[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 96 (Tuesday, May 19, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27646-27648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-13247]



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Part III





Department of Education





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Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities National Program--Federal 
Activities Grants Program; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 96 / Tuesday, May 19, 1998 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA NO.: 84.184G & J]


Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities National Programs--
Federal Activities Grants Program

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Priorities and Selection Criteria for Fiscal 
Year 1998.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary announces proposed priorities and selection 
criteria for fiscal year (FY) 1998 under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools 
and Communities (SDFSC) National Programs Federal Activities Grants 
Program. The Secretary takes this action to focus Federal financial 
assistance on identified national needs to promote the creation of safe 
and orderly learning environments for all students and to encourage the 
development of systems to collect data related to youth drug use and 
violent behavior.

Invitation To Comment

    Interested persons are invited to submit comments and 
recommendations regarding these proposed priorities. All comments 
submitted in response to this notice will be available for public 
inspection, during and after the comment period, in Room 603, Portals 
Building, 1250 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC, between the hours 
of 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday of each 
week except Federal holidays.
    On request, the Department supplies an appropriate aid, such as a 
reader or print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs 
assistance to review the comments. An individual with a disability who 
wants to schedule an appointment for this type of aid may call (202) 
205-8113 or (202) 260-9895. An individual who uses a TDD may call the 
Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339, between 8 a.m. and 
8 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

DATES: Comments must be received by the Department on or before June 
18, 1998.

ADDRESSES: All comments concerning these proposed priorities should be 
addressed to Ethel Jackson, U.S. Department of Education, 600 Maryland 
Avenue, SW., Suite 603, Portals Building, Washington, DC 20202-6123. 
Comments may also be sent through the Internet to: [email protected]. You 
must include the term ``Federal Activities Grant Program'' in the 
subject line of your electronic message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ethel Jackson, Safe and Drug-Free 
Schools Programs, U.S. Department of Education, 600 Independence 
Avenue, SW., Room 603, Portals, Washington, DC 20202-6123. Telephone: 
(202) 260-3954. Individuals who use a tele-communications device for 
the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 
1-800-877-8339 between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., Eastern time, Monday 
through Friday.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the contact person listed above.

    Note: This notice of proposed priorities and selection criteria 
does not solicit applications. A notice inviting applications under 
this competition will be published in the Federal Register 
concurrent with or following the publication of the notice of final 
priorities.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    This notice contains two proposed priorities and selection criteria 
for fiscal year 1998. Under absolute priority one (CFDA 84.184G, State 
and Local Educational Agency Drug and Violence Prevention Data 
Collection), the Secretary may make grant awards for up to 24 months. 
Under absolute priority number two (CFDA 84.184J, Model Demonstration 
Program), the Secretary may award cooperative agreements for up to 60 
months. Cooperative agreements funded through this priority will serve 
as national demonstration sites to test strategies, assess 
effectiveness, and make a major contribution to the development and 
dissemination of models and components of models which can be used by 
school districts and other youth-serving agencies nationwide.

Priorities

    Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) and the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and 
Communities Act of 1994, the Secretary gives an absolute preference to 
applications that meet one of the following priorities. The Secretary 
funds under this competition only applications that meet one of these 
absolute priorities.

Absolute Priority 1 and Selection Criteria--State and Local Educational 
Agency Drug and Violence Prevention Data Collection (CFDA 84.184G)

