[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 77 (Friday, April 20, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23675-23690]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-9597]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Applications for New Awards; Promise Neighborhoods Program--
Implementation Grant Competition
AGENCY: Office of Innovation and Improvement, Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice.
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Overview Information; Promise Neighborhoods Program--Implementation
Grant Competition; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for
Fiscal Year (FY) 2012
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.215N
(Implementation grants).
Dates: Applications Available: April 20, 2012.
Deadline for Notice of Intent To Apply: June 8, 2012.
Date of Pre-Application Webinars: May 17, 2012, and June 14, 2012.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: July 27, 2012.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: September 25, 2012.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: The Promise Neighborhoods program is carried
out under the legislative authority of the Fund for the Improvement of
Education (FIE), title V, part D, subpart 1, sections 5411 through 5413
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended
(ESEA) (20 U.S.C. 7243-7243b). FIE supports nationally significant
programs to improve the quality of elementary and secondary education
at the State and local levels and to help all children meet challenging
State academic content and student academic achievement standards.
The purpose of the Promise Neighborhoods program is to
significantly improve the educational and developmental outcomes of
children and youth in our most distressed communities and to transform
those communities by--
(1) Identifying and increasing the capacity of eligible
organizations (as defined in this notice) that are focused on achieving
results for children and youth throughout an entire neighborhood;
(2) Building a complete continuum of cradle-through- college-to-
career solutions (continuum of solutions) (as defined in this notice)
of both education programs and family and community supports (both as
defined in this notice), with great schools at the center. All
solutions in the continuum of solutions must be accessible to children
with disabilities (CWD) (as defined in this notice) and English
learners (ELs) (as defined in this notice);
(3) Integrating programs and breaking down agency ``silos'' so that
solutions are implemented effectively and efficiently across agencies;
(4) Developing the local infrastructure of systems and resources
needed to sustain and scale up proven, effective solutions across the
broader region beyond the initial neighborhood; and
(5) Learning about the overall impact of the Promise Neighborhoods
program and about the relationship between particular strategies in
Promise Neighborhoods and student outcomes, including through a
rigorous evaluation of the program.
Background: The vision of this program is that all children and
youth growing up in Promise Neighborhoods have access to great schools
and strong systems of family and community support that will prepare
them to attain an excellent education and successfully transition to
college and a career.
A Promise Neighborhood is both a place and a strategy. A place
eligible to become a Promise Neighborhood is a geographic area that is
distressed, often facing inadequate access to high-quality early
learning programs and services, with struggling schools, low high-
school and college graduation rates, high rates of unemployment, high
rates of crime, and indicators of poor health. These conditions
contribute to and intensify the negative outcomes associated with
children and youth living in poverty. Children and youth who are from
low-income families and grow up in neighborhoods of concentrated
poverty face educational and life challenges above and beyond the
challenges faced by children who are from low-income families who grow
up in neighborhoods without a high concentration of poverty. A Federal
evaluation of the reading and mathematics outcomes of elementary
students in 71 schools in 18 districts and 7 States found that even
when controlling for individual student poverty, there is a significant
negative association between school-level poverty and student
achievement.\1\ The evaluation found that students have lower academic
outcomes when a higher percentage of their same-school peers qualify
for free and reduced-priced lunch (FRPL) compared to when a lower
percentage of their same-school
[[Page 23676]]
peers qualify for FRPL. The compounding effects of neighborhood poverty
continue later in life: Another study found that, for children with
similar levels of family income, growing up in a neighborhood where the
number of families in poverty was between 20 and 30 percent increased
the chance of downward economic mobility--moving down the income ladder
relative to their parents--by more than 50 percent compared with
children who grew up in neighborhoods with under 10 percent of families
in poverty.\2\
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\1\ Westat and Policy Studies Associates. The longitudinal
evaluation of school change and performance (LESCP) in title I
schools. Prepared for the U.S. Department of Education. Available
online at http://www2.ed.gov/offices/OUS/PES/esed/lescp_vol1.pdf.
\2\ Sharkey, Patrick. ``Neighborhoods and the Black-White
Mobility Gap.'' Economic Mobility Project: An Initiative of The Pew
Charitable Trusts, 2009.
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A Promise Neighborhood is also a strategy for addressing the issues
in distressed communities. Promise Neighborhoods are led by
organizations that work to ensure that all children and youth in the
target geographic area have access to the continuum of solutions needed
to graduate from high school ready for college and a career. Within
these geographic areas, Promise Neighborhoods create a high level of
participation in cradle-to-career supports for children and youth,
where over time a greater proportion of the neighborhood is served by
programs and neighborhood indicators show significant progress. For
this reason, each Promise Neighborhood grantee must have several core
features: (1) Significant need in the neighborhood the grant serves;
(2) a strategy to build a continuum of solutions with strong schools at
the center; and (3) the capacity to achieve results. As the proportion
of neighborhood children, students, and families accessing services and
attending great schools increases, the entire neighborhood will be
positively affected.
While there are a number of organizations and communities that are
working on developing Promise Neighborhoods strategies, these entities
are at different stages of readiness to create a Promise Neighborhood.
We have established priorities, requirements, definitions, and
selection criteria for both planning and implementation grants in a
notice of final priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection
criteria published in the Federal Register on July 6, 2011 (76 FR
39590) (2011 Promise Neighborhoods NFP). The priorities, requirements,
and selection criteria are different for planning grant and
implementation grant applicants, while the definitions apply to both
groups of applicants. This current notice invites applications for FY
2012 implementation grants. Elsewhere in this issue of the Federal
Register, we have published a notice inviting applications for FY 2012
planning grants.
Planning grants will support eligible organizations that need to
develop feasible plans to create a continuum of solutions with the
potential to significantly improve the educational and developmental
outcomes of children and youth in a neighborhood. These grants will
support eligible organizations that demonstrate the need for creating a
Promise Neighborhood in the geographic areas they are targeting, a
sound strategy for developing a feasible plan to create a continuum of
solutions, and the capacity to develop the plan.
Under Absolute Priority 1 for planning grants, Promise
Neighborhoods planning grantees generally must undertake the following
activities during the planning year (the complete and exact
requirements of the priority are specified elsewhere in the notice):
(1) Conduct a comprehensive needs assessment and segmentation
analysis (as defined in this notice) of children and youth in the
neighborhood.
(2) Develop a plan to deliver a continuum of solutions with the
potential to drive results. This includes building community support
for and involvement in the development of the plan.
(3) Establish effective partnerships both to provide solutions
along the continuum and to commit resources to sustain and scale up
what works.
(4) Plan, build, adapt, or expand a longitudinal data system that
will provide information that the grantee will use for learning,
continuous improvement, and accountability.
(5) Participate in a community of practice (as defined in this
notice).
Implementation grants will support eligible organizations in
carrying out their plans to create a continuum of solutions that will
significantly improve the educational and developmental outcomes of
children and youth in the target neighborhood. These grants will aid
eligible organizations that have developed a plan that demonstrates the
need for the creation of a Promise Neighborhood in the geographic area
they are targeting, a sound strategy for implementing a plan for
creating a continuum of solutions, and the capacity to implement the
plan. More specifically, grantees will use implementation grant funds
to develop the administrative capacity necessary to successfully
implement a continuum of solutions, such as managing partnerships,
integrating multiple funding sources, and supporting the grantee's
longitudinal data system. While implementation grantees will be best
positioned to determine the allocation of grant funds given the results
of their needs assessments and plans to build their organizational
capacity, the Department expects that the majority of resources to
provide solutions within the continuum of solutions will come from
public and private funding sources that are integrated and aligned with
the Promise Neighborhoods strategy.
Under Absolute Priority 1 for implementation grants, Promise
Neighborhoods implementation grantees generally will undertake the
following activities during the implementation years (the complete and
exact requirements of the priority are specified elsewhere in the
notice):
(1) Implement a continuum of solutions that addresses neighborhood
challenges, as identified through a needs assessment and segmentation
analysis, and that will improve results for children and youth in the
neighborhood.
(2) Continue to build and strengthen partnerships that will provide
solutions along the continuum of solutions and that will commit
resources to sustain and scale up what works.
(3) Collect data on indicators at least annually, and use and
improve a longitudinal data system for learning, continuous
improvement, and accountability.
