[Federal Register: October 22, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 204)]
[Notices]               
[Page 60607-60609]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22oc03-166]                         


[[Page 60607]]

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

Part VI





Department of Education





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



Institute of Education Sciences; Notice Inviting Applications for 
Grants To Support Education Research for Fiscal Year (FY) 2004; Notice


[[Page 60608]]


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

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA Nos. 84.305G, 84.305H, 84.305K, 84.305M, and 84.305E]

 
Institute of Education Sciences; Notice Inviting Applications for 
Grants To Support Education Research for Fiscal Year (FY) 2004

SUMMARY: The Director of the Institute of Education Sciences 
(Institute) announces five FY 2004 competitions for grants to support 
education research. The Director takes this action under the Education 
Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (Act), Title I of Pub. L. 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 study.

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 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 currently plans to 
support the following competitions in FY 2004:
    [sbull] Reading Comprehension and Reading Scale-up Research;
    [sbull] Cognition and Student Learning Research;
    [sbull] Mathematics and Science Education Research;
    [sbull] Teacher Quality Research; and
    [sbull] Research on Education Finance, Leadership, and Management.
    Additional competitions for FY 2004 may be announced later.
    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 each of the 
Institute's competitions is contained in the applicable Request for 
Applications package (RFA), which will be available at the following 
Web site: http://www.ed.gov/programs/edresearch/applicant.html.
    The RFAs will be available--
    (1) On or before October 22, 2003, for Cognition and Student 
Learning Research; Mathematics and Science Education Research; Teacher 
Quality Research; and Reading Comprehension and Reading Scale-up 
Research; and
    (2) On or before November 14, 2003, for Research on Education 
Finance, Leadership and Management.
    Interested potential applicants should periodically check the 
Institute's Web site.
    Information regarding selection criteria and review procedures will 
also be posted at this Web site.
    Fiscal Information: Although Congress has not enacted a final 
appropriation for FY 2004, 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 appropriation bill. The 
President's Budget for the Institute for FY 2004 includes sufficient 
funding for all of the competitions included in this notice. The actual 
award of grants is pending the availability of funds.
    Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 77, 80, 81, 82, 
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 and 75.230.

Performance Measures

    To evaluate the overall success of its education research program, 
the Institute of Education Sciences 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, an external 
panel of eminent senior scientists reviews the quality of a randomly 
selected sample of newly funded research applications, and the 
percentage of new projects that are deemed to be of high quality 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 
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 a random sample of K-16 
policymakers and administrators once every 3 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 Acts. 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 to the FY 2004 competitions be 
submitted electronically to the following Web site: http://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 and the deadline 
for receipt of applications associated with a particular program of 
research is listed in the following chart and in the RFA that will be 
posted at: http://www.ed.gov/programs/edresearch/applicant.html.

[[Page 60609]]



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 Deadline for  receipt of
   CFDA number and program of research                 applications              For further information contact
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
84.305G Reading Comprehension and         January 8, 2004......................  Elizabeth Albro, E-mail: Reading Scale-up Research.                                                       elizabeth.albro@ed.gov.
84.305H Cognition and Student Learning    January 8, 2004......................  Elizabeth Albro, E-mail: Research.                                                                        elizabeth.albro@ed.gov.
84.305K Mathematics and Science           January 8, 2004......................  Heidi Schweingruber--E-mail: Education Research.                                                              heidi.schweingruber@ed.gov.
84.305M Teacher Quality Research........  January 8, 2004......................  Harold Himmelfarb--E-mail:                                                                                  harold.himmelfarb@ed.gov.
84.305E Research on Education Finance,    February 5, 2004.....................  Jon Oberg--E-mail: Leadership, and Management.                                                      jon.oberg@ed.gov.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may 
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) 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 application 
package in an alternative format by contacting that person. However, 
the Department is not able to reproduce in an alternative format the 
standard forms included in the application package.

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
.


    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 9501 et seq. (the ``Education 
Sciences Reform Act of 2002'', Title 1 of Public Law 107-279, 
November 5, 2002).

    Dated: October 17, 2003.
Grover J. Whitehurst,
Director, Institute of Education Sciences.
[FR Doc. 03-26656 Filed 10-21-03; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000-01-P