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[Federal Register: April 21, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 76)]
[Notices]               
[Page 20830-20832]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21ap10-48]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

 
Early Learning

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of public meetings and request for input.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Education (ED), in collaboration with 
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and through 
public meetings and written submissions, is seeking input from State 
agencies responsible for early learning and development, families 
(including families with children birth through third grade), educators 
(including early intervention service providers and other providers of 
services to young children), students, technical assistance providers, 
researchers of early learning, stakeholders who work with early 
learning and development for young children, and other members of the 
public regarding several important topics relating to early learning 
for children, birth through third grade: Understanding pre-kindergarten 
through third grade (P-3) Structures ;\1\ Workforce and Professional 
Development; Family Engagement; and Standards and Assessments. Over the 
next two months, ED and HHS will be holding a series of ``Listening and 
Learning about Early Learning'' meetings to inform their work and hear 
how States and others are implementing innovative and successful 
approaches to improving early learning outcomes for children, birth 
through third grade, in the four areas listed in this notice. Neither 
ED nor HHS is proposing to make any changes to existing requirements in 
programs administered by these two Federal agencies through this 
notice.
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    \1\ P-3 structures refer to systems that align a continuum of 
instructional strategies, professional development, standards, 
assessments, and other components from pre-kindergarten through 
third grade.

DATES: ED and HHS will hold public meetings on the dates and at the 
locations specified elsewhere in this notice. ED must receive all 
written submissions of comments on the four early learning topics on or 
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before 5 p.m., Washington, DC time, on Tuesday, May 18, 2010.

ADDRESSES: For those planning to submit written input, we encourage 
submissions by e-mail using the following address: 
earlylearning.comments@ed.gov. You must include ``Listening and 
Learning about Early Learning'' and the topic area(s) to be addressed 
in the subject line of your e-mail. If you prefer to send your input by 
regular mail, you must address it to the Office of the Secretary, 
Attention: Listening and Learning about Early Learning--Public Input 
Meetings, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 
7W219, Washington, DC 20202.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katy Chapman, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 7W219, Washington, DC 20202. 
Telephone: (202) 453-7275 or by e-mail: earlylearning.comments@ed.gov.
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf, call the 
Federal Relay Service, toll free, at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background: The President has outlined and is committed to a cradle 
through college and career agenda. High-quality early learning programs 
and services are critical to closing the achievement gap and ensuring 
that students are college and career ready to help us achieve our goal 
that the United States will lead the world in college completion by the 
year 2020. ED and HHS are committed to carrying out the President's 
birth through third grade early learning agenda that improves early 
learning outcomes for all children, especially high-needs children, to 
ensure that they are successful in school and in life. The listening 
and learning

[[Page 20831]]

sessions, along with submitted comments, will help inform the 
Departments work, foster ongoing dialogue between state and local 
practitioners and the two departments, and reflects the continued 
collaborative relationship between the two departments to enact the 
Administration's early learning agenda. The Senior Advisor to the 
Secretary for Early Learning (ED) and the Deputy Assistant Secretary 
and Inter-Departmental Liaison for Early Childhood Development at the 
Administration for Children and Families (HHS) will lead the listening 
and learning meetings announced in this notice.

Details of Public Meetings

Structure of Public Meetings

    ED and HHS anticipate that each meeting will have the following 
three components:
    (1) Opening statements by officials from ED and HHS.
    (2) Input from invited panels of experts.
     Each meeting will have an invited panel of experts in the 
field of early learning who will have a set amount of time to make 
presentations, with additional time allotted for questions from the 
public and from ED and HHS.
    (3) Open opportunity for public speakers to share input.
     Each meeting will have 60 to 90 minutes for interested 
members of the public, who have registered to speak and raise 
questions.
    [cir] Each individual registered and scheduled to speak will have 
up to five minutes to provide oral input.
    [cir] Individuals who have registered and are scheduled to speak 
must limit their remarks to the topic of the specific meeting at which 
they are speaking.
    [cir] We will also accept written submissions as described in the 
Submission of Written Input section of this notice.

Each meeting will focus on a particular topic as indicated in the next 
section of this notice. The Department will share any updates and other 
information about these meetings online at http://www.ed.gov.