(4) Demonstrate progress on goals for improving systems, such as by
making changes in policies and organizations, and by leveraging
resources to sustain and scale up what works.
(5) Participate in a community of practice (as defined in this
notice).
Considering the time and urgency required to dramatically improve
outcomes of children and youth in our most distressed neighborhoods and
to transform those neighborhoods, implementation grantees will
establish both short- and long-term goals to define success.
Consistent with the approach of the Promise Neighborhoods program,
we believe that it is important for communities to develop a
comprehensive neighborhood revitalization strategy that addresses
neighborhood assets (as defined in this notice) that are essential to
transforming distressed neighborhoods into healthy and vibrant
communities of opportunity. Although not a proposed requirement for
planning or implementation applicants, we believe that a Promise
Neighborhood will be
[[Page 23677]]
most successful when it is part of, and contributing to, an area's
broader neighborhood revitalization strategy. We believe that only
through the development of such comprehensive neighborhood
revitalization plans that embrace the coordinated use of programs and
resources in order to effectively address the interrelated needs within
a community will the broader vision of neighborhood transformation
occur.
Because a diverse group of communities could benefit from Promise
Neighborhoods, the Secretary has established an absolute priority for
applicants that propose to serve one or more rural communities (as
defined in this notice) only and an absolute priority for applicants
that propose to serve one or more Indian tribes (as defined in this
notice).
Note: In developing their strategies for planning or
implementing a continuum of solutions, applicants should be mindful
of the importance of ensuring that all children, including infants
and toddlers in the neighborhood, have an opportunity to benefit.
For example, individuals with disabilities and English Learners,
particularly recent immigrants, may encounter unique challenges that
prevent them from accessing the benefits of a Promise Neighborhoods
project.
Successful applicants under this competition must comply with
Federal civil rights laws that apply to recipients and sub-recipients
of Federal financial assistance including: Title VI of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, as amended (prohibiting discrimination on the basis of
race, color, or national origin); Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
of 1973, as amended and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act
of 1990, as amended (prohibiting discrimination on the basis of
disability); Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended
(prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex); and the Age
Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended (prohibiting discrimination on
the basis of age).
Applicants, therefore, in designing their projects and preparing
their required General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) section 427
assurance, will need to address barriers to participation for
individuals, including individuals with disabilities and limited
English proficiency, and must consider the steps they will take to
ensure equitable participation of all children and families in the
project, in compliance with civil rights obligations. (Section 427
requires each applicant to include in its application a description of
the steps the applicant proposes to take to ensure equitable access to,
and participation in, its federally assisted program for students,
teachers, and other program beneficiaries with special needs.)
Priorities: This competition includes three absolute priorities,
four competitive preference priorities, and one invitational priority
that are explained in the following paragraphs. These priorities are
from the 2011 Promise Neighborhoods NFP.
Absolute Priorities: For FY 2012 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 one or more of
these absolute priorities.
Note: Applicants must indicate in their application whether they
are applying under Implementation Grant Priority 1 (Absolute),
Implementation Grant Priority 2 (Absolute), or Implementation Grant
Priority 3 (Absolute). An applicant that applies under
Implementation Grant Priority 2 (Absolute) but is not eligible for
funding under Implementation Grant Priority 2 (Absolute), or applies
under Implementation Grant Priority 3 (Absolute) but is not eligible
for funding under Implementation Grant Priority 3 (Absolute), may be
considered for funding under Implementation Grant Priority 1
(Absolute).
These priorities are:
Implementation Grant Priority 1 (Absolute)
Submission of Promise Neighborhood Plan. To meet this priority, an
applicant must submit a plan to create a Promise Neighborhood. The plan
must describe the need in the neighborhood, a strategy to build a
continuum of solutions, and the applicant's capacity to achieve
results. Specifically, an applicant must--
(1) Describe the geographically defined area \3\ (neighborhood) to
be served and the level of distress in that area based on indicators of
need and other relevant indicators. The statement of need in the
neighborhood must be based, in part, on results of a comprehensive
needs assessment and segmentation analysis (as defined in this notice).
Applicants may propose to serve multiple, non-contiguous geographically
defined areas. In cases where target areas are not contiguous, the
applicant must explain its rationale for including non-contiguous
areas;
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\3\ For the purposes of this notice, the Department uses the
terms ``geographic area'' and ``neighborhood'' interchangeably.
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(2) Describe the applicant's strategy for building a continuum of
solutions over time that addresses neighborhood challenges as
identified in the needs assessment and segmentation analysis. The
applicant must also describe how it has built community support for and
involvement in the development of the plan. The continuum of solutions
must be based on the best available evidence including, where
available, strong or moderate evidence (as defined in this notice), and
be designed to significantly improve educational outcomes and to
support the healthy development and well-being of children and youth in
the neighborhood. The strategy must be designed to ensure that over
time, a greater proportion of children and youth in the neighborhood
who attend the target school or schools have access to a complete
continuum of solutions, and must ensure that over time, a greater
proportion of children and youth in the neighborhood who do not attend
the target school or schools have access to solutions within the
continuum of solutions. The strategy must also ensure that, over time,
students not living in the neighborhood who attend the target school or
schools have access to solutions within the continuum of solutions.
The success of the applicant's strategy to build a continuum of
solutions will be based on the results of the project, as measured
against the project indicators as defined in this notice and described
in Table 1 and Table 2. In its strategy, the applicant must propose
clear and measurable annual goals during the grant period against which
improvements will be measured using the indicators. The strategy must--
(a) Identify each solution that the project will implement within
the proposed continuum of solutions, and must include--
(i) High-quality early learning programs and services designed to
improve outcomes across multiple domains of early learning (as defined
in this notice) for children from birth through third grade;
(ii) Ambitious, rigorous, and comprehensive education reforms that
are linked to improved educational outcomes for children and youth in
preschool through the 12th grade. Public schools served through the
grant may include persistently lowest-achieving schools (as defined in
this notice) or low-performing schools (as defined in this notice) that
are not also persistently lowest-achieving schools. An applicant (or
one or more of its partners) may serve an effective school or schools
(as defined in this notice) but only if the applicant (or one or more
of its partners) also serves at least one low-performing school (as
defined in this notice) or persistently lowest-achieving school (as
defined in this notice). An applicant must identify in its
[[Page 23678]]
application the public school or schools it would serve and describe
the current status of reforms in the school or schools, including, if
applicable, the type of intervention model being implemented. In cases
where an applicant operates a school or partners with a school that
does not serve all students in the neighborhood, the applicant must
partner with at least one additional school that also serves students
in the neighborhood. An applicant proposing to work with a persistently
lowest-achieving school must include in its strategy one of the four
school intervention models (turnaround model, restart model, school
closure, or transformation model) described in Appendix C of the Race
to the Top (RTT) notice inviting applications for new awards for FY
2010 that was published in the Federal Register on November 18, 2009
(74 FR 59836, 59866).
An applicant proposing to work with a low-performing school must
include in its strategy ambitious, rigorous, and comprehensive
interventions to assist, augment, or replace schools, which may include
implementing one of the four school intervention models, or may include
another model of sufficient ambition, rigor, and comprehensiveness to
significantly improve academic and other outcomes for students. An
applicant proposing to work with a low-performing school must include
in its strategy an intervention that addresses the effectiveness of
teachers and leaders and the school's use of time and resources, which
may include increased learning time (as defined in this notice);
Note regarding school reform strategies: So as not to penalize
an applicant for proposing to work with an LEA that has implemented
rigorous reform strategies prior to the publication of this notice,
an applicant is not required to propose a new reform strategy in
place of an existing reform strategy in order to be eligible for a
Promise Neighborhoods implementation grant. For example, an LEA
might have begun to implement improvement activities that meet many,
but not all, of the elements of a transformation model of school
intervention. In this case, the applicant could propose, as part of
its Promise Neighborhood strategy, to work with the LEA as the LEA
continues with its reforms.
(iii) Programs that prepare students to be college- and career-
ready; and
(iv) Family and community supports (as defined in this notice).
