Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2015/03/18/2015-06273/applications-for-new-awards-technical-assistance-and-dissemination-to-improve-services-and-results
Timestamp: 2018-03-22 05:11:09
Document Index: 690599548

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

Federal Register :: Applications for New Awards; Technical Assistance and Dissemination To Improve Services and Results for Children With Disabilities-Model Demonstration Projects To Improve Adolescent Literacy for Students with Disabilities in Middle and High Schools, Grades 6-12
Applications for New Awards; Technical Assistance and Dissemination To Improve Services and Results for Children With Disabilities-Model Demonstration Projects To Improve Adolescent Literacy for Students with Disabilities in Middle and High Schools, Grades 6-12
A Notice by the Education Department on 03/18/2015
Applications Available: March 18, 2015.
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2015-06273 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2015-06273
Overview Information: Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities—Model Demonstration Projects to Improve Adolescent Literacy for Students with Disabilities in Middle and High Schools, Grades 6-12.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: July 1, 2015.
Priority: In accordance with 34 CFR 75.105(b)(2)(v), this priority is from allowable activities specified in the statute or otherwise authorized in the statute (see sections 663 and 681(d) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. 1463, 1481(d).
Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities—Model Demonstration Projects to Improve Adolescent Literacy for Students with Disabilities in Middle and High Schools, Grades 6-12.
Background: The purpose of this priority is to fund three cooperative agreements to establish and operate model demonstration projects that are designed to improve adolescent literacy for students with disabilities in middle and high school grades 6 through 12, who score below grade level in reading, or who have identified reading goals and objectives on their individualized education program. Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) demonstrate that there is a persistent gap in reading achievement between students with disabilities and those without disabilities. In 2013, the average scaled scores of eighth graders with disabilities, excluding those with a 504 plan, were 42 points lower than their non-disabled peers. Sixty-five percent of eighth graders with disabilities scored below basic level on the reading assessment compared with 19 percent of eighth graders without disabilities (U.S. Department of Education, 2014).
Adolescents must possess the ability to read for understanding across a wide variety of content in order to meet college- and career-ready standards. Elements of literacy at the middle and secondary level include the ability to recognize and decode words and how students engage in reading as well as writing and oral communication skills.
To improve adolescent literacy, as defined for the purpose of this priority, models should be designed to implement evidence-based adolescent literacy interventions that are based on strong theory or evidence of promise for improving reading, and locating, understanding, interpreting, evaluating, and using written information across multiple content areas. Intensive reading intervention to improve adolescent literacy should also include a mix of effective instruction, modeling, professional development, and evidence-based teaching practices that are appropriate for classroom and small group settings. Evidence also suggests the implementation of reading interventions requires well trained professionals who are prepared to incorporate these interventions within instruction across subjects in middle and high school grades (Faggella-Luby, Ware, & Capozzoli, 2009). Therefore, adolescent literacy models should also include professional development as a component of the model. In addition, such models need to be replicable across content areas in classrooms and small group settings in multiple school sites, with a goal of scaling-up the intervention for wider use.
Priority: The purpose of this priority is to fund three cooperative agreements to establish and operate model demonstration projects that are designed to improve the literacy of adolescents with disabilities in middle and high school grades. For purposes of this priority, the target population includes: Students with disabilities in grades 6 through 12 who score below grade level in reading, or who have identified reading goals and objectives on their individualized education program. For purposes of this priority, the term “adolescent literacy” refers to the skills needed by individuals with disabilities in middle or high school grades to locate, read, understand, interpret, evaluate, and use written information across multiple content areas.
(a) Model demonstration projects funded under this priority must direct their efforts at improving adolescent literacy interventions in content areas using effective whole-class and small group instructional approaches for students with disabilities;
(b) Models must also include—
(1) A professional development component to teach educators how to implement the interventions with fidelity across a variety of content areas.Start Printed Page 14098
(2) Strategies for replicating interventions used by educators so they are effective when brought to scale across multiple classrooms within the participating local educational agency (LEA).
