Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 106 Part 1.djvu/726

 106 STAT. 694 PUBLIC LAW 102-325—JULY 23, 1992 Federal Register, publication. Federal Register, publication. tion 3231 of the Fund for the Improvement and Reform of Schools and Teaching Act. "(3) The term 'Director' means the Director of the National Science Foundation. "(b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION. — "(1) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— From sums appropriated pursuant to the authority of subsection (k) in any fiscal year, the Secretary shall, in accordance with this subpart, provide financial assistance to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, in order to pay the Federal share of the costs of the activities described in subsection (d). "(2) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—(A) No financial assistance may be made available under this subpart except upon an application as required by subsection (e). "(B) No financial assistance may be made available under this subpart unless the Secretary determines that— "(i) the Board will comply with the provisions of this subpart; "(ii) the Board will use the Federal funds only for research and development activities in accordance with subsection (d) and such teacher assessment and certification procedures will befi*eefi*omracial, cultural, gender or regional bias; "(iii) the Board— "(I) will widely disseminate for review and comment annoxmcements of specific research projects to be conducted with Federal funds, including a description of the goals and focus of the specific project involved and the specific merit review procedures and evaluation criteria to be used in the competitive award process; and "(II) will send such announcements to the Secretary, the Director, the National Research Council, and the educational research community; "(iv) the Secretary, pursuant to an arrangement with the Board, will publish the announcements described in clause (iii) in the Federal Register (or such other publication deemed appropriate by the Secretary) and in publications of general circulation designed to disseminate such annoxmcements widely to the educational research community; "(v) the Board will, after offering any interested party an opportunity to make comment upon, and take exception to, the projects contained in the announcements described in clause (iii) for a 30-day period following publication, and after reconsidering any project upon which comment is made or to which exception is taken, issue through the Secretary a request for proposals in the Federal Register (or such other publication deemed appropriate by the Secretary) containing any revised project information; "(vi) the Board will make awards of Federal funds competitively on the basis of merit, and, in the award process, the Board will select, to the extent practicable consistent with standards of excellence— "(I) a broad range of institutions associated with educational research and development; and

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