To the extent feasible and appropriate, the applicant must
describe, in its plan, how the applicant and its partners will leverage
and integrate high-quality programs, related public and private
investments, and existing neighborhood assets into the continuum of
solutions. An applicant must also include in its application an
appendix that summarizes the evidence supporting each proposed solution
and describes how the solution is based on the best available evidence,
including, where available, strong or moderate evidence (as defined in
this notice). An applicant must also describe in the appendix how and
when--during the implementation process--the solution will be
implemented; the partners that will participate in the implementation
of each solution (in any case in which the applicant does not implement
the solution directly); the estimated per-child cost, including
administrative costs, to implement each solution; the estimated number
of children, by age, in the neighborhood who will be served by each
solution and how a segmentation analysis was used to target the
children and youth to be served; and the source of funds that will be
used to pay for each solution. In the description of the estimated
number of children to be served, the applicant must include the
percentage of all children of the same age group within the
neighborhood proposed to be served with each solution, and the annual
goals required to increase the proportion of children served to reach
scale over time.
An applicant must also describe in its plan how it will identify
Federal, State, or local policies, regulations, or other requirements
that would impede its ability to achieve its goals and how it will
report on those impediments to the Department and other relevant
agencies.
As appropriate, considering the time and urgency required to
dramatically improve outcomes of children and youth in our most
distressed neighborhoods and to transform those neighborhoods,
applicants must establish both short-term and long-term goals to
measure progress.
As part of the description of its strategy to build a continuum of
solutions, the applicant must also describe how it will participate in,
organize, or facilitate, as appropriate, communities of practice for
Promise Neighborhoods;
(b) Establish clear, annual goals for evaluating progress in
improving systems, such as changes in policies, environments, or
organizations that affect children and youth in the neighborhood.
Examples of systems change could include a new school district policy
to measure the results of family and community support programs, a new
funding resource to support the Promise Neighborhoods strategy, or a
cross-sector collaboration at the city level to break down municipal
agency ``silos'' and partner with local philanthropic organizations to
drive achievement of a set of results; and
(c) Establish clear, annual goals for evaluating progress in
leveraging resources, such as the amount of monetary or in-kind
investments from public or private organizations to support the Promise
Neighborhoods strategy. Examples of leveraging resources are securing
new or existing dollars to sustain and scale up what works in the
Promise Neighborhood or integrating high-quality programs in the
continuum of solutions. Applicants may consider, as part of their plans
to scale up their Promise Neighborhood strategy, serving a larger
geographic area by partnering with other applicants to the Promise
Neighborhoods program from the same city or region;
(3) Explain how it used its needs assessment and segmentation
analysis to determine the children with the highest needs and explain
how it will ensure that children in the neighborhood receive the
appropriate services from the continuum of solutions. In this
explanation of how it used the needs assessment and segmentation
analysis, the applicant must identify and describe in its application
the educational indicators and family and community support indicators
that the applicant used to conduct the needs assessment. Whether or not
the implementation grant applicant received a Promise Neighborhoods
planning grant, the applicant must describe how it--
(a) Collected data for the educational indicators listed in Table 1
and used them as both program and project indicators;
(b) Collected data for the family and community support indicators
in Table 2 and used them as program indicators; and
(c) Collected data for unique family and community support
indicators, developed by the applicant, that align with the goals and
objectives of the project and used them as project indicators or used
the indicators in Table 2 as project indicators.
An applicant must also describe how it will collect at least annual
data on the indicators in Tables 1 and 2; establish clear, annual goals
for growth on indicators; and report those data to the Department.
[[Page 23679]]
Table 1--Education Indicators and Results They Are Intended To Measure
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Indicator Result
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-- and % of children birth to Children enter kindergarten
kindergarten entry who have a place where ready to succeed in
they usually go, other than an emergency school.
room, when they are sick or in need of
advice about their health.
-- and % of three-year-olds and
children in kindergarten who demonstrate
at the beginning of the program or school
year age-appropriate functioning across
multiple domains of early learning (as
defined in this notice) as determined
using developmentally appropriate early
learning measures (as defined in this
notice).
-- and % of children, from birth
to kindergarten entry, participating in
center-based or formal home-based early
learning settings or programs, which may
include Early Head Start, Head Start,
child care, or preschool.
-- and % of students at or above Students are proficient in
grade level according to State mathematics core academic subjects.
and reading or language arts assessments
in at least the grades required by the
ESEA (3rd through 8th and once in high
school).
--Attendance rate of students in 6th, 7th, Students successfully
8th, and 9th grade. transition from middle
school grades to high
school.
--Graduation rate (as defined in this Youth graduate from high
notice). school.
-- and % of Promise Neighborhood High school graduates
students who graduate with a regular high obtain a postsecondary
school diploma, as defined in 34 CFR degree, certification, or
200.19(b)(1)(iv), and obtain postsecondary credential.
degrees, vocational certificates, or other
industry-recognized certifications or
credentials without the need for
remediation.
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Table 2--Family and Community Support Indicators and Results They Are
Intended To Measure
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Indicator Result
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-- & % of children who participate Students are healthy.
in at least 60 minutes of moderate to
vigorous physical activity daily; and
-- & % of children who consume
five or more servings of fruits and
vegetables daily; or
--possible third indicator, to be
determined (TBD) by applicant.
-- & % of students who feel safe Students feel safe at
at school and traveling to and from school and in their
school, as measured by a school climate community.
needs assessment (as defined in this
notice); or
--possible second indicator, TBD by
applicant.
--Student mobility rate (as defined in this Students live in stable
notice); or communities.
--possible second indicator, TBD by
applicant.
--For children birth to kindergarten entry, Families and community
the and % of parents or family members support learning
members who report that they read to their in Promise Neighborhood
child three or more times a week; schools.
--For children in the kindergarten through
eighth grades, the and % of
parents or family members who report
encouraging their child to read books
outside of school; and
--For children in the ninth through twelfth
grades, the and % of parents or
family members who report talking with
their child about the importance of
college and career; or
--possible fourth indicator TBD by
applicant.
-- & % of students who have school Students have access to
and home access (and % of the day they 21st century learning
have access) to broadband internet (as tools.
defined in this notice) and a connected
computing device; or
--possible second indicator TBD by
applicant.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: The indicators in Table 1 and Table 2 are not intended to
limit an applicant from collecting and using data for additional
indicators. Examples of additional indicators are--
(i) The and % of children who participate in high-quality
learning activities during out-of-school hours or in the hours after
the traditional school day ends;
(ii) The and % of students who are suspended or receive
discipline referrals during the year;
(iii) The share of housing stock in the geographically defined area
that is rent-protected, publicly assisted, or targeted for
redevelopment with local, State, or Federal funds; and
(iv) The and % of children who are homeless or in foster
care and who have an assigned adult advocate.
Note: While the Department believes there are many programmatic
benefits of collecting data on every child in the proposed
neighborhood, the Department will consider requests to collect data
on only a sample of the children in the neighborhood for some
indicators so long as the applicant describes in its application how
it would ensure the sample would be representative of the children
in the neighborhood;
(4) Describe the experience and lessons learned, and describe
how the applicant will build the capacity of its management team and
project director in all of the following areas:
(a) Working with the neighborhood and its residents, including
parents and families that have children or other members with
disabilities or ELs, as well as with the schools described in
paragraph (2) of this priority; the LEA in which the school or
schools are located; Federal, State, and local government leaders;
and other service providers.
(b) Collecting, analyzing, and using data for decision-making,
learning, continuous improvement, and accountability. The applicant
must describe--
(i) Progress towards developing, launching, and implementing a
longitudinal data system that integrates student-level data from
multiple sources in order to measure progress on educational and family
and community support indicators for all children in the neighborhood,
disaggregated by the subgroups listed in section 1111(b)(3)(C)(xiii) of
the ESEA;
(ii) How the applicant has linked or made progress to link the
longitudinal data system to school-based, LEA, and State data systems;
made the data accessible to parents, families, community residents,
program partners, researchers, and evaluators while abiding by Federal,
State, and other
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privacy laws and requirements; and managed and maintained the system;
(iii) How the applicant has used rapid-time (as defined in this
notice) data in prior years and, how it will continue to use those data
once the Promise Neighborhood strategy is implemented, for continuous
program improvement; and
(iv) How the applicant will document the implementation process,
including by describing lessons learned and best practices.
