[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 139 (Tuesday, July 21, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39168-39170]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-19342]



[[Page 39167]]

_______________________________________________________________________

Part III





Department of Education





_______________________________________________________________________



Special Education--Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve 
Services and Results for Children With Disabilities; Inviting 
Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year 1998; Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 139 / Tuesday, July 21, 1998 / 
Notices

[[Page 39168]]



DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Special Education--Technical Assistance and Dissemination to 
Improve Services and Results for Children With Disabilities; Notice 
Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year 1998

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 
one program authorized by IDEA, as amended: Special Education--
Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results 
for Children with Disabilities (one priority).
    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 
this priority 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) Grant recipients funded under this notice must carry out 
activities that benefit, directly or indirectly, children with 
disabilities of all ages (see Section 661(a)(4) of IDEA.

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

Special Education--Technical Assistance and Dissemination To 
Improve Services and Results for Children With Disabilities

    Purpose of Program: The purpose of this program is to provide 
technical assistance and information through such mechanisms as 
institutes, regional resource centers, clearinghouses and programs that 
support States and local entities in building capacity, to improve 
early intervention, educational, and transitional services and results 
for children with disabilities and their families, and address 
systemic-change goals and priorities.
    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 for-profit 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 this program in 34 CFR 320.30.

    Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to institutions of 
higher education only.

    Priority: Under section 685 of the Individuals with Disabilities 
Education Act and 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), the Secretary gives an absolute 
preference to applications that meet the following priority. The 
Secretary funds under this competitions only those applications that 
meet this absolute priority:

Absolute Priority--National Clearinghouse on Careers and Professions 
Related to Early Intervention and Education for Children With 
Disabilities (84.326P)

Background
    During the last ten years, significant changes have had an impact 
on professional development programs. The characteristics of children 
with disabilities have changed and in many ways have become more 
complex. Today, there are more children who have entered life with 
marked disabilities, who are expected to continue to thrive, and who 
require interdisciplinary approaches that provide them with essential 
support. Additionally, the cultural and linguistic characteristics of 
the student population have changed significantly. In order for 
educational programs to be effective, the Nation's schools need a work 
force of educators, related services providers, and early intervention 
personnels that is more culturally and linguistically diverse than in 
the past. Professional development programs have significantly changed 
as well, through new developments in assistive technology, changes in 
financial support for students entering special education fields, and, 
in particular, changes in Federal legislation.
    The IDEA Amendments of 1997 direct the Secretary to provide 
technical assistance through clearinghouses and other means in order to 
build capacity for improving early intervention, education, and 
transition services and results for children with disabilities, and 
their families. The National Clearinghouse on Careers and Professions 
Related to Early Intervention and Education for Children with 
Disabilities supported through this priority will be responsible for 
identifying and responding to exigent issues, emerging trends, and 
strategies for ensuring an adequate supply of qualified professionals 
and paraprofessionals available to meet the needs of children with 
disabilities.
    It is essential that the Clearinghouse establishes and maintains 
varied paths for the dissemination of a wide array of critical 
information, and provides information to a broad base of individuals, 
including students, parents, administrators, and researchers. It is 
also necessary for the Clearinghouse to coordinate its services with 
individuals and professional organizations and disseminate 
comprehensive materials related to the recruitment, preparation and 
effectiveness of professionals and paraprofessionals who provide 
services to children with disabilities and their families. For the 
purposes of this priority, ``professionals'' include early intervention 
personnel, special education teachers, general education teachers, 
adapted physical educators, and related services providers such as 
psychologists, occupational and physical therapists, orientation and 
mobility specialists, and speech-language pathologists. 
``Paraprofessionals'' include paraeducators, teachers' aides, 
instructional assistants, occupational and physical therapy assistants, 
and speech-language pathology assistants.
    Priority: The Secretary establishes an absolute priority to support 
a national clearinghouse that works toward ensuring the availability of 
an adequate number and the high quality of personnel to improve 
services and results for infants and children with disabilities. In 
order to accomplish these purposes, the clearinghouse must:
    (a) Conduct nation-wide, outreach activities to encourage 
individuals to

