FR Doc E8-4044[Federal Register: March 3, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 42)]
[Notices]
[Page 11503-11510]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03mr08-116]
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Part IV
Department of Education
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Office of Innovation and Improvement; Overview Information: School
Leadership Grant Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards
for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008; Notice
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Innovation and Improvement; Overview Information:
School Leadership Grant Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New
Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.363A.
Dates:
Applications Available: March 3, 2008.
Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply: April 2, 2008.
Dates of Pre-Application Meetings: March 31, 2008.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: May 2, 2008.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: July 1, 2008.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: The School Leadership program is designed to
assist high-need local educational agencies (LEAs) in the development,
enhancement, or expansion of innovative programs to recruit, train, and
retain principals (including assistant principals) through such
activities as:
Providing financial incentives to aspiring new principals;
Providing stipends to principals who mentor new
principals;
Carrying out professional development programs in
instructional leadership and management; and
Providing incentives that are appropriate for teachers or
individuals from other fields who want to become principals and that
are effective in retaining new principals.
Priorities: This competition includes one competitive preference
priority and one invitational priority that are explained in the
following paragraphs.
Competitive Preference Priority: This priority is from the notice
of final priorities for discretionary grant programs, published in the
Federal Register on October 11, 2006 (71 FR 60046). Under 34 CFR
75.105(c)(2)(i) we award up to an additional 15 points to an
application, depending on how well the application meets this priority.
This priority is:
School Districts with Schools in Need of Improvement, Corrective
Action, or Restructuring. Projects that help school districts implement
academic and structural interventions in schools that have been
identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring under
section 1116 of Title I, part A, of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind
Act of 2001.
Note: In addressing this priority, applicants are encouraged to
describe how they will assess the specific instructional needs of
the teachers and the academic needs of the student population in
schools that have been identified for improvement, corrective
action, or restructuring. Applicants are encouraged to use the
information from the assessment and describe how the applicant will
recruit, select, train, and support school leader candidates to
address the teaching and learning challenges identified in the
schools to be served by the project.
Invitational Priority: For FY 2008, this priority is an
invitational priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) we do not give an
application that meets the invitational priority a competitive or
absolute preference over other applications.
This priority is:
Projects that develop and implement or expand innovative programs
that address the leadership needs specific to schools in the high-need
LEAs to be served by the project and that lead to the certification,
hiring, and retention of principals or assistant principals in those
schools.
Background: The Department recognizes the important impact that
effective school leaders can have on teaching and learning. We know
that successful principals promote in their schools a culture of
achievement for all students. These principals hold themselves and
others accountable for improving their schools. They work to ensure
that teachers and other instructional staff have the resources and
other supports they need to foster high academic achievement in all
students.
In the course of administering the School Leadership program over
the last six years, we have found that high-need LEAs typically
encounter a number of barriers to recruiting, selecting, and retaining
high quality principals and assistant principals. The Secretary
believes the School Leadership program should assist these LEAs in
overcoming these barriers and enhance their ability to retain school
leaders qualified to address how to improve student academic
achievement and other school challenges.
One of the barriers high-need LEAs face is recruiting a sufficient
number of qualified and talented school leaders to serve in their
schools. Only a limited number of individuals who are certified to work
as principals or assistant principals choose to take a school
leadership position in high-need LEAs, much less schools in need of
improvement or corrective action. Some reasons prospective candidates
avoid leadership positions in high-need LEAs include the long hours
required, reduced job security, stress, and high levels of
accountability for student achievement. Many candidates also have
limited understanding of how to work in schools with high poverty
rates, racial isolation, and low salaries for school personnel. In
addition, unless they are well aligned with the conditions of a high-
need LEA and the demands of its school leadership positions, State-
approved certification programs may not adequately prepare potential
candidates to assume responsibility as instructional leaders of their
schools and greater school communities for effectively promoting
increased student achievement of all students.
Data reported in the annual performance reports submitted to the
Department by FY 2002 and FY 2005 School Leadership program grantees
indicate that projects demonstrating the greatest success in meeting
their application objectives were closely aligned with the needs of the
LEAs served. According to these data, projects were successful if their
school leadership development strategy (1) considered the leadership
skills needed in a particular school context, and then (2) designed
program curriculum and other supports to help program participants
develop those skills.
