[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 154 (Friday, August 9, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52374-52375]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-20255]



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Part VIII





Department of Education





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Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; Special 
Education--Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services 
and Results for Children With Disabilities; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 154 / Friday, August 9, 2002 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No.: 84.326B]


Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; Special 
Education--Technical Assistance and Dissemination To Improve Services 
and Results for Children With Disabilities

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year 
(FY) 2002.

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SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and 
Rehabilitative Services invites applications for FY 2002 under the 
Special Education--Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve 
Services and Results for Children with Disabilities. This program is 
authorized by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 
as amended. This notice provides closing dates, a priority, and other 
information regarding the transmittal of applications.

Waiver of Rulemaking

    It is generally our practice to offer interested parties the 
opportunity to comment on proposed priorities. However, section 
661(e)(2) of IDEA makes the rulemaking procedures in the Administrative 
Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553) inapplicable to the priority in this 
notice.

General Requirements

    (a) The project funded under this notice must make positive efforts 
to employ and advance in employment qualified individuals with 
disabilities in project activities (see section 606 of IDEA).
    (b) Applicants and grant recipients funded under this notice must 
involve individuals with disabilities or parents of individuals with 
disabilities in planning, implementing, and evaluating the projects 
(see section 661(f)(1)(A) of IDEA).
    (c) The project funded under this priority must budget for a two-
day Project Directors' meeting in Washington, DC during each year of 
the project.
    (d) If the project maintains a Web site, it must include relevant 
information and documents in an accessible form.
    Purpose of Program: The purpose of this program is to provide 
technical assistance and information--through such mechanisms as 
institutes, regional resource centers, clearinghouses, and programs 
that support States and local entities in building capacity--to (1) 
improve early intervention, educational, and transitional services and 
results for children with disabilities and their families; and (2) 
address systemic-change goals and priorities.
    Eligible Applicants: State educational agencies, local educational 
agencies, institutions of higher education, other public agencies, 
nonprofit private organizations, for-profit organizations, outlying 
areas, freely associated States, and Indian tribes or tribal 
organizations.
    Applications Available: August 9, 2002.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: September 9, 2002.
    Intergovernmental Review: This program is subject to the 
requirements of Executive Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR 
part 79. One of the objectives of the Executive order is to foster an 
intergovernmental partnership and a strengthened federalism. The 
Executive Order relies on processes developed by State and local 
governments for coordination and review of proposed Federal financial 
assistance.
    This document provides early notification of our specific plans and 
actions for this program.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: September 19, 2002.
    Estimated Available Funds: $700,000.
    Maximum Awards: $700,000.
    Estimated Number of Awards: Under this priority, the Secretary will 
make one award for a cooperative agreement.

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

    Project Period: The project funded in this notice is for a project 
period of up to 60 months.
    Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 
81, 82, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99; and (b) The selection criteria, chosen 
from the general selection criteria in 34 CFR 75.210. The specific 
selection criteria for this priority are included in the application 
package for the competition.

    Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to institutions of 
higher education only.

    Priority: Under sections 661(e) and 685 of IDEA and 34 CFR 
75.105(c)(3), we give an absolute preference to applications that meet 
the following priority. We will fund under this competition only those 
applications that meet this priority:

Absolute Priority--Urban Inclusion Technical Assistance Center 
(84.326B)

