Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students, Department of Education.
Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010.
Dates:
This priority is:
This priority supports projects that establish, improve or expand foreign language learning, primarily during the traditional school day, within grade kindergarten through grade 12, that exclusively teach one or more of the following less commonly taught languages: Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian, and languages in the Indic, Iranian, and Turkic language families.
There is no advantage to addressing all four competitive preference priorities. Submitting an application that addresses all four priorities may result in an unfocused program design. We give preference to applications describing programs that meet any one of these priorities.
These priorities are:
The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to institutions of higher education only.
The Department is not bound by any estimates in this notice.
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If an LEA does not have adequate resources to pay the non-Federal share of the cost, a waiver may be requested. An LEA may request a waiver of part, or all, of the matching requirement. The waiver request should be submitted by letter to the Secretary of Education and included in the application. An authorized representative of the LEA, such as the superintendent of schools, should sign the letter.
The request for waiver should—
• Provide an explanation, supported with appropriate documentation, of the basis for the LEA's position that it does not have adequate resources to pay the non-Federal share of the cost of the project.
• Specify the amount, if any, of the non-Federal share that the LEA can pay.
We recommend that LEAs that are unable to provide the required level of non-Federal support for their project provide as much non-Federal support as possible. Further information on submitting a waiver request is included in the application package.
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Please include “84.293A LEA IHE Application Request” in the subject heading of your e-mail.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), 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 computer diskette) by contacting the program contact person listed in this section.
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Notice of Intent to Apply: If you intend to apply for a grant under this competition, contact Patrice Swann by e-mail:
Please include “84.293A LEA IHE Intent to Apply” in the subject heading of
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 must limit the application narrative to the equivalent of no more than 35 pages using the following standards:
• A “page” is 8.5″ × 11″, on one side only, with 1″ margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.
• Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch) all text in the application narrative, including titles, headings, footnotes, quotations, references, and captions, as well as all text in charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
• Use a font that is either 12 point or larger or no smaller than 10 pitch (characters per inch).
• Use one of the following fonts: Times New Roman, Courier, Courier New, or Arial. An application submitted in any other font (including Times Roman or Arial Narrow) will not be accepted.
The page limit does not apply to Part I, the cover sheet; Part II, the budget section, including the narrative budget justification; Part IV, the assurances and certifications; or the two-page abstract. However, the page limit does apply to all of the application narrative section in Part III.
We will reject your application if you exceed the page limit; or if you apply other standards and exceed the equivalent of the page limit.
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Applications for grants under this program must be submitted electronically using the Electronic Grant Application System (e-Application) accessible through the Department's e-Grants site. For information (including dates and times) about how to submit your application electronically, or by mail or hand delivery if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, please refer to section IV.6.
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 persons listed under
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: May 14, 2010.
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Applications for grants under the Foreign Language Assistance Program—Local Educational Agencies with Institutions of Higher Education—CFDA Number 84.293A must be submitted electronically using e-Application, accessible through the Department's e-Grants Web site at:
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
While completing your electronic application, you will be entering data online that will be saved into a database. You may not e-mail an electronic copy of a grant application to us.
Please note the following:
• You must complete the electronic submission of your grant application by 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. E-Application will not accept an application for this program after 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline date to begin the application process.
• The hours of operation of the e-Grants Web site are 6:00 a.m. Monday until 7:00 p.m. Wednesday; and 6:00 a.m. Thursday until 8:00 p.m. Sunday, Washington, DC time. Please note that, because of maintenance, the system is unavailable between 8:00 p.m. on Sundays and 6:00 a.m. on Mondays, and between 7:00 p.m. on Wednesdays and 6:00 a.m. on Thursdays, Washington, DC time. Any modifications to these hours are posted on the e-Grants Web site.
• 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. You must attach any narrative sections of your application as files in a .DOC (document), .RTF (rich text), or .PDF (Portable Document) format. If you upload a file type other than the three file types specified in this paragraph or submit a password protected file, we will not review that material.
• Your electronic application must comply with any page limit requirements described in this notice.
