30296 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 106 /Wednesday, June 3, 1998 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Notice Inviting Applications for New

Awards for Fiscal Year 1998

AGENCY: Department of Education.

SUMMARY: On June 4, 1997, the President

signed into law Public Law 105–17, the

Individuals with Disabilities Education

Act Amendments of 1997, amending the

Individual with Disabilities Education

Act (IDEA).

This notice provides closing dates and

other information regarding the

transmittal of applications for fiscal year

1998 competitions under Special

Education—Technology and Media

Services for Individuals with

Disabilities program authorized by

IDEA, as amended.

This notice supports the National

Education Goals by helping to improve

results for children with disabilities.

Waiver of Rulemaking

It is generally the practice of the

Secretary 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. In order to make awards on a

timely basis, the Secretary has decided

to publish these priorities in final under

the authority of section 661(e)(2).

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, D.C. during each year of

the project; and

(d) In a single application, an

applicant is required to address only

one absolute priority in this notice.

Note: The Department of Education is not

bound by any estimates in this notice.

Special Education—Technology and

Media Services for Individuals With

Disabilities [CFDA No. 84.327]

Purpose of Program: The purpose of

this program is to promote the

development, demonstration, and

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 some captioning, video

description, and cultural activities.

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, and 86; and (b) The selection criteria

included in regulations for these

programs in 34 CFR 332.32 for the

Closed Captioned Educational

Programming priority; and in 34 CFR

333.21 for the Using Research to Help

Children Learn to Read, and the

Accessible Formats for Educational

Materials priorities.

Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86

apply to institutions of higher education

only.

Priority: Under section 687 of IDEA

and 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), the Secretary

gives an absolute preference to

applications that meet any one of the

following priorities. The Secretary funds

under these competitions only those

applications that meet these absolute

priorities:

Absolute Priority 1—Using Research to

Help Children Learn to Read (CFDA

84.327B)

The purpose of this priority is to

demonstrate the use of existing publicly

funded telecommunication systems to

provide the public, families, and

teachers with research-based

information and on early diagnosis of,

intervention for, and effective strategies

for teaching reading to young children

with disabilities who demonstrate

difficulties learning to read. For the

purposes of this priority, the term

‘‘young’’ children refers to children

through grade four.

Priority: The Secretary establishes an

absolute priority to enhance and expand

the capabilities of an existing entity to

disseminate research findings on early

diagnosis, intervention, and effective

strategies for teaching reading to young

children with disabilities who

demonstrate difficulties learning to

read. To receive a grant under this

priority applicants must demonstrate a

proven track record for dissemination of

information on effective research to

practice efforts through electronic

formats.

Activities conducted by this project

should:

(1) Create awareness in parents and

teachers about the teaching and learning

problems of young children that have

been addressed through research;

(2) Create awareness in parents and

teachers about how to design an

effective teaching strategy to improve

reading results of children with

disabilities such as developmental

disabilities, learning disabilities, and

sensory disabilities;

(3) Create awareness in the general

public about the accomplishments and

contributions made by persons who

demonstrate difficulties learning to read

despite the significant challenges that

these individuals faced as young

children in schools; and

(4) Include dissemination of researchbased solutions that can be used to

address these challenges.

The project funded under this priority

must—

(a) Establish a panel of expert research

advisors: from the Department of

Education’s Office of Special Education

Programs (OSEP); from other Federal

agencies such as the Department of

Health and Human Services’ National

Institute of Child Health and Human

Development (NICHD) and National

Institute on Mental Health; and from

foundations such as the National

Academy of Science (NAS) and the

National Science Foundation (NSF). The

panel also shall include practitioners,

family members of students who

demonstrate difficulties learning to

read, and individuals who experience

difficulties learning to read in their

youth. The panel will advise the work

of the project and assist the project in

identifying effective, research-based

practices to improve reading results of

young children with disabilities who

demonstrate difficulties learning to

read. The final membership of the panel

shall be discussed with, and approved

by, OSEP.

(b) Use innovative strategies to

interest parents and practitioners in the

research-based findings in a way that

promotes the use of this information in

their homes and classrooms. To

accomplish this, the program must—

(1) Develop strategies for information

exchange and dissemination to match

identified parent and practitioner needs

with existing research-based solutions.

The vehicles for this information

exchange could include, but are not

limited to: web sites, chat rooms,

listservers, and bulletin boards.

(2) Provide information to families

and practitioners that describes effective

strategies for diagnosing, teaching, and

working with young children with

disabilities who demonstrate difficulties

learning to read. The topics of such

products could include, but are not

limited to: early interventions; class-
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 106 /Wednesday, June 3, 1998 / Notices 30297

wide peer tutoring; learning, study and

organization strategies; using technology

to improve content learning; facilitating

language development in young

children with disabilities; and

vocabulary and comprehension

interventions for children with

disabilities who demonstrate difficulties

learning to read.

