[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 10, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11396-11400]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-5389]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; Overview 
Information; Technical Assistance and Dissemination To Improve Services 
and Results for Children With Disabilities--Regional Resource Centers; 
Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2004

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.326R.

DATES: Applications Available: March 11, 2004.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 26, 2004.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: June 25, 2004.
    Eligible Applicants: State educational agencies (SEAs), local 
educational agencies (LEAs), institutions of higher education (IHEs), 
other public agencies, nonprofit private organizations, for-profit 
organizations, outlying areas, freely associated States, and Indian 
tribes or tribal organizations.
    Estimated Available Funds: $7,800,000.
    Maximum Award: We will reject any application that proposes a 
budget exceeding $1,300,000 for a single budget period of 12 months. 
The Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and 
Rehabilitative Services may change the maximum amount through a notice 
published in the Federal Register.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 6.

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

    Project Period: Up to 60 months.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    Purpose of Program: This program provides technical assistance and 
information that (1) support States and local entities in building 
capacity to improve early intervention, educational, and transitional 
services and results for children with disabilities and their families; 
and (2) address goals and priorities for changing State systems that 
provide early intervention, educational, and transitional services for 
children with disabilities and their families.
    Priority: In accordance with 34 CFR 75.105(b)(2)(iv), this priority 
is from allowable activities specified in the statute (see sections 
661(e)(2) and 685 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 
(IDEA)).
    Absolute Priority: For FY 2004 this priority is an absolute 
priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), we consider only applications that 
meet this priority.
    Background: Since 1969, the Office of Special Education Programs 
(OSEP) has supported Regional Resource Centers (RRCs) to provide 
technical assistance and support to SEAs and more recently to Part C 
Lead Agencies (LA). Although SEAs and LAs are the RRC's primary 
customers, RRCs may provide technical assistance to local agencies and 
LEAs at the request of the SEA or LA. Activities have included staff 
training, policy analysis, product development, information 
dissemination, needs assessments, improvement planning, and supporting 
and facilitating State systems change efforts.
    Over the years, the relationship between the RRCs and the States 
has evolved from RRCs passively responding to State-identified needs, 
in isolation from OSEP initiatives, to a relationship characterized by 
the proactive identification of issues and trends in need of technical 
support and conducted within the context of OSEP and other Department 
of Education initiatives (e.g., Continuous Improvement Monitoring 
Process (CIMP), No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB)) and policy. 
This revised relationship has been the product of the development of a 
more collaborative association with OSEP.
    Through their relationship with SEAs and LAs, the RRCs have become 
a critical component for dissemination of, and support to, OSEP's 
expanded accountability strategy. This support has transcended the 
RCCs' traditional capacity as technical assistance providers to a role 
of brokering technical assistance between SEAs and LAs and OSEP-
supported technical assistance and research centers.
    Priority: The RRC's activities must include, but are not limited 
to, the following:
    (a) Supporting efforts of sustainable systemic change through 
working with SEAs and LAs on better outcomes for infants, toddlers, and 
children with disabilities and their families by providing technical 
assistance to:
    (1) Support and enhance States' performance measurement, data 
analysis, improvement planning, and system evaluation skills.

[[Page 11397]]