Finally, while somewhat limited in scope, several studies have
produced compelling evidence showing that retention of school leaders
is linked to (1) rigorous selection criteria, as well as (2)
preparation that is both aligned with national, State, or local
standards, and includes job-embedded training linked to a well-
articulated and designed mentoring and coaching strategy. (Hess, F.M.,
& Kelly, A.P. (2005). Learning to Lead: What Gets Taught in Principal
Preparation Programs. Cambridge: Harvard University.) (Levine, A.
(2005, March). Educating School Leaders. New York: The Education
Schools Project, Teachers College Columbia University.)
Given the importance of developing school leaders who have the
skills needed to help all students in schools in high-need LEAs achieve
to high academic standards, the Secretary specifically invites
applications that propose projects that will--
(1) Conduct an assessment to identify the school leadership needs
of schools that are not being met by existing applicant pools and
existing school leadership training programs;
(2) Develop and implement, or expand, an innovative program leading
to certification of school principals and assistant principals (or
both) that includes recruitment, selection, and
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training activities that address these unmet needs;
(3) Develop and implement innovative strategies to retain project
participants in schools in need of improvement or corrective action;
and
(4) Complete a high-quality project evaluation.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6651(b).
Applicable Regulations: (a) 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. (b) The notice of final priorities
for discretionary grant programs published in the Federal Register on
October 11, 2006 (71 FR 60046).
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 institutions of
higher education only.
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
Estimated Available Funds: $14,300,000.
Estimated Range of Awards: $250,000-$750,000.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $500,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 24-30.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 60 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: High-need LEAs, consortia of high-need
LEAs, or partnerships that consist of high-need LEAs, and nonprofit
organizations (which may be a community- or faith-based organization),
or institutions of higher education. Applicants are expected to
identify and confirm in their applications that the participating
LEA(s) meet the definition of ``high-need'' in section 2102(3) of the
ESEA.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This program does not require cost
sharing or matching.
3. Other Eligibility Information: Definition of ``High-Need LEA.''
An eligible application must propose a project that benefits one or
more ``high-need LEAs.'' As defined in section 2102(3) of the ESEA, the
term ``high-need LEA'' is an LEA--
(a)(1) That serves not fewer than 10,000 children from families
with incomes below the poverty line, or (2) for which not less than 20
percent of the children served by the LEA are from families with
incomes below the poverty line; and
(b) For which there is (1) a high percentage of teachers not
teaching in the academic subjects or grade levels the teachers were
trained to teach, or (2) a high percentage of teachers with emergency,
provisional, or temporary certification or licensing.
So that the Department may be able to confirm the eligibility of
the LEAs that projects propose to serve, applicants are expected to
include information in their applications that demonstrates that each
participating LEA in the project is a high-need LEA, as defined in
section 2102(3) of the ESEA. Generally, this information should be
based on the most recent available data on the number of children from
families with incomes below the poverty line that the LEA serves. In
this regard, when presenting evidence to support that each
participating LEA meets the definition of a high-need LEA, an
application should consider the following:
The Department is not aware of any consistent available LEA data--
other than data periodically gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau--that
would show that an LEA serves the required number or percentage of
children (individuals ages 5 through 17) from families below the
poverty line (as defined in section 9101(33) of the ESEA).
Note: The data that many LEAs collect on the number of children
eligible for free- and reduced-priced meal subsidies may not be used
to satisfy the requirements under component (a) of the statutory
definition of high-need LEA. Those data do not reflect children from
families with incomes below the poverty line, as that term is
defined in section 9101(33) of the ESEA.
Therefore, absent a showing of alternative LEA data that reliably
show the number of children from families with incomes below the
poverty line that are served by the LEA, the Department expects that
the eligibility of an LEA as a ``high-need LEA'' under component (a)
will be determined on the basis of the most recent U.S. Census Bureau
data. U.S. Census Bureau data are available for all school districts
with geographic boundaries that existed when the U.S. Census Bureau
collected its information. The link to the census data is:
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/saipe/district.html. The Department
also makes these data available at its Web site at:
http://www.ed.gov/programs/lsl/eligibility.html.
(Although the Department posted this listing
specifically for the Improving Literacy through School Libraries
program, these same data apply to the definition of a ``high-need LEA''
used for purposes of eligibility under the School Leadership program.)
LEAs, such as newly formed school districts or charter school in
States that accord them LEA status, are not included in Census Bureau
poverty data. Eligibility of these particular LEAs will be determined
on a case-by-case basis after review of information in the application
that addresses as well as possible the poverty level of children these
LEAs serve in relation to section 2102(3) of the ESEA.
