Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2014/10/22/2014-25182/applications-for-new-awards-personnel-development-to-improve-services-and-results-for-children-with
Timestamp: 2019-05-21 09:12:39
Document Index: 322465114

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 200', 'art 200', 'arts 74', 'art 3485', 'art 304', 'arts 75', 'art 3485', 'art 3474', 'art 304', 'arts 74', 'art 200']

Federal Register :: Applications for New Awards; Personnel Development To Improve Services and Results for Children With Disabilities; Personnel Preparation in Special Education, Early Intervention, and Related Services
63090-63101 (12 pages)
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2014-25182 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2014-25182
Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities—Personnel Preparation in Special Education, Early Intervention, and Related Services Notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year (FY) 2015.
Applications Available: October 22, 2014.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: December 5, 2014.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: February 3, 2015.
Personnel preparation programs that prepare personnel to enter the fields of Start Printed Page 63091special education, early intervention, and related services as fully credentialed personnel who are well qualified, have the necessary competencies, and effectively use evidence-based practices to improve outcomes for children with disabilities are critical to overcome the personnel shortages in these fields. Federal support of these personnel preparation programs is needed to increase the supply of personnel with the necessary competencies to effectively serve infants, toddlers, and children with disabilities and their families, and to make sure students with disabilities have access to and meet college- and career-ready standards.
Except as provided for Focus Area D projects, to meet this priority, an applicant must propose a project associated with a pre-existing baccalaureate, master's, or specialist degree personnel preparation program that will prepare and support scholars[1] to complete, within the project period of the grant, a degree, State certification, professional license, or State endorsement in special education, early intervention, or a related services field. Projects also can be associated with personnel preparation programs that (a) prepare individuals to be assistants in related services professions (e.g., physical therapist assistants, occupational therapist assistants) or educational interpreters; or (b) provide an alternate route to certification or that support dual certification (special education and regular education) for teachers. For purposes of this priority, the term “personnel preparation program” refers to the program with which the applicant's proposed project is associated.
To be considered for funding under the Personnel Preparation in Special Education, Early Intervention, and Related Services absolute priority, applicants must meet the application requirements contained in this priority. All projects funded under this absolute priority also must meet the programmatic and administrative requirements specified in the priority.
(1) Address national, State, or regional shortages of personnel who are fully credentialed to serve children with disabilities, ages birth through 21, including high-need children with disabilities,[2] by preparing special education, early intervention, or related services personnel at the baccalaureate, master's, or specialist levels. To address this requirement, the applicant must present—
(i) The selection criteria that it will use to identify high-quality applicants for admission to the proposed project;
(2) Reflects current research and evidence-based practices, and is designed to prepare scholars in the Start Printed Page 63092identified competencies. To address this requirement, the applicant must describe how the proposed project will—
(i) High-need LEAs; [4] high-poverty schools; [5] low-performing schools, including persistently lowest-achieving schools; [6] priority schools (in the case of States that have received the U.S. Department of Education's (Department's) approval of a request for Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA) flexibility),[7] or publicly funded preschool programs, including Head Start programs and programs serving children eligible for services under IDEA Part C and Part B, Section 619, that are located within the geographic boundaries of a high-need LEA. The purpose of these partnerships is to provide clinical practice for scholars aimed at developing the identified competencies; and
(1) The proposed project will use comprehensive and appropriate methodologies to evaluate the effectiveness of the project, including the effectiveness of project processes and outcomes.
(ii) How data on the quality of services provided by proposed project graduates, including data on the learning and developmental outcomes (e.g., academic, social, emotional, behavioral, meeting college- and career-ready standards) and on growth toward these outcomes of the children with disabilities that the project graduates serve, will be collected and analyzed.
(2) Ensure that the proposed number of scholars to be recruited into the Start Printed Page 63093program can graduate from the program by the end of the grant's project period. The strategies for recruiting scholars (including individuals with disabilities), the program components and their sequence, and proposed budget must be consistent with this project requirement.
(3) Ensure that prior approval from the OSEP project officer will be obtained before admitting additional scholars beyond the number of scholars proposed in the application and before transferring a scholar to another OSEP-funded grant.
(i) A Pre-Scholarship Agreement prior to the scholar receiving a scholarship for an eligible program (OMB Control Number 1820-0686); and
(10) Ensure that the project director submits annual data on each scholar who receives grant support. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Personnel Development Program Scholar Data Report Web site at: http://oseppdp.ed.gov for further information about this data collection requirement. Typically, data collection begins in January of each year, and grantees are notified by email about the data collection period for their grant. This data collection must be submitted electronically by the grantee and does not supplant the annual grant performance report required of each grantee for continuation funding (see 34 CFR 75.590).
