FR Doc 05-15460

[Federal Register: August 4, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 149)]
[Notices]
[Page 44914-44921]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04au05-36]

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Overview
Information, Special Education--Technical Assistance on State Data
Collection--IDEA General Supervision Enhancement Grant; Notice Inviting
Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2005

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.373X.

Note: The Secretary is inviting applications under two separate
funding priorities addressing data collected under Part B and Part C
of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as amended
(IDEA).

[[Page 44915]]

Applicants who are eligible for and wish to apply under both
priorities must submit separate applications for each priority.

Priority A: Outcome Measures.

Focus Area One--Part B Outcome Indicators
Focus Area Two--Part C Outcome Indicators

Priority B: Assessment Data: Planning grants for the Development,
Enhancement, or Redesign of a Comprehensive System of State Assessments
(Including State Alternate Assessments), Standards, and Instructional
Supports.

DATES: Applications Available: August 4, 2005.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: October 3, 2005.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: October 13, 2005.
Eligible Applicants:

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

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Priority A: Outcome measures. State educational agencies (SEAs), Part C
lead agencies (LAs), freely associated
States (FAS), and, if endorsed by the
SEA, LA, or FAS to apply and carry out
the project on behalf of the SEA, LA, or
FAS, local educational agencies (LEAs),
public charter schools that are LEAs
under State law, institutions of higher
education (IHEs), tribes or tribal
organizations, other public agencies,
private nonprofit organizations, and for-
profit organizations.

Note: Applicants who received a grant
under the General Supervision
Enhancement Grant competition in FY 2004
(84.326X) are not eligible for funding
under Priority A if they are proposing a
project in the same focus area (Part B
or Part C) as their 2004 grant.
------------------------------
Priority B: Assessment Data.. State educational agencies (SEAs), freely
associated States (FAS), and, if
endorsed by the SEA or FAS to apply and
carry out the project on behalf of the
SEA or FAS, local educational agencies
(LEAs), public charter schools that are
LEAs under State law, institutions of
higher education (IHEs), tribes or
tribal organizations, other public
agencies, private nonprofit
organizations, and for-profit
organizations.

Note: Applicants who received a grant
under the General Supervision
Enhancement Grant Focus 1 competition in
FY 2004 (84.326X) are also eligible for
funding under Priority B in this
competition.

States and FAS are encouraged to form
consortia or any other group of eligible
parties that meet the requirements in 34
CFR 75.127 to 75.129 to apply under
Priority B. A consortium is comprised of
more than one State or FAS and could
include States or FAS from the same
geographic region, States or FAS with
similar demographic characteristics,
States or FAS with similar populations,
States or FAS with similar geographic
characteristics or other characteristics
as determined by the States or FAS. The
Secretary views the formation of
consortia as an effective and efficient
strategy to addressing the requirements
of this priority.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Funding for Awards: These priorities are being supported with funds
reserved under section 616 of the IDEA, Technical Assistance in State
Data Collection.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated available Estimated average size Estimated number of
funds Maximum award of awards awards
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Priority A: Outcome Measures........ $4,970,000 The Secretary does not intend to make awards for $325,000 for 13
more than $375,000 for applications that applications that
address Focus Area One or Two and does not address Focus Area
intend to and make awards for more than One or Two, and
$750,000 for applications that address Focus $700,000 for
Area One and Focus Area Two.. applications that
address Focus Area
One and Two.
Priority B: Assessment Data......... $4,475,450 The Secretary does not intend to fund any $150,000 unless the 30
applications in FY 2005 that propose a budget application involveds
exceeding $200,000 for a State or FAS for a a consortium, or anhy
single budget period of 12 months unless the other group of
application involves a consortium, or any other eligible parties that
group of eligible parties that meets the meets the
requirements of 34 CFR 75.127-75.129. The level requirements of 34
of funding for a consortium, or any other group CFR 75.127-75.129.
of eligible entities, will reflect the combined
total that the eligible entities comprising the
consortium, or group, would have received if
they had applied separately. The Secretary does
not intend to make more than one award to serve
a State or FAS..
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note on Priority A:
Due to the importance of coordinating early childhood systems
serving children aged birth through 5, the Secretary intends to
allocate at least $2,250,000 for the funding of joint applications from
SEAs and Part C LAs under Priority A that only address (a) that portion
of Focus Area One related to children with disabilities served under
section 619 of the IDEA and (b) Focus Area Two.
Note on Priority B:
Given a sufficient number of approved high quality applications
from consortia, the Department intends to fund at least six consortia
projects under Priority B.

