A bill to conduct 1 or more higher education and career readiness demonstration projects for rural, low-income students.

Summary: Rural Students College, Career, and Community Readiness Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Education to award grants to up to two nonprofit organizations to conduct higher education and career readiness demonstration projects.

Requires grantees to partner with rural local educational agencies and schools to enroll a cohort of seventh grade students and a cohort of ninth grade students into the demonstration projects, which are to provide such students with approximately 25 hours of informational and educational services in each grade through grade 12 that prepare them for higher education and a successful career.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rural Students College, Career, and 
Community Readiness Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) roughly 1 in 4 public schools are located in rural 
        America, accounting for 14.5 percent of total public school 
        enrollment;
            (2) rural boys and girls demonstrate lower educational 
        aspirations than their urban and suburban peers;
            (3) fewer than 1 in 7 rural residents have obtained a 4-
        year baccalaureate degree, compared with nearly 1 in 4 
        metropolitan area residents;
            (4) roughly half of rural secondary school students live in 
        counties that have no 4-year institutions of higher education;
            (5) there are major gaps in substantive research about 
        effective rural education strategies;
            (6) rural economic development is a continuing effort 
        supported by the Federal Government, and rural schools can be 
        important engines for economic development and long-term 
        community and regional growth;
            (7) one of the best ways to address the needs of students 
        in rural communities is to help young people finish secondary 
        school and attend college by providing programs that promote 
        higher education throughout childhood and adolescence, and 
        supporting programs that expose young people to the world of 
        careers; and
            (8) effective rural policy requires an emphasis on the 
        development of human capital through education.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purpose of this Act is to conduct a demonstration project to 
improve the educational and career outcomes of rural, low-income 
students in grades 7 through 12 that will seek to--
            (1) improve the academic motivation and performance of 
        rural students;
            (2) improve student academic success in rural schools, 
        including with respect to performance on statewide assessments;
            (3) improve secondary school graduation rates in rural 
        schools;
            (4) increase the number of rural students engaged in 
        rigorous, college-preparatory coursework;
            (5) increase the number of rural students taking college 
        entrance examinations, such as the SATs or ACTs;
            (6) increase the rates among rural students of application 
        to institutions of higher education, enrollment in such 
        institutions, and institution of higher education program 
        completion;
            (7) prepare rural students to become the next generation of 
        leaders in their States and communities;
            (8) complement Federal and State efforts to build the State 
        and local workforce and economy; and
            (9) increase the number of people within rural communities 
        who are able to meet the workforce needs of the local community 
        and enhance the State, local, and regional economies.

SEC. 4. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.

    (a) Grants Authorized.--From amounts appropriated under section 9, 
the Secretary shall award grants to not more than 2 non-profit entities 
to enable the entities to carry out the activities described in section 
5 in rural schools and rural local educational agencies.
    (b) Application.--A non-profit entity desiring to receive a grant 
under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 
time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 
may require.
    (c) Selection Basis.--In awarding grants under this Act, the 
Secretary shall give priority to a non-profit entity that has--
            (1) existing capacity to implement program elements with 
        the rigor called for in this Act;
            (2) history and experience in working with rural schools 
        and supporting student achievement goals;
            (3) organizational capacity to successfully implement the 
        demonstration project; and
            (4) capacity and commitment to serve rural schools that 
        have student populations with historically low rates of 
        secondary school graduation, institution of higher education 
        enrollment, or institution of higher education program 
        completion.
    (d) Amount and Duration of Grants.--
            (1) Amount; duration.--Each grant awarded by the Secretary 
        under this Act shall be in an amount of not less than 
        $2,500,000 for each fiscal year of the grant period, and shall 
        be awarded for a period of 6 years, in order to enable cohorts 
        of students in grade 7 to participate in the demonstration 
        project under this Act for 6 consecutive years in the grant.
            (2) Use of grant funds for evaluation.--Notwithstanding 
        paragraph (1), a non-profit entity receiving a grant under this 
        Act may use remaining grant funds after the grant period has 
        expired in order to carry out the evaluation required under 
        section 6 during the 3-year period immediately following the 
        last year of the grant period.

