$700.1 What is the purpose of these standards?

(a) The standards in this part implement section 912(i) of the Educational Research, Development, Dissemination, and Improvement Act of 1994.

(b) These standards are intended to ensure that activities carried out by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (the Office) meet the highest standards of professional excellence.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6011(i)(1))

§700.2 What activities must be governed by these standards?

(a) The standards in this part are binding on all activities carried out by the Office using funds appropriated under section 912(m) of the Educational Research, Development, Dissemination, and Improvement Act of 1994.

(b) Activities carried out with funds appropriated under section 912(m) of the Act include activities carried out by the following entities or programs:

(1) The National Research Institutes. (2) The Office of Reform Assistance and Dissemination.

(3) The Educational Resources Information Center Clearinghouses.

(4) The Regional Educational Laboratories.

(5) The Teacher Research Dissemination Demonstration Program.

(6) The Goals 2000 Community Partnerships Program.

(7) The National Educational Research Policy and Priorities Board. (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6011(i)(1))

§700.3 What additional activities may be governed by these standards?

(a) The Secretary may elect to apply the standards in this part to activities carried out by the Department using funds appropriated under an authority other than section 912(m) of the Act.

(b)(1) If the Secretary elects to apply these standards to a competition for new grant or cooperative agreement awards, the Secretary announces, in a notice published in the FEDERAL REGISTER, the extent to which these standards are applicable to the competition.

(c) Definitions in the Federal Acquisition Regulation. The following terms used in this part are defined in 48 CFR chapter 1:

Contracting Officer Proposal
Employee of an
Solicitation
Agency

(d) Other definitions. The following definitions also apply to this part:

Act means the Educational Research, Development, Dissemination, and Improvement Act of 1994 (Title IX of Pub. L. 103-227, 108 Stat. 212).

EDAR means the Education Department Acquisition Regulation, 48 CFR chapter 34.

EDGAR means the Education Department General Administrative Regulations, 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 85 and 86. FAR means the Federal Acquisition Regulation, 48 CFR chapter 1.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6011)

§700.5 What are the processes of open competition?

The Secretary uses a process of open competition in awarding or entering into all grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts governed by these

standards. The processes of open competition are the following:

(a) For all new awards for grants and cooperative agreements, the Secretary will make awards pursuant to the provisions of EDGAR with the exception of the provisions in 34 CFR 75.100(c)(5), 75.200(b)(3), (b)(5), 75.210, and 75.217(b)(1), (b)(2), (c), and (d); and

(b) For contracts, the Department will conduct acquisitions pursuant to this part in accordance with the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act, 41 U.S.C. 253, and the FAR.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6011(i)(2); 41 U.S.C. 253)

Subpart B-Selection of Peer
Reviewers

$700.10 When is the peer review proc. ess used?

The Secretary uses a peer review

process

(a) To review and evaluate all applications for grants and cooperative agreements and proposals for those contracts that exceed $100,000;

(b) To review and designate exemplary and promising programs in accordance with section 941(d) of the Act; and

(c) To evaluate and assess the performance of all recipients of grants from and cooperative agreements and contracts with the Office.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6011(i)(2)(B))

$700.11 Who may serve as peer re viewers?

(a) An individual may serve as a peer reviewer for purposes of reviewing and evaluating applications for new awards for grants and cooperative agreements and contract proposals if the individual

(1) Possesses the following qualifications:

(i) Demonstrated expertise, including training and experience, in the subject area of the competition.

(ii) In-depth knowledge of policy or practice in the field of education.

(iii) In-depth knowledge of theoretical perspectives or methodological approaches in the subject area of the competition; and

(2) Does not have a conflict of interest, as determined in accordance with §700.12.

(b) For each competition for new awards for grants and cooperative agreements

(i) Department staff may not serve as peer reviewers except in exceptional circumstances as determined by the Secretary; and

(ii) The majority of reviewers may be persons not employed by the Federal Government.

(2) For each review of an unsolicited grant or cooperative agreement application

(i) Department employees may assist the Secretary in making an initial determination under 34 CFR 75.222(b); and (ii) Department employees may not serve as peer reviewers in accordance with 34 CFR 75.222(c).

(c) To the extent feasible, the Secretary selects peer reviewers for each competition who represent a broad range of perspectives.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6011(i)(2)(B))

$700.12 What constitutes a conflict of interest for grants and cooperative agreements?

(a) Peer reviewers for grants and cooperative agreements are considered employees of the Department for the purposes of conflicts of interest analysis.

(b) As employees of the Department, peer reviewers are subject to the provisions of 18 U.S.C. 208, 5 CFR 2635.502, and the Department's policies used to implement those provisions.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6011(i)(2)(B)) $700.13 What constitutes a conflict of interest for contracts.

(a) Peer reviewers for contract proposals are considered employees of the Department in accordance with FAR, 48 CFR 3.104–4(h)(2).

(b) As employees of the Department, peer reviewers are subject to the provisions of the FAR, 48 CFR part 3 Improper Business Practices and Personal Conflict of Interest.

(Authority: 41 U.S.C. 423)

Subpart C-The Peer Review
Process

§700.20 How many peer reviewers will be used?

(a) Each application for a grant or cooperative agreement award must be reviewed and evaluated by at least three peer reviewers except

(1) For those grant and cooperative agreement awards under $50,000, fewer than three peer reviewers may be used if the Secretary determines that adequate peer review can be obtained using fewer reviewers; and

(2) For those grant and cooperative agreement awards of more than $1,000,000, at least five reviewers must be used.

(b) Each contract proposal must be read by at least three reviewers unless the contracting officer determines that an adequate peer review can be obtained by using fewer reviewers.

(c) Before releasing contract proposals to peer reviewers outside the Federal Government, the contracting officer shall comply with FAR, 48 CFR 15.413-2(f).

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6011(1)(2)(B))

$700.21 How

are applications for grants and cooperative agreements evaluated?

(a) Each peer reviewer must be given a number of applications to evaluate. (b) Each peer reviewer shall

(1) Independently evaluate each application;

(2) Evaluate and rate each application based on the reviewer's assessment of the quality of the application according to the evaluation criteria and the weights assigned to those criteria; and

(3) Support the rating for each application with concise written comments based on the reviewer's analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the application with respect to each of the applicable evaluation criteria.

(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (c)(2) of this section, after each peer reviewer has evaluated and rated each application independently, those reviewers who evaluated a common set of applications are convened to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of those applications. Each reviewer may then