I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2338 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to aid 

gifted and talented and high-ability learners by empowering the Nation’s 

teachers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 12, 2013 

Mr. POLIS (for himself and Mr. LATHAM) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in 

addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to aid gifted and talented and high-ability learners by empowering the Nation’s teachers, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘To 

5 Aid Gifted and High-Ability Learners by Empowering the 

6 Nation’s Teachers Act’’ or the ‘‘TALENT Act’’. 

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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. References. 

TITLE I—IMPROVING BASIC PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS 

Sec. 101. State plans. 

Sec. 102. Annual State report cards. 

Sec. 103. Local educational agency plans. 

Sec. 104. National Assessment of title I. 

TITLE II—IMPROVING TEACHING FOR GIFTED AND TALENTED 

STUDENTS 

Sec. 201. State applications. 

Sec. 202. Local applications and needs assessments. 

Sec. 203. Local use of funds. 

Sec. 204. Subgrants to eligible partnerships. 

TITLE III—GIFTED AND TALENTED STUDENTS IN RURAL 

SCHOOLS 

Sec. 301. Small rural school achievement program. 

Sec. 302. Rural and low-income school program. 

TITLE IV—SUPPORTING ESSENTIAL RESEARCH ON THE 

LEARNING NEEDS OF GIFTED AND TALENTED STUDENTS 

Sec. 401. Supporting essential research on the learning needs of gifted and talented students. 

TITLE V—GENERAL PROVISIONS 

Sec. 501. Definitions. 

Sec. 502. Amendments to other laws. 

Sec. 503. Effective Date. 

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) Academically gifted and talented students 

6 make up an estimated 6 to 10 percent of the pre7 kindergarten through grade 12 student population, 

8 totaling between 3,000,000 and 6,000,000 students. 

9 (2) There is a growing excellence gap at the 

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1 ance of subgroups of students, particularly between 

2 the performance of students who are African-Amer3 ican or Hispanic and the performance of White stu4 dents, and between low-income students compared to 

5 their more advantaged peers, on statewide assess6 ments and on the National Assessment of Edu7 cational Progress. 

8 (3) Advanced students in the United States lag 

9 behind the performance of similar students in other 

10 countries, which puts the Nation at a competitive 

11 disadvantage. 

12 (4) Gifted and talented students, and high-abil13 ity students who have not been formally identified 

14 for gifted education services, require modifications to 

15 the general education curriculum to fully meet their 

16 potential. 

17 (5) Effective assessment and instruction of gift18 ed and talented students requires educators to have 

19 specialized knowledge and skills. 

20 (6) Ninety percent of teachers nationwide want 

21 more professional development focused on the skills 

22 necessary for teaching advanced students. 

23 (7) Interventions and strategies that have been 

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1 ented students can be modified to improve the 

2 achievement of all students. 

3 (8) The availability of gifted education pro4 grams and services to students who require such 

5 services is unequal and often relies solely on local re6 sources and leadership, leaving many high-ability 

7 students from rural areas or who are English lan8 guage learners or Hispanic, African-American, or 

9 Native American, among others, without access to 

10 appropriate services. 

11 (9) There are an estimated 360,000 students in 

12 the United States who are both gifted and have a 

13 disability. These ‘‘twice exceptional’’ children present 

14 special challenges because their disability often 

15 masks their academic potential or their academic 

16 strengths may mask their disability, resulting in a 

17 lack of services and supports for this student popu18 lation. 

19 (10) The development and dissemination of re20 search and national data on gifted and talented stu21 dents is necessary to— 

22 (A) guide evidence-based classroom prac23 tices vital to meeting the unique needs of this 

24 population of students; and 

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1 (B) contribute to the decisionmaking of 

2 educators, families, and policymakers. 

3 SEC. 3. REFERENCES. 

4 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

5 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

6 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi7 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 

8 section or other provision of the Elementary and Sec9 ondary Education Act (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.). 

10 TITLE I—IMPROVING BASIC 

11 PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS 

12 SEC. 101. STATE PLANS. 

13 (a) ACCOUNTABILITY.—Section 1111(b)(2)(A) (20 

14 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(A)) is amended— 

15 (1) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the 

16 semicolon; 

17 (2) in clause (iii), by striking the period at the 

18 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(iv) include a recognition program 

21 for local educational agencies in the State 

22 that, for each category of students de23 scribed in subparagraph (C)(v), signifi24 cantly increase the proportion of students 

25 scoring at or above the advanced level of 

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1 achievement on the State academic assess2 ments under paragraph (3).’’. 