(c) Creating and strengthening formal and informal partnerships,
for such purposes as providing solutions along the continuum of
solutions and committing resources to sustaining and scaling up what
works. Each applicant must submit, as part of its application, a
memorandum of understanding, signed by each organization or agency with
which it would partner in implementing the proposed Promise
Neighborhood. The memorandum of understanding must describe--
(i) Each partner's financial and programmatic commitment; and
(ii) How each partner's existing vision, theory of change (as
defined in this notice), theory of action (as defined in this notice),
and current activities align with those of the proposed Promise
Neighborhood; and
(d) The governance structure proposed for the Promise Neighborhood,
including a system for holding partners accountable, how the eligible
entity's governing board or advisory board is representative of the
geographic area proposed to be served (as defined in this notice), and
how residents of the geographic area would have an active role in the
organization's decision-making.
(e) Integrating funding streams from multiple public and private
sources from the Federal, State, and local level. Examples of public
funds include Federal resources from the U.S. Department of Education,
such as the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program and title I
of the ESEA, and from other Federal agencies, such as the U.S.
Departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban
Development, Justice, Labor, and Treasury.
(5) Describe the applicant's commitment to work with the
Department, and with a national evaluator for Promise Neighborhoods or
another entity designated by the Department, to ensure that data
collection and program design are consistent with plans to conduct a
rigorous national evaluation of the Promise Neighborhoods program and
of specific solutions and strategies pursued by individual grantees.
This commitment must include, but need not be limited to--
(a) Ensuring that, through memoranda of understanding with
appropriate entities, the national evaluator and the Department have
access to relevant program and project data sources (e.g.,
administrative data and program and project indicator data), including
data on a quarterly basis if requested by the Department;
(b) Developing, in consultation with the national evaluator, an
evaluation strategy, including identifying a credible comparison group
(as defined in this notice); and
(c) Developing, in consultation with the national evaluator, a plan
for identifying and collecting reliable and valid baseline data for
both program participants and a designated comparison group of non-
participants.
Implementation Grant Priority 2 (Absolute)
Promise Neighborhoods in Rural Communities.
To meet this priority, an applicant must propose to implement a
Promise Neighborhood strategy that (1) meets all of the requirements in
Absolute Priority 1; and (2) serves one or more rural communities only.
Implementation Grant Priority 3 (Absolute)
Promise Neighborhoods in Tribal Communities.
To meet this priority, an applicant must propose to implement a
Promise Neighborhood strategy that (1) meets all of the requirements in
Absolute Priority 1; and (2) serves one or more Indian tribes (as
defined in this notice).
Competitive Preference Priorities: For FY 2012, these priorities
are competitive preference priorities. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i) we
award additional points to an application depending on how well the
application meets Implementation Grant Priorities 4, 5, 6, or 7
(Competitive Preference). Applicants may address more than one of the
competitive preference priorities; however, the Department will review
and award points only for a maximum of two of the competitive
preference priorities. Therefore, an applicant must identify in the
project narrative section of its application the priority or the two
priorities it wishes the Department to consider for purposes of earning
the competitive preference priority points.
Note: The Department will not review or award points under any
competitive preference priority for an application that (1) fails to
clearly identify the competitive preference priority or the two
priorities it wishes the Department to consider for purposes of
earning the competitive preference priority points, or (2)
identifies more than two competitive preference priorities.
These priorities are:
Implementation Grant Priority 4 (Competitive Preference)
Comprehensive Local Early Learning Network (zero, one, or two
points).
To meet this priority, applications must include plans that propose
to expand, enhance, or modify an existing network of early learning
programs and services to ensure that they are high-quality and
comprehensive for children from birth through the third grade. The plan
must also ensure that the network establishes a high standard of
quality across early learning settings and is designed to improve
outcomes across multiple domains of early learning. Distinct from the
early learning solutions described in paragraph (2) of Absolute
Priority 1, this priority supports implementation plans that integrate
various early learning services and programs in the neighborhood, i.e.,
school-based early learning programs in order to enhance the quality of
such services and programs; locally- or State-funded preschool
programs; Early Head Start and Head Start programs; the local child
care resource and referral agency, if applicable; Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) services and programs; services
through private providers; home visiting programs; child care providers
licensed by the State, including public and private providers and
center-based care; and family, friend, or neighbor care in the Promise
Neighborhood.
The early learning network must address or incorporate ongoing
State-level efforts regarding the major components of high-quality
early learning programs and services, such as State early learning and
development standards, program quality standards, comprehensive
assessment systems, workforce and professional development systems,
health promotion, family and community engagement, a coordinated data
infrastructure, and a method of measuring, monitoring, evaluating, and
improving program quality. For example, an applicant might address how
the Promise Neighborhoods project will use the State's early learning
standards, as applicable, and the Head Start Child Development and
Early Learning Framework (Framework), as applicable, to define the
expectations of what children should know and be able to do before
entering kindergarten. The Framework is available on the Office of
[[Page 23681]]
Head Start's Web site at: http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/teaching/eecd/Assessment/Child%20Outcomes/HS_Revised_Child_Outcomes_Framework(rev-Sept2011).pdf. Similarly, an applicant that
addresses this priority must discuss, where applicable, how it would
align with the State's Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), as
applicable, professional development and workforce infrastructure, and
other appropriate State efforts. In addition, the plan must include, to
the extent practicable, early learning opportunities on multiple
platforms (e.g., public television, Web-based, etc.) and in multiple
locations (e.g., at home, at school, and at other community locations).
Note regarding accessibility of early learning programs and
services: These early learning opportunities must be fully
accessible to individuals with disabilities, including individuals
who are blind or have low vision; otherwise, the plans must describe
how accommodations or modifications will be provided to ensure that
the benefits of the early learning opportunities are provided to
children and youth with disabilities in an equally effective and
equally integrated manner.
The implementation plan for a high-quality and comprehensive local
early learning network must describe the governance structure and the
major components of high-quality early learning programs and services
as well as include goals, strategies, and benchmarks to provide early
learning programs and services that result in improvements across
multiple domains of early learning. The plan must result from a needs
assessment and segmentation analysis (as defined in this notice) and
must reflect input from a broad range of stakeholders. An application
addressing this priority must designate an individual responsible for
overseeing and coordinating the early learning initiatives and must
include a resume or position description and other supporting
documentation to demonstrate that the individual designated, or
individual hired to carry out those responsibilities, possesses the
appropriate State certification, and has experience and expertise in
managing and administering high-quality early learning programs,
including in coordinating across various high-quality early learning
programs and services.
Implementation Grant Priority 5 (Competitive Preference)
Quality Internet Connectivity (zero or one point).
To meet this priority, an applicant must ensure that almost all
students in the geographic area proposed to be served have broadband
internet access (as defined in this notice) at home and at school, the
knowledge and skills to use broadband internet access effectively, and
a connected computing device to support schoolwork.
Implementation Grant Priority 6 (Competitive Preference)
Arts and Humanities (zero or one point).
To meet this priority, an applicant must include in its plan
opportunities for children and youth to experience and participate
actively in the arts and humanities in their community so as to
broaden, enrich, and enliven the educational, cultural, and civic
experiences available in the neighborhood. Applicants may include plans
for offering these activities in school and in out-of-school settings
and at any time during the calendar year.
Implementation Grant Priority 7 (Competitive Preference)
Quality Affordable Housing (zero or one point).
To meet this priority, an applicant must propose to serve
geographic areas that were the subject of an affordable housing
transformation pursuant to a Choice Neighborhoods or HOPE VI grant
awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during
FY 2009 or later years. To be eligible under this priority, the
applicant must either: (1) Be able to demonstrate that it has received
a Choice Neighborhoods or HOPE VI grant; or (2) provide, in its
application, a memorandum of understanding between it and a partner
that is a recipient of a Choice Neighborhoods or HOPE VI grant. The
memorandum must indicate a commitment on the part of the applicant and
partner to coordinate implementation and align resources to the
greatest extent practicable.
Invitational Priority: For FY 2012, this priority is an
invitational priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) we do not give an
application that meets this invitational priority a competitive or
absolute preference over other applications.
This priority is:
Implementation Grant Priority 8 (Invitational)
Family Engagement in Learning Through Adult Education.
To meet this priority, an applicant must include a plan that is
coordinated with adult education providers serving neighborhood
residents, such as those funded through the Adult Education and Family
Literacy Act. Coordinated services may include adult basic and
secondary education and programs that provide training and
opportunities for family members and other members of the community to
support student learning and establish high expectations for student
educational achievement. Examples of services and programs include
preparation for the General Education Development (GED) test; English
literacy, family literacy, and work-based literacy training; or other
training that prepares adults for postsecondary education and careers,
or supports adult engagement in the educational success of children and
youth in the neighborhood.