    (2) Help SEAs, LAs, and their partners develop performance 
measurement systems to guide improvement efforts, especially related to 
annual performance reports. Technical assistance may include helping 
States to--
    (A) Develop critical performance indicators for children with 
disabilities and the programs that serve them;
    (B) Develop their annual performance reports;
    (C) Assess State performance;
    (D) Portray their current performance status relative to State-
developed performance measures;
    (E) Develop and implement strategies to improve performance and 
compliance; and
    (F) Evaluate the impact of improvement activities.
    (4) Support and enhance States' participation in OSEP's Continuous 
Improvement and Focused Monitoring System (CIFMS).
    (5) Support and enhance States' ability to develop and submit 
eligibility documents.
    (b) Disseminating scientifically-based practices to SEAs and LAs 
by--
    (1) Using information from a variety of sources including, 
Department of Education and other government and nongovernment agency-
funded technical assistance and research centers;
    (2) Linking SEAs and LAs to Department of Education and other 
government and nongovernment agency-funded technical assistance and 
research centers;
    (3) Employing effective technology and multiple strategies of 
communication for receiving and disseminating current information, 
including information on research-based practices;
    (4) Supporting the Federal Resource Center's (FRC) consolidated RRC 
network Web site; and
    (5) Supporting the FRC's consolidated RRC network information 
services initiative, including budgeting no more than 1.0 FTE positions 
to support the effort.
    (c) Providing current information and technical assistance to SEAs 
on NCLB as it relates to IDEA and students with disabilities on--
    (1) Highly qualified personnel requirements;
    (2) Assessment requirements, including alternate assessment and 
alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards;
    (3) Professional development requirements; and
    (4) Reading First and other NCLB programs.
    (d) Collaborating with the Regional Parent Technical Assistance 
Centers (RPTAC) to (1) use available resources, access research-based 
practices and findings, and participate in educational reform 
activities; and (2) improve collaboration and coordination between 
RRCs, RPTACs, Parent Training and Information Centers, and Community 
Parent Training Centers by helping them to prepare training materials 
that include scientifically-based research on best practices and 
information on NCLB, and through such activities as--
    (A) Participation in conference calls;
    (B) Inviting RPTAC participation in RRC multiregional workgroups 
(e.g., assessment, transition);
    (C) As appropriate, attending RPTAC's national meetings; and
    (D) Participating on a joint listserv and/or a Community of 
Practice Web site.
    (e) Providing leadership and technical support to OSEP-coordinated, 
large-scale technical assistance initiatives, especially the 
Communities of Practice formed to address OSEP's CIFMS critical 
indicators (i.e., school completion, access to the general curriculum, 
settings, early childhood environments, and identification).
    (f) Providing OSEP-specified technical assistance to States. This 
effort may include participation in: (1) Collaborative Web-based 
technical assistance activities, (2) coordination of and participation 
in State-to-State communities of practice, and (3) direct technical 
assistance to OSEP-specified States through partnerships between OSEP 
and selected States. Staff time and project resources dedicated to 
provide technical assistance to OSEP-specified States will be 
negotiated with OSEP as part of the cooperative agreement within 30 
days of the project award (OSEP anticipates that technical assistance 
to OSEP-specified States could averaged approximately $40,000 per year. 
Budgets should be developed with this in mind).
    (g) Providing technical assistance to State Improvement grantees.
    (h) Using personnel to provide technical assistance who have 
special education expertise in (1) reading for nonresponders, (2) core 
academic subjects, (3) early childhood education, (4) transition, (5) 
positive behavior supports, (6) alternate assessment, (7) recruitment 
and retention, (8) systems change (e.g., Communities of Practice), (9) 
program evaluation, (10) parent and family involvement, and (11) NCLB 
(e.g., improving achievement of children with disabilities).
    (i) Prior to developing any new product, whether paper or 
electronic, submitting for approval a proposal describing the content 
and purpose of the product to the document review board of OSEP's 
Dissemination Center. These products may include analyses and syntheses 
of policy but not policy development.
    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), and in addition--
    (1) The recommendation of a review team consisting of experts 
selected by the Secretary. The review will be conducted in Washington, 
DC during the last half of the project's second year. Projects must 
budget for the travel associated with this one-day intensive review;
    (2) The timeliness and effectiveness with which all requirements of 
the negotiated cooperative agreement have been or are being met by the 
RRC; and
    (3) Evidence of the degree to which the RRC's activities have 
contributed to changed practices and improved child outcomes.

Geographic Regions

    The Secretary establishes the following geographic regions for the 
RRCs--
    Region 1: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New 
Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont;
    Region 2: Delaware, the District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia;
    Region 3: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, 
Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands;
    Region 4: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, 
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin;
    Region 5: Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, Nebraska, 
North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs;
    Region 6: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, 
Washington, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Marianas, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the 
Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.
    Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking: Under the Administrative Procedure 
Act (5 U.S.C. 553) the Department generally offers interested parties 
the opportunity to comment on proposed priorities. However, section 
661(e)(2) of IDEA makes the public comment requirements inapplicable to 
the priorities in this notice.
    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1485.

[[Page 11398]]

    Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 
81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.

    Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 79 apply to all applicants 
except federally recognized Indian tribes.


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

II. Award Information

    Type of Award: Cooperative agreements.
    Estimated Available Funds: $7,800,000.
    Maximum Award: We will reject any application that proposes a 
budget exceeding $1,300,000 for a single budget period of 12 months. 
The Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and 
Rehabilitative Services may change the maximum amount through a notice 
published in the Federal Register.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 6.

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

    Project Period: Up to 60 months.

