I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2111 

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

a partnership program in foreign languages. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 2, 2007 

Mr. HOLT (for himself, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. 

WU, and Mr. REYES) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to establish a partnership program in foreign 

languages. 

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 ‘‘Foreign Language 

5 Education Partnership Program Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart 9 of part D of title V 

8 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

9 is amended— 

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1 (1) by striking section 5494 (20 U.S.C. 7259c); 

2 and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 5493 the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 5494. PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM IN FOREIGN LAN6 GUAGES. 

7 ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are— 

8 ‘‘(1) to provide incentives for developing and 

9 maintaining model programs of articulated foreign 

10 language learning from kindergarten through grade 

11 12 that increase the number of American students 

12 graduating from high school with an advanced level 

13 of proficiency in at least one foreign language; and 

14 ‘‘(2) to widely disseminate information on the 

15 model programs that demonstrate success. 

16 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts made 

18 available to carry out this section, the Secretary may 

19 make incentive payments for a fiscal year to eligible 

20 partnerships to develop and maintain, or to improve 

21 and expand, model programs that support articu22 lated foreign language learning in kindergarten 

23 through grade 12. 

24 ‘‘(2) PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT.—For the 

25 first two fiscal years an eligible partnership receives 

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1 funds under paragraph (1) for a model program on 

2 a critical foreign language, the Secretary may allow 

3 that partnership, based on demonstrated need, to 

4 use those funds for planning and development activi5 ties, including— 

6 ‘‘(A) development of an articulated instruc7 tional curriculum for the critical foreign lan8 guage to which the model program relates; 

9 ‘‘(B) in-service and pre-service develop10 ment of teachers, and development of cur11 riculum and language assessments in the crit12 ical foreign language to which the model pro13 gram relates; and 

14 ‘‘(C) development of contextual programs 

15 and curriculum materials related to the critical 

16 foreign language to which the model program 

17 relates, as described in subsection (e). 

18 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible partnership 

20 desiring a grant under this section shall submit an 

21 application to the Secretary at such time, in such 

22 manner, and containing such information as the Sec23 retary may require. 

24 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each application shall— 

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1 ‘‘(A) identify each member of the partner2 ship, provide contact information and letters of 

3 commitment for each such member, and de4 scribe the responsibilities of each such member, 

5 including— 

6 ‘‘(i) identifying the member that will 

7 receive and manage the grant; 

8 ‘‘(ii) specifying how each member will 

9 be involved in the planning, development, 

10 and implementation of the activities pro11 posed under the grant; 

12 ‘‘(iii) describing the resources to be 

13 provided by each member; and 

14 ‘‘(iv) describing how each member will 

15 contribute to ensuring the continuity of 

16 student progress from kindergarten 

17 through grade 12; 

18 ‘‘(B) describe how an articulated cur19 riculum for students to achieve an advanced 

20 level of proficiency by grade 12 will be devel21 oped and implemented; 

22 ‘‘(C) identify target proficiency levels for 

23 students at critical benchmarks, and describe 

24 how progress toward those proficiency levels will 

25 be assessed at the benchmarks; 

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1 ‘‘(D) describe how the partnership will 

2 support and continue the program after the 

3 grant has expired, including how the partner4 ship will seek support from other sources, such 

5 as State and local governments, foundations, 

6 and the private sector; and 

7 ‘‘(E) describe what assessments will be 

8 used or, if assessments are not available, how 

9 assessments will be developed. 

10 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—Incentive payments under this 

11 section— 

12 ‘‘(1) shall be used— 

13 ‘‘(A) to design programs and teaching 

14 strategies informed by the best practices recog15 nized by the field and by available research; 

16 ‘‘(B) to develop curriculum materials based 

17 on an articulated framework or approach de18 signed to bring students to an advanced level of 

19 proficiency by grade 12; 

20 ‘‘(C) to recruit students and teachers, such 

21 as from heritage populations; and 

22 ‘‘(D) to carry out teacher in-service and 

23 pre-service professional development programs, 

24 including summer institutes, that support the 

25 model programs; and 

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1 ‘‘(2) may be used— 

2 ‘‘(A) to develop nationally recognized as3 sessments for kindergarten through grade 12 

4 for the foreign language to which the model 

5 program relates, if such assessments do not 

6 exist for that language; 

7 ‘‘(B) to enhance nationally recognized as8 sessments for kindergarten through grade 12 

9 for the foreign language to which the model 

10 program relates, if such assessments already 

11 exist for that language; 

12 ‘‘(C) to provide scholarships and incentives 

13 to recruit new teachers and encourage prac14 ticing teachers to take advantage of the profes15 sional development opportunities; 

16 ‘‘(D) to provide opportunities for max17 imum foreign language exposure for students 

18 domestically, such as the creation of immersion 

19 environments in the classroom and school and 

20 on weekend or summer experiences, and special 

21 tutoring and academic support; 

22 ‘‘(E) to provide the possibility for multiple 

23 entry points for studying the foreign language; 

24 ‘‘(F) to provide scholarships for study25 abroad opportunities related to the foreign lanmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 guage to which the model program relates, for 

