[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 125 (Wednesday, June 30, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37780-37781]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-15921]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Proposed Waivers and Extensions of Project Periods: Presidential
Academies and Congressional Academies
AGENCY: Office of Innovation and Improvement, Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of proposed waiver and extension of project period.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in 34 CFR
75.250 and 75.261(c)(2) of the Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR), as they apply to projects funded
under the Presidential Academies for American History and Civics
Education, and 34 CFR 75.261(c)(2), as it applies to the project funded
under the Congressional Academies for Students of American History and
Civics Education. These regulations, respectively, generally prohibit
project periods exceeding five years and any project period extensions
involving the obligation of additional Federal funds. A waiver as
proposed would mean that (1) the project period for the two current
five-year grants funded under the Presidential Academies for American
History and Civics Education would be extended through fiscal year (FY)
2012, for up to an additional 24-month budget period, instead of ending
in FY 2010, and these grantees could thus receive additional Federal
funding (out of FY 2010 funds) beyond the five-year limitation
contained in 34 CFR 75.250 and notwithstanding the limitation in 34 CFR
75.261(c)(2) that prohibits extension of a project period if it
involves the obligation of additional Federal funds; and (2) the
project period of the one current three-year grantee funded under the
Congressional Academies for Students of American History and Civics
Education would be extended through FY 2012, for up to an additional
24-month budget period, instead of ending in FY 2010, and this grantee
would continue to receive additional Federal funds (out of FY 2010
funds) notwithstanding the limitation in 34 CFR 75.261(c)(2) that
prohibits extension of a project period if it involves the obligation
of additional Federal funds.
DATES: We must receive your comments on or before July 30, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this notice to Kelly O'Donnell,
U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4W253,
Washington, DC 20202-5960. If you prefer to send your comments by e-
mail, use the following address: [email protected]. You must include the
term ``Waiver'' in the subject line of your electronic message.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly O'Donnell. Telephone: (202) 205-
5231.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the
Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Invitation to Comment: We invite you to
submit comments regarding this notice.
During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public
comments about this notice of proposed waiver and extension of project
period in room 4W335, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, between
the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, Monday
through Friday of each week, except Federal holidays.
Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the
Rulemaking Record: On request we will provide an accommodation or
auxiliary aid to an individual with a disability who needs assistance
to review the comments or other documents in the public rulemaking
record for this notice. If you want to schedule an appointment for this
type of accommodation or auxiliary aid, please contact the person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Background
The Presidential Academies for American History and Civics
Education (Presidential Academies) program funds projects that offer
workshops for both veteran and new teachers of American history and
civics to strengthen their knowledge of, and preparation for, teaching
these subjects. The Congressional Academies for Students of American
History and Civics Education (Congressional Academies) program funds
projects that help students to develop a broader and deeper
understanding of these subjects. Currently, the Presidential Academies
program funds two grantees, and the Congressional Academies program
funds one grantee.
Entities that have been historically eligible for these programs
are: Institutions of higher education (IHEs), museums, libraries, and
other public and private agencies, organizations, and institutions
(including for-profit institutions) and consortia of such agencies,
organizations, and institutions. Applicants must provide evidence of
their organization's demonstrated expertise in historical methodology
or the teaching of history.
We seek this waiver and extension of project period in order to
enable each of the current grantees to strengthen the quality of its
evaluation and other data collection and reporting, and to conduct one
additional round of academy activities as approved in each grant award.
We believe the additional time and resources will provide information
to strengthen this grant competition as well as similar professional
development grant programs in coming years.
The Presidential and Congressional Academies projects are
relatively small, with defined intervention strategies consisting of
summer workshops and seminars. The small number of grants and the focus
of the projects provide a confined and structured environment in which
to collect data. Grantees will evaluate the effect of their new and
previous activities on teacher content knowledge and student
achievement in American history.
