Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 111 / Thursday, June 11, 2009 / Notices 27897 

(6) The extent to which the proposed 

budget allocates sufficient funds to carry 

out a high-quality evaluation of the 

proposed project. 

This notice does not preclude us from 

proposing additional priorities, 

requirements, definitions, or selection 

criteria, subject to meeting applicable 

rulemaking requirements. 

Note: This notice does not solicit 

applications. In any year in which we choose 

to use these priorities, requirements, 

definitions, and selection criteria, we invite 

applications through a notice in the Federal 

Register. 

Executive Order 12866: This notice 

has been reviewed in accordance with 

Executive Order 12866. Under the terms 

of the order, we have assessed the 

potential costs and benefits of this final 

regulatory action. 

The potential costs associated with 

this final regulatory action are those 

resulting from statutory requirements 

and those we have determined as 

necessary for administering this 

program effectively and efficiently. 

In assessing the potential costs and 

benefits—both quantitative and 

qualitative—of this final regulatory 

action, we have determined that the 

benefits of the final priorities, 

requirements, definitions, and selection 

criteria justify the costs. 

We have determined, also, that this 

final regulatory action does not unduly 

interfere with State, local, and Tribal 

governments in the exercise of their 

governmental functions. 

We summarized the costs and benefits 

of this regulatory action in the notice of 

proposed priorities, requirements, 

definitions, and selection criteria. 

Intergovernmental Review: This 

program is subject to Executive Order 

12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR 

part 79. One of the objectives of the 

Executive Order is to foster an 

intergovernmental partnership and a 

strengthened federalism. The Executive 

Order relies on processes developed by 

State and local governments for 

coordination and review of proposed 

Federal financial assistance. 

This document provides early 

notification of our specific plans and 

actions for this program. 

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 of this Department 

published in the Federal Register, 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. 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.gpoaccess.gov/nara/ 

index.html. 

Delegation of Authority: The Secretary 

of Education has delegated authority to 

Joseph C. Conaty, Director, Academic 

Improvement and Teacher Quality 

Programs for the Office of Elementary 

and Secondary Education, to perform 

the functions of the Assistant Secretary 

for Elementary and Secondary 

Education. 

Dated: June 5, 2009. 

Joseph P. Conaty, 

Director, Academic Improvement and 

Teacher Quality Programs. 

[FR Doc. E9–13754 Filed 6–10–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Office of Elementary and Secondary 

Education; Overview Information; 

Striving Readers; Notice Inviting 

Applications for New Awards for Fiscal 

Year (FY) 2009 

AGENCY: Department of Education. 

ACTION: Notice. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

(CFDA) Number: 84.371A. 

Dates: 

Applications Available: June 11, 2009. 

Deadline for Notice of Intent To 

Apply: July 1, 2009. 

Date of Pre-Application Meeting: The 

application package on the Striving 

Readers Web site at http://www.ed.gov/ 

programs/strivingreaders/index.html 

includes specific dates and times for 

technical assistance workshops that will 

instruct applicants in completing the 

application package. 

Deadline for Transmittal of 

Applications: August 10, 2009. 

Full Text of Announcement 

I. Funding Opportunity Description 

Purpose of Program: The purposes of 

the Striving Readers program are to raise 

the literacy levels of adolescent students 

in schools that are eligible for assistance 

under Title I, Part A of the Elementary 

and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 

as amended (ESEA), and that enroll 

significant numbers of students reading 

below grade level and to build a strong, 

scientific research base for identifying 

and replicating strategies that improve 

adolescent literacy instruction. 

Priorities: These priorities are from 

the notice of final priorities, 

requirements, definitions, and selection 

criteria for this program, published 

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 

Register. 

Absolute Priorities: For FY 2009 and 

any subsequent year in which we make 

awards from the list of unfunded 

applicants from this competition, these 

priorities are absolute priorities. Under 

34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) we consider only 

applications that meet these priorities. 

