Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 108 Part 1.djvu/256

 108 STAT. 230 PUBLIC LAW 103-227—MAR. 31, 1994 Federal Register, publication. (E) promote research that is related to the core content areas; (F) plan and coordinate syntheses that provide research knowledge related to each level of the education system (from preschool to postsecondary education) to increase understanding of student performance across different educational levels; (G) conduct and support research in early childhood, elementary and secondary, vocational, adult and postsecondary education (including the professional development of teachers) to the extent that such research is related to the purposes for which such Institute has been established; (H) conduct sustained research and development on improving the educational achievement of poor and minority individuals as an integral part of its work; and (I) coordinate the Institute's activities with the activities of the regional educational laboratories and with other educational service organizations in designing the Institute's research agenda and projects in order to increase the responsiveness of such Institute to the needs of teachers and the educational field and to bring research findings directly into schools to ensure greatest access at the local level to the latest research developments. (3) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—N O grant, contract, or cooperative agreement may be made under this title unless— (A) sufficient notice of the availability of, and opportunity to compete for, assistance has first been provided to potential applicants through notice published in the Federal Register or other appropriate means; (B) such grant, contract, or agreement has been evaluated through peer review in accordance with the standards developed pursuant to section 912(i); (C) such grant, contract, or agreement will be evaluated in accordance with the standards developed pursuant to section 912(i); (D) in the case of a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement which exceeds $500,000 for a single fiscal year or $1,000,000 for more than one fiscal year, the Secretary has complied with the requirements of paragraph (4); and (E) in the case of a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement to support a research and development center, all applications for such assistance have been evaluated by independent experts according to standards and criteria which include— (i) whether applicants have assembled a group of high quality researchers sufficient to achieve the mission of the center; (ii) whether the proposed organizational structure and arrangements will facilitate achievement of the mission of the center; (iii) whether there is a substantial staff commitment to the work of the center; (iv) whether the directors and support staff will devote a majority of their time to the activities of the center;

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