Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/02/13/2020-02857/applications-for-new-awards-personnel-development-to-improve-services-and-results-for-children-with
Timestamp: 2020-02-27 17:55:49
Document Index: 686453266

Matched Legal Cases: ['arts 75', 'art 180', 'art 3485', 'art 200', 'art 3474', 'art 304']

Federal Register :: Applications for New Awards; Personnel Development To Improve Services and Results for Children With Disabilities-Leadership Development Programs: Increasing the Capacity of Leaders To Improve Systems Serving Children With Disabilities
85 FR 8255
8255-8262 (8 pages)
2020-02857
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2020-02857 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2020-02857
The Department of Education (Department) is issuing a notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year (FY) 2020 for Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities—Leadership Development Programs: Increasing the Capacity of Leaders to Improve Systems Serving Children with Disabilities, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number 84.325L. These grants will fund States to implement leadership development programs that recruit, increase the capacity of, and retain State, regional, and local leaders to promote high expectations and improve early childhood and educational outcomes for children with disabilities and their families by improving the systems that serve them. This notice relates to the approved information collection under OMB control number 1820-0028.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 13, 2020.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: June 12, 2020.
Sarah Allen, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Start Printed Page 8256room 5160, Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-5076. Telephone: (202) 245-7875. Email: Sarah.Allen@ed.gov.
Priorities: This competition includes one absolute priority and one competitive preference priority. In accordance with 34 CFR 75.105(b)(2)(v), the absolute priority and competitive preference priority are from allowable activities specified in the statute (see sections 662 and 681 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); 20 U.S.C. 1462 and 1481).
Leadership Development Programs: Increasing the Capacity of Leaders to Improve Systems Serving Children with Disabilities.
State, regional, and local administrators in early intervention and special education serve a critical role in ensuring that infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities (children with disabilities) are provided services and supports to which they are entitled under IDEA. Given the demands for leading within complex early intervention and special education systems and addressing current issues across systems, administrators must have the skills to collaborate with other agencies and programs. This collaboration would help ensure that children with disabilities are held to high standards and that their individualized needs are met across natural environments and educational settings. In addition, the expansion of educational options [1] has also added to special education administrators' responsibilities to ensure that parents of children with disabilities are empowered to choose from a robust range of educational options and supports to identify those that best meet their children's needs.
With the increasing demands placed on State, regional, and local administrators, it is essential that they have the knowledge, skills, and competencies to oversee the administration of early intervention and special education systems. However, the turnover rate of administrators and leaders across all levels of the system is high and increasing. In 2018, 70 percent of State Directors of Special Education had less than five years of experience, up from only 15 percent in 2010 (NCSI, 2018a). Similarly, 73 percent of Part C Coordinators had less than 5 years of experience in 2018, up from 39 percent in 2005 (NCSI, 2018b). Approximately 10 to 15 percent of local special education administrator positions turn over each year (Goldring & Taie, 2018).
Further, half of the States do not require a special education administration credential for local special education administrators or specifically address the preparation of administrators in the personnel preparation programs offered by institutions of higher education (IHEs) in their States (Boscardin et al., 2010). Even when an administration credential is required, preparation programs are at times difficult to find, hard for working professionals to access or complete, and varied in content coverage (Bellamy & Iwaszuk, 2017). Like credentialing programs, professional development programs that help administrators develop the knowledge, skills, and competencies needed for leadership positions often are not available, thus requiring State, regional, and local administrators to learn on the job.
In order to help meet the complex and varied needs of children with disabilities and their families, this priority will fund grants to State educational agencies (SEAs) or lead agencies for Part C to implement high-quality, sustainable leadership development programs to recruit, increase the capacity of, and retain State, regional, and local leaders who have the knowledge, skills, and competencies to improve systems serving children with disabilities and their families. This priority is consistent with Supplemental Priority 2—Promoting Innovation and Efficiency, Streamlining Education with an Increased Focus on Improving Student Outcomes, and Providing Increased Value to Students and Taxpayers; Supplemental Priority 5—Meeting the Unique Needs of Students and Children With Disabilities and/or Those with Unique Gifts and Talents; and Supplemental Priority 8—Promoting Effective Instruction in Classrooms and Schools.
The projects must be awarded and operated in a manner consistent with nondiscrimination requirements contained in the U.S. Constitution and the Federal civil rights laws.