These priorities are: 

Absolute Priority 1—Supplemental 

Literacy Intervention for Struggling 

Readers in Middle and High School 

Grades 

To be eligible for consideration under 

this priority, an applicant must propose 

to implement a supplemental literacy 

intervention during the second, third, 

and fourth years of the project period 

that— 

(a) Will be provided to struggling 

readers (as defined elsewhere in this 

notice) in any of grades 6 through 12 in 

no fewer than 5 eligible schools; 

(b) Supplements the regular English 

language arts instruction students 

receive; 

(c) Provides instruction exclusively or 

primarily during the regular school day, 

but that may be augmented by afterschool instruction; 

(d) Is at least one full school year in 

duration; 

(e) Includes the use of a nationally 

normed, reliable, and valid screening 

reading assessment (as defined 

elsewhere in this notice) to identify 

struggling readers; 

(f) Includes the use of a nationally 

normed, reliable, and valid diagnostic 

reading assessment (as defined 

elsewhere in this notice) to pinpoint 

students’ instructional needs; 

(g) Uses a research-based literacy 

model that is flexible enough to meet 

the varied needs of struggling readers, is 

intense enough to accelerate the 

development of literacy skills, and 

includes, at a minimum, the following 

practices: 

(1) Explicit vocabulary instruction. 

(2) Direct and explicit comprehension 

strategy instruction. 

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27898 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 111 / Thursday, June 11, 2009 / Notices 

(3) Opportunities for extended 

discussion of text meaning and 

interpretation. 

(4) Instruction in reading foundational 

skills, such as decoding and fluency (for 

students who need to be taught these 

skills). 

(5) Course content intended to 

improve student motivation and 

engagement in literacy learning. 

(6) Instruction in writing; and 

(h) Has been implemented in at least 

one school in the United States during 

the preceding five years. 

Absolute Priority 2—Rigorous and 

Independent Evaluation 

To be eligible for consideration under 

this priority, an applicant must propose 

to support a rigorous experimental 

evaluation of the effectiveness of the 

supplemental literacy intervention it 

implements under Priority 1 

(Supplemental Literacy Intervention for 

Struggling Readers in Middle and High 

School Grades) during the second, third, 

and fourth years of the project that 

will— 

(a) Be carried out by an independent 

evaluator whose role in the project is 

limited solely to conducting the 

evaluation; 

(b) Use a random lottery to assign 

eligible struggling readers in each 

school in the project either to the 

supplemental literacy intervention or to 

other activities in which they would 

otherwise participate, such as a study 

hall, electives, or another activity that 

does not involve supplemental literacy 

instruction; 

(c) Include rigorous and appropriate 

procedures to monitor the integrity of 

the random assignment of students, 

minimize crossover and contamination 

between the treatment and control 

groups, and monitor, document, and, 

where possible, minimize student 

attrition from the sample; 

(d) Measure outcomes of the 

supplemental literacy intervention 

using, at a minimum: 

(1) The reading language arts 

assessment used by the State to 

determine whether a school has made 

adequate yearly progress under part A of 

title I of the ESEA. 

(2) A nationally normed, reliable, and 

valid outcome reading assessment (as 

defined elsewhere in this notice) that is 

closely aligned with the literacy skills 

targeted by the supplemental literacy 

intervention; 

(e) Use rigorous statistical models to 

analyze the impact of the supplemental 

literacy intervention on student 

achievement, including the use of 

students’ prior-year test scores as a 

covariate in the model to improve 

statistical precision and also including 

appropriate statistical techniques for 

taking into account the clustering of 

students within schools; 

(f) Include an analysis of the fidelity 

of implementation of the critical 

features of the supplemental literacy 

intervention based on data collected by 

the evaluator; 

(g) Include measures designed to 

ensure that the evaluator obtains high 

response rates to all data collections; 

(h) Include no fewer than 750 

struggling readers per year in all of the 

schools and grades served by the 

supplemental literacy intervention. To 

meet the eligibility requirements, an 

applicant with 5 schools would need an 

average of 150 struggling readers in all 

grades served by the intervention per 

school. An applicant with 10 schools 

would also meet the eligibility 

requirements if each school had 75 

struggling readers in all grades served 

by the intervention; and 

(i) Be designed to detect not less than 

a 0.10 standard deviation impact of the 

supplemental literacy intervention on 

student achievement, which represents 

approximately 3 to 5 months of growth 

in reading achievement on standardized 

assessments for the typical student in 

grades 6 through 12. 