2 students in grades 9 through 12 and teachers 

3 and prospective teachers of such students, ex4 cept that a recipient of incentive payments may 

5 not use more than 20 percent of those pay6 ments for this purpose; 

7 ‘‘(G) to carry out activities to integrate 

8 foreign languages into the school curriculum 

9 and generate whole-school collaboration, includ10 ing activities and support for teachers of other 

11 subjects and administrators; 

12 ‘‘(H) to carry out activities to encourage 

13 community involvement, especially with respect 

14 to heritage communities; 

15 ‘‘(I) to incorporate effective and innovative 

16 uses of technology to enhance student learning 

17 and teaching; 

18 ‘‘(J) to develop certification and alternative 

19 certification programs at the State level, espe20 cially for the less commonly taught foreign lan21 guages; 

22 ‘‘(K) to obtain technical assistance in the 

23 development and implementation of the model 

24 program funded under this section; and 

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1 ‘‘(L) to recruit or appoint a language su2 pervisor to oversee and coordinate the progress 

3 of the articulated foreign language program 

4 across grade levels in the local education agency 

5 funded under this section. 

6 ‘‘(e) CONTEXTUAL DIMENSION.—A model program 

7 may not receive an incentive payment under this section 

8 unless it includes a dimension, carried out in conjunction 

9 with foreign language instruction, under which each for10 eign language learner also participates in programs to ex11 pand the understanding and knowledge of historic, geo12 graphic, cultural, economic, and other contextual factors 

13 of countries with populations who speak the foreign lan14 guage to which the model program relates. 

15 ‘‘(f) RESEARCH AND EVALUATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A model program may not 

17 receive an incentive payment under this section un18 less it includes a research and evaluation component, 

19 under which— 

20 ‘‘(A) information is collected and analyzed 

21 regarding the effectiveness of activities carried 

22 out under the program, including but not lim23 ited to— 

24 ‘‘(i) program design; 

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1 ‘‘(ii) student and teacher recruitment 

2 strategies; 

3 ‘‘(iii) curricular approaches; 

4 ‘‘(iv) teacher development; and 

5 ‘‘(v) foreign language assessment in6 struments; 

7 ‘‘(B) information is collected and analyzed 

8 regarding the impact of each activity in sub9 paragraph (A) on the foreign language pro10 ficiency of the students; 

11 ‘‘(C) information is collected and analyzed 

12 regarding program participation, including data 

13 on student enrollments and numbers of foreign 

14 language teachers; and 

15 ‘‘(D) the information collected, and the 

16 analyses of that information, are made widely 

17 available to the public. 

18 ‘‘(2) STANDARDIZATION.—The Secretary shall 

19 provide guidelines to standardize the categories of 

20 information collected and analyzed under paragraph 

21 (1) and the manner in which that information is col22 lected, analyzed, and made available to the public. 

23 ‘‘(g) DURATION OF PAYMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) A partnership awarded incentive payments 

25 under this section for a fiscal year may continue to 

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1 be awarded incentive payments for the succeeding 3 

2 fiscal years, but only if the partnership demonstrates 

3 that the model program is effective based on nation4 ally recognized standardized foreign language assess5 ments. 

6 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may waive the requirement 

7 (that the partnership demonstrate that the model 

8 program is effective) in paragraph (1) for the initial 

9 fiscal year or the first succeeding fiscal year, or 

10 both, if the fiscal years for which the waiver is made 

11 are years used primarily for planning and develop12 ment rather than implementation. 

13 ‘‘(3) A partnership completing a four-year in14 centive grant award may be eligible for two addi15 tional five-year awards, but only if the partnership 

16 demonstrates, based on nationally recognized stand17 ardized foreign language assessments, that the 

18 model program is effective. 

19 ‘‘(h) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible partnership that 

21 receives a grant under this section shall provide, to22 ward the cost of carrying out the activities sup23 ported by the grant, from non-Federal sources an 

24 amount equal to–– 

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1 ‘‘(A) 20 percent of the amount of the 

2 grant payment for the first fiscal year for which 

3 a grant payment is made; 

4 ‘‘(B) 30 percent of the amount of the 

5 grant payment for the second such fiscal year; 

6 ‘‘(C) 40 percent of the amount of the 

7 grant payment for the third such fiscal year; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(D) 50 percent of the amount of the 

10 grant payments for the duration of the first 

11 grant, and any additional grants made under 

12 this section. 

13 ‘‘(2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal 

14 share required under paragraph (1) may be provided 

15 in cash or in kind. 

16 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive, in 

17 whole or in part, the matching requirement in para18 graph (1) for any fiscal year if–– 

19 ‘‘(A) the eligible partnership demonstrates 

20 hardship and the waiver will best serve the pur21 poses of this section; or 

22 ‘‘(B) the foreign language to which the 

23 model program relates is a critical foreign lan24 guage as determined by the Secretary. 

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1 ‘‘(i) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds 

2 provided under this section shall be used to supplement, 

3 not supplant, other Federal and non-Federal funds avail4 able to carry out the activities described in this section. 

