12650 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 44 / Tuesday, March 7, 1995 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Challenge Grants for Technology in

Education

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of selection criteria,

selection procedures, and application

procedures.

SUMMARY: The Secretary establishes

selection criteria, procedures for

evaluating applications, and procedures

for submission of applications under the

Challenge Grants for Technology in

Education Program. The program

provides grants to consortia comprised

of one or more local educational

agencies and other appropriate entities

for the purpose of improving and

expanding new applications of

technology to strengthen the school

reform effort, improve student

achievement, and provide sustained

professional development of teachers,

administrators, and school library media

personnel. The Secretary establishes

selection criteria and related procedures

to make informed funding decisions on

applications for technology projects

having great promise for improving

elementary and secondary education.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The provisions of this

notice take effect April 6, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Donald Fischer, Interagency Technology

Task Force, U.S. Department of

Education, 600 Independence Avenue,

SW., Washington, DC 20202–5544.

Telephone (202) 708–6001. 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

Challenge Grants for Technology in

Education Program is authorized in

Title III, section 3136, of the Elementary

and Secondary Education Act of 1965,

as amended (20 U.S.C. 6846).

Under this program the Secretary

makes grants to consortia. Each

consortium must include at least one

local educational agency (LEA) with a

high percentage or number of children

living below the poverty line, and may

include other LEAs, State educational

agencies, institutions of higher

education, businesses, academic content

experts, software designers, museums,

libraries, or other appropriate entities.

The Secretary announces in this

notice selection criteria for the FY 1995

competition. The program statute (20

U.S.C. 6846(c)) requires the Secretary to

give priority in awarding grants to

consortia that demonstrate certain

factors in their applications. The

Secretary carries out this mandate by

incorporating the priority factors into

the selection criteria. In addition, the

Secretary believes that substantive

selection criteria specifically framed for

this program competition are necessary

to enable the Secretary to evaluate how

well the applicants address the purpose

of the Challenge Grants for Technology

in Education Program. The Secretary

uses the following selection criteria

instead of the selection criteria in the

Education Department General

Administrative Regulations, 34 CFR

75.200(b)(3) and 75.210.

Selection Criteria

The Secretary uses the following

unweighted selection criteria to evaluate

applications:

(a) Significance. The Secretary

reviews each proposed project for its

significance by determining the extent

to which the project—

(1) Offers a creative, new vision for

using technology to help all students to

learn challenging standards or to

promote efficiency and effectiveness in

education; and contributes to the

advancement of State and local systemic

educational reform;

(2) Will achieve far-reaching impact

through results, products, or benefits

that are easily exportable to other

settings and communities;

(3) Will directly benefit students by

integrating acquired technologies into

the curriculum to enhance teaching,

training, and student achievement or by

other means;

(4) Will ensure ongoing, intensive

professional development for teachers

and other personnel to further the use

of technology in the classroom, library,

or other learning center;

(5) Is designed to serve areas with a

high number or percentage of

disadvantaged students or other areas

with the greatest need for educational

technology; and

(6) Is designed to create new learning

communities, and expanded markets for

high-quality educational technology

applications and services.

(b) Feasibility. The Secretary reviews

each proposed project for its feasibility

by determining the extent to which—

(1) The project will ensure successful,

effective, and efficient uses of

technologies for educational reform that

will be sustainable beyond the period of

the grant;

(2) The members of the consortium or

other appropriate entities will

contribute substantial financial and

other resources to achieve the goals of

the project; and

(3) The applicant is capable of

carrying out the project, as evidenced by

the extent to which the project will meet

the problems identified; the quality of

the project design, including objectives,

approaches, evaluation plan, and

dissemination plan; the adequacy of

resources, including money, personnel,

facilities, equipment, and supplies; the

qualifications of key personnel who

would conduct the project; and the

applicant’s prior experience relevant to

the objectives of the project.

Selection Procedures

The Secretary intends to evaluate

applications using unweighted selection

criteria. The Secretary believes that the

use of unweighted criteria is most

appropriate because they will allow the

reviewers maximum flexibility to apply

their professional judgments in

identifying the particular strengths and

weaknesses in individual applications.

Therefore, the Secretary will not apply

the selection procedures in EDGAR, 34

CFR 75.217, which require a rank order

to be established based on weighted

selection criteria.

The Secretary also believes that due to

the highly technical nature of the

applications, it will be necessary to

obtain clarifications and additional

information from applicants during the

selection process. In accordance with 34

CFR 75.109(b), an applicant may make

changes to an application on or before

the deadline date for submission of

applications. In accordance with 34 CFR

75.231, the Secretary may request an

applicant to submit additional

information after the application has

been selected for funding. For the

purposes of the Challenge Grants for

Technology in Education Program, the

Secretary also permits an applicant to

submit additional information, in

response to a request from the Secretary,

during the application selection process.

The Secretary will use the following

selection procedures for the FY 1995

competition.

In applying the selection criteria, one

or more peer review panels of experts

will first analyze each application in

terms of individual selection criteria.

