(ii) Assessment, evaluation, and collection of information on individual children by teachers during each year of the preelementary program to be made available for teachers in the subsequent year, in order that continuity for the individual child be maintained; and

(iii) Whenever appropriate coordination with the reading programs of the educational agencies or institutions where the preelementary school children will be next in attendance, including any necessary arrangements by the applicant with those educational agencies or institutions for meeting the requirements relating to testing described in paragraph (c)(3)(i) of this section; and

(d) Other information. Applications may include other appropriate information to respond to criteria in § 162.14.

(20 U.S.C. 1921(b))

§ 162.13 Review of applications by State educational agencies and State advisory councils.

(a) The Commissioner will not approve an application submitted under this subpart unless the State educational agency has:

(1)(i) Established and appointed an advisory council on reading broadly representative of the educational resources and of the general population of the State, including but not limited to persons representative of:

(A) Public and private non-profit elementary and secondary schools;

(B) Institutions of higher education; (C) Parents of elementary and secondary school children; and

(D) Areas of professional competence relating to instruction in reading; and

(ii) Authorized and provided the opportunity to the advisory council to receive and designate priorities among applications for grants under this subpart in that State; and

(2) First approved the application; (20 U.S.C. 1921 (d), (e)(1), S. Rep. No. 1026, 93d Cong. 2d Sess. 198 (1974))

(b) Applicants other than the State educational agency must provide a copy of their application to the State

educational agency of the State in which they are located 15 days prior to the applicant's submission of the application to the Commissioner;

(c) The Commissioner may establish a cut-off date for approval of applications by the State educational agency. If the Commissioner establishes such a date, failure by the State educational agency to indicate its approval to the Commissioner within the period specified shall be deemed a disapproval of the application by the State educational agency, and the application will not be considered for funding by the Commissioner;

(d)(1) The State educational agency must inform the Commissioner, in writing, in accordance with any cut-off date established by the Commissioner under paragraph (c) of this section, of those applications within its State which it approves for funding under this subpart;

(20 U.S.C. 1921(e)(1))

(2) The State educational agency must include in its written submission to the Commissioner:

(i) Documentation that it has established and appointed an advisory council in accordance with paragraph (a)(1) of this section, including information on the membership of the council, and that the council has been provided with an opportunity to receive and designate priorities among applications for grants under this subpart in that State (including applications by the State educational agency);

(ii) Information on any priorities designated by the advisory council among applications for grants under this subpart in that State; and

(e) While there is no mandated limitation on the number of applications which may be approved by the State educational agency, State educational agencies are strongly urged to approve no more than ten applications and to forward to the Commissioner the rankings and copies of any written reviews of the applications.

(20 U.S.C. 1921 (d), (e)(2))

§ 162.14 Evaluation criteria.

Applications for grants under this part which meet all of the application requirements in § 162.12 and which are approved by the appropriate State educational agency will be evaluated by the Commissioner on the basis of the following criteria, weighted according to the indicated points, totaling 195 points for elementary projects and 230 points for preelementary projects, and the provisions of § 162.15 concerning equitable distribution of funds and State maximums:

(a) General criteria. (1) The need for the proposed activity in the area to be served by the applicant, particularly as it relates to the percentage or numbers of children with reading deficiencies in school(s) to be served by the project (10 points);

(2) Whether the program to be assisted responds to the reading needs it identifies and holds substantial promise of overcoming the reading deficiencies of children in the project schools (10 points);

(3) The adequacy of qualifications and experience of personnel designated to carry out the proposed project (10 points);

(4) The adequacy of facilities and other resources to carry out the project and, in particular, the use staff will make of those facilities in the project (5 points);

(5) Reasonableness of estimated cost in relation to anticipated results (5 points);

(6) Whether the proposed methods, systems, materials, or approaches of the program are sufficiently exemplary to be utilized in other projects or programs for similar educational purposes (5 points);

(7) Sufficiency of size, scope, and duration of the project so as to secure productive results (5 points);

(8) Soundness of the proposed plan of operation, including consideration of the extent to which (15 points):

(i) The objectives of the proposed project are sharply defined, clearly stated, capable of being attained by the proposed procedures, and capable of being measured;

(ii) Provision is made for high quality evaluation of the effectiveness of

the project and for determining the extent the objectives are accomplished; and

(iii) Provision is made for disseminating the results of the project and for making the resulting materials, techniques, and other inputs available to the general public and specifically to those concerned with the area of education with which the project is itself concerned;

(9) The likelihood that program activities to be carried out under the project will be sustained and expanded by the applicant following the expiration of Federal assistance (5 points), as measured by:

(i) Evidence of financial and other commitment of the applicant, including its policymaking board, to the program; and

