[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 3 (Monday, January 6, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 547-548]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-159]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA NO: 84.349A]


Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program

AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of 
Education.

ACTION: Notice of proposed achievement indicators.

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SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary for the Office of Elementary and 
Secondary Education announces proposed achievement indicators for the 
Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program (ECEPD), for 
fiscal year (FY) 2003 and future year grants.
    This professional development program is authorized by section 
2151(e) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as added 
by the No Child Left Behind Act 2001, Public Law 107-110. The ECEPD 
program is a discretionary grant program under which funded projects 
provide high-quality, sustained, and intensive professional development 
to improve the knowledge and skills of early childhood educators who 
work in high-poverty communities, particularly with disadvantaged young 
children. The purpose of the professional development is to enhance the 
school readiness of young children to prevent them from encountering 
difficulties once they enter school, based on the best available 
research on early childhood pedagogy and on child development and 
learning. These grants are part of the President's early childhood 
initiative, Good Start, Grow Smart, and complement the Department of 
Education's early learning programs, such as Early Reading First, by 
helping States and local communities strengthen early learning for 
young children.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before February 5, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about these proposed achievement 
indicators to Patricia McKee, U.S. Department of Education, 400 
Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3W106 FB-6, Washington, DC 20202-2645. If 
you prefer to send your comments through the Internet, use the 
following address: [email protected].
    You must include the term ``Comments on Early Childhood Educator 
Professional Development'' in the subject line of your electronic 
message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia McKee. Telephone (202) 260-
0991 or via Internet: [email protected]. Or Melanie Kadlic, U.S. 
Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, 
U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3C138, FB-
6, Washington, DC 20202-2645. Telephone (202) 260-3793 or via Internet: 
[email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may 
call the TDD number at (202) 205-4475.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, or computer diskette) 
on request to one of the contact persons listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Invitation to Comment

    We invite you to submit comments about these proposed achievement 
indicators. To ensure that your comments have maximum effect in 
developing the notice of final indicators, we urge you to be specific 
about any recommended changes. We are particularly interested in 
receiving comments on whether the proposed indicators are sufficiently 
specific and clear.
    During and after the comment period (until publication of the final 
achievement indicators), you may inspect all public comments about 
these proposed achievement indicators in room 3W100 FB-6, 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. To obtain access to the building and room, please contact in 
advance one of the contact persons listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.

Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Rulemaking 
Record

    On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or 
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs 
assistance to review the comments or other documents in the public 
rulemaking record for this proposed priority. If you want to schedule 
an appointment for this type of aid, please contact one of the 
individuals listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    We will announce the final achievement indicators in a notice in 
the Federal Register. We will determine those final indicators after 
considering responses to this notice and other information available to 
the Department. This notice does not preclude us from proposing 
additional indicators in the future, subject to meeting applicable 
rulemaking requirements.

    Note: This notice does not solicit applications. In any year in 
which we choose to use these proposed achievement indicators, we 
will invite applications through a notice in the Federal Register.

    Background: The ECEPD program provides funds for projects that 
carry out activities to improve the knowledge and skills of early 
childhood educators working in programs that are located in high-need 
communities and particularly serve disadvantaged young children. These 
programs are based upon the best available research on early childhood 
pedagogy and on child development and learning, including early 
language and literacy development. The grants serve an important 
purpose because high-quality, intensive, research-based professional 
development is critical for implementing effective early childhood 
programs that enhance the school readiness of young children.
    ECEPD grants are made to partnerships of: providers of professional 
development for early childhood educators; State or local public 
agencies or private organizations; and if feasible, a provider 
experienced in training early childhood educators to identify and 
prevent behavior problems or work with children identified as or 
suspected to be victims of abuse.
    Section 2151(e)(6) of the ESEA requires the Secretary to announce 
achievement indicators for the ECEPD program. These achievement 
indicators must be designed: (1) To measure the quality and 
accessibility of the professional development provided; (2) to measure 
the impact of that professional development on the early childhood 
education provided by the individuals who receive the professional 
development; and (3) to provide any other measures of program impact 
that the Secretary determines to be appropriate. The statute requires 
each partnership receiving an ECEPD grant to report annually to the 
Secretary on the partnership's progress toward attaining these 
achievement indicators. In addition, the statute provides that the 
Secretary may terminate an ECEPD grant if the Secretary determines that 
the partnership receiving the grant is not making satisfactory progress 
toward attaining the achievement indicators.
    The Secretary may use these achievement indicators for the ECEPD 
grant competition for FY 2003 and

[[Page 548]]

future years. The achievement indicators proposed in this notice are 
the same as the achievement indicators that the Secretary announced in 
the Federal Register and used for the FY 2002 ECEPD grant competition 
(67 FR 37406, May 29, 2002).
    Achievement Indicators: The Secretary announces the following 
proposed achievement indicators for the ECEPD program, as required by 
section 2151(e)(6) of the ESEA:
    Indicator 1: Increasing numbers of hours of high quality 
professional development will be offered. High-quality professional 
development must be ongoing, intensive, classroom-focused, and based on 
scientific research on cognitive and social development in early 
childhood and effective pedagogy for young children.
    Indicator 2: Early childhood educators who work in early childhood 
programs serving low-income children will participate in greater 
numbers, and in increasing numbers of hours, in high-quality 
professional development.
    Indicator 3: Early childhood educators will demonstrate increased 
knowledge and understanding of effective strategies to support school 
readiness based on scientific research on cognitive and social 
development in early childhood and effective pedagogy for young 
children.
    Indicator 4: Early childhood educators will more frequently apply 
research-based approaches in early childhood pedagogy and child 
development and learning domains, including using a content-rich 
curriculum and activities that promote language and cognitive 
development.
    Indicator 5: Children will demonstrate improved readiness for 
school, especially in the areas of appropriate social and emotional 
behavior and early language and literacy competencies.

Intergovernmental Review

    This program is subject to 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 proposed 
achievement indicators for this program.

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 the following site: 
http://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.gov/nara/index.html.


(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.349A, Early 
Childhood Educator Professional Development Program)

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6651(e).

    Dated: December 30, 2002.
Susan B. Neuman,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 03-159 Filed 1-3-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P