Definitions
The following definitions apply to this program: Broadband Internet
access means Internet access sufficient to provide community members
with the Internet available when and where they need it and for the
uses they require.
Children with disabilities or CWD means individuals who meet the
definition of child with a disability in 34 CFR 300.8, infant or
toddler with a disability in 34 CFR 300.25, handicapped person in 34
CFR 104.3(j), or disability as it pertains to an individual in 42
U.S.C. 12102.
Community of practice means a group of grantees that agrees to
interact regularly to solve a persistent problem or improve practice in
an area that is important to them and the success of their projects.
Establishment of communities of practice under Promise Neighborhoods
will enable grantees to meet, discuss, and collaborate with each other
regarding grantee projects.
Continuum of cradle-through-college-to-career solutions or
continuum of solutions means solutions that--
(1) Include programs, policies, practices, services, systems, and
supports that result in improving educational and developmental
outcomes for children from cradle through college to career;
(2) Are based on the best available evidence, including, where
available, strong or moderate evidence (as defined in this notice);
(3) Are linked and integrated seamlessly (as defined in this
notice); and
(4) Include both education programs and family and community
supports.
Credible comparison group includes a comparison group formed by
matching project participants with non-participants based on key
characteristics that are thought to be related to outcomes. These
characteristics include,
[[Page 23682]]
but are not limited to: (1) Prior test scores and other measures of
academic achievement (preferably the same measures that will be used to
assess the outcomes of the project); (2) demographic characteristics,
such as age, disability, gender, English proficiency, ethnicity,
poverty level, parents' educational attainment, and single- or two-
parent family background; (3) the time period in which the two groups
are studied (e.g., the two groups are children entering kindergarten in
the same year as opposed to sequential years); and (4) methods used to
collect outcome data (e.g., the same test of reading skills
administered in the same way to both groups).
Developmentally appropriate early learning measures means a range
of assessment instruments that are used in ways consistent with the
purposes for which they were designed and validated; appropriate for
the ages and other characteristics of the children being assessed;
designed and validated for use with children whose ages, cultures,
languages spoken at home, socioeconomic status, abilities and
disabilities, and other characteristics are similar to those of the
children with whom the assessments will be used; and used in compliance
with the measurement standards set forth by the American Educational
Research Association (AERA), the American Psychological Association
(APA), and the National Council for Measurement in Education (NCME) in
the 1999 Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing.
Education programs means programs that include, but are not limited
to--
(1) High-quality early learning programs or services designed to
improve outcomes across multiple domains of early learning for young
children. Such programs must be specifically intended to align with
appropriate State early learning and development standards, practices,
strategies, or activities across as broad an age range as birth through
third grade so as to ensure that young children enter kindergarten and
progress through the early elementary school grades demonstrating age-
appropriate functioning across the multiple domains;
(2) For children in preschool through the 12th grade, programs,
inclusive of related policies and personnel, that are linked to
improved educational outcomes. The programs--
(a) Must include effective teachers and effective principals;
(b) Must include strategies, practices, or programs that encourage
and facilitate the evaluation, analysis, and use of student
achievement, student growth (as defined in this notice), and other data
by educators, families, and other stakeholders to inform decision-
making;
(c) Must include college- and career-ready standards, assessments,
and practices, including a well-rounded curriculum, instructional
practices, strategies, or programs in, at a minimum, core academic
subjects as defined in section 9101(11) of the ESEA, that are aligned
with high academic content and achievement standards and with high-
quality assessments based on those standards; and
(d) May include creating multiple pathways for students to earn
regular high school diplomas (e.g., using schools that serve the needs
of over-aged, under-credited, or other students with an exceptional
need for flexibility regarding when they attend school or the
additional supports they require; awarding credit based on demonstrated
evidence of student competency; or offering dual-enrollment options);
and
(3) Programs that prepare students for college and career success,
which may include programs that--
(a) Create and support partnerships with community colleges, four-
year colleges, or universities and that help instill a college-going
culture in the neighborhood;
(b) Provide dual-enrollment opportunities for secondary students to
gain college credit while in high school;
(c) Provide, through relationships with businesses and other
organizations, apprenticeship opportunities to students;
(d) Align curricula in the core academic subjects with requirements
for industry-recognized certifications or credentials, particularly in
high-growth sectors;
(e) Provide access to career and technical education programs so
that individuals can attain the skills and industry-recognized
certifications or credentials for success in their careers;
(f) Help college students, including CWD and ELs from the
neighborhood to transition to college, persist in their academic
studies in college, graduate from college, and transition into the
workforce; and
(g) Provide opportunities for all youth (both in and out of school)
to achieve academic and employment success by improving educational and
skill competencies and providing connections to employers. Such
activities may include opportunities for on-going mentoring, supportive
services, incentives for recognition and achievement, and opportunities
related to leadership, development, decision-making, citizenship, and
community service.
Effective school means a school that has--
(1) Significantly closed the achievement gaps between subgroups of
students (as identified in section 1111(b)(3)(C)(xiii) of the ESEA)
within the school or district; or
(2)(a) Demonstrated success in significantly increasing student
academic achievement in the school for all subgroups of students (as
identified in section 1111(b)(3)(C)(xiii) of the ESEA) in the school;
and (b) made significant improvements in other areas, such as
graduation rates (as defined in this notice) or recruitment and
placement of effective teachers and effective principals.
Eligible organization means an organization that:
(1) Is representative of the geographic area proposed to be served
(as defined in this notice);
(2) Is one of the following:
(a) A nonprofit organization that meets the definition of a
nonprofit under 34 CFR 77.1(c), which may include a faith-based
nonprofit organization.
(b) An institution of higher education as defined by section 101(a)
of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.
(c) An Indian tribe (as defined in this notice);
(3) Currently provides at least one of the solutions from the
applicant's proposed continuum of solutions in the geographic area
proposed to be served; and
(4) Operates or proposes to work with and involve in carrying out
its proposed project, in coordination with the school's LEA, at least
one public elementary or secondary school that is located within the
identified geographic area that the grant will serve.
English learners or ELs means individuals who meet the definition
of limited English proficient, as defined in section 9101(25) of the
ESEA.
Family and community supports means:
(1) Child and youth health programs, such as physical, mental,
behavioral, and emotional health programs (e.g., home visiting
programs; Early Head Start; programs to improve nutrition and fitness,
reduce childhood obesity, and create healthier communities);
(2) Safety programs, such as programs in school and out of school
to prevent, control, and reduce crime, violence, drug and alcohol use,
and gang activity; programs that address classroom and school-wide
behavior and conduct;
[[Page 23683]]
programs to prevent child abuse and neglect; programs to prevent
truancy and reduce and prevent bullying and harassment; and programs to
improve the physical and emotional security of the school setting as
perceived, experienced, and created by students, staff, and families;
(3) Community stability programs, such as programs that--
(a) Increase the stability of families in communities by expanding
access to quality, affordable housing, providing legal support to help
families secure clear legal title to their homes, and providing housing
counseling or housing placement services;
(b) Provide adult education and employment opportunities and
training to improve educational levels, job skills and readiness in
order to decrease unemployment, with a goal of increasing family
stability;
(c) Improve families' awareness of, access to, and use of a range
of social services, if possible at a single location;
(d) Provide unbiased, outcome-focused, and comprehensive financial
education, inside and outside the classroom and at every life stage;
(e) Increase access to traditional financial institutions (e.g.,
banks and credit unions) rather than alternative financial institutions
(e.g., check cashers and payday lenders);
(f) Help families increase their financial literacy, financial
assets, and savings; and
(g) Help families access transportation to education and employment
opportunities;
(4) Family and community engagement programs that are systemic,
integrated, sustainable, and continue through a student's transition
from K-12 school to college and career. These programs may include
family literacy programs and programs that provide adult education and
training and opportunities for family members and other members of the
community to support student learning and establish high expectations
for student educational achievement; mentorship programs that create
positive relationships between children and adults; programs that
provide for the use of such community resources as libraries, museums,
television and radio stations, and local businesses to support improved
student educational outcomes; programs that support the engagement of
families in early learning programs and services; programs that provide
guidance on how to navigate through a complex school system and how to
advocate for more and improved learning opportunities; and programs
that promote collaboration with educators and community organizations
to improve opportunities for healthy development and learning; and
(5) 21st century learning tools, such as technology (e.g.,
computers and mobile phones) used by students in the classroom and in
the community to support their education. This includes programs that
help students use the tools to develop knowledge and skills in such
areas as reading and writing, mathematics, research, critical thinking,
communication, creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
Graduation rate means the four-year or extended-year adjusted
cohort graduation rate as defined by 34 CFR 200.19(b)(1).
