3548 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

(CFDA No. 84.286)

Office of Educational Research and

Improvement; Telecommunications

Demonstration Project for Mathematics

Notice Inviting Applications for New

Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2000

Note To Applicants

This notice is a complete application

package. Together with the statute

authorizing the program and applicable

regulations governing the program,

including the Education Department

General Administrative Regulations

(EDGAR), the notice contains all of the

information, application forms, and

instructions you need to apply for a

grant under this competition.

Purpose of Program

The purpose of the

Telecommunications Demonstration

Project for Mathematics is to support a

grant to a nonprofit telecommunications

entity, or partnership of those entities,

to carry out a national

telecommunications-based

demonstration project to improve the

teaching of mathematics.

Eligible Applicants

Nonprofit telecommunications entity

or partnership of those entities.

Deadline For Receipt of Applications

March 10, 2000.

Note: We must receive all applications on

or before this date. This requirement takes

exception to the Education Department

General Administrative Regulations

(EDGAR), 34 CFR 75.102. Under the

Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553),

the Department generally offers interested

parties the opportunity to comment on

proposed regulations. However, this

exception to EDGAR makes procedural

changes only and does not establish new

substantive policy. Therefore, under 5 U.S.C.

553(b)(A), the Assistant Secretary for

Educational Research and Improvement has

determined that proposed rulemaking is not

required.

Deadline For Intergovernmental

Review: May 10, 2000.

Estimated Available Funds:

$8,500,000.

Estimated Range of Awards: Up to

$8,500,000.

Maximum Award: We will reject any

application that proposes a budget

exceeding $8,500,000 per year. The

Secretary may change the maximum

amount through a notice published in

the Federal Register.

Estimated Number of Awards: 1–3.

Note: The Department is not bound by any

estimates in this notice.

Project Period: Up to 60 months.

Please note that all applicants for

multi-year awards are required to

provide detailed budget information for

the total grant period requested.

Budget Period: 12 months.

Page Limit: The application narrative

is where you, the applicant, address the

selection criteria reviewers use to

evaluate your application. Although a

standard outline is not required, you

should address the application

requirements and selection criteria

discussed in this application package.

You must limit your narrative to the

equivalent of no more than 25 pages

using the following standards:

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

only, with 1′′ margins at the top, bottom,

and both sides.

• Double space (no more than three

lines per vertical inch) all text in the

application narrative, including titles,

headings, footnotes, quotations,

references, and captions, as well as all

text in charts, tables, figures, and

graphs.

• Use a font that is either 12-point or

larger or no smaller than 10 pitch

(characters per inch).

The page limit does not apply to the

cover sheet; the budget section,

including the narrative budget

justification; the assurances and

certifications; or the one-page abstract,

the resumes, the bibliography, or the

letters of support. However, you must

address in the application narrative all

of the requirements stated in this notice.

If, to meet the page limit, you use

more than one side of the page, you use

a larger page, or you use a print size,

spacing, or margins smaller than the

standards in this notice, your

application will be rejected.

Applicable Regulations: The

Education Department General

Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in

34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 81, 82, 85,

and 86.

Description of Program: The

Telecommunications Demonstration

Project for Mathematics is authorized by

Part D of Title III of the Elementary and

Secondary Education Act of 1965, as

amended (20 U.S.C. 6951–6952).

The Secretary is authorized to award

grants to a nonprofit

telecommunications entity, or a

partnership of those entities, to carry

out a national telecommunicationsbased demonstration project to improve

the teaching of mathematics. The project

must be designed to assist elementary

and secondary school teachers in

preparing all students for achieving

State content standards. The project

must be conducted at elementary and

secondary school sites in at least 15

States.

Application Requirements: Each

nonprofit telecommunications entity, or

partnership of those entities, that

desires a grant must submit an

application that—

(1) Demonstrates that the applicant

will use the existing publicly funded

telecommunications infrastructure to

deliver video, voice, and data in an

integrated service to train teachers in

the use of new standards-based

curricula materials and learning

technologies;

(2) Assures that the project for which

assistance is sought will be conducted

in cooperation with appropriate State

educational agencies, local educational

agencies, State or local nonprofit public

telecommunications entities, and a

national mathematics education

professional association that has

developed content standards; and

(3) Assures that a significant portion

of the benefits available for elementary

and secondary schools from the project

for which assistance is sought will be

available to schools of local educational

agencies which have a high percentage

of children counted for the purpose of

part A of title I of the Elementary and

Secondary Education Act of 1965, as

amended.

