Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities National Programs Federal Activities Grants Program

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA NO.: 84.184G & J]

Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities National Programs--

Federal Activities Grants Program

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Priorities and Selection Criteria for Fiscal

Year 1998.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary announces proposed priorities and selection

criteria for fiscal year (FY) 1998 under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools

and Communities (SDFSC) National Programs Federal Activities Grants

Program. The Secretary takes this action to focus Federal financial

assistance on identified national needs to promote the creation of safe

and orderly learning environments for all students and to encourage the

development of systems to collect data related to youth drug use and

violent behavior.

Invitation To Comment

Interested persons are invited to submit comments and

recommendations regarding these proposed priorities. All comments

submitted in response to this notice will be available for public

inspection, during and after the comment period, in Room 603, Portals

Building, 1250 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC, between the hours

of 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday of each

week except Federal holidays.

On request, the Department supplies an appropriate aid, such as a

reader or print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs

assistance to review the comments. An individual with a disability who

wants to schedule an appointment for this type of aid may call (202)

205-8113 or (202) 260-9895. An individual who uses a TDD may call the

Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339, between 8 a.m. and

8 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

DATES: Comments must be received by the Department on or before June

18, 1998.

ADDRESSES: All comments concerning these proposed priorities should be

addressed to Ethel Jackson, U.S. Department of Education, 600 Maryland

Avenue, SW., Suite 603, Portals Building, Washington, DC 20202-6123.

Comments may also be sent through the Internet to: [email protected]. You

must include the term ``Federal Activities Grant Program'' in the

subject line of your electronic message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ethel Jackson, Safe and Drug-Free

Schools Programs, U.S. Department of Education, 600 Independence

Avenue, SW., Room 603, Portals, Washington, DC 20202-6123. Telephone:

(202) 260-3954. Individuals who use a tele-communications device for

the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at

1-800-877-8339 between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., Eastern time, Monday

through Friday.

Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an

alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer

diskette) on request to the contact person listed above.

Note: This notice of proposed priorities and selection criteria

does not solicit applications. A notice inviting applications under

this competition will be published in the Federal Register

concurrent with or following the publication of the notice of final

priorities.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This notice contains two proposed priorities and selection criteria

for fiscal year 1998. Under absolute priority one (CFDA 84.184G, State

and Local Educational Agency Drug and Violence Prevention Data

Collection), the Secretary may make grant awards for up to 24 months.

Under absolute priority number two (CFDA 84.184J, Model Demonstration

Program), the Secretary may award cooperative agreements for up to 60

months. Cooperative agreements funded through this priority will serve

as national demonstration sites to test strategies, assess

effectiveness, and make a major contribution to the development and

dissemination of models and components of models which can be used by

school districts and other youth-serving agencies nationwide.

Priorities

Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) and the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and

Communities Act of 1994, the Secretary gives an absolute preference to

applications that meet one of the following priorities. The Secretary

funds under this competition only applications that meet one of these

absolute priorities.

Absolute Priority 1 and Selection Criteria--State and Local Educational

Agency Drug and Violence Prevention Data Collection (CFDA 84.184G)

Under this priority, applicants must propose projects that--

(1) Develop, improve, expand, or enhance the collection of data

related to youth drug use and violence; and

(2) Develop and implement processes to ensure that high-quality

data are used to form policy, assess needs, select interventions, and

assess the success of drug and violence prevention activities funded

under the SDFSC State Grants Program. Projects may be State-wide in

scope or limited to an individual local educational agency, or a

consortium of local educational agencies, with a student enrollment

that exceeds 30,000.