The additional budget period will provide resources and time for
the grantees to: (1) Collect information about the components and
design of their new and previous activities, (2) analyze their
intervention strategies to identify the components of each, (3) develop
data collection rubrics to determine if and the extent to which one or
more of the components are integrated into the participants' classroom
teaching, (4) collect data from the participating teachers on whether
and what specific components of the professional development
intervention are linked to improved content knowledge and student
achievement, (5) conduct an additional round of academies in 2011 (but
not in 2012), and (6) prepare and submit to the Department a final
report. Although the budget periods will be extended for up to 24
months to allow for completion of the evaluation activities, grantees
would receive only one additional year's worth of funds out of the FY
2010 appropriation.
In the case of these projects we believe it is preferable to review
requests for continuation awards from the current grantees and extend
currently funded projects, rather than
[[Page 37781]]
hold a new competition in FY 2010. Authorizing current grantees to
request additional funds would be a more appropriate and effective
means of continuing current projects and would result in a more cost-
effective use of Federal funds.
Therefore, the Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in 34
CFR 75.250, which prohibit project periods exceeding five years, and
the requirements in 34 CFR 75.261(c)(2), which limit the extension of a
project period if it involves the obligation of additional Federal
funds. With this waiver and extension of project period: (1) Current
Presidential Academies and Congressional Academies grantees would
receive FY 2010 funds and continue to operate through FY 2012 to
implement an additional budget period of up to 24 months; and (2) we
would not announce a new competition or make new awards under the
Presidential Academies or Congressional Academies programs in FY 2010.
If the waiver of 34 CFR 75.250 and 34 CFR 75.261(c)(2) proposed in
this notice is made, the requirements applicable to continuation awards
for current Presidential Academies and Congressional Academies grantees
in 34 CFR 75.253 would apply to any continuation awards sought by
eligible current grantees under these programs.
The waiver of 34 CFR 75.250 and 75.261(c)(2) would not exempt
current Presidential Academies and Congressional Academies grantees
from the account-closing provisions of 31 U.S.C. 1552(a), nor would it
extend the availability of funds previously awarded to current
grantees. As a result of 31 U.S.C. 1552(a), appropriations available
for a limited period may be used for payment of valid obligations for
only five years after the expiration of their period of availability
for Federal obligation. After that time, the unexpended balance of
those funds is canceled and returned to the U.S. Treasury Department
and is unavailable for restoration for any purpose.
We will announce the final waiver and extension of project period,
if any, in a notice in the Federal Register. We will determine the
final waiver and extension of project period after considering
responses to this notice and other information available to the
Department.
Proposed Waiver and Extension of Project Period--Presidential Academies
and Congressional Academies
The Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in 34 CFR 75.250
and 75.261(c)(2), which prohibit project periods exceeding five years
and extensions of project periods that involve the obligation of
additional Federal funds, for the current Presidential Academies and
Congressional Academies grantees.
Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
The Secretary certifies that this proposed waiver and extension of
project period would not have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
The small entities that would be affected by this notice are those
that have been historically eligible to receive an award under a
competition for the Presidential Academies and Congressional Academies
programs:
(1) Institutions of higher education.
(2) Museums.
(3) Libraries.
(4) Other public and private agencies, organizations and
institutions (including for-profit institutions).
(5) Consortia of such agencies, organizations, and institutions
that show their organizations' demonstrated expertise in historical
methodology or the teaching of history.
The Secretary certifies that the proposed waiver and extension of
project period would not have a significant economic impact on these
entities because the proposed waivers and the activities required to
support the additional years of funding would not impose excessive
regulatory burdens or require unnecessary Federal supervision. The
proposed waiver would impose minimal requirements to ensure the proper
expenditure of program funds, including requirements that are standard
for continuation awards.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
This notice does not contain any information collection
requirements.
Intergovernmental Review
These programs are 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 a 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
actions for these programs.
Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print,
audiotape, or computer diskette) on request to the contact person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
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.
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.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers 84.215A,
Presidential Academies for American History and Civics Education,
and 84.215D, Congressional Academies for Students of American
History and Civics Education)
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6713.
Dated: June 25, 2010.
James H. Shelton, III,
Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement.
[FR Doc. 2010-15921 Filed 6-29-10; 8:45 am]
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