Application Requirements: To be 

considered for an award under this 

competition, an applicant must include 

in its application the following evidence 

with respect to the supplemental 

literacy intervention it proposes to 

implement and evaluate: 

(a) Evidence that the supplemental 

literacy intervention has been 

implemented in at least one school in 

the United States during the preceding 

five years. 

(b) A one-page logic model that shows 

a clear, logical pathway leading from the 

project inputs and activities, through 

classroom instruction, to the expected 

impacts on students. 

(c) The nationally normed, reliable, 

and valid screening, diagnostic, and 

outcome reading assessments (as these 

reading assessments are defined 

elsewhere in this notice) of student 

literacy skills that the applicant would 

use to inform the identification of 

struggling readers and the content of 

their instruction, and to evaluate the 

effectiveness of the supplemental 

literacy intervention. 

Program Definitions: The following 

definitions apply to this program: 

Diagnostic reading assessment means 

an assessment that is— 

(a) Valid, reliable, and based on 

scientifically based reading research; 

and 

(b) Used for the purpose of— 

(1) Identifying a child’s specific areas 

of strength and weakness; 

(2) Determining any difficulties that a 

child may have in learning to read and 

the potential cause of such difficulties; 

and 

(3) Helping to determine possible 

reading intervention strategies and 

related special needs. 

Eligible school means a school that— 

(a) Is eligible to receive funds under 

part A of title I of the ESEA, pursuant 

to section 1113 of the ESEA; 

(b) Serves students in any of grades 6 

through 12; and 

(c) Enrolled not fewer than 75 

students in the grades that will be 

served by the supplemental literacy 

intervention during the 2007–08 and 

2008–09 school years (or in the two 

most recent years for which data are 

available) whose reading skills were two 

or more years below grade level. 

Outcome reading assessment means 

an assessment that is— 

(a) Valid, reliable, and nationally 

normed; 

(b) Closely aligned with the literacy 

skills targeted by the supplemental 

literacy intervention; and 

(c) Used for the purpose of— 

(1) Measuring student reading 

achievement; and 

(2) Evaluating the effectiveness of the 

supplemental literacy intervention. 

Screening reading assessment means 

an assessment that is— 

(a) Valid, reliable, and based on 

scientifically based reading research; 

and 

(b) A brief procedure designed as a 

first step in identifying children who 

may be at high risk for delayed 

development or academic failure and in 

need of further diagnosis of their need 

for special services or additional literacy 

instruction. 

Struggling readers means readers 

who— 

(a) Have only partial mastery of the 

prerequisite knowledge and skills that 

are fundamental for reading at grade 

level; and 

(b) Are reading two or more grades 

below grade level when measured on an 

initial screening reading assessment. 

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6492. 

Applicable Regulations: (a) The 

Education Department General 

Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 

34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 

84, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99. (b) The notice 

of final priorities, requirements, 

definitions, and selection criteria, 

published elsewhere in this issue of the 

Federal Register. 

Note: The regulations for this program in 

34 CFR part 79 apply to all applicants except 

Federally recognized Indian Tribes. 

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II. Award Information 

Type of Award: Cooperative 

agreement. 

Estimated Available Funds: $7.2 

million. 

Contingent upon the availability of 

funds and the quality of applications, 

we may make additional awards in FY 

2010 from the list of unfunded 

applicants from this competition. 

Estimated Range of Awards: 

$750,000–$1.3 million. 

Estimated Average Size of Awards: $1 

million. 

Estimated Number of Awards: 7. 

Note: The Department is not bound by any 

estimates in this notice. 

Project Period: Up to 48 months. 

During the first several months of the 

project period, the Department will 

provide technical assistance for 

evaluators and project directors in 

planning for implementation and 

evaluation of the supplemental literacy 

intervention. Evaluators and project 

directors will cooperate with the 

Department and the technical assistance 

provider in preparing for full 

implementation in school year 2010–11 

by completing a series of plans for 

randomizing students, tracking 

students, screening students for 

placement, collecting data, providing 

professional development, and planning 

for other crucial processes identified by 

the technical assistance provider. 

