20 U.S.C. 1424, unless otherwise noted.
49 FR 28021, July 9, 1984, unless otherwise noted.
At 63 FR 23601, Apr. 29, 1998, part 315 was removed, effective Oct. 1, 1998.
This program supports research, development or demonstration, training, and dissemination activities that, consistent with the purpose of part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, meet the unique educational needs of infants, toddlers, children, and youth with severe disabilities.
Any public or private, profit or nonprofit, organization or institution may apply for a grant under this program.
The following regulations apply to this program:
(a) The regulations in this part 315.
(b) The Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) established in title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations in—
(1) Part 74 (Administration of Grants to Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals and Nonprofit Organizations);
(2) Part 75 (Direct Grant Programs);
(3) Part 77 (Definitions that Apply to Department Regulations);
(4) Part 79 (Intergovernmental Review of Department of Education Programs and Activities);
(5) Part 80 (Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to State and Local Governments);
(6) Part 81 (General Education Provisions Act—Enforcement);
(7) Part 82 (New Restrictions on Lobbying);
(8) Part 85 (Governmentwide Debarment and Suspension (Nonprocurement) and Governmentwide Requirements for Drug-Free Workplace (Grants)); and
(9) Part 86 (Drug-Free Schools and Campuses).
(a)
Applicant
Application
Award
EDGAR
Fiscal year
Grant
Grantee
Nonprofit
Preschool
Private
Project
Public
Recipient
Secretary
State
(b)
(c)
(i) With mental retardation, hearing impairments including deafness, speech or language impairments, visual impairments including blindness, serious emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning disabilities; and
(ii) Who, for that reason, need special education and related services.
(2) The term includes infants and toddlers, birth through age two, who need early intervention services because they—
(i) Are experiencing developmental delays, as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in one or more of the following areas: Cognitive development, physical development including vision and hearing, language and speech development, psychosocial development, or self-help skills; or
(ii) Have a diagnosed physical or mental condition that has a high probability of resulting in developmental delay.
(3) The term includes, at a State's discretion, individuals from birth through age two who are at risk of having substantial developmental delays if early intervention services are not provided.
(4) For children aged three to five, inclusive, the term may, at a State's discretion, include children—
(i) Who are experiencing developmental delays, as defined by the State and as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in one or more of the following areas: physical development, cognitive development, communication development, social or emotional development, or adaptive development; and
(ii) Who, for that reason, need special education and related services.
(d)
(2) The term includes those children with disabilities with severe emotional disturbance (including schizophrenia), autism, severe and profound mental retardation, and those who have two or more serious disabilities such as deaf-blindness, mental retardation and
(3) Children with severe disabilities—
(i) May experience severe speech, language, and/or perceptual-cognitive deprivations, and evidence abnormal behaviors such as—
(A) Failure to respond to pronounced social stimuli;
(B) Self-multilation;
(C) Self-stimulation;
(D) Manifestation of intense and prolonged temper tantrums; and
(E) The absence of rudimentary forms of verbal control; and
(ii) May also have extremely fragile physiological conditions.
The Secretary may provide financial assistance under this part to support the following activities:
(a) Research to identify and meet the full range of special education, related services and early intervention needs (including transportation to and from school) of children with severe disabilities, described in § 315.11.
(b) The development or demonstration of new, or improvements in existing, methods, approaches, or techniques which would contribute to the adjustment and education of children with severe disabilities, as described in § 315.12.
(c) Training of special and regular education, related services, and early intervention personnel engaged or preparing to engage in programs specifically designed for children with severe disabilities, including training of regular teachers, instructors, and administrators in strategies for serving children with disabilities that include integrated settings for educating children with severe disabilities along with their nondisabled peers, as described in § 315.13.
(d) Dissemination of materials and information about practices found effective in working with children with severe disabilities, as described in § 315.14.
(e) Statewide projects in conjunction with the State's plan under part B, to improve the quality of special education and related services for children with severe disabilities, and to change the delivery of those services from segregated to integrated environments.