(c) Each model must include a plan to implement at least one evidence-based adolescent literacy intervention that applies strong theory or evidence of promise. In addition, these models must be implemented at multiple school sites and include professional development for all content area teachers at all middle and high school grades targeted to receive the intervention.
(a) A detailed review of the research evidence that supports the effectiveness of the proposed model, its components, and processes to improve outcomes for adolescents with disabilities in middle and high school grades;
(b) A logic model that depicts, at a minimum, the goals, activities, outputs, and outcomes of the proposed model demonstration project. The logic model must describe how LEAs and participating schools involved in the project would contribute to the activities, outputs, and outcomes of the proposed project. A logic model communicates how a project will achieve its outcomes and provides a framework for both the formative and summative evaluations of the project;
While section 77.1(c) of EDGAR contains a definition for “logic model,” OSEP, based upon its experience in this area, has been using the above definition as standard language for the OSEP TA&D priorities. OSEP's definition establishes a difference between logic models and conceptual frameworks whereas 34 CFR 77.1(c) considers the model to be one and the same. The following Web sites provide more information on logic models: www.researchutilization.org/​matrix/​logicmodel_​resource3c.html and www.tadnet.org/​pages/​589.
(c) A description of the activities of the proposed model demonstration project to improve literacy for adolescents with disabilities in subject areas taught in middle and high schools. The description must include:
(1) Intervention components, including:
(i) Evidence-based literacy instruction and interventions that are provided to the adolescents with disabilities, and are replicable across a variety of content areas by each participating school within a participating LEA;
(ii) An explanation of the culturally responsive principles [1] to be incorporated within the interventions;
(iii) An explanation of the professional development materials and activities that would be provided to school and LEA personnel to ensure that they implement the evidence-based intervention with fidelity; and
(iv) A data plan that outlines the process for collecting, assessing, and analyzing [2] data for participating adolescents with disabilities. The data plan should include a description of how these data will be used to improve the instructional interventions.
(2) Components that will be implemented in each participating school and LEA and that—
(i) Identify the methods and criteria that will be used to select [3] and recruit [4] at least three middle or high schools and describe the schools and LEAs that will participate in the project, including their populations and whether the LEAs or the schools that are participating are high-poverty, high-need,[5] rural,[6] urban, or suburban; and
Applicants are encouraged to identify, to the extent possible, LEAs and schools willing to participate in the applicant's model demonstration. Final site selection will be determined in consultation with the OSEP project officer following the kick-off meeting described in paragraph (d)(1) of these application requirements.
(ii) Provide initial and ongoing professional development, including coaching, for educators involved in implementing the models; and
(3) Evaluation components, including:—
(i) How the applicant will measure the extent to which project activities maintain fidelity to the proposed model;
(ii) How the applicant will measure the social validity of the model—in other words, measuring the satisfaction of stakeholders' (i.e., educators', parents', and students') with the model components, processes, and outcomes;
(iii) A formative evaluation plan, consistent with the project's logic model and the data-collection plan that will include, as appropriate, periodic collection of student performance and achievement data, as well as the data collection systems that will be used to measure the fidelity of the implementation activities to the proposed model, stakeholder satisfaction, and descriptions of the settings where the intervention will take place. The plan must outline how these data will be reviewed by project staff, when they will be reviewed, and how they will be used during the course of the project to adjust the model or its implementation to increase the model's usefulness, generalizability, and potential for sustainability; and
(iv) The timeline and plan to collect summative evaluation data on the Start Printed Page 14099reading achievement of adolescents with disabilities and their nondisabled peers; and
(1) A one and one half-day kick-off meeting to be held in Washington, DC, after receipt of the award.
(2) The three-day Project Directors' Conference in Washington, DC, during each year of the project period; and
(3) Six travel days spread across years 2-4 of the project period to attend planning meetings, Department briefings, Department-sponsored conferences, and other meetings, as requested by OSEP, to be held in Washington, DC, with the OSEP project officer.