With regard to component (b)(1) of the definition of ``high-need
LEA'' in section 2102(3) of the ESEA, the Department interprets the
phrase ``a high percentage of teachers not teaching in the academic
subjects or grade levels that the teachers were trained to teach'' as
being equivalent to ``a high percentage of teachers teaching out of
field.'' The Department expects that LEAs that rely on component (b)(1)
of the definition will demonstrate that they have a high percentage of
teachers teaching out of field. The Department is not aware of any
specific data that would demonstrate a ``high percentage'' of teachers
teaching out of field. Accordingly, the Department will review this
aspect of an LEA's proposed eligibility on a case-by-case basis. To
decrease the level of uncertainty, an applicant might choose instead to
demonstrate that each participating LEA meets the eligibility test for
a high-need LEA under component (b)(2) of the definition.
For component (b)(2) of the definition of ``high-need LEA,'' the
data that LEAs likely will find most readily available on the
percentage of teachers with emergency, provisional, or temporary
certification or licensing are the data they provide to their States
for inclusion in the reports on the quality of teacher preparation that
the States provide to the Department in October of each year as
required by section 207 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended
(HEA). In these reports, States provide the percentage of teachers in
their LEAs teaching on waivers of State certification, both on a
statewide basis and in high-poverty LEAs. The ``provisional'' HEA Title
II accountability data for the national percentage of teachers on
waivers to full State certification is 1.5 percent for the 2006-2007
reporting year.
Because the Department is in the process of certifying all data
received in the October 2007 State HEA section 207 reports, the data in
these reports, including the national average of teachers on waivers of
State certification, are still provisional. However, to provide
adequate time for the preparation and review of project applications
and award of new grants,
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the Department will use the 1.5 percent national average for purpose of
this competition. Accordingly, an LEA will be considered to have met
component (b)(2) of the definition if the data that it provided to the
State for purpose of the State's October 2007 HEA section 207 report
demonstrate that at least 1.5 percent of its teachers were on waivers
of State certification requirements.
Consistent with the methodology the Department used in the FY 2007
competition under the Transition to Teaching program, in which
participating LEAs were required to be ``high-need LEAs'' as defined in
section 2102(3) of the ESEA, the Department will determine that an LEA
with over 1.5 percent of its teachers having emergency, provisional, or
temporary certification or licensing (i.e., teachers on waivers), as
reflected in data the State uses to compile its October 2007 State
report, has a ``high percentage'' of its teachers in this category. We
expect that an LEA that chooses not to rely on the data provided to the
State for purposes of October 2007 reporting required by section 207 of
the HEA would provide other evidence that demonstrates that it meets
the eligibility requirement under component (b)(2) of the statutory
definition of ``high-need LEA.'' Moreover, should an LEA with a
percentage of teachers on waivers of less than 1.5 percent believe it
too has a ``high percentage'' of its teachers with emergency,
provisional, or temporary certification or licensing, the Department
will determine whether that LEA meets element (b)(2) of the definition
of high-need LEA on a case-by-case basis.
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), call, toll free: 1-877-
576-7734.
You can contact ED Pubs at its Web site, also:
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html or at its e-mail address:
edpubs@inet.ed.gov.
If you request an application package from ED Pubs, be sure to
identify this program or competition as follows: CFDA number 84.363A.
Individuals with disabilities can obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print,
audiotape, or computer diskette) by contacting the person listed under
Alternative Format in section VIII of this notice.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission: Requirements
concerning the content of an application, together with the forms you
must submit, are in the application package for this program.
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. Applicants are strongly
encouraged to limit the application narrative to the equivalent of no
more than 25 pages, using the following standards:
A ``page'' is 8.5 x 11, on one side
only, with 1 margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.
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).
Use one of the following fonts: Times New Roman, Courier,
Courier New, or Arial. An application submitted in any other font
(including Times Roman or Arial Narrow) will not be accepted.
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, or the letters of support. However, the page
limit does apply to all of the application narrative section (Part
III).
3. Submission Dates and Times:
Applications Available: March 3, 2008.
Deadline for Notice of Intent To Apply: April 2, 2008.
Dates of Pre-Application Meetings: The Department will hold two
pre-application meetings for prospective applicants on March 31, 2008.
The first meeting will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and the
second meeting (a repeat of the morning meeting) will be held from 2:30
p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the U.S. Department of Education, Barnard
Auditorium, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC. Interested
parties are invited to participate in either meeting to discuss the
purpose of the School Leadership Program, competitive and invitational
priorities, selection criteria, application content, submission
requirements, and reporting requirements.
