[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 197 (Wednesday, October 13, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55606-55607]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-26686]



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Part IV





Department of Education





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Visiting Scholars Fellowship Program, Office of Educational Research 
and Improvement (OERI); Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for 
Fiscal Year (FY) 2000; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 197 / Wednesday, October 13, 1999 / 
Notices  

[[Page 55606]]



DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No.: 84.309V]


Visiting Scholars Fellowship Program, Office of Educational 
Research and Improvement (OERI); Notice Inviting Applications for New 
Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2000

    Purpose of Program: The OERI Visiting Scholars Fellowship Program 
allows individuals to conduct educational research at the OERI national 
research institutes in Washington, DC for up to 12 months. For FY 2000 
we encourage applicants to design projects that address the 
invitational priorities in the Priorities section of this application 
notice.
    Aside from carrying out their research, fellows are expected to 
interact in a collegial manner with OERI staff and be available to 
share their insights and expertise when needed. At the onset of their 
fellowship, fellows will work with their institute directors to 
establish a schedule for their research projects and regular office 
hours, and will discuss the manner in which their stay may be mutually 
beneficial to the fellow and OERI.
    Administration of Program: This fellowship competition will be 
administered by the National Research Council (the Council). The 
Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to 
associate the broad community of science and technology with the 
Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the Federal 
Government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined 
by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency 
of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of 
Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and 
the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered 
jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine.
    Eligible Applicants: Scholars, researchers, policymakers, 
educational practitioners, librarians, or statisticians who are engaged 
in the use, collection, and dissemination of information about 
education and educational research.
    Applications Available: October 29, 1999.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: January 24, 2000.

    Note: Decisions on awards will be announced by the Council by 
April 2000, and fellows will be able to commence their appointments 
anytime between June 2000 and September 2000.

    Available Funds: $500,000 (FY 1998 funds).
    Estimated Range of Awards: $50,000-$100,000 per fellow.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $75,000.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 5 to 8.
    Project Period: Up to 12 months.

    Note: Neither the U.S. Department of Education, nor the Council, 
is bound by any estimates in this notice.

    Applicable Regulations: See explanation under Supplementary 
Information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OERI is authorized to make fellowship awards 
to visiting scholars under section 931(c)(1)(E) of the Educational 
Research, Development, Dissemination, and Improvement Act of 1994, 20 
U.S.C. 6001 et seq. This statute states, in relevant part, that the 
fellowships ``shall be awarded competitively following the publication 
of a notice in the Federal Register inviting the submission of 
applications.'' OERI made a grant to the National Research Council to 
carry out this activity pursuant to the regulations in 34 CFR part 700 
and the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) 
in 34 CFR part 75. OERI is publishing this application notice on behalf 
of the Council.
    The Council will fund applications for fellowships for the OERI 
national research institutes. General procedures governing the 
application process and the evaluation and selection of fellows can be 
found in the 1999 Program Announcement, prepared by the Council. The 
announcement is available on the web site http://fellowships.nas.edu 
and is also available from the address and telephone number listed at 
the end of this notice. More specific procedures governing the panel 
review process will be available from the Council after all 
applications have been received.
    The regulations in 34 CFR part 700 and in the Education Department 
General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) govern the grant 
relationship between OERI and the Council and apply to the Council's 
administration of Federal funds under the grant.

Priorities

Invitational Priorities

    The Council is particularly interested in applications that meet 
one or both of the following priorities. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) we 
do not give an application that meets one or both of these invitational 
priorities a competitive or absolute preference over other 
applications.
Invitational Priority 1--Issues Related to How People Learn: Brain, 
Mind, Experience
    OERI's research priorities include work that relates to two recent 
reports published by the National Academy of Sciences. The first study 
is entitled: How People Learn: Brain, Mind Experience, and School, 
which is available online at http://www.nap.edu.
    The Academy study recommends important future research related to 
human learning. The report calls for more detailed research regarding 
matters such as the role of learners' prior knowledge in acquiring new 
information, the importance of social and cultural contexts to 
learning, understanding how learning is transferred, how learning is 
related to a discipline and how time, familiarity, and exploration 
impact fluency in learning. The report calls for new approaches to the 
learning sciences such as neuroscience and cognitive science, helping 
basic researchers and educational researchers to work together, 
including teachers in the process, melding qualitative and quantitative 
methods, and designing and implementing new statistical techniques and 
qualitative measures as needed to more effectively study the complex 
area of human learning.
    After How People Learn: (Brain, Mind, Experience and School) was 
released, OERI posed the next questions, ``What research and 
development could help incorporate the insights from the report into 
classroom practice?'' In response to this question, the Academy 
published, How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice. This study 
is also available online at http://www.nap.edu.
    Applicants are invited to discuss in their applications how their 
work relates to these reports. Projects may focus on any aged learners, 
including preschoolers, those in the K-12 years, those in postsecondary 
institutions, and other adult learners. The projects proposed by the 
applicants must include specific research to be conducted while at 
OERI, and the application must discuss ways in which the fellows' stay 
will be mutually beneficial.
Invitational Priority 2--Traditionally Underrepresented Groups and 
Institutions
    Based on section 931(c)(5) of OERI's authorizing statute, the 
Council also invites applications from groups of researchers or 
institutions that have been historically underutilized in Federal 
educational research activities. The groups and institutions include:

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Women, African-Americans, Hispanics, Native American Indians, and 
Alaskan Natives or other ethnic minorities; promising young or new 
researchers in the field, such as postdoctoral students and recently 
appointed assistant or associate professors, Historically Black 
Colleges and Universities, Tribally Controlled Colleges, Hispanic 
serving institutions, community colleges, and other institutions of 
higher education with large numbers of minority students; institutions 
of higher education located in rural areas; and institutions and 
researchers located in States and regions of the United States which 
have historically received the least Federal support for educational 
research and development.
    Applicants are invited to propose projects that are designed to 
increase the participation in the activities of the institutes of the 
groups and institutions described in the previous paragraph.
    Evaluation and Selection of Fellows: According to the Council's 
1999 Program Announcement for the OERI Visiting Scholars Fellowship 
Program, qualifications of applications will be evaluated by panels of 
distinguished scholars selected by the Council. The evaluation of 
applications will be based on achievement, experience, and training as 
evidenced by the application materials submitted, and by the importance 
of the proposed work to the field of education and the goals of the 
OERI. Promising new talent is especially welcomed. Panelists will 
carefully consider the application, proposed project plan, letters of 
recommendation, and other supporting documentation. The quality of the 
proposed project and the appropriateness of the proposed study at the 
OERI will also be carefully reviewed. The final selection of fellows, 
based on the panelists' recommendations, will be made by the National 
Research Council. The Council will establish the specific procedures 
governing the panel review process in a 1999 ``Guide for Panelists'' 
after the number and composition of the applications have been 
determined.
    For Further Information or Applications Contact: Craig Gidney, The 
Fellowship Program, National Research Council, 2101 Constitution 
Avenue, Washington, DC 20418. Telephone: (202) 334-2872. The e-mail 
address for Mr. Gidney is: [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.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternative format, (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the contact person listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT. However, the Department is not able to reproduce 
in an alternative format the standard forms included in the application 
package.
Electronic Access to This Document
    You may view this document, as well as all other Department of 
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe 
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet 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 (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in the Washington, DC 
area, at (202) 512-1530.

    Note: 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 on GPO Access at: http://
www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6001 et seq. (OERI) and 36 U.S.C. 
253 (National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council).

    Dated: October 7, 1999.
C. Kent McGuire,
Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement.
[FR Doc. 99-26686 Filed 10-12-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P