[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 47 (Thursday, March 11, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12154-12156]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-6071]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA No.: 84.330]
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education--Advanced Placement
Incentive Program
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year
(FY) 1999.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary invites applications for new awards for FY 1999
under the Advanced Placement Incentive Program and announces deadline
dates for the transmittal of applications for funding under the
program. This is a discretionary grant program.
Purpose of Program: The primary purpose of the Advanced Placement
Incentive Program is to enable States to reimburse part or all of the
cost of advanced placement test fees for low-income individuals who (1)
are enrolled in an advanced placement class; and (2) plan to take an
advanced placement test. In addition, a State educational agency (SEA)
in a State in which no eligible low-income individual is required to
pay more than a nominal fee to take advanced placement tests in core
subjects may use any grant funds, that remain after test fees have been
paid on behalf of all eligible low-income individuals, for activities
directly related to increasing (a) the enrollment of low-income
individuals in advanced placement courses; (b) the participation of
low-income individuals in advanced placement tests; and (c) the
availability of advanced placement courses in schools serving high-
poverty areas. This program is authorized under Title VIII, Part B, of
the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 (1998 Amendments) (20 U.S.C.
1070a-11, note).
Who May Apply: SEAs in any State, including the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam,
American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the
Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic
of Palau.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 26, 1999.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: May 26, 1999.
[[Page 12155]]
Applications Available: March 11, 1999.
Available Funds: $4,000,000.
Estimated Range of Awards: $2,000 to $400,000.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $68,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 59.
Note: These estimates are projections for the guidance of
potential applicants. The Department is not bound by any estimates
in this notice.
Project Period: Up to 15 months. States receiving grants under this
program may use the funds to support allowable activities undertaken in
State FY 1999, FY 2000, or both.
Requirements for Approval of Applications for Funds to Pay the Cost
of Advanced Placement Test Fees Only
In order to receive funding under this program, an SEA must submit
to the Department an application that contains the following:
(a) A description of the advanced placement test fees the State
will pay on behalf of individual students, including the approximate
number of students on whose behalf the State will pay the fees and the
approximate date the State expects each student to take the advanced
placement exam;
(b) A description of the method by which eligible low-income
individuals will be identified, and the steps the State will take to
ensure that any students receiving payments under this program are
eligible for such payments;
(c) A description of the State's plan to disseminate information on
the availability of test fee payments to eligible individuals through
secondary school teachers and guidance counselors;
(d) The number of children in the State who were eligible to be
counted under section 1124(c) of Title I, Part A of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended (20 U.S.C. 6333(c)),
during the preceding State fiscal year;
(e) A description of the State's plan to evaluate the effectiveness
of the program;
(f) An assurance that any funds received under this program will
only be used to pay advanced placement test fees for eligible low-
income individuals, except as provided in section 810(d)(1) of the 1998
Amendments;
(g) An assurance that the State will document the eligibility of
each individual on whose behalf the State pays part or all of an
advanced placement test fee in accordance with the terms of section
402A(e) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA), as amended; and
(h) An assurance that funds provided under this program will be
used to supplement and not supplant other Federal, State, local, or
private funds available to assist low-income individuals in paying for
advanced placement testing.
Requirements for Approval of Applications That Contain Proposals to
Use Grant Funds for Activities Authorized Under Section 810(d)(1)
SEAs that include in their applications proposals to use any grant
funds, that remain after test fees have been paid on behalf of all
eligible low-income individuals in the State, for activities authorized
under section 810(d)(1) of the 1998 Amendments, must submit an
application to the Department that contains (1) the information
described above (Requirements for Approval of Applications for Funds to
Pay the Cost of Advanced Placement Test Fees Only); and (2) the
following:
(a) An assurance that no eligible low-income individual in the
State will be required to pay more than a nominal fee to take advanced
placement tests in core subjects; and
(b) A supplemental narrative that addresses the selection criteria
described below.
Selection Criteria
The Secretary will use the following selection criteria to evaluate
the section of the application that proposes to use any grant funds,
that remain after advanced placement test fees have been paid on behalf
of all low-income individuals in the State, to support activities
authorized under section 810(d)(1) of the 1998 Amendments.
(Note: These selection criteria will not apply to the section of the
application that proposes to use grant funds to pay advanced
placement test fees).
These criteria are taken from the Education Department General
Administrative Regulations, as codified at 34 CFR 75.210. The maximum
total score for all of the selection criteria is 100 points. The
maximum score for each criterion is as follows:
(a) Need for project--10 points.
(b) Significance--5 points.
(c) Quality of project design--25 points.
(d) Quality of project services--25 points.
(e) Quality of project personnel--10 points.
(f) Adequacy of resources--10 points.
(g) Quality of the management plan--10 points.
(h) Quality of the project evaluation--5 points.
Allowable Activities
States receiving grants under this program may use the grant funds
to pay advanced placement test fees for eligible low-income
individuals. In addition, States in which no eligible low-income
individual is required to pay more than a nominal fee to take advanced
placement tests in core subjects may use any grant funds, that remain
after test fees have been paid on behalf of all eligible low-income
individuals, for activities directly related to increasing (a) the
enrollment of low-income individuals in advanced placement courses; (b)
the participation of low-income individuals in advanced placement
tests; and (c) the availability of advanced placement courses in
schools serving high-poverty areas.
