§ 1440.5 Public announcement.

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (c) and (d) of this section, the NCER will make a public announcement of each meeting at least one week before the meeting takes place. The announcement will cover: (1) The time, place, and subject matter of the meeting; (2) what portions of the meeting, if any, are to be closed to the public; and (3) the name and phone number of the official designated to respond to requests for information on the meeting.

(b) Each such announcement will be promptly made available to selected journals and other appropriate publications. Immediately following the issuance of such an announcement it will be submitted for publication to the FEDERAL REGISTER.

(c) The announcement may be made less than a week before the meeting it announces or after the meeting only if (1) the NCER by record vote determines that agency business requires the meeting to be called on such short or after-the-fact notice and (2) a full announcement is made at the earliest practicable time.

(d) All or any portion of the announcement of any meeting may be omitted if the NCER by record vote determines that the announcement 'would disclose information which should be withheld under the same standards as apply for closing meetings under § 1440.2.

§ 1440.6 Meeting changes.

(a) The time or place of a meeting of the NCER that has been publicly announced as provided in § 1440.5 may subsequently be changed, but any such change will be publicly announced at the earliest practicable time.

(b) The subject matter of any portion of any meeting of the NCER that

has been publicly announced as provided in § 1440.5 or the determination whether any portion of any meeting so publicly announced will be open or closed may subsequently be changed, but only when: (1) The NCER determines by record vote that agency business so requires and that no earlier announcement of change was possible, and (2) the NCER publicly announces the change and the vote of each member on the change at the earliest practicable time.

§ 1440.7 Record vote.

(a) For purposes of this part of a vote of the NCER is a "record vote" if: (1) It carries by a majority of all those holding office as NCER Members at the time of the vote; (2) no proxies are counted toward the necessary majority; and (3) the individual vote of each Member present and voting is recorded.

(b) Within one day of any such record vote or any attempted record vote that fails to achieve the necessary majority under paragraph (a)(1) of this section, the NCER office will make publicly available a written record showing the vote of each member on the question.

(c) Within one day of any record vote under which any portion or portions of a NCER meeting are to be closed to the public, the NCER office will make available a full written explanation of the NCER's action and a list of all persons expected to attend the meeting, showing their affili

ations.

§ 1440.8 Application to NCER Committees. All the provisions of this part applicable to the NCER shall apply equally to the Committees of NCER whenever the Committees are authorized to act on behalf of the NCER.

The Research Grants Program will make awards in support of original research projects with relevance to American education proposed by eligible persons and organizations in any discipline or field of study. Research supported pursuant to this part must show promise of contributing toward one or more of the following goals:

(a) Making educational programs more effective in meeting the needs of persons from low-income families and from minority communities;

(b) Increasing the effectiveness of use of educational resources so that individuals and society can better afford high quality education; and

(c) Improving the quality of education generally.

§ 1450.3 Eligible research projects. (a) As used in this part "research" includes activities designed to:

(1) Increase or synthesize basic knowledge of processes and conditions relevant to human learning and education; or

(2) Provide answers, of sufficient generality to be widely applicable, to important questions concerning actual or possible conduct of education in this country.

(b) The following types of activities will not be considered for research support under this part:

(1) Operational support for education programs; or

(2) Projects in which the primary emphasis is on course development, training, dissemination, improving an educational program (e.g., in a school or post-secondary institution or in a State), demonstration or development of prototype programs, or instructional media or instruments, as distinguished from the production of new knowledge.

§ 1450.4 Applicant eligibility.

Colleges, universities, State departments of education, local educational agencies, and other public or private agencies, organizations, groups, or individuals are eligible for grants. Applications from any corporation, institution, or agency whose net earnings inure, or may lawfully inure, to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual will be considered as unsolicited proposals and will be evaluated in accordance with criteria specified in this part and in HEW Procurement Regulations, Subpart 3-4.52 (41 CFR Part 3-4).

§ 1450.5 Applications.