Selection Criteria

(a)(1) The Secretary uses the following

selection criteria in 34 CFR 75.210 to

evaluate applications for a new grant

under this competition.

(2) The maximum score for all of

these criteria is 100 points.

(3) The maximum score for each

criterion is indicated in parentheses.

(b) The criteria. (1) Need for Project

(20 points). (i) The Secretary considers

the need for the proposed project.

(ii) In determining the need for the

proposed project, the Secretary

considers the following factors:

(A) The magnitude or severity of the

problem to be addressed by the

proposed project.

(B) The magnitude of the need for the

services to be provided or the activities

to be carried out by the proposed

project.

(2) Significance (35 points). (i) The

Secretary considers the significance of

the proposed project.

(ii) In determining the significance of

the proposed project, the Secretary

considers the following factors:

(A) The national significance of the

proposed project.

(B) The likelihood that the proposed

project will result in system change or

improvement.

(C) The extent to which the proposed

project involves the development or

demonstration of promising new

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices 3549

strategies that build on, or are

alternatives to, existing strategies.

(D) The extent to which the results of

the proposed project are to be

disseminated in ways that will enable

others to use the information or

strategies.

(E) The potential replicability of the

proposed project or strategies,

including, as appropriate, the potential

for implementation in a variety of

settings.

(3) Quality of Project Services (20

points). (i) The Secretary considers the

quality of the services to be provided by

the proposed project.

(ii) In determining the quality of the

services to be provided by the proposed

project, the Secretary considers the

quality and sufficiency of strategies for

ensuring equal access and treatment for

eligible project participants who are

members of groups that have

traditionally been underrepresented

based on race, color, national origin,

gender, age or disability.

(iii) In addition, the Secretary

considers the following factors:

(A) The extent to which the training

or professional development services to

be provided by the proposed project are

of sufficient quality, intensity, and

duration to lead to improvements in

practice among the recipients of those

services.

(B) The extent to which the services

to be provided by the proposed project

involve the collaboration of appropriate

partners for maximizing the

effectiveness of project services.

(4) Quality of the Project Evaluation

(25 points). (i) The Secretary considers

the quality of the evaluation to be

conducted of the proposed project.

(ii) In determining the quality of the

evaluation, the Secretary considers the

following factors:

(A) The extent to which the methods

of evaluation are thorough, feasible, and

appropriate to the goals, objectives, and

outcomes of the proposed project.

(B) The extent to which the methods

of evaluation will provide performance

feedback and permit periodic

assessment of progress toward achieving

intended outcomes.

(C) The extent to which the evaluation

will provide guidance about effective

strategies suitable for replication or

testing in other settings.

What Data Collection and Reporting Are

Required?

The Government Performance and

Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 places new

management expectations and

requirements on Federal departments

and agencies by creating a framework

for more effective planning, budgeting,

program evaluation, and fiscal

accountability for Federal programs.

The purpose of the Act is to improve

public confidence by holding agencies

accountable for achieving program

results. Departments and agencies must

clearly describe the goals and objectives

of their programs, identify resources and

actions needed to accomplish these

goals and objectives, develop a means of

measuring progress made, and regularly

report on their achievement. The

Telecommunications Demonstration

Project for Mathematics program

established as its GPRA objective that

the program will ‘‘promote excellent

teaching in mathematics through

sustained professional development and

teacher networks.’’ The indicator for

meeting this objective is increasing

participation in sustained professional

development: The number of teachers

sharing resources and engaged in other

professional development activities

through on-line learning communities

will increase annually. (For a copy of

the ED FY 2000 Annual Plan see http:/

/www.ed.gov/pubs/planrpts.html).

ED staff are developing plans to

collect and report valid data to measure

progress towards meeting the GPRA

objective, as well as to collect other

information needed for program

monitoring and improvement. Funded

projects will be required to submit these

data as part of their annual and final

performance reports to the U.S.

Department of Education.

One important source of information

on successes and lessons learned is the

project evaluation conducted under

individual grants. A strong project

evaluation plan should be included in

the grant application. The evaluation

should shape the development of the

project from the beginning of the grant

period. The evaluation plan should:

• Include clear benchmarks to

monitor progress toward key objectives;

• Include outcome measures to assess

impact on the intended recipients of

services;

• Identify the project evaluator and

describe his or her qualifications;

• Describe the evaluation design

including: (1) What types of data will be

collected; (2) when various types of data

will be collected; (3) what designs and

methods will be used; (4) what

instruments will be developed and

when; (5) how the data will be analyzed;

(6) when reports of results and

outcomes will be available; and (7) how

information will be used by the project

to monitor progress and to provide

accountability information to

stakeholders both at the initial site and

effective strategies for replication

elsewhere.