• Prior to submitting your electronic application, you may wish to print a copy of it for your records.
• After you electronically submit your application, you will receive an automatic acknowledgment that will include a PR/Award number (an identifying number unique to your application).
• Within three working days after submitting your electronic application, fax a signed copy of the SF 424 to the Application Control Center after following these steps:
(1) Print SF 424 from e-Application.
(2) The applicant's Authorizing Representative must sign this form.
(3) Place the PR/Award number in the upper right hand corner of the hard-copy signature page of the SF 424.
(4) Fax the signed SF 424 to the Application Control Center at (202) 245–6272.
• We may request that you provide us original signatures on other forms at a later date.
(1) You are a registered user of e-Application and you have initiated an electronic application for this competition; and
(2)(a) E-Application is unavailable for 60 minutes or more between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date; or
(b) E-Application is unavailable for any period of time between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date.
We must acknowledge and confirm these periods of unavailability before granting you an extension. To request this extension or to confirm our acknowledgment of any system unavailability, you may contact either (1) the person listed elsewhere in this notice under
• You do not have access to the Internet; or
• You do not have the capacity to upload large documents to e-Application;
• 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: Rebecca Richey, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 5C141, Washington, DC 20202–6510. FAX: (202) 260–5496.
Your paper application must be submitted in accordance with the mail or hand delivery instructions described in this notice.
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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 84.293A) 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.
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.
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If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, you (or a courier service) may deliver your paper application to the Department by hand. You must deliver the original and two copies of your application, by hand, on or before the application deadline date, to the Department at the following address: U.S. Department of Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number 84.293A) 550 12th Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202–4260.
The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, except Saturdays, Sundays, and Federal holidays.
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 grant 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.
(a)
The Secretary considers the need for the proposed project. In determining the need for the proposed project, the Secretary considers 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.
In addressing this criterion, applicants may want to describe the foreign language program currently offered, including gaps or weaknesses in the current foreign language program, identify the
(b)
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 the following factors:
(1) The extent to which the design of the proposed project reflects up-to-date knowledge from research and effective practice.
(2) The extent to which the goals, objectives, and outcomes to be achieved by the proposed project are clearly specified and measurable.
(3) The extent to which the design for implementing and evaluating the proposed project will result in information to guide possible replication of project activities or strategies, including information about the effectiveness of the approach or strategies employed by the project.
(4) 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.
(5) The extent to which the proposed project will establish linkages with other appropriate agencies and organizations providing services to the target population.
(6) The extent to which the design of the proposed project includes a thorough, high-quality review of the relevant literature, a high-quality plan for project implementation, and the use of appropriate methodological tools to ensure successful achievement of project objectives.
Under this competition, as provided for in Division D, Title III, of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010, Public Law 111–117, 5-year grants will be awarded to LEAs to work in partnership with one or more institutions of higher education (IHEs) to establish or expand articulated programs of study in languages critical to United States national security in order to enable successful students as they advance from elementary school through secondary school and college to achieve a superior level of proficiency in those languages.
Please note that Title V, Part D, Subpart 9, section 5492 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, requires the establishment, improvement or expansion of foreign language study for elementary and secondary students; supports programs that show the promise of being continued beyond the grant period; and supports programs that demonstrate approaches that can be disseminated and duplicated in other LEAs. Projects supported under this program may also include a professional development component.
In addressing this criterion, applicants may want to consider describing how the project is aligned with standards for foreign language learning and performance guidelines for K–12 learners, is articulated across grade levels, and is designed to ensure that students will, when they graduate from high school, have the skills needed to achieve a superior level of foreign language proficiency by the end of an undergraduate program.
In addressing this criterion, applicants may want to consider describing the specific definition to be used for an articulated program of study. For example: Each grade level of the elementary-school-through-college foreign language program is designed to expand sequentially on the achievement students have made in the previous level, with a goal of achieving a superior level of language proficiency.
In addressing this criterion, applicants may want to consider describing the specific definition to be used for a superior level of language proficiency. For example: a proficiency level of 3, as measured by the Federal Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR); or a Superior level, as measured by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines, achieved by a student.