(a) General. The application submission and review procedures will consist of two stages:

(1) Prospectus. (i) The applicant shall submit a prospectus for initial review. Only prospectuses, prepared

according to the format described in paragraphs (b) or (c) of this section, will be accepted at this initial stage; other submissions will be returned to the applicant.

(ii) No more than one prospectus per individual will be accepted. Although institutional applicants may submit more than one prospectus, no more than one prospectus per each principal investigator will be considered. In the event that more than one prospectus per individual/principal investigator is received, the prospectus received earlier in time will be accepted, and subsequent prospectuses will be returned to the applicant.

(2) Full proposals. Applicants submitting the most highly rated prospectuses will be invited to submit full proposals for evaluation. Only invited proposals will be accepted at this second stage; proposals not invited by the National Institute of Education will be returned to the applicants.

(b) Prospectus format. With respect to applicants other than State and local governments, the prospectus shall include:

(1) A cover sheet executed by the principal investigator indicating (i) that the prospectus is submitted to the Research Grants Program of the National Institute of Education; (ii) the title of the study; (iii) the category of the study under which the applicant believes his project should be reviewed as described in § 1450.6(a); (iv) the name(s), Department, Institution, address, and telephone number of the principal investigator(s); (v) the estimated budget amount; and (vi) the proposed duration and starting date of the project.

(2) A statement of from three to five double-spaced, typewritten pages summarizing the proposed project, including:

(i) Description and rationale. A description of the proposed research, its relation to what is already known and to the problems of American education, and the importance of the expected addition to knowledge.

(ii) Procedures. Description of the procedures to be followed in carrying out the research, including, where appropriate, such concerns as sampling,

data acquisition, instrumentation, and data analysis.

(3) A description of facilities and arrangements available to the investigator for conducting the research.

(4) Resume(s) of principal investigator(s), including education, applicable experience, and a list of major publications.

(5) An estimated budget covering direct costs (salaries and benefits, travel, supplies and materials, communication, services, equipment) and indirect costs proposed to be charged against the grant.

(c) State and local government prospectuses. Prospectuses from State and local governments, as defined in paragraph (e) of this section, shall be made in accordance with the preapplication provisions of § 74.122 of this title with such supplementation as may be required by the Director of the National Institute of Education with the approval of the Office of Management and Budget. Information concerning such application and supplementation requirements may be obtained from the Director of the National Institute of Education upon request.

(d) Full proposals. Notification of procedures and forms for the development and submission of full proposals will be given to applicants invited to submit full proposals.

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government exclusive of institutions of higher education and hospitals.

§ 1450.6 Review of applications.

(a) Review categories. For purposes of facilitating, and improving the quality of, review of applications by the National Institute of Education, each prospectus and invited full proposal received will be assigned to one of the following categories and will be reviewed together with other applications within the same category: (1) Learning and instruction; (2) Human development; (3) Objectives, measurement, evaluation and research methodology; (4) Social thought and processes; (5) Organization and administration; (6) Anthropology; (7) Economics; (8) Political science; and (9) Legal research.

(b) Selected issues. The Institute may periodically identify selected issues of particular significance for American education which will serve as conditions of eligibility or with respect to which priority funding consideration will be given.

(c) Criteria for evaluation. Evaluation of prospectuses and full proposals will be based upon the following criteria:

(1) Significance of the proposed research for American education, including:

(i) Importance of the problem area from the standpoint of basic knowledge or of problems of American education;

(ii) Likely magnitude of the addition that will be made to knowledge if the project is successful, including the generalizability of the results.

(2) Quality of the proposed research project, including such considerations

as:

(i) Adequacy of design, methodology, and instrumentation where appropriate;

(ii) Likelihood of success of the project;

(iii) Extent to which the application exhibits thorough knowledge of pertinent previous work and relates the proposed work to it.

(3) Qualifications of the principal investigator and other professional personnel as evidenced by:

(i) Experience and previous research productivity (except in the case of inexperienced investigators); and

(ii) Quality of the discussion and analysis in the application.

(4) Adequacy of the facilities and arrangements available to the investigator to conduct the proposed study.