(f) Development and operation of extended school year demonstration projects for children with severe disabilities.
(a) The Secretary may provide financial assistance under this part for the following research activities:
(1) Research to identify and meet the full range of special education, related services and early intervention needs (including transportation to and from school) of children with severe disabilities.
(2) Research to identify and meet the instructional or counseling needs of parents, professionals, and others involved in the provision of services to children with severe disabilities, for the purpose of facilitating the delivery and improving the quality of these services.
(b) Each application for assistance under this part must—
(1) Specifically describe and justify the research activities which the applicant proposes to undertake;
(2) Fully describe how the applicant will develop and validate the effectiveness of procedures for applying the project's research findings to the provision of improved direct services to children with severe disabilities.
(a) The Secretary may provide financial assistance under this part for one or more of the following development and demonstration activities to meet the needs of children with severe disabilities.
(1) Review, analysis, and evaluation of current educational practices and research findings.
(2) Diagnosis and evaluation of the learning capacities and limitations of children with severe disabilities and the identification of their specific learning needs and problems.
(3) Design and demonstration of innovative procedures for addressing the identified needs of children with severe disabilities in a variety of settings.
(4) Evaluation of the progress and achievement of children with severe disabilities who participate in project activities.
(b) Each application for assistance under this part must—
(1) Justify the need for the development or demonstration activities which the applicant proposes to undertake, particularly in consideration of related development or demonstration activities in the nation where applicable;
(2) Describe the nature and extent of the impact which the proposed activities are expected to have on children with severe disabilities who will be served by the project; and
(3) Describe the impact, in terms of replicability, that the activities are expected to have upon children and youth not served by the project.
The Secretary may provide financial assistance under this part to support training activities that meet the following requirements:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d) Each application for assistance under this part must—
(1) Justify the need for the training activities that the applicant proposes to undertake; and
(2) Describe the nature and extent of the impact that the proposed activities are expected to have on children with severe disabilities who will ultimately be served by the individuals who receive the training.
The Secretary may provide assistance under this part for dissemination activities including distribution of materials and information to educational institutions, parents, the general public, and members of professions engaged in the field of the education of children with severe disabilities.
(a) For any fiscal year, the Secretary may give priority to one or more of the activities listed in §§ 315.10—315.14.
(b) The Secretary advises the public of these priorities through a notice published in the
(c) The Secretary may establish other priorities through publication of one or more notices in the
(a) The Secretary evaluates an application on the basis of the criteria in §§ 315.32 or 315.33.
(b) The Secretary awards up to 100 points for these criteria.
(c) The maximum possible score for each criterion is indicated in parentheses.
The Secretary uses the following criteria to evaluate an application for a research project described in § 315.11:
(a)
(1) The programmatic research areas proposed by the applicant represent critical areas of investigation, or problems whose solution would have greatest impact on improving services to children with severe disabilities; and
(2) The specific questions to be addressed in the project are likely to generate knowledge needed for bringing about a major change in understanding of the topical area.
(b)
(i) The design;
(ii) The proposed sample;
(iii) Instrumentation; and
(iv) Data analysis procedures.
(2) The Secretary also reviews each application for the relevance of its proposed training efforts, including—
(i) Strategies for provision of training; and
(ii) Relationships between the applicant, other organizations or agencies providing training in coordination with the applicant, and trainees receiving training from the applicant.
(c)
(1) The extent to which the plan of management is effective and ensures proper and efficient administration of the project;
(2) How the objectives of the project relate to the purpose of the program;
(3) The quality of the applicant's plans to use its resources and personnel to achieve each objective; and
(4) How the applicant will ensure that project participants who are otherwise eligible to participate are selected without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, or disabling condition.
(d)
(i) The qualifications of the project director or principal investigator;
(ii) The qualifications of each of the other key personnel to be used in the project;
(iii) The time that each person referred to in paragraphs (d)(1) (i) and (ii) of this section will commit to the project; and
(iv) How the applicant, as part of its nondiscriminatory employment practices, will ensure that its personnel are selected for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, or disabling condition.