SEC. 5. PROGRAM OPERATIONS.

    (a) Program Authorized.--A non-profit entity receiving a grant 
under this Act shall develop and carry out a rural school-based, 
institution of higher education preparation and career exploration 
demonstration project through which the non-profit entity shall--
            (1)(A) in the case of an entity receiving a grant of 
        $5,000,000 or more per year--
                    (i) serve a minimum of 40 rural schools and 7,500 
                students; and
                    (ii) serve rural schools in not fewer than 3 
                geographic regions of the United States (such as the 
                Southwest, Midwest, Southeast, Northeast, or Northwest 
                regions); or
            (B) in the case of an entity receiving a grant of less than 
        $5,000,000 per year--
                    (i) serve a minimum of 20 rural schools and 3,000 
                students; and
                    (ii) serve rural schools in not fewer than 2 such 
                geographic regions;
            (2) in selecting rural schools to participate in the 
        project--
                    (A) collectively reach diverse racial and ethnic 
                student populations; and
                    (B) ensure a sufficient participation of students 
                in both grade 7 and grade 9 cohorts, as described in 
                paragraph (4), in order to allow for a full measure of 
                the project's impact as both a 6-year program and a 4-
                year program;
            (3) partner with rural local educational agencies and rural 
        schools to carry out the activities under this subsection, and 
        enter into a written agreement with each participating local 
        educational agency or rural school in which--
                    (A) the entity agrees to carry out the activities 
                described in paragraph (5) for the cohorts described in 
                paragraph (4) at the identified rural school; and
                    (B) the rural local educational agency or rural 
                school agrees--
                            (i) to allow the entity access to students 
                        in the cohorts during the school day for the 
                        purposes of administering the demonstration 
                        project; and
                            (ii) to cooperate in the project 
                        evaluation, including the collection and 
                        sharing of data; and
            (4) for each rural school with which the entity enters into 
        a written agreement--
                    (A) identify the cohort of students who will be 
                entering grade 7 in the first year of the grant under 
                this Act, and serves such students for 6 consecutive 
                years; or
                    (B) identify the cohort of students who will be 
                entering grade 9 in the first year of the grant under 
                this Act, and serves such students for 4 consecutive 
                years;
            (5) provide participating students in a cohort at a 
        partnering rural school with a program that--
                    (A) includes approximately 25 hours per grade of 
                program workshops during the school day over the course 
                of grades 7 through 12 or, in the case of a grade 9 
                cohort, grades 9 through 12, to provide services 
                including--
                            (i) providing education planning to the 
                        students;
                            (ii) providing information for the students 
                        about the opportunities for and the importance 
                        of higher education and postsecondary training;
                            (iii) developing career awareness in the 
                        students;
                            (iv) building the students' career, 
                        leadership, and life skills;
                            (v) building awareness in the students of 
                        the State's future labor needs and the 
                        importance of young people to the State's 
                        economy, and coordinating with the State's 
                        efforts to develop the State's workforce and 
                        economy; and
                            (vi) creating awareness in the students of 
                        local businesses and integrating expertise from 
                        local business and nonprofit providers into the 
                        program, as appropriate;
                    (B) reaches all students in the cohort who are 
                participating in the demonstration project; and
                    (C) is implemented consistently across all 
                participating rural school sites; and
            (6) evaluates the project, as described in section 6.
    (b) Staff.--A non-profit entity receiving a grant under this Act 
shall hire, train, and employ personnel to administer and deliver the 
demonstration project. These individuals shall function as employees of 
the nonprofit entity but shall coordinate with the partnering rural 
schools and rural local educational agencies in the delivery of the 
program, consistent with the applicable agreements described in 
subsection (a)(3).

