Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 238 / Tuesday, December 12, 1995 / Notices 63691

Abstract: Collection of state proposals

for Targeted Teacher Deferment/

Teacher Shortage Areas, of the Higher

Education Act of 1965, as amended by

the Higher Education Amendments of

1986.

Office of Educational Research and

Improvement

Type of Review: New.

Title: Development of Measures of

Elementary School Organization and

Educational Processes: School Survey.

Frequency: One Time.

Affected Public: Not for Profit

institutions.

Reporting Burden:

Responses: 300

Burden Hours: 75.

Recordkeeping Burden:

Recordkeepers: 0

Burden Hours: 0

Abstract: This Study is the full-scale

pilot test of the proposed data

collection procedures and instrument

for an effort to develop better

measures of elementary school

characteristics and processes that will

be comparable with those of other

countries. The survey was developed

by the Indicators of Educational

Systems Project in cooperation with

the Organization for Economic

Cooperation and Development

(OECD) with support of the National

Center for Education Statistics. Data

will be collected on such topics as the

stability of the school’s staff, aspects

of school leadership, cooperation

among teachers, student evaluation

practices, achievement orientation,

and parent involvement.

[FR Doc. 95–30165 Filed 12–11–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–M

Fund for the Improvement of

Education Program

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of proposed priorities.

SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes to

establish absolute priorities to fund

projects that develop, evaluate and

field-test State assessments aligned with

challenging State content standards. The

Secretary may use these priorities in FY

1996 and subsequent years. The

Secretary proposes to provide Federal

financial assistance to assist States in

the development of assessments that can

be used to improve classroom

instruction, motivate all students to

improve educational performance, and

provide examples for students, teachers

and parents of the learning outcomes

that can be expected for all students.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before January 11, 1996.

ADDRESSES: All comments concerning

these proposed priorities should be

addressed to Dr. David Sweet, U.S.

Department of Education, Office of

Educational Research and Improvement,

555 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Room

508H, Washington, D.C. 20208–5573.

Comments can be faxed to David Sweet

at (202) 219–2135. Comments may also

be sent through the Internet to David—

Sweet@ed.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David Sweet, telephone: (202) 219–

2079. Individuals who use a

telecommunications device for the deaf

(TDD) may call the Federal Information

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time,

Monday through Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Fund

for the Improvement of Education (FIE)

supports nationally significant projects

to improve the quality of education,

assist all students to meet challenging

State content and student performance

standards and contribute to the

achievement of the National Education

Goals. The FIE program is authorized

under Part A of Title X of the

Elementary and Secondary Education

Act of 1965, as amended by the

Improving America’s Schools Act of

1994 (20 U.S.C. 8001).

The Secretary is expressly authorized

to use FIE program funds to support

systemic education reform at the State

and local levels through activities such

as the development and evaluation of

model strategies for assessment of

student learning. The Secretary believes

that the alignment of State content

standards and State assessments is an

important part of systemic educational

reform. Exemplifying the forms and

levels of educational performance that

students in a State should be able to

achieve is a critical step in the process

of ensuring that students are reaching

the State’s challenging content

standards. While many States are

developing new content standards for

the core academic subjects, some States

are using assessments that are not

aligned to their new content standards.

The Secretary believes that helping to

defray the cost of developing

assessments aligned with challenging

State content standards will advance

State reform efforts.

State educational agencies (SEAs),

local educational agencies (LEAs),

institutions of higher education, and

other public and private agencies,

organizations, and institutions are

eligible to receive funds under these

priorities. However, the Secretary

believes that SEAs and LEAs have the

resources, knowledge, and authority

necessary to lead systemic reform

efforts. Therefore, SEAs and LEAs must

participate as lead agents in the

development of State assessments to

ensure that the assessment systems are

aligned with State content standards

and the content of the curriculum. If

reform is to be systemic, State agencies

that are working on content and

curriculum must either direct the

development of assessments themselves

or provide direction to LEAs to do so.

It is imperative that State assessments

take into account the needs of all

students. Therefore, funds awarded

under the proposed priority may be

used to develop, modify, field-test and

evaluate assessments that take into

account the needs of students with

disabilities or students who have

limited English proficiency.

Awards under these proposed

priorities may be jointly funded under

three statutory authorities:

(1) The Fund for the Improvement of

Education (20 U.S.C. 8001);

(2) Section 618(c) of the Individuals

with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

regarding Evaluation and Program

Information (20 U.S.C. 1418(c));

(3) Bilingual Education Research,

Evaluation, and Dissemination Program,

authorized by Title VII, Part A, Subpart

2 of the Improving America’s Schools

Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 7451–7452).

The Secretary has determined that the

availability of this joint funding option

would enhance the Department’s ability

to support projects that integrate into a

single effort the development of

assessments for all students and the

modification of those assessments to

take into account the needs of disabled

and limited English proficient students.

Funds provided under Section 618 of

IDEA can only be used for projects that

modify, field-test, and evaluate

assessments that take into account the

needs of children and youth with

disabilities. A project funded under

Section 618 of IDEA should address

how the assessments will improve the

ability of SEAs and LEAs to provide full

educational opportunities to children

and youth with disabilities and to better

assess the progress of children and

youth with disabilities while in special

education. As part of the post-award

requirements for a project funded under

Section 618 of IDEA, a grantee must

prepare its procedures, findings, and

other relevant information in a form that

will maximize their dissemination and

use, especially through dissemination

networks and mechanisms authorized

by Section 618, and in a form for

inclusion in the annual report to
63692 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 238 / Tuesday, December 12, 1995 / Notices

Congress submitted pursuant to Section

618(g). Funds provided under Section

618 may be used to fund projects

proposed by applicants that are private

for-profit agencies only when necessary

because of the unique nature of the

study.