Note: The Secretary is not bound by any estimates in this notice
and recognizes that funding of consortia will significantly reduce
the number of awards.

Project Period: Up to 12 months.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

Purpose of Program: Under section 616(i)(2) of IDEA, awards may be
made to provide technical assistance to improve the capacity of States
to meet data collection requirements.

[[Page 44916]]

Priorities: We are establishing these priorities for the FY 2005
grant competition only, in accordance with Section 437(d)(1) of the
General Education Provisions Act (GEPA).
Absolute Priorities: For FY 2005 these priorities are absolute
priorities. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), we consider only applications
that meet these priorities.
These priorities are:
Priority A: Outcome Measures.
Focus Area One: Developing or enhancing Part B State outcome
indicators and methods to collect and analyze Part B outcome indicator
data.
Focus Area Two: Developing or enhancing Part C State outcome
indicators and methods to collect and analyze Part C outcome indicator
data.
Priority B: Assessment Data: Planning grants for the Development,
Enhancement, or Redesign of a Comprehensive System of State Assessments
(including State alternate assessments), Standards, and Instructional
Supports.
Background: Section 616 of the IDEA requires the Department, and
States, to establish and implement systems for monitoring
implementation of and enforcing obligations under Parts B and C of the
IDEA. Under section 616 of the IDEA, the Secretary must establish
indicators in certain monitoring priority areas. States must develop
State Performance Plans (SPPs), including targets for those indicators,
and use those targets and indicators in annually reporting to the
Secretary on the performance of the State. States must also use those
targets and indicators to report annually to the public on the
performance of each LEA in the State.
Background of Priority A: The cornerstone of any accountability
system is the development of outcome indicators, against which progress
can be measured. State performance reports, self-assessments, and other
extant data show that most States and State LAs as defined under Part C
of the IDEA [Section 635(a)(10)], as well as their LEAs and Early
Intervention Service programs, have not developed outcome indicators
for children with disabilities served under Part B and Part C of IDEA
or methods to collect and analyze Part B and Part C outcome indicator
data, especially for infants and toddlers and their families and
preschool children. Therefore, most States lack the capacity to collect
sufficient data to determine the impact of early intervention and
special education services.
Background of Priority B: One of the indicators being established
by the Secretary under section 616 of the IDEA (on the priority area
concerning the provision of a free appropriate public education in the
least restrictive environment) is the participation and performance of
children with disabilities on the State assessments required under the
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). States are expected to report under
the SPP and Annual Performance Reports (APR) on student performance on
assessments using the same assessment data required under NCLB.
NCLB requires accountability for the academic achievement of all
students. Under the law, every student and every group of students is
expected to be working to meet State standards. For that very limited
group of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities
whose intellectual functioning is well below that of their peers, the
Department's regulations allow States to develop alternate achievement
standards that are aligned with the State's academic content standards
and reflect professional judgment of the highest learning standards
possible for those students. The Department's regulations permit the
proficient and advanced scores of students assessed based on alternate
achievement standards to be included in adequate yearly progress (AYP)
calculations in the same manner as scores based on grade level
achievement, subject to a cap of one percent of all students in the
grades assessed, at the district and state level. See http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/finrule/2003-4/120903a.pdf
for more

information.
On April 7, 2005, the Secretary announced the intent to provide
additional flexibility that will allow States to develop modified
achievement standards and use alternate assessments based on those
modified achievement standards for some students with disabilities
served under the IDEA. Following that, the Secretary announced on May
10, 2005, that eligible States could implement, for the 2004-05 year,
adjustments to AYP calculations to reflect the need for alternate
assessments based on modified achievement standards. Information about
these interim options is available at http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/raising/disab-options.html and http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/raising/disab-acctplan.html.
All alternate assessments must be designed to generate valid data

