[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 142 (Thursday, July 24, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43717-43719]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-18871]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No.: 84.299A]


Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Indian 
Education Demonstration Grants for Indian Children, Notice Inviting 
Applications for New Discretionary Program Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 
2003

    Purpose of Program: The purpose of the Demonstration Grants program 
is to provide financial assistance to projects to develop, test, and 
demonstrate the effectiveness of services and programs to improve the 
educational opportunities and achievement of preschool, elementary, and 
secondary students. For FY 2003 the competition for new awards focuses 
on projects designed to meet the priorities we describe in the 
Priorities section of this application notice.
    Eligible Applicants: Eligible applicants for this program are: 
State educational agencies (SEAs); local educational agencies (LEAs); 
Indian tribes; Indian organizations; federally supported elementary or 
secondary schools for Indian students; Indian institutions, including 
Indian institutions of higher education; or a consortium of such 
institutions that meet the requirements of 34 CFR 75.127 through 
75.129. An application from a consortium of eligible entities must meet 
the requirements of 34 CFR 75.127 through 75.129. The consortium 
agreement, signed by all parties, must be submitted with the 
application in order to be considered as a consortium application.

    Note: Letters of support do not meet the consortium 
requirements. The Secretary rejects any application that does not 
meet these requirements.

    Applications Available: July 24, 2003.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: August 25, 2003.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: September 9, 2003.
    Estimated Available Funds: $2,484,000.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $150,000 to $400,000.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $310,500.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 8.

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

    Project Period: Up to 36 months.
    Budget Requirement: Projects funded under this competition must 
budget for a one and one-half day Project Directors' meeting in 
Washington, DC during each year of the project.
    Maximum Annual Award Amount: In no case does the Secretary make an 
award greater than $400,000 during any single budget period in the 
award period. The Secretary rejects any application that proposes a 
budget exceeding this maximum amount.
    Page Limit: The application narrative is where an applicant 
addresses the selection criteria that are used by reviewers in 
evaluating the application. An applicant must limit the narrative to 
the equivalent of no more than 50 double-spaced pages, using the 
following standards:
    (1) A ``page'' is 8\1/2\'' x 11'' (one side only) with one-inch 
margins (top, bottom and sides).
    (2) All text in the application narrative, including titles, 
headings, footnotes, quotations, references, and captions, as well as 
all text in charts, tables, figures, and graphs, must be double-spaced 
(no more than three lines per vertical inch).
    (3) For all text (including charts, tables, 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 the cover sheet; the assurances 
and certifications; or the one-page abstract, appendices, resumes, 
bibliography, and letters of support. However, all of the application 
narrative addressing the selection criteria must be included in the 
narrative section.
    Reviewers will not read any pages of applications that--
    [sbull] Exceed the page limit if you apply these standards; or
    [sbull] Exceed the equivalent of the page limit if you apply other 
standards.
    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) 34 CFR part 263.

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

Priorities

Absolute Priority

    Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), the Secretary gives an absolute 
preference to applications that meet the priority selected. The program 
regulations at 34 CFR 263.21(c) identify the absolute priorities for 
the Demonstration Grants for Indian Children program that may be 
selected by the Secretary. For the FY 2003 grant competition, the 
Secretary reserves all of the funds available for new awards under the 
Demonstration Grants for Indian Children program to fund only those 
applications that meet one or more of the following absolute priorities 
found at 34 CFR 263.21(c)(1) and (3):
    (1) School readiness projects that provide age appropriate 
educational programs and language skills to three- and four-year old 
Indian students to prepare them for successful entry into school at the 
kindergarten school level.
    (3) College preparatory programs for secondary school students 
designed to increase competency and skills in challenging subject 
matters, including math and science, to enable Indian students to 
successfully transition to postsecondary education.

Competitive Preference

    (1) In making multiyear grants under this program, the Secretary 
will award five (5) additional points to an application that presents a 
plan for combining two or more of the activities described in section 
7121(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended, over 
a period of more than one year.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7441(d)(1)(B).)

    (2) In making grants under this program, the Secretary will award 
five (5) additional points to an application submitted by an Indian 
tribe, Indian

[[Page 43718]]

organization, or Indian institution of higher education, including a 
consortium of any of these entities with other eligible entities. An 
application from a consortium of eligible entities that meet the 
requirements of 34 CFR 75.127 through 75.129 and includes an Indian 
tribe, Indian organization, or Indian institution of higher education 
will be considered eligible to receive the five (5) additional priority 
points. The consortium agreement, signed by all parties, must be 
submitted with the application in order to be considered a consortium 
application.

    Note: Letters of support do not meet the consortium 
requirements. The Secretary rejects any application that does not 
meet these requirements.

    These competitive preference points are in addition to the five 
competitive preference points that may be given under Competitive 
Preference 1.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7473.)