In accordance with 20 U.S.C.

7452(b)(4), funds provided under the

Bilingual Education Research,

Evaluation, and Dissemination Program

must be administered by individuals

with expertise in bilingual education

and the needs of limited English

proficient students and their families.

Funds provided under this program

must be used to improve bilingual

education and special alternative

instruction programs for children and

youth of limited English proficiency.

As part of the efforts to improve

student assessment, the Department

made awards in FY 1995 under the

Assessment Development and

Evaluation Grants Program, authorized

by section 220 of the Goals 2000:

Educate America Act. Under this

program, the Secretary provides grants

to SEAs, LEAs or partnerships of such

agencies to help defray the costs of

developing, field-testing and evaluating

State assessments aligned to State

content standards. Applications

involving 43 States were received in

1995 and grants were made to support

9 projects. The Secretary expects these

projects to develop model strategies for

the assessment of student learning that

will have a significant impact on State

and local level systemic reform efforts.

Depending on the availability of funds

in FY 1996 and subsequent years, the

Secretary may decide to use funds

under the proposed priorities to

continue projects initially funded under

the Assessment Development and

Evaluation Grants program or to fund

additional applications considered in

the 1995 competition. Alternatively, the

Secretary may decide to hold a

competition for new awards under the

proposed priorities.

The Secretary will announce the final

priorities in a notice in the Federal

Register. The final priorities will be

determined by responses to this notice,

available funds, and other

considerations of the Department.

Funding of particular projects depends

on the availability of funds, the nature

of the final priorities, and the quality of

the applications received. The

publication of these proposed priorities

does not preclude the Secretary from

proposing additional priorities, nor does

it limit the Secretary to funding only

these priorities, subject to meeting

applicable rulemaking requirements.

Note: This notice of proposed priorities

does not solicit applications. A notice

inviting applications under this competition

will be published in the Federal Register

concurrent with or following publication of

the notice of final priorities.

Proposed Absolute Priorities

Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), the

Secretary proposes to give an absolute

preference to projects that meet one or

more of the following priorities. The

Secretary proposes to fund only projects

that meet one or more of these absolute

priorities:

Proposed Absolute Priority 1—

Projects that develop, field-test, and

evaluate assessments that are aligned to

State content standards.

Proposed Absolute Priority 2—

Projects that modify, field-test, and

evaluate assessments to address the

needs of children and youth with

disabilities or limited English

proficiency. Assessments to be modified

must be those developed under priority

(1) or similar assessments developed for

all students and aligned to State content

standards.

All projects must—

(a) Examine the validity and

reliability of the assessment for the

particular purposes for which the

assessment was developed;

(b) Ensure that the assessment is

consistent with relevant, nationally

recognized professional and technical

standards for assessments;

(c) Devote special attention to how the

assessment treats all students, especially

with regard to race, gender, ethnicity,

disability, and language proficiency of

those students; and

(d) Be developed by, or under the

direction of, an SEA, LEA, or consortia

of those agencies.

Selection Criteria

With respect to new awards made

with funds from Section 618 of IDEA,

the Secretary does not intend to use the

selection criteria in 34 CFR 327.31. With

respect to any new awards made with

funds from the Bilingual Education

Research, Evaluation, and

Dissemination Program, the Secretary

does not intend to use the selection

criteria in 34 CFR 75.210. The Secretary

intends to use the evaluation criteria in

34 CFR Part 700 to select all new awards

under these priorities.

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 this program.

Invitation To Comment

Interested persons are invited to

submit comments and recommendations

regarding these proposed priorities.

All comments submitted in response

to this notice will be available for public

inspection, during and after the

comment period in OERI, Room 510,

555 New Jersey Avenue, Washington,

D.C., between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and

4 p.m., Monday through Friday of each

week except Federal holidays.

Applicable Program Regulations

(a) 34 CFR part 327, with the

exception of 34 CFR 327.31; and (b) the

final regulations for the Standards for

the Conduct and Evaluation of

Activities Carried Out by the Office of

Educational Research and Improvement

(OERI)—Evaluation of applications for

Grants and Cooperative Agreements and

Proposals for Contracts, published on

September 14, 1995 in the Federal

Register (60 FR 47808), to be codified as

34 CFR Part 700.

Authority: 20 U.S.C. 8001.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Number 84.215L—Fund for the Improvement

of Education Program)

Dated: December 5, 1995.

Sharon P. Robinson,

Assistant Secretary for Educational Research

and Improvement.

[FR Doc. 95–30167 Filed 12–11–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P

[CFDA No. 84.305F, 84.306F, 84.307F,

84.308F and 84.309F]

Office of Educational Research and

Improvement: National Institutes’

Field-Initiated Studies Grant Program

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice Inviting Applications for

New Awards for fiscal year (FY) 1996—

Amendment.

On September 14, 1995, the Assistant

Secretary for Educational Research and

Improvement published in the Federal

Register (60 FR 47830) a notice inviting

applications for new awards for the

National Institutes’ Field-Initiated

Studies Grant Program. This notice

amends the original information by

adding a paragraph that indicates that

the Secretary may fund two cycles of

awards from this competition.