(a) Document the process for model replication purposes, should the model be successful;
(b) Communicate and collaborate on an ongoing basis with other Department-funded literacy projects to share information on successful strategies and implementation challenges regarding adolescent literacy instruction and achievement;
(c) Maintain ongoing telephone and email communication with the OSEP project officer and the other model demonstration projects funded under this priority; and
(d) If the project maintains a Web site, include relevant information about the model, the intervention, and the demonstration activities that meets government- or industry-recognized standards for accessibility.
Faggella-Luby, M. N., Ware, S. M., & Capozzoli, A. (2009). Adolescent literacy—Reviewing adolescent literacy reports: Key components and critical questions. Journal of Literacy Research, 41, 453-475.
King, K. A., Artiles, A. J., & Kozleski, E. B. (2009). Professional learning for culturally responsive teaching. Retrieved from www.equityallianceatasu.org/​sites/​default/​files/​Web site_files/exemplarFINAL.pdf.
Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking: Under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553), the Department generally offers interested parties the opportunity to comment on proposed priorities and requirements. However, section 681(d) of the IDEA makes the public comment requirements of the APA inapplicable to the priority in this notice.
The following regulations apply: (a) The Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 75, 77, 79, 81, 82, 84, 86, 97, 98, and 99. (b) The Education Department debarment and suspension regulations as adopted in 2 CFR part 3485 and the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards as adopted as regulations of the Department in 2 CFR part 3474.[7]
Contingent on the availability of funds and the quality of applications, we may make additional awards in FY 2016 from the list of unfunded applicants from this competition.
Maximum Award: We will reject and not review any application that proposes a budget exceeding $400,000 for a single budget period of 12 months. The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services may change the maximum amount through a notice published in the Federal Register.
(a) The projects funded under this competition must make positive efforts to employ, and advance in employment, qualified individuals with disabilities (see section 606 of the IDEA).
(b) Each applicant and grantee under this competition must 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 the IDEA).
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 Start Printed Page 14100text in charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
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 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).
Submission of Proprietary Information:
Given the types of projects that may be proposed in applications for the Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities—Model Demonstration Projects to Improve Adolescent Literacy for Students with Disabilities in Middle and High Schools, Grades 6-12, your application may include business information that you consider proprietary. The Department's regulations define “business information” in 34 CFR 5.11.
Under the Department's transparency policies, we make successful applicants' abstracts available to the public.
b. Register both your Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number and TIN with the System for Award Management (SAM), the Government's primary registrant database;
c. Provide your UEI number and TIN on your application; and
Currently, SAM relies on the identifier provided by Dun and Bradstreet (DUNS number) for the UEI. You can create a DUNS number within one business day.
The SAM registration process may take seven or more business days, but may take upwards of several weeks, depending on the completeness and accuracy of the data entered into the SAM database by an entity. Thus, if you think you might want to apply for Federal financial assistance under a program administered by the Department, please allow sufficient time to obtain and register your DUNS number and TIN. We strongly recommend that you register early.
Once your SAM registration is active, you will need to allow 24 to 48 hours for the information to be available in Grants.gov and before you can submit an application through Grants.gov. If you are currently registered with the SAM, you may not need to make any changes. However, please make certain that the TIN associated with your DUNS number is correct. Also note that you will need to update your registration annually. This may take three or more business days to complete. Information about SAM is available at www.SAM.gov. To further assist you with obtaining your existing SAM account, we have prepared a SAM.gov Tip Sheet, which you can find at: http://www2.ed.gov/​fund/​grant/​apply/​sam-faqs.html.
Applications for grants under the Model Demonstration Projects on the Improvement of Adolescent Literacy for Students with Disabilities in Middle and High Schools in Grades 6-12 competition, CFDA number 84.326M, must be submitted electronically using the Government-wide Grants.gov Apply site at www.Grants.gov. Through this site, you will be able to download a copy of the application package, complete it offline, and then upload and submit your application. You may not email an electronic copy of a grant application to us.