The purpose of this priority is to fund grants to achieve, at a minimum, the following expected outcomes:
(a) Development, improvement, or expansion of a high-quality, sustainable leadership development program to recruit, increase the capacity of, and retain a network of leaders at the State, regional, or local level to improve systems serving children with disabilities and their families;
(b) Development, improvement, or expansion of infrastructure and implementation supports,[2] including but not limited to partnerships with relevant child-serving agencies and diverse stakeholders (e.g., IHEs, parent centers,[3] State- and local-level Start Printed Page 8257administrators, technical assistance providers) to deliver and sustain leadership development programs; and
(c) Increased number of early intervention and special education leaders at the State, regional, or local level with the knowledge, skills, and competencies to improve systems serving children with disabilities and their families.
To be considered for funding under this absolute priority, all applicants must meet the application requirements contained in the priority. All projects funded under this absolute priority also must meet the programmatic and administrative requirements specified in the priority.
The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) intends to fund projects that address leadership development programs for administrators supporting both special education and early intervention programs. OSEP may fund out of rank order high-quality applications to ensure that both types of programs are funded.
Applicants must demonstrate matching support for the proposed project at 10 percent of the total amount of the grant as specified in paragraph (f)(1) of the requirements of this priority for an application to be reviewed and be considered eligible to receive an award.
To meet the requirements of this priority, an applicant must—
(1) Address the need for early intervention or special education leaders at the State, regional, or local level with the knowledge, skills, and competencies to improve systems serving children with disabilities and their families. To meet this requirement, the applicant must—
(i) Present applicable data demonstrating the need to increase the number of early intervention or special education leaders with the knowledge, skills, and competencies to improve systems serving children with disabilities and their families;
(ii) Identify the knowledge, skills, and competencies that early intervention or special education leaders need to improve systems serving children with disabilities and their families; and
(iii) Identify current educational issues and policy initiatives at the Federal, State, regional, and local levels that early intervention or special education leaders need to understand, including how innovation and the State's efforts to expand educational options can be supported, and parents can be empowered to choose an education that best meets their children's needs; and
(2) Address the need for infrastructure and implementation supports, including partnerships with relevant child-serving agencies and diverse stakeholders, to effectively develop, deliver, and sustain a leadership development program to recruit, increase the capacity of, and retain a network of leaders at the State, regional, or local level with the knowledge, skills, and competencies to improve systems serving children with disabilities and their families. To meet this requirement, the applicant must—
(i) Present data, if applicable, on the quality of existing leadership development programs or personnel preparation degree programs that prepare leaders to work in administrative or leadership positions in systems where children receive early intervention or special education services, including the effectiveness of the program(s) at (a) increasing the knowledge, skills, and competencies of program completers; and (b) retaining program completers to work in administrative or leadership positions in systems where children receive early intervention or special education services; and
(ii) Present information on the current capacity of the State, regional, or local systems to recruit, increase the capacity of, and retain leaders, including programs IHEs offer to credential or otherwise prepare early intervention and special education administrators, and the likely magnitude or importance of developing a network of leaders with the capacity to improve systems serving children with disabilities.
