization).

Current funding levels, population of

school age children, and the relative

proportion of children living in poverty

will be considered in determining

funding levels for grants.

Competitive Preferences

Within this absolute priority, we will

give the following competitive

preference under section 606 of IDEA

and 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i), to

applications that are otherwise eligible

for funding under this priority:

Up to ten (10) points based on the

effectiveness of the applicant’s strategies

for employing and advancing in

employment qualified individuals with

disabilities in project activities as

required under paragraph (a) of the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice. In determining the effectiveness

of those strategies, the Assistant

Secretary can consider the applicant’s

past success in pursuit of this goal.

For purposes of this competitive

preference, applicants can be awarded

up to a total of 10 points in addition to

those awarded under the published

selection criteria for this priority. That

is, an applicant meeting this

competitive preference could earn a

maximum total of 110 points.

Project Period: With the exception of

the following, projects will be funded

for a period up to 60 months. Interim

projects will be funded for a period up

to 12 months.

Estimated Project Awards: Project

award amounts are for a single budget

period of 12 months. The FY 2000 State

awards, including Virgin Islands and

American Samoa, and interim State

awards, are listed below:

Hawaii—$160,680

Idaho—$158,780

Louisiana—$257,100

New Hampshire—$158,600

North Carolina—$311,700

Oklahoma—$198,180

Pennsylvania—$469,750

Rhode Island—$159,400

Tennessee—$279,800

West Virginia—$160,680

Virgin Islands—$107,820

American Samoa—$107,120

New York (Interim Awards)—$339,800

Page Limits: The maximum page limit

for this priority is 50 double-spaced

pages.

Note: Applications must meet the required

page limit standards that are described in the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice.

Special Education Studies and

Evaluations [CFDA 84.329]

Purpose of Program: To assess

progress in implementing IDEA,

including State and local efforts to

provide free appropriate public

education to children with disabilities,

and early intervention services to

infants and toddlers with disabilities.

Applicable Regulations: (a) The

Education Department General

25168 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 83 / Friday, April 28, 2000 / Notices

1 Detailed information on the FY 1999 SIG

projects is available from the Federal Resource

Center web site (http:/www.dssc.org/frc/

sigres.htm).

Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in

34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82,

85, 86, 97, 98, and 99;

(b) The selection criteria for the

priority under this program are drawn

from the EDGAR general selection

menu. The specific selection criteria for

this priority are included in the funding

application packet for the applicable

competition.

Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86

apply to institutions of higher education

only.

Eligible Applicants: State and local

educational agencies; institutions of

higher education; other public agencies;

for-profit organizations; private

nonprofit organizations; outlying areas;

freely associated States; and Indian

tribes or tribal organizations.

Priority

Under section 674 of IDEA and 34

CFR 75.105(c)(3), we consider only

applications that meet the following

priority:

Absolute Priority—An Evaluation of the

State Program Improvement Grant (SIG)

Program (CFDA 84.329A)

Background

A new discretionary program became

part of IDEA during the 1997

reauthorization. Part D, Subpart 1—

State Program Improvement Grants for

Children with Disabilities—was added

for the purpose of assisting State

educational agencies and their partners

in reforming and improving their

educational, early intervention, and

transitional service systems, including

their systems for professional

development, technical assistance, and

dissemination of knowledge about best

practices to improve results for children

with disabilities.

Beginning in FY 1999, SIGs were

awarded to State educational agencies

on a competitive basis for five years at

amounts of $500,000 to $1,800,000 per

year depending on the relative

population of the States, amount of

funds available, and the types of

activities proposed. Specific grant

activities were based on State

improvement plans that were developed

based on assessments of State and local

needs and by authorizing legislation.

Eighteen States received grant awards in

FY 1999 1 and approximately seven

additional awards will be made in FY

2000.

The evaluation study to be awarded

under this priority will be largely

formative in nature; that is, the U.S.

