.

The following changes are being made: 
1. In the NCLB- Blue Ribbon Schools application (OMB Control Number 1860-0506, expiration date 12/31/2008), I am making a change on the title page to reflect the new year (2009), rewritten the introduction page to show the history of the program and clarified the eligibility criteria. I have also made changes to the timeline for the application year and minor changes to "Technical Specifications" on page 6 of 19 for application submission.  In compliance with the reporting of racial/ethnic compositions specified by the Department, we included the additional categories (page 11 of 19). We also targeted the questions to schools.  The above mentioned changes does not change the estimated time of approximately 39 hours per response to complete this application.

2. We have also made changes to the Guidance document for Chief State School Officers (OMB Control Number 1860-0745, expiration date 12/31/2008).  The changes include, updating the year on the title page, adding an introduction page about the program (mainly to help new State contacts), rearranged the order of instructions and edited the document to provide clarity to the state contacts as they determine their nominations to the program.

Aba S. Kumi
Director, NCLB--Blue Ribbon Schools Program
Office of Communications and Outreach
U.S. Department of Education 
400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Room 5E103
Washington, DC 20202-8173
202.401.1767 (Voice)
202.260.7464 (Fax)
Aba.Kumi@ed.gov 
http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/index.html