Note: This definition is not meant to prevent a grantee from
also collecting information about the reasons why students do not
graduate from the target high school, e.g., dropping out or moving
outside of the school district for non-academic or academic reasons.
Increased learning time means using a longer school day, week, or
year to significantly increase the total number of school hours. This
strategy is used to redesign the school's program in a manner that
includes additional time for (a) instruction in core academic subjects
as defined in section 9101(11) of the ESEA; (b) instruction in other
subjects and enrichment activities that contribute to a well-rounded
education, including, for example, physical education, service
learning, and experiential and work-based learning opportunities that
are provided by partnering, as appropriate, with other organizations;
and (c) teachers to collaborate, plan, and engage in professional
development within and across grades and subjects.
Indian tribe means any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation,
pueblo, village or community that the Secretary of the Interior
acknowledges to exist as an Indian tribe, 25 U.S.C. 479a and 479a-1 or
any Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation as defined
in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act,
43 U.S.C. 1601, et seq., that is recognized as eligible for the special
programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because
of their status as Indians. The term ``Indian'' means a member of an
Indian tribe.
Indicators of need means currently available data that describe--
(1) Education need, which means--
(a) All or a portion of the neighborhood includes or is within the
attendance zone of a low-performing school that is a high school,
especially one in which the graduation rate (as defined in this notice)
is less than 60 percent or a school that can be characterized as low-
performing based on another proxy indicator, such as students' on-time
progression from grade to grade; and
(b) Other indicators, such as significant achievement gaps between
subgroups of students (as identified in section 1111(b)(3)(C)(xiii) of
the ESEA) within a school or LEA, high teacher and principal turnover,
or high student absenteeism; and
(2) Family and community support need, which means--
(a) Percentages of children with preventable chronic health
conditions (e.g., asthma, poor nutrition, dental problems, obesity) or
avoidable developmental delays;
(b) Immunization rates;
(c) Rates of crime, including violent crime;
(d) Student mobility rates;
(e) Teenage birth rates;
(f) Percentage of children in single-parent or no-parent families;
(g) Rates of vacant or substandard homes, including distressed
public and assisted housing; or
(h) Percentage of the residents living at or below the Federal
poverty threshold.
Linked and integrated seamlessly, with respect to the continuum of
solutions, means solutions that have common outcomes, focus on similar
milestones, support transitional time periods (e.g., the beginning of
kindergarten, the middle grades, or graduation from high school) along
the cradle-through-college-to-career continuum, and address time and
resource gaps that create obstacles for students in making academic
progress.
Low-performing schools means schools receiving assistance through
title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as
amended (ESEA), that are in corrective action or restructuring in the
State, as determined under section 1116 of the ESEA, and the secondary
schools (both middle and high schools) in the State that are equally as
low-achieving as these Title I schools and are eligible for, but do not
receive, Title I funds.
Moderate evidence means evidence from previous studies with designs
that can support causal conclusions (i.e., studies with high internal
validity) but have limited generalizability (i.e., moderate external
validity) or from studies with high external validity but moderate
internal validity.
Multiple domains of early learning means physical well-being and
motor development; social-emotional development; approaches toward
learning, which refers to the
[[Page 23684]]
inclinations, dispositions, or styles, rather than skills, that reflect
ways that children become involved in learning and develop their
inclinations to pursue learning; language and literacy development,
including emergent literacy; and cognition and general knowledge, which
refers to thinking and problem-solving as well as knowledge about
particular objects and the way the world works. Cognition and general
knowledge include mathematical and scientific knowledge, abstract
thought, and imagination.
Neighborhood assets means--
(1) Developmental assets that allow residents to attain the skills
needed to be successful in all aspects of daily life (e.g., educational
institutions, early learning centers, and health resources);
(2) Commercial assets that are associated with production,
employment, transactions, and sales (e.g., labor force and retail
establishments);
(3) Recreational assets that create value in a neighborhood beyond
work and education (e.g., parks, open space, community gardens, and
arts organizations);
(4) Physical assets that are associated with the built environment
and physical infrastructure (e.g., housing, commercial buildings, and
roads); and
(5) Social assets that establish well-functioning social
interactions (e.g., public safety, community engagement, and
partnerships with youth, parents, and families).
Persistently lowest-achieving school \4\ means, as determined by
the State--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ The Department considers schools that are identified as Tier
I or Tier II schools under the School Improvement Grants Program
(see 75 FR 66363) as part of a State's approved FY 2009 or FY 2010
applications to be persistently lowest-achieving schools. A list of
these Tier I and Tier II schools can be found on the Department's
web site at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/sif/index.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Any school receiving assistance through Title I that is in
improvement, corrective action, or restructuring and that--
(a) Is among the lowest-achieving five percent of Title I schools
in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring or the lowest-
achieving five Title I schools in improvement, corrective action, or
restructuring in the State, whichever number of schools is greater; or
(b) Is a high school that has had a graduation rate that is less
than 60 percent over a number of years; and
(2) Any secondary school that is eligible for, but does not
receive, Title I funds that--
(a) Is among the lowest-achieving five percent of secondary schools
or the lowest-achieving five secondary schools in the State that are
eligible for, but do not receive, Title I funds, whichever number of
schools is greater; or
(b) Is a high school that has had a graduation rate that is less
than 60 percent over a number of years.
Program indicators are indicators that the Department will use only
for research and evaluation purposes and for which an applicant is not
required to propose solutions.
Project indicators are indicators for which an applicant proposes
solutions intended to result in progress on the indicators.
Public officials means elected officials (e.g., council members,
aldermen and women, commissioners, State legislators, Congressional
representatives, members of the school board), appointed officials
(e.g., members of a planning or zoning commission, or of any other
regulatory or advisory board or commission), or individuals who are not
necessarily public officials, but who have been appointed by a public
official to serve on the Promise Neighborhoods governing board or
advisory board.
Rapid-time, in reference to reporting and availability of locally-
collected data, means that data are available quickly enough to inform
current lessons, instruction, and related education programs and family
and community supports.
Representative of the geographic area proposed to be served means
that residents of the geographic area proposed to be served have an
active role in decision-making and that at least one-third of the
eligible entity's governing board or advisory board is made up of--
(1) Residents who live in the geographic area proposed to be
served, which may include residents who are representative of the
ethnic and racial composition of the neighborhood's residents and the
languages they speak;
(2) Residents of the city or county in which the neighborhood is
located but who live outside the geographic area proposed to be served,
and who are low-income (which means earning less than 80 percent of the
area's median income as published by the Department of Housing and
Urban Development);
(3) Public officials (as defined in this notice) who serve the
geographic area proposed to be served (although not more than one-half
of the governing board or advisory board may be made up of public
officials); or
(4) Some combination of individuals from the three groups listed in
paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of this definition.
Rural community means a neighborhood that--
(1) Is served by an LEA that is currently eligible under the Small
Rural School Achievement (SRSA) program or the Rural and Low-Income
School (RLIS) program authorized under Title VI, Part B of the ESEA.
Applicants may determine whether a particular LEA is eligible for these
programs by referring to information on the following Department Web
sites. For the SRSA program: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/reapsrsa/eligible10/index.html. For the RLIS program: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/reaprlisp/eligible10/index.html; or
(2) Includes only schools designated with a school locale code of
42 or 43. Applicants may determine school locale codes by referring to
the following Department Web site: http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/.
School climate needs assessment means an evaluation tool that
measures the extent to which the school setting promotes or inhibits
academic performance by collecting perception data from individuals,
which could include students, staff, or families.
Segmentation analysis means the process of grouping and analyzing
data from children and families in the geographic area proposed to be
served according to indicators of need (as defined in this notice) or
other relevant indicators.
Note: The analysis is intended to allow grantees to
differentiate and more effectively target interventions based on
what they learn about the needs of different populations in the
geographic area.