    Background: Compared with suburban and rural local educational 
agencies (LEAs), urban LEAs place disproportionately more children with 
disabilities, particularly children with severe disabilities, in 
segregated classrooms or in separate schools, where they are less 
likely to have access to and instruction in the general education 
curriculum. In urban LEAs, special education services are often not 
aligned with or part of comprehensive school improvement efforts 
because special education is viewed as a separate system or a 
placement.
    In addition, in many schools special education is seen as the only 
viable option to provide support to students who are falling behind. In 
these cases, children who could benefit substantially from 
scientifically-based interventions in such areas as reading are 
unnecessarily referred to special education.
    Priority: The purpose of this priority is to support a center to 
promote placing children with disabilities in general education 
classrooms by assisting urban schools and LEAs to implement practices 
that have been shown to be effective in providing expanded access to, 
and improving results in, the general education classroom. In 
conducting its activities, the Center must put particular emphasis on 
education in the general education curriculum.
    The Center funded under this priority must do the following:
    (a) Identify effective practices for promoting inclusive placement 
in general education classrooms. These practices must include both 
effective practices in educating children, including early 
identification of children with learning difficulties and pre-referral 
intervention strategies, and effective practices in assisting and 
encouraging schools and LEAs to adopt those practices. The Center must 
identify these practices through such means as the Department's ``What 
Works'' clearinghouse, and planned OSERS centers targeted on (1) 
disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically 
diverse students in special education and (2) improving access to and 
participation in the general education curriculum for children in 
elementary and secondary schools.
    (b) Conduct a range of activities using the practices identified in 
paragraph (a) that promote instruction and support services in general 
education classrooms. These activities must include:
    (1) General dissemination activities such as maintenance of a 
website and presentations at conferences that provide information on 
effective practices to broad audiences; and
    (2) Creating partnerships with a limited number of LEAs that have

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demonstrated the ability and willingness to adopt new practices to help 
them design, implement, and evaluate practices that will expand or 
improve education in inclusive general education classroom for students 
with disabilities, including students with severe disabilities. Through 
these partnerships, the Center must provide technical assistance, 
training, and other support to the LEAs.
    (c) In promoting access and participation in general education 
classrooms, the Center must:
    (1) Take advantage of new tools for improving results for students 
provided by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2002. These include:
    (A) School accountability for all students including, specifically, 
students with disabilities;
    (B) Curricula and accountability systems aligned with statewide 
accountability systems; and
    (C) State academic achievement standards that address, at a 
minimum, reading and mathematics; and
    (2) Address the need for on-going, high quality professional 
development to ensure that personnel have skills and knowledge based on 
the most current findings related to effective practice; and
    (3) Include ways that families, communities, and schools can work 
together to improve results.
    (d) Evaluate its activities based on clear, measurable goals that 
are clearly linked to results.
    Fourth and Fifth Years of Project: In deciding whether to continue 
this project for the fourth and fifth years, the Secretary will 
consider the requirements of 34 CFR 75.253(a) for continuation awards.
    The Secretary will also consider the following:
    (a) The recommendation of a review team consisting of experts 
selected by the Secretary. The team will conduct its review in 
Washington, DC during the last half of the project's second year. A 
project must budget for the travel associated with this one-day 
intensive review.
    (b) The timeliness and effectiveness with which all requirements of 
the negotiated cooperative agreement have been or are being met by the 
project.
    (c) Evidence of the degree to which the project's activities have 
contributed to changed practice and improved student outcomes.
    Page Limit: Part III of each application submitted under this 
notice, the application narrative, is where an applicant addresses the 
selection criteria that are used by reviewers in evaluating the 
application. You must limit Part III to the equivalent of no more than 
70 pages, using the following standards:
     A ``page'' is 8.5" x 11" (on one side only) with one-inch 
margins (top, bottom, and sides).
     Double-space (no more than three lines per vertical inch) 
all text in the application narrative, including titles, headings, 
footnotes, quotations, 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 references, or the letters of support. 
However, you must include all of the application narrative in Part III.
    We will reject without consideration or evaluation any application 
if --
     You apply these standards and exceed the page limit; or
     You apply other standards and exceed the equivalent of the 
page limit.
    For Applications Contact: Education Publications Center (ED Pubs), 
PO Box 1398, Jessup, Maryland 20794-1398. Telephone (toll free): 1-877-
4ED-Pubs (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 No. 84.326B.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Grants and Contracts Services Team, 
U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3317, 
Switzer Building, Washington, DC 20202-2550. Telephone: (202) 205-8207.
    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 Grants and Contracts Services Team under 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    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 this 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/nara/index.html.


    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1485.

    Dated: August 6, 2002.
Loretta Petty Chittum,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative 
Services.
[FR Doc. 02-20255 Filed 8-8-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P