Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 112 Part 4.djvu/424

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112 STAT. 2681-396 PUBLIC LAW 105-277—OCT. 21, 1998 "(i) are at risk of being referred to special education based on these difficulties; or "(ii) have been evaluated under section 614 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act but, in accordance with section 614(b)(5) of such Act, have not been identified as being a child with a disability (as defined in section 602 of the such Act). "(E) A description of how the State educational agency— "(i) will build on, and promote coordination among, literacv programs in the State (including federally funded programs such as the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), in order to increase the effectiveness of the programs in improving reading for adults and children and to avoid duplication of the efforts of the programs; "(ii) will promote reading and library programs that provide access to engaging reading material; "(iii) will make local educational agencies described in sections 2255(a)(l) and 2256(a)(1) aware of the availability of subgrants under sections 2255 and 2256; and "(iv) will assess and evaluate, on a regular basis, local educational agency activities assisted under this part, with respect to whether they have been effective in achieving the purposes of this part. "(F) A description of the evaluation instrument the State educational agency will use for purposes of the assessments and evaluations under subparagraph (E)(iv). " (c) APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS.— "(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall approve an application of a State educational agency under this section only— "(A) if such application meets the requirement of this section; and "(B) after taking into account the extent to which the application furthers the purposes of this part and the overall quality of the application. " (2) PEER REVIEW. — "(A) IN GENERAL,—The Secretary, in consultation with the National Institute for Literacy, shall convene a panel to evaluate applications under this section. At a minimum, the panel shall include— "(i) representatives of the National Institute for Literacy, the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; "(ii) 3 individuals selected by the Secretary; "(iii) 3 individuals selected by the National Institute for Literacy; "(iv) 3 individuals selected by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences; and "(v) 3 individuals selected by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. "(B) EXPERTS.— The panel shall include experts who are competent, by virtue of their training, expertise, or