[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 243 (Wednesday, December 19, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71880-71881]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-24630]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Overview 
Information; Indian Education Formula Grants to Local Educational 
Agencies; Notice Inviting Applications for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008

    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.060A.

DATES: 
    Part I of the Formula Grant Electronic Application System for 
Indian Education (EASIE) Applications Available: December 14, 2007.
    Deadline for Transmittal of PART I Applications: January 31, 2008.
    Part II of Formula Grant (EASIE) Applications Available: February 
25, 2008.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Part II Applications: April 4, 2008.
    Applications not meeting the deadline for Part I will not be 
considered for funding in the initial allocation of awards. 
Applications or data submissions under Part II will be accepted only 
from those eligible applicants that meet the Part I deadline.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: July 3, 2008.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Purpose of Program: The Indian Education Formula Grants to Local 
Educational Agencies program provides grants to support local 
educational agencies (LEAs) and other eligible entities described in 
this notice in their efforts to reform and improve elementary and 
secondary school programs that serve Indian students. The Department 
funds programs designed to help Indian students meet the same 
challenging State academic content and student academic achievement 
standards used for all students. In addition, under section 7116 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA), the 
Secretary will, upon receipt of an acceptable plan for the integration 
of education and related services, authorize the entity receiving the 
funds under this program to consolidate, in accordance with the 
entity's plan, the funds for any Federal program exclusively serving 
Indian children, or the funds reserved under any Federal program to 
exclusively serve Indian children, that are awarded under a statutory 
or administrative formula to the entity, for the purpose of providing 
education and related services to Indian students. Instructions for 
submitting an integration of education and related services plan are 
included in the EASIE described elsewhere in this notice under 
Application Process and Submission Information.
    Eligible Applicants: LEAs, including charter schools authorized as 
LEAs under State law, certain schools funded by the Bureau of Indian 
Education of the Department of the Interior, and Indian tribes under 
certain conditions, as prescribed by section 7112(c) of the ESEA.
    Application Process and Submission Information: The application 
process for the Indian Education Formula Grants to Local Educational 
Agencies program has changed to the Formula Grant EASIE, an easy-to-
use, electronic application system. Formula Grant EASIE provides 
special features that will progressively enhance data availability and 
performance reporting for applicants, including the use of data from 
State submissions to EDFacts, the Department's data collection system 
which contains performance information from State educational agencies 
about schools and Federal education programs. To the extent that your 
State has provided the necessary EDFacts data files, Formula Grant 
EASIE will be able to interface with EDFacts and pull those LEA-
specific data into the application. Additionally, this new system 
allows the Department to review applications and interact online with 
applicants during the application review and approval process.
    Although you may download and print sample forms from the system, 
the application must be submitted electronically through the Formula 
Grant EASIE unless you do not have Internet access and have made prior 
arrangements with the Department. For approval to submit a paper 
application, you must contact the EDFacts Partner Support Center (see 
the contact information listed elsewhere in this notice under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) prior to the deadline for transmittal of 
Part I or Part II applications. If you are approved to submit a paper 
application, you must meet the submission deadlines included in this 
notice.
    Registration for Formula Grant EASIE is required. For information 
on how to register, contact the EDFacts Partner Support Center listed 
elsewhere in this notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    The Formula Grant EASIE application is divided into two parts--Part 
I and Part II.
    Part I, Student Count, provides the appropriate data entry screens 
to submit your Indian student count totals.
    Part II, Program and Budget Information, provides your award amount 
based on the Indian student count total submitted under Part I. Part II 
also enables you to enter student performance data, identify your 
project's services and activities, and build a realistic program budget 
based on a known grant amount. Based on student assessment data, you 
will select your program objectives and services from a variety of menu 
options that were designed with grantee input.
    Estimated Available Funds: The Administration has requested 
$95,331,000 for this program for FY 2008. The actual level of funding, 
if any, depends on final Congressional action. However, we are inviting 
applications to allow enough time to complete the grant process if 
Congress appropriates funds for this program.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $4,000-$2,000,000.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $75,660.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 1,260.

    Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this 
notice and funding levels may change based on final appropriations 
for the program.

    Project Period: 12 months.
    Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 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.


[[Page 71881]]


    Performance Measures: The Secretary has established the following 
key performance measures for assessing the effectiveness and efficiency 
of the Indian Education Formula Grants to Local Educational Agencies 
program: (1) The percentage of American Indian and Alaska Native 
students in grades four and eight who score at or above the basic level 
in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP); 
(2) the percentage of American Indian and Alaska Native students in 
grades four and eight who score at or above the basic level in 
mathematics on NAEP; (3) the percentage of American Indian and Alaska 
Native students in grades three through eight meeting State performance 
standards by scoring at the proficient or the advanced levels in 
reading and mathematics on State assessments; (4) the difference 
between the percentages of American Indian and Alaska Native students 
in grades three through eight at the proficient or advanced levels in 
reading and mathematics on State assessments and the percentage of all 
students scoring at those levels; (5) the percentage of American Indian 
and Alaska Native students who graduate from high school; and (6) the 
percentage of funds used by grantees prior to award close-out.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact the EDFacts Partner Support 
Center, telephone: 877-457-3336 (877-HLP-EDEN) or by e-mail at: [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the 
EDFacts Partner Support Center, toll free, at 1-888-403-3336 (888-403-
EDEN).
    Individuals with disabilities can obtain this document and a copy 
of the application package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, 
large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) by contacting the EDFacts 
Partner Support Center.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You can 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. 7421 et seq.

    Dated: December 14, 2007.
Kerri L. Briggs,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. E7-24630 Filed 12-18-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P