2956 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 8 / Thursday, January 12, 1995 / Notices

Other Federal and State Health

Institutions—To monitor radiation

exposure of DNFSB personnel.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING,

RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, AND

DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:

STORAGE:

Paper records, magnetic disk, and

computer printouts.

RETRIEVABILITY:

By name, social security number, and

numeric code.

SAFEGUARDS:

Access is limited to employees having

a need to know. Records are stored in

locked file cabinets in a controlled

access area.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:

Records retention and disposal

authorities are contained in the

‘‘General Records Schedules’’ published

by National Archives and Records

Administration, Washington, D.C.

Records within DNFSB are destroyed by

shredding, burning, or burial in a

sanitary landfill, as appropriate.

SYSTEM MANAGER AND ADDRESS:

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety

Board, 625 Indiana Avenue, NW, Suite

700, Washington, DC 20004–2901.

Attention: Security Management Officer.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:

Requests by an individual to

determine if DNFSB–5 contains

information about him/her should be

directed to the Privacy Act Officer,

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board,

625 Indiana Avenue, NW, Suite 700,

Washington, DC 20004–2901. Required

identifying information: Complete

name, social security number, and date

of birth.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURE:

Same as Notification procedure above,

except individual must show official

photo identification, such as driver’s

license, passport, or government

identification before viewing records.

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURE:

Same as Record Access procedure.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:

Subject individuals, previous

employee records, DOE contractors’ film

badges, whole body counts, bioassays

and dosimetry badges.

SYSTEM EXEMPTED FROM CERTAIN PROVISIONS

OF THE ACT:

None.

Dated: January 9, 1995.

John T. Conway,

Chairman.

[FR Doc. 95–803 Filed 1–11–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6820–KD–M

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented

Education Program—National

Research and Development Center

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of proposed priority,

selection criteria, and post-award

requirements.

SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes a

priority, selection criteria, and postaward requirements for an award to

support a national research and

development center to study the

education of gifted and talented

children and youth. The work of the

center is intended to increase

knowledge related to improving

educational practices so that the

nation’s most gifted and talented

children and youth may better

contribute to the national welfare.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before February 27, 1995.

ADDRESSES: All comments concerning

this proposed priority should be

addressed to Judith Anderson, U.S.

Department of Education, 555 New

Jersey Avenue NW., Room 611b,

Washington, DC 20208–5573.

Comments may also be sent through the

internet to ‘‘Javits–Center@ed.gov.’’

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Judith Anderson. 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

Secretary seeks to improve the

education of gifted and talented

children and youth and to use the

methods and materials developed in

gifted and talented education programs

to improve education for all children.

This is an integral part of advancing the

National Education Goals and GOALS

2000, which require that all students

must attain high standards of academic

excellence. Gifted and talented

education programs and methods can

contribute to systemic reform, in which

schoolwide efforts are used to

coordinate high standards, assessments,

challenging curricula, and teacher

preparation to improve the education of

all students. The Secretary also believes

that the educational needs of gifted and

talented students from populations

historically underserved by gifted

education programs deserve particular

attention.

Under the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and

Talented Students Education Act of

1994 (Javits Act) as authorized by the

Elementary and Secondary Education

Act of 1965 as amended, the Secretary

seeks to provide support for a national

research and development center

designed to conduct sound and coherent

education research programs on

methods and techniques for gifted and

talented education. A deliberate,

sustained, and coordinated initiative

must be undertaken to carry out

research and development activities

related to improving the education of

gifted and talented students.

The Secretary plans to make the

award under this competition as a

cooperative agreement. Applicants for

the award must be institutions of higher

education, State educational agencies,

or a combination of these entities. The

Secretary believes that this center can

strengthen its capacity to accomplish

the work of its mission by involving

partners such as historically black

colleges and universities, community

colleges, or state and local education

research organizations. As described in

the Javits Act, the purpose of the center

is to increase the understanding of how

to improve the education of gifted and

talented students, including those who

may not be identified or served through

traditional assessment methods and

programs, such as economically

disadvantaged individuals, individuals

of limited-English proficiency, and

individuals with disabilities.

Furthermore, the Secretary believes that

the experience and knowledge gained in

developing and implementing programs

for gifted and talented students can and

should be used as a basis to develop

rich and challenging curricula for all

students, and to design instructional

strategies and other means to improve

all students’ education. Finally, the

Secretary believes that educators should

consider the schoolwide impact of

gifted and talented programs.

