Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 10 / Tuesday, January 16, 2001 / Notices 3557

Responses: 2,200

Burden Hours: 1,000

Abstract: In 1999, the federal

government funded a major effort

toward increasing teacher quality

through the State Grants Program and

Teacher Recruitment Grants Program.

Together, the programs allow states,

institutions of higher education, and/or

local education agencies to increase the

quality of the teacher workforce through

certification reform, recruitment efforts,

alternative certification routes, and

accountability measures. This

evaluation looks at both programs to

determine how federal funds were

spent, what issues arose in

implementing the programs, and the

impact of the programs.

Requests for copies of the proposed

information collection request may be

accessed from http://edicsweb.ed.gov, or

should be addressed to Vivian Reese,

Department of Education, 400 Maryland

Avenue, SW, Room 4050, Regional

Office Building 3, Washington, D.C.

20202–4651. Requests may also be

electronically mailed to the internet

address OCIO_IMG_Issues@ed.gov or

faxed to 202–708–9346. Please specify

the complete title of the information

collection when making your request.

Comments regarding burden and/or the

collection activity requirements should

be directed to Jacqueline Montague at

(202) 708–5359 or via her internet

address Jackie_Montague@ed.gov.

Individuals who use a

telecommunications device for the deaf

(TDD) may call the Federal Information

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–

8339.

[FR Doc. 01–1244 Filed 1–12–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA Nos. 84.339A; 84.339B]

Fund for the Improvement of

Postsecondary Education—Learning

Anytime Anywhere Partnerships

(LAAP) (Preapplications and

Applications) Notice Inviting

Applications for New Awards for Fiscal

Year (FY) 2001.

Purpose of Program: To provide

grants or enter into cooperative

agreements to enhance the delivery,

quality, and accountability of

postsecondary education and careeroriented lifelong learning through

asynchronous distance education.

For fiscal year (FY) 2001, the

Secretary encourages applicants to

design projects that focus on the

invitational priorities set forth in the

invitational priorities section of this

application notice.

Eligible Applicants: Partnerships

consisting of two or more independent

agencies, organizations, or institutions,

including institutions of higher

education, associations, corporations,

community organizations, and other

public and private institutions,

agencies, and organizations.

Note: A nonprofit organization must serve

as the fiscal agent for a funded partnership.

Applications Available: January 16,

2001.

Deadline for Transmittal of

Preapplications: March 15, 2001.

Deadline for Transmittal of

Applications: June 15, 2001.

Note: All applicants must submit a

preapplication to be eligible to submit a final

application.

Deadline for Intergovernmental

Review: August 8, 2001.

Available Funds: $15,500,000.

Note: Federal funds available under this

competition may not pay for more than 50

percent of the cost of a project. Grantees are

required to share project costs by matching

the requested Federal funds dollar for dollar.

The non-Federal share of project costs may

be in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated,

including services, supplies, or equipment.

Estimated Range of Awards: $100,000

to $500,000 per year.

Estimated Size of Awards: $333,333

per year.

Estimated Number of Awards: 30–40.

Note: The Department is not bound by any

estimates in this notice.

Project Period: Up to 36 months.

Applicable Regulations: (a) The

Education Department General

Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in

34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 82, 85,

86, 97, 98, and 99.

Authorized Activities

Funds awarded to an eligible

partnership must be used to conduct

one or more of the following activities:

(a) Develop and assess model distance

learning programs or innovative

educational software.

(b) Develop methodologies for the

identification and measurement of skill

competencies.

(c) Develop and assess innovative

student support services.

(d) Support other activities consistent

with the statutory purpose of this

program.

Invitational Priorities

The Secretary is particularly

interested in applications that meet one

or more of the following invitational

priorities. However, an application that

meets one or more of these invitational

priorities does not receive competitive

or absolute preference over other

applications (34 CFR 75.105(c)(1)).

Invitational Priority 1—Projects that

achieve economies of scale by

delivering programs over large

geographic regions covering more

students, faculty and institutions; and

by promoting cost-sharing, resource

sharing, and faculty collaboration across

institutions.

Invitational Priority 2—Projects that

develop high quality, interactive

software that is both modular or

sufficiently flexible for faculty

modification of academic content, as

well as portable for wide-scale

implementation across institutions.

Invitational Priority 3—Projects that

package courses and programs to assist

students in accessing the offerings of

multiple providers and to assist

institutions in cooperating and sharing

resources.

Invitational Priority 4—Projects that

use skill competencies and learning

outcomes to measure student progress

and achievement in asynchronous

distance learning programs.

Invitational Priority 5—Projects that

improve quality and accountability of

asynchronous distance education,

thereby ensuring that credentials are

meaningful, providers are accountable,

and courses meet high standards.

Invitational Priority 6—Projects that

create new asynchronous distance

education opportunities for underserved

learners, especially those who have not

always been well served by traditional

campus-based education or common

forms of distance education, including:

individuals with disabilities;

individuals who have lost their jobs;

individuals making the transition from

welfare to the workforce; and

individuals seeking basic or technical

skills or their first postsecondary

education experience.

Invitational Priority 7—Projects that

improve support services for students

seeking asynchronous distance

education to ensure that they have

complete and convenient access to

needed services such as registration,

financial aid, advising, assessment,

counseling, libraries, and many others.

Invitational Priority 8—Projects that

remove or revise institutional, system,

State, or other policies, which are

barriers to the implementation of new

types of asynchronous distance

education.