(5) Reasonableness of the budget for the work to be done and the anticipated results.

§ 1450.7 Inexperienced investigators.

(a) Applications for small grants from inexperienced investigators are encouraged and will be reviewed with other applications, with allowances being made for the investigator's lack of a previous research record. To be reviewed as inexperienced investigators, applicants may not have been either: (1) Director or principal investigator of a research project supported by funds from a Federal, State, college, university, or other public or private agency or foundation; or (2) author or coauthor of more than two articles or chapters in professional journals or books reporting results of his or her research.

(b) Persons applying as inexperienced investigators must include in the prospectus a statement describing their eligibility under the criteria in paragraph (a) of this section.

(c) While there is no specific upper limit on the size of grants to inexperienced investigators, the average grant awarded will in general be in the neighborhood of $10,000.

§ 1450.8 Project duration.

Project duration will normally be for a maximum of three years (18 months for awards to inexperienced investigators). The initial award for a project may provide funds for less than the full project period, with further support contingent upon availability of funds and progress of the research.

Sec.

1451.5 Eligible research projects. 1451.6 Ineligible projects.

1451.7 Application requirements. 1451.8 Project duration and budget. 1451.9 Evaluation criteria.

AUTHORITY: Sec. 405 of the General Education Provision Act, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1221e).

SOURCE: 41 FR 42662, Sept. 28, 1976, unless otherwise noted.

§ 1451.1 Scope.

(a) This part establishes procedural and substantive requirements and criteria governing the submission and review of applications for funds under the Basic Skills Research Grants program, conducted by the National Institute of Education with funds appropriated pursuant to Section 405 of the General Education Provisions Act.

(b) Projects funded under this part shall be administered in accordance with applicable provisions of subchapter A of this chapter (General Provisions for NIE grants relating to fiscal, administrative, and other matters), except to the extent that such provisions are inconsistent with, or expressly made inapplicable by, the provisions in this part.

§ 1451.2 Purpose.

The purpose of the Basic Skills Research Grants Program is to further the goal of providing American educators with the tools necessary to make further progress in helping all individuals to acquire those skills necessary for full and productive participation in our society. The Basic Skills Research Grants Program will do this by supporting field initiated studies in the substantive areas described in § 1451.5. § 1451.3 Definitions.

As used in this part, "Research project" means a study designed to increase or synthesize basic knowledge about processes or conditions relevant to basic skills development; or to provide answers to research problems which can be utilized in program development or for making policy decisions relating to basic skills development.

§ 1451.4 Applicant eligibility.

(a) Applications will be considered under this part only if submitted in response to specific notices in the FEDERAL REGISTER to be issued by the Director.

(b) Colleges, universities, state and local education agencies, and other public or private agencies, organizations, groups or individuals are eligible to apply. Applications from for-profit organizations shall be considered as unsolicited proposals and, if successful, will be awarded contracts rather than grants. Applications from forprofit organizations shall be submitted in accordance with criteria specified in this part and in HEW Procurement Regulations, Subpart 3-4.52 (41 CFR Part 3-4).

§ 1451.5 Eligible research projects.

(a) Eligible research areas. An application submitted for a grant under this part must involve research in one of the following selected areas:

(1) Teaching. Investigations on the nature of teaching and ways to improve teaching effectiveness.

(2) Literacy. Investigations on writing skills, written materials, and reading comprehension.

(3) Mathematics learning. Investigations of the nature of mathematical tasks and on the development of mathematical concepts and processes.

(4) Measurement. Investigations to improve measurement procedures in basic skills.

(5) Methodology. Investigations to improve the quality of results in educational research through studies of methodological problems.

(6) Law and education. Investigations of the influence of judicial and legislative activities on educational quality.

(b) Eligible research processes. Projects that involve research in one of the selected areas described in paragraph (a) of this section may be carried out using any research process other than those specified in § 1451.6. [43 FR 2878, Jan. 20, 1978]

§ 1451.6 Ineligible projects.

No awards will be made for development, dissemination, demonstrations,