[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 156 (Friday, August 12, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50199-50201]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-20605]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.325F]


National Center To Enhance the Professional Development of School 
Personnel Who Share Responsibility for Improving Results for Children 
With Disabilities; Final Extension of Project Period and Waiver

AGENCY: Office of Special Education Programs, Office of Special 
Education and Rehabilitative Services, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of final extension of project period and waiver for the 
National Center to Enhance the Professional Development of School 
Personnel Who Share Responsibility for Improving Results for Children 
with Disabilities.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary issues this notice to waive the requirements in 
the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) 
that generally prohibit project periods exceeding five years and 
extensions of project periods involving the obligation of additional 
Federal funds. This extension of project period and waiver enables the 
currently funded National Center to Enhance the Professional 
Development of School Personnel Who

[[Page 50200]]

Share Responsibility for Improving Results for Children with 
Disabilities to receive funding from October 1, 2011, through September 
30, 2012.

DATES: The extension of project period and waiver is effective August 
12, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shedeh Hajghassemali, U.S. Department 
of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4091, Potomac Center Plaza 
(PCP), Washington, DC 20202-2550. Telephone: (202) 245-7506.
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the 
Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll-free, at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 7, 2011, the Department published a 
notice in the Federal Register (76 FR 32968-32969) proposing an 
extension of project period and a waiver of 34 CFR 75.250 and 75.261(a) 
and (c) in order to--
    (1) Enable the Secretary to provide additional funds to the 
currently funded National Center to Enhance the Professional 
Development of School Personnel Who Share Responsibility for Improving 
Results for Children with Disabilities (Center) for an additional 12-
month period, from October 1, 2011, through September 30, 2012; and
    (2) Request comments on the proposed extension of project period 
and waiver.
    There are no substantive differences between the notice of proposed 
extension of project period and waiver and this notice of final 
extension of project period and waiver.

Public Comment

    In response to our invitation in the notice of proposed project 
period and waiver, we did not receive any substantive comments. 
Generally, we do not address comments that do not express views on the 
substance of the notice of proposed extension of project period and 
waiver.

Waiver of Delayed Effective Date

    The Administrative Procedure Act requires that a substantive rule 
must be published at least 30 days before its effective date, except as 
otherwise provided for good cause (5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3)). We received no 
substantive comments on the proposed extension of project period and 
waiver, and we have not made any substantive changes to the proposal. 
The Secretary has therefore determined to waive the delayed effective 
date to ensure a timely continuation grant to the entity affected.

Background

    On June 19, 2006, the Department published a notice in the Federal 
Register (71 FR 35260) inviting applications for new awards for fiscal 
year (FY) 2006 for a National Professional Development Enhancement 
Center (Center), funded under the Personnel Development to Improve 
Services and Results for Children with Disabilities program authorized 
under section 662 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 
(IDEA), 20 U.S.C. 1462.
    The purpose of the Center is to provide pre-service training and 
professional development programs with high-quality instructional 
modules, materials, and resources in order to improve the overall 
quality of special education personnel training and professional 
development. The Center's goals are to help ensure that local 
educational agencies (LEAs) and schools have the capacity to implement 
school improvement programs; to close achievement gaps between students 
with disabilities and their peers; and to promote access to, and 
greater participation and progress in, the general education curriculum 
in the least restrictive environment for students with disabilities.
    Based on the 2006 notice inviting applications, the Department made 
one award to Vanderbilt University to serve as the Center. The project 
period was 60 months, and it is scheduled to end on September 30, 2011.
    We believe that it is not in the public interest to hold a new 
competition under this program in 2011 to fund a new Center as the 
Department is currently working on changes to the entire Personnel 
Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with 
Disabilities program. The program's new design will ensure that all 
projects the program supports are more strategically aligned with each 
other and that all projects better meet the needs of LEAs and schools 
for effective personnel. The Department is currently shaping these 
changes and expects to fund a new competition in FY 2012. However, we 
also have concluded that it is not in the public interest for the 
Center to have a lapse in the provision of the resources currently 
provided by the Center.
    For these reasons, the Secretary waives the requirements in 34 CFR 
75.250, which prohibit project periods exceeding five years; waives the 
requirements in 34 CFR 75.261(a) and (c), which limit the extension of 
a project period if the extension involves the obligation of additional 
Federal funds; and is issuing a continuation award under 34 CFR 75.253 
in the amount of $1,350,000 to Vanderbilt University (H325F060003) to 
operate the Center for an additional 12-month period.
    Waiving these regulations and issuing this continuation award 
ensure that pre-service and professional development programs will 
continue to receive instructional modules, materials, and resources to 
improve the overall quality of training for individuals who provide 
services to students with disabilities.
    With this final extension of project period and waiver, the Center 
will conduct the following activities during FY 2012:
    (a) Build on the previous work of the project by developing 
additional products, and disseminating both new and previously 
developed products to an increased number of institutions of higher 
education, State educational agencies, LEAs, and any other entities 
that provide training and professional development to individuals who 
provide services to students with disabilities.
    (b) Develop products and services based on the input obtained from 
the comprehensive needs-assessments, textbook analyses, focus groups, 
and consumer-input processes previously conducted by the Center that 
tapped the experiences and expertise of an array of partners, 
consumers, and advisors, including staff from the Department's Office 
of Special Education Programs. In addition, the Center must continue to 
seek recommendations from consumers and the Department to guide the 
development of enhancements (e.g., interactive modules, case studies, 
activities, information briefs) and services (e.g., technical 
assistance to faculty, training of trainers, training sessions, and 
dissemination activities) provided by the Center.
    (c) Continue to disseminate project products to instructors and 
their students through a cost-free, dedicated Web site that meets 
accessibility standards under section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. 
(See http://www.section508.gov for additional information on these 
standards.)

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    The Secretary certifies that this final extension of project period 
and waiver will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities. The only entities that will be affected are 
the current grantee serving as the Professional Development Enhancement 
Center and any other potential applicants.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    The final extension of project period and the waiver do not contain 
any information collection requirements.

[[Page 50201]]

Intergovernmental Review

    This program is subject to the requirements of Executive Order 
12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. One of the objectives of 
the Executive order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a 
strengthened federalism. The Executive order relies on processes 
developed by State and local governments for coordination and review of 
proposed Federal financial assistance. This document provides early 
notification of our specific plans and actions for this program.

Accessible Format

    Individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an 
accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the contact person listed in this section.

Electronic Access to This Document

    The official version of this document is the document published in 
the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the official edition of 
the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations is available 
via the Federal Digital System at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this 
site you can view this document, as well as all other documents of this 
Department published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe Portable 
Document Format (PDF). To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, 
which is available free at the site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at: http://www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

    Dated: August 9, 2011.
Alexa Posny,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 2011-20605 Filed 8-11-11; 8:45 am]
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