Intergovernmental Review of Federal

Programs

This program is subject to the

requirements of Executive Order 12372

(Intergovernmental Review of Federal

Programs) 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.

If you are an applicant, you must

contact the appropriate State Single

Point of Contact (SPOC) to find out

about, and to comply with, the State’s

process under Executive Order 12372. If

you propose to perform activities in

more than one State, you should

immediately contact the SPOC for each

of those States and follow the procedure

established in each State under the

Executive order. If you want to know

the name and address of any SPOC, see

the list in the Appendix to this

application notice; or you may view the

latest official SPOC list on the Web site

of the Office of Management and Budget

at the following address:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/

grants

In States that have not established a

process or chosen a program for review,

State, areawide, regional, and local

entities may submit comments directly

to the Department.

Any State Process Recommendation

and other comments submitted by a

SPOC and any comments from State,

areawide, regional, and local entities

must be mailed or hand-delivered by the

date indicated in this application notice

to the following address: The Secretary,

E.O. 12372—CFDA# 84.286, U.S.

Department of Education, Room 7E200,

400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC 20202–0125.

We will determine proof of mailing

under 34 CFR 75.102 (Deadline date for

applications). Recommendations or

comments may be hand-delivered until

4:30 p.m. (Washington, DC time) on the

date indicated in this notice.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ABOVE

ADDRESS IS NOT THE SAME

ADDRESS AS THE ONE TO WHICH AN

APPLICANT SUBMITS ITS

COMPLETED APPLICATION. DO NOT

SEND APPLICATIONS TO THE ABOVE

ADDRESS.

Instructions For Transmitting

Applications

(a) If you want to apply for a grant,

you must—

3550 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices

(1) Mail the original and two (2)

copies of the application to: U.S.

Department of Education, Application

Control Center, Attn: CFDA #84.286,

Regional Office Building 3, Room 3633,

7th & D Streets, SW, Washington, DC

20202–4725.

Each copy of the application should

be covered with a title page (form

included in these guidelines) or a

reasonable facsimile. All applicants are

encouraged to submit voluntarily an

additional three (3) copies of the

application for a total of one original

and five copies, and an additional three

(3) copies of the title page itself in order

to expedite the review process.

However, the absence of these

additional copies will not influence the

selection process. All sections of the

application and all sections of the

appendix must be suitable for

photocopying to be included in the

review (at least one copy of the

application should be unbound and

suitable for photocopying), or

(2) Hand deliver the application

between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. (Washington,

DC time) on or before the deadline

date—Monday through Friday, except

Federal holidays—to: U.S. Department

of Education, Application Control

Center, Regional Office Building 3,

Room 3633, 7th and D Streets, SW (D

Street, SW, entrance,) Washington, DC.

(b) We will not consider for funding

an application that we do not receive by

the deadline date.

(c) The Application Control Center

will mail a Grant Application Receipt

Acknowledgment to you. If you do not

receive the notification of application

receipt within 15 days from date of

mailing the application you should call

the U.S. Department of Education

Application Control Center at (202)

708–9494.

(d) You must indicate on the envelope

and—if not provided by the

Department—in Item 3 of the

Application for Federal Assistance (ED

424; revised January 12, 1999)—the

CFDA number for this competition:

CFDA #84.286.

Application Instructions and Forms

The Appendix to this notice contains

forms and instructions, a statement

regarding estimated public reporting

burden, a notice to applicants regarding

compliance with section 427 of the

General Education Provisions Act, and

various assurances and certifications.

Please organize the parts and additional

materials in the following order:

Application for Federal Education

Assistance (ED Form 424 (Rev. 1/12/99))

and instructions.

Protection of Human Subjects in

Research (Attachment to ED 424).

Budget Information—NonConstruction Programs (ED Form No.

524) and instructions.

Application Narrative.

Assurances—Non-Construction

Programs (Standard Form 424B) (Rev.

7/97).

Certifications regarding Lobbying;

Debarment, Suspension, and Other

Responsibility Matters; and Drug-Free

Workplace Requirements (ED Form 80–

0013, 12/98) and instructions.

Certification regarding Debarment,

Suspension, Ineligibility and Voluntary

Exclusion: Lower Tier Covered

Transactions (ED Form 80–0014, 9/90)

and instructions.

(Note: ED 80–0014 is intended for the use of

grantees and should not be transmitted to the

Department.)

Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

(Standard Form LLL (Rev. 7/97)) (if

applicable) and instructions.

