[Federal Register: August 27, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 167)]
[Notices]               
[Page 50601-50603]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27au08-26]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

 
Discretionary Grant Programs

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of intent to use certain discretionary grant priorities 
in fiscal year 2009.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes to continue the use in fiscal year (FY) 
2009 of priorities that the Department of Education (Department) 
previously established for use in any discretionary

[[Page 50602]]

grant program competition in FY 2007 and FY 2008. We take this action 
in order to continue to focus Federal financial assistance on expanding 
the number of programs and projects Department-wide that support 
activities in areas of greatest educational need. We are proposing to 
continue the use of the priorities on a Department-wide basis, so that 
Department offices can use one or more of these priorities in any 
discretionary grant competition, as appropriate.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before September 26, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this proposed action to Margo K. 
Anderson, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 
4W311, Washington, DC 20202-5910. If you prefer to send your comments 
through the Internet, use the following address: comments@ed.gov.
    You must include the term ``FY 2009 Use of Department-wide 
Priorities'' in the subject line of your electronic message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Margo Anderson. Telephone: (202) 205-
3010 or via Internet at Margo.Anderson@ed.gov.
    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 contact person listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Invitation to Comment

    We invite you to submit comments regarding this proposed action.
    We invite you to assist us in complying with the specific 
requirements of Executive Order 12866 and its overall requirement of 
reducing regulatory burden that might result from this proposed action. 
Please let us know of any further opportunities we should take to 
reduce potential costs or increase potential benefits while preserving 
the effective and efficient administration of the Department's 
programs.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public 
comments about this proposed action in room 4W333, 400 Maryland Avenue, 
SW., Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Eastern 
time, Monday through Friday of each week except Federal holidays.

Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Rulemaking 
Record

    On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or 
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs 
assistance to review the comments or other documents in the public 
rulemaking record for this proposed action. If you want to schedule an 
appointment for this type of aid, please contact the person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

General

    On October 11, 2006 (71 FR 60046), the Department established the 
following menu of priorities for discretionary grant programs to help 
support rigorous instruction, high standards, and accountability for 
results:
    1. Mathematics.
    2. Science.
    3. Critical-Need Languages.
    4. Secondary Schools.
    5. Professional Development for Secondary School Teachers.
    6. School Districts with Schools in Need of Improvement, Corrective 
Action, or Restructuring.
    7. Student Achievement Data.
    8. State Data Systems.
    These priorities were available for use in FY 2007 and FY 2008. The 
Department believes that these priorities are still relevant to the 
Nation's educational needs and is proposing to continue their use in FY 
2009.
    These priorities were designed to respond to the fact that 
America's rapidly changing economy requires an educational system that 
produces high school graduates with the skills needed to be successful 
in postsecondary education and the workforce. In addition to improving 
the academic achievement of students in mathematics and science, the 
content-specific priorities established for FY 2007 and FY 2008 were 
designed to (a) expand the number of Americans mastering foreign 
languages critical to national security and to our participation in the 
global economy; (b) help high schools develop a larger pool of 
technically adept and numerically literate Americans; a continual 
supply of highly trained mathematicians, scientists, and engineers; and 
more students with higher levels of proficiency in critical-need 
languages; and (c) enhance high-quality professional development for 
secondary school teachers to help ensure that these teachers have the 
content knowledge and expertise required to improve student 
achievement. Another priority was designed to focus assistance on 
schools in need of improvement, corrective action, or restructuring. We 
believe that extending the use of these priorities will continue 
progress in these areas.
    In addition, the Secretary established two priorities for use in FY 
2007 and FY 2008 to ensure that data are available to inform decision-
making. One of these priorities focuses resources on collecting data to 
assess the effects of projects on the academic achievement of student 
participants relative to appropriate comparison or control groups. 
Continued use of this priority will enable the Department to fund 
interventions that are designed to collect the best available data to 
determine the impact of the proposed interventions on student 
achievement and to inform future improvement efforts. The second 
focuses resources on projects to help educators use information from 
State data systems to improve student achievement or other appropriate 
outcomes.