III. Eligibility Information 

1. Eligible Applicant: A State 

educational agency (SEA) that applies 

on behalf of itself and one or more 

LEAs, including charter schools 

considered to be LEAs in accordance 

with State law, that have governing 

authority over the eligible schools (as 

defined elsewhere in this notice) that 

the applicant proposes to include in the 

project. 

To be considered for an award under 

this competition, an eligible applicant 

must include in the application the 

following with respect to each school it 

proposes to include in the project: 

(a) The school’s name, location, and 

enrollment disaggregated by grade level 

for the 2008–09 school year. 

(b) State or other assessment data that 

demonstrate that, during each of the 

2007–08 and 2008–09 school years (or 

the most recent two years for which data 

are available), a minimum of 75 

students in the grades to be served by 

the supplemental literacy intervention 

were struggling readers (as defined 

elsewhere in this notice). 

(c) Evidence that the school is eligible 

to receive funds under part A of title I 

of the ESEA, pursuant to section 1113 

of the ESEA. 

(d) A letter from the superintendent of 

the LEA that has governing authority 

over the school and the principal of the 

school that they— 

(1) Agree to implement the proposed 

supplemental literacy intervention 

during the 2010–11, 2011–12, and 

2012–13 school years, adhering strictly 

to the design of the intervention; 

(2) Agree to allow eligible struggling 

readers to be randomly assigned (by 

lottery) to either the supplemental 

literacy intervention curriculum or to 

other activities in which they would 

otherwise participate, such as a study 

hall, electives, or other activity that does 

not involve supplemental reading 

instruction; and 

(3) Agree to participate in the 

evaluation, including in the evaluator’s 

collection of data on student outcomes 

and program implementation. 

2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This 

program does not require cost sharing or 

matching. 

IV. Application and Submission 

Information 

1. Address To Request Application 

Package 

You can obtain an application 

package via the Internet or from the 

Education Publications Center (ED 

Pubs). To obtain a copy via the Internet, 

use the following address: http:// 

www.ed.gov/programs/strivingreaders/ 

index.html. To obtain a copy from ED 

Pubs, write, fax, or call the following: 

Education Publications Center, 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), call, toll free: 1–877–576–7734. 

You can contact ED Pubs at its Web 

site, also: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/ 

edpubs.html or at its e-mail address: 

edpubs@inet.ed.gov. 

If you request an application from ED 

Pubs, be sure to identify this program or 

competition as follows: CFDA 84.731A. 

Individuals with disabilities can 

obtain a copy of the application package 

in an accessible format (e.g., braille, 

large print, audiotape, or computer 

diskette) by contacting the program 

contact person listed in this section. 

2. Content and Form of Application 

Submission 

Requirements concerning the content 

of an application, together with the 

forms you must submit, are in the 

application package for this 

competition. 

Page Limit: The application narrative 

(Part III) is where you, the applicant, 

address the selection criteria that 

reviewers use to evaluate your 

application. You must limit the 

application narrative (Part III) to no 

more than 40 pages, using the following 

standards: 

• A ‘‘page’’ is 8.5′′ x 11′′, on one side 

only, with 1′′ margins at the top, bottom, 

and both sides. 

• Double space (no more than three 

lines per vertical inch) all text in the 

application narrative, including titles, 

headings, footnotes, quotations, 

references, and captions, as well as all 

text in charts, tables, figures, and 

graphs. 

• Use a font that is either 12 point or 

larger or no smaller than 10 pitch 

(characters per inch). 

• Use one of the following fonts: 

Times New Roman, Courier, Courier 

New, or Arial. An application submitted 

in any other font (including Times 

Roman or Arial Narrow) will not be 

accepted. 

The page limit does not apply to Part 

I, the cover sheet; Part II, the budget 

section, including the narrative budget 

justification; Part IV, the assurances and 

certifications; or the one-page abstract, 

the resumes, the bibliography, or the 

letters of support. However, the page 

limit does apply to all of the application 

narrative section (Part III). We further 

encourage applicants to limit resumes to 

no more than three pages and all other 

attachments or appendices to no more 

than 20 pages. 