5 ‘‘(j) DATA COLLECTION, ANALYSIS, AND DISSEMINA6 TION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may reserve 

8 not more than 3 percent of the total amount appro9 priated for this section for any fiscal year to— 

10 ‘‘(A) annually collect and analyze data on 

11 the programs under this section; and 

12 ‘‘(B) disseminate nationally, including 

13 through a Web-based clearinghouse— 

14 ‘‘(i) aggregated data collected under 

15 subparagraph (A); and 

16 ‘‘(ii) promising K–12 foreign language 

17 learning and teaching practices and suc18 cessful program models developed under 

19 this section. 

20 ‘‘(2) The activities described in paragraph (1) 

21 may be carried out by the Secretary directly or 

22 through grants and contracts to institutions of high23 er education and public and private nonprofit agen24 cies and organizations. 

25 ‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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1 ‘‘(1) CRITICAL FOREIGN LANGUAGE.—The term 

2 ‘critical foreign language’ means a less commonly 

3 taught foreign language the teaching of which is 

4 critical to the Nation’s security and global economic 

5 leadership, as determined by the Secretary. 

6 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘eligi7 ble partnership’ means a partnership that— 

8 ‘‘(A) shall include— 

9 ‘‘(i) one or more local educational 

10 agencies or State educational agencies, or 

11 both; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) one or more institutions of high13 er education, which shall include— 

14 ‘‘(I) a school, department, or pro15 gram within the institution or institu16 tions of higher education that provides 

17 a teacher preparation program; 

18 ‘‘(II) a school, department, pro19 gram, or center within the institution 

20 or institutions of higher education 

21 that provides a program of study or 

22 research in foreign languages; and 

23 ‘‘(III) a school, department, pro24 gram, or center within the institution 

25 or institutions of higher education 

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1 that provides programs of study about 

2 the historic, geographic, cultural, eco3 nomic, and other contextual factors of 

4 the world area or country with popu5 lations who speak the foreign lan6 guage to which the model program re7 lates; and 

8 ‘‘(B) may also include one or more busi9 nesses or nonprofit organizations, or both. 

10 ‘‘(3) ADVANCED LEVEL OF PROFICIENCY.—The 

11 term ‘advanced level of proficiency’ means the ad12 vanced level as measured by the American Council 

13 for Teachers of Foreign Languages, or level 2 as 

14 measured by the Federal Interagency Language 

15 Roundtable (ILR) or by other nationally recognized 

16 measures of advanced standards of proficiency. 

17 ‘‘(4) ARTICULATED.—The term ‘articulated’ 

18 means that each grade level of the foreign language 

19 program is designed to sequentially expand on the 

20 student achievement of the previous level with a goal 

21 toward achieving an established level of language 

22 proficiency. 

23 ‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 are authorized to be appropriated for incentive payments 

25 under this section $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2008.’’. 

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1 (b) FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.—Subpart 9 of part D 

2 of title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

3 of 1965 is further amended by inserting after section 5491 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 5491A. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

6 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) According to the National Research Coun8 cil in 2007, a pervasive lack of knowledge about for9 eign cultures and foreign languages in this country 

10 threatens the security of the United States as well 

11 as its ability to compete in the global marketplace 

12 and produce an informed citizenry. 

13 ‘‘(2) According to the National Research Coun14 cil in 2007, early language learning in elementary 

15 and secondary school is key to establishing a pipeline 

16 of students who can eventually reach a high enough 

17 level of proficiency in foreign language and culture 

18 to meet national needs. 

19 ‘‘(3) According to the Committee for Economic 

20 Development in 2006, current efforts to develop lan21 guage skills and knowledge of world regions at an 

22 early age are clearly inadequate to prepare high 

23 school graduates with the skills necessary for pro24 ductivity and citizenship in an integrated global 

25 economy. 

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1 ‘‘(4) The American Council on the Teaching of 

2 Foreign Languages found that only 34 percent of 

3 United States K–12 students were enrolled in for4 eign language classes in 2000. Furthermore, the 

5 length of time students spent studying languages at 

6 school has stagnated, so that many students reach 

7 only introductory levels of proficiency. 

8 ‘‘(5) Research demonstrates that success lies 

9 not only in the number of years of learning but also 

10 in having carefully sequenced, articulated, programs 

11 of language learning across a child’s school experi12 ence, requiring bridging the gaps between levels in 

13 foreign language education. 

14 ‘‘(6) A survey of secondary school principals 

15 and foreign language teachers by the Center for Ap16 plied Linguistics in 1999 identified a shortage of 

17 foreign language teachers as a major impediment to 

18 greater foreign language learning, along with fund19 ing, lack of training, and poor academic counseling. 

20 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this subpart are 

21 to provide incentives for model programs that address the 

22 needs for developing, strengthening and expanding the 

23 teaching and learning of foreign languages and foreign 

24 cultures in the United States elementary and secondary 

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1 schools, and to widely disseminate information on success2 ful programs and practices.’’. 

3 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of con4 tents in section 2 of such Act is amended— 

5 (1) by inserting after the item relating to sec6 tion 5491 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 5491A. Findings; purposes.’’; 

7 and 

8 (2) by striking the item relating to section 5494 

9 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 5494. Partnership program in foreign languages.’’. 

Æ 

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