(ii) The extent the project is designed to build the capacity of the applicant to plan, expand, and improve effective reading programs on the elementary or preelementary school level; and

(10) Extra points will be awarded to projects which provide for reaching a large number of schools (10 points) through:

(i) Their direct involvement in the project as project schools;

(ii) A statement of commitment by the applicant and reasonable timetables to implement, after the expiration of Federal assistance under this subpart, innovative methods, systems, materials, or other elements developed in the project in all other schools administered by the applicant; and/or

(iii) Provisions for dissemination of information to other agencies, institutions, and schools concerning innovative methods, systems, materials, or other elements developed in the project, including documentation of the applicant's access to existing networks of potential users; and

(11) The ranking of the application by the State advisory council pursuant to § 162.13 (50 points);

(20 U.S.C. 1921(a), (b), (c))

(b) Specific programmatic criteria. The extent the proposed project is designed to achieve high quality (beyond meeting minimum requirements) for the following specific program ele

ments required by § 162.12(c) to be contained in each program funded under this subpart:

(1) Diagnostic testing to identify school children with reading deficiencies (5 points), as measured by factors such as whether:

(i) Tests will assist teachers and administrators in making decisions within the classroom and school;

(ii) Tests will diagnose the student's strengths and identify areas to be taught;

(iii) Tests will be used which are most specific and which give recommendations for specific treatments in cognitive and affective areas;

(iv) Diagnosis will be an ongoing process; and

(v) Tests are valid and reliable, as well as culturally and linguistically fair;

(2) Planning and establishing comprehensive reading programs (10 points), as measured by factors such as whether:

(i) The program focuses on the training of existing staff and would be carried out with existing staff rather than hiring additional staff members with Federal funds;

(ii) The project objectives are derived from and responsive to the findings of the needs assessment and diagnostic testing in the school(s) proposed to be served;

(iii) The reading program is designed to focus on children with reading deficiencies, but also provides reading instruction for every child in classes involved in the project;

(iv) Provision is made for individualized instruction which allows individual children to proceed at their own pace and in appropriate skill sequences;

(20 U.S.C. 1921)

(v) Continuity in teaching methods from grade to grade is attempted within each project school, while at the same time there is flexibility to adjust methods and techniques for individual children based on the results of diagnostic testing;

(S. Rep. No. 463, 93d Cong. 2d Sess. 125 (1974))

(vi) Children are not separated away from the classroom by ability or lack of ability, unless the applicant demonstrates that separation for a portion of the school day for supplementary instruction:

(A) Is essential to the purpose of the program; and

(B) Is essential to the needs of the child because the child's needs cannot totally be met in the regular classroom; and

(vii) Attention is given in the preelementary school program and in the early primary grades to reading readiness activities.

(3) Preservice and inservice training for teaching personnel (15 points), as measured by factor such as whether:

(i) The training to be provided relates to the assessed needs of teaching and ancillary educational personnel and children in project school(s);

(ii) The training will be offered at convenient times and locations;

(iii) Provision is made for classroom application of newly learned competencies and for follow up technical assistance to staff members;

(iv) Provision is made for evaluation of the training; and

(v) Instructional theory and experiences are offered which provide trainees with a capacity to:

(A) Understand the language arts process, children's literature, and reading readiness;

(B) Use diagnostic techniques to identify the reading needs of individual children and to evaluate student progress toward instructional objectives;

(C) Develop and carry out reading programs designed to meet the needs of individual children, including activities to meet the special reading needs of children from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds;

(D) Work constructively and positively, on a group and individual basis, with children, parents, and other educational personnel;

(E) Effectively utilize a variety of approaches to the teaching of reading, including sequenced instruction, integration of reading instruction into other subject matter areas, flexible grouping of students based on student

interest, needs, and abilities, and individualized instruction; and

(F) Plan and manage overall reading programs, including aspects such as problem-solving techniques, needs assessment and planning instruments, record-keeping, the identification and use of program resources, and program evaluation;

(4) Involvement in the project of school faculty, parents, the policymaking board of the applicant, and leaders of educational and cultural resources of the area to be served (15 points) as measured by such factors as whether:

(i) Two way communication is fostered between the project schools and appropriate groups outside the school;

(ii) Practical involvement of parents and board members in carrying out project activities is permitted; and

(iii) The project staff provides evaluative information to parents and board members;

(5) Periodic achievement testing (5 points), as measured by such factors as whether:

(i) Testing will be done with the children at appropriate times and frequencies;

(ii) The project staff delineates before the testing what the tests are intended to measure, how the test results are going to be used, and the audiences for whom the test results are intended;

(iii) The same level of the same test is used for both pre- and post-testing of children;