that can be used for AYP purposes under NCLB. These data also will be
included in the SPPs and APRs relative to performance and participation
of children with disabilities on State assessments under the IDEA.
Many States need support in developing, enhancing or redesigning
their assessment systems to ensure that they meet the requirements of
NCLB with regard to the assessment of children with disabilities.
Statement of Priority A--Outcome Measures.
This priority supports projects that address the needs of States
for technical assistance to improve their capacity to meet Federal data
collection requirements in one or both of two focus areas.
Focus Area One--Developing or enhancing Part B State outcome
indicators and methods to collect and analyze Part B outcome indicator
data.
This Focus Area supports the development or enhancement of Part B
State outcome indicators and methods to collect and analyze Part B
State outcome indicator data. Projects funded under this Focus Area
must focus on improving the capacity of the State to provide
information that could be used to determine one or both of the
following:
(a) The impact of Part B preschool services (ages 3 through 5) on
children with disabilities at the State and LEA level.
(b) Secondary, transition, and post-secondary education and
employment outcomes at the State and LEA level. The indicators must
provide data on child outcomes that could be used to assess the impact
of the services.
Focus Area Two--Developing or enhancing Part C State outcome
indicators and methods to collect and analyze Part C outcome indicator
data.
This Focus Area supports the development or enhancement of Part C
outcome indicators and methods to collect and analyze Part C State
outcome indicator data. Projects funded under this Focus Area must
focus on improving the capacity of the State to provide information
that could be used to determine the following:
(a) The outcomes associated with infants and toddlers with
disabilities and their families participating in State Part C programs.
(b) If the State has standards for early intervention outcomes,
whether infants and toddlers with disabilities are meeting those
standards.
(c) Trend data on outcomes associated with infants and toddlers
with disabilities and their families and the extent to which infants
and toddlers with disabilities are meeting State standards.
Statement of Priority B--Assessment Data: Planning grants for the
Development, Enhancement, or Redesign of a Comprehensive System of

[[Page 44917]]

State Assessments (including State alternate assessments), Standards,
and Instructional Supports.
This priority supports planning grants for the development,
enhancement, or redesign of a comprehensive system of State assessments
(including State alternate assessments), standards, and instructional
supports that address the needs of all children with disabilities and
which may include specific activities to ensure coherence among
components, such as: (1) Alternate assessments aligned with State
content standards; (2) effective and appropriate accommodations that
are consistent with daily instruction; (3) guidance to support IEP team
decisions regarding student assessment; (4) professional development
activities for both special education and regular education teachers;
and (5) information for parents. Projects must help States ensure that
they are designing strong systems of assessment and instruction to
address the needs of children with disabilities, and that the
assessments produce valid, reliable, and accurate measures of student
performance and result in high quality data for use in evaluating the
performance of schools, districts, and States.
Grantees must produce a final plan that includes clear and detailed
descriptions of goals and objectives, information about participants,
and plans for the design of data analysis or research; these components
are integral to the success of implementing a coherent system of
instruction and assessment for children with disabilities. The plan
must also include a realistic timeline and resources needed to reach
full implementation of the system design.
As part of this planning activity, States must work with experts in
large-scale assessment and special education. The experts selected
should represent the range of skills needed to develop assessments for
children with disabilities that will meet the peer review guidelines
for assessments published by the Department in the spring of 2004,
which are available at http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/saaprguidance.pdf.
Skill sets for experts should include experience

with one or more of the following: (1) Large scale assessment; (2)
standards setting techniques; (3) assessment and measurement of
children with disabilities; (4) design of professional development,
accommodations and supports to teach grade level content to children
with disabilities; (5) State collaborative activities to develop
standards-based alternate assessments; (6) development of criterion
referenced tests and instruments; (7) psychometric evaluation; (8)
conducting studies of the technical adequacy of assessment instruments
and/or test accommodations; (9) research in the area of alternate
assessment and psychometrics; and (10) implementation of educational
policy consistent with IDEA and NCLB.
States or FAS are encouraged to submit applications as a consortium
(See 34 CFR 75.127-75.129). A consortium is comprised of more than one
State or FAS and could include States or FAS from the same geographic
region, States or FAS with similar demographic characteristics, States
or FAS with similar populations, States or FAS with similar geographic
characteristics or other characteristics as determined by the States or
FAS. The Secretary views the formation of consortia as an effective and
efficient strategy to addressing the requirements of this priority.
Additional Requirements for Priority A and Priority B:
All projects funded under Priority A or Priority B must--
(a) Budget for a two-day Project Directors' meeting in Washington,
DC.
(b) If a project maintains a Web site, include relevant information
and documents in a format that meets a government or industry-
recognized standard for accessibility.
(c) Demonstrate in the application that the project meets, if
applicable, the eligibility requirements in section III, 1.