(ii) In Appendix A, the logic model [4] by which the proposed project will achieve its intended outcomes that depicts, at a minimum, the goals, activities, outputs, and intended outcomes of the proposed project;
(4) Develop, improve, or expand a leadership development program or programs to recruit, increase the capacity of, and retain a network of leaders at the State, regional, or local level with the knowledge, skills, and competencies to improve systems serving children with disabilities and their families. To establish the quality of the proposed leadership development program, the applicant must include—
(i) Its proposed plan for partnering with diverse stakeholders to develop, improve, or expand a leadership development program to recruit, increase the capacity of, and retain a network of leaders at the State, regional, or local level to improve systems serving children with disabilities and their families. The stakeholders must include, at a minimum, representatives specifically identified from IHEs. Stakeholders must be involved as decision makers in how the leadership development program is developed, improved, or expanded, and serve as partners in delivering and evaluating the program;
(ii) The intended participants of the leadership development program;
(iii) Its proposed approach for developing or improving the content and delivery of the leadership development program. To meet this requirement the applicant must describe—
(A) The knowledge, skills, and competencies that participants will gain by completing the leadership development program. At a minimum, the applicant must ensure that participants demonstrate knowledge, skills, and competencies in the following areas:
(1) Federal laws, State laws, and State policies, procedures, and initiatives that impact children with disabilities and their families;Start Printed Page 8258
(2) Educational options for children with disabilities and how to support State's efforts to empower parents to choose from a robust range of educational options and supports to identify those that best meet their children's needs;
(3) Evidence-based [5] practices to improve academic, learning, and developmental outcomes for children with disabilities, including differentiating interventions and instruction across multi-tiered systems of support;
(4) Partnering with parents, families, and diverse stakeholders to improve systems;
(5) Systems change, implementation science, and professional development methods to promote the implementation of evidence-based practices and use of data-based decision making; and
(6) Leadership practices (e.g., organizational visioning, collaborative decision making, communication and conflict management, relationship building);
(B) The current research and evidence-based practices that will guide the development of the content and delivery of the leadership development program, including but not limited to evidence-based professional development practices for adult learners and resources developed by projects funded by the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services;
(C) How the proposed leadership development program is of sufficient quality, intensity, and duration to prepare a network of leaders with the identified knowledge, skills, and competencies needed to improve systems serving children with disabilities and their families. To meet this requirement, the applicant must describe—
(1) The components of the leadership development program, which must include, but are not limited to, face-to-face activities, applied projects, peer interactions and collaboration opportunities, mentoring support, and ongoing coaching, and how these components are sequenced;
(2) How participants in the leadership development program will be provided with mentoring, ongoing coaching and performance feedback during the program, and ongoing coaching, networking opportunities, and support following completion of the program, including opportunities to interact with peers who completed the program; and
(3) How the proposed leadership development program is aligned to State standards for administrators or meets appropriate national professional organization standards for administrators or leaders;
(5) Implement and sustain the leadership development program to recruit, increase the capacity of, and retain a network of leaders at the State, regional, or local level with the knowledge, skills, and competencies to improve systems serving children with disabilities and their families. To meet this requirement, the applicant must describe its proposed approach to—
(i) Ensuring the infrastructure and implementation supports necessary to effectively build, deliver, and sustain the proposed leadership development program and to retain individuals who complete the leadership development program as a network of leaders at the State, regional, or local level able to improve systems serving children with disabilities and their families. The application must include the proposed approach to partnering with relevant child-serving agencies and diverse stakeholders to deliver and sustain the leadership development program, to retain a network of leaders, and to develop agreements with relevant child-serving agencies and diverse stakeholders that outline responsibilities, sharing of resources, and decision-making and communication processes. The application must include, at a minimum, representatives specifically identified from IHEs as part of its ongoing project leadership or stakeholder group that will build, manage, deliver, evaluate, and sustain the infrastructure and implementation of the proposed program;
(ii) Its proposed approach to recruit participants for the leadership development program; ensure equal access and treatment for eligible participants who are members of groups that have traditionally been underrepresented based on race, color, national origin, gender, age, or disability; and retain the participants once in the program. To meet this requirement, the applicant must describe—
(A) Recruitment strategies that will be used to attract participants and specific recruitment strategies that will be used to reach potential participants from traditionally underrepresented groups, including individuals with disabilities; and
(B) Criteria that will be used to select candidates for participation in the leadership development programs offered, the number of cohorts that will complete the leadership development program, and the number of participants that the applicant proposes will complete program requirements within each cohort during the project period; and
(iii) Strategies for supporting and retaining participants to complete the leadership development program and use the knowledge, skills, and competencies learned following their completion of the program to identify, implement, and evaluate evidence-based practices to improve systems serving children with disabilities;(iv) Strategies to fund, manage, and sustain the leadership development program, and retain a network of leaders at the State, regional, or local level once Federal support ends; and
(6) Use technology, as appropriate, to support participants in achieving the outcomes of the proposed project, enhance the efficiency of the project, collaborate with partners, provide the leadership development, mentoring, ongoing coaching, and performance feedback to participants, and support collaboration among the participants once they complete the program.