    Under this priority, applicants must propose projects that--
    (1) Develop, improve, expand, or enhance the collection of data 
related to youth drug use and violence; and
    (2) Develop and implement processes to ensure that high-quality 
data are used to form policy, assess needs, select interventions, and 
assess the success of drug and violence prevention activities funded 
under the SDFSC State Grants Program. Projects may be State-wide in 
scope or limited to an individual local educational agency, or a 
consortium of local educational agencies, with a student enrollment 
that exceeds 30,000.
    Projects must address drug and violence prevention data for 
students in general, not just for a sub-set of the population (e.g., 
non-English speaking students or hearing-impaired students). To be 
considered for funding under this competition, a project must include--
    (1) Concrete plans, with timelines, that detail how the results of 
new or improved data collection efforts will be incorporated into State 
and local educational agency efforts to assess needs, select 
interventions, and assess success of drug and violence prevention 
efforts;
    (2) Outcome-based performance indicators that will be used to judge 
the success of the project;
    (3) A description of how efforts proposed as part of the project 
have been coordinated with and will not duplicate data collection 
efforts being implemented by other State or local agencies; and
    (4) If the applicant is other than a State or local educational 
agency, evidence of commitment from the State educational agency (for 
State-wide projects) or from the superintendent of schools (for local 
projects).

Selection Criteria

    (a)(1) The Secretary uses the following selection criteria to 
evaluate proposals submitted under this priority.
    The maximum score for all of the criteria in this section is 100 
points.
    The maximum score for each criterion is indicated in parentheses 
with the criterion.
    (b) The criteria.--
    1. Need for project. (15 points)
    In determining the need for the proposed project, the following 
factors are considered:
    (a) The magnitude of the need for the services to be provided or 
the activities to be carried out by the proposed project.
    (b) The extent to which specific gaps or weaknesses in services, 
infrastructure, or opportunities have been identified and will be 
addressed by the proposed project, including the nature and magnitude 
of those gaps or weaknesses.
    2. Significance. (25 points)
    In determining the significance of the proposed project, the 
following factors are considered:

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    (a) The significance of the problem or issues to be addressed by 
the proposed project.
    (b) The likelihood that the proposed project will result in system 
change or improvement.
    (c) The extent to which the proposed project is likely to build 
local capacity to provide, improve, or expand services that address the 
needs of the target population.
    3. Quality of the project design. (25 points)
    In determining the quality of the design of the proposed project, 
the following factors are considered:
    (a) The extent to which the goals, objectives, and outcomes to be 
achieved by the proposed project are clearly specified and measurable.
    (b) The extent to which the proposed project is designed to build 
capacity and yield results that will extend beyond the period of 
Federal financial assistance.
    (c) The extent to which the proposed project will be coordinated 
with similar or related efforts, and with other appropriate community, 
State and Federal resources.
    4. Adequacy of resources. (15 points)
    In determining the adequacy of resources for the proposed projects, 
the following factors are considered:
    (a) The extent to which the costs are reasonable in relation to the 
objectives, design, and potential significance of the proposed project.
    (b) The potential for the incorporation of project purposes, 
activities or benefits into the ongoing program of the agency or 
organization at the end of Federal funding.
    5. Quality of the management plan (10 points)
    In determining the quality of the management plan for the proposed 
project, the following factor is considered:
    (a) The adequacy of the management plan to achieve the objectives 
of the proposed project on time and within budget, including clearly 
defined responsibilities, time lines, and milestone for accomplishing 
project tasks.
    6. Quality of the project evaluation. (10 points)
    In determining the quality of the evaluation to be conducted for 
the proposed project, the following factor is considered:
    (a) The extent to which the methods of evaluation will provide 
performance feedback and permit periodic assessment of progress toward 
achieving intended outcomes.

Absolute Priority #2 and Selection Criteria--Model Demonstration 
Programs to Create Safe and Orderly Learning Environments in Schools 
(CFDA 84.184J)