Our reviewers will not read any pages 

of your application that exceed the page 

limit. 

3. Submission Dates and Times 

Applications Available: June 11, 2009. 

Deadline for Notice of Intent To 

Apply: We will be able to develop a 

more efficient process for reviewing 

grant applications if we have a better 

understanding of the number of 

applications we will receive. Therefore, 

we strongly encourage each potential 

applicant to send an e-mail notice of its 

intent to apply for funding by July 1, 

2009. The notice of intent to apply is 

optional; you may still submit an 

application if you have not notified us 

of your intention to apply. Send the email to: StrivingReaders@ed.gov. 

Date of Pre-Application Meeting: The 

application package on the Striving 

Readers Web site at http://www.ed.gov/ 

programs/strivingreaders/index.html 

includes specific dates and times for 

technical assistance workshops that will 

instruct applicants in completing the 

application package. Instructions in the 

form of a PowerPoint and Frequently 

Asked Questions will also be available 

on the Striving Readers Web site. 

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27900 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 111 / Thursday, June 11, 2009 / Notices 

Deadline for Transmittal of 

Applications: August 10, 2009. 

Applications for grants under this 

competition may be submitted 

electronically using the Electronic Grant 

Application System (e-Application), 

accessible through the Department’s eGrants site or in paper format by mail 

or hand delivery. For information 

(including dates and times) about how 

to submit your application 

electronically, or in paper format by 

mail or hand delivery, please refer to 

section IV. 6. Other Submission 

Requirements of this notice. 

We do not consider an application 

that does not comply with the deadline 

requirements. 

Individuals with disabilities who 

need an accommodation or auxiliary aid 

in connection with the application 

process should contact the person listed 

under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT in section VII of this notice. If 

the Department provides an 

accommodation or auxiliary aid to an 

individual with a disability in 

connection with the application 

process, the individual’s application 

remains subject to all other 

requirements and limitations in this 

notice. 

4. Intergovernmental Review 

This program is subject to Executive 

Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 

CFR part 79. Information about 

Intergovernmental Review of Federal 

Programs under Executive Order 12372 

is in the application package for this 

competition. 

5. Funding Restrictions 

We reference regulations outlining 

funding restrictions in the Applicable 

Regulations section of this notice. 

6. Other Submission Requirements 

Applications for grants under this 

competition may be submitted 

electronically or in paper format by mail 

or hand delivery. 

a. Electronic Submission of 

Applications 

If you choose to submit your 

application to us electronically, you 

must use e-Application, accessible 

through the Department’s e-Grants Web 

site at: http://e-grants.ed.gov. 

While completing your electronic 

application, you will be entering data 

online that will be saved into a 

database. You may not e-mail an 

electronic copy of a grant application to 

us. 

Please note the following: 

• Your participation in e-Application 

is voluntary. 

• You must complete the electronic 

submission of your grant application by 

4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, on 

the application deadline date. E– 

Application will not accept an 

application for this competition after 

4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, on 

the application deadline date. 

Therefore, we strongly recommend that 

you do not wait until the application 

deadline date to begin the application 

process. 

• The hours of operation of the eGrants Web site are 6:00 a.m. Monday 

until 7:00 p.m. Wednesday; and 6:00 

a.m. Thursday until 8:00 p.m. Sunday, 

Washington, DC time. Please note that, 

because of maintenance, the system is 

unavailable between 8:00 p.m. on 

Sundays and 6:00 a.m. on Mondays, and 

between 7:00 p.m. on Wednesdays and 

6:00 a.m. on Thursdays, Washington, 

DC time. Any modifications to these 

hours are posted on the e-Grants Web 

site. 

• You will not receive additional 

point value because you submit your 

application in electronic format, nor 

will we penalize you if you submit your 

application in paper format. 