SEC. 6. EVALUATION.

    (a) In General.--A non-profit entity receiving a grant under this 
Act shall use a portion of grant funds to award a contract, on a 
competitive basis, to a third-party evaluator to enable the evaluator--
            (1) to rigorously evaluate the impact of the entity's 
        demonstration project under this Act in accordance with 
        subsection (d); and
            (2) to submit the annual evaluation required under 
        subsection (e).
    (b) Competitive Basis and Preference.--The non-profit entity shall 
select the evaluator for a contract under this section by a competitive 
process, with a preference given to evaluators using evaluation models 
that utilize experimental design methodology.
    (c) Approval by the Secretary.--The Secretary or the Secretary's 
designee shall approve the evaluator selected by the non-profit entity 
before the entity enters into a contract with the evaluator.
    (d) Content of Evaluation.--An evaluator receiving a contract for a 
demonstration project under this Act shall perform an evaluation of the 
project that--
            (1) follows rigorous standards of third-party evaluation in 
        determining the effects of the demonstration project under this 
        Act on--
                    (A) the rigor of secondary school course-taking the 
                rigor of secondary school courses taken by 
                participating students;
                    (B) the performance of participating students on 
                statewide assessments;
                    (C) the engagement of participating students in 
                school, including attendance rates, discipline data, 
                and grades;
                    (D) the rates of participating students taking 
                college entrance examinations, such as the SAT or ACT;
                    (E) the career aspirations of participating 
                students;
                    (F) the rates of participating students enrolling 
                in career and technical education courses, dual 
                enrollment courses, advanced placement courses, or 
                other related programs;
                    (G) the secondary school graduation rates of 
                participating students;
                    (H) the rates among participating students of 
                institution of higher education application, 
                enrollment, and program completion; and
                    (I) the participating students' awareness of State 
                economic indicators and workforce needs; and
            (2) follows a rigorous model so that findings regarding the 
        program outcomes meet standards of scientifically-based 
        research, as defined in section 9101 of the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801); and
            (3) addresses the scalability and replicability of the 
        program model with respect to other rural areas, including--
                    (A) the identification of elements that are 
                integral to program effectiveness;
                    (B) efficacy in use of Federal funds; and
                    (C) the impact of coordination with State workforce 
                development efforts.
    (e) Annual Evaluation Report.--An evaluator receiving a contract 
under this section shall submit an annual evaluation on the progress of 
the program to the Secretary.

SEC. 7. REPORTS.

    (a) Annual Reports.--A non-profit entity receiving a grant under 
this Act shall submit an annual report on the progress of the 
demonstration project to the Secretary for each year of the grant 
period.
    (b) Reports to Congress.--
            (1) Interim report.--Not later than 18 months after amounts 
        are appropriated under this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 
        Congress an interim report on the progress of the demonstration 
        projects funded under this Act that includes the outcome 
        measures described in section 6(d)(1).
            (2) Final report.--Not later than 90 days after the last 
        day of the grant period for all grants under this Act, the 
        Secretary shall submit to Congress a final report on the 
        results of the program, which report shall include--
                    (A) the outcome measures described in section 
                6(d)(1); and
                    (B) recommendations for such legislative or 
                administrative action as the Secretary determines 
                appropriate.

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001).
            (2) Rural local educational agency.--The term ``rural local 
        educational agency'' means a local educational agency that 
        meets--
                    (A) the eligibility requirements under section 
                6211(b) (20 U.S.C. 7345(b)) for participation in the 
                program described in subpart 1 of part B of title VI of 
                the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 7345 et seq.); or
                    (B) the eligibility requirements under section 
                6221(b) (20 U.S.C. 7351(b)) for participation in the 
                program described in subpart 2 of part B of such title 
                VI (20 U.S.C. 7351 et seq.).
            (3) Rural school.--The term ``rural school'' means a school 
        served by a rural local educational agency.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Education.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2013.