[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 3, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25816-25817]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-11014]



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Part III





Department of Education





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Office of Education Research and Improvement; Ready-To-Learn (RTL) 
Television Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for 
Fiscal Year (FY) 2000; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 86 / Wednesday, May 3, 2000 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.295A]


Office of Educational Research and Improvement; Ready-To-Learn 
(RTL) Television Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards 
for Fiscal Year (FY) 2000

    Purpose of Program: The Ready-To-Learn Television program supports 
the development of: (1) Educational programming for preschool and early 
elementary school children and their families; (2) educational 
television programming and ancillary materials to increase school 
readiness for young children in limited-English proficient households 
and to increase family literacy; and (3) accompanying support materials 
and services that promote the effective use of educational programming.
    For FY 2000 the competition for new awards focuses on projects 
designed to meet the priority we describe in the PRIORITY section of 
this application notice.
    Eligible Applicants: Non-profit organizations, including public 
telecommunication entities, able to demonstrate a capacity (1) To 
develop and distribute educational and instructional television 
programming of high quality for preschool and elementary school 
children; and (2) to contract with the producers of children's 
television programming for the purpose of developing educational 
television programming of high quality for preschool and elementary 
school children.
    Deadline for the Transmittal of Applications: June 5, 2000.
    Estimated Available Funds: $16 Million.
    Estimated Range of Awards: Up to $16 Million.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: Up to $16 Million.
    Estimated Number of Awards: One.

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

    Project Period: Up to 60 months.
    Page Limit: The application narrative (Part III of the application) 
is where you, the applicant, address the selection criteria reviewers 
use to evaluate your application. You must limit Part III to the 
equivalent of no more than 60 pages, using the following standards:
     A page is 8.5"  x  11", on one side only, with 1'' margins 
at the top, bottom, and both sides.
     Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch) 
all text in the application narrative, including titles, headings, 
footnotes, quotations, references, and captions, as well as all text in 
charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
     Use a font that is either 12-point or larger or no smaller 
than 10 pitch (characters per inch).
    The page limit does not apply to Part I, the cover sheet; Part II, 
the budget section, including the narrative budget justification; Part 
IV, the assurances and certifications; or the one-page abstract, the 
resumes, the bibliography, or the letters of support. However, you must 
include all of the application narrative in Part III.
    If, to meet the page limit, you use more than one side of the page, 
you use a larger page, or you use a print size, spacing, or margins 
smaller than the standards in this notice, we will reject your 
application.
    Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 80, 81, 
82, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.

Priority

Absolute Priority

    The Secretary gives an absolute preference to applications that 
meet the criteria in the next paragraph. The Secretary funds under this 
competition only an application that meets this absolute priority (34 
CFR 75.105(c)(3)).
    The Secretary will only fund an application that documents how the 
proposed project will--
    (1) Collaborate with Head Start Centers and family based child care 
organizations, public school pre-kindergarten programs, and Even Start 
Family Literacy Programs;
    (2) Work with after-school programs funded under the 21st Century 
Community Learning Centers; and
    (3) Work with early childhood literacy, language, and reading 
organizations.
    An application for funding under this program also must propose to:
    (1) Develop a minimum of two new children's television shows during 
the 5 year project, of which at least one will be designed to expand 
the language, literacy, and reading competencies of young children who 
do not use English as their primary language.
    (2) Use state-of-the-art technology to create new programming and 
materials especially targeted to families who: (a) Have limited 
literacy; (b) do not use English as their primary language; (c) have 
young children with disabilities; and (d) live in rural areas.
    (3) Establish a technical assistance center for the Ready-To-Learn 
coordinators and station representatives in order to provide on-going 
training, using state-of-the-art methods, including: on-line training, 
distance learning, and face-to-face education and professional 
development, with an emphasis on developing strategies and materials 
for reaching diverse populations of children and families.
    (4) Establish performance indicators to determine Ready-To-Learn's 
impact on children and families.
    (5) Establish performance indicators to measure the impact of 
training and education on Ready-To-Learn coordinators and station 
representatives, including improving their knowledge, skills, and 
competencies related to early childhood development and learning and 
parenting education.
    (6) Develop a management information system for collecting data 
from all participating Ready-to-Learn Television stations and establish 
criteria for measuring the effectiveness of local workshops.
    (7) Convene an annual conference for the Ready-to-Learn Television 
coordinators and station representatives, including community partners.
    (8) Establish a National Advisory Board for Ready-To-Learn 
Television.

Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking

    In accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, (5 U.S.C. 
553), it is the practice of the Department to offer interested parties 
the opportunity to comment on proposed priorities that are not taken 
directly from the statute. Ordinarily, this practice would have applied 
to the priority in this notice. Section 437(d)(1) of the General 
Education Provisions Act (GEPA), however, exempts rules that apply to 
the first competition under a new program from this requirement. The 
Ready-to-Learn Television program was first authorized by Congress as 
part of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994, Pub L. 103-382. 
This is the first competition to award a grant under this program. 
Consequently, the Secretary, in accordance with section 437(d)(1) of 
GEPA and to ensure a timely grant award, has decided to forego public 
comment with respect to the absolute priority. This priority will apply 
to the FY 2000 grant competition only.
    For Applications and Further Information Contact: Joe Caliguro, 
U.S. Department of Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW., room 604-I, 
Washington, DC 20202-5520. Telephone: (202) 219-1596. If you use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.

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    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the program contact person listed in the 
previous paragraph.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application 
package in an alternative format by contacting that person. 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, 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. 6921-6928.

    Dated: April 28, 2000.

C. Kent McGuire,
Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement.
[FR Doc. 00-11014 Filed 5-2-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U