Department of Education, Office of

Special Education Programs will use the

data collected in this evaluation to:

(a) Inform the reauthorization of this

program in 2002;

(b) Suggest related or supportive

priorities for discretionary funding;

(c) Improve future SIG competitions;

and

(d) Improve SIG project management

at the Federal level.

Priority

The purpose of this priority is to fund

one five-year cooperative agreement that

will evaluate the SIG program, as

implemented by States receiving grants

under this competition (CFDA 84.323A).

(a) The evaluation must provide—

(1) Information and recommendations

regarding the extent to which this

program is meeting, and is likely to

meet in the future, three fundamental

goals of the program:

(i) To implement systemic

improvements in the provision of

educational, early intervention, and

transitional services to infants, toddlers,

and children with disabilities, including

systems for professional development,

technical assistance, and dissemination

of best practice;

(ii) To use professional development

and technical assistance activities as a

means to achieving systemic

improvements; and

(iii) To improve results for infants,

toddlers, children and youth with

disabilities as an outcome of systemic

change.

(2) Information on the extent to which

the requirements in the Act applicable

to SIGs contribute to the achievement of

program goals in paragraph (1).

(b) At a minimum, this project must—

(1) Propose a design for the evaluation

that includes:

(i) A description of the overall

approach or type of evaluation to be

conducted;

(ii) An initial set of evaluation

questions based on the purposes of the

evaluation as stated previously.

(iii) A matrix of potential sources of

evaluation data for SIG projects

receiving funds during the five-year

term of this cooperative agreement, the

methods of data collection, the

instruments to be used, and other

measurement issues related to each of

the evaluation questions. Qualitative or

quantitative data collection methods

may be proposed; however, the methods

chosen must:

(A) Allow data to be collected with

precision; and

(B) Maximize validity and reliability;

and

(iv) An analysis plan that outlines the

type of data to be gathered and the

specific analyses to be conducted,

including appropriate statistical or

valuational criteria to be applied to

these data. The plan should also

indicate how best to communicate the

results of the analyses to Congress,

OSEP, and other interested parties.

(2) Propose a timeline for

implementing the design over the fiveyear project period that allows for

refining the evaluation design in the

first year, establishing contacts with the

SIG grantees, developing and pilot

testing instruments and executing the

OMB forms clearance process;

(3) Propose a communication plan

with OSEP that describes:

(i) Methods for providing consistent

and timely updates regarding the

progress of this project and for

identifying any constraints or barriers

that arise in implementing the final

evaluation design, budget changes,

preliminary findings, and reports. The

communication plan should include the

annual Grant Performance Report for

Continuation Funding and, at

minimum, one meeting annually with

OSEP staff in Washington, DC (in

conjunction with the meeting described

in the ‘‘General Requirements’’ section

of this notice) to discuss project

implementation issues and preliminary

findings. This annual meeting is in

addition to the meeting described in

paragraph (4);

(ii) A series of interim reports

containing study findings relative to the

research questions and consistent with

the timeline for implementing the

design. At least one of these interim

reports must be developed prior to the

expiration of the authorization for the

SIG program in September 2002; and

(iii) A final technical report of the

evaluation (due 60 months following the

start date of the project) that contains,

at minimum, the following sections:

(A) Executive Summary;

(B) Background information on the

SIG program;

(C) Description of the evaluation

study;

(D) Results;

(E) Discussion of results; and

(F) Conclusions, Recommendations,

and Options.

A detailed outline of the final report

shall be submitted for review by the

project officer 56 months after the start

date of the project. In addition, the

project officer shall have an opportunity

to provide input on a draft version of

the final report due 57 months after the

start date of the project;

(4) Meet with the OSEP project officer

and other OSEP staff within three weeks

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 83 / Friday, April 28, 2000 / Notices 25169

of the start date for the project to review

and revise, if necessary, the proposed

evaluation design (including the

evaluation questions and analysis plan),

the timeline and communication plan.