Selection Criteria

    The selection criteria are included in full in the application 
package for this competition. These selection criteria were established 
based on the regulations for evaluating discretionary grants found in 
34 CFR 75.200 through 75.209. Under the selection criteria ``Quality of 
project services'' and ``Quality of the project evaluation,'' the 
Secretary considers the extent to which the applicant demonstrates a 
strong capacity to provide reliable data on these indicators.
    Performance Measures: The Secretary has established the following 
key performance measures for assessing the effectiveness of the 
Demonstration Grants for Indian Children program: (1) Increasing 
percentages of pre-school American Indian and Alaska Native students 
who will possess school readiness skills gained through a 
scientifically based research based curriculum that prepares them for 
kindergarten; and (2) The percentage of American Indian and Alaska 
Native high school graduates who increase their competency and skills 
in challenging subject matter, including math and science, to enable 
successful transition to postsecondary education will increase.

Application Procedures

    Note: Some of the procedures in these instructions for 
transmitting applications differ from those in EDGAR (34 CFR 
75.102). Under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553) the 
Department generally offers interested parties the opportunity to 
comment on proposed regulations. However, these amendments make 
procedural changes only and do not establish new substantive policy. 
Therefore, under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A), the Secretary has determined 
that proposed rulemaking is not required.

Pilot Project for Electronic Submission of Applications

    In FY 2003, the U.S. Department of Education is continuing to 
expand its pilot project of electronic submission of applications to 
include additional formula grant programs and additional discretionary 
grant competitions. The Demonstration Grants for Indian Children 
program, CFDA 84.299A, is one of the programs included in the pilot 
project. If you are an applicant under the Demonstration Grants for 
Indian Children program, you may submit your application to us in 
either electronic or paper format.
    The pilot project involves the use of the Electronic Grant 
Application System (e-Application) portion of the Grant Administration 
and Payment System (GAPS). Users of e-Application will be entering data 
on-line while completing their applications. You may not e-mail a soft 
copy of a grant application to us. If you participate in this voluntary 
pilot project by submitting an application electronically, the data you 
enter on-line will be saved into a database. We request your 
participation in e-Application. We shall continue to evaluate its 
success and solicit suggestions for improvement.
    If you participate in e-APPLICATION, please note the following:
    [sbull] Your participation is voluntary.
    [sbull] You will not receive any additional point value or penalty 
because you submit a grant application in electronic format, nor will 
we penalize you if you submit an application in paper format. When you 
enter the e-Application system, you will find information about its 
hours of operation.
    [sbull] You may submit all documents electronically, including the 
Application for Federal Assistance (ED 424), Budget Information--Non-
Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and 
certifications.
    [sbull] After you electronically submit your application, you will 
receive an automatic acknowledgement, which will include a PR/Award 
number (an identifying number unique to your application).
    [sbull] Within three working days after submitting your electronic 
application, fax a signed copy of the Application for Federal 
Assistance (ED 424) to the Application Control Center after following 
these steps:
    (1) Print the ED 424 form from the e-Application system.
    (2) The institution's Authorizing Representative must sign this 
form.
    (3) Place the PR/Award number in the upper right hand corner of the 
hard copy signature page of the ED 424.
    (4) Fax the signed ED 424 to the Application Control Center at 
(202) 260-1349.
    [sbull] We may request that you give us original signatures on all 
other forms at a later date.
    [sbull] Closing Date Extension in Case of System Unavailability:
    If you elect to participate in the e-Application pilot for the 
Demonstration Grants for Indian Children program and you are prevented 
from submitting your application on the closing date because the e-
Application system is unavailable, we will grant you an extension of 
one business day in order to transmit your application electronically, 
by mail, or by hand delivery. For us to grant this extension--
    (1) You must be a registered user of e-Application, and have 
initiated an e-Application for this competition; and
    (2)(a) The e-Application system must be unavailable for 60 minutes 
or more between the hours of 8:30 and 3:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, 
on the deadline date; or
    (b) The e-Application system must be unavailable for any period of 
time during the last hour of operation (that is, for any period of time 
between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time) on the deadline date.
    The Department must acknowledge and confirm these periods of 
unavailability before granting you an extension. To request an 
extension you must contact either (1) the person listed elsewhere in 
this notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT or (2) the e-GRANTS 
help desk at 1-888-336-8930.
    You may access the electronic grant application for the 
Demonstration Grants for Indian Children program at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.
    We have included additional information about the e-Application 
pilot project (see Parity Guidelines between Paper and Electronic 
Applications) in the application package.
    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 telecommunication device for the 
deaf (TDD), you may call (toll free): 1-877-576-7734. You may also 
contact ED Pubs via its Web site (http://www.ed.gov/edpubs.html) or its 
E-mail address ([email protected]). If you request an application from 
ED Pubs, be

[[Page 43719]]

sure to identify this competition as follows: CFDA number 84.299A.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternative format by contacting the Grants and Contracts Services 
Team, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 
3317, Switzer Building, Washington, DC 20202-2550. Telephone: (202) 
205-8351. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf 
(TDD), may call the Federal Information Relay Services (FIRS) at 1-800-
877-8339. However, the Department is not able to reproduce in an 
alternative format the standard forms included in the application 
package.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cathie Martin, Office of Indian 
Education, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 
3W115, Washington, DC 20202-6335. Telephone: (202) 260-1683. Internet 
address: [email protected].
    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.

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.
    You may also view this document at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/oie/index.html.

    Note: The official version of this document is 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. 7441.

    Dated: July 21, 2003.
Eugene Hickok,
Under Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 03-18871 Filed 7-23-03; 8:45 am]
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