In addressing this criterion, applicants may want to describe planned assessments to be selected or developed, how they are standards-based and performance-based, and how they are appropriate for measuring student language proficiency in the planned model of instruction and targeted languages.
In addressing this criterion, applicants may want to consider describing a plan to carry out activities under the grant as part of their required partnership with one or more IHEs, such as including how each partner will be involved in the planning, development, and implementation of the project; the resources to be provided by each partner; the rationale for selecting the partner(s); and the specific activities (such as curriculum development, assessment development and professional development) that the partner(s) will contribute to the grant during each year of the project.
In addressing this criterion, applicants may want to describe how program objectives are aligned with the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) measures for this program.
In addressing this criterion, applicants may want to consider discussing how the project design is based on a review of the relevant literature, including a review of literature on curriculum and instructional materials available in the target language.
(c)
The Secretary considers the quality of the personnel who will carry out the proposed project. In determining the quality of project personnel, the Secretary considers the extent to which the applicant encourages applications for employment from persons who are members of groups that have traditionally been underrepresented based on race, color, national origin, gender, age, or disability. In addition, the Secretary considers the following factors:
(1) The qualifications, including relevant training and experience, of the project director or principal investigator.
(2) The qualifications, including relevant training and experience, of key project personnel.
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The Secretary considers the quality of the management plan for the proposed project. In determining the quality of the management plan for the proposed project, the Secretary considers the following factors:
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
Please note that 34 CFR 75.112(b) of EDGAR requires an applicant to include a narrative that describes how and when, in each budget period of the project, the applicant plans to meet each project objective.
(e)
The Secretary considers the quality of the evaluation to be conducted of the proposed project. In determining the quality of the evaluation, the Secretary considers the following factors:
(1) The extent to which the methods of evaluation are thorough, feasible, and appropriate to the goals, objectives, and outcomes of the proposed project.
(2) The extent to which the methods of evaluation include the use of objective performance measures that are clearly related to the intended outcomes
(3) The extent to which the methods of evaluation will provide performance feedback and permit periodic assessment of progress toward achieving intended outcomes.
(4) The extent to which the evaluation will provide guidance about effective strategies suitable for replication or testing in other settings.
Grantees will be expected to report on the progress of their evaluation through the required annual performance report as discussed in section VI.4 of this notice. In addressing this criterion, applicants may want to consider using the evaluation plan to shape the development of the project from the beginning of the grant period. Applicants also may want to include benchmarks to monitor progress toward specific project objectives, including ambitious student foreign language proficiency objectives, and outcome measures to assess the impact on teaching and learning or other important outcomes for project participants.
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If your application is not evaluated or not selected for funding, we notify you.
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We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of an award in the
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Grantees under this competition are not expected to report on Objective 1, Measures 1.1 of 2 and 1.2 of 2.
Objective 1: To expand foreign language study in non-critical languages for students served by FLAP.
Measure 1.1 of 2: The number of students participating in foreign language instruction in the non-critical languages(s) in the schools funded by FLAP.
Measure 1.2 of 2: The average number of minutes per week of foreign language instruction in the non-critical languages(s) in the schools funded by FLAP.
Objective 2: To expand foreign language study in critical languages for students served by FLAP.
Measure 2.1 of 2: The number of students participating in foreign language instruction in the critical language(s) in the schools funded by FLAP.
Measure 2.2 of 2: The average number of minutes per week of foreign language instruction in the critical languages(s) provided in the schools funded by FLAP.
Objective 3: To improve the foreign language proficiency of students served by FLAP.
Measure 3.1 of 1: The number of students in FLAP projects who meet ambitious project objectives for foreign language proficiency.
We expect each LEA funded under this competition to document how its project is helping the Department meet these performance measures. Grantees will be expected to report on progress in meeting these performance measures in their Annual Performance Report and in their Final Performance Report.
Rebecca Richey, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 5C141, Washington, DC 20202–6510. Telephone: (202) 401–1443 or by e-mail:
If you use a TDD, call the FRS, toll free, at 1–800–877–8339.
The official version of this document is the document published in the