I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4644 

To establish dual language education programs in low-income communities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2016 

Mr. GRIJALVA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To establish dual language education programs in low-income 

communities. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Providing Resources 

5 to Improve Dual Language Education Act of 2016’’ or 

6 the ‘‘PRIDE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 The Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) Dual language programs have been found to 

10 provide the greatest academic gains for limited 

11 English proficient children. 


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1 (2) Children exposed to a second language 

2 through dual language education demonstrated high3 er performance, in comparison to their schoolmates 

4 in traditional classrooms. 

5 (3) Few children from low-income communities, 

6 particularly African-American children, have had ac7 cess to a well-developed and well-implemented dual 

8 language program. 

9 (4) Children in dual language programs experi10 ence substantial gains in language, literacy, and 

11 mathematics. 

12 SEC. 3. DUAL LANGUAGE FLAGSHIP GRANTS. 

13 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are as 

14 follows: 

15 (1) To provide incentives for local educational 

16 agencies to develop innovative strategies for working 

17 with low-income and limited English proficient chil18 dren. 

19 (2) To improve the school readiness of low-in20 come and limited English proficient children and to 

21 ensure they enter school ready to succeed. 

22 (3) To provide consistent support for learning 

23 through high-quality dual language programs from 

24 preschool through the fifth grade. 


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1 (4) To authorize the Secretary to carry out a 

2 demonstration project to enhance the biliteracy and 

3 bilingualism skills for children in impoverished com4 munities, including limited English proficient and 

5 minority children, through the use and longitudinal 

6 evaluation of dual language programs beginning in 

7 preschool through the fifth grade. 

8 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—From funds made available 

10 under subsection (i), and after reserving funds under 

11 subsection (c), the Secretary is authorized to award 

12 not more than five grants to fund partnerships of 

13 local educational agencies, early childhood education 

14 programs including State-funded preschool programs 

15 and Head Start programs, and technical assistance 

16 providers to demonstrate effective strategies in en17 suring the academic success of low-income minority 

18 students through the implementation and evaluation 

19 of a high-quality dual language program that— 

20 (A) serves cohorts of economically dis21 advantaged minority and limited English pro22 ficient children from preschool through fifth 

23 grade; 

24 (B) establishes an infrastructure that sup25 ports a rigorous assessment system, including 


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1 dedicated staff time and professional develop2 ment in assessment, a data collection plan, and 

3 the collection of multiple measures of academic 

4 progress, bilingualism, and biliteracy; 

5 (C) implements and aligns a curriculum 

6 that promotes the development of bilingual and 

7 biliterate competencies for all students through 

8 at least grade five; 

9 (D) utilizes and aligns student-centered in10 structional methods that enhance the develop11 ment of bilingualism, biliteracy, and academic 

12 achievement; 

13 (E) aligns professional development and 

14 training for early childhood education instruc15 tors and elementary school teachers and staff, 

16 with an emphasis on dual language instruction, 

17 second language acquisition, and content knowl18 edge; 

19 (F) recruits, trains, and continuously de20 velops staff to implement high-quality, dual lan21 guage programs; and 

22 (G) establishes a responsive infrastructure 

23 for positive, active, and ongoing relationships 

24 with students’ families and the community that 


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1 responds to and is reflective of the needs of the 

2 community and goals of the program. 

3 (c) RESERVATION.—The Secretary shall reserve not 

4 more than 5 percent of the amount appropriated under 

5 subsection (i) to carry out this Act, including the technical 

6 assistance and evaluation described is subsection (g) and 

7 dissemination of best practices described in subsection (h). 

8 (d) DURATION.—Each grant under this section shall 

9 be awarded for a period of not more than five years. 

10 (e) APPLICATIONS FOR GRANTS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity desiring 

12 a grant under this section shall submit an applica13 tion to the Secretary at such time and in such man14 ner as the Secretary may require. 

15 (2) REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION.—Each appli16 cation submitted by a partnership under this section 

17 for a proposed program shall include documentation 

18 that— 

19 (A) the partnership has partnered with an 

20 entity that has proven expertise in the imple21 mentation of high-quality dual language pro22 grams to provide on-going technical assistance 

23 and assist with the evaluation of the program; 


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1 (B) the partnership has the qualified per2 sonnel to develop, administer, evaluate, and im3 plement the program; and 

4 (C) the partnership is serving economically 

5 disadvantaged minority and limited English 

6 proficient children. 

