I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2923 

To improve the literacy and English skills of limited English proficient 

individuals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 15, 2005 

Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself and Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To improve the literacy and English skills of limited English 

proficient individuals, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Families Learning and 

5 Understanding English Together Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Census Bureau reports that 17.9 per9 cent of United States households speak a language 

10 other than English at home. 
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1 (2) Many parents in many recently-immigrated 

2 families speak little to no English, possess low lit3 eracy skills in their native language due to limited 

4 education, and frequently struggle to assist their 

5 children’s English language development. 

6 (3) The United States is a nation of immi7 grants, and even today, according to the 2004 up8 date of the Census, over 34,000,000 individuals who 

9 live in the United States were born outside the coun10 try. 

11 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

12 The purpose of this Act is to improve the educational, 

13 social, and economic advancement of families with limited 

14 English proficient individuals in need of literacy skills by 

15 expanding and enhancing family literacy services for such 

16 families. 

17 SEC. 4. COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM. 

18 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From funds made 

19 available pursuant to section 8, and after reserving funds 

20 under section 5, the Secretary may award grants to family 

21 literacy providers to provide, directly or through a contract 

22 with another provider, family literacy services designed for 

23 families with limited English proficient individuals. Each 

24 grant under this Act shall be for a period of 1 year and 

25 may be renewed for a total of 5 additional years. 
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1 (b) APPLICATION.—Family literacy providers who de2 sire to receive a grant under this Act shall submit an ap3 plication at such time, containing such information, and 

4 in such manner as the Secretary may require. Such appli5 cation shall include the following: 

6 (1) An assurance that services provided with 

7 funds under this Act shall be provided to the hard8 est-to-reach populations, including populations with 

9 the greatest economic and social need. 

10 (2) A description of the services that will be 

11 provided with funds under this Act, including how 

12 the services will be based on scientifically based 

13 reading research. 

14 (3) A description of the outcome measures, con15 sistent with section 6, that are based on scientifically 

16 based research and will be employed by the family 

17 literacy provider to measure the effectiveness of 

18 services provided with funds under this Act. 

19 (4) An assurance that, in providing family lit20 eracy services through the grant, the family literacy 

21 provider will collaborate with one or more of the fol22 lowing: 

23 (A) A local educational agency. 

24 (B) An elementary school. 

25 (C) A secondary school. 
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1 (D) A nonprofit entity. 

2 (c) GRANT AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant under 

3 this Act for a fiscal year shall not be less than $150,000 

4 or more than $1,000,000. 

5 (d) MATCHING FUNDS.—The Secretary may not 

6 award a grant under this Act to an applicant unless the 

7 applicant agrees to provide, from funds derived from non8 Federal sources, matching funds in an amount that is not 

9 less than 20 percent of the amount of the grant. Such 

10 matching funds may be provided in the form of in-kind 

11 contributions. 

12 (e) SERVICES REQUIREMENTS.—Family literacy 

13 services under this Act shall be provided in sufficient in14 tensity in terms of hours, and shall be of sufficient dura15 tion, to make sustainable changes in a family and shall 

16 integrate all of the following activities: 

17 (1) Interactive literacy activities between par18 ents and their children. 

19 (2) Training for parents regarding how to be 

20 the primary teacher for their children and full part21 ners in the education of their children. 

22 (3) Parent literacy training that leads to eco23 nomic self-sufficiency. 

24 (4) An age-appropriate education to prepare 

25 children for success in school and life experiences. 
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1 (f) SPECIAL RULE.—Family literacy services under 

2 this Act may be provided to a family only if— 

3 (1) each parent in the family has attained 16 

4 years of age; and 

5 (2) the family has at least one child from birth 

6 who has not yet attained 8 years of age. 

7 SEC. 5. RESERVATIONS. 

8 (a) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING.—From 

9 funds made available pursuant to section 8 for a fiscal 

10 year, the Secretary shall reserve $3,000,000 to provide, 

11 directly or through a grant, contract, or cooperative agree12 ment with an entity that has experience in the develop13 ment and operation of successful family literacy services 

14 programs, technical assistance and training for the pur15 pose of— 

16 (1) assisting grantees that provide family lit17 eracy services to improve the quality of such serv18 ices; and 

19 (2) enabling grantees that demonstrate the ef20 fective provision of family literacy services, based on 

21 improved outcomes for children and their parents, to 

22 provide technical assistance and training to other 

23 agencies and to service providers that work in col24 laboration with such agencies to provide family lit25 eracy services. 
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1 (b) EVALUATION.—From funds made available pur2 suant to section 8 for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall 

3 reserve not more than 2 percent of such funds for the pur4 pose of conducting an annual evaluation of the grant pro5 gram conducted under this Act. Such evaluation shall be 

6 used by the Secretary— 

7 (1) for program improvement; 

8 (2) to further define the program’s goals and 

9 objectives; and 

10 (3) to determine program effectiveness. 

11 SEC. 6. OUTCOME MEASURES. 

12 The Secretary shall require each family literacy pro13 vider receiving a grant under this Act to meet culturally 

14 appropriate and competent outcome measures described in 

15 the provider’s application under section 4, including out16 come measures with respect to— 

17 (1) acquisition of the English language, includ18 ing improved educational levels; 

19 (2) improved parenting and life skills; 

20 (3) the improved ability of parents with limited 

21 English proficiency to effectively interact with offi22 cials of the schools their children attend; 

23 (4) reduced dependency on welfare; 

24 (5) increased employment opportunities or 

25 hours; 
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1 (6) improved developmental skills and inde2 pendent learning of the children; and 

3 (7) increased parental participation in their 

4 children’s education and home environments that are 

5 supportive of educational endeavors. 

6 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

7 For purposes of this Act: 

8 (1) APPLICATION OF ESEA TERMS.—The terms 

9 ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘limited English proficient’’, 

10 ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘scientifically based re11 search’’, and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the meanings 

12 given such terms in section 9101 of the Elementary 

13 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

14 7801). The term ‘‘scientifically based reading re15 search’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

16 1208 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

17 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6368). 

18 (2) FAMILY LITERACY PROVIDER.—The term 

19 ‘‘family literacy provider’’ means an entity that— 

20 (A) is located in a geographic area con21 taining at least one public elementary school or 

22 secondary school with a majority enrollment of 

23 children with limited English proficiency; and 

24 (B) is one of the following: 
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1 (i) A current grantee under subpart 3 

2 of part B of title I of the Elementary and 

3 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

4 U.S.C. 6381 et seq.) (commonly referred 

5 to as ‘‘William F. Goodling Even Start 

6 Family Literacy Programs’’), the Head 

7 Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), or any 

8 other Federal or State early childhood pro9 gram. 

10 (ii) An adult education provider. 

11 (iii) A local educational agency. 

12 (iv) A public or private nonprofit 

13 agency. 

14 (v) Another entity that has the dem15 onstrated ability to provide family literacy 

16 services to adults and families. 

17 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of Education. 

19 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

21 this Act $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 

22 2011. 

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