[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 28 (Thursday, February 10, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6872-6873]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-3090]



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Part III





Department of Education





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Office of Elementary and Secondary Education--Advanceed Placement 
Incentive Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for 
Fiscal Year (FY) 2000; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 28 / Thursday, February 10, 2000 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No.: 84.330]


Office of Elementary and Secondary Education--Advanced Placement 
Incentive Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for 
Fiscal Year (FY) 2000

    Purpose of Program: The Advanced Placement Incentive Program 
provides grants to States, including consortia of States, to enable 
them to pay advanced placement test fees on behalf of eligible low-
income individuals, and to undertake activities designed to increase 
the participation of low-income students in advanced placement courses 
and tests. For FY 2000, we encourage applicants to design projects that 
meet the invitational priority in the PRIORITIES section of this 
application notice.
    Eligible Applicants: State educational agencies (SEAs) in any 
State, including the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana 
Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of 
Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: March 27, 2000.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: April 26, 2000.
    Applications Available: February 10, 2000.
    Estimated Available Funds: $15,000,000.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $50,000 to $1,200,000 per year.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $375,000 per year.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 40.

    Note: These estimates are projections for the guidance of 
potential applicants. The Department is not bound by any estimates 
in this notice.

    Project Period: Up to 36 months.

Allowable Activities

    States receiving grants under this program may use the grant funds 
to pay part or all of the cost of advanced placement test fees for low-
income individuals who (1) are enrolled in an advanced placement class; 
and (2) plan to take an advanced placement test. In addition, SEAs in 
States in which no eligible low-income individual is required to pay 
more than a nominal fee to take advanced placement tests in core 
subjects may use grant funds for activities directly related to 
increasing (a) the enrollment of low-income individuals in advanced 
placement courses; (b) the participation of low-income individuals in 
advanced placement tests; and (c) the availability of advanced 
placement courses in schools serving high-poverty areas (hereinafter 
referred to as ``section 810(d)(1) activities''). Examples of section 
810(d)(1) activities may include, but are not limited to, projects that 
provide student access to advanced placement courses online, and 
professional development institutes designed to prepare teachers to 
teach advanced placement courses. An SEA may apply for funds under this 
program both to assist it in meeting the requirement that no eligible 
low-income student in the State be required to pay more than a nominal 
fee to take advanced placement tests in core subjects and for section 
810(d)(1) activities.

Priorities

    (a) Absolute Priority. The Department is establishing an absolute 
priority for proposals to use grant funds to pay advanced placement 
test fees on behalf of eligible low-income individuals. We have chosen 
this priority from the allowable activities specified in the program 
statute (see 34 CFR 75.105(b)(2)(v) and section 810(a) of Title VIII, 
Part B of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 (20 U.S.C. 1070a-11, 
note)).
    To implement this priority, the Department intends to fund, at some 
level, all applications (1) meeting the minimum REQUIREMENTS FOR 
APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS described in the application package; and (2) 
proposing to use grant funds for the purpose of paying part or all of 
the cost of advanced placement test fees on behalf of eligible low-
income individuals in the State. For applications that propose to use 
grant funds to pay advanced placement test fees and to support section 
810(d)(1) activities, the section of the application proposing to use 
grant funds for section 810(d)(1) activities will be evaluated based on 
the SELECTION CRITERIA described in the application package (see 34 CFR 
75.105(c)(3)).
    (b) Invitational Priority. The Department is particularly 
interested in applications from consortia, or groups, of States to 
undertake section 810(d)(1) activities. The consortium may be comprised 
of SEAs from any combination of States. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1), the 
Department does not give an application that meets this invitational 
priority a competitive or absolute preference over applications that do 
not meet the invitational priority.

Allocation of Funds

    The Department intends to allocate approximately $4 million of the 
funds available under this program to States for the purpose of paying 
advanced placement test fees on behalf of eligible low-income 
individuals. The Department intends to allocate approximately $11 
million to States to support section 810(d)(1) activities. In 
determining grant award amounts, the Department will consider, among 
other things, the number of children in the State eligible to be 
counted under section 1124(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965, in relation to the number of such children in all States.

Selection Criteria

    The Secretary uses the selection criteria published in 34 CFR 
75.209 and 75.210 to evaluate the section of the application that 
proposes to use grant funds to support section 810(d)(1) activities. 
The application package includes the SELECTION CRITERIA and the points 
assigned to each criterion.

Applicable Regulations and Statute

    The Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) 
in 34 CFR Parts 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 85, 86, and 99. Title VIII, 
Part B of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 (1998 Amendments), 20 
U.S.C. 1070a-11, note.
    The following definitions and other provisions are taken from the 
Advanced Placement Incentive Program authorizing statute, in Title 
VIII, Part B of the 1998 Amendments. They are repeated in this 
application notice for the convenience of the applicant.

Definitions

    As used in this section:
    (a) The term advanced placement test includes only an advanced 
placement test approved by the Secretary of Education for the purposes 
of this program.

    Note: To date, the Secretary has approved advanced placement 
tests administered by The College Board and International 
Baccalaureate Organisation. As part of the grant application 
process, applicants may request approval of tests from other 
educational entities that provide comparable programs of rigorous 
academic courses and testing through which students may earn college 
credit.

    (b) The term low-income individual has the meaning given the term 
in section 402A(g)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) (20 
U.S.C. 1070a-11(g)(2)).

    Note: Under section 402A(g)(2) of the HEA, the term low-income 
individual means an

[[Page 6873]]

individual from a family whose taxable income for the preceding year 
did not exceed 150 percent of an amount equal to the poverty level 
determined by using criteria of poverty established by the Bureau of 
the Census (20 U.S.C. 1070a-11(g)(2)).

Information Dissemination

    The SEA shall disseminate information regarding the availability of 
test fee payments under this program to eligible individuals through 
secondary school teachers and guidance counselors (20 U.S.C. 1070a-11, 
note (b)).

Supplement, Not Supplant, Rule

    Funds provided under this program must be used to supplement and 
not supplant other non-Federal funds that are available to assist low-
income individuals in paying advanced placement test fees (20 U.S.C. 
1070a-11, note (d)(2)).
    For Applications or Information Contact: Frank B. Robinson, U.S. 
Department of Education, School Improvement Programs, 400 Maryland 
Avenue, SW., Room 3C153, Washington, DC 20202-6140. Telephone (202) 
260-2669. Internet address: [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.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) upon 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 an 
alternate 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 toll free at 1-888-293-6498; or in the Washington, DC area at 
(202) 512-1530.

    Note: The official version of a 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. 1070a-11, note.


    Dated: February 7, 2000.
Michael Cohen,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 00-3090 Filed 2-9-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P