III. Eligibility Information

    1. Eligible Applicants: SEAs, LEAs, IHEs, other public agencies, 
nonprofit private organizations, for-profit organizations, outlying 
areas, freely associated States, and Indian tribes or tribal 
organizations.
    2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This competition does not involve cost 
sharing or matching.
    3. Other: General Requirements--(a) The projects funded under this 
notice must make positive efforts to employ and advance in employment 
qualified individuals with disabilities (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 projects funded under this priority must budget for a two-
day Project Directors' meeting in Washington, DC during each year of 
the project.
    (d) If a project maintains a Web site, it must include relevant 
information and documents in an accessible form.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    1. Address to Request Application Package: 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 
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: 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 number 84.326R.
    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 Grants and Contracts 
Services Team listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in section 
VII of this notice.
    2. Content and Form of Application Submission: 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 70 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 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, the references, or the letters of support. 
However, you must include all of the application narrative in Part III.
    We will reject your application if--
     You apply these standards and exceed the page 
limit; or
     You apply other standards and exceed the 
equivalent of the page limit.
    3. Submission Dates and Times:
    Applications Available: March 11, 2004.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 26, 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. The application package also 
specifies the hours of operation of the e-Application Web site.
    We do not consider an application that does not comply with the 
deadline requirements.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: June 25, 2004.
    4. Intergovernmental Review: This program is subject to Executive 
Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. Information about 
Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs under Executive Order 
12372 is in the application package for this competition.
    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.
    Application Procedures:

    Note: Some of the procedures in these instructions for 
transmitting applications differ from those in the Education 
Department General Administrative Regulations (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: We are 
continuing to expand our pilot project for electronic submission of 
applications to include additional formula grant programs and 
additional discretionary grant competitions. Special Education--
Technical Assistance and Dissemination of Services and Results for 
Children with Disabilities--Regional Resource Centers competition--CFDA 
Number 84.326R is one of the competitions included in the pilot 
project. If you are an applicant under the Special Education--Technical 
Assistance and Dissemination of Services and Results for Children with 
Disabilities--Regional Resource Centers competition, 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). If you use e-Application

[[Page 11399]]

you will be entering data online while completing your application. You 
may not e-mail an electronic copy of a grant application to us. If you 
participate in this voluntary pilot project by submitting an 
application electronically, the data you enter online will be saved 
into a database. We request your participation in e-Application. We 
shall continue to evaluate its success and solicit suggestions for its 
improvement.
    If you participate in e-Application, please note the following:
     Your participation is voluntary.
     When you enter the e-Application system, you 
will find information about its hours of operation. We strongly 
recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline date to 
initiate an e-Application package.
     You will not receive additional point value 
because you submit a grant application in electronic format, nor will 
we penalize you if you submit an application in paper format.
     You may submit all documents electronically, 
including the Application for Federal Education Assistance (ED 424), 
Budget Information--Non-Construction Programs (ED 524), and all 
necessary assurances and certifications.
     Your e-Application must comply with any page 
limit requirements described in this notice.
     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).
     Within three working days of submitting your 
electronic application, fax a signed copy of the Application for 
Federal Education Assistance (ED 424) to the Application Control Center 
after following these steps:
    1. Print ED 424 from e-Application.
    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.
     We may request that you give us original 
signatures on other forms at a later date.
    Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of System 
Unavailability: If you elect to participate in the e-Application pilot 
for the Special Education--Technical Assistance and Dissemination of 
Services and Results for Children with Disabilities--Regional Resource 
Centers competition and you are prevented from submitting your 
application on the application deadline 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 
hand delivery. We will grant this extension if--
    1. You are 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 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Washington, DC 
time, on the application deadline date; or
    (b) The e-Application system is unavailable for any period of time 
during the last hour of operation (that is, for any period of time 
between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time) on the 
application deadline date.
    We must acknowledge and confirm these periods of unavailability 
before granting you an extension. To request this extension or to 
confirm our acknowledgement of any system unavailability, you may 
contact either (1) the person listed elsewhere in this notice under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT (see VII. Agency Contact) or (2) the e-
GRANTS help desk at 1-888-336-8930.
    You may access the electronic grant application for the Special 
Education--Technical Assistance and Dissemination of Services and 
Results for Children with Disabilities--Regional Resource Centers 
competition at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.

V. Application Review Information

    Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this competition are 
listed in 34 CFR 75.210 of EDGAR. The specific selection criteria to be 
used for this competition are in the application package.

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 
Notification (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), the Department is currently developing measures 
that will yield information on various aspects of the quality of the 
Technical Assistance to Improve Services and Results for Children with 
Disabilities program (e.g., the extent to which projects use high 
quality methods and materials, provide useful products and services, 
and contribute to improving results for children with disabilities 
(States report improved ability to provide technical assistance as a 
result of projects and demonstrate improved results for children with 
disabilities)). Data on these measures will be collected from the 
projects funded under this notice.
    Grantees will also be required to report information on their 
projects' performance in annual reports to the Department (EDGAR, 34 
CFR 75.590).

VII. Agency Contact

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Grants and Contracts Services 
Team, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 
3317, Switzer Building, Washington, DC 20202-2550. Telephone: 1-202-
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 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-

[[Page 11400]]

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: March 4, 2004.
Troy R. Justesen,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Education and 
Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 04-5389 Filed 3-9-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P