Strong evidence means evidence from studies with designs that can
support causal conclusions (i.e., studies with high internal validity),
and studies that, in total, include enough of the range of participants
and settings to support scaling up to the State, regional, or national
level (i.e., studies with high external validity).
Student achievement means--
(1) For tested grades and subjects:
(a) A student's score on the State's assessments under the ESEA;
and, as appropriate,
(b) Other measures of student learning, such as those described in
paragraph (2) of this definition, provided they are rigorous and
comparable across classrooms and programs.
(2) For non-tested grades and subjects: Alternative measures of
student learning and performance, such as student scores on pre-tests
and end-of-course tests; student performance on English language
proficiency assessments; and
[[Page 23685]]
other measures of student achievement that are rigorous and comparable
across classrooms.
Student growth means the change in achievement data for an
individual student between two or more points in time. Growth may also
include other measures that are rigorous and comparable across
classrooms.
Student mobility rate is calculated by dividing the total number of
new student entries and withdrawals at a school, from the day after the
first official enrollment number is collected through the end of the
academic year, by the first official enrollment number of the academic
year.
Note: This definition is not meant to limit a grantee from also
collecting information about why students enter or withdraw from the
school, e.g., transferring to charter schools, moving outside of the
school district for non-academic or academic reasons.
Theory of action means an organization's strategy regarding how,
considering its capacity and resources, it will take the necessary
steps and measures to accomplish its desired results.
Theory of change means an organization's beliefs about how its
inputs, and early and intermediate outcomes, relate to accomplishing
its long-term desired results.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7243-7243b.
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 priorities,
requirements, definitions, and selection criteria published in the
Federal Register on July 6, 2011 (76 FR 39590).
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: $27,790,000.
These estimated available funds are only for Implementation grants
under the Promise Neighborhoods program.
Contingent upon the availability of funds and the quality of the
applications, we may make additional awards in FY 2013 or later years
from the list of unfunded applicants from this competition.
Estimated Range of Awards: $4,000,000 to $6,000,000.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $5,000,000.
Maximum Award: $6,000,000.
The maximum award amount is $6,000,000 per 12-month budget period.
We may choose not to further consider or review applications with
budget requests for any 12-month budget period that exceed this amount,
if we conclude, during our initial review of the application, that the
proposed goals and objectives cannot be obtained with the specified
maximum amount.
Estimated Number of Awards: 5 to 7.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: 36 to 60 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: To be eligible for a grant under this
competition, an applicant must be an eligible organization (as defined
in this notice). For purposes of Absolute Priority 3: Promise
Neighborhoods in Tribal Communities, an eligible applicant is an
eligible organization that partners with an Indian tribe or is an
Indian tribe that meets the definition of an eligible organization.
2. Cost-Sharing or Matching: To be eligible for an implementation
grant under this competition, an applicant must demonstrate that it has
established a commitment from one or more entities in the public or
private sector, which may include Federal, State, and local public
agencies, philanthropic organizations, private businesses, or
individuals, to provide matching funds for the implementation process.
An applicant for an implementation grant must obtain matching funds or
in-kind donations equal to at least 100 percent of its grant award,
except that an applicant proposing a project that meets Absolute
Priority 2: Promise Neighborhoods in Rural Communities or Absolute
Priority 3: Promise Neighborhoods in Tribal Communities must obtain
matching funds or in-kind donations equal to at least 50 percent of the
grant award.
Eligible sources of matching include sources of funds used to pay
for solutions within the continuum of solutions, such as Head Start
programs, initiatives supported by the LEA, or public health services
for children in the neighborhood. At least 10 percent of an
implementation applicant's total match must be cash or in-kind
contributions from the private sector, which may include philanthropic
organizations, private businesses, or individuals.
Both planning and implementation applicants must demonstrate a
commitment of matching funds in the applications. The applicants must
specify the source of the funds or contributions and in the case of a
third-party in-kind contribution, a description of how the value was
determined for the donated or contributed goods or service. Applicants
must demonstrate the match commitment by including letters in their
applications explaining the type and quantity of the match commitment
with original signatures from the executives of organizations or
agencies providing the match. The Secretary may consider decreasing the
matching requirement in the most exceptional circumstances, on a case-
by-case basis.
An applicant that is unable to meet the matching requirement must
include in its application a request to the Secretary to reduce the
matching requirement, including the amount of the requested reduction,
the total remaining match contribution, and a statement of the basis
for the request. An applicant should review the Department's cost-
sharing and cost-matching regulations, which include specific
limitations in 34 CFR 74.23 applicable to non-profit organizations and
institutions of higher education and 34 CFR 80.24 applicable to State,
local, and Indian tribal governments, and the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) cost principles regarding donations, capital assets,
depreciations and allowable costs. These circulars are available on
OMB's Web site at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/index.html.
3. Other: Funding Categories: An applicant must state in its
application whether it is applying for a Planning grant or an
Implementation grant. An applicant will be considered for an award only
for the type of grant for which it applies.
IV. Application and Submission Information
1. Address to Request Application Package:
Adrienne Hawkins, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue
SW., Room 4W256, LBJ, Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: (202) 453-5638
or by email: [email protected].
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-
800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities can obtain a copy of the application
package in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, audiotape,
or compact disc) by contacting the program contact person listed in
this section.
[[Page 23686]]
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.
Notice of Intent to Apply: June 8, 2012.
We will be able to develop a more efficient process for reviewing
grant applications if we know the approximate number of applicants that
intend to apply for funding under this competition. Therefore, the
Secretary strongly encourages each potential applicant to notify us of
the applicant's intent to submit an application for funding by
completing a Web-based form. When completing this form, applicants will
provide (1) the applicant organization's name and address, and (2) the
type of grant for which the applicant intends to apply. Applicants may
access this form online at http://wdcrobcolp01.ed.gov/CFAPPS/survey/survey.cfm?ID=c306e04-40e0-4cb3-b6e7-4a8ea1d2012e. Applicants that do
not complete this form may still apply for funding.
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. You are strongly encouraged
to limit the application narrative [Part III] for an implementation
application to no more than 50 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. Text in charts, tables, figures,
and graphs may be single-spaced.
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 is strongly encouraged:
Times New Roman, Courier, Courier New, or Arial.
Include page numbers at the bottom of each page in your
application narrative.
The suggested 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: April 20, 2012.
Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply: June 8, 2012.
Date of Pre-Application Webinars: May 17, 2012, and June 14, 2012.
Pre-application webinars are designed to provide technical assistance
to interested applicants for Promise Neighborhoods grants. Detailed
information regarding the pre-application webinar times will be
available through the Department of Education Web site at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/promiseneighborhoods/index.html.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: June 19, 2012.
Applications for grants under this competition 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.7. 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: September 25, 2012.
4. Intergovernmental Review: This competition 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
competition.
5. Funding Restrictions: We reference regulations outlining funding
restrictions in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice.
6. Data Universal Numbering System Number, Taxpayer Identification
Number, and Central Contractor Registry: To do business with the
Department of Education, you must--
a. Have a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and a
Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN);
b. Register both your DUNS number and TIN with the Central
Contractor Registry (CCR), the Government's primary registrant
database;
c. Provide your DUNS number and TIN on your application; and
d. Maintain an active CCR registration with current information
while your application is under review by the Department and, if you
are awarded a grant, during the project period.
You can obtain a DUNS number from Dun and Bradstreet. A DUNS number
can be created within one business day.
If you are a corporate entity, agency, institution, or
organization, you can obtain a TIN from the Internal Revenue Service.
If you are an individual, you can obtain a TIN from the Internal
Revenue Service or the Social Security Administration. If you need a
new TIN, please allow 2-5 weeks for your TIN to become active.
The CCR registration process may take five or more business days to
complete. If you are currently registered with the CCR, you may not
need to make any changes. However, please make certain that the TIN
associated with your DUNS number is correct. Also note that you will
need to update your CCR registration on an annual basis. This may take
three or more business days to complete.
In addition, if you are submitting your application via Grants.gov,
you must (1) be designated by your organization as an Authorized
Organization Representative (AOR); and (2) register yourself with
Grants.gov as an AOR.
Details on these steps are outlined at the following Grants.gov Web
page: www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp.
7. 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 Promise Neighborhoods Program
(Implementation grants), CFDA Number 84.215N, must be submitted
electronically using the Governmentwide Grants.gov Apply site at
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 email 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
[[Page 23687]]
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 Promise
Neighborhoods Implementation Grant Competition at 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 84.215, not 84.215N).