The final versions of these documents,

including any changes resulting from

this meeting, will be incorporated into

the requirements of the cooperative

agreement; and

(5) Implement the evaluation

consistent with the design, timeline,

and communication plan.

Project Period: Under this priority, the

Assistant Secretary will make one award

for a cooperative agreement with a

project period of 60 months subject to

the requirements of 34 CFR 75.253(a) for

continuation awards.

In deciding whether to continue this

project for the fourth and fifth years, the

Assistant Secretary, will consider the

requirements of 34 CFR 75.253(a), and

in addition—

(a) The recommendation of a review

team consisting of three experts selected

by the Assistant Secretary. The services

of the review team, including a two-day

site visit to the grantee, are to be

performed during the last half of the

project’s second year and may be

included in that year’s evaluation

required under 34 CFR 75.590. Costs

associated with the services to be

performed by the review team must also

be included in the project’s budget for

year two. These costs are estimated to be

approximately $6,000;

(b) The timeliness and effectiveness

with which all requirements of the

negotiated cooperative agreement have

been or are being met by the project; and

(c) The extent to which the project’s

design and methodology is likely to

yield findings that may be utilized by

other appropriate agencies and

organizations.

Competitive Preferences

Within this absolute priority, we will

give the following competitive

preferences under section 606 of IDEA

and 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i), to

applications that are otherwise eligible

for funding under this priority:

Up to ten (10) points based on the

effectiveness of the applicant’s strategies

for employing and advancing in

employment qualified individuals with

disabilities in project activities as

required under paragraph (a) of the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice. In determining the effectiveness

of those strategies, the Assistant

Secretary can consider the applicant’s

success in pursuit of this goal.

Up to ten (10) points based on the

extent to which the applicant can

demonstrate previous success in

preparing and submitting a forms

clearance package for OMB approval

and participating in the forms clearance

process as part of a previous project

funded by the Department of Education.

Within these competitive preferences,

applicants can be awarded up to a total

of 20 points in addition to those

awarded under the published selection

criteria for this priority. That is, an

applicant meeting both these

competitive preferences could earn a

maximum total of 120 points.

Maximum Award: We will reject and

will not consider an application that

proposes a budget exceeding $500,000

for any single budget period of 12

months. The Assistant Secretary for

Special Education and Rehabilitative

Services may change the maximum

amount through a notice published in

the Federal Register.

Page Limits: The maximum page limit

for this priority is 70 double-spaced

pages.

Note: Applications must meet the required

page limit standards that are described in the

‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this

notice.

For Applications Contact: Education

Publications Center (ED Pubs), P.O. Box

1398, Jessup, Maryland 20794–1398.

Telephone (toll free): 1–877–4ED–Pubs

(1–877–433–7827). FAX: 301–470–1244.

Individuals who use a

telecommunications device for the deaf

(TDD) may call (toll free) 1–877–576–

7734.

You may also contact Ed Pubs via its

Web site (http://www.ed.gov/pubs/

edpubs.html) or its E-mail address

(edpubs@inet.ed.gov).

For Further Information Contact:

Grants and Contracts Services Team,

U.S. Department of Education, 400

Maryland Avenue, SW, room 3317,

Switzer Building, Washington, DC

20202–2550. Telephone: (202) 260–

9182.

If you use a TDD you may call the

Federal Information Relay Service

(FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339.

Individuals with disabilities may

obtain this document in an alternate

format (e.g., Braille, large print,

audiotape, or computer diskette) on

request to the contact persons listed in

the preceding paragraph.

Individuals with disabilities may

obtain a copy of the application package

in an alternate format by contacting the

Department at the address listed.

However, the Department is not able to

reproduce in an alternate format the

standard forms included in the

application package.

Intergovernmental Review

All programs in this notice (except for

Research and Innovation 84.324T) are

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, we

intend this document 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 2000

CFDA No. and name Applications

available

Application

deadline

date

Deadline for

intergovernmental

review

Maximum

award

(per year) 1

Project period Page limit 2

Estimated

number of

awards

84.324T Model Demonstration

Projects.