Eligible Applicants

Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking: Under the Administrative Procedure
Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553), the Department generally offers interested
parties the opportunity to comment on a proposed priority. Section
437(d)(1) of the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C.
1232(d)(1)), however, allows the Secretary to exempt from rulemaking
requirements, regulations governing the first grant competition under a
new or substantially revised program authority. This is the first grant
competition for this program under sections 611 and 616 of the IDEA and
therefore qualifies for this exemption. In order to ensure timely grant
awards, the Secretary has decided to forego public comment on the
absolute priorities under section 437(d)(1). These absolute priorities
will apply to the FY 2005 grant competition only.

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1411 and 1416.

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 IHEs only.

II. Award Information

Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
Funding for Awards: These priorities are being supported with funds
reserved under section 616 of the IDEA, Technical Assistance in State
Data Collection.

[[Page 44918]]

Priority B: State Assessment Data... $4,475,450 The Secretary does not intend to fund any $150,000 unless the 30
applications in FY 2005 that propose a budget application involves
exceeding $200,000 for a State or FAS for a a consortium, or any
single budget period of 12 months unless the other group of
application involves a consortium, or any other eligible parties that
group of eligible parties that meets the meets the
requirements of 34 CFR 75.127-75.129. The level requirements of 34
of funding for a consortium, or any other group CFR 75.127-75.129.
of eligible entities, will reflect the combined
total that the eligible entities comprising the
consortium, or group, would have received if
they had applied separately. The Secretary does
not intend to make more than one award to serve
a State or FAS.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note on Priority A: Due to the importance of coordinating early
childhood systems serving children aged birth through 5, the Secretary
intends to allocate at least $2,250,000 for the funding of joint
applications from SEAs and Part C LAs under Priority A that only
address (a) that portion of Focus Area One related to children with
disabilities served under section 619 of the IDEA and (b) Focus Area
Two.
Note on Priority B: Given a sufficient number of approved high
quality applications from consortia, the Department intends to fund at
least six consortia projects under Priority B.

Note: The Secretary is not bound by any estimates in this notice
and recognizes that funding of consortia will significantly reduce
the number of awards.

Project Period: Up to 12 months.

III. Eligibility Information

Eligible Applicants

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

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Priority A: Outcome Measures. State educational agencies (SEAs), Part C
lead agencies (LAs), freely associated
States (FAS), and, if endorsed by
Outcome the SEA, LA, or FAS to apply and
carry out the project on Measures behalf
of the SEA, LA, or FAS, local
educational agencies (LEAs), public
charter schools that are LEAs under
State law, institutions of higher
education (IHEs), tribes or tribal
organizations, other public agencies,
private nonprofit organizations, and for-
profit organizations.

Note: Applicants who received a grant
under the General Supervision
Enhancement Grant competition in FY 2004
(84.326X) are not eligible for funding
under Priority A if they are proposing a
project in the same focus area (Part B
or Part C) as their 2004 grant.
Priority B: Assessment Data.. State educational agencies (SEAs), freely
associated States (FAS), and, if
endorsed by the SEA or FAS to apply and
Assessment carry out the project on
behalf of the SEA or FAS, local Data
educational agencies (LEAs), public
charter schools that are LEAs under
State law, institutions of higher
education (IHEs), tribes or tribal
organizations, other public agencies,
private nonprofit organizations, and for-
profit organizations.

Note: Applicants who received a grant
under the General Supervision
Enhancement Grant Focus 1 competition in
FY 2004 (84.326X) are also eligible for
funding under Priority B in this
competition.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This competition does not involve cost
sharing or matching.
3. Other: General Requirements
(a) The projects funded under this competition must make positive
efforts to employ and advance in employment qualified individuals with
disabilities (see section 606 of the IDEA).
(b) Applicants and grant recipients funded under this competition
must involve individuals with disabilities or parents of individuals
with disabilities ages birth through 26 in planning, implementing, and
evaluating the projects (see section 682(a)(1)(A) of the IDEA).

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: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html
or you may contact ED Pubs at its e-mail address: edpubs@inet.ed.gov.

If you request an application from ED Pubs, be sure to identify
this competition as follows: CFDA Number 84.373X.
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:
(a) Additional 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
30 pages. To determine the number of pages or the equivalent, you must
use the following standards:
A ``page'' is 8.5'' x 11'', on one side only, with 1''
margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.