7 (3) OTHER APPLICATION CONTENTS.—Each ap8 plication submitted by an entity under this section 

9 for a proposed program shall include— 

10 (A) data showing that the program is serv11 ing economically disadvantaged and limited 

12 English proficient children; 

13 (B) a description of how the program will 

14 align the language of assessment with the lan15 guage of instruction; 

16 (C) a description of how the program will 

17 be evaluated to assess the goals of the program; 

18 (D) a description of how the evaluation will 

19 be used to inform broader efforts to improve in20 struction for limited English proficient children, 

21 including for preschool-aged children; 

22 (E) a description of activities that will be 

23 pursued by the program including a description 

24 of— 


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1 (i) how the activities will further the 

2 school readiness and academic progress of 

3 children served by this program and sup4 port dual language development through 

5 grade five; 

6 (ii) methods of designing culturally 

7 and linguistically appropriate dual lan8 guage curriculum; and 

9 (iii) methods of teacher training and 

10 parent outreach that will be used or devel11 oped through the programs; 

12 (F) an assurance that the program will an13 nually provide to the Secretary such informa14 tion as may be required by subsection (f); and 

15 (G) any other information that the Sec16 retary may require. 

17 (f) SELECTION OF GRANTEES.— 

18 (1) CRITERIA.—The Secretary through a peer 

19 review process shall select partnerships to receive 

20 grants under this section based on— 

21 (A) the articulation of preschool through 

22 fifth grade instructional practices, curriculum, 

23 and assessments strategies; 

24 (B) the extent to which school leadership 

25 has been involved and has demonstrated a comVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Feb 27, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4644.IH H4644

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1 mitment to a high-quality dual language pro2 gram; and 

3 (C) the quality of the programs proposed 

4 in the applications submitted under subsection 

5 (b). 

6 (g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND EVALUATION.— 

7 From funds reserved under subsection (i) for a fiscal year, 

8 the Secretary shall reserve $250,000 to contract with an 

9 entity with a proven track record in dual language pro10 grams for the purpose of— 

11 (1) providing technical assistance to local edu12 cational agencies receiving grants under this Act in 

13 order to strengthen programs conducted by grantees 

14 pursuant to this Act; and 

15 (2) conducting an evaluation of programs fund16 ed under this Act, which shall— 

17 (A) be used by the Secretary to determine 

18 the effectiveness of programs funded through 

19 this Act and improve services to participating 

20 children; and 

21 (B) include— 

22 (i) a comprehensive evaluation of the 

23 impact of the programs on students, in24 cluding an assessment of literacy skills and 


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1 language development in both English and 

2 the native language; 

3 (ii) a comprehensive evaluation of the 

4 effectiveness of instructional practices used 

5 in the programs; and 

6 (iii) a comprehensive evaluation of 

7 professional development strategies. 

8 (h) DISSEMINATION OF BEST PRACTICES.—The Sec9 retary shall disseminate information on model programs, 

10 materials, and other information developed under this sec11 tion that the Secretary determines to be appropriate for 

12 use by early childhood education providers to improve the 

13 school readiness of limited English proficient children. 

14 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

15 purposes of carrying out this section, there are authorized 

16 to be appropriated $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2017 and 

17 such sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 suc18 ceeding fiscal years. 

19 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM.—The term 

21 ‘‘dual language program’’ means an instructional 

22 strategy in which students are taught literacy and 

23 content in two languages and use the partner lan24 guage for at least half of the instructional day and 

25 foster bilingualism, biliteracy, enhanced awareness of 


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1 linguistic and cultural diversity, and high levels of 

2 academic achievement through instruction in two 

3 languages. 

4 (2) STATE-FUNDED PRESCHOOL PROGRAM.— 

5 The term ‘‘State-funded preschool program’’ means 

6 a program that— 

7 (A) serves children who are ages 3 through 

8 5; 

9 (B) has a primary focus of supporting 

10 early childhood education, including supporting 

11 children’s cognitive, social, emotional, and phys12 ical development and approaches to learning; 

13 (C) helps prepare children for a successful 

14 transition to kindergarten; 

15 (D) is either a school- or community-based 

16 program; and 

17 (E) is funded either in whole or in part by 

18 a State through a State agency with authority 

19 to promulgate regulations and monitor partici20 pating programs. 

21 (3) LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT.—The term 

22 ‘‘limited English proficient’’, when used with respect 

23 to a child, means a child— 


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1 (A)(i) who was not born in the United 

2 States or whose native language is a language 

3 other than English; 

4 (ii)(I) who is a Native American (as de5 fined in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

6 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

7 7801)), an Alaska Native, or a native resident 

8 of an outlying area (as defined in such section 

9 8101); and 

10 (II) who comes from an environment where 

11 a language other than English has had a sig12 nificant impact on the child’s level of English 

13 language proficiency; or 

14 (iii) who is migratory, whose native lan15 guage is a language other than English, and 

16 who comes from an environment where a lan17 guage other than English is dominant; and 

18 (B) whose difficulties in speaking or un19 derstanding the English language may be suffi20 cient to deny the child— 

21 (i) the ability to successfully achieve 

22 in a classroom in which the language of in23 struction is English; or 


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1 (ii) the opportunity to participate fully 

2 in society. 

Æ 


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