================================================================= ALAWON Volume 6, Number 13 ISSN 1069-7799 February 28, 1997 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (131 lines) SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH PROGRAM ANNOUNCED; DEADLINE MARCH 17 SPECIAL FOCUS COMPETITION ANNOUNCED: HIGHER EDUCATION COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE U.S. AND THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY NAEP WEBSITE AT HTTP://WWW.ED.GOV/NCES/NAEP/ _________________________________________________________________ SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH PROGRAM ANNOUNCED; DEADLINE MARCH 17 The U.S. Department of Education invites small businesses to submit research proposals under the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR). The SBIR Program enables small research businesses to perform research and development through a three-phase process. According to Barbara Humes of the Department's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), the idea "has to be marketable." Candidates for the SBIR Program would include librarians running a small business. The recipient will receive funds to develop a business plan, research the feasibility of an idea, and market it over a three-year period. It is anticipated that the closing date for receipt will be on March 17, 1997. An electronic copy of the Request for Proposal (RFP) is available at http://gcs.ed.gov/coninfo/97025.htm. Hardcopies are available from the RFP Request Line at (202) 708-6498. For general questions from interested librarians, contact OERI's Barbara Humes at (202) 219-1376. Questions about technical aspects of the ED SBIR Program can be submitted to Office of Educational Research and Improvement, Attention: Lee Eiden, SBIR Coordinator, U.S. Department of Education, MS 5530, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20208 or by telephone on (202) 219-2004. Questions pertaining to administrative processing of the solicitation can be directed to Jennifer Feld on (202) 708-7405. _________________________________________________________________ SPECIAL FOCUS COMPETITION ANNOUNCED: HIGHER EDUCATION COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE U.S. AND THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY The U.S. Department of Education has announced a program to provide grants to enter into cooperative agreements to improve postsecondary education opportunities by focusing on problem areas or improvement approaches in postsecondary education. According to the Federal Register (vol. 62, no. 19, January 29, 1997 p. 4396) an estimated 5-10 institutions of higher education or combinations of such institutions and other public and nonprofit agencies are eligible for a total of $1,150,000, or $100,000-$175,000 for three years. The program aims to add a new European Community/United States dimension to student-centered cooperation and to bring balanced benefits to both the European Community and the United States. For more information on this program, visit the European Community/United States of America Joint Consortia for Cooperation in Higher Education and Vocational Education page at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/FIPSE/EComm/. Deadline for applications is May 16, 1997. For applications or information contact: Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education, 600 Independence Avenue SW, Room 3100, ROB-3, Washington, D.C. 20202-5175; telephone: (202) 708-5750 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday. Individuals may request applications by submitting the name of the competition, their name, and postal mailing address to the e-mail address (FIPSE@ED.GOV). Individuals may obtain the application text from Internet address (http://www.ed.gov/prog-info/FIPSE/). Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday. _________________________________________________________________ NAEP WEBSITE AT HTTP://WWW.ED.GOV/NCES/NAEP/ School librarians may be interested in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) website. Part of the U.S. Department of Education, the site includes access to NAEP publications and activities, and the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB). NAEP is mandated by Congress to monitor continuously the knowledge, skills, and performance of the nation's children and youth. Under this legislation, NAEP is required to provide objective data about student performance at national, regional, and, on a trial basis, state levels. Prior to 1990 NAEP was required to assess reading, mathematics, and writing at least once every 5 years. The current legislation requires assessments in reading and mathematics at least every 2 years, in science and writing at least every 4 years, and in history or geography and other subjects selected by the NAGB, the policy-making body for NAEP, at least every 6 years. Its components include a elementary and secondary school students survey, a school characteristics and policy survey, and a teacher survey. For more information about NAEP, visit http://www.ed.gov/NCES/naep/ or contact Gary W. Phillips, Education Assessment Division, National Center for Education Statistics, 555 New Jersey Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20208-5653; telephone (202) 219-1761; e-mail: Gary_Phillips@ed.gov. _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc @ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. Visit our Web site at http://www.alawash.org. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 800.941.8478 (V) Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor Contributors: Mary Costabile Claudette Tennant All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================