The reviewers assign to each application

two separate qualitative ratings based on

the extent to which the application has

met the two individual selection

criteria. The two ratings taken together

yield a composite rating, representing

each reviewer’s total rating of each

application. These reviewer ratings for

each application are then combined to

yield an overall rating for each

application. The panels will also

identify inconsistencies, points in need
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 44 / Tuesday, March 7, 1995 / Notices 12651

of clarification, and other concerns, if

any, pertaining to each application.

The Secretary assigns each

application to one of several groups

based on the application’s overall level

of quality. Starting with the highest

quality group and moving down in

unbroken order, the Secretary then

identifies the groups of applications of

sufficiently high quality to be

considered for funding. The Secretary

may request each applicant whose

application was identified as being in a

group of sufficiently high quality

applications to submit additional

information or materials to address the

concerns and questions, if any,

identified by the peer review panels.

Such requests are strictly limited to

clarifications of a conceptual or

technical nature, and are not meant to

fill major gaps in information that

reviewers identify in applications.

A second peer review panel then

reevaluates each application in a group

identified as being of sufficiently high

quality, taking into account any

additional information or materials, to

determine the extent to which each

application addresses the selection

criteria. The Secretary then reassigns

each reevaluated application to one of

several groups based on the

application’s overall level of quality.

In the final stage of the selection

process, the Secretary selects for

funding those applications of highest

quality based on the results of the

second review panel. The Secretary may

also consider the extent to which each

application demonstrates an effective

response to the learning technology

needs of areas with a high number or

percentage of disadvantaged students or

the greatest need for educational

technology.

Application Deadline

In order to ensure timely receipt and

processing of applications, the Secretary

takes exception to 34 CFR 75.102(b) by

requiring that for an application to be

considered for funding it must be

received on or before the deadline date

announced in the application notice

published in this issue of the Federal

Register. The Secretary will not

consider an application for funding if it

is not received by the deadline date

unless the applicant can show proof that

the application was (1) Sent by

registered or certified mail not later than

five days before the deadline date; or (2)

sent by commercial carrier not later than

two days before the deadline date. An

applicant must show proof of mailing in

accordance with 34 CFR 75.102 (d) and

(e). Applications delivered by hand

must be received by 2:00 p.m.

(Washington, D.C. time) on the deadline

date. For the purposes of this

competition, the Secretary does not

apply 34 CFR 102(b) which requires an

application to be mailed, rather than

received, by the deadline date.

Waiver of Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking

In accordance with the

Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C.

553), it is the practice of the Department

to offer interested parties the

opportunity to comment on proposed

regulations that are not taken directly

from statute. Ordinarily, this practice

would have applied to the selection

criteria, selection procedures, and

application procedures in this notice.

However, in order to make timely grant

awards in fiscal year (FY) 1995, the

Assistant Secretary, in accordance with

section 437(d)(1) of the General

Education Provisions Act, has decided

to issue this notice of selection criteria,

selection procedures, and application

procedures, which will apply only to

the FY 1995 grant competition.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980

These selection criteria contain

information collection requirements. As

required by the Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1980, the Department will submit

a copy of these selection criteria to the

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) for its review. (44 U.S.C. 3504(h))

The Department uses the information

to make informed evaluations of grant

applications. Annual public reporting

burden for this collection of information

is estimated to be as follows:

(1) Selection criteria—average 24

hours per response for 500 respondents.

These estimates include time for

reviewing instructions, searching

existing data sources, gathering and

maintaining the data needed, and

completing and reviewing the collection

of information.

Organizations and individuals

desiring to submit comments on the

information collection requirements

should direct them to the Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs,

OMB, Room 3002, New Executive Office

Building, Washington, D.C. 20503;

Attention: Daniel J. Chenok.

Intergovernmental Review

This program is subject to the

requirements of Executive Order 12373

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.

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6846.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Number 84.303, Challenge Grants for

Technology in Education)

Dated: March 3, 1995.

Sharon P. Robinson,

Assistant Secretary for Educational Research

and Improvement.

[FR Doc. 95–5707 Filed 3–6–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P

[CFDA No. 84.303]

Challenge Grants for Technology in

Education; Notice Inviting Applications

for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY)

1995

Purpose of Program: The Challenge

Grants for Technology in Education

Program provides grants to consortia

that are working to improve and expand

new applications of technology to

strengthen the school reform effort,

improve student achievement, and

provide sustained professional

development of teachers,

administrators, and school library media

personnel.

Eligible Applicants: Only consortia

may receive grants under this program.

Consortia shall include at least one local

educational agency (LEA) with a high

percentage or number of children living

below the poverty line. They may also

include other local educational

agencies, State educational agencies,

institutions of higher education,

businesses, academic content experts,

software designers, museums, libraries,

and other appropriate entities.

Note: In each consortium a participating

LEA shall submit the application on behalf

of the consortium and serve as the fiscal

agent for the grant.

Deadline for Receipt of Applications:

June 2, 1995

Requested Deadline for Receipt of

Letters of Intent to Apply: April 4,

1995

Deadline for Intergovernmental Review:

August 1, 1995

Applications Available: March 13, 1995

Available Funds: $27,000,000

Estimated Range of Awards: $500,000 to

$3,000,000 per year

Estimated Average Size of Awards:

$1,000,000 per year

Estimated Number of Awards: 14–18

Project Period: 5 years

Note: The Department is not bound by any

estimates in this notice.