(c) Develop a national public

awareness campaign that—

(1) Disseminates its products through

publicly funded telecommunications

systems;

(2) Highlights the accomplishments

and contributions of persons who

demonstrate difficulties learning to read

who have benefitted from early

diagnosis, interventions, and effective

teaching strategies, and move the

general public from a basic

understanding of disabilities related to

difficulties learning to read to an

understanding of the significant

contributions that persons who

demonstrate difficulties learning to read

make to our society;

(3) Features research-based solutions

to the challenges that young children

with disabilities who demonstrate

difficulties learning to read encounter in

schools and information on how these

disabilities affect other areas of learning,

such as mathematics and language

acquisition.

(d) Provide an independent

evaluation to determine if the project is

reaching its intended audiences.

(e) Create partnerships within the

existing OSEP technical assistance

infrastructure, such as the National

Information Center for Children and

Youth with Disabilities (NICHCY) and

the Technical Assistance Alliance for

Parent Centers (the Alliance), to avoid

duplication of efforts.

(f) Implement an external review

process in which experts review

products for technical accuracy and

clarity. The expert review process shall

be discussed with, and approved by,

OSEP.

Project Period: 36 months.

Maximum Award: The Secretary

rejects and does not consider an

application that proposes a budget

exceeding $500,000 for any single

budget period of 12 months. The

Secretary may change the maximum

amount through a notice published in

the Federal Register.

Page Limits: Part III of the application,

the application narrative, is where an

applicant addresses the selection

criteria that are used by reviewers in

evaluating the application. An applicant

must limit Part III to the equivalent of

no more than 60 double-spaced pages,

using the following standards: (1) A

‘‘page’’ is 81⁄2′′ x 11′′ (on one side only)

with one-inch margins (top, bottom, and

sides). (2) 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, must be

double-spaced (no more than 3 lines per

vertical inch). 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 to the 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, resumes, bibliography, and

letters of support. However, all of the

application narrative must be included

in Part III. If an application narrative

uses a smaller print size, spacing, or

margin that would make the narrative

exceed the equivalent of the page limit,

the application will not be considered

for funding.

Absolute Priority 2—Closed Captioned

Educational Programming (CFDA

84.327E)

Background: The Congress has

expressed concern that hundreds of

hours of non-commercial educational

programming are being produced for

classroom use, but that the

programming is not fully accessible

through closed captions. This priority

supports cooperative agreements to

continue and expand the closed

captioning of widely available

educational and instructional

programming that is shown on national

broadcast, DBS (Direct Broadcast

Satellite), or basic cable television

networks, and that is suitable for use in

the classroom. Captioning provides a

visual representation of the audio

portion of the programming and enables

students who are deaf or hard of hearing

to participate in this educational

experience with their non-disabled

peers.

Priority: To be considered for funding

under this competition, a project must—

(1) Include criteria that takes into

account the preference of educators,

students, and parents for particular

educational programs, the diversity of

this type of programming available, and

the contribution of programs to the

general educational experiences of

students who are deaf or hard of

hearing;

(2) Identify the extent to which the

commercial-free programming to be

captioned under this project may be

taped for later classroom use;

(3) Identify the extent to which the

programming is widely available;

(4) Identify the total number of hours

captioned and the cost per hour for each

of the programs captioned;

(5) Identify for each program to be

captioned the source of private or other

public support and the projected dollar

amount of that support, if any;

(6) Identify the method of captioning

to be used for each program and identify

the cost per hour for each method used;

(7) Demonstrate the willingness of

program providers or owners of

programs to permit captioning of their

programs;

(8) Provide assurances from program

providers or owners of programs stating

the extent to which programs captioned

under this project will air, and will

continue to air, without re-captioning;

(9) Implement procedures for

monitoring the extent to which the

project provides full and accurate

captioning and uses this information to

make refinements in captioning

operations; and

(10) Make captions available at no

cost to providers or owners of

programming, who may use, reformat,

or otherwise adapt these captions for

future airings or other distributions.

Project Period: Up to 36 months.

Maximum Award: The Secretary

rejects and does not consider an

application that proposes a budget

exceeding $125,000 for any single

budget period of 12 months. The

Secretary may change the maximum

amount through a notice published in

the Federal Register.

Page Limits: Part III of the application,

the application narrative, is where an

applicant addresses the selection

criteria that are used by reviewers in

evaluating the application. An applicant

must limit Part III to the equivalent of

no more than 40 double-spaced pages,

using the following standards: (1) A

‘‘page’’ is 81⁄2′′ × 11′′ (on one side only)

with one-inch margins (top, bottom, and

sides). (2) 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, must be

double-spaced (no more than 3 lines per

vertical inch). 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 to the inch.

The page limit does not apply to Part

I—the cover sheet; Part II—the budget

section (including the narrative budget
30298 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 106 /Wednesday, June 3, 1998 / Notices

justification); Part IV—the assurances

and certifications; or the one-page

abstract, resumes, bibliography, and

letters of support. However, all of the

application narrative must be included

in Part III. If an application narrative

uses a smaller print size, spacing, or

margin that would make the narrative

exceed the equivalent of the page limit,

the application will not be considered

for funding.

