99-7578. Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 59 (Monday, March 29, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14889-14891]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-7578]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.342]


Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE), Department of 
Education.

ACTION: Notice of requirements and invitation for applications for new 
awards for fiscal year (FY) 1999.

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    Purpose of Program: The Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use 
Technology program provides grants to consortia that are helping future 
teachers become proficient in the use of modern learning technologies. 
This program addresses looming teacher shortages by developing well-
qualified, technology-proficient teachers, who are prepared to teach in 
21st century schools, particularly schools in low-income communities or 
rural areas. This program provides support for three types of grants: 
capacity building grants, implementation grants, and catalyst grants.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 29, 1999.
    Eligible Applicants: Only consortia may receive grants under this 
program. A consortium must include at least two members. Consortium 
members may include institutions of higher education (IHEs), Schools of 
Education, State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational 
agencies (LEAs), private schools, professional associations, 
foundations, museums, libraries, for profit agencies and organizations, 
nonprofit organizations, community-based organizations, and others.

    Note: In each consortium a participating nonprofit member must 
be designated as the ``applicant'' for purposes of 34 CFR 75.128 and 
must act as the fiscal agent.

    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: June 4, 1999.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: August 3, 1999.
    Applications Available: March 29, 1999.
    Available Funds: $75,000,000.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $50,000-$175,000 for capacity building 
grants, $200,000-$500,000 for implementation grants, and $500,000-
$700,000 for catalyst grants.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $120,000 for capacity building 
grants, $400,000 for implementation grants, and $600,000 for catalyst 
grants.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 200 capacity building grants, 75 
implementation grants, and 35 catalyst grants.
    Project Period: 12 months for capacity building grants, 36 months 
for implementation grants, and 36 months for catalyst grants.

    Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this 
notice.

    Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 81, 
82, 85, and 86.
    Selection Criteria: The Secretary has selected criteria from 34 CFR 
75.210 of EDGAR to evaluate applications for this competition. The 
selection criteria and factors to be used for this competition will be 
provided in the application package.

Intergovernmental Review

    This program is subject to the requirements of Executive Order 
12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. The objective of the 
Executive order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a 
strengthened federalism by relying on processes developed by State and 
local governments for coordination and review of proposed Federal 
financial assistance.
    In accordance with the order, this document is intended to provide 
early notification of the Department's specific plans and actions for 
this program.

Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking

    In accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553), 
it is the practice of the Secretary to offer interested parties the 
opportunity to comment on proposed rulemaking documents. However, in 
accordance with section 437(d)(1) of the General Education Provisions 
Act, the Secretary has determined that, because it is not possible to 
offer the public an opportunity to comment on proposed rulemaking under 
the Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology grant program and 
still make awards by September 30, 1999, as required by law, it is 
desirable to waive public comment for the first-year competition of 
this new discretionary grant program.
    This waiver applies only to the selection criteria, procedures, and 
requirements included in this notice for awarding FY 1999 grants. Any 
selection criteria and procedures that the Department establishes for 
the award of grants under this program in future years will be based on 
experiences with this FY 1999 award process and will be published in 
proposed form in the Federal Register with an opportunity for 
interested parties to comment.

General Requirements

    In order to best effectuate the goals and objectives of these 
grants and to administer the program fairly, the Secretary defines an 
eligible applicant as a consortium composed of SEAs, LEAs, IHEs, or 
other public and private nonprofit or for profit agencies and 
organizations.

[[Page 14890]]

    Additionally, the applicant, as used in 34 CFR 75.128, must be any 
nonprofit member of the consortium.
    Finally, the Federal funds provided by these grants may not provide 
more than 50 percent of the total cost of any project funded by a grant 
under this program. The non-Federal share of the project costs may be 
in cash or in-kind contributions.

Indirect Costs

    For purposes of indirect costs that may be charged to the grant, 
all funded projects are treated as ``educational training grants.'' 
Therefore, consistent with 34 CFR 75.562, except for costs that may be 
incurred by SEAs or LEAs, a recipient's indirect cost rate is limited 
to the maximum of eight percent or the amount permitted by its 
negotiated indirect cost rate agreement, whichever is less.