Individuals interested in attending this meeting are encouraged to
pre-register by e-mailing their name, organization, and contact
information with the subject heading PRE-APPLICATION MEETING to
SLP@ed.gov. There is no registration fee for attending this meeting.
For further information contact Beatriz Ceja, U.S. Department of
Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement, room 4W210, 400
Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: (202) 205-5009
or by e-mail: SLP@ed.gov.
Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities at the Pre-Application
Meeting
The meeting site is accessible to individuals with disabilities. If
you will need an auxiliary aid or service to participate in the meeting
(e.g., interpreting service, assistive listening device, or materials
in an alternate format), notify the contact person listed in this
notice at least two weeks before the scheduled meeting date. Although
we will attempt to meet a request we receive after that date, we may
not be able to make available the requested auxiliary aid or service
because of insufficient time to arrange it.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: May 2, 2008.
Applications for grants under this program 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 in paper format by mail or hand delivery
if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, please refer to section IV. 6. Other 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 in section VII
in this notice. If the Department provides an accommodation or
auxiliary aid to an individual with a disability in connection with the
application process, the individual's application remains subject to
all other requirements and limitations in this notice.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: July 1, 2008.
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
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is in the application package for this program.
5. Funding Restrictions: We reference regulations outlining funding
restrictions in the Applicable Regulations section in this notice.
6. Other Submission Requirements: Applications for grants under
this program 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 School Leadership Grant Program,
CFDA Number 84.363A, 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 School
Leadership Grant Program 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
(e.g., search for 84.363, not 84.363A).
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 program 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 .DOC (document), .RTF (rich text), or .PDF (Portable
Document) format. If you upload a file type other than the three file
types 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, toll free, 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
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in section VII in this notice and
provide an
[[Page 11508]]
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: Beatriz Ceja, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4W210,
Washington, DC 20202-5960. FAX: (202) 401-8466.
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 84.363A)
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 84.363A)
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.
(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 84.363A), 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.
V. Application Review Information
1. Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this program are
from 34 CFR 75.210. The maximum score for all of the selection criteria
is 100 points. The maximum score for each criterion is indicated in
parentheses. Each criterion also includes the factors that the
reviewers will consider in determining how well an application meets
the criterion. Any notes following a selection criterion are intended
to provide guidance to help applicants in preparing their applications
only, and are not statutory or regulatory requirements for this
competition. The criteria are as follows:
A. Quality of the project design (40 points). The Secretary
considers the quality of the design for the proposed project. In
determining the quality of the design of the project, the Secretary
considers the following factors:
1. The extent to which the goals, objectives, and outcomes to be
achieved by the proposed project are clearly specified and measurable.
2. The extent to which the design of the proposed project reflects
up-to-date knowledge from research and effective practice.
3. The extent to which the design of the proposed project is
appropriate to, and will successfully address, the needs of the target
population or other identified needs.
4. The extent to which the proposed project is part of a
comprehensive effort to improve teaching and learning and support
rigorous academic standards for students.
Note: The Secretary encourages applicants to address this
criterion by discussing the overall project model, including such
key elements as the project's research base, proposed participants,
participant recruitment and selection strategies, plans for using
incentives for teachers or individuals from other fields who want to
become principals and assistant principals, activities to prepare
and certify principals and
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assistant principals, program delivery strategies, plans for
implementing on-site or school-based work experiences, activities
for participant placement, and retention strategies that include
follow-up support.
B. Quality of the project evaluation (25 points). The Secretary
considers the quality of the evaluation to be conducted of the proposed
project. In determining the quality of the evaluation, the Secretary
considers the following factors:
1. The extent to which the methods of evaluation include the use of
objective performance measures that are clearly related to the intended
outcomes of the project and will produce quantitative and qualitative
data to the extent possible.
2. The extent to which the methods of evaluation will provide
performance feedback and permit periodic assessment of progress toward
achieving intended outcomes.
Note: The Secretary encourages applicants to consider how this
criterion may affect both their annual performance reports and the
final evaluation submitted under 34 CFR 75.590. In addition, the
Secretary encourages applicants to address this criterion by
including proposed benchmarks for assessing both short- and long-
term progress toward the specific project objectives and outcome
measures they would use to assess the project's impact on teaching
and learning or other important outcomes for project participants.
Applicants may consider the use of logic models to identify the
project's inputs, outputs, and outcomes.