(1) The applicant will use comprehensive and appropriate methodologies to evaluate how well the goals or objectives of the proposed project have been met, including the project processes and intended outcomes. The applicant must describe performance measures for the project that include participants' acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies and for the retention of program completers in administrative and leadership positions;
(2) The applicant will collect, analyze, and use data related to specific and measurable goals, objectives, and intended outcomes of the project. To meet this requirement, the applicant must describe how—
(i) Participants' knowledge, skills, and competencies and other project processes and outcomes will be measured for formative evaluation purposes, including proposed instruments, data collection methods, and possible analyses; and
(ii) It will collect and analyze data on the quality of the leadership development programs offered; the infrastructure and implementation supports in place to deliver the Start Printed Page 8259program; the capacity of the State to retain a network of leaders at the State, regional, or local level; and the fidelity and impact of its implementation;
(3) The methods of evaluation will produce quantitative and qualitative data for objective performance measures that are related to the intended outcomes of the proposed project; and
(4) The methods of evaluation will provide performance feedback and allow for periodic assessment of progress towards meeting the project outcomes. To meet this requirement, the applicant must describe how—
(i) Results of the evaluation will be used as a basis for improving the proposed project;
(ii) It will report the evaluation results to OSEP in its annual and final performance reports; and
(iii) Performance information (e.g., annual progress toward program goals) will be made publicly available on the project or State's website.
(1) The proposed management plan will ensure that the project's intended outcomes will be achieved on time and within budget. To meet this requirement, the applicant must describe—
(4) The proposed project will benefit from a diversity of perspectives, including those of families, educators, faculty, technical assistance and professional development providers, researchers, and policymakers, among others, in its development and operation.
(1) Demonstrate, in the budget information (ED Form 524, Section B) and budget narrative, matching support for the proposed project at 10 percent of the total amount of the grant;
Matching support can be either cash or in-kind donations. Under 2 CFR 200.306, a cash expenditure or outlay of cash with respect to the matching budget by the grantee is considered a cash contribution. However, certain cash contributions that the organization normally considers an indirect cost should not be counted as a direct cost for the purposes of meeting matching support. Specifically, in accordance with 2 CFR 200.306(c), unrecovered indirect costs cannot be used to meet the non-Federal matching support. Under 2 CFR 200.434, third-party in-kind contributions are services or property (e.g., land, buildings, equipment, materials, supplies) that are contributed by a non-Federal third party at no charge to the grantee.
(3) If the project maintains a website, include relevant information about the revised program and documents in a form that meets government or industry recognized standards of accessibility;
(4) Ensure that annual progress toward meeting project goals is posted on the project website;
(5) Provide an assurance that the project director, key personnel, and representatives from partner agencies will actively participate in the cross-project collaboration and learning opportunities (e.g., webinars, briefings) organized by OSEP. This cross-project collaboration will be used to increase capacity of participants, share resources, increase the impact of funding, and promote innovative leadership development models across projects; and
(6) Include, in the budget, attendance at a two- and one-half day project directors' conference in Washington, DC, during each year of the project period.
Competitive Preference Priority: Within this absolute priority, we give competitive preference to applications that address the following competitive preference priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i), we award up to an additional 5 points to an application, depending on how well the application meets the competitive preference priority.
Matching Support (Up to 5 points).
An application that demonstrates matching support for the proposed project at—
(a) 20 percent of the requested Federal award (1 point);
(b) 40 percent of the total amount of the requested Federal award (2 points);
(c) 60 percent of the total amount of the requested Federal award (3 points);
(d) 80 percent of the total amount of the requested Federal award (4 points); or
(e) 100 percent of the total amount of the requested Federal award (5 points).
Applicants must address this competitive preference priority in the budget information (ED Form 524, Section B) and budget narrative.
Bellamy, T., & Iwaszuk, W. (2017, October). Responding to the need for new local special education administrators: A case study. CEEDAR Center. http://ceedar.education.ufl.edu/​wp-content/​uploads/​2017/​12/​Responding-to-the-Need-for-Local-SPED-Admin-Oct-2017.pdf.
Boscardin, M.L., Weir, K., & Kusek, C. (2010). A national study of State credentialing requirements for administrators of special education. Journal of Special Education Leadership, 23 (2), 61-75.
Goldring, R., & Taie, S. (2018). Principal attrition and mobility: Results from the 2016-17 principal follow-up survey first look (NCES 2018-066). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/​pubsearch.
National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI). (2018a). Leadership turnover: The impact on State special education systems. https://ncsi-library.wested.org/​resources/​250.
