[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 22, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14626-14628]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-2781]
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Part IV
Department of Education
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Institute of Education Sciences; Notice Inviting Applications for
Grants To Support Education Research for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007; Notice
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 55 / Wednesday, March 22, 2006 /
Notices
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA Nos. 84.305A, 84.305B, 84.324A, 84.324B, and 84.902B]
Institute of Education Sciences; Notice Inviting Applications for
Grants To Support Education Research for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007
SUMMARY: The Director of the Institute of Education Sciences
(Institute) announces the Institute's FY 2007 competitions for grants
to support education research. The Director takes this action under the
Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Title I of Public Law 107-279.
The intent of these grants is to provide national leadership in
expanding fundamental knowledge and understanding of education from
early childhood education through postsecondary and adult education.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Mission of Institute
A central purpose of the Institute is to provide parents,
educators, students, researchers, policymakers, and the general public
with reliable and valid information about education practices that
support learning and improve academic achievement and access to
education opportunities for all students. In carrying out its mission,
the Institute provides support for programs of research in areas of
demonstrated national need.
Competitions in This Notice
The Institute will conduct five research competitions in FY 2007
through three of its National Education Centers.
The National Center for Education Research (NCER) will hold two
competitions. Under the first competition, NCER will consider only
applications that address one of the following education research or
research training topics:
Reading and Writing.
Mathematics and Science Education.
Teacher Quality--Reading and Writing.
Teacher Quality--Mathematics and Science Education.
Education Leadership.
Education Policy, Finance, and Systems.
Postdoctoral Research Training.
Under the second competition, NCER will consider only applications
that address one of the following education research topics:
Reading and Writing.
Interventions for Struggling Adolescent and Adult Readers.
Mathematics and Science Education.
Teacher Quality--Reading and Writing.
Teacher Quality--Mathematics and Science Education.
Cognition and Student Learning.
High School Reform.
Postsecondary Education.
The National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) will
also hold two competitions. Under the first competition, NCSER will
consider only applications that address one of the following special
education research topics:
Early Intervention, Early Childhood Special Education, and
Assessment for Young Children with Disabilities.
Mathematics and Science Education.
Reading, Writing, and Language Development.
Serious Behavior Disorders.
Assessment for Accountability.
Under the second competition, NCSER will consider only applications
that address one of the following special education research topics:
Response to Intervention.
Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Teacher Quality and Quality of Other Service Providers for
Students with Disabilities.
Secondary and Transition Services.
Individualized Education Programs and Individualized
Family Service Plans.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) will conduct
one competition. Under this competition, NCES will consider only
applications that address the following topic:
Secondary Analysis of Data from the National Assessment of
Educational Progress.
Eligible Applicants
Applicants that have the ability and capacity to conduct
scientifically valid research are eligible to apply. Eligible
applicants include, but are not limited to, non-profit and for-profit
organizations and public and private agencies and institutions, such as
colleges and universities.
Request for Applications and Other Information
Information regarding program and application requirements for the
competitions is contained in the NCER, NCSER, and NCES Request for
Applications packages (RFA), which will be available at the following
Web site: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ies/programs.html no
later than April 7, 2006. Interested potential applicants should
periodically check the Institute's Web site.
Information regarding selection criteria and review procedures will
be provided in the RFA package. Information regarding the new
Government-wide SF-424 application form for research and research-
related activities, which will be used for these competitions, will
also be available at the above Web site.
Fiscal Information
Although Congress has not enacted a final appropriation for FY
2007, the Institute is inviting applications for these competitions now
so that it may be prepared to make awards following final action on the
Department's appropriations bill. The President's FY 2007 Budget for
the Institute includes sufficient funding for all of the competitions
included in this notice. The actual award of grants will depend on the
availability of funds. The number of awards made under each competition
will depend upon the quality of the applications received for that
competition. The size of the awards will depend upon the scope of the
projects proposed.
Applicable Regulations
The Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR)
in 34 CFR parts 74, 77, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86 (part 86 applies only to
institutions of higher education), 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 its education research program,
the Institute annually assesses the quality and relevance of newly
funded research projects, as well as the quality of research
publications that result from its funded research projects. Two
indicators address the quality of new projects. First, external panels
of qualified scientists review the quality of new research
applications, and the percentage of newly funded projects that receive
an average panel score of excellent or higher is determined. Second,
because much of the Institute's work focuses on questions of
effectiveness, newly funded applications are evaluated to identify
those that address causal questions and then to determine what
percentage of those projects use randomized field trials to answer the
causal questions. To evaluate the relevance of newly funded research
projects, a panel of experienced education practitioners and
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administrators reviews descriptions of a randomly selected sample of
newly funded projects and rates the degree to which the projects are
relevant to educational practice.
Two indicators address the quality of new research publications,
both print and web-based, which are the products of funded research
projects. First, an external panel of eminent scientists reviews the
quality of a randomly selected sample of new publications, and the
percentage of new publications that are deemed to be of high quality is
determined. Second, publications that address causal questions are
identified and are then reviewed to determine the percentage that
employ randomized experimental designs. As funded research projects are
completed, the Institute will subject the final reports to similar
reviews.
To evaluate impact, the Institute surveys kindergarten through
college level policymakers and administrators once every three years to
determine the percentage who report routinely considering evidence of
effectiveness before adopting educational products and approaches.
Application Procedures
The Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA) of 1998 (Pub. L.
105-277) and the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement
Act of 1999 (Pub. L. 106-107) encourage us to undertake initiatives to
improve our grant processes. Enhancing the ability of individuals and
entities to conduct business with us electronically is a major part of
our response to these laws. Therefore, we are taking steps to adopt the
Internet as our chief means of conducting transactions in order to
improve services to our customers and to simplify and expedite our
business processes.
We are requiring that applications for the FY 2007 competitions be
submitted electronically to the following Web site: https://ies.constellagroup.com. Information on the software to be used in
submitting applications will be available at the same Web site.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The contact person associated with a
particular research competition is listed in the chart at the end of
this notice and in the RFA. The date on which applications will be
available, the deadline for transmittal of applications, the estimated
range of awards, and the project period are also listed in the chart
and in the RFA that will be posted at: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ies/programs.html.
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 under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 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. 9501 et seq.
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN22MR06.002
Dated: March 17, 2006.
Grover J. Whitehurst,
Director, Institute of Education Sciences.
[FR Doc. 06-2781 Filed 3-21-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-C