Absolute Priority 3—Accessible Formats

for Educational Materials (CFDA

84.327R)

Background: The purpose of this

priority is to provide textbooks and

other educational materials in accessible

formats for students at all educational

levels who are visually or print

disabled. These materials will help

provide equal educational opportunities

to these students and lessen some of the

barriers they face in the classroom.

Priorty: To be considered for funding

under this priority, the projects must—

(1) Handle all requests for educational

materials from students who are

visually or print disabled at all

educational levels at no cost;

(2) Obtain statements of eligibility by

disability for each requestor;

(3) If access to materials is provided

through section 121 of the Copyright

Act, as amended, provide publishers

rights to copies of any master tapes or

disks and rights to market the cassettes

or disks as they see fit;

(4) Apply new technology for

producing and distributing educational

materials in accessible formats for

individuals who are blind or otherwise

print disabled, such as electronic text or

digital audio sychronization;

(5) Distribute the materials that are

produced through means such as audio

tapes, diskettes, CD–ROMs, or the

Internet;

(6) Handle associated administrative

and circulation functions such as any

returned cassettes, disks, CD–ROMs, or

preservative re-recording;

(7) To the extent that funds are not

sufficient to meet the demand for free

materials, place a priority on providing

materials, such as supplemental reading

textbooks and workbooks, that are not

otherwise required to be provided by

educational agencies or institutions; and

(8) Coordinate and collaborate with

publishers, software developers, other

manufacturers of accessible materials

for individuals who are visually

impaired or otherwise print disabled,

disability and educational

organizations, and government agencies

to ensure effective coordination and

nonduplication of effort.

Project Period: Up to 36 months.

Maximum Award: The Secretary

rejects and does not consider an

application that proposes a budget

exceeding $1,500,000 for any single

budget period of 12 months. The

Secretary may change the maximum

amount through a notice published in

the Federal Register.

Page Limits: Part III of the application,

the application narrative, is where an

applicant addresses the selection

criteria that are used by reviewers in

evaluating the application. An applicant

must limit Part III to the equivalent of

no more than 40 double-spaced pages,

using the following standards: (1) A

‘‘page’’ is 81⁄2′′ x 11′′ (on one side only)

with one-inch margins (top, bottom, and

sides). (2) 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, must be

double-spaced (no more than 3 lines per

vertical inch). 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 to the 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, resumes, bibliography, and

letters of support. However, all of the

application narrative must be included

in Part III. If an application narrative

uses a smaller print size, spacing, or

margin that would make the narrative

exceed the equivalent of the page limit,

the application will not be considered

for funding.

For Applications and General

Information Contact: Requests for

applications and general information

should be addressed to the Grants and

Contracts Services Team, 600

Independence Avenue, S.W., room

3317, Switzer Building, Washington,

D.C. 20202–2641. The preferred method

for requesting information is to FAX

your request to: (202) 205–8717.

Telephone: (202) 260–9182.

Individuals who use a

telecommunications device for the deaf

(TDD) may call the TDD number: (202)

205–8953.

Individuals with disabilities may

obtain a copy of this notice or the

application packages referred to in this

notice in an alternate format (e.g.

Braille, large print, audiotape, or

computer diskette) by contacting the

Department as listed above. 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 Projects) 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, this

document is intended 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 1998

CFDA No. and name Applications

available

Application

deadline

date

Deadline for

intergovernmental review

Maximum

award (per

year)*

Page limit**

Estimated

number of

awards

84.327B Using Research to Help Children Learn to

Read .............................................................................. 6/12/98 7/24/98 9/22/98 $500,000 60 1

84.327E Closed Captioned Educational Programming .... 6/12/98 7/24/98 9/22/98 125,000 40 5

84.327R Accessible Formats for Educational Materials ... 6/12/98 7/24/98 9/22/98 1,500,000 40 1

*The 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.

**Applicants must limit the Application Narrative, Part III of the Application, to the page limits noted above. Please refer to the ‘‘Page Limit’’

section of this notice for the specific requirements. The Secretary rejects and does not consider an application that does not adhere to this requirement.
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 106 /Wednesday, June 3, 1998 / Notices 30299

Electronic Access to This Document

Anyone may view this document, as

well as all other Department of

Education documents published in the

Federal Register, in text or portable

document format (pdf) on the World

Wide Web 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 at (202)

512–1530 or, toll free at 1–888–293–

6498.

Anyone may also view these

documents in text copy only on an

electronic bulletin board of the

Department. Telephone: (202) 219–1511

or, toll free, 1–800–222–4922. The

documents are located under Option

G—Files/Announcements, Bulletins,

and Press Releases.

Note: The official version of a document is

the document published in the Federal

Register.

Dated: May 28, 1998.

Judith E. Heumann,

Assistant Secretary for Special Education and

Rehabilitative Services.

[FR Doc. 98–14629 Filed 6–2–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P