3 (b) STATE ASSESSMENTS.—Section 1111(b)(3)(C) 

4 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(3)(C)) is amended— 

5 (1) in clause (xiv), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the 

6 semicolon; 

7 (2) in clause (xv), by striking the period and in8 serting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(xvi) measure individual academic 

11 achievement, including measuring above 

12 grade level achievement.’’. 

13 (c) ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM.—Section 1111(b)(8) 

14 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(8)) is amended— 

15 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

16 after the semicolon; 

17 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as sub18 paragraph (F); and 

19 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(E) the specific steps the State edu22 cational agency will take to assist each local 

23 educational agency and school affected by the 

24 State plan to provide additional educational as25 sistance to individual students who— 

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1 ‘‘(i) perform at the advanced level of 

2 achievement on the State academic assess3 ments described in paragraph (3); and 

4 ‘‘(ii) are gifted and talented (including 

5 high-ability students who have not been 

6 formally identified for gifted education 

7 services); and’’. 

8 SEC. 102. ANNUAL STATE REPORT CARDS. 

9 Section 1111(h)(1)(C) (20 U.S.C. 6311(h)(1)(C)) is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) in clause (vii), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and in12 serting a semicolon; 

13 (2) by redesignating clause (viii) as clause (ix); 

14 and 

15 (3) by inserting after clause (vii) the following: 

16 ‘‘(viii) a comparison of the perform17 ance of students between different local 

18 educational agencies across the State at 

19 each level of achievement described in sub20 section (b)(1)(D)(ii), disaggregated by the 

21 subgroups described in subsection 

22 (b)(2)(C)(v); and’’. 

23 SEC. 103. LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY PLANS. 

24 (a) PLAN PROVISIONS.—Section 1112(b)(1) (20 

25 U.S.C. 6312(b)(1)) is amended— 

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1 (1) in subparagraph (P), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

2 after the semicolon; 

3 (2) in subparagraph (Q), by striking the period 

4 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(R) a description of how the local edu7 cational agency will identify gifted and talented 

8 students, including high-ability students who 

9 have not previously been formally identified for 

10 gifted education services, and implement edu11 cational approaches at the elementary and sec12 ondary levels to support the learning needs of 

13 gifted and talented students to ensure that such 

14 students make appropriate learning gains, such 

15 as early entrance to kindergarten, enrichment, 

16 acceleration, curriculum compacting, and dual 

17 enrollment in secondary school and postsec18 ondary education.’’. 

19 (b) SCHOOLWIDE PROGRAMS.—Section 1114(b)(1) 

20 (20 U.S.C. 6314(b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end 

21 the following: 

22 ‘‘(K) A description of how the school will 

23 identify gifted and talented students, including 

24 high-ability students who have not previously 

25 been formally identified for gifted education 

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1 services, and provide services to support the 

2 learning needs of such students to ensure that 

3 such students make appropriate learning 

4 gains.’’. 

5 (c) TARGETED ASSISTANCE SCHOOLS.—Section 

6 1115(c)(1) (20 U.S.C. 6315(c)(1)) is amended— 

7 (1) in subparagraph (G), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

8 after the semicolon; 

9 (2) in subparagraph (H), by striking the period 

10 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(I) identify gifted and talented students, 

13 including high-ability students who have not 

14 previously been formally identified for gifted 

15 education services, and provide services to sup16 port the learning needs of such students to en17 sure that gifted and talented and high-ability 

18 students make appropriate learning gains.’’. 

19 SEC. 104. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF TITLE I. 

20 Section 1501(a)(2)(E) (20 U.S.C. 6491(a)(2)(E)) is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘and’’; 

23 (2) in clause (v), by striking the period at the 

24 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

25 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

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1 ‘‘(vi) made public an analysis of excel2 lence gaps and a description of activities to 

3 close any such gaps.’’. 