• You must submit all documents 

electronically, including all information 

you typically provide on the following 

forms: The Application for Federal 

Assistance (SF 424), the Department of 

Education Supplemental Information for 

SF 424, Budget Information—NonConstruction Programs (ED 524), and all 

necessary assurances and certifications. 

You must attach any narrative sections 

of your application as files in a .DOC 

(document), .RTF (rich text), or .PDF 

(Portable Document) format. If you 

upload a file type other than the three 

file types specified in this paragraph or 

submit a password protected file, we 

will not review that material. 

• Your electronic application must 

comply with any page limit 

requirements described in this notice. 

• Prior to submitting your electronic 

application, you may wish to print a 

copy of it for your records. 

• After you electronically submit 

your application, you will receive an 

automatic acknowledgment that will 

include a PR/Award number (an 

identifying number unique to your 

application). 

• Within three working days after 

submitting your electronic application, 

fax a signed copy of the SF 424 to the 

Application Control Center after 

following these steps: 

(1) Print SF 424 from e-Application. 

(2) The applicant’s Authorizing 

Representative must sign this form. 

(3) Place the PR/Award number in the 

upper right hand corner of the hardcopy signature page of the SF 424. 

(4) Fax the signed SF 424 to the 

Application Control Center at (202) 

245–6272. 

• We may request that you provide us 

original signatures on other forms at a 

later date. 

Application Deadline Date Extension 

in Case of System Unavailability: If you 

are prevented from electronically 

submitting your application on the 

application deadline date because eApplication is unavailable, we will 

grant you an extension of one business 

day to enable you to transmit your 

application electronically, by mail, or by 

hand delivery. We will grant this 

extension if— 

(1) You are a registered user of eApplication and you have initiated an 

electronic application for this 

competition; and 

(2) (a) E-Application is unavailable for 

60 minutes or more between the hours 

of 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Washington, 

DC time, on the application deadline 

date; or 

(b) E–Application is unavailable for 

any period of time between 3:30 p.m. 

and 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, 

on the application deadline date. 

We must acknowledge and confirm 

these periods of unavailability before 

granting you an extension. To request 

this extension or to confirm our 

acknowledgment of any system 

unavailability, you may contact either 

(1) the person listed elsewhere in this 

notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT (see VII. Agency Contact) or (2) 

the e-Grants help desk at 1–888–336– 

8930. If e-Application is unavailable 

due to technical problems with the 

system and, therefore, the application 

deadline is extended, an e-mail will be 

sent to all registered users who have 

initiated an e-Application. 

Extensions referred to in this section 

apply only to the unavailability of eApplication. If e-Application is 

available, and, for any reason, you are 

unable to submit your application 

electronically or you do not receive an 

automatic acknowledgement of you 

submission, you may submit your 

application in paper format by mail or 

hand delivery in accordance with the 

instructions in this notice. 

b. Submission of Paper Applications by 

Mail 

If you submit your application in 

paper format by mail (through the U.S. 

Postal Service or a commercial carrier), 

you must mail the original and two 

copies of your application, on or before 

the application deadline date, to the 

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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 111 / Thursday, June 11, 2009 / Notices 27901 

Department at the following address: 

U.S. Department of Education, 

Application Control Center, Attention: 

(CFDA Number 84.371A), LBJ Basement 

Level 1, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20202–4260. 

You must show proof of mailing 

consisting of one of the following: 

(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 of the U.S. 

Department of Education. 

If you mail your application through 

the U.S. Postal Service, we do 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. 

If your application is postmarked after 

the application deadline date, we will 

not consider your application. 

Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not 

uniformly provide a dated postmark. Before 

relying on this method, you should check 

with your local post office. 

c. Submission of Paper Applications by 

Hand Delivery 

If you submit your application in 

paper format by hand delivery, you (or 

a courier service) must deliver the 

original and two copies of your 

application by hand, on or before the 

application deadline date, to the 

Department at the following address: 

U.S. Department of Education, 

Application Control Center, Attention: 

(CFDA Number 84.371A), 550 12th 

Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center 

Plaza, Washington, DC 20202–4260. 

The Application Control Center 

accepts hand deliveries daily between 

8:00 a.m. and 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, 

DC time, except Saturdays, Sundays, 

and Federal holidays. 

Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of Paper 

Applications: If you mail or hand deliver 

your application to the Department— 

(1) You must indicate on the envelope 

and—if not provided by the Department—in 

Item 11 of the SF 424 the CFDA number, 

including suffix letter, if any, of the 

competition under which you are submitting 

your application; and 

(2) The Application Control Center will 

mail to you a notification of receipt of your 

grant application. If you do not receive this 

grant notification within 15 business days 

from the application deadline date, you 

should call the U.S. Department of Education 

Application Control Center at (202) 245– 

6288. 

V. Application Review Information 

Selection Criteria: The selection 

criteria for this competition are from the 

notice of final priorities, requirements, 

definitions, and selection criteria, 

published elsewhere in this issue of the 

Federal Register, and are as follows: 

(a) Significance. (10 points) 

(1) The potential contribution of the 

project to the development and 

advancement of theory, research, and 

practices in the field of adolescent 

literacy, including— 

(i) In the case of a supplemental 

literacy intervention that has not been 

evaluated through a large-scale 

experimental evaluation, the extent to 

which other empirical evidence (such as 

smaller-scale experimental or quasiexperimental studies of the effects of the 

intervention on student achievement) 

demonstrates that the intervention is 

likely to be effective in improving the 

reading skills of struggling readers; or 

(ii) In the case of a supplemental 

literacy intervention that has been 

evaluated by one or more large-scale 

experimental evaluations, the extent to 

which those evaluations provide 

evidence that demonstrates that the 

intervention is likely to be effective in 

improving the reading skills of 

struggling readers and that the proposed 

evaluation would increase substantially 

knowledge in the field of adolescent 

literacy, such as by studying the 

effectiveness of the intervention among 

a different population than studied in 

previous experimental evaluations or by 

using an improved evaluation design 

(such as one that has a marked increase 

in statistical power). 

(2) The extent to which the proposed 

supplemental literacy intervention can 

be replicated in a variety of settings 

without significant modifications. 

(b) Project Design. (50 points) 

(1) The extent to which the 

supplemental literacy intervention uses 

a research-based literacy model that is 

flexible enough to meet the varied needs 

of struggling readers, is intense enough 

to accelerate the development of literacy 

skills, and includes, at a minimum, the 

following practices (20 points): 

(i) Explicit vocabulary instruction; 

(ii) Direct and explicit comprehension 

strategy instruction; 

(iii) Opportunities for extended 

discussion of text meaning and 

interpretation; 

(iv) Instruction in reading 

foundational skills, such as decoding 

and fluency (for students who need to 

be taught these skills); 

(v) Course content designed to 

improve student motivation and 

engagement in literacy learning; and 

(vi) Instruction in writing. 

(2) The extent to which the 

professional development model 

proposed for the project has sufficient 

intensity (in terms of the number of 

hours or days) (10 points). 

(3) The extent to which the provider 

of the professional development 

identified in the application has the 

appropriate experience and knowledge 

to provide high-quality professional 

development (10 points). 

(4) The extent to which the proposed 

project uses nationally normed, valid, 

and reliable screening reading 

assessments for screening struggling 

readers, diagnostic reading assessments 

for identifying individual student needs, 

and outcome assessments for evaluating 

the effectiveness of the supplemental 

literacy intervention. (10 points) 

(c) Project Evaluation. (40 points) 

(1) The extent to which the evaluation 

plan includes data from the reading/ 

English language arts assessment used 

by the State to measure adequate yearly 

progress under part A of title I of the 

ESEA and from a second, evaluatoradministered, nationally normed, 

reliable, and valid measure of student 

reading achievement that is closely 

aligned with the goals of the 

intervention (8 points). 

(2) The extent to which the evaluation 

plan describes an objective and 

appropriate method for the independent 

evaluator to conduct random 

assignment of students to treatment and 

control conditions; rigorous and 

appropriate methods for monitoring the 

integrity of random assignment and for 

minimizing crossover and 

contamination between the treatment 

and control groups; and rigorous and 

appropriate methods for monitoring, 

documenting, and, where possible, 

minimizing, student attrition from the 

sample (8 points). 

