[Federal Register: January 2, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 1)]
[Notices]               
[Page 101-105]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02ja09-25]        
                                  

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

 
Office of Innovation and Improvement; Overview Information; 
Women's Educational Equity Act Program (WEEA); Notice Inviting 
Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.083A.


    Note: The Department is not inviting applications under CFDA 
Number 84.083B (research and development grants) for FY 2009.


DATES: Applications Available: January 2, 2009.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: February 23, 2009.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: April 22, 2009.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    Purpose of Program: The purpose of the WEEA program is: (a) To 
promote gender equity in education in the United States; (b) to provide 
financial assistance to enable educational agencies and institutions to 
meet the requirements of title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 
(20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.); and (c) to promote equity in education for 
women and girls who suffer from multiple forms of discrimination based 
on sex, race, ethnic origin, limited English proficiency, disability, 
or age.

    Note: Men and boys may participate in any program or activity 
assisted with funds under this program.

    Priorities: This competition includes three absolute priorities and 
one competitive preference priority that are explained in the following 
paragraphs. These priorities are from the notice of final discretionary 
grant priorities for FY 2009, published in the Federal Register on 
November 21, 2008 (73 FR 70627).
    Absolute Priorities: For FY 2009 and any subsequent year in which 
we make awards from the list of unfunded applicants from this 
competition, these priorities are absolute priorities. Under 34 CFR 
75.105(c)(3) we consider only applications that meet Priority 3 and one 
or both of Priority 1 and Priority 2.
    These priorities are:
    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--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.

    Note: All applicants must address Priority 3--Student 
Achievement Data. All applicants must also address either Priority 
1--Mathematics or Priority 2--Science. Applicants may address both 
Priority 1--Mathematics and Priority 2--Science if they believe they 
have the capacity and personnel to successfully address both of 
these priorities. However, no additional points will be earned by 
addressing both the mathematics and science priorities.


    Note: The Department suggests that applicants that are not part 
of a school system establish a relationship with their project's 
targeted school(s) to facilitate accessing the required pre- and 
post-intervention test data regarding proficiency and advanced 
proficiency.

    Competitive Preference Priority: For FY 2009 and any subsequent 
year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applicants from 
this competition, this priority is a competitive preference priority. 
Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i) we award up to an additional 10 points to 
an application, depending on how well the application meets this 
priority.
    This priority is:
    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.

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7283-7283g.

    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 
discretionary grant priorities for FY 2009, published in the Federal 
Register on November 21, 2008 (73 FR 70627).

    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: $1,827,714.
    Contingent upon the availability of funds and the quality of 
applications,

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we may make additional awards in FY 2010 from the list of unfunded 
applicants from this competition.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $125,000-$225,000.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $182,770.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 10.

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

    Project Period: Up to 48 months.

III. Eligibility Information

    1. Eligible Applicants: Public agencies; private nonprofit 
agencies; organizations, including community- and faith-based 
organizations; institutions; student groups; community groups; and 
individuals.
    2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This program does not require cost 
sharing or matching.

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 84.083A.
    Individuals with disabilities can obtain a copy of the application 
package in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, audiotape, 
or computer diskette) by contacting the person listed under Accessible 
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 competition.
    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. We strongly encourage you 
to limit the application narrative (Part III) 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: January 2, 
2009. Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: February 23, 2009.
    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 of 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 
of 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: April 22, 2009.
    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 is in the application package for this program.
    5. Funding Restrictions: We reference regulations outlining funding 
restrictions in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice.
    6. Other Submission Requirements: Applications for grants under 
this competition 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 WEEA program, CFDA Number 
84.083A, 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 WEEA 
program at http://www.Grants.gov. You must search for the downloadable 
application package for this competition by the CFDA number. Do not 
include the CFDA number's alpha suffix in your search (e.g., search for 
84.083, not 84.083A).
    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 4:30:00 
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. Except as 
otherwise noted in this section, we will not accept your application if 
it is received--that is, date and time stamped by the Grants.gov 
system--after 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application 
deadline date. We do not consider an application that does not comply 
with the deadline requirements. When we retrieve your application from 
Grants.gov, we will

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notify you if we are rejecting your application because it was date and 
time stamped by the Grants.gov system after 4:30:00 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 competition 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.
     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 4:30:00 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 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC 
time, on the application deadline date, please contact the person 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in section VII of this 
notice and provide an 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 4:30:00 
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: Beverly A. Farrar, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4W242, 
Washington, DC 20202-5950. Fax: (202) 205-5630.
    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 following address: 
U.S. Department of Education, Application Control Center, Attention:

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(CFDA Number 84.083A), LBJ Basement Level 1, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC 20202-4260.
    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 84.083A), 550 12th Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center 
Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-4260.
    The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily 
between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30:00 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

    Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this competition are 
from WEEA and 34 CFR 75.210 of EDGAR. The maximum possible score for 
each criterion is indicated in parentheses after each criterion. Each 
criterion also includes the factors that the reviewers will consider in 
determining how well an application meets the criterion. The maximum 
score for all of the criteria is 100 points. The note following 
selection criterion (5) is guidance to help applicants in preparing the 
applications and is not required by statute or regulations. The 
selection criteria are as follows:
    (1) Project as a component of a comprehensive plan (15 points). The 
Secretary reviews each application to determine the extent to which the 
project is a significant component of a comprehensive plan for 
education equity and compliance with title IX of the Education 
Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) in the particular local 
educational agency, institution of higher education, vocational-
technical institution, or other education agency or institution.
    (2) Implementing an institutional change strategy (15 points). The 
Secretary reviews each application to determine the extent to which the 
project would implement an institutional change strategy with long-term 
impact that will continue as a central activity of the applicant after 
the grant has been terminated.
    (3) 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 the following factors:
    (a) 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.
    (b) 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) Quality of the management plan (25 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:
    (a) The adequacy of the management plan to achieve the objectives 
of the proposed project on time and within budget, including clearly 
defined responsibilities, time lines, and milestones for accomplishing 
project tasks.
    (b) The extent to which the time commitments of the project 
director and other key project personnel are appropriate and adequate 
to meet the objectives of the proposed project.
    (c) How the applicant will ensure that a diversity of perspectives 
are brought to bear in the operation of the proposed project, including 
those of parents, teachers, the business community, a variety of 
disciplinary and professional fields, recipients or beneficiaries of 
services, or others, as appropriate.
    (5) 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:
    (a) 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.
    (b) The extent to which the evaluation will provide guidance about 
effective strategies suitable for replication or testing in other 
settings.

    Note: Applicants may wish to consider using the evaluation plan 
to shape the development of the project from the beginning of the 
grant period. Applicants also may wish to include benchmarks to 
monitor progress toward specific project objectives and also outcome 
measures to assess the impact on teaching and learning or other 
important outcomes for project participants. Grantees will be 
expected to report on the progress of their evaluation through the 
required annual performance report as discussed in VI.3 below.

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 
Notification (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

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requirements in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice.
    We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of 
an award in the Applicable Regulations section of 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: Under the Government Performance and 
Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), the Secretary has established the following 
five performance measures for assessing the effectiveness of this 
program. Grantees funded under this competition will be expected to 
collect and report to the Department data related to these measures. 
Applicants should discuss in the application narrative how they propose 
to collect these data. These GPRA performance measures are (1) the 
percentage of female students served by the WEEA program who achieve 
proficiency on State mathematics assessments; (2) the percentage of 
female students served by the WEEA program who achieve advanced 
proficiency on State mathematics assessments; and/or (3) the percentage 
of female students served by the WEEA program who achieve proficiency 
on State science assessments; (4) the percentage of female students 
served by the WEEA program who achieve advanced proficiency on State 
science assessments; and (5) the percentage of WEEA projects whose 
female participants demonstrate statistically significant higher mean 
increases in achievement compared to mean increases of a comparison 
group, based on pre- and post-test data.
    All applicants will be expected to collect and report data for GPRA 
performance measure 5. Applicants will be expected to collect and 
report data on measures 1 through 4 based upon the absolute priority 
addressed in their application and the targeted proficiency level. For 
example, if the applicant proposes to develop a program that focuses on 
helping students achieve proficiency on State mathematics assessments, 
data would be collected and reported only on GPRA performance measures 
1 and 5. Applicants should discuss in the application narrative how 
they propose to collect these data.
    Notes for the GPRA measures: If the applicant uses an instrument 
other than assessments used for No Child Left Behind of 2001 (NCLB) 
purposes or for other State-level assessments, the applicant is 
encouraged to demonstrate that the instrument is both of the following:
    (1) Valid for the subject and age range of students included in the 
project. Validity is the extent to which the test measures what it was 
supposed to (e.g. mathematics aptitude). There are several types of 
validity including content, construct, and predictive validity. 
Evidence of validity is often available from the publisher of the 
assessment instrument.
    (2) Reliable with regard to the consistency and repeatability of 
measurement. Several types of reliability are routinely established, 
including the internal consistency of an instrument (how well different 
items on an instrument measure the same construct) and test/retest 
reliability (the consistency of measurement at two different points in 
time). Evidence of reliability is often available from the publisher of 
the assessment instrument.
    Applicants should adhere to the following criteria when 
constructing a comparison group for reporting on the fifth GPRA 
measure. The comparison group should (1) match WEEA participants on a 
baseline measure of the achievement outcome, baseline demographics, or 
both; (2) be a group of no less than 20 students, and should be a group 
whose size is no less than 50 percent of the number of project 
participants; and (3) not receive WEEA project services.
    For GPRA purposes, ``proficiency'' and ``advanced proficiency'' are 
defined as follows: (1) ``Proficiency'' is defined as the State 
standard for ``proficient'' for the purposes of NCLB-reporting, or its 
equivalent for standardized State tests; and (2)''Advanced 
proficiency'' is defined as the State standard for ``advanced 
proficient'' for purposes of NCLB-reporting, or its equivalent for 
standardized State tests.

VII. Agency Contact

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly A. Farrar, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4W242, Washington, DC 20202-
5950. Telephone: (202) 205-3145 or by e-mail: oiiweea@ed.gov.
    If you use a TDD, call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, 
at 1-800-877-8339.

VIII. Other Information

    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document and a copy of the application package in an accessible 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 of 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: December 29, 2008.
Amanda L. Farris,
Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement.
 [FR Doc. E8-31226 Filed 12-31-08; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000-01-P