[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 242 (Monday, December 18, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75848-75850]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-21524]



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Part III





Department of Education





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 Institute of Education Sciences; Notice Inviting Applications for 
Grants To Support Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems for Fiscal Year 
(FY) 2007; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 242 / Monday, December 18, 2006 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.372A]


Institute of Education Sciences; Notice Inviting Applications for 
Grants to Support Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems for Fiscal Year 
(FY) 2007

Summary: The Director of the Institute of Education Sciences 
(Institute) announces a competition for grants to support statewide 
longitudinal data systems. The Director takes this action under the 
Educational Technical Assistance Act of 2002 (Act), Title II of Public 
Law 107-279. The intent of these grants is to support the design, 
development, and implementation of statewide longitudinal data systems.

Supplementary Information: Purpose of the Program: The purpose of the 
program is to provide financial assistance to State educational 
agencies (SEAs) for the development of longitudinal data systems to 
efficiently and accurately manage, analyze, disaggregate, and use 
individual student data, consistent with the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965, as amended. These data systems will respond to 
the multiple information needs of key stakeholders, support State and 
local decision-making and facilitate needed research to improve student 
academic achievement and close achievement gaps.
    Eligible Applicants: Eligible applicants are limited to SEAs.
    Applications Available: December 22, 2006.
    Request for Applications and Other Information: Information 
regarding program and application requirements for this competition is 
contained in the Request for Applications package (RFA) that will be 
available on December 15, 2006, at the following Web site: http://ies.ed.gov/funding.
    Information regarding selection criteria and review procedures will 
also be posted at this Web site.
    Letter of Intent: A letter indicating a potential applicant's 
intent to submit an application is optional but encouraged. The letter 
of intent must be submitted electronically by January 18, 2007, using 
the instructions provided at the following Web site: https://ies.constellagroup.com/. Receipt of the letter of intent will be 
acknowledged by e-mail.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: March 15, 2007.
    Applications for grants under this competition must be submitted 
electronically using the Grants.gov Apply site (Grants.gov). For 
information (including dates and times) about how to submit your 
application electronically, or by mail or by hand delivery if you 
qualify for an exception to the electronic submission, please refer to 
Submission Requirements in this notice.
    We do not consider an application that does not comply with the 
deadline requirements.
    Individuals with disabilities who need an accommodation or 
auxiliary aid in connection with the application process should contact 
the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $1,000,000 to $6,000,000 for the entire 
project.
    Project Period: Up to three years.
    Fiscal Information: The number of awards made under this 
competition will depend upon the quality of the applications received. 
The size of the awards will depend upon the scope of the projects 
proposed.


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


    Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 77, 80, 81, 82, 84, 
85, 97, 98, and 99. In addition, 34 CFR part 75 is applicable, except 
for the provisions in 34 CFR 75.100, 75.101(b), 75.102, 75.103, 75.105, 
75.109(a), 75.200, 75.201, 75.209, 75.210, 75.211, 75.217, 75.219, 
75.220, 75.221, 75.222, and 75.230.

Performance Measures

    To evaluate the overall success of this program, the Institute will 
determine at the end of each grant whether the SEA has in operation a 
statewide longitudinal data system. Grantees will be expected to report 
in annual and final reports on the status of their development and 
implementation of these systems.

Submission Requirements

    Applications for grants under this competition must be submitted 
electronically unless you qualify for an exception to this requirement 
in accordance with the instructions in this section.

