[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 9 (Thursday, January 13, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2399-2401]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-125]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Professional Development for Arts Educators Program

AGENCY: Office of Innovation and Improvement, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of proposed priority, requirements, and definitions.

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SUMMARY: The Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement 
proposes a priority, requirements, and definitions under the 
Professional Development for Arts Educators program. We may use this 
priority and these requirements and definitions for competitions in 
fiscal year (FY) 2005 and later years. We take this action to focus 
Federal financial assistance on an identified national need for 
professional development for arts educators that focuses on the 
development, enhancement, and expansion of standards-based arts 
instruction or that integrates arts instruction with other subject area 
content, and to improve student achievement of low-income students in 
kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12). We intend the priority, 
requirements, and definitions to improve the performance of needy 
children and to increase the amount of information on effective 
professional development for arts educators that is available 
nationally.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before February 14, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about the proposed priority, 
requirements, and definitions to Carol Sue Fromboluti, U.S. Department 
of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4W233, Washington, DC 
20202-5943. If you prefer to send your comments through the Internet, 
use the following address: [email protected].
    You must include the term ``artspd'' in the subject line of your 
electronic message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carol Sue Fromboluti. Telephone: (202) 
205-9654 or via Internet: [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may 
call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternative

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format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) on 
request to the contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Invitation To Comment

    We invite you to submit comments regarding the proposed priority, 
requirements, and definitions in this notice. To ensure that your 
comments have maximum effect in developing the notice of final 
priority, requirements, and definitions, we urge you to identify 
clearly the specific proposed priority, requirement, or definition that 
each comment addresses.
    We invite you to assist us in complying with the specific 
requirements of Executive Order 12866 and its overall requirement of 
reducing regulatory burden that might result from the proposed 
priority, requirements, and definitions. Please let us know of any 
further opportunities we should take to reduce potential costs or 
increase potential benefits while preserving the effective and 
efficient administration of the program.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public 
comments about the proposed priority, requirements, and definitions in 
room 4W242, 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.

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 the proposed priority, requirements, and 
definitions. If you want to schedule an appointment for this type of 
aid, please contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.
    We will announce the final priority, requirements, and definitions 
in a notice in the Federal Register. We will determine the final 
priority, requirements, and definitions after considering responses to 
this notice and other information available to the Department. This 
notice does not preclude us from proposing additional priorities, 
requirements, and definitions, subject to meeting applicable rulemaking 
requirements.
    Note: This notice does not solicit applications. In any year in 
which we choose to use the proposed priority, requirements, and 
definitions, we invite applications through a notice in the Federal 
Register. When inviting applications, we designate the priority as 
absolute, competitive preference, or invitational. The effect of each 
type of priority follows:
    Absolute Priority: Under an absolute priority we consider only 
applications that meet the priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(3)).
    Competitive Preference Priority: Under a competitive preference 
priority we give competitive preference to an application by either (1) 
awarding additional points, depending on how well or the extent to 
which the application meets the priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i)); or 
(2) selecting an application that meets the competitive priority over 
an application of comparable merit that does not meet the priority (34 
CFR 75.105(c)(2)(ii)).
    Invitational Priority: Under an invitational priority we are 
particularly interested in applications that meet the invitational 
priority. However, we do not give an application that meets the 
invitational priority a competitive or absolute preference over other 
applications (34 CFR 75.105(c)(1)).

Discussion of Proposed Priority, Requirements, and Definitions

    Through this program, the Department intends to fund model 
professional development programs for music, dance, drama, and visual 
arts educators of K-12 students in high-poverty schools. The purpose of 
this program is to strengthen standards-based arts education programs 
and to help ensure that all students meet challenging State academic 
content standards and challenging State student academic achievement 
standards in the arts.

