compliance with §403.194. As indicated in §403.194(a), an LEA may demonstrate its compliance with the comparability requirements by filing an appropriate assurance.

(b) The State board shall monitor each local educational agency's compliance with the comparability requirements in §403.194.

(c) If, after a local educational agency receives an award of Federal funds under the State plan, the local educational agency is found not to be in compliance with the comparability requirements, the State board shall

(1) Withhold all or a portion of the local educational agency's grant award, but not less than the amount or percentage by which the local educational agency failed to achieve comparability under the local educational agency's procedures established pursuant to § 403.194(c); or

(2) Require repayment of the amount or percentage by which the local educational agency failed to achieve comparability if the local educational agency is found not to be in compliance after the period of availability of the funds awarded has ended.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 2323(b)(19))

$403.201 What are the State's responsibilities for developing and implementing a statewide system of core standards and measures of performance?

(a) (1) Each State board receiving funds under the Act shall develop and implement a statewide system of core standards and measures of performance for secondary, postsecondary, adult vocational education programs. (2) This system must

and

(i) Be developed and implemented by September 25, 1992; and

(ii) Apply to all programs assisted under the Act.

(3) The State board must determine whether a recipient of funds under § 403.112, §403.113, or §403.116 must evaluate more than the particular projects, services, and activities receiving assistance under a basic program listed in §403.60 or a special program listed in §403.130 in order to carry out a valid, reliable, and otherwise meaningful evaluation of the effectiveness of these projects, services, and activities

as required by §403.191(a)(1), using the standards and measures developed pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) of this section.

(4) If a State board determines under paragraph (a)(3) of this section that a recipient must evaluate more than the particular projects, services, and activities receiving assistance under a basic or special program, the State board shall

(i) Determine whether the entire local vocational education program-or which projects, services, and activities in addition to the ones assisted under a basic or special program-must be evaluated to assess the effectiveness of the particular projects, services, and activities receiving assistance under a basic program or a special program; and

(ii) Require a recipient to conduct an evaluation consistent with the State board's determination under paragraph (a)(4)(i) of this section.

(b) To assist in the development and implementation of the Statewide system addressed in paragraph (a) of this section, the State board shall appoint a State Committee of Practitioners (Committee), as prescribed in 34 CFR

400.6.

(c) The State board shall convene the Committee on a regular basis to review, comment on, and propose revisions to the State board's draft proposal for a system of core standards and measures of performance for vocational education programs assisted under the Act.

(d) To assist the Committee in formulating recommendations for modifying standards and measures of performance, the State board shall provide the Committee with information concerning differing types of standards and measures including

(1) The advantages and disadvantages of each type of standard or measure; and

(2) Instances in which those standards and measures

(i) Have been effective; and (ii) Have not been effective.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under Control No. 1830-0030) (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 2325(a) and (d))

§403.202 What must each State's sys

tem of core standards and measures of performance include?

(a) The statewide system of core standards and measures of performance for vocational education programs must include

(1) Measures of learning and competency gains, including student progress in the achievement of basic and more advanced academic skills;

(2) One or more measures of the following:

(i) Student competency attainment. (ii) Job or work skill attainment or enhancement including student progress in achieving occupational skills necessary to obtain employment in the field for which the student has been prepared, including occupational skills in the industry the student is preparing to enter.

(iii) Retention in school or completion of secondary school or its equivalent.

(iv) Placement into additional training or education, military service, or employment;

(3) Incentives or adjustments that

are

(i) Designed to encourage service to targeted groups or special populations; and

(ii) Developed for each student, and, if appropriate, consistent with the student's individualized education program developed under section 614(a)(5) of the IDEA; and

(4) Procedures for using existing resources and methods developed in other programs receiving Federal assistance.

(b) In developing the standards and measures included in the system developed under paragraph (a) of this section, the State board shall take into consideration and shall provide, to the extent appropriate, for consistency with

(1) Standards and measures developed under job opportunities and basic skills training programs established and operated under a plan approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services that meets the requirements of section 402(a)(19) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 687); and

(2) Standards prescribed by the Secretary of Labor under section 106 of the JTPA.

CROSS-REFERENCE: See 34 CFR 400.6. (Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under Control No. 1830-0030) (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 2325(b), (c))

§ 403.203 What are the State's responsibilities for a State assessment?

(a) Each State board receiving assistance under the Act shall conduct an assessment of the quality of vocational education programs throughout the State using measurable objective criteria.

(b) In developing the assessment criteria, the State board shall

(1) Consult with representatives of the groups described in 34 CFR 400.6(c); and

(2) Use information gathered by the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee and, if appropriate, other information.

(c) Each State board shall

(1) Develop assessment criteria no later than the beginning of the 1991– 1992 school year; and

(2) Widely disseminate those criteria. (d) Assessment criteria must include at least the following factors, but may include others:

(1) Integration of academic and vocational education.

(2) Sequential courses of study leading to both academic and occupational competencies.

(3) Increased student work skill attainment and job placement.