a. Electronic Submission of Applications

    Applications for grants under the Statewide Longitudinal Data 
Systems competition, CFDA Number 84.372A, must be submitted 
electronically using the Governmentwide Grants.gov Apply site at http://www.Grants.gov. Through this site, you will be able to download a copy 
of the application package, complete it offline, and then upload and 
submit your application. You may not e-mail an electronic copy of a 
grant application to us.
    We will reject your application if you submit it in paper format 
unless, as described elsewhere in this section, you qualify for one of 
the exceptions to the electronic submission requirement and submit, no 
later than two weeks before the application deadline date, a written 
statement to the Department that you qualify for one of these 
exceptions. Further information regarding calculation of the date that 
is two weeks before the application deadline date is provided later in 
this section under Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement.
    You may access the electronic grant application for the Statewide 
Longitudinal Data Systems competition at http://www.Grants.gov. You 
must search for the downloadable application package for this program 
or competition by the CFDA number. Do not include the CFDA number's 
alpha suffix in your search (e.g., search for 84.372, not 84.372A).
    Please note the following:
     When you enter the Grants.gov site, you will find 
information about submitting an application electronically through the 
site, as well as the hours of operation.
     Applications received by Grants.gov are date and time 
stamped. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted, and 
must be date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system no later than 
4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. 
Except as otherwise noted in this section, we will not consider your 
application if it is date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system 
later than 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline 
date. When we retrieve your application from Grants.gov, we will notify 
you if we are rejecting your application because it was date and time 
stamped by the Grants.gov system after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, 
on the application deadline date.
     The amount of time it can take to upload an application 
will vary depending on a variety of factors including the size of the 
application and the speed of your Internet connection. Therefore, we 
strongly recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline 
date to begin the submission process through Grants.gov.
     You should review and follow the Education Submission 
Procedures for submitting an application through Grants.gov that are 
included in the application package for this competition

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to ensure that you submit your application in a timely manner to the 
Grants.gov system. You can also find the Education Submission 
Procedures pertaining to Grants.gov at http://e-Grants.ed.gov/help/GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf.
     To submit your application via Grants.gov, you must 
complete all steps in the Grants.gov registration process (see http://www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp). These steps include (1) 
Registering your organization, a multi-part process that includes 
registration with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR); (2) 
registering yourself as an Authorized Organization Representative 
(AOR); and (3) getting authorized as an AOR by your organization. 
Details on these steps are outlined in the Grants.gov 3-Step 
Registration Guide (see http://www.grants.gov/section910/Grants.govRegistrationBrochure.pdf). You also must provide on your 
application the same D-U-N-S Number used with this registration. Please 
note that the registration process may take five or more business days 
to complete, and you must have completed all registration steps to 
allow you to submit successfully an application via Grants.gov. In 
addition you will need to update your CCR registration on an annual 
basis. This may take three or more business days to complete.
     You will not receive additional point value because you 
submit your application in electronic format, nor will we penalize you 
if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission 
requirement, as described elsewhere in this section, and submit your 
application in paper format.
     You must submit all documents electronically, including 
all information you typically provide on the following forms: 
Application for Federal Assistance (SF 424), the Department of 
Education Supplemental Information for SF 424, Budget Information--Non-
Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and 
certifications. Please note that two of these forms--the SF 424 and the 
Department of Education Supplemental Information for SF 424--have 
replaced the ED 424 (Application for Federal Education Assistance).
     You must attach any narrative sections of your application 
as files in a .PDF (Portable Document) format. If you upload a file 
type other than the file type specified in this paragraph or submit a 
password-protected file, we will not review that material.
     Your electronic application must comply with any page-
limit requirements described in this notice.
     After you electronically submit your application, you will 
receive from Grants.gov an automatic notification of receipt that 
contains a Grants.gov tracking number. (This notification indicates 
receipt by Grants.gov only, not receipt by the Department.) The 
Department then will retrieve your application from Grants.gov and send 
a second notification to you by e-mail. This second notification 
indicates that the Department has received your application and has 
assigned your application a PR/Award number (an ED-specified 
identifying number unique to your application).
     We may request that you provide us original signatures on 
forms at a later date.
    Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of Technical Issues 
with the Grants.gov System: If you are experiencing problems submitting 
your application through Grants.gov, please contact the Grants.gov 
Support Desk at 1-800-518-4726. You must obtain a Grants.gov Support 
Desk Case Number and must keep a record of it.
    If you are prevented from electronically submitting your 
application on the application deadline date because of technical 
problems with the Grants.gov system, we will grant you an extension 
until 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, the following business day to 
enable you to transmit your application electronically or by hand 
delivery. You also may mail your application by following the mailing 
instructions described elsewhere in this notice.
    If you submit an application after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, 
on the application deadline date, please contact the person listed 
elsewhere in this notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT and 
provide an explanation of the technical problem you experienced with 
Grants.gov, along with the Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number. We will 
accept your application if we can confirm that a technical problem 
occurred with the Grants.gov system and that that problem affected your 
ability to submit your application by 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, 
on the application deadline date. The Department will contact you after 
a determination is made on whether your application will be accepted.


