[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 23, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7562-7563]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-1972]



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Part III





Department of Education





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Office of Educational Research and Improvement; Field-Initiated Studies 
(FIS) Education Research Grant Program; Notice Inviting Applications 
for Second Competition of New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2001; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 15 / Tuesday, January 23, 2001 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No.: 84.305T]


Office of Educational Research and Improvement; Field-Initiated 
Studies (FIS) Education Research Grant Program; Notice Inviting 
Applications for Second Competition of New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 
2001

    Purpose of Program: The Field-Initiated Studies (FIS) Education 
Research Grant Program awards grants to conduct education research in 
which topics and methods of study are generated by investigators.
    Eligible Applicants: Institutions of higher education; State and 
local education agencies; public and private organizations, 
institutions, and agencies; and individuals.
    Applications Available: February 9, 2001.
    Application packages will be available by mail and electronically 
on the World Wide Web at the following sites:

http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/FIS/
  www.ed.gov/GrantApps/

    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 3, 2001.
    Deadline for Receipt of Letters of Intent: March 5, 2001.

    Note: A Letter of Intent is optional, but encouraged, for each 
application. The Letter of Intent is for OERI planning purposes and 
will not be used in the evaluation of the application. Instructions 
for the Letter of Intent will be in the application package.

    Estimated Available Funds: Approximately $6 million for the second 
FY 2001 FIS cycle.
    Estimated Range of Awards: The size of the awards will be 
commensurate with the nature and scope of the work proposed. In the 
most recent FIS competition, the grant awards ranged from approximately 
$77,000 to about $660,000 (for 12 months).
    Budget Period: 12-month period.
    Project Period: 12 to 36 months.

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

    Page Limit: The application narrative may not exceed the equivalent 
of 20 double-spaced pages, with printing on only one side of 8\1/2\ x 
11-inch paper. Our reviewers will not read any pages of your 
application that--
     Exceed the page limit if you apply these standards; or
     Exceed the equivalent of the page limit if you apply other 
standards.
    Thus we will remove all pages in excess of the 20-page narrative 
maximum or its equivalent.

    Note: We have found that reviewers are able to conduct the 
highest quality review when applications are concise and easy to 
read. We strongly encourage applicants to use a 12-point or larger 
size font, one-inch margins at the top, bottom, and both sides, and 
pages numbered consecutively.

    Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 80, 81, 
82, 85, 86 (part 86 applies to IHEs only), 97, 98, and 99. (b) The 
regulations in 34 CFR part 700.
    Application Review Procedures: On September 22, 2000 we published 
in the Federal Register (65 FR 57326-57327) a Notice of Application 
Review Procedures for New Awards for FY 2001. That notice will apply to 
the awards to be made under this announcement.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FIS Education Research Grant Program is 
highly competitive. Strong applications for FIS grants clearly address 
each of the applicable selection criteria. They make a well-reasoned 
and compelling case for the national significance of the problems or 
issues that will be the subject of the proposed research, and present a 
research design that is complete, clearly delineated, and incorporates 
sound research methods. In addition, the personnel descriptions 
included in strong applications make it apparent that the project 
director, principal investigator, and other key personnel possess 
training and experience commensurate with their duties.
    The project period of the grant may be from one to three years. In 
the application, the project period should be divided into 12-month 
budget periods. Each 12-month budget should be clearly delineated and 
justified in terms of the proposed activities.
    Collaboration: We encourage collaboration in the conduct of 
research. For example, major research universities and institutions may 
collaborate with historically underrepresented institutions, such as 
Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving 
Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities.
    For Applications Contact: Education Publications Center (ED Pubs), 
P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Telephone (toll free): 1-877-433-
7827. FAX: (301) 470-1244. If you use a telecommunications device for 
the deaf (TDD), you may call (toll free): 1-877-576-7734.
    You may also contact ED Pubs at its web site:

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html

    Or you may contact ED Pubs at its E-mail address:

[email protected]

    If you request an application from ED Pubs, be sure to identify 
this competition as follows: CFDA Number 84.305T.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Payer, Field-Initiated 
Studies Education Research Grant Program, Office of Educational 
Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, 555 New Jersey 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20208-5645. Telephone: (202) 219-1310 or 
via Internet:

[email protected]

    Or you may contact Beth Fine, at the same program and address, but 
use the following zip code: 20208-5521. Telephone: (202) 219-1323 or 
via Internet:

[email protected]

    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 program contact persons listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    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 PDF, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available 
free at either of the previous sites. If you have questions 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. 6031(c)(2)(B).


[[Page 7563]]


    Dated: January 17, 2001.
C. Kent McGuire,
Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement.
[FR Doc. 01-1972 Filed 1-22-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P