National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI). (2018b). Leadership turnover: The impact on State early intervention systems. https://ncsi-library.wested.org/​resources/​200.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General Start Printed Page 8260Administrative Regulations in 34 CFR parts 75, 77, 79, 81, 82, 84, 86, 97, 98, and 99. (b) The Office of Management and Budget Guidelines to Agencies on Governmentwide Debarment and Suspension (Nonprocurement) in 2 CFR part 180, as adopted and amended as regulations of the Department in 2 CFR part 3485. (c) The Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards in 2 CFR part 200, as adopted and amended as regulations of the Department in 2 CFR part 3474. (d) The regulations for this program in 34 CFR part 304.
Estimated Range of Awards: $175,000 to $200,000.
Maximum Award: We will not make an award exceeding $200,000 for a project period of 12 months.
Note: Applicants must describe, in their applications, the amount of funding being requested for each 12-month budget period.
1. Eligible Applicants: SEAs or Part C lead agencies.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: Cost sharing or matching is required for this competition.
4. Other General Requirements: (a) Recipients of funding under this competition must make positive efforts to employ and advance in employment qualified individuals with disabilities (see section 606 of IDEA; 20 U.S.C. 1405).
(b) Applicants for, and recipients of, funding must, with respect to the aspects of their proposed project relating to the absolute priority, involve individuals with disabilities, or parents of individuals with disabilities ages birth through 26, in planning, implementing, and evaluating the project (see section 682(a)(1)(A) of IDEA; 20 U.S.C. 1482).
(c) Quality of the project evaluation (20 points). Start Printed Page 8261
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: We identify Start Printed Page 8262administrative and national policy requirements in the application package and reference these and other requirements in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice.
5. Performance Measures: Under the Government Performance Results Modernization Act of 2010, the Department has established a set of performance measures, including long-term measures, that are designed to yield information on the quality of the Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities program. These measures include: (1) The percentage of preparation programs that incorporate scientifically or evidence-based practices into their curricula; (2) the percentage of scholars completing preparation programs who are knowledgeable and skilled in evidence-based practices that improve outcomes for children with disabilities; (3) the percentage of scholars who exit preparation programs prior to completion due to poor academic performance; (4) the percentage of scholars completing preparation programs who are working in the area(s) in which they were prepared upon program completion; and (5) the Federal cost per scholar who completed the preparation program.
1. For the purpose of this priority, “educational options” means the opportunity for a child or student (or a family member on their behalf) to create a high-quality personalized path for learning that is consistent with applicable Federal, State, and local laws; is in an educational setting that best meets the child's or student's needs; and, where possible, incorporates evidence-based activities, strategies, or interventions. Opportunities made available to a student through a grant program are those that supplement what is provided by a child's or student's geographically assigned school or the institution in which he or she is currently enrolled and may include one or more of the following options: (1) Public educational programs or courses, including those offered by traditional public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, public online education providers, or other public education providers; (2) Private or home-based educational programs or courses, including those offered by private schools, private online providers, private tutoring providers, community or faith-based organizations, or other private education providers; (3) Part-time coursework or career preparation, offered by a public or private provider in person or through the internet or another form of distance learning, that serves as a supplement to full-time enrollment at an educational institution, as a stand-alone program leading to a credential, or as a supplement to education received in a homeschool setting; and (4) Other educational services, including credit-recovery, accelerated learning, or tutoring.
2. For the purpose of this priority, “implementation supports” means effective methods for changing practices, organizational structure, and systems at all levels.
3. For the purpose of this priority, “parent centers” refers to Parent Training and Information Centers and Community Parent Resource Centers funded by OSEP, which can be found at www.parentcenterhub.org/​the-parent-center-network/​.
4. “Logic model” (as defined in 34 CFR 77.1) (also referred to as a theory of action) means a framework that identifies key project components of the proposed project (i.e., the active “ingredients” that are hypothesized to be critical to achieving the relevant outcomes) and describes the theoretical and operational relationships among the key project components and relevant outcomes.
5. For the purposes of this priority, “evidence-based” means the proposed project component is supported, at a minimum, by evidence that “demonstrates a rationale.” Evidence that “demonstrates a rationale” (as defined in 34 CFR 77.1) means a key project component included in the project's logic model is informed by research or evaluation findings that suggest the project component is likely to improve relevant outcomes.
[FR Doc. 2020-02857 Filed 2-12-20; 8:45 am]