(4) Increased linkages between secondary and postsecondary educational institutions.

(5) Instruction and experience, to the extent practicable, in all aspects of an industry the students are preparing to enter.

(6) The ability of the eligible recipients to meet the needs of special populations with respect to vocational education.

(7) Raising the quality of vocational education programs in schools with a high concentration of poor and lowachieving students.

(8) The relevance of programs to the workplace and to the occupations for which students are to be trained, and the extent to which those programs reflect a realistic assessment of current and future labor market needs, includ

under the Act affecting their interests; and

(b) Provide technical assistance and design procedures necessary to ensure that those individuals referred to in paragraph (a) of this section are given access to the information needed to use those procedures.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under Control No. 1830-0030) (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 2328(d))

§ 403.206 What are the State's responsibilities regarding a State occupational information coordinating committee?

(a) A State that receives funds under the Act shall establish a State occupational information coordinating committee composed of representatives of the State board, the State employment security agency, the State economic development agency, the State job training coordinating council, and the agency administering the vocational rehabilitation program.

(b) With funds made available to it by the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee, the State occupational information coordinating committee shall

(1) Implement an occupational information system in the State that will meet the common needs for the planning for, and the operation of, programs of the State board assisted under the Act and of the administering agencies under the JTPA; and

(2) Use the occupational information system to implement a career information delivery system.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 2422(b))

§ 403.207 What are the State's responsibilities to the National Center or Centers for Research in Vocational Education?

A State shall forward to the National Center for Research in Vocational Education a copy of an abstract for each new research, curriculum development, or personnel development project it supports, and the final report on each project.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 2404(c))

§ 403.208 What are the requirements regarding supplanting?

(a) The State board is subject to the prohibition against supplanting in § 403.196.

(b) The State board shall monitor each eligible recipient's compliance with the supplanting requirements in § 403.196.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 2468e(a)(1))

APPENDIX A TO PART 403-EXAMPLES FOR 34 CFR 403.111(a) AND 403.111(c)(3)

Illustration of providing full participation under 34 CFR 403.111(a). An educationally disadvantaged student is enrolled in a course that is part of a vocational education program and is having trouble understanding a math concept (e.g., negative numbers) necessary to succeed in the course. To ensure the student's full participation in the course, a local educational agency may use funds awarded under $403.112 as needed to provide tutoring in negative numbers to enable the student to understand the concept well enough to complete the vocational education

course.

Illustrations of providing equitable participation under 34 CFR 403.111(c)(3). EXAMPLE 1: ¤ area vocational education school conducts an informal meeting to provide the information required in §403.193(a) regarding the area vocational education school's voca tional education programs, to parents of students who are members of special populations in a local educational agency whose allocation was distributed to the area vocational education school under $403.113. The area vocational education school conducts the meeting at a time and in a location convenient for these parents and students. At the meeting, the area vocational education school provides a staff person to assist students or their parents to complete any forms necessary to enroll in the area vocational education school's vocational education program.

EXAMPLE 2: A hearing-impaired student in a local educational agency could participate in the vocational education program only if an interpreter is provided for that student. The local educational agency cannot refuse to admit the student because of the need for an interpreter.

APPENDIX B TO PART 403-EXAMPLES FOR 34 CFR 403.194-COMPARABILITY REQUIREMENTS

Methods by which a local educational agency can demonstrate its compliance with the comparability requirements in 34 CFR 403.194(a) include the following:

EXAMPLE 1: The local educational agency files with the State board a written assurance that it has established and implemented

(a) A district-wide salary schedule;

(b) A policy to ensure equivalence among secondary schools or sites in teachers, administrators, and auxiliary personnel; and

(c) A policy to ensure equivalency among secondary schools or sites in the provision of curriculum materials and instructional supplies.

EXAMPLE 2: The local educational agency establishes and implements other procedures for ensuring comparability, such as the following:

(a) Comparing the average number of students per instructional staff in each secondary school or site served with Federal funds awarded under the State plan with the average number of students per instructional staff in secondary schools or sites not served with Federal funds awarded under the State plan. A served school is considered comparable if its average does not exceed 110 percent of the average of schools or sites in the local educational agency not served with Federal funds awarded under the State plan;

§ 405.1 What is the National Tech-Prep Education Program?

The National Tech-Prep Education Program provides financial assistance for projects that develop and operate four-year sequences of study designed to provide a tech-prep education program leading to a two-year associate degree or a two-year certificate and provides, in a systematic manner, strong comprehensive links between secondary schools and postsecondary educational institutions.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 2394(b))

§ 405.2 Who is eligible for an award? (a) Awards are provided to consortia described in 34 CFR 406.30.

(b) Members of a consortium shall(1) Apply jointly to the Secretary for funds; and

(2) Enter into an agreement, in the form of a single document signed by all members, designating one member of the consortium as the applicant and the grantee. The agreement must also detail the role each member plans to perform, and must bind each member to every statement and assurance made in the application.

CROSS-REFERENCE: See 34 CFR 75.12775.129 Group Applications. (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 2394a(a))