Allocation of Funds
The Department intends to allocate approximately $2 million of the
funds available under this program to States for the purpose of paying
advanced placement test fees on behalf of eligible low-income
individuals. The Department intends to fund--at some level--all
applications (1) meeting the minimum requirements for approval of
applications described in this notice; and (2) proposing to use grant
funds for the purpose of paying test fees. In determining grant award
amounts, the Department will consider the number of children in the
State eligible to be counted under section 1124(c) of the ESEA, in
relation to the number of such children in all States. The Department
will also consider the State's description of the advanced placement
test fees it intends to pay, and whether those fees are reasonable and
allowable. The application package will provide each State with an
estimate of the approximate amount of grant funds it can expect to
receive for the purpose of paying test fees if all States participate
in the program. In the event that all States do not participate in the
program, the Department will reallocate the funds that would have been
awarded to the non-participating States.
The Department intends to allocate approximately $2 million of the
funds available under this program to States for the purpose of
supporting activities directly related to increasing (a) the enrollment
of low-income individuals in advanced placement courses; (b) the
participation of low-income individuals in advanced placement courses;
and (c) the availability of advanced placement courses in schools
serving high-poverty areas. Proposals by SEAs to use grant funds for
activities authorized under section 810(d)(1) of the program statute
[[Page 12156]]
will be evaluated based on the selection criteria described above. The
Department will also consider the number of children in the State
eligible to be counted under section 1124(c) of the ESEA, in relation
to the number of such children in all States.
Waiver of Rulemaking
Because the Department intends to fund all applications meeting the
minimum requirements for approval of applications described in this
notice and proposing to use grant funds for the purpose of paying test
fees, Department regulations governing the selection of new
discretionary grant projects, codified at 34 CFR 75.200-75.222, will
apply only to the section of the application that proposes to use grant
funds for activities authorized under section 810(d)(1) of the 1998
Amendments. While it is generally the practice of the Secretary to
offer interested parties the opportunity to comment on a regulation
before it is implemented, section 437(d)(1) of the General Education
Provisions Act exempts from formal rulemaking requirements regulations
governing the first grant competition under a new or substantially
revised program authority (20 U.S.C. 1232(d)(1)). In order to make
awards on a timely basis, the Secretary has decided to publish this
regulation in final under the authority of section 437(d).
APPLICABLE STATUTE AND REGULATIONS: Title VIII, Part B of the 1998
Amendments (20 U.S.C. 1070a-11, note). The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR Parts 75, 76, 77, 79, 80,
81, 82, 85, and 86.
The following definitions and other provisions are taken from the
Advanced Placement Incentive Program statute, in Title VIII, Part B of
the 1998 Amendments (20 U.S.C. 1070a-11, note). They are repeated in
this application notice for the convenience of the applicant.
Definitions
As used in this section:
(a) The term ``advanced placement test'' includes only an advanced
placement test approved by the Secretary of Education for the purposes
of this program.
(b) The term ``low-income individual'' has the meaning given the
term in section 402A(g)(2) of the [HEA].
Note: Under section 402A(g)(2) of the HEA, as amended, the term
``low-income individual'' means an individual from a family whose
taxable income for the preceding year did not exceed 150 percent of
an amount equal to the poverty level determined by using criteria of
poverty established by the Bureau of the Census (20 U.S.C. 1070a-
11(g)(2)).
Information Dissemination
The SEA shall disseminate information regarding the availability of
test fee payments under this program to eligible individuals through
secondary school teachers and guidance counselors.
Supplementation of Funding
Funds provided under this program must be used to supplement and
not supplant other non-Federal funds that are available to assist low-
income individuals in paying advanced placement test fees.
FOR APPLICATIONS OR INFORMATION CONTACT: Frank B. Robinson, U.S.
Department of Education, School Improvement Programs, 400 Maryland
Avenue, S.W., Room 3C153, Washington, D.C. 20202-6140. Telephone (202)
260-2669. Internet address: frank_robinson@ed.gov Individuals who use
a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8
p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) upon request to the contact person listed in the preceding
paragraph. Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the
application package in an alternate format, also, by contacting that
person. However, the Department is not able to reproduce in an
alternate format the standard forms included in the application
package.
Electronic Access to this Document
Anyone may view this document, as well as all other Department of
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or
portable document format (pdf) on the World Wide Web at either of the
following sites:
http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html
To use the pdf, you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with
Search, which is available free at either of the previous sites. If you
have questions about using the pdf, call the U.S. Government Printing
Office toll free at 1-888-293-6498.
Anyone may also view these documents in text copy only on an
electronic bulletin board of the Department. Telephone: (202) 219-1511
or, toll free, 1-800-222-4922. The documents are located under Option
G--Files/Announcements, Bulletins, and Press Releases.
Note: The official version of a document is the document
published in the Federal Register.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1070a-11, note.
Dated: March 4, 1999.
Judith Johnson,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 99-6071 Filed 3-10-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U