Topic Areas, Dates, Times, Locations, and Registration Information

    The early learning public meetings will occur on the following 
dates from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the locations indicated below.
     Early Learning Topic Area: Understanding P-3 Structures
    [cir] Friday, April 23, 2010, in Washington, DC; at the LBJ 
Auditorium at the Department's headquarters building in the Lyndon 
Baines Johnson Building, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC.
     Early Learning Topic Area: Workforce and Professional 
Development
    [cir] Monday, April 26, 2010, in Denver, Colorado; in the 
auditorium at the Center for Early Education, 3245 E. Exposition 
Avenue, Denver, CO.
     Early Learning Topic Area: Family Engagement
    [cir] Tuesday, May 4, 2010, in Orlando, Florida; at the Orange 
County Public Schools Educational Leadership Center, 445 W. Amelia 
Street, Orlando, FL.
     Early Learning Topic Area: Standards and Assessments
    [cir] Tuesday, May 11, 2010, in Chicago, Illinois; at the Polk 
Bros. Lecture Hall at the Erikson Institute, 451 N. LaSalle Street, 
Chicago, IL

How To Participate in the Early Learning Listening Tour

    On-Site Attendance: Anyone who would like to attend or speak at a 
meeting must register at http://www.fsaregistration.ed.gov/profile/web/index.cfm?PKWebId=0x91942aeb2&varPage=agenda. We ask that anyone 
registering to attend one or more meetings do so at least four business 
days prior to each meeting they plan to attend. Seating and speaker 
slots are limited, so early registration is important to ensure that 
interested persons are able to secure seats, speaking slots, or both. 
Persons wishing to participate will receive an e-mail responding to 
their registration request. Anyone not having access to the Internet or 
to e-mail should call the number indicated in this notice to register. 
Speakers should come to the meeting prepared to provide an electronic 
copy of their comments (e.g., CD or flash drive). Federal staff will 
keep this information for our records.
    Webinar Attendance for April 23, 2010: The Department is planning 
to hold the first early learning meeting in Washington, DC on April 23, 
2010. This meeting will also be offered as a webinar. Anyone unable to 
attend the April 23rd meeting in person, but who would like an 
opportunity to hear the information shared and watch the slide 
presentations live, may go to http://www.fsaregistration.ed.gov/profile/web/index.cfm?PKWebId=0x91942aeb2&varPage=agenda and register 
as a webinar attendee. Webinar attendees will be in ``listen'' mode 
only.
    Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities at the Public Meetings: 
The meeting sites will be accessible to individuals with disabilities 
and will make sign language interpreters available for anyone wishing 
to attend or speak who requests them at least five days prior to each 
meeting they plan to attend. Registrants must indicate whether they 
will need sign language interpreters or any other special accommodation 
in the ``special accommodations'' portion of the registration form. 
Attendees requiring an auxiliary aid or service to participate in a 
meeting (i.e., interpreting service such as oral, cued speech, or 
tactile interpreter; assisted listening device; or materials in 
alternate format), should notify the contact person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT at least two weeks before the scheduled 
meeting date. Although we will attempt to meet requests received less 
than two weeks before each meeting date, unless we receive two weeks' 
notice, we may not be able to make available the requested auxiliary 
aid or service because of insufficient time.

Submission of Written Input

    All interested parties, including those who cannot attend a meeting 
or from whom we may not have enough time to hear at a meeting, may 
submit written input in response to this notice.
    We will accept written input at the meeting site, or via e-mail or 
regular mail at the addresses listed in the ADDRESSES section of this 
notice. ED must receive all written submissions of comments on the four 
early learning topics on or before 5 p.m., Washington, DC time, on 
Tuesday, May 18, 2010.
    When submitting input at the meetings, we request that you submit 
one paper copy and an electronic file (CD or flash drive) of your 
statement. Please include your name and contact information on the 
paper and electronic files.

Sharing Input Publicly

    ED and HHS are committed to gathering and sharing publicly the 
input from the meetings and written submissions. We will make all 
written input that we receive from members of the public available at 
http://www.ed.gov.

Remarks for Input

    All input, including expert presentations and discussions, public 
input, and written submissions at the meetings, must focus primarily on 
the topic listed elsewhere in this notice. We encourage all 
participants to make their input as specific as possible, and to 
provide evidence to support their input with data and citations to 
relevant research, as appropriate. We also strongly encourage all 
presenters to

[[Page 20832]]

focus their remarks directly on the topic of the specific meeting they 
are attending: Understanding P-3 Structures (Washington, DC); Workforce 
and Professional Development (Denver, CO); Family Engagement (Orlando, 
FL); and Standards and Assessment (Chicago, IL).
    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 program contact 
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Electronic Access to This Document: You can view this document, as 
well as all other documents published in the Federal Register by ED or 
HHS, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at 
the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister. To use PDF you 
must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at this site.

    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.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.

    Dated: April 16, 2010.
Arne Duncan,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 2010-9276 Filed 4-20-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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