Proposed Priority

Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) the

Secretary proposes to give an absolute

preference to applications that meet the

following priority. The Secretary

proposes to fund only applications that

meet this absolute priority:

Each project must propose plans to

establish a national research and

development center that—

• Conducts research and

development activities concerning the
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 8 / Thursday, January 12, 1995 / Notices 2957

educational needs of children and youth

who give evidence of high performance

capability in areas such as intellectual,

creative, artistic, or leadership capacity,

or in specific academic fields, and who

require services or activities not

ordinarily provided by the school in

order to fully develop such capabilities;

• Contributes to increasing the

capacity of educational systems to

provide all students with equal

opportunities to learn to high standards

and achieve educational success;

• Uses research methods in at least

some of its studies that involve

advanced or innovative quantitative or

qualitative techniques of sampling, data

gathering, conceptualization and

measurement of variables, data analyses,

and interdisciplinary perspectives;

• Conducts one or more definitive

research studies that have national

implications and that will inform policy

or practice across the nation; i.e., use

large representative samples and

rigorous scientific techniques that

preclude biased results and support

generalizable, replicable findings

concerning the education of sizable

populations of children or youth;

• Includes research and development

activities related to the following topics:

(a) Identifying, teaching, and serving

gifted and talented students;

(b) Improving the education of gifted

and talented students who may not be

identified and served through

traditional assessment methods and

programs, (including economically

disadvantaged individuals, individuals

of limited-English proficiency, and

individuals with disabilities);

(c) Using knowledge and experience

gained in developing and implementing

gifted and talented programs and

methods to serve all students; and

(d) Understanding the effects of gifted

education programs on the educational

achievement of students schoolwide;

and

• Documents, reports, and

disseminates its research activities in

ways that will allow others to use the

research results.

Proposed Selection Criteria

The Secretary proposes not to use the

selection criteria set forth in the Javits

Gifted and Talented Program

regulations, 34 CFR 791.21. The

Secretary proposes to use selection

criteria set forth in this notice to

evaluate an application for the center

award. The proposed criteria are

consistent with the provisions of the

Educational Research, Development,

Dissemination and Improvement Act of

1994.

Selection Criteria: The Secretary plans

to use the following selection criteria to

evaluate applications when a

competition is announced. The

maximum score for all these criteria is

100 points. The maximum score for

each criterion is indicated in

parentheses.

(a) Research Mission and Technical

Soundness. (40 points)

The Secretary reviews each

application to determine the quality and

significance of the center’s overall

research agenda, definitive study or

studies, and other individual research

projects, including—

(1) The coherence, significance, and

technical merits of the center’s research

projects and agenda, in the context of

the current state of the field; and

(2) The importance, quality of design

and methodological rigor of the center’s

definitive study or studies.

(b) Personnel. (30 points)

The Secretary reviews each

application to determine the

qualifications and time commitments of

the center’s personnel, including—

(1) The time commitment,

experiences, and expertise of the

primary researchers enabling them to

achieve the center’s mission; and

(2) The qualifications of the Director

and support staff, and whether they will

commit at least a majority of their time

to center activities.

(c) Institutional Arrangements. (30

points)

The Secretary reviews each

application to evaluate the capacity of

the center’s institutional structure and

arrangements to support the center’s

projects and objectives, including—

(1) The center’s ability to respond to

and provide leadership for those who

can use or benefit from the center’s

research;

(2) The center’s plans to support,

monitor, and complete research projects

that meet the highest standards of

professional excellence; and

(3) The center’s ability to disseminate

useful research findings and other

information to appropriate audiences in

ways that will maximize the benefits of

its work.

PROPOSED POST-AWARD

REQUIREMENTS: The Secretary

proposes the following post-award

requirements consistent with the

Educational Research, Development,

Dissemination and Improvement Act of

1994. A grantee receiving a center award

shall—

(a) Provide OERI with information

about center projects and products and

other appropriate research information

so that OERI can monitor center

progress and maintain its inventory of

funded research projects. This

information must be provided through

media that include an electronic

network;

(b) Conduct and evaluate research

projects in conformity to the highest

professional standards of research

practice; and

(c) Reserve five percent of each budget

period’s funds to support activities that

fall within the center’s mission, are

designed and mutually agreed to by

both the center and OERI, and enhance

OERI’s ability to carry out its mission.

Such activities may include developing

research agendas, conducting research

projects, collaborating with other

federally-supported entities, and

engaging in leadership and

dissemination activities.

The Secretary believes that use of the

proposed selection criteria will improve

the quality of applications, and that the

proposed post-award requirements will

enhance the quality of the center’s

research, development, and

dissemination activities.

The Secretary will announce the final

priority, selection criteria, and postaward requirements in a notice in the

Federal Register. The final priority,

selection criteria and post-award

requirements will be determined by

responses to this notice, available funds,

and other considerations of the

Department. Funding of a particular

project will depend on the availability

of funds, the nature of the final priority,

and the quality of the applications

received.

Note: This notice 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

priority, selection criteria, and post-award

requirements.

Program Authority: P.L. 103–382, Title X,

Part B

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Number 84.206, Jacob K. Javits Gifted and

Talented Students Education Act of 1994)

Dated: January 5, 1995.

Sharon P. Robinson,

Assistant Secretary for Educational Research

and Improvement.

[FR Doc. 95–714 Filed 1–11–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P