I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2289 

To establish an adolescent literacy program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 14, 2007 

Mr. YARMUTH (for himself, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. BOYD of Florida, Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. 

ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. BONNER, Mr. REGULA, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

ALTMIRE, and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To establish an adolescent literacy program. 

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 ‘‘Striving Readers Act 

5 of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Only 68 percent of high school students 

9 graduate on time with a diploma, meaning that 


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1 every year 1,300,000 students fail to graduate from 

2 high school. 

3 (2) In 2004 alone, these 1,300,000 nongrad4 uates cost the Nation more than $325,000,000,000 

5 in lost wages, taxes, and productivity over their life6 times. 

7 (3) High school graduation rates for low-income 

8 students and students of color hover around 50 per9 cent, as do graduation rates for students in urban 

10 school districts. Graduation rates for English lan11 guage learners are particularly low. 

12 (4) Only 34 percent of high school students 

13 graduate with the skills the students need to succeed 

14 in college or the workplace. 

15 (5) Community colleges alone pay 

16 $1,400,000,000 a year to provide remedial education 

17 to students under 25 who should have learned these 

18 basic skills in secondary school. 

19 (6) Seventy-one percent of 8th graders read 

20 below the proficient level on the 2005 National As21 sessment of Educational Progress, indicating that 

22 students in middle schools and high schools struggle 

23 to graduate because their literacy achievement is 

24 alarmingly low. 


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1 (7) Between 1971 and 2004, the reading levels 

2 of America’s 17-year-olds showed no improvement at 

3 all. 

4 (8) In a typical high-poverty urban school, ap5 proximately half of incoming 9th grade students 

6 read at a 6th or 7th grade level, and among low-in7 come 8th graders, just 15 percent read at a pro8 ficient level. 

9 (9) On average, African-American and Hispanic 

10 12th grade students read at the same level as White 

11 8th grade students. 

12 (10) Secondary school students’ ability to read 

13 complex texts is strongly predictive of the students’ 

14 performance in college mathematics and science 

15 courses. 

16 (11) The 25 fastest-growing professions have 

17 far greater than average literacy demands, while the 

18 fastest-declining professions have lower than average 

19 literacy demands. 

20 (12) About 40 percent of secondary school 

21 graduates lack the literacy skills employers seek. 

22 (13) Students need literacy instruction at all 

23 grade levels and in every subject in order to improve 

24 their achievement and school completion. 


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1 (14) Researchers are in strong consensus as to 

2 a number of specific steps that can be taken to im3 prove literacy instruction in grades 4 through 12. 

4 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

5 The purposes of this Act are— 

6 (1) to improve student achievement in grades 4 

7 through 12 by establishing adolescent literacy initia8 tives with measurable goals and explicit action steps 

9 to achieve those goals; 

10 (2) to improve secondary school graduation and 

11 college readiness rates by improving adolescent lit12 eracy achievement; 

13 (3) to provide support for selecting, admin14 istering, and interpreting diagnostic assessments, 

15 formative assessments, and summative assessments 

16 for adolescent literacy achievement; 

17 (4) to develop curricular materials, instructional 

18 tools, and teaching strategies that boost adolescent 

19 literacy achievement; 

20 (5) to provide intensive high-quality profes21 sional development for teachers of core academic 

22 subjects to integrate adolescent literacy instructional 

23 strategies and assessments that support the learning 

24 of content; 


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1 (6) to provide training for literacy coaches to 

2 guide and support all teachers regarding schoolwide 

3 literacy implementation; 

4 (7) to provide high-quality professional develop5 ment for school leaders in developing and admin6 istering adolescent literacy initiatives at the school 

7 level; and 

8 (8) to improve the coordination of standards, 

9 curricula, interventions, and assessments for adoles10 cent literacy skills within and among schools, local 

11 educational agencies, and States. 

12 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

13 (a) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the terms 

14 ‘‘core academic subjects’’, ‘‘limited English proficient’’, 

15 ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘poverty line’’, ‘‘secondary 

16 school’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the mean17 ings given the terms in section 9101 of the Elementary 

18 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

19 (b) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

20 (1) ADOLESCENT LITERACY.—The term ‘‘ado21 lescent literacy’’ means the possession of the grade 

22 level appropriate reading and writing skills required 

23 for students in grades 4 through 12 to construct and 

24 communicate meaning from text and to become ac25 tively engaged in the learning process. 


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1 (2) ADOLESCENT LITERACY INITIATIVE.—The 

2 term ‘‘adolescent literacy initiative’’ means a com3 prehensive approach to improving adolescent literacy 

4 achievement in grades 4 through 12. 

5 (3) CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—The term 

6 ‘‘child with a disability’’ has the meaning given the 

7 term in section 602 of the Individuals with Disabil8 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401). 

9 (4) DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT.—The term ‘‘di10 agnostic assessment’’ means an assessment that is— 

11 (A) valid, reliable, and based on literacy 

12 research; and 

13 (B) used for the purposes of— 

14 (i) identifying a student’s specific 

15 areas of strengths and weaknesses in lit16 eracy; 

17 (ii) determining any difficulties that 

18 the student may have in literacy and the 

19 potential cause of such difficulties; and 

20 (iii) helping to determine possible lit21 eracy intervention strategies for, and the 

22 related special needs of, the student. 

23 (5) FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT.—The term 

24 ‘‘formative assessment’’ means an assessment that— 


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1 (A) evaluates a student’s learning based on 

2 systematic observations by teachers of the stu3 dent performing academic tasks that are part of 

4 the student’s daily classroom experience; 

5 (B) is used to improve instruction in lit6 eracy, including classroom instruction; and 

7 (C) causes the student to reflect on the