[[Page 44919]]

Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch)
all text in the application narrative, including titles, headings,
footnotes, quotations, references, 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: August 4,
2005.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: October 3, 2005.
Applications for grants under this competition may be submitted
electronically using the Grants.gov Apply site (Grants.gov), or in
paper format by mail or hand delivery. For information (including dates
and times) about how to submit your application electronically, or by
mail or hand delivery, please refer to section IV. 6. Other Submission
Requirements in this notice.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: October 13, 2005.
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: Applications for grants under
this competition may be submitted electronically or in paper format by
mail or hand delivery.
a. Electronic Submission of Applications.
We have been accepting applications electronically through the
Department's e-Application system since FY 2000. In order to expand on
those efforts and comply with the President's Management Agenda, we are
continuing to participate as a partner in the new government wide
Grants.gov Apply site in FY 2005. IDEA General Supervision Enhancement
Grant--CFDA Number 84.373X is one of the competitions included in this
project. We request your participation in Grants.gov.
If you choose to submit your application electronically, you must
use the 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.
You may access the electronic grant application for IDEA General
Supervision Enhancement Grant at: http://www.grants.gov. You must

search for the downloadable application package for this program by the
CFDA number. Do not include the CFDA number's alpha suffix in your
search.
Please note the following:
Your participation in Grants.gov is voluntary.
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 time and date
stamped. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted, and
must be date/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/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/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 application 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 program [competition] 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 the steps in the Grants.gov registration process (see http://www.Grants.gov/GetStarted
) and 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.
You will not receive additional point value because you
submit your application in electronic format, nor will we penalize you
if you submit your application in paper format.
You may submit all documents electronically, including all
information typically included on the Application for Federal Education
Assistance (ED 424), Budget Information--Non-Construction Programs (ED
524), and all necessary assurances and certifications. If you choose to
submit your application electronically, you must attach any narrative
sections of your application as files in a .DOC (document), .RTF (rich
text), or .PDF (Portable Document) format. If you upload a file type
other than the three file types specified above 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 an automatic acknowledgment from Grants.gov that contains a
Grants.gov tracking number. The Department will retrieve your
application from Grants.gov and send you a second confirmation by e-
mail that will include 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 System Unavailability

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 as described elsewhere in this notice. If you submit an
application after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the deadline date,
please contact the person listed elsewhere in this notice under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION

[[Page 44920]]

CONTACT, and provide an explanation of the technical problem you
experienced with Grants.gov, along with the Grants.gov Support Desk
Case Number (if available). 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: Extensions referred to 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 deadline date
and time or if the technical problem you experienced is unrelated to
the Grants.gov system.

b. Submission of Paper Applications by Mail.
If you submit your application in paper format by mail (through the
U.S. Postal Service or a commercial carrier), 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 84.373X), 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
84.373X), 7100 Old Landover Road, Landover, MD 20785-1506.

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, or
(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, or
(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 submit your application in paper format by hand delivery,
you (or a courier service) 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
84.373X), 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 4 of the Application for Federal Education
Assistance (ED 424) the CFDA number--and suffix letter, if any--of the
competition under which you are submitting your application.
(2) The Application Control Center will mail a grant application
receipt acknowledgment to you. If you do not receive the grant
application receipt acknowledgment 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.

V. Application Review Information

Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this competition are
from 34 CFR 75.210 of EDGAR and are listed 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 will notify you by mail.
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.
4. Performance Measures: To evaluate the overall success of
projects awarded under this competition, the Department will determine
at the end of each grant whether the State has been successful in
planning for the development, enhancement, or redesign of a
comprehensive system of State assessments (including State alternate
assessments), standards, and instructional supports, and/or whether the
grantee has developed or enhanced outcome indicators and methods to
collect and analyze outcome indicator data. Grantees will be expected
to report in final reports on the status of their planning for the
development, enhancement, or redesign of a comprehensive system of
State assessments (including State alternate assessments), standards,
and instructional supports, and/or the indicators and outcome data. (34
CFR 75.590)

VII. Agency Contact

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Wexler, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4019, Potomac Center Plaza,
Washington, DC 20202-2550. Telephone: (202) 245-7571.
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 by contacting the following office: The Grants and
Contracts Services Team, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland
Avenue, SW., Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-2550.
Telephone: (202) 245-7363.

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

[[Page 44921]]

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
.

John H. Hager,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 05-15460 Filed 8-3-05; 8:45 am]

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