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 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 under News and Events on the Department's G5
system home page at http://www.G5.gov.
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: The
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.
If you submit your application electronically, you must
upload any narrative sections and all other attachments to your
application as files in a PDF (Portable Document) read-only, non-
modifiable format. Do not upload an interactive or fillable PDF file.
If you upload a file type other than a read-only, non-modifiable PDF 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 email. 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
prevents 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: Adrienne Hawkins, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 4W256,
[[Page 23688]]
Washington, DC 20202. Fax: (202) 453-5638.
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:
(CFDA Number 84.215N), 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 84.215N), 550 12th Street SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center Plaza,
Washington, DC 20202-4260.
The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily between 8
a.m. and 4:30 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
1. Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this competition
are from the 2011 Promise Neighborhoods NFP and from 34 CFR 75.210. The
points assigned to each criterion are indicated in the parenthesis next
to the criterion. Applicants may earn up to a total of 100 points. The
selection criteria for implementation grants are as follows:
A. Need for Project (15 Points)
The Secretary considers the need for the proposed project.
In determining the need for the proposed project, the Secretary
considers--
(1) The magnitude or severity of the problems to be addressed by
the proposed project as described by indicators of need and other
relevant indicators identified in part by the needs assessment and
segmentation analysis (10 points); and
(2) The extent to which the geographically defined area has been
described (5 points).
B. Quality of the Project Design (25 Points)
The Secretary considers the quality of the design of the proposed
project.
In determining the quality of the design of the proposed project,
the Secretary considers:
(1) The extent to which the continuum of solutions is aligned with
an ambitious, rigorous, and comprehensive strategy for improvement of
schools in the neighborhood (10 points);
(2) The extent to which the applicant describes an implementation
plan to create a complete continuum of solutions, including early
learning through grade 12, college- and career-readiness, and family
and community supports, without time and resource gaps, that will
prepare all children in the neighborhood to attain an excellent
education and successfully transition to college and a career, and that
will significantly increase the proportion of students in the
neighborhood that are served by the complete continuum to reach scale
over time (5 points);
(3) The extent to which the applicant identifies existing
neighborhood assets and programs supported by Federal, State, local,
and private funds that will be used to implement a continuum of
solutions (5 points); and
(4) The extent to which the applicant describes its implementation
plan, including clear, annual goals for improving systems and
leveraging resources as described in paragraph (2) of Absolute Priority
1 (5 points).
C. Quality of Project Services (15 Points)
The Secretary considers the quality of the services to be provided
by the proposed project.
In determining the quality of the project services, the Secretary
considers:
(1) The extent to which the applicant describes how the needs
assessment and segmentation analysis, including identifying and
describing indicators, were used to determine each solution within the
continuum (5 points);
(2) The extent to which the applicant documents that proposed
solutions are based on the best available evidence including, where
available, strong or moderate evidence (5 points); and
(3) The extent to which the applicant describes clear, annual goals
for improvement on indicators (5 points).
D. Quality of the Management Plan (45 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 experience, lessons learned, and
proposal to build capacity of the applicant's management team and
project director in all of the following areas:
(1) Working with the neighborhood and its residents; the schools
described in paragraph (2)(b) of Absolute Priority 1; the LEA in which
those schools are located; Federal, State, and local government
leaders; and other service providers (10 points).
(2) Collecting, analyzing, and using data for decision-making,
learning, continuous improvement, and accountability, including whether
the applicant has a plan to build, adapt, or expand a longitudinal data
system that integrates student-level data from multiple sources in
order to measure progress while abiding by privacy laws and
requirements (15 points).
[[Page 23689]]
(3) Creating formal and informal partnerships, including the
alignment of the visions, theories of action, and theories of change
described in its memorandum of understanding, and creating a system for
holding partners accountable for performance in accordance with the
memorandum of understanding (10 points).
(4) Integrating funding streams from multiple public and private
sources, including its proposal to leverage and integrate high-quality
programs in the neighborhood into the continuum of solutions (10
points).
2. Review and Selection Process: The Department will screen
applications submitted in accordance with the requirements in this
notice, and will determine which applications have met eligibility and
other statutory requirements.
The Department will use independent reviewers from various
backgrounds and professions including: pre-kindergarten-12 teachers and
principals, college and university educators, researchers and
evaluators, social entrepreneurs, strategy consultants, grant makers
and managers, and others with education expertise. The Department will
thoroughly screen all reviewers for conflicts of interest to ensure a
fair and competitive review process.
Reviewers will read, prepare a written evaluation, and score the
applications assigned to their panel, using the selection criteria
provided in this notice.
For applications addressing Absolute Priority 1, Absolute priority
2, and Absolute Priority 3, the Secretary prepares a rank order of
applications for each absolute priority based solely on the evaluation
of their quality according to the selection criteria. The Department
may use more than one tier of reviews in determining grantees,
including possible site visits for Implementation grant applicants.
Additional information about the review process will be posted on the
Department's Web site.
We remind potential applicants that in reviewing applications in
any discretionary grant competition, the Secretary may consider, under
34 CFR 75.217(d)(3), the past performance of the applicant in carrying
out a previous award, such as the applicant's use of funds, achievement
of project objectives, and compliance with grant conditions. The
Secretary may also consider whether the applicant failed to submit a
timely performance report or submitted a report of unacceptable
quality.
In addition, in making a competitive grant award, the Secretary
also requires various assurances including those applicable to Federal
civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination in programs or
activities receiving Federal financial assistance from the Department
of Education (34 CFR 100.4, 104.5, 106.4, 108.8, and 110.23).
3. Special Conditions: Under 34 CFR 74.14 and 80.12, the Secretary
may impose special conditions on a grant if the applicant or grantee is
not financially stable; has a history of unsatisfactory performance;
has a financial or other management system that does not meet the
standards in 34 CFR parts 74 or 80, as applicable; has not fulfilled
the conditions of a prior grant; or is otherwise not responsible.
4. Transparency and Open Government Policy: After awards are made
under this competition, all of the submitted successful applications,
together with reviewer scores and comments, will be posted on the
Department's Web site.
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 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: (a) If you apply for a grant under this competition,
you must ensure that you have in place the necessary processes and
systems to comply with the reporting requirements in 2 CFR part 170
should you receive funding under the competition. This does not apply
if you have an exception under 2 CFR 170.110(b).
(b) 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 www.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/appforms/appforms.html.
4. Performance Measures: The Secretary has established the
following performance indicators for this program: The percentage of
implementation grantees that attain or exceed the annual goals that
they establish and that are approved by the Secretary for--
(a) Project indicators;
(b) Improving systems; and
(c) Leveraging resources.
All grantees will be required to submit annual performance reports
documenting their contribution in assisting the Department in measuring
the performance of the program against these indicators, as well as
other information requested by the Department.
5. Continuation Awards: In making a continuation award, the
Secretary may consider, under 34 CFR 75.253, the extent to which a
grantee has made ``substantial progress toward meeting the objectives
in its approved application.'' This consideration includes the review
of a grantee's progress in meeting the targets and projected outcomes
in its approved application, and whether the grantee has expended funds
in a manner that is consistent with its approved application and
budget. In making a continuation grant, the Secretary also considers
whether the grantee is operating in compliance with the assurances in
its approved application, including those applicable to Federal civil
rights laws that prohibit discrimination in programs or activities
receiving Federal financial assistance from the Department (34 CFR
100.4, 104.5, 106.4, 108.8, and 110.23).
VII. Agency Contact
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Adrienne Hawkins, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., room 4W256, Washington, DC 20202.
Telephone: (202) 453-5638 or by email: [email protected].
If you use a TDD, call the 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 compact disc) on request to
the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
in section VII of this notice.
Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this
document is the document published in the Federal
[[Page 23690]]
Register. Free Internet access to the official edition of the Federal
Register and the Code of Federal Regulations is available via the
Federal Digital System at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site 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). To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is
available free at the site.
You may also access documents of the Department published in the
Federal Register by using the article search feature at:
www.federalregister.gov/. Specifically, through the advanced search
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published
by the Department.
Dated: April 17, 2012.
James H. Shelton, III,
Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement.
[FR Doc. 2012-9597 Filed 4-19-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P