    Note: The extensions to which we refer in this section apply 
only to the unavailability of, or technical problems with, the 
Grants.gov system. We will not grant you an extension if you failed 
to fully register to submit your application to Grants.gov before 
the application deadline date and time or if the technical problem 
you experienced is unrelated to the Grants.gov system.


    Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement: You qualify for an 
exception to the electronic submission requirement, and may submit your 
application in paper format, if you are unable to submit an application 
through the Grants.gov system because--
     You do not have access to the Internet; or
     You do not have the capacity to upload large documents to 
the Grants.gov system;
     and
     No later than two weeks before the application deadline 
date (14 calendar days or, if the fourteenth calendar day before the 
application deadline date falls on a Federal holiday, the next business 
day following the Federal holiday), you mail or fax a written statement 
to the Department, explaining which of the two grounds for an exception 
prevent you from using the Internet to submit your application.
    If you mail your written statement to the Department, it must be 
postmarked no later than two weeks before the application deadline 
date. If you fax your written statement to the Department, we must 
receive the faxed statement no later than two weeks before the 
application deadline date.
    Address and mail or fax your statement to: Kashka Kubzdela, U.S. 
Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., room 9014, Washington, DC 
20006-5651. FAX: (202) 502-7475.
    Your paper application must be submitted in accordance with the 
mail or hand delivery instructions described in this notice.

b. Submission of Paper Applications by Mail

    If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission 
requirement, you may mail (through the U.S. Postal Service or a 
commercial carrier) your application to the Department. You must mail 
the original and two copies of your application, on or before the 
application deadline date, to the Department at the applicable 
following address:
    By mail through the U.S. Postal Service: U.S. Department of 
Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number 
84.372A), 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-4260.
     or
    By mail through a commercial carrier: U.S. Department of Education, 
Application Control Center, Stop 4260, Attention: (CFDA Number 
84.372A), 7100 Old Landover Road, Landover, MD 20785-1506.

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    Regardless of which address you use, you must show proof of mailing 
consisting of one of the following:
    (1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark.
    (2) A legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the 
U.S. Postal Service.
    (3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from a commercial 
carrier.
    (4) Any other proof of mailing acceptable to the Secretary of the 
U.S. Department of Education.
    If you mail your application through the U.S. Postal Service, we do 
not accept either of the following as proof of mailing:
    (1) A private metered postmark.
    (2) A mail receipt that is not dated by the U.S. Postal Service.
    If your application is postmarked after the application deadline 
date, we will not consider your application.


    Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide a dated 
postmark. Before relying on this method, you should check with your 
local post office.

c. Submission of Paper Applications by Hand Delivery

    If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission 
requirement, you (or a courier service) may deliver your paper 
application to the Department by hand. You must deliver the original 
and two copies of your application by hand, on or before the 
application deadline date, to the Department at the following address: 
U.S. Department of Education, Application Control Center, Attention: 
(CFDA Number 84.372A), 550 12th Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center 
Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-4260.
    The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily 
between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, except Saturdays, 
Sundays, and Federal holidays.


    Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of Paper Applications: If you 
mail or hand deliver your application to the Department--
    (1) You must indicate on the envelope and--if not provided by 
the Department--in Item 11 of the SF 424 the CFDA number, including 
suffix letter, if any, of the competition under which you are 
submitting your application; and
    (2) The Application Control Center will mail to you a 
notification of receipt of your grant application. If you do not 
receive this notification within 15 business days from the 
application deadline date, you should call the U.S. Department of 
Education Application Control Center at (202) 245-6288.


    For Further Information Contact: Kashka Kubzdela, U.S. Department 
of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1990 K Street, 
NW., Room 9014, Washington, DC 20006-5651. Telephone: (202) 502-7411 or 
via Internet: [email protected].
    The date on which applications will be available, the deadline for 
transmittal of applications, the estimated range of awards, and the 
project period will also be listed in the RFA for this competition that 
will be posted at: http://ies.ed.gov/funding.
    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 format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the program contact person listed in this 
section. Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the RFA in 
an alternative format by contacting that person.
    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: 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. 9607.

    Dated: December 12, 2006.
Grover J. Whitehurst,
Director, Institute of Education Sciences.
[FR Doc. E6-21524 Filed 12-15-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P