[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 71 (Thursday, April 12, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18918-18919]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-9065]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA NO.: 84.314B]


Even Start Statewide Family Literacy Initiative Grants

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice inviting State applications for new awards for fiscal 
year (FY) 2001 funds for Even Start Statewide Family Literacy 
Initiative grants.

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    Purpose of Competition: Even Start Statewide Family Literacy 
Initiative grants are awarded under section 1202(c) of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to States for planning and 
implementing Statewide family literacy initiatives, consistent with the 
Even Start Family Literacy Program (Part B of Title I of the ESEA). The 
purpose of Even Start is to help break the cycle of poverty and 
illiteracy by improving the educational opportunities of the Nation's 
low-income families by integrating early childhood education, adult 
literacy or adult basic education, and parenting education into a 
unified family literacy program. These initiatives coordinate and, 
where appropriate, integrate existing Federal, State, and local 
literacy resources to strengthen and expand family literacy services in 
the State.
    Eligible Applicants: One State office or agency from each State, 
the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, provided that the applicant 
jurisdiction has not previously received an Even Start Statewide Family 
Literacy Initiative grant. (Section 1202(c)(1), ESEA.)
    Applications Available: April 12, 2001.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: June 11, 2001.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: August 10, 2001.
    Available Funds: $1,000,000.

    Note: The Secretary intends to reserve about $30,000 from these 
funds to provide technical assistance to the Even Start Statewide 
Family Literacy Initiative grantees.

    Matching and Use of Funds Requirements: A State receiving a grant 
for an Even Start Statewide Family Literacy Initiative must make 
available non-Federal contributions (cash or in-kind) in an amount at 
least equal to the Federal funds awarded under the grant. (Section 
1202(c)(5), ESEA.) These non-Federal contributions may be from State or 
local resources, or both. Grantees may not use these grant funds for 
indirect costs, either as a direct charge or as part of the matching 
requirement. (Section 1204(b)(3), ESEA.)
    Estimated Range of Awards: $75,000-$250,000 for each of two years.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $194,000 for 5 grants.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 3-5.

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

    Project Period: 24 months (comprised of two one-year grant award 
periods).
    Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 
82, 85, and 99.
    Application, Priorities, and Selection Criteria: The Department 
will use the application entitled, ``Notice inviting State applications 
for new awards for fiscal year (FY) 1999 funds for Even Start Statewide 
Family Literacy Initiative grants'' published in the Federal Register 
on February 24, 1999, at 64 FR 9229. However, none of the priorities 
announced in that application (absolute priority and invitational 
priorities) apply to the present competition. Applicants in this 
present competition are not required to address any of those 
priorities. The Department will use the selection criteria in that same 
notice (published in the Federal Register on February 24, 1999, at 64 
FR 9229) for the present competition.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: States must conduct Even Start Statewide 
family literacy initiative activities through a consortium that 
includes representatives from at least the following programs at the 
State level--
     Title I of the ESEA, Part A (LEA grants);
     Even Start (Title I, Part B);
     Migrant Education Program (Title I, Part C);
     Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program (Title 
I, Part E, Section 1502);
     Head Start;
     Adult Education and Family Literacy Act; and
    All other State-funded preschool programs and State-funded programs 
providing literacy services to adults.
    The State must include in its application a plan developed by the 
consortium to use a portion of the State's resources (monetary or non-
monetary, or both) from one or more of the programs required to be in 
this consortium, to strengthen and expand family literacy services in 
the State. (Section 1202(c)(2), ESEA.) The consortium also may include 
representatives from other Federal programs, such as programs for 
infants and toddlers with disabilities under Part C of the Individuals 
with Disabilities Act (IDEA), and programs for children with 
disabilities under Sections 611 and 619 of the IDEA.
    The initiative must coordinate and integrate resources and 
activities from, at least, the following programs: Part A of Title I of 
the ESEA (LEA grants); Even Start (Title I, Part B); the Adult 
Education and Family Literacy Act; Head Start; and the State's block 
grant under Part A of Title IV of the Social Security Act for Temporary 
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). (Section 1202(c)(1), ESEA.) The 
consortium also must coordinate its activities with the activities of 
the Reading Excellence Program (REP) reading and literacy partnership 
for the State established under section 2253(d) of the ESEA if the 
State educational agency receives a reading and literacy grant under 
the REP. (Section 1202(c)(2)(C), ESEA.) The consortium is encouraged to 
coordinate and integrate resources and appropriate activities from 
other programs as well,

[[Page 18919]]

such as programs for infants and toddlers with disabilities and 
children with disabilities under the IDEA.
    The initiative must base any activities relating to reading 
instruction, such as reading-related professional development or 
training activities for local Even Start family literacy program 
providers, on ``scientifically based reading research'' as that term is 
defined for the REP in Section 2252 of the ESEA. (Section 1202(c)(3), 
ESEA.) Under that definition, the term ``scientifically based reading 
research''--

    ``(A) means the application of rigorous, systematic, and 
objective procedures to obtain valid knowledge relevant to reading 
development, reading instruction, and reading difficulties; and
    (B) shall include research that--
    (i) employs systematic, empirical methods that draw on 
observation or experiment;
    (ii) involves rigorous data analyses that are adequate to test 
the stated hypotheses and justify the general conclusions drawn;
    (iii) relies on measurements or observational methods that 
provide valid data across evaluators and observers and across 
multiple measurements and observations; and
    (iv) has been accepted by a peer-reviewed journal or approved by 
a panel of independent experts through a comparably rigorous, 
objective, and scientific review.''

(Section 2252, ESEA.)

FOR APPLICATIONS AND FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tanielle Johnson, 
U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, DC 
20202-6132. Telephone: (202) 205-9588. or via Internet: 
[email protected]
    The application package also is available on the Department's Web 
site at: www.ed.gov/GrantApps/#84.314B.
    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 in the preceding 
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 the following site: 
www.ed.gov/legislation/fedregister.
    To use PDF, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available 
free at that site. 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. Section 6362(c).

    Dated: April 6, 2001.
Thomas M. Corwin,
Acting Deputy Assistant, Secretary for Elementary and Secondary 
Education.
[FR Doc. 01-9065 Filed 4-11-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U