Selection Criteria

The Secretary selects from the criteria

in 34 CFR 75.210 to evaluate

preapplications and applications for this

competition. Under 34 CFR 75.201, the

3558 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 10 / Tuesday, January 16, 2001 / Notices

Secretary announces in the application

package the selection criteria and

factors, if any, for this competition and

the maximum weight assigned to each

criterion.

For Applications Contact: Education

Publications Center (ED Pubs), P.O. Box

1398, Jessup, MD 20794–1398.

Telephone (toll free): 1–877–433–7827.

FAX: (301) 470–1244. If you use a

telecommunications device for the deaf

(TDD), you may call (toll free): 1–877–

576–7734.

You may also contact ED Pubs via its

Web site http://www.ed.gov/pubs/

edpubs.html or you may contact ED

Pubs at its e-mail address:

edpubs@inet.ed.gov

If you request an application from ED

Pubs, be sure to identify the competition

as follows: CFDA number 84.339A.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The

Fund for the Improvement of

Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S.

Department of Education, 1990 K Street,

N.W., Washington, DC 20006–8544.

Telephone: (202) 502–7500. Individuals

may also request applications or request

information by submitting the name of

the competition, their name, and postal

mailing address to the e-mail address:

LAAP@ed.gov.

The application text may be obtained

from the Internet address http://

www.ed.gov/FIPSE/LAAP

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) on

request to the contact office listed under

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Individuals with disabilities also may

obtain a copy of the application package

in an alternative format by contacting

the email address: LAAP@ed.gov

However, the Department is not able

to reproduce in alternative format the

standard forms included in the

application package.

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 PDF you must have the Adobe

Acrobat Reader, which is available free

at either of the previous sites. If you

have questions about using PDF, call the

U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO)

toll free at 1–888–293–6498; or in the

Washington, DC 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. 1070f et seq.

Dated: January 9, 2001.

A. Lee Fritschler,

Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary

Education.

[FR Doc. 01–1243 Filed 1–12–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Submission of Data by State

Educational Agencies

AGENCY: National Center for Education

Statistics, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of dates of submission of

State revenue and expenditure reports

for fiscal year 2000 and of revisions to

those reports.

SUMMARY: The Secretary of Education

announces dates for the submission by

State educational agencies (SEAs) of

expenditure and revenue data and

average daily attendance statistics on ED

Form 2447 (the National Public

Education Financial Survey) for fiscal

year (FY) 2000. The Secretary sets these

dates to ensure that data are available to

serve as the basis for timely distribution

of Federal funds. The U.S. Bureau of the

Census is the data collection agent for

the Department’s National Center for

Education Statistics (NCES). The data

will be published by NCES and will be

used by the Secretary in the calculation

of allocations for FY 2002 appropriated

funds.

DATES: The date on which submissions

will first be accepted is March 15, 2001.

The mandatory deadline for the final

submission of all data, including any

revisions to previously submitted data,

is September 4, 2001.

ADDRESSES: SEAs may mail ED Form

2447 to: Bureau of the Census,

ATTENTION: Governments Division,

Washington, DC 20233–6800.

Alternatively, SEAs may hand deliver

submissions by 4 p.m. (Eastern Time) to:

Governments Division, Bureau of the

Census, 8905 Presidential Parkway,

Washington Plaza II, Room 508, Upper

Marlboro, MD 20772.

If an SEA’s submission is received by

the Bureau of the Census after

September 4, 2001 in order for the

submission to be accepted, the SEA

must show one of the following as proof

that the submission was mailed on or

before the mandatory deadline date:

1. A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service

postmark.

2. A legible mail receipt with the date

of mailing stamped by the U.S. Postal

Service.

3. A dated shipping label, invoice, or

receipt from a commercial carrier.

4. Any other proof of mailing

acceptable to the Secretary.

If the SEA mails ED Form 2447

through the U.S. Postal Service, the

Secretary does not accept either of the

following as proof of mailing:

1. A private metered postmark.

2. A mail receipt that is not dated by

the U.S. Postal Service.

Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not

uniformly provide a dated postmark. Before

relying on this method, an SEA should check

with its local post office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Lawrence R. MacDonald, Chief, Bureau

of the Census, ATTENTION:

Governments Division, Washington, DC

20233–6800. Telephone: (301) 457–

1574. 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) on

request to: Frank Johnson, National

Center for Education Statistics, U.S.

Department of Education, Washington,

DC 20208–5651. Telephone: (202) 502–

7362.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the

authority of section 404(a) of the

National Education Statistics Act of

1994 (20 U.S.C. 9003(a)), which

authorizes NCES to gather data on the

financing of education, NCES collects

data annually from SEAs through ED

Form 2447. The report from SEAs

includes attendance, revenue, and

expenditure data from which NCES

determines the average state per pupil

expenditure (SPPE) for elementary and

secondary education, as defined in the

Elementary and Secondary Education

Act of 1965 (ESEA) (20 U.S.C. 8801(12)).

In addition to using the SPPE data as

useful information on the financing of

elementary and secondary education,

the Secretary uses these data directly in

calculating allocations for certain

formula grant programs, including Title

I of the Elementary and Secondary

Education Act of 1965 as amended by

the Improving America’s Schools Act of

1994 (Title I), Impact Aid, and Indian

Education. Other programs such as the