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pursue careers in special education. To accomplish this objective, the 
clearinghouse must develop, implement and maintain comprehensive and 
coordinated communication campaigns that:
    (1) Utilize the full range of media outlets;
    (2) Reflect cutting edge formats and designs;
    (3) Are customized in design and communication approach to promote 
the full range of career opportunities in special education and related 
services and early intervention services;
    (4) Are customized in design and communication approach to attract 
individuals from culturally and economically diverse backgrounds and 
individuals with disabilities, across varying age levels and 
professional experiences.
    (b) Conduct activities that assist State educational agencies 
(SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), institutions of higher 
education (IHEs), agencies that administer the Infants and Toddlers 
with Disabilities program under IDEA, and other appropriate entities in 
improving the quality of professionals and paraprofessionals who serve 
children with disabilities, including children with limited English 
proficiency and children from culturally diverse backgrounds. To 
accomplish this objective, the clearinghouse must:
    (1) Collect, synthesize, and disseminate information on emerging 
approaches to professional preparation and career development for 
special education, related service, and early intervention personnel;
    (2) Collect and disseminate information on current national, State, 
and professional standards, competencies, dual certifications, and 
reciprocity agreements applied by States and professional organizations 
to the credentialing or licensing of professional and paraprofessional 
personnel;
    (3) Identify and disseminate information on effective strategies, 
through collaboration with appropriate entities, to identify and 
promote the credentialing of current early intervention, education, 
transition, and related services personnel who are lacking permanent 
certification or license;
    (4) Develop and disseminate, through collaboration with appropriate 
entities, guidelines for instituting standards or certifications for 
paraprofessionals, where such standards do not exist; and
    (5) Develop and disseminate periodic highlights or reviews of 
pressing issues, trends, and emerging research regarding professional 
development programs for special education, related service, and early 
intervention personnel.
    (c) Conduct activities that would promote an adequate supply of 
qualified professionals and paraprofessionals who serve children with 
disabilities. To accomplish this objective, the clearinghouse must:
    (1) Collect and disseminate information on the ongoing and emerging 
areas of personnel needs identified by States, LEAs, and other 
entities;
    (2) Collect and disseminate information on the availability of 
qualified service providers, including those from traditionally 
underrepresented populations (e.g., persons from culturally or 
linguistically diverse backgrounds, and persons with disabilities);
    (3) Collect and disseminate information on preservice professional 
development programs that prepare both professionals and 
paraprofessionals, including programs that provide special education 
preparation for general educators. At a minimum, this information must 
include, for each program: the areas of preparation and their academic 
level, the program head or chair, telephone, e-mail, FAX, mailing 
address and web address, if available, the number of full or part time 
faculty, tuition costs, and the availability of stipends or 
scholarships. Programs that receive Federal support for students should 
be identified with the source of those funds, particularly if from the 
Office of Special Education Programs or other offices in the U.S. 
Department of Education. Preservice professional development programs 
that provide specific services for students with disabilities, and the 
description of those services, must also be included. The Clearinghouse 
is also encouraged to collect information on the numbers of students 
enrolled, and graduating from, each of the identified programs;
    (4) Arrange with producers of scholarship publications to include 
in such publications information on scholarship opportunities available 
through OSEP-supported professional development programs; and
    (5) Identify, synthesize, and disseminate information on effective 
strategies used to recruit and retain both professionals and 
paraprofessionals who provide services to children with disabilities. 
Effective strategies should be identified for use by States, LEAs, and 
IHEs. Special emphasis should be placed on identifying recruitment and 
retention strategies and materials that have been particularly 
effective in urban and rural settings, and with traditionally under-
represented populations (e.g., minorities and persons with 
disabilities).
    (d) In order to satisfy the objectives in paragraphs (a), (b), and 
(c), the clearinghouse must also:
    (1) Conduct timely updates of all information and data bases to 
ensure that information disseminated is accurate and current;
    (2) Establish advisory groups to provide recommendations to the 
clearinghouse relative to the activities or products described above 
and to ensure that all constituency needs are met;
    (3) Employ multiple dissemination mechanisms and approaches, 
including the establishment and maintenance of a user-friendly web site 
that permits the downloading of all clearinghouse information bases and 
incorporates hotlinks to available training programs and other relevant 
information sources; and
    (4) Establish and implement a comprehensive system of evaluation to 
determine the impact of the clearinghouse activities. Evaluations 
should be conducted at least annually, identify strategies for 
improvement, and include relevant achievements.
    Under this priority, the 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. In 
determining whether to continue the clearinghouse for the fourth and 
fifth years of the project period, the Secretary, in addition to the 
requirements of 34 CFR 75.253(a) will consider:
    (a) The recommendation of a review team consisting of three experts 
selected by the Secretary. The team's review, including a two-day site 
visit to the clearinghouse, is to be conducted during the last half of 
the project's second year. Costs associated with the services to be 
performed by the review team must also be included in the clearinghouse 
budget for year two. These costs are estimated to be approximately 
$4,000; and
    (b) The timeliness and effectiveness with which all requirements of 
the negotiated cooperative agreement have been or are being met by the 
clearinghouse.
    Project Period: Up to 60 months.
    Maximum Award: The Secretary rejects and does not consider an 
application that proposes a budget exceeding $700,000 for any single 
budget period of twelve 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

[[Page 39170]]

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 70 double-spaced pages, using the following 
standards: (1) A ``page'' is 8\1/2\'' 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: This program is 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                                  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                Application     Deadline for       Maximum                    Estimated 
                       CFDA No. and name                         Applications    deadline    intergovernmental   award (per    Page limit     number of 
                                                                   available       date            review          year) *         **          awards   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
84.326P National Clearinghouse on Careers and Professions                                                                                               
 Related to Early Intervention and Education for Children with                                                                                          
 Disabilities..................................................      7/24/98       8/24/98          9/22/98        $700,000            70            1  
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* 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.                                                                                                                                          

    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: July 14, 1998.
Judith E. Heumann,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 98-19342 Filed 7-20-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P