Within this absolute priority, the Secretary intends to support projects under the following four focus areas: (A) Preparing Personnel to Serve Infants, Toddlers, and Preschool-Age Children with Disabilities; (B) Preparing Personnel to Serve School-Age Children with Low-Incidence Disabilities; (C) Preparing Personnel to Provide Related Services to Children, Including Infants and Toddlers, with Disabilities; and (D) Preparing Personnel in Minority Institutions of Higher Education to Serve Children, Including Infants and Toddlers, with Disabilities. Interdisciplinary projects are encouraged to apply under Focus Area A, B, C, or D. Interdisciplinary projects are projects that deliver core content through coursework and clinical experiences shared across disciplines.
Focus Area A: Preparing Personnel to Serve Infants, Toddlers, and Preschool-Age Children with Disabilities. OSEP intends to fund six awards under this focus area. For the purpose of Focus Area A, early intervention personnel are those who are prepared to provide services to infants and toddlers with disabilities ages birth to three, and early childhood personnel are those who are prepared to provide services to children with disabilities ages three through five (and in States where the age range is other than ages three through five, we will defer to the State's certification for early childhood). In States where certification in early intervention is combined with certification in early childhood, applicants may propose a combined early intervention and early childhood personnel preparation project under this focus area. We encourage interdisciplinary projects under this focus area. For purposes of this focus area, interdisciplinary projects are projects that deliver core content through coursework and clinical experiences shared across disciplines for early intervention providers or early childhood special educators, and related services personnel to serve infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children with disabilities. Projects preparing only related services personnel to serve infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children with disabilities are not eligible under this focus area (see Focus Area C). Scholars in the program should be able to demonstrate the competencies outlined in a State's Workforce Knowledge and Competency Framework,[8] as appropriate.
Focus Area B: Preparing Personnel to Serve School-Age Children with Low-Incidence Disabilities. OSEP intends to fund twelve awards under this focus area. For the purpose of Focus Area B, personnel who serve children with low-incidence disabilities are special education personnel prepared to serve school-age children with low-incidence disabilities, including visual impairments, hearing impairments, simultaneous visual and hearing impairments, significant intellectual disabilities, orthopedic impairments, traumatic brain injury, and persistent and severe learning and behavioral problems that need the most intensive individualized supports. Programs preparing special education personnel to provide services to children with visual impairments or blindness that can be appropriately provided in braille must prepare those individuals to provide those services in braille, Start Printed Page 63094including the Unified English Braille Code (UEB). Projects preparing educational interpreters are eligible under this focus area. We encourage interdisciplinary projects under this focus area. For purposes of this focus area, interdisciplinary projects are projects that deliver core content through coursework and clinical experiences shared across disciplines for low-incidence and related services personnel to serve school-aged children with low incidence disabilities. Projects preparing early intervention or preschool personnel are not eligible under this focus area (see Focus Area A).
Focus Area C: Preparing Personnel to Provide Related Services to Children, Including Infants and Toddlers, with Disabilities. OSEP intends to fund eight awards under this focus area. Programs preparing related services personnel to serve children, including infants and toddlers, with disabilities are eligible within Focus Area C. For the purpose of this focus area, related services include, but are not limited to, psychological services, physical therapy (including therapy provided by personnel prepared at the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) level), adapted physical education, occupational therapy, therapeutic recreation, social work services, counseling services, audiology services (including services provided by personnel prepared at the Doctor of Audiology (AudD) level), speech and language services, and applied behavior analysis services provided by personnel at the Board Certified Behavior Specialists level. Preparation programs in States where personnel prepared to serve children with speech and language impairments are considered to be special educators are eligible under this focus area. We encourage interdisciplinary projects under this focus area.
Focus Area D: Preparing Personnel in Minority Institutions of Higher Education to Serve Children, Including Infants and Toddlers, with Disabilities. OSEP intends to fund ten awards under this focus area. Programs in minority IHEs are eligible under Focus Area D if they prepare one of the following: (a) Personnel to serve infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children with disabilities; (b) personnel to serve school-age children with low-incidence disabilities, including those with persistent and severe learning or behavioral problems that need the most intensive individualized supports; or (c) personnel to provide related services to children, including infants and toddlers, with disabilities. Minority IHEs include IHEs with a minority enrollment of 50 percent or more, which may include Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges, and Predominantly Hispanic Serving Colleges and Universities. We encourage interdisciplinary projects under this focus area. For purposes of this focus area, interdisciplinary projects are projects that deliver core content through coursework and clinical experiences shared across disciplines for: (a) Early intervention providers or early childhood special educators and related services personnel who serve infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children with disabilities; (b) low-incidence and related services personnel who serve school-age children with low-incidence disabilities; or (c) related services personnel who serve children, including infants and toddlers, with disabilities. Programs in minority IHEs preparing personnel in Focus Area A, B, or C are eligible within Focus Area D. Programs preparing high-incidence special education personnel are not eligible under this priority.
