[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 82 (Wednesday, April 29, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 23642]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-11375]



[[Page 23641]]

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Part VIII





Department of Education





_______________________________________________________________________



National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Program; 
Applications Invitation for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 1998; 
Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 82 / Wednesday, April 29, 1998 / 
Notices  

[[Page 23642]]



DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No.: 84.902F]


The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Program; 
Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 1998

    Purpose of Program: To conduct the development, scoring, analysis, 
and reporting component for the 2000, 2001, and 2002 National 
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). NAEP supports the National 
Education Goals by providing measures of progress toward the Goals.
    Eligible Applicants: Public, private, for-profit, and non-profit 
individuals, institutions, agencies, and other qualified organizations 
or consortia of these institutions, agencies, and organizations.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: July 1, 1998.
    Applications Available: May 1, 1998.
    Available Funds: In FY 1998, $640,000 will be available for the 
development, scoring, analysis, and reporting component. It is 
anticipated that in FYs 1999 to 2002 an average of $16,000,000 will be 
available annually in FYs 1999 through 2002, and $6,000,000 available 
in FY 2003.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 1.
    Project Period: Up to 60 months.
    Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 80, 81, 
82, 85, and 86; (b) The regulations in 34 CFR 700.30 and 34 CFR part 
98; and (c) 48 CFR Part 31 (Contracts with Commercial Organizations).
    Supplementary Information: The NAEP is authorized by section 411 of 
the National Education Statistics Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 9010). Section 
412 of this law provides for the establishment of the National 
Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) (20 U.S.C. 9011). The law requires 
the NAGB, among other responsibilities, to formulate the policy 
guidelines for the National Assessment and select the subject areas to 
be assessed. A cooperative agreement is currently in operation to 
develop assessment instruments for the 2000 assessment.

Priority

Absolute Priority

    Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) and 20 U.S.C. 9010-9011, the Secretary 
gives an absolute preference to applications that meet the priority in 
the next paragraph. The Secretary funds under this competition only 
applications that meet this absolute priority.

Development, Scoring, Analysis and Reporting of Data From the National 
Assessment of Educational Progress

    The grantee must develop assessment booklets for history, 
geography, reading and writing. The grantee must score, analyze, and 
report data collected for mathematics, science, history, geography, 
reading and writing in grades 4, 8, and 12 from a nationally 
representative sample. The grantee must also score, analyze, and report 
data collected from samples representative of each participating State 
in mathematics, science, reading and writing in fourth and eighth 
grades. The NAEP must be reported in ways that increase the information 
available to educational policymakers and the general public regarding 
the educational achievement of American students. Section 412 requires 
the NAGB to develop the guidelines for the analysis and reporting of 
the NAEP results. The grantee must score, analyze, and report in 
accordance with guidelines specified by the National Assessment 
Governing Board. Each report must be published and disseminated after 
completing the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) peer 
review procedure.

Evaluation Criteria

    The Secretary selects from the criteria in 34 CFR 700.30(e) to 
evaluate applications for new grants under this competition. Under 34 
CFR 700.30(a), the Secretary announces in the application package the 
evaluation criteria selected for this competition and the maximum 
weight assigned to each criterion.
    For Applications or Information Contact: Steve Gorman, U.S. 
Department of Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW., room 404g, 
Washington, DC 20208-5653. E-mail: [email protected]; or FAX your 
request to: (202) 219-1801 with the surface mail address to which the 
application should be sent. For information call (202) 219-1761. 
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.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in alternate 
format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) on 
request to the contact person listed in the preceding paragraph.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application 
package in an alternate format, also, by contacting that person. 
However, the Department is not able to reproduce in alternate format 
the standard forms included in the application package.

Electronic Access to This Document

    Anyone may view this document, as well as all other Department of 
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or 
portable document format (pdf) on the World Wide Web at either of the 
following sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html

To use the pdf you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with 
Search, which is available free at either of the previous sites. If you 
have questions about using the pdf, call the U.S. Government Printing 
Office toll free at 1-888-293-6498.
    Anyone may also view these documents in text copy only on an 
electronic bulletin board of the Department. Telephone: (202) 219-1511 
or, toll free, 1-800-222-4922. The documents are located under Option 
G--Files/Announcements, Bulletins and Press Releases.

    Note: The official version of a document is the document 
published in the Federal Register.

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 9010-9011.

    Dated: April 24, 1998.
Ricky Takai,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement.
[FR Doc. 98-11375 Filed 4-28-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P