(2) To determine personnel qualifications under paragraphs (d)(1) (i) and (ii) of this section, the Secretary considers—
(i) Experience and training in conducting, documenting, and applying research pertaining to children with severe disabilities;
(ii) Awareness of relevant research findings and demonstration project results pertaining to other children with disabilities and the potential for use of the findings and results with children with severe disabilities; and
(iii) Experience in communicating research findings to service providers of children with severe disabilities and in assisting these providers with effective application of the findings.
(e)
(1) The budget is adequate to support the project; and
(2) Costs are reasonable in relation to the objectives of the project.
(f)
(1) Are appropriate to the project; and
(2) To the extent possible, are objective and produce data that are quantifiable.
See 34 CFR 75.590 Evaluation by the grantee.)
(g)
(h)
(1) Ensures proper and efficient dissemination of project information within the State in which the project is located and throughout the Nation; and
(2) Provides a clear description of the content, intended audiences, and timelines for production of all project documents and other products that the applicant will disseminate.
The Secretary uses the following criteria to evaluate an application for a demonstration project under § 315.12 and a training project under § 315.13. The Secretary also uses these criteria to evaluate a dissemination project under § 315.14, except that a maximum of 30 points may be given for criterion (b) (plan of operation) and no points are provided for criterion (g) (dissemination plan).
(a)
(1) The needs addressed by the project;
(2) The impact and benefits to be gained by meeting the educational and related service needs of children with severe disabilities served by the project, their parents and service providers; and
(3) The national significance of the project in terms of potential benefits to children with severe disabilities who are not directly involved in the project.
(b)
(1) The quality of the design of the project;
(2) The extent to which the plan of management is effective and ensures proper and efficient administration of the project;
(3) How well the objectives of the project relate to the purpose of the program;
(4) The quality of the applicant's plan to use its resources and personnel to achieve each objective;
(5) How the applicant will ensure that project participants who are otherwise eligible to participate are selected without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, or disabling condition.
(c)
(i) The qualifications of the project director;
(ii) The qualifications of each of the other key personnel to be used in the project;
(iii) The time that each person referred to in paragraphs (c)(1) (i) and (ii) of this section will commit to the project; and
(iv) How the applicant, as part of its non-discriminatory employment practices, will ensure that its personnel are selected for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, or disabling condition.
(2) To determine personnel qualifications under paragraph (c)(1) (i) and (ii) of this section, the Secretary considers—
(i) Experience and training in fields related to the objectives of the project; and
(ii) Any other qualifications that pertain to the quality of the project.
(d)
(1) The budget is adequate to support the project; and
(2) Costs are reasonable in relation to the objectives of the project.
(e)
(1) Are appropriate to the project; and
(2) To the extent possible, are objective and produce data that are quantifiable.
See 34 CFR 75.590 Evaluation by the grantee)
(f)
(g)
(1) Ensures proper and efficient dissemination of project information within the State in which the project is located and throughout the Nation; and
(2) Adequately includes the content, intended audiences, and timeliness for production of all project documents and other products which the applicant will disseminate.
To the extent feasible, the Secretary supports activities that are geographically dispersed throughout the Nation in urban and rural areas.
Each recipient shall coordinate the activities assisted under this part with similar activities assisted under other sections of the Act.
Grantees shall, if appropriate, prepare reports describing their procedures, findings, and other relevant information in a form that will maximize the dissemination and use of such procedures, findings, and information. The Secretary shall require their delivery, as appropriate, to the Regional and Federal Resource Centers, the Clearinghouses, and the Technical Assistance to Parents Program (TAPP) assisted under parts C and D of the Act, as well as the National Diffusion Network, the ERIC Clearinghouse on the Handicapped and Gifted, and the Child and Adolescent Service Systems Program (CASSP) under the National Institute of Mental Health, appropriate parent and professional organizations, organizations representing individuals with disabilities, and such other networks as the Secretary may determine to be appropriate.