[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 9 (Friday, January 12, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2893-2894]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-1054]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No.: 84.310A]


Parental Assistance Program

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Priority for Fiscal Year (FY) 2001.

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SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary proposes to give a competitive 
preference in the FY 2001 grant competition under the Parental 
Assistance Program (20 U.S.C. 5911 et seq.). The program provides 
grants to eligible non-profit organizations, and eligible non-profit 
organizations in consortia with local educational agencies (LEAs), to 
establish parental information and resource centers.
    Under this competitive preference, the Assistant Secretary would 
award up to 10 additional points to an applicant that would implement 
comprehensive strategies designed to strengthen school-family-community 
partnerships in order to help children in low-performing schools reach 
high academic standards.

DATES: We must receive your comments on the proposed priority or before 
February 12, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this proposed priority to Daisy 
Greenfield, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Room 3E307, 
Washington, DC 20202-6410, Telephone: (202) 401-0039, FAX: (202) 205-
0303. If you prefer to send your comments through the Internet, use the 
following address: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daisy Greenfield, (202) 401-0039. If 
you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you 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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Invitation To Comment

    Interested persons are invited to submit comments and 
recommendations regarding the proposed priority. All comments submitted 
in response to this notice will be available for public inspection, 
during and after the comment period, in Room 3E307, 400 Maryland 
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., 
Eastern Time, Monday through Friday of each week except Federal 
holidays.

Assistance to Individual With Disabilities in Reviewing the 
Rulemaking Record

    On request, the Department supplies an appropriate aid, such as a 
reader or print magnifier, to an individual with a

[[Page 2894]]

disability who needs assistance to review the comments. If you want to 
schedule an appointment for this type of aid, you may call (202) 205-
8113 or (202) 260-9895. If you use a TDD, you may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.

Background

    Research has shown that one of the keys to improving the 
achievement levels of children is increasing family and community 
involvement in children's education. Strong school-family-community 
partnerships include practices such as the following: (1) helping 
families establish home environments that support children's academic 
success; (2) improving communication among schools, families, and the 
community concerning all aspects of children's education; (3) 
encouraging effective volunteerism among families and community members 
to enhance classroom activities and school functions; (4) providing 
information to families on how to encourage their children's learning 
and to assist with curriculum-related activities; (5) including 
families in various aspects of school governance; and (6) facilitating 
cooperation and interaction among schools, families, and the community 
to achieve shared goals.
    Title IV of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, authorizes 
Parental Information and Resource Centers (PIRCs), which seek to 
increase parents' knowledge of and confidence in child-rearing 
activities as well as help to build and strengthen partnerships between 
parents and schools in meeting the educational needs of children. PIRCs 
are currently providing information, training and support services to 
parents and professionals who work with parents. They are also 
implementing strategies that foster more frequent and meaningful 
opportunities for parents and schools to work together; this work may 
include the full range of schools, e.g. elementary, secondary, low-
performing, gifted and talented, magnet, alternative, etc. One of the 
keys to improving the achievement levels of children in low-performing 
schools, particularly at-risk children, is implementing specific 
strategies to enhance the involvement and participation of parents in 
all aspects of their children's education. The Assistant Secretary 
proposes to give a competitive preference to applicants that would 
implement comprehensive strategies designed to enhance parental 
involvement in low-performing schools--in particular, in schools that 
have been identified as in need of improvement under Title I of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act. (These are schools that have 
been identified as not making continuous and sustained academic 
progress toward meeting state standards. These schools also tend to 
have high percentages of minority and high-poverty students and are 
frequently located in rural and urban areas). To receive this 
preference, an applicant must be a consortium that includes a non-
profit organization and one or more LEAs. The schools to be assisted by 
the grant must be low-performing schools identified as in need of 
improvement under Title I. The Assistant Secretary believes that 
consortia applications would be particularly effective in helping LEAs 
and low-performing schools build the capacity to enhance and sustain 
high-quality parental involvement programs. The Department currently 
does not fund any consortia grants under the Parental Assistant 
Program.
    The Assistant Secretary will announce final priorities for these 
competitions in a notice in the Federal Register. The final priorities 
will be determined by responses to this notice, available funds, and 
other considerations of the Department.

Competitive Preference

    Under 34 CFR 75.105 (c)(2)(i) and Title IV of the Goals 2000 
Educate America Act, the Assistant Secretary proposes a competitive 
preference in the FY 2001 competition under the Parental Assistance 
Program. To receive this preference, an applicant must--
    (1) Consist of a consortium that includes a non-profit organization 
and one or more LEAs with low-performing schools. The low-performing 
schools must be schools identified as in need of improvement under 
Section 1116(c) of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act.
    (2) Propose to implement comprehensive strategies designed to 
strengthen school-family-community partnerships in order to help 
children in the low-performing schools reach challenging academic 
standards. The applicant must clearly describe the role of the non-
profit organization and the LEA(s) in conducting these activities with 
the identified low-performing schools.
    (3) Provide documentation from the identified low-performing 
schools demonstrating that the schools will cooperate and coordinate 
with the applicant in implementing the proposed activities.
    An applicant that meets the competitive preference would receive up 
to 10 points in the competition. These points are in addition to any 
points the applicant earns under the selection criteria. The number of 
points awarded would be determined on the basis of how well the 
applicant addresses the competitive preference.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may review 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 PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free 
at either of the preceding sites. If you have question about using 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. 59911 et seq.

    Dated: January 8, 2001.
Michael Cohen,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education
[FR Doc. 01-1054 Filed 1-11-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-M