You may submit information on a

photostatic copy of the application and

budget forms, the assurances, and the

certifications. However, the application

form, the assurances, and the

certifications must each have an original

signature. We will not award a grant

unless we have received a completed

application form.

For Further Information Contact: Jean

Tolliver, U.S. Department of Education,

555 New Jersey Avenue, NW., room 520,

Washington, DC 20208–5544.

Telephone: (202) 219–2097. If you use a

telecommunications device for the deaf

(TDD), you may call the Federal

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–

800–877–8339.

Individuals with disabilities may

obtain this document in an alternative

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

audiotape, or computer diskette) or by

request to the program contact person

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. However, the Department is

not able to reproduce in an alternative

format the standard forms included in

this application 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, D.C. 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

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6951–6952.

Dated: January 18, 2000.

C. Kent McGuire,

Assistant Secretary for Educational Research

and Improvement.

Appendix—Estimated Public Reporting

Burden

According to the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995, you are not

required to respond to a collection of

information unless it displays a valid

OMB control number. The valid OMB

control number for this collection of

information is 1850–0760 (Expiration

Date: 1/31/2003). We estimate the time

required to complete this collection of

information to average 40 hours per

response, including the time to review

instructions, search existing data

sources, gather the data needed, and

complete and review the collection of

information. If you have any comments

concerning the accuracy of the time

estimate or suggestions for improving

this form, please write to: U.S.

Department of Education, Washington,

DC 20202–4651.

If you have any comments or concerns

regarding the status of your submission

of this form, write directly to:

Telecommunications Demonstration

Project for Mathematics, Attn: 84.286,

U.S. Department of Education, 555 New

Jersey Avenue, NW., Washington, DC

20208–5544.

Instructions for Preparing Your

Application Narrative

Before preparing your application

narrative, you should read carefully the

entire application package before

beginning to prepare your application.

The Selection Criteria state what you

must propose to do, and what criteria

will be used to evaluate your

application.

The Application: Your application

should include:

1. Title Page. Use the Title Page form

(Standard Form 424) included in these

guidelines.

2. Table of Contents. Include a onepage table of contents.

3. Abstract. Provide a one-page,

double-spaced abstract that describes

the need to be addressed by the project,

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices 3551

summarizes the proposed activities, and

identifies the intended outcomes. It is

helpful to include on this page your

name, address, and phone numbers.

4. Narrative. (Note: The section on

PAGE LIMIT elsewhere in this

application notice applies to your

application).

5. Budget. Use the attached Budget

Summary form (ED Form 524), or a

suitable facsimile, to present a complete

budget summary for each year of the

project.

Please provide a justification for this

budget by including, for each year, a

narrative for each budget line item

which explains: (1) The basis for

estimating the costs of professional

personnel salaries, benefits, project staff

travel, materials and supplies,

consultants and subcontracts, indirect

costs, and any projected expenditures;

(2) how the major cost items relate to

the proposed activities; (3) the costs of

evaluation; and (4) a detailed

description explaining in-kind support

or funding provided by partners in the

project, if any.

The Appendix: Your application

should be accompanied by an appendix

which includes:

1. Project Personnel. Please provide a

brief summary of the background and

experience of key project staff as they

relate to the specific project activities

you are proposing.

2. List of Partners. List all project

partners and other sources of support,

their contact persons, addresses,

telephone numbers, fax numbers, and Email addresses. The roles and

contributions of all partners and other

sources of support should be described

within the 25-page narrative, but letters

of commitment should be included in

this section of the appendix to clearly

document the role and contribution of

each member.

3. Evidence of Previous Success.

Include a brief summary of any

evaluation studies, reports, or research

that may document the effectiveness or

success of the applicant or of the

activities proposed in the narrative

section of the application.

4. Evaluation Plan. A brief plan

should identify what types of data will

be collected, when data will be

collected, the design and methods to be

used, what instruments will be

developed, how data will be analyzed,

and when reports of results and

outcomes will be available.

Other Attachments: Other

attachments are not encouraged.

Reviewers will have a limited time to

read each application. Supplementary

materials such as videotapes, CD–

ROMs, files on disks, commercial

publications, press clippings,

testimonial letters, etc. will not be

reviewed and will be returned to you.

BILLING CODE 4000–01–U

3552 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices 3553

3554 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices 3555

3556 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices 3557

3558 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices 3559

3560 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices 3561

3562 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices 3563

3564 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices 3565

3566 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices 3567

3568 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 14 / Friday, January 21, 2000 / Notices 3569

[FR Doc. 00–1516 Filed 1–20–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–C