Projects must address drug and violence prevention data for

students in general, not just for a sub-set of the population (e.g.,

non-English speaking students or hearing-impaired students). To be

considered for funding under this competition, a project must include--

(1) Concrete plans, with timelines, that detail how the results of

new or improved data collection efforts will be incorporated into State

and local educational agency efforts to assess needs, select

interventions, and assess success of drug and violence prevention

efforts;

(2) Outcome-based performance indicators that will be used to judge

the success of the project;

(3) A description of how efforts proposed as part of the project

have been coordinated with and will not duplicate data collection

efforts being implemented by other State or local agencies; and

(4) If the applicant is other than a State or local educational

agency, evidence of commitment from the State educational agency (for

State-wide projects) or from the superintendent of schools (for local

projects).

Selection Criteria

(a)(1) The Secretary uses the following selection criteria to

evaluate proposals submitted under this priority.

The maximum score for all of the criteria in this section is 100

points.

The maximum score for each criterion is indicated in parentheses

with the criterion.

(b) The criteria.--

1. Need for project. (15 points)

In determining the need for the proposed project, the following

factors are considered:

(a) The magnitude of the need for the services to be provided or

the activities to be carried out by the proposed project.

(b) The extent to which specific gaps or weaknesses in services,

infrastructure, or opportunities have been identified and will be

addressed by the proposed project, including the nature and magnitude

of those gaps or weaknesses.

2. Significance. (25 points)

In determining the significance of the proposed project, the

following factors are considered:

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(a) The significance of the problem or issues to be addressed by

the proposed project.

(b) The likelihood that the proposed project will result in system

change or improvement.

(c) The extent to which the proposed project is likely to build

local capacity to provide, improve, or expand services that address the

needs of the target population.

3. Quality of the project design. (25 points)

In determining the quality of the design of the proposed project,

the following factors are considered:

(a) The extent to which the goals, objectives, and outcomes to be

achieved by the proposed project are clearly specified and measurable.

(b) The extent to which the proposed project is designed to build

capacity and yield results that will extend beyond the period of

Federal financial assistance.

(c) The extent to which the proposed project will be coordinated

with similar or related efforts, and with other appropriate community,

State and Federal resources.

4. Adequacy of resources. (15 points)

In determining the adequacy of resources for the proposed projects,

the following factors are considered:

(a) The extent to which the costs are reasonable in relation to the

objectives, design, and potential significance of the proposed project.

(b) The potential for the incorporation of project purposes,

activities or benefits into the ongoing program of the agency or

organization at the end of Federal funding.

5. Quality of the management plan (10 points)

In determining the quality of the management plan for the proposed

project, the following factor is considered:

(a) The adequacy of the management plan to achieve the objectives

of the proposed project on time and within budget, including clearly

defined responsibilities, time lines, and milestone for accomplishing

project tasks.

6. Quality of the project evaluation. (10 points)

In determining the quality of the evaluation to be conducted for

the proposed project, the following factor is considered:

(a) The extent to which the methods of evaluation will provide

performance feedback and permit periodic assessment of progress toward

achieving intended outcomes.

Absolute Priority #2 and Selection Criteria--Model Demonstration

Programs to Create Safe and Orderly Learning Environments in Schools

(CFDA 84.184J)

Projects proposed under this priority are expected to

comprehensively address multiple factors that predispose youth to drug

use and violent behavior. Therefore, projects will not be funded for:

(a) basic support of existing programs; (b) replication of a single

program of demonstrated effectiveness, or (c) less than $500,000 or

more than $1 million.

Projects supported under this priority will be funded for

implementation in one site for three years and for replication in

additional sites for two years. Projects will be reviewed during the

third year to examine, among other factors, the degree to which the

evaluation findings at the original site are promising, and the quality

of the evaluation design proposed to test the model at other sites

during years four and five. Projects which fail to demonstrate

effectiveness at the original site will not be funded to test the

model's replication in other sites.

Under this priority, applicants must propose projects that:

(A) Develop and implement a model with specific components or

strategies that are based on theory, research, or evaluation data;

(B) Identify outcomes intended to result in behavioral change in

youth served and other indicators of the effectiveness of the model

(e.g. improved bonding to school and to the community, reductions in

disciplinary referrals, absence of firearms and other weapons in

schools, acquisition of pro-social skills, and reductions in alcohol,

tobacco, and other drug use by the target population);

(C) Evaluate the model by using multiple measures to determine the

effectiveness of the model and its components or strategies; and

(D) Produce detailed documentation of procedures and materials that

would enable others to replicate the model as implemented at the

original site.