Application Review Procedures

    The Secretary announces the use of a multi-tier review process to 
evaluate all applications submitted for new awards under the FY 1999 
Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology program. The Secretary 
takes this action to ensure a thorough review and assessment of the 
large number of applications that are expected to be received under the 
FY 1999 competition. This multi-tier review process does not affect the 
contents of applications in this competition.

Technical Assistance Workshops for Prospective Applicants

    The Department of Education has scheduled seven regional technical 
assistance workshops between March 24 and April 9, 1999, to help 
prospective applicants to better understand the Department's approach 
to implementing the competitive grant process to be held this summer. 
Under the Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology program, 
applications by consortia must be received by June 4, 1999. At these 
workshops, the public will be able to learn more about the purposes and 
requirements of this program, how to apply for funds, program 
eligibility requirements, the application selection process, and 
considerations that might help them to improve the quality of their 
grant applications. Department of Education staff with expertise on 
these and other issues related to the Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to 
Use Technology program will be available to answer any questions on 
these topics.
    Participants may register for technical assistance workshops online 
at http://www.ed.gov/teachtech, by printing out a copy of the 
registration form from the website and faxing it to [phone], or 
by calling 1-800-USA-LEARN for registration information.
    The meeting sites are accessible to individuals with disabilities. 
The Department will provide a sign language interpreter at each of the 
scheduled workshops. An individual with a disability who will need an 
auxiliary aid or service other than an interpreter to participate in 
the meeting (e.g., assistive listening device or materials in an 
alternative format) should notify the contact person listed in this 
notice at least two weeks before the scheduled meeting date. Although 
the Department will attempt to meet a request received after that date, 
the requested auxiliary aid or service may not be available because of 
insufficient time to arrange it.

Dates and Locations

    Workshop #1: Wednesday, March 24, 1999, Baltimore, MD, Sheraton 
Inner Harbour, 300 South Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201; Phone: 
[phone];
    Workshop #2: Tuesday, March 30, 1999, Boston, MA, Boston Marriott 
Hotel, Copley Place, 110 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02116; Phone: 
[phone];
    Workshop #3: Tuesday, April 6, 1999, Milwaukee, WI, The Four Points 
Hotel at Milwaukee Airport, 4747 South Howell Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 
53207; Phone: [phone];
    Workshop #4: Tuesday, April 6, 1999, Portland, OR, Portland State 
University, Smith Center, Ballroom SMC 355, 1825 SW Broadway, Portland, 
OR 97201; Phone: [phone];
    Workshop #5: Thursday, April 8, 1999, Los Angeles, CA, Hilton Los 
Angeles Airport & Towers, 5711 West Century Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 
90045; Phone [phone];
    Workshop #6: Friday, April 9, 1999, Denver, CO, Adam's Mark Hotel, 
1550 Court Place, Denver, CO 80202; Phone: [phone]; and
    Workshop #7: Friday, April 9, 1999, Atlanta, GA, Westin Hotel at 
Atlanta Airport, 4736 Best Road, Atlanta, GA 30337; Phone: (404) 762-
7676.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use 
Technology program is authorized under Title III of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. 6832). The 
statute authorizes the use of funds for activities such as the 
development, demonstration, and evaluation of model strategies for 
preparing teachers and other personnel to use technology effectively to 
improve teaching and learning.

    FOR APPLICATIONS OR INFORMATION CONTACT: For applications, 
telephone 1-800-USA-LEARN (1-800-872-5327) or fax requests to (202) 
208-8412. The application package is also available from the Preparing 
Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology program web site at http://
www.ed.gov/teachtech. For information contact Tom Carroll, Preparing 
Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology, U.S. Department of Education, 
1280 Maryland Avenue, SW, Suite 600, Washington DC 20202-5131. 
Telephone: [phone]. E-mail: [e-mail]. 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) on 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) via the Internet 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 at [phone] or, 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: [phone] 
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. 6832.


[[Page 14891]]


    Dated: March 24, 1999.
David A. Longanecker,
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 99-7578 Filed 3-26-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P