    Projects proposed under this priority are expected to 
comprehensively address multiple factors that predispose youth to drug 
use and violent behavior. Therefore, projects will not be funded for: 
(a) basic support of existing programs; (b) replication of a single 
program of demonstrated effectiveness, or (c) less than $500,000 or 
more than $1 million.
    Projects supported under this priority will be funded for 
implementation in one site for three years and for replication in 
additional sites for two years. Projects will be reviewed during the 
third year to examine, among other factors, the degree to which the 
evaluation findings at the original site are promising, and the quality 
of the evaluation design proposed to test the model at other sites 
during years four and five. Projects which fail to demonstrate 
effectiveness at the original site will not be funded to test the 
model's replication in other sites.
    Under this priority, applicants must propose projects that:
    (A) Develop and implement a model with specific components or 
strategies that are based on theory, research, or evaluation data;
    (B) Identify outcomes intended to result in behavioral change in 
youth served and other indicators of the effectiveness of the model 
(e.g. improved bonding to school and to the community, reductions in 
disciplinary referrals, absence of firearms and other weapons in 
schools, acquisition of pro-social skills, and reductions in alcohol, 
tobacco, and other drug use by the target population);
    (C) Evaluate the model by using multiple measures to determine the 
effectiveness of the model and its components or strategies; and
    (D) Produce detailed documentation of procedures and materials that 
would enable others to replicate the model as implemented at the 
original site.
    Applicants must provide the following : (1) recent and historical 
data on drug use by youth; (2) data that describes patterns of violence 
and disruptive acts in schools; (3) rates of referral to juvenile 
justice authorities for bringing weapons to school, drug use or 
possession and violent criminal acts; (4) evidence of gang and violence 
problems in the target community, and (5) demographic information for 
the geographic area in which the school is located.

Selection Criteria

    (a)(1) The Secretary uses the following selection criteria to 
evaluate proposals submitted under this priority.
    The maximum score for all of the criteria in this section is 100 
points.
    (2) The maximum score for each criterion is indicated in 
parentheses.
    (b) The criteria.--
    1. Significance (30 points)
    In determining the significance of the proposed project, the 
following factors are considered:
    (a) The potential contribution of the proposed project to the 
development and advancement of theory, knowledge, and practices in the 
field of study.
    (b) The extent to which the proposed project is likely to yield 
findings that may be utilized by other appropriate agencies and 
organizations.
    (c) The potential replicability of the proposed project or 
strategies, including, as appropriate, the potential for implementation 
in a variety of settings.
    (2) Quality of the project design (25 points)
    In determining the quality of the design of the proposed project, 
the following factors are considered:
    (a) The extent to which the goals, objectives, and outcomes to be 
achieved by the proposed project are clearly specified and measurable.
    (b) The extent to which there is a conceptual framework underlying 
the proposed research or demonstration activities and the quality of 
that framework.
    (c) The extent to which the design of the proposed project reflects 
up-to-date knowledge from research and effective practice.
    (d) The quality of the proposed demonstration design and procedures 
for documenting project activities and results;
    (e) The extent to which the proposed project represents an 
exceptional approach to the priority or priorities established for the 
competition.
    3. Adequacy of resources (10 points)
    In determining the adequacy of resources for the proposed project, 
the following factors are considered:
    (a) The relevance and demonstrated commitment of each partner in 
the proposed project to the implementation and success of the project.
    (b) The extent to which the costs are reasonable in relation to the 
objectives, design and potential significance of the proposed project.
    4. Quality of the management plan (10 points)
    In determining the quality of the management plan, the following 
factors are considered:

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    (a) The adequacy of the management plan to achieve the objectives 
of the proposed project on time and within budget, including clearly 
defined responsibilities, timelines, and milestones for accomplishing 
project tasks.
    (b) The extent to which the time commitments of the project 
director and principal investigator and other key project personnel are 
appropriate and adequate to meet the objectives of the proposed 
project.
    5. Quality of the project evaluation (25 points)
    In determining the quality of the evaluation, the following factors 
are considered:
    (a) The extent to which the methods of the evaluation are thorough, 
feasible, and appropriate to the goals, objectives and outcomes of the 
proposed project.
    (b) The extent to which the methods of evaluation include the use 
of objective performance measures that are clearly related to the 
intended outcomes of the project and will produce quantitative and 
qualitative data to the extent possible.

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 preceding 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 this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register.

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7131.

    Dated: May 14, 1998.
Gerald N. Tirozzi,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 98-13247 Filed 5-18-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P