Priority

Proposed Priority

    We propose the following priority for this program:
    This priority supports professional development programs for K-12 
arts educators that use innovative instructional methods and current 
knowledge from education research and focus on--
    (1) The development, enhancement, or expansion of standards-based 
arts education programs; or
    (2) The integration of standards-based arts instruction with other 
core academic area content.
    In order to meet this priority, an applicant must demonstrate that 
the project for which it seeks funding is linked to State and national 
standards intended to enable all students to meet challenging 
expectations, and to improving student and school performance.
    Rationale: It is the intent of this program to provide professional 
development programs for arts educators that can be linked to student 
achievement, including performance on State or local standardized 
tests. While arts content and achievement standards have been 
voluntarily adopted in many States throughout the country, teachers 
often need professional development on how to implement education 
standards both for arts programs and for programs designed to integrate 
arts with other subject areas. The proposed priority would support 
projects that would provide professional development services that are 
linked to learning standards.

Requirements

Proposed Application Requirement

    We propose the following application requirement for this program:
    To be eligible for Professional Development for Arts Educators 
Program funds, applicants must propose to carry out professional 
development programs for art educators of K-12 low-income children and 
youth by implementing projects in schools in which 50 percent or more 
of the children enrolled are from low-income families (based on the 
poverty criteria set out in Title I, Section 1113(a)(5) of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the No 
Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (ESEA)).
    Rationale: Studies have found that improving the quality of arts 
education has a particularly positive impact on students from low-
income backgrounds. We believe this poverty requirement is necessary in 
order to focus services on the most needy children.

Proposed Eligibility Requirement

    We propose the following eligibility requirement for this program:
    To be eligible to receive funding under the Professional 
Development for Arts Educators program, an applicant must be--
    A local educational agency (LEA), which may be a charter school 
that is considered an LEA, that is acting on behalf of an individual 
school or schools that meets the poverty criterion with respect to 
children from low-income families that is specified in the application 
requirement elsewhere in this notice, and that must work in partnership 
with one or more of the following--

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    (1) A State or local non-profit or governmental arts organization;
    (2) A State educational agency (SEA) or regional educational 
service agency;
    (3) An institution of higher education; or
    (4) A public or private agency, institution, or organization, 
including a museum, an arts education association, a library, a 
theater, or a community-or faith-based organization.
    Rationale: The most effective professional development programs are 
systemic and have the full support of school leadership. Therefore, it 
is essential that eligibility be limited to LEAs. Professional 
development in the area of arts education is often enhanced when it 
taps the expertise of professional arts organizations or other 
entities. Accordingly, an LEA would be required to partner with one of 
these organizations.

Definitions

Proposed Definitions

    The terms ``arts educator'' and ``integrate'', which are important 
concepts associated with this program, are not defined in the 
authorizing statute. We, therefore, propose, for the purpose of this 
program, to define these terms as follows:
    Arts educator means a teacher who works in music, drama, dance, or 
the visual arts.
    Integrate means, in the context of projects funded under this 
program, to strengthen (i) the use of high-quality arts instruction 
within other academic content areas, and (ii) the place of the arts as 
a core academic subject in the school curriculum.

Executive Order 12866

    This notice of proposed priority, requirements, and definitions has 
been reviewed in accordance with Executive Order 12866. Under the terms 
of the order, we have assessed the potential costs and benefits of this 
regulatory action.
    The potential costs associated with the notice of proposed 
priority, requirements, and definitions are those resulting from 
statutory requirements and those we have determined as necessary for 
administering this program effectively and efficiently.
    In assessing the potential costs and benefits--both quantitative 
and qualitative--of this notice of proposed priority, requirements, and 
definitions, we have determined that the benefits of the proposed 
priority, requirements, and definitions justify the costs.
    We also have determined that this regulatory action does not unduly 
interfere with State, local, and tribal governments in the exercise of 
their governmental functions.

Summary of Potential Costs and Benefits

    The potential costs associated with the proposed priority, 
requirements, and definitions in this notice are minimal, while the 
benefits are significant. Grantees may incur some costs associated with 
completing the application process in terms of staff and partner time, 
copying, and mailing or delivery.
    The benefit of the proposed priority, requirements, and definitions 
in this notice is that grantees will develop professional development 
programs for arts educators, especially those programs that incorporate 
arts education standards and are designed to improve the educational 
performance of at-risk children and youth.

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 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 
action for this program.

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: 
http://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: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7271.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.351C Professional 
Development for Arts Educators)

    Dated: January 7, 2005.
Nina Shokraii Rees,
Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement.
 [FR Doc. E5-125 Filed 1-12-05; 8:45 am]
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