[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 13, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 10331]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-5941]



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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No.: 84.999B]


National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Data 
Reporting Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for 
Fiscal Year 1996

    Purpose of Program: To encourage eligible parties to conduct 
analyses of the data from NAEP and the NAEP High School Transcript 
Studies (Transcript Studies) in order to--
    1. Expand the available information about the academic achievement 
of U.S. children in public and non-public schools who are in the 
fourth, eighth or twelfth grade;
    2. Use existing approaches and develop new ideas for analyzing and 
reporting the information contained in NAEP and the Transcript Studies; 
and
    3. Apply state-of-the-art techniques that have not previously been 
applied to the analysis and reporting of NAEP and Transcript Studies 
data.
    NAEP is authorized by Section 411 of the National Education 
Statistics Act of 1994, Title IV of the Improving America's Schools Act 
(20 U.S.C. 9010).
    Eligible Applicants: This competition is open to all public or 
private organizations and consortia of organizations.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 29, 1996.
    Applications Available: March 18, 1996.
    Available Funds: Up to $700,000.
    Applicants should note that Congress has not yet enacted final 
appropriations for Department of Education programs for fiscal year 
1996. As a result of final action, funds available for this competition 
could be reduced or even eliminated.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $15,000-$90,000.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $75,000.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 5-10.

    Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this 
notice.

    Project Period: Up to 18 months.
    Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR Parts 74, 75, 77, 80, 81, 
82, 85, and 86; and (b) The final regulations for Standards for the 
Conduct and Evaluation of Activities Carried out by the Office of 
Educational Research and Improvement (OERI)--Evaluation of Application 
for Grants and Cooperative Agreements and Proposals for Contracts, 
published in the Federal Register on September 14, 1995 (60 FR 47808) 
and to be codified at 34 CFR Part 700.

Priorities

    Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1), the Secretary is particularly interested 
in applications that meet one or more of the following invitational 
priorities. However, an application that meets one or more of these 
invitational priorities does not receive competitive or absolute 
preference over other applications:

Invitational Priority 1

    Projects that address the instructional factors, family background 
factors, and school and teacher characteristics that the educational 
research literature suggests are correlates of academic performance.

Invitational Priority 2

    Projects that include the development of statistical software that 
would allow more advanced analytic techniques to be readily applied to 
NAEP data.

Selection Criteria

    In evaluating applications for grants under this competition, the 
Secretary uses the selection criteria in 34 CFR 700.30. Under this 
regulation, the Secretary will announce the applicable evaluation 
criteria and the assigned weights in the application package.
    For Applications or Information Contact: Alex Sedlacek, U.S. 
Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 
Office of Educational Research and Improvement, Room 404B, 555 New 
Jersey Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20208-5653. Telephone: (202) 219-
1734. Internet: ([email protected]). Individuals who use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 
p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday.
    Information about the Department's funding opportunities, including 
copies of application notices for discretionary grant competitions, can 
be viewed on the Department's electronic bulletin board (ED Board), 
telephone (202) 260-9950; on the Internet Gopher Server at 
GOPHER.ED.GOV (under Announcements, Bulletins and Press Releases); or 
on the World Wide Web (at http://www.ed.gov/money.html). However, the 
official application notice for a discretionary grant competition is 
the notice published in the Federal Register.

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 9010.

    Dated: March 7, 1996.
Sharon P. Robinson,
Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement.
[FR Doc. 96-5941 Filed 3-12-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P