[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 34 (Friday, February 20, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7913-7914]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-3738]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Overview 
Information; Enhanced Assessment Instruments; Notice Inviting 
Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2004

    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84-368.

DATES: Applications Available: February 20, 2004.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 5, 2004.
    Eligible Applicants: State Educational Agencies; Consortia of State 
Educational Agencies.
    Estimated Available Funds: $4,484,000 in FY 2003 funds.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $100,000 to $2,000,000.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $500,000.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 6.

    Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this 
notice. In no case will an award be made for less than the amount 
specified in section 6113(2)(A)(ii) of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA) 20 U.S.C. 7301b(b)(2).

    Project period: Up to 20 months.
    Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    Purpose of Program: To enhance the quality of assessment 
instruments and systems used by States for measuring the achievement of 
all students.
    Priorities: These priorities are from Appendix E to the notice of 
final requirements for this program, published in the Federal Register 
on May 22, 2002 (67 FR 35967, 35979).
    Competitive Preference Priorities: For FY 2004, these priorities 
are competitive preference priorities. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i) we 
will award up to an additional 35 points to an application, depending 
on the extent to which the application meets these priorities.
    These priorities are: accommodations and alternate assessments (up 
to 15 points), collaborative efforts (up to 10 points), and 
dissemination beyond the original grantee or grant collaborative (up to 
10 points).

    Note: The full text of these priorities is included in the 
application package.

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7842 and 20 U.S.C. 7301a.
    Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 75, 77, 80, 81, 82, 
84, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.

II. Award Information

    Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
    Estimated Available Funds: $4,484,000 in FY 2003 funds.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $100,000 to $2,000,000.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $500,000.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 6.

    Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this 
notice. In no case will an award be made for less than the amount 
specified in section 6113(2)(A)(ii) of the ESEA, 20 U.S.C. 
7301b(b)(2).

    Project period: Up to 20 months.

III. Eligibility Information

    1. Eligible Applicants: State Educational Agencies; Consortia of 
State Educational Agencies.
    2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This competition does not involve cost 
sharing or matching.
    3. Other: An application from a consortium of State Educational 
Agencies must designate one State Educational Agency as the fiscal 
agent.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    1. Address to Request Application Package: Jacqueline Jackson, 
Student Achievement and School Accountability Program, U.S. Department 
of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3W226, Washington, DC 
20202-6132. Telephone: 202-260-0826 or by e-mail: 
[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 a copy of the application 
package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, 
audiotape, or computer diskette) by contacting the program contact 
person listed in this section. However, the Department is not able to 
reproduce in an alternative format the standard forms included in the 
application package.
    2. Content and Form of Application Submission:
    Section 6112(a) of ESEA (20 U.S.C. 7301a(a)) requires that all 
funded applications demonstrate that States (or consortia of States) 
will--
    a. Collaborate with institutions of higher education, other 
research institutions, or other organizations to improve the quality, 
validity, and reliability of State academic assessments beyond the 
requirements for the assessments described in section 1111(b)(3) of the 
ESEA;
    b. Measure student academic achievement using multiple measures of 
student academic achievement from multiple sources;
    c. Chart student progress over time; or
    d. Evaluate student academic achievement through the development of 
comprehensive academic assessment instruments, such as performance and 
technology-based academic assessments.
    Other requirements concerning the content of an application, 
together with the forms you must submit, are in the application package 
for this competition.
    Page Limit: The application narrative (Part III of the application) 
is where you, the applicant, address the selection criteria that 
reviewers use to evaluate your application. You must limit Part III to 
the equivalent of no more than 40 pages, using the following standards:
     A ``page'' is 8.5 x 11, on 
one side only with 1 margins at the top, bottom, and both 
sides.
     Double space (no more than 3 lines per vertical 
inch) all text and use a font

[[Page 7914]]

no smaller than 10 point for all text in the application narrative, 
including titles, headings, footnotes, quotations, and captions as well 
as all text in charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
     Your cover sheet, budget section (chart and 
narrative), assurances and certifications, response regarding research 
activities involving human subjects, GEPA 427 response, one-page 
abstract, personnel resumes, and letters of support are not included in 
the page limit; however, discussion of how well the application meets 
the competitive preference priorities and how well the application 
addresses each of the selection criteria must be included within the 
page limit.
    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.
    3. Submission Dates and Times:
    Applications Available: February 20, 2004.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 5, 2004.
    The dates and times for the transmittal of applications by mail or 
by hand (including a courier service or commercial carrier) are in the 
application package for this competition.
    We do not consider an application that does not comply with the 
deadline requirements.
    4. Intergovernmental Review: This competition is not subject to 
Executive Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79.
    5. Funding Restrictions: We reference regulations outlining funding 
restrictions in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice.
    6. Other Submission Requirements: Instructions and requirements for 
the transmittal of applications by mail or by hand (including a courier 
service or commercial carrier) are in the application package for this 
competition.

V. Application Review Information

    1. Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this competition 
are in the application package and were published in Appendix E to the 
Notice of Final Requirements published in the Federal Register on May 
22, 2002 (67 FR 35967, 35979).

VI. Award Administration Information

    1. Award Notices: If your application is successful, we notify your 
U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators and send you a Grant Award Notice 
(GAN). We may also notify you informally.
    If your application is not evaluated or not selected for funding, 
we notify you.
    2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: We identify 
administrative and national policy requirements in the application 
package and reference these and other requirements in the Applicable 
Regulations section of this notice.
    We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of 
an award in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice and 
include these and other specific conditions in the GAN. The GAN also 
incorporates your approved application as part of your binding 
commitments under the grant.
    3. Reporting: At the end of your project period, you must submit a 
final performance report, including financial information as directed 
by the Secretary. If you receive a multi-year award, you must submit an 
annual performance report that provides the most current performance 
and financial expenditure information as specified by the Secretary in 
34 CFR 75.118.
    4. Performance Measures: Under the Government Performance and 
Results Act (GPRA), one measure has been developed for evaluating the 
overall effectiveness of the Enhanced Assessment Instruments program: 
The number of state assessment programs impacted in the first year of 
adoption of products or services developed under this grant award.
    All grantees will be expected to submit an annual performance 
report documenting their success in addressing this performance 
measure.

VII. Agency Contact

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sue Rigney, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3C139, Washington, DC 20202-
6132. Telephone: (202)260-0931, or by e-mail [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 person listed in this 
section.

VIII. Other Information

    Electronic Access to This Document: You may view this document, as 
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal 
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the 
Internet at the following site: www.ed.gov/news/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 www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


    Dated: February 17, 2004.
Raymond Simon,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 04-3738 Filed 2-19-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P