We will reject your application if you submit it in paper format unless, as described elsewhere in this section, you qualify for one of the exceptions to the electronic submission requirement and submit, no later than two weeks before the application deadline date, a written Start Printed Page 14101statement to the Department that you qualify for one of these exceptions. Further information regarding calculation of the date that is two weeks before the application deadline date is provided later in this section under Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement.
You may access the electronic grant application for the Model Demonstration Projects to Improve Adolescent Literacy for Students with Disabilities in Middle and High Schools, Grades 6-12 competition at www.Grants.gov. You must search for the downloadable application package for this competition by the CFDA number. Do not include the CFDA number's alpha suffix in your search (e.g., search for 84.326, not 84.326M).
Address and mail or fax your statement to: Greg Knollman, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Start Printed Page 14102Avenue SW., Room 4096, Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), Washington, DC 20202-2600. FAX: (202) 245-7617.
1. Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this program are provided in the application package.
4. Special Conditions: Under 2 CFR 3474.10, the Secretary may impose special conditions and, in appropriate circumstances, high risk conditions on a grant if the applicant or grantee is not financially stable; has a history of unsatisfactory performance; has a financial or other management system that does not meet the standards in 2 CFR part 200; has not fulfilled the conditions of a prior grant; or is otherwise not responsible.
(b) 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 Start Printed Page 14103information 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 www.ed.gov/​fund/​grant/​apply/​appforms/​appforms.html.
Greg Knollman, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 4096, PCP, Washington, DC 20202-2600. Telephone: (202) 245-6425.
1. Culturally responsive principles promote redesigning the learning environments to support the development and success of all students. Some examples of incorporating culturally responsive principles into learning environments include communicating high expectations to all students, incorporating students' cultural and home experiences into lessons by reshaping the curriculum to reflect students' experiences, and engaging students in activities where they can converse with one another on topics that tap into their background knowledge and experiences (Gay, 2000; King, Artiles, & Kozleski, 2009).
2. Applicants must ensure the confidentiality of individual data, consistent with the requirements of section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g), commonly known as the “Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act” (FERPA), and State laws or regulations concerning the confidentiality of individual records. Final FERPA regulatory changes became effective January 3, 2012, and include requirements for data sharing. Applicants are encouraged to review the final FERPA regulations published on December 2, 2011 (76 FR 75604). Questions can be sent to the Family Policy Compliance Office (www.ed.gov/​fpco) at (202) 260-3887 or FERPA@ed.gov.
3. For factors to consider when selecting model demonstration sites, the applicant should refer to Assessing Sites for Model Demonstration: Lessons Learned for OSEP Grantees at http://mdcc.sri.com/​documents/​reports/​MDCC_​Site_​Assessment_​Brief_​09-30-11.pdf. The document also contains a site assessment tool.
4. The applicant must describe who is going to be contacted within the district(s) and how “buy-in” from these and other leaders will be solicited.
5. Section 2102(3) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA) defines a “high-need LEA” as an LEA—(A)(i) That serves not fewer than 10,000 children from families with incomes below the poverty line (as that term is defined in section 9101(33) of the ESEA); or (ii) for which not less than 20 percent of the children served by the LEA are from families with incomes below the poverty line; and (B)(i) for which there is a high percentage of teachers not teaching in the academic subjects or grade levels that the teachers were trained to teach; or (ii) for which there is a high percentage of teachers with emergency, provisional, or temporary certification or licensing.
6. For purposes of this priority, “rural LEA” means an LEA that is eligible under the Small Rural School Achievement (SRSA) program or the Rural and Low-Income School (RLIS) program authorized under Title VI, Part B of the ESEA. Applicants may determine whether a particular LEA is eligible for these programs by referring to the information on the following Department Web sites. For SRSA: http://www2.ed.gov/​programs/​reapsrsa/​index.html. For RLIS: http://www2.ed.gov/​programs/​reaprlisp/​eligibility.html.
7. If a for-profit (commercial) organization is awarded a grant, it will be required to comply with the Uniform Guidance in 2 CFR part 200, as adopted as regulations of the Department at 2 CFR part 3474.
[FR Doc. 2015-06273 Filed 3-17-15; 8:45 am]