In Focus Area D, OSEP intends to fund in FY 2015 at least three high-quality applications from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and, as a result, may fund applications out of rank order.
(2) A project that is proposing to expand or enhance an existing program may request funding for capacity building (e.g., hiring of a clinical practice supervisor, providing professional development and training for faculty) or purchasing needed resources (e.g., additional teaching supplies or specialized equipment to enhance instruction).
Bruder, M. B. (December, 2004a). The National Landscape of Early Intervention in Personnel Preparation Standards under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (Study I Data Report). Farmington, CT: A. J. Pappanikou Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. Retrieved from: www.uconnucedd.org/​pdfs/​projects/​per_​prep/​pp_​data_​report_​study1_​partc_​11_​14_​08.pdf.
Bruder, M. B. (December, 2004b). The National Landscape of Early Childhood Special Education in Personnel Preparation Standards under 619 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (Study I Data Report). Farmington, CT: A. J. Pappanikou Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. Retrieved from: www.uconnucedd.org/​pdfs/​projects/​per_​prep/​pp_​data_​report_​study1_​619_​11_​19_​08%20ccs.pdf.
McLeskey, J., Tyler, N., & Flippin, S. S. (2004). The supply and demand for special education teachers: A review of research regarding the chronic shortage of special education teachers. Journal of Special Education, 38 (1), 5-21.
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 the proposed priorities and requirements. Section 681(d) of IDEA, however, makes Start Printed Page 63095the public comment requirements of the APA inapplicable to the priority in this notice.
Applicable Regulations: This Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) is being published before the Department adopts the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements in 2 CFR part 200. We expect to publish interim final regulations that would adopt those requirements before December 26, 2014, and make those regulations effective on that date. Because grants awarded under this NIA will likely be made after ED adopts the requirements in 2 CFR part 200, we list as applicable regulations both those that are currently effective and those that will be effective at the time ED makes grants.
The current regulations follow: (a) The Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 86, 97, 98, and 99. (b) The Education Department debarment and suspension regulations in 2 CFR part 3485. (c) The regulations for this program in 34 CFR part 304.
At the time we award grants under this NIA, the following regulations will 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 in 2 CFR part 3474. (c) The regulations for this program in 34 CFR part 304.
Estimated Available Funds: The Administration has requested $83,700,000 for the Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities program for FY 2015, of which we intend to use an estimated $9,000,000 for this competition. The actual level of funding, if any, depends on final congressional action. However, we are inviting applications to allow enough time to complete the grant process if Congress appropriates funds for this program.
Project Period: See chart.Start Printed Page 63096
Personnel Development To Improve Services and Results for Children With Disabilities (84.325k) Application Notice for Fiscal Year 2015
84.325K Personnel Preparation in Special Education, Early Intervention, and Related Services March 22, 2014 December 5, 2014 February 3, 2015
Focus Area A: Preparing Personnel to Serve Infants, Toddlers, and Pre-school Age Children with Disabilities $225,000-$250,000 $237,500 * $250,000 6 Up to 60 mos Maryann McDermott, 202-245-7439, maryann.mcdermott@ed.gov, PCP, Room 4062.
Focus Area B: Preparing Personnel to Serve School-Age Children with Low Incidence Disabilities $225,000-$250,000 237,500 * 250,000 12 Up to 60 mos Maryann McDermott, 202-245-7439, maryann.mcdermott@ed.gov, PCP, Room 4062.
Focus Area C: Preparing Personnel to Provide Related Services to Children, Including Infants and Toddlers, with Disabilities $225,000-$250,000 237,500 * 250,000 8 Up to 60 mos Sarah Allen, 202-245-7875, sarah.allen@ed.gov, PCP, Room 4105.
Focus Area D: Preparing Personnel in Minority Institutions of Higher Education to Serve Children, Including Infants and Toddlers, with Disabilities $225,000-$250,000 237,500 * 250,000 10 Up to 60 mos Dawn Ellis, 202-245-6417, dawn.ellis@ed.gov, PCP, Room 4092.