(3) The extent to which the evaluation 

plan includes a clear, well-documented, 

and rigorous method for measuring the 

fidelity of implementation of the critical 

features of the intervention (8 points). 

(4) The extent to which the evaluation 

plan describes rigorous statistical 

procedures for the analysis of the data 

that will be collected, including (4 

points): 

(i) A clear discussion of the 

relationship between hypotheses, 

measures, and independent and 

dependent variables. 

(ii) Appropriate statistical techniques 

for taking into account the clustering of 

students within schools. 

(iii) The use of data on students’ 

achievement in prior years as a 

covariate to improve statistical 

precision. 

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27902 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 111 / Thursday, June 11, 2009 / Notices 

(iv) In the case of qualitative data 

analyses, the use of appropriate and 

rigorous methods to index, summarize, 

and interpret data. 

(5) The extent to which the 

independent evaluator identified in the 

application has experience in 

conducting scientifically based reading 

research and in designing and 

conducting experimental evaluations (8 

points). 

(6) The extent to which the proposed 

budget allocates sufficient funds to carry 

out a high-quality evaluation of the 

proposed project (4 points). 

VI. Award Administration Information 

1. Award Notices: If your application 

is successful, we notify your U.S. 

Representative and U.S. Senators and 

send you a Grant Award Notification 

(GAN). We may notify you informally, 

also. 

If your application is not evaluated or 

not selected for funding, we notify you. 

2. Administrative and National Policy 

Requirements: We identify 

administrative and national policy 

requirements in the application package 

and reference these and other 

requirements in the Applicable 

Regulations section of this notice. 

We reference the regulations outlining 

the terms and conditions of an award in 

the Applicable Regulations section of 

this notice and include these and other 

specific conditions in the GAN. The 

GAN also incorporates your approved 

application as part of your binding 

commitments under the grant. 

3. Reporting: At the end of your 

project period, you must submit a final 

performance report, including financial 

information, as directed by the 

Secretary. If you receive a multi-year 

award, you must submit an annual 

performance report that provides the 

most current performance and financial 

expenditure information as directed by 

the Secretary under 34 CFR 75.118. The 

Secretary may also require more 

frequent performance reports under 34 

CFR 75.720(c). For specific 

requirements on reporting, please go to 

http://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/ 

appforms/appforms.html. 

4. Performance Measures: Under the 

Government Performance and Results 

Act of 1993 (GPRA), the Secretary has 

established the following two measures 

for evaluating the overall effectiveness 

of the Striving Readers program: (1) The 

percentage of adolescent students 

reading significantly below grade level 

who demonstrate a gain in their reading 

achievement, at a minimum of one 

grade level or its equivalent, after 

participating in an intensive 

intervention over an academic year; and 

(2) the percentage of students in schools 

participating in the Striving Readers 

program who score at or above 

proficient on the State’s assessment in 

reading/language arts. 

VII. Agency Contact 

For Further Information Contact: 

Marcia J. Kingman, U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 

Room 3E106, Washington, DC 20202– 

6400. Telephone: (202) 401–0003 or by 

e-mail: Marcia.Kingman@ed.gov. 

If you use a TDD, call the Federal 

Relay Service, toll free, at 1–800–877– 

8339. 

VIII. Other Information 

Accessible Format: Individuals with 

disabilities can obtain this document 

and a copy of the application package 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 in section VII of 

this notice. 

Electronic Access to this Document: 

You can view this document, as well as 

all other documents of this Department 

published in the Federal Register, 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. 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.gpoaccess.gov/nara/ 

index.html. 

Delegation of Authority: The Secretary 

of Education has delegated authority to 

Joseph C. Conaty, Director, Academic 

Improvement and Teacher Quality 

Programs for the Office of Elementary 

and Secondary Education, to perform 

the functions of the Assistant Secretary 

for Elementary and Secondary 

Education. 

Dated: June 5, 2009. 

Joseph C. Conaty, 

Director, Academic Improvement and 

Teacher Quality Programs. 

[FR Doc. E9–13755 Filed 6–10–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

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