Applicants must provide the following : (1) recent and historical

data on drug use by youth; (2) data that describes patterns of violence

and disruptive acts in schools; (3) rates of referral to juvenile

justice authorities for bringing weapons to school, drug use or

possession and violent criminal acts; (4) evidence of gang and violence

problems in the target community, and (5) demographic information for

the geographic area in which the school is located.

Selection Criteria

(a)(1) The Secretary uses the following selection criteria to

evaluate proposals submitted under this priority.

The maximum score for all of the criteria in this section is 100

points.

(2) The maximum score for each criterion is indicated in

parentheses.

(b) The criteria.--

1. Significance (30 points)

In determining the significance of the proposed project, the

following factors are considered:

(a) The potential contribution of the proposed project to the

development and advancement of theory, knowledge, and practices in the

field of study.

(b) The extent to which the proposed project is likely to yield

findings that may be utilized by other appropriate agencies and

organizations.

(c) The potential replicability of the proposed project or

strategies, including, as appropriate, the potential for implementation

in a variety of settings.

(2) Quality of the project design (25 points)

In determining the quality of the design of the proposed project,

the following factors are considered:

(a) The extent to which the goals, objectives, and outcomes to be

achieved by the proposed project are clearly specified and measurable.

(b) The extent to which there is a conceptual framework underlying

the proposed research or demonstration activities and the quality of

that framework.

(c) The extent to which the design of the proposed project reflects

up-to-date knowledge from research and effective practice.

(d) The quality of the proposed demonstration design and procedures

for documenting project activities and results;

(e) The extent to which the proposed project represents an

exceptional approach to the priority or priorities established for the

competition.

3. Adequacy of resources (10 points)

In determining the adequacy of resources for the proposed project,

the following factors are considered:

(a) The relevance and demonstrated commitment of each partner in

the proposed project to the implementation and success of the project.

(b) The extent to which the costs are reasonable in relation to the

objectives, design and potential significance of the proposed project.

4. Quality of the management plan (10 points)

In determining the quality of the management plan, the following

factors are considered:

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(a) The adequacy of the management plan to achieve the objectives

of the proposed project on time and within budget, including clearly

defined responsibilities, timelines, and milestones for accomplishing

project tasks.

(b) The extent to which the time commitments of the project

director and principal investigator and other key project personnel are

appropriate and adequate to meet the objectives of the proposed

project.

5. Quality of the project evaluation (25 points)

In determining the quality of the evaluation, the following factors

are considered:

(a) The extent to which the methods of the evaluation are thorough,

feasible, and appropriate to the goals, objectives and outcomes of the

proposed project.

(b) The extent to which the methods of evaluation include the use

of objective performance measures that are clearly related to the

intended outcomes of the project and will produce quantitative and

qualitative data to the extent possible.

Electronic Access to This Document

Anyone may view this document, as well as all other Department of

Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or

portable document format (pdf) on the World Wide Web at either of the

following sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm

http://www.ed.gov/news.html

To use the pdf you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with

Search, which is available free at either of the preceding sites. If

you have questions about using the pdf, call the U.S. Government

Printing Office toll free at 1-888-293-6498.

Anyone may also view these documents in text copy only on an

electronic bulletin board of the Department. Telephone: (202) 219-1511

or, toll free, 1-800-222-4922. The documents are located under Option

G--Files/Announcements, Bulletins and Press Releases.

Note: The official version of this document is the document

published in the Federal Register.

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7131.

Dated: May 14, 1998.

Gerald N. Tirozzi,

Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.

[FR Doc. 98-13247 Filed 5-18-98; 8:45 am]

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