4 TITLE II—IMPROVING TEACHING 

5 FOR GIFTED AND TALENTED 

6 STUDENTS 

7 SEC. 201. STATE APPLICATIONS. 

8 Section 2112(b)(5) (20 U.S.C. 6612(b)(5)) is amend9 ed by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(C) A description of the comprehensive strat11 egy the State educational agency will use to improve 

12 the teaching skills of teachers, principals, pupil serv13 ices personnel, and other instructional leaders in 

14 order to enable them to employ strategies that focus 

15 on— 

16 ‘‘(i) the identification of students’ specific 

17 learning needs, particularly students with dis18 abilities, students who are limited English pro19 ficient, students who are gifted and talented, 

20 and students with low literacy levels; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) the tailoring of academic instruction 

22 to such needs.’’. 

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1 SEC. 202. LOCAL APPLICATIONS AND NEEDS ASSESSMENTS. 

2 (a) LOCAL APPLICATIONS.—Section 2122(b) (20 

3 U.S.C. 6622(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(12) A description of how the activities will 

6 have a substantial, measurable, and positive impact 

7 on student academic achievement and how the activi8 ties will be used as part of a broader strategy to 

9 eliminate the achievement gap and the excellence 

10 gap.’’. 

11 (b) NEEDS ASSESSMENT.—Section 2122(c)(2) (20 

12 U.S.C. 6622(c)(2)) is amended by inserting ‘‘shall be 

13 based on an analysis of the achievement and learning 

14 needs of students at each level of achievement described 

15 in section 1111(b)(1)(D)(ii) on the State academic assess16 ments, disaggregated by each subgroup described in sec17 tion 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II), and’’ before ‘‘shall be con18 ducted’’. 

19 SEC. 203. LOCAL USE OF FUNDS. 

20 Section 2123(a) (20 U.S.C. 6623(a)) is amended— 

21 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

22 striking ‘‘to carry out’’ and inserting ‘‘to increase 

23 student achievement for all students, including lim24 ited English proficient students, students with dis25 abilities, and gifted and talented students, by car26 rying out’’; and 

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1 (2) in paragraph (3)(B)— 

2 (A) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘and’’; 

3 (B) in clause (v), by striking the period at 

4 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(vi) provide training to support the 

7 identification of students who are gifted 

8 and talented, and to implement instruc9 tional practices that support the education 

10 of such students, such as early entrance to 

11 kindergarten, enrichment, acceleration, 

12 curriculum compacting and dual enroll13 ment in secondary school and postsec14 ondary education.’’. 

15 SEC. 204. SUBGRANTS TO ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIPS. 

16 Section 2134(a)(1) (20 U.S.C. 6634(a)(1)) is amend17 ed— 

18 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

19 after the semicolon; and 

20 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(C) teachers, principals, and pupil service 

22 personnel have the training to support the iden23 tification of students who are gifted and tal24 ented, including high-ability students who have 

25 not been formally identified for gifted education 

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1 services, and implementation of instructional 

2 practices that support the education of such 

3 students, such as early entrance to kinder4 garten, enrichment, acceleration, curriculum 

5 compacting and dual enrollment in secondary 

6 school and postsecondary education; and’’. 

7 TITLE III—GIFTED AND TAL8 ENTED STUDENTS IN RURAL 

9 SCHOOLS 

10 SEC. 301. SMALL RURAL SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM. 

11 Section 6211(a) (20 U.S.C. 7345(a)) is amended by 

12 inserting ‘‘, including supporting gifted and talented stu13 dents (including high-ability students who have not been 

14 formally identified for gifted education services),’’ after 

15 ‘‘local activities’’. 

16 SEC. 302. RURAL AND LOW-INCOME SCHOOL PROGRAM. 

17 Section 6222(a)(2) (20 U.S.C. 7351a(a)(2)) is 

18 amended by striking ‘‘and to train’’ and inserting ‘‘, train 

19 teachers to meet the unique learning needs of gifted and 

20 talented students, including high-ability students who have 

21 not been formally identified for gifted education services, 

22 and train’’. 