Discussion of Proposed Action

    We will announce the final action in a notice in the Federal 
Register. We will determine the final action after considering public 
comments on the proposal in this notice and other information available 
to the Department. This notice does not preclude the Secretary from 
proposing other actions, including the use of additional priorities, 
subject to meeting applicable rulemaking requirements.

    Note: This notice does not solicit applications. If we choose to 
use one or more of the priorities referenced in this notice in FY 
2009, we will invite applications for new awards under the 
applicable program through a notice in the Federal Register. When 
inviting applications we designate the priorities as absolute, 
competitive preference, or invitational. The effect of each type of 
priority follows:
    Absolute priority: Under an absolute priority we consider only 
applications that meet the priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(3)).
    Competitive preference priority: Under a competitive preference 
priority we give competitive preference to an application by either 
(1) awarding additional points, depending on how well or the extent 
to which the application meets the competitive preference priority 
(34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i)); or (2) selecting an application that meets 
the competitive priority over an application of comparable merit 
that does not meet the priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(ii)).
    Invitational priority: Under an invitational priority we are 
particularly interested in applications that meet the invitational 
priority. However, we do not give an application that meets the 
invitational priority a competitive or absolute preference over 
other applications (34 CFR 75.105(c)(1)).


[[Page 50603]]



Proposed Action

    The Secretary proposes to continue to use certain priorities for 
discretionary grant competitions in FY 2009, as appropriate. The 
Secretary intends that these priorities, which were originally 
established for use in FY 2007 and FY 2008, will allow the Department 
to continue to focus limited Federal resources on areas of greatest 
educational need in FY 2009. The Secretary recognizes that some of the 
priorities will not be appropriate for particular programs.
    The priorities the Secretary proposes to make available for use by 
the Department in discretionary grant competitions in FY 2009 are as 
follows:
    Priority 1--Mathematics. Projects that support activities to enable 
students to achieve proficiency or advanced proficiency in mathematics.
    Priority 2--Science. Projects that support activities to enable 
students to achieve proficiency or advanced proficiency in science.
    Priority 3--Critical-Need Languages. Projects that support 
activities to enable students to achieve proficiency or advanced 
proficiency in one or more of the following less commonly taught 
languages: Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian, and languages in 
the Indic, Iranian, and Turkic language families.
    Priority 4--Secondary Schools. Projects that support activities and 
interventions aimed at improving the academic achievement of secondary 
school students who are at greatest risk of not meeting challenging 
State academic standards and not completing high school.
    Priority 5--Professional Development for Secondary School Teachers. 
Projects that support high-quality professional development for 
secondary school teachers to help these teachers improve student 
academic achievement.
    Priority 6--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 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 
as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
    Priority 7--Student Achievement Data. Projects that collect pre- 
and post-intervention test data to assess the effect of the projects on 
the academic achievement of student participants relative to 
appropriate comparison or control groups.
    Priority 8--State Data Systems. Projects that help educators use 
information from State data systems to improve student achievement or 
other appropriate outcomes.

Executive Order 12866

    This notice has been reviewed in accordance with Executive Order 
12866. Under the terms of the order, we have assessed the potential 
costs and benefits of this regulatory action.
    The potential costs associated with this notice are those resulting 
from statutory requirements and those we have determined as necessary 
for administering the Department's discretionary grant programs 
effectively and efficiently.
    In assessing the potential costs and benefits--both quantitative 
and qualitative--of this notice we have determined that the benefits of 
the proposed action justify the costs.
    We have also determined that this regulatory action does not unduly 
interfere with State, local, and tribal governments in the exercise of 
their governmental functions.

Executive Order 12372

    Some of the programs affected by this notice 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.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may view this document, as well as all other Department of 
Education documents 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.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number does not apply.)

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1221e-3; 20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.

    Dated: August 22, 2008.
Margaret Spellings,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. E8-19893 Filed 8-26-08; 8:45 am]

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