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

[Federal Register: March 29, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 59)]

[Notices]               

[Page 14889-14891]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr29mr99-48]


=======================================================================

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


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.


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


    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 (202) 260-8412, 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: 

(410) 962-8300;

    Workshop #2: Tuesday, March 30, 1999, Boston, MA, Boston Marriott 

Hotel, Copley Place, 110 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02116; Phone: 

(617) 236-5800;

    Workshop #3: Tuesday, April 6, 1999, Milwaukee, WI, The Four Points 

Hotel at Milwaukee Airport, 4747 South Howell Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 

53207; Phone: (414) 481-8000;

    Workshop #4: Tuesday, April 6, 1999, Portland, OR, Portland State 

University, Smith Center, Ballroom SMC 355, 1825 SW Broadway, Portland, 

OR 97201; Phone: (503) 725-4697;

    Workshop #5: Thursday, April 8, 1999, Los Angeles, CA, Hilton Los 

Angeles Airport & Towers, 5711 West Century Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 

90045; Phone (310) 410-4000;

    Workshop #6: Friday, April 9, 1999, Denver, CO, Adam's Mark Hotel, 

1550 Court Place, Denver, CO 80202; Phone: (303) 893-3333; 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: (202) 260-1365. E-mail: tom__carroll@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) 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 (202) 512-1530 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: (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. 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