05/05/00 06/16/00 N/A .................... Up to 48 mos ....... 50 15

Focus Area 1: First two 12-

month funding periods.

.................... .................... .................... $150,000 .............................. .................... ....................

Focus Area 1: Final two 12-

month funding periods.

.................... .................... .................... 75,000 .............................. .................... ....................

Focus Area 2 .......................... .................... .................... .................... 180,000 .............................. 50/80 14

84.325B Training Center In Early

Intervention for Infants and Toddlers Who Have Visual Impairments Including Blindness.

05/05/00 06/16/00 08/15/00 500,000 Up to 60 mos ....... 70 1

25170 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 83 / Friday, April 28, 2000 / Notices

INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT APPLICATION NOTICE FOR FISCAL YEAR 2000—Continued

CFDA No. and name Applications

available

Application

deadline

date

Deadline for

intergovernmental

review

Maximum

award

(per year) 1

Project period Page limit 2

Estimated

number of

awards

84.325C Training Center In Early

Intervention for Infants and Toddlers Who Have Hearing Impairments Including Deafness.

05/05/00 06/16/00 08/15/00 500,000 Up to 60 mos ....... 70 1

84.325F National IHE Faculty Enhancement Center to Improve

Results for Children with Disabilities in School.

05/05/00 06/16/00 08/15/00 850,000 Up to 60 mos ....... 70 1

84.325Q Center to Inform Personnel Preparation Policy and

Practice in Special Education.

05/05/00 06/16/00 08/15/00 850,000 Up to 60 mos ....... 70 1

84.327G Research Institute on the

Use of Assistive Technology in

Education.

05/05/00 06/23/00 08/22/00 700,000 Up to 48 mos ....... 70 1

84.327M Technology Research to

Practice.

05/05/00 06/30/00 08/29/00 170,000 36 months ............ 50 1

84.328M Parent Training and Information Centers.05/05/00 06/23/00 08/22/00 .................... Up to 60 mos ....... 50 10

Hawaii ..................................... .................... .................... .................... 160,680 .............................. .................... ....................

Idaho ...................................... .................... .................... .................... 158,780 .............................. .................... ....................

Louisiana ................................ .................... .................... .................... 257,100 .............................. .................... ....................

New Hampshire ...................... .................... .................... .................... 158,600 .............................. .................... ....................

North Carolina ........................ .................... .................... .................... 311,700 .............................. .................... ....................

Oklahoma ............................... .................... .................... .................... 198,180 .............................. .................... ....................

Pennsylvania .......................... .................... .................... .................... 469,750 .............................. .................... ....................

Rhode Island .......................... .................... .................... .................... 159,400 .............................. .................... ....................

Tennessee .............................. .................... .................... .................... 279,800 .............................. .................... ....................

West Virginia .......................... .................... .................... .................... 160,680 .............................. .................... ....................

Virgin Islands .......................... .................... .................... .................... 107,820 .............................. .................... ....................

American Samoa .................... .................... .................... .................... 107,120 .............................. .................... ....................

New York (Interim) ................. .................... .................... .................... 339,800 Up to 12 mos ....... 50 2

84.329A An Evaluation of the

State Improvement Grant Program.

05/05/00 06/30/00 08/29/00 500,000 60 months ............ 70 1

1The Assistant 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. 2Applicants must limit the Application Narrative, Part III of the Application, to the page limits noted above. Please refer to the ‘‘Page Limit’’ requirements included under each priority description and in the ‘‘General Requirements’’ section of this notice. The Assistant Secretary rejects and

does not consider an application that does not adhere to this requirement.

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

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 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 (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

Dated: April 25, 2000.

Curtis L. Richards,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Special

Education and Rehabilitative Services.

[FR Doc. 00–10610 Filed 4–27–00; 8:45 am]

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