The Secretary also encourages applicants to describe the
qualifications of that evaluator as well as
The types of data that will be collected;
When these various types of data will be collected;
What methods of data collections will be used;
What evaluation instruments will be developed and when;
How the data will be analyzed;
When reports of evaluation results and outcomes will be
available; and
How the applicant will use the information collected
through the evaluation to monitor progress of the funded project and to
provide accountability information both about the success at the
initial site or sites and about effective strategies for replication in
other settings.
Applicants are encouraged to devote an appropriate level of
resources to project evaluation.
C. Quality of project services (20 points). The Secretary considers
the quality of the services to be provided by the proposed project. In
determining the quality of the services to be provided by the proposed
project, the Secretary considers the quality and sufficiency of
strategies for ensuring equal access and treatment for eligible project
participants who are members of groups that have traditionally been
underrepresented based on race, color, national origin, gender, age, or
disability. In addition, the Secretary considers one or more of the
following factors;
1. The extent to which the services to be provided by the proposed
project are appropriate to the needs of the intended recipients or
beneficiaries of those services.
2. The extent to which the training or professional development
services to be provided by the proposed project are of sufficient
quality, intensity, and duration to lead to improvements in practice
among the recipients of those services.
3. The likelihood that the services to be provided by the proposed
project will lead to improvements in the achievement of students as
measured against rigorous academic standards.
4. The extent to which the services to be provided by the proposed
project involve the collaboration of appropriate partners for
maximizing the effectiveness of project services.
Note: The Secretary encourages applicants to describe how the
proposed services will be responsive to the leadership needs of the
LEAs served by the project and how they will be different from or
will strengthen current leadership programs, and how the proposed
services will prepare, certify, place, and support highly qualified
school leaders who are able to address the needs of the schools in
which they will be placed.
D. Quality of the management plan (15 points). The Secretary
considers the quality of the management plan for the proposed project.
In determining the quality of the management plan for the proposed
project, the Secretary considers the following factors:
1. The adequacy of the management plan to achieve the objectives of
the proposed project on time and within budget, including clearly
defined responsibilities, timelines, and milestones for accomplishing
project tasks.
2. The extent to which the time commitments of the project director
and principal investigator and other key project personnel are
appropriate and adequate to meet the objectives of the proposed
project.
3. The adequacy of procedures for ensuring feedback and continuous
improvement in the operation of the proposed project.
Note: The Secretary encourages applicants to address this
criterion by providing specific information such as--
The name, title, and time commitment of each key
person, and the responsibilities of each individual working to help
implement the project's goals and objectives;
A year-to-year timeline for undertaking important
project activities, with benchmarks for determining whether the
project is achieving its stated goals and objectives; and
The strategies for monitoring whether or not the
project is meeting its goals and objectives, and for making mid-
course corrections, as appropriate.
2. Applicant's Past Performance and Compliance History: In
accordance with 34 CFR 75.217(d)(3)(ii), the Secretary may consider an
applicant's past performance and compliance history when evaluating
applications and in making funding decisions.
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 Notice
(GAN). We may notify you informally, also.
If your application is not evaluated or not selected for funding,
we notify you.
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 in this notice.
We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of
an award in the Applicable Regulations section in 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. If you receive a multi-year award, you must submit an
annual performance report that provides the most current performance
and financial expenditure information as directed by the Secretary
under 34 CFR 75.118. The Secretary may also require more frequent
performance reports under 34 CFR 75.720(c). For specific requirements
on reporting, please go to
http://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/appforms/appforms.html.
4. Performance Measures: The Secretary has established two
performance measures for assessing the effectiveness of the School
Leadership Program: (1) the percentage of participants who become
certified principals or assistant principals who are then placed and
retained in schools
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in high-need LEAs, and (2) the percentage of principals or assistant
principals who participate in professional development activities and
show an increase in their pre-post scores on a standardized measure of
principal skills and who are retained in their positions in schools in
high-need LEAs for at least two years. Grantees will be expected to
provide data on each component of the two measures.
VII. Agency Contacts
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beatriz Ceja, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4W210, Washington, DC 20202-
5960. Telephone: (202) 205-5009 or or by e-mail: SLP@ed.gov.
If you use a TDD, call the FRS, toll free, at 1-800-877-8339.
VIII. Other Information
Alternative Format: 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) on
request to the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT in section VII in this notice.
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.
Dated: February 27, 2008.
Morgan S. Brown,
Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement.
[FR Doc. E8-4044 Filed 2-29-08; 8:45 am]
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