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 Start Printed Page 63098before you can submit an application through Grants.gov.
If you submit an application after 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date, please contact the person listed under For Further Information Contact in section VII of this notice and provide an explanation of the technical problem you experienced with Grants.gov, along Start Printed Page 63099with the Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number. We will accept your application if we can confirm that a technical problem occurred with the Grants.gov system and that that problem affected your ability to submit your application by 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. The Department will contact you after a determination is made on whether your application will be accepted.
If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, you (or a courier service) may deliver your paper application to the Department by hand. You 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 84.325K), 550 12th Street SW., Room 7039, Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-4260.
3. Additional Review and Selection Process Factors: In the past, the Department has had difficulty finding peer reviewers for certain competitions because so many individuals who are eligible to serve as peer reviewers have conflicts of interest. The standing panel requirements under section 682(b) of IDEA also have placed additional constraints on the availability of reviewers. Therefore, the Department has determined that for some discretionary grant competitions, applications may be separated into two or more groups and ranked and selected for funding within specific groups. This procedure will make it easier for the Department to find peer reviewers by ensuring that greater numbers of individuals who are eligible to serve as reviewers for any particular group of applicants will not have conflicts of interest. It also will increase the quality, independence, and fairness of the review process, while permitting panel members to review applications under discretionary grant competitions for which they also have submitted applications. However, if the Department decides to select an equal number of applications in each group Start Printed Page 63100for funding, this may result in different cut-off points for fundable applications in each group.
4. Special Conditions: Under current 34 CFR 74.14 and 80.12 and, when grants are made under this NIA, 2 CFR 3574.10, the Secretary may impose specific 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 34 CFR parts 74 or 80, as applicable or, when grants are awarded, the standards in 2 CFR part 200, subpart D; has not fulfilled the conditions of a prior grant; or is otherwise not responsible.
For Further Information Contact: See chart in the Award Information section in this notice for the name, room number, telephone number, and email address of the contact person for each Focus Area of this competition. You can write to the Focus Area contact person at the following address: U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), Washington, DC 20202-2600.
Electronic Access to This Document: 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 via the Federal Digital System at: www.gpo.gov/​fdsys. At this site 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). To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the site.Start Printed Page 63101
3. For the purposes of this priority, the term “competencies” means what a person knows and can do: the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to effectively function in a role (National Professional Development Center on Inclusion, 2011). These competencies should ensure that personnel are able to use challenging national and State content standards, child achievement and functional standards, and State assessments, to improve instructional practices, services, and learning and developmental outcomes (e.g., academic, social, emotional, behavioral); and college- and career-readiness of children with disabilities.
5. For the purposes of this priority, the term “high-poverty school” means a school in which at least 50 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act or in which at least 50 percent of students are from low-income families as determined using one of the criteria specified under section 1113(a)(5) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA). For middle and high schools, eligibility may be calculated on the basis of comparable data from feeder schools. Eligibility as a high-poverty school under this definition is determined on the basis of the most currently available data (www2.ed.gov/​legislation/​FedRegister/​other/​2010-4/​121510b.html).
For the purposes of this priority, the Department considers schools that are identified as Tier I or Tier II schools under the School Improvement Grants Program (see 75 FR 66363 [October 28, 2010]) as part of a State's approved FY 2009, FY 2010, FY 2011, or FY 2012 application to be persistently lowest-achieving schools. A list of these Tier I and Tier II schools can be found on the Department's Web site at www2.ed.gov/​programs/​sif/​index.html.
8. For the purposes of this priority, “Workforce Knowledge and Competency Framework” is defined by the definitions published in the Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year 2013 Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) (78 FR 53992 [August 30, 2013]): a set of expectations that describes what Early Childhood Educators (including those working with children with disabilities and English learners) should know and be able to do. The Workforce Knowledge and Competency Framework, at a minimum (a) is evidence-based; (b) incorporates knowledge and application of the State's Early Learning and Development Standards, the Comprehensive Assessment Systems, child development, health, and culturally and linguistically appropriate strategies for working with families; (c) includes knowledge of early mathematics and literacy development and effective instructional practices to support mathematics and literacy development in young children; (d) incorporates effective use of data to guide instruction and program improvement; (e) includes effective behavior management strategies that promote positive social-emotional development and reduce challenging behaviors; and (f) incorporates feedback from experts at the State's postsecondary institutions and other early learning and development experts and Early Childhood Educators.
[FR Doc. 2014-25182 Filed 10-21-14; 8:45 am]