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1 TITLE IV—SUPPORTING ESSEN2 TIAL RESEARCH ON THE 

3 LEARNING NEEDS OF GIFTED 

4 AND TALENTED STUDENTS 

5 SEC. 401. SUPPORTING ESSENTIAL RESEARCH ON THE 

6 LEARNING NEEDS OF GIFTED AND TALENTED 

7 STUDENTS. 

8 The Secretary, acting through the Director of the In9 stitute of Education Sciences, shall— 

10 (1) continue research and development activities 

11 related to the education of gifted and talented stu12 dents, particularly research and development activi13 ties related to such students who reside in rural 

14 communities or have been underrepresented as gift15 ed and talented, including students who are low-in16 come, limited English proficient, students with dis17 abilities, and students from minority backgrounds; 

18 (2) support a National Research and Dissemi19 nation Center on the Gifted and Talented that con20 ducts research and serves as a national clearing21 house for evidence-based best practices to improve 

22 the identification and instruction of gifted and tal23 ented students; 

24 (3) administer demonstration grants that build 

25 and enhance the ability of elementary school and 

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1 secondary school personnel to support gifted and tal2 ented students; and 

3 (4) ensure that statistical data related to the 

4 education of gifted and talented children in kinder5 garten through grade 12 in the United States and 

6 in other nations is collected, reported, analyzed, and 

7 disseminated. 

8 TITLE V—GENERAL PROVISIONS 

9 SEC. 501. DEFINITIONS. 

10 Section 9101 (20 U.S.C. 7801) is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (19) through 

12 (42) and paragraph (43) as paragraphs (20) 

13 through (43) and paragraph (45), respectively; 

14 (2) by inserting after paragraph (18) the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(19) EXCELLENCE GAP.—The term ‘excellence 

17 gap’ means differences in the percentage of students 

18 performing at the highest level of achievement de19 scribed in section 1111(b)(1)(D)(ii) between dif20 ferent subgroups described in section 

21 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II).’’; and 

22 (3) by inserting after paragraph (43), as redes23 ignated by paragraph (1), the following: 

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1 ‘‘(44) TEACHING SKILLS.—The term ‘teaching 

2 skills’ has the meaning given the term in section 200 

3 of the Higher Education Act of 1965.’’. 

4 SEC. 502. AMENDMENTS TO OTHER LAWS. 

5 (a) COORDINATION OF FEDERAL STEM EDU6 CATION.—Section 101(b) of the America COMPETES 

7 Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 6621(b)) is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) in the first subsection (b)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (5)(D), by striking 

11 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

12 (B) in paragraph (6), by striking the pe13 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (C) by inserting after paragraph (6), the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(7) encourage participating agencies to develop 

17 and implement activities and programs that support 

18 advanced students in kindergarten through grade 

19 12, including advanced students who are from low20 income families and advanced students from other 

21 groups that are underrepresented in the STEM 

22 fields, in order to promote advanced students’ pur23 suit of careers in STEM fields.’’; and 

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1 (2) by redesignating the second subsection (b) 

2 and subsection (c) as subsection (c) and subsection 

3 (d), respectively. 

4 (b) LABORATORY COOPERATIVE SCIENCE CENTERS

5 & OTHER AUTHORIZED EDUCATION ACTIVITIES.—Sec6 tion 3164 of the National Defense Authorization Act for 

7 Fiscal Year 1991 (42 U.S.C. 7381b(a)) is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (5) by inserting ‘‘The Sec9 retary shall determine which students are eligible to 

10 participate in such mathematics and science edu11 cation programs based on the academic achievement 

12 of such students.’’ after ‘‘development facilities.’’; 

13 and 

14 (2) in paragraph (13) by inserting ‘‘The Sec15 retary shall determine which middle-school students 

16 are eligible to participate in such prefreshman en17 richment program based on the academic achieve18 ment of such students.’’ after ‘‘by universities on 

19 their campuses.’’. 

20 (c) ADVANCED PLACEMENT AND INTERNATIONAL

21 BACCALAUREATE PROGRAMS.—Section 6123 of the Amer22 ica COMPETES Act (20 U.S.C. 9833) is amended— 

23 (1) in subsection (d)— 

24 (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ 

25 after the semicolon; 

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1 (B) in paragraph (2) by striking the period 

2 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(3) the availability of Advanced Placement or 

5 International Baccalaureate mathematics, science, 

6 and critical foreign language courses earlier than is 

7 typical to students who are prepared for such 

8 work.’’; and 

9 (2) in subsection (f)(2)— 

10 (A) in subparagraph (E) by striking ‘‘and’’ 

11 after the semicolon; 

12 (B) in subparagraph (F) by striking the 

13 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(G) how the eligible entity will make Ad16 vanced Placement or International Bacca17 laureate mathematics, science, and critical for18 eign language courses available earlier than is 

19 typical to students who are prepared for such 

20 work.’’. 

21 SEC. 503. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

22 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 

23 shall take effect 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

24 Act. 

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