(iv) If commercially prepared tests are used, project staff will carefully administer and score the tests according to the procedures outlined by test publishers;

(v) There is a clear rationale why the test measures will be criterion-referenced, norm-referenced, or informal; and

(vi) Project staff will scrutinize carefully whether the causes for observed gains are due to the treatment or other factors;

(6) Appropriate use of bilingual education methods and techniques (5 points) as measured by such factors as whether:

(i) There will be increased use of culturally relevant resources appropriate to the children in project school(s);

(ii) Students will be provided a knowledge of the history and culture associated with their languages;

(iii) Students will develop listening, speaking, reading, writing, and other academic skills in two languages;

(iv) The project will prevent the separation of children away from the classroom by language or ethnic background in any activity included in the programs, unless the applicant demonstrates that separation for a portion of the school day for specific language/ reading activities is essential to the purpose of the program and needs of the child; and

(v) The project will utilize bilingual teaching and administrative staff;

(7) Collection and assessment of information on the reading needs of individual children to be made available for teachers in the subsequent year (5 points), as measured by such factors as whether the assessment is designed to: (i) Aim at factual information rather than mere opinion;

(ii) Include information on both cognitive and affective factors related to reading; and

(iii) Be done with uniform data collection instruments that can be used as a part of the school's total evaluation design;

(20 U.S.C. 1921(b))

(8) Publication of the test results on achievement by grade level and, where appropriate, by school, without identification of achievement of individual children (5 points), as measured by such factors as whether publication and interpretation of test results is done in a way to:

(i) Protect the children;

(ii) Be understandable to the people who receive the results;

(iii) Present pre-test and post-test results with adequate explanation of the correlations;

(c) Additional criteria for preelementary school projects. The Commissioner will evaluate applications for preelementary school projects on the basis of the criteria set forth in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, according to

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the indicated weights, and the following criteria, weighted as indicated:

(1) The extent the project goals are commensurate with the appropriate developmental stages for the children to be served (10 points);

(2) The extent the project assesses the needs of preschool children by employing reliable and field-tested tools which can diagnose, screen, and predict potential readiness for reading (10 points);

(3) The extent qualified teachers use multi-teaching strategies and varied materials and resources in providing reading readiness experiences (5 points);

(4) The extent the project takes into account the various modalities for learning (5 points); and

(5) The extent provision is made for parent education in child management (5 points).

(20 U.S.C. 1921(b))

§ 162.15 Equitable gcographic distribution. (a) In approving applications under this subpart the Commissioner will, to the maximum extent feasible, assure an equitable distribution of funds throughout the United States and among urban and rural areas. In assuring an equitable distribution of funds throughout the United States, the Commissioner will consider:

(1) School-age population within a State;

(2) Urban and rural population distribution;

(3) Percentage of children with reading deficiencies;

(4) A widespread geographic distribution of projects;

(5) Ethnic/racial and cultural diversity of population to be served;

(6) Any other pertinent information; (b) Not more than 12 1/2 percent of the funds expended under this subpart in any fiscal year may be expended in any State in that year.

(20 U.S.C. 1921(g))

§ 162.16 [Reserved]

§ 162.17 Duration of projects.

(a) Projects may be for up to two years' duration.

(b) Applications proposing two year projects must be accompanied by an explanation of the need for two year support, an overview of the objectives and activities proposed, and budget estimates to attain these objectives in the proposed second year.

(c) If the application demonstrates to the Commissioner's satisfaction that two year support is needed to carry out the proposed project, the Commissioner may, in the initial notification of grant award for the project (which shall be for up to a twelve month period) indicate an intention to assist the project for a second year through a continuation grant.

(d) Continuation awards may be made to projects described in paragraph (c) of this section, subject to the restriction in paragraph (a) of this section and to the availability of funds.

(e) Applications for continuance awards will be reviewed on a non-competitive basis to determine:

(1) If the award recipient has complied with the award terms and conditions, the Act, and any applicable regulation;

(2) The project's effectiveness to date, or the constructive changes proposed as a result of the ongoing evaluation; and

(3) The extent continuation of Federal assistance would further a multiplier effect through:

(i) Directly involving additional schools and students in the project;

(ii) Provisions for implementing, after the expiration of Federal assistance under this subpart, innovative methods, systems, materials, or other elements developed in the project in all other schools administered by the applicant; and/or

(iii) Provisions for dissemination of information to other agencies, institutions, and schools concerning innovative methods systems, materials, or other elements developed in the project.

(20 U.S.C. 1921)

§ 162.18 Size of awards; allowable costs.

(a) It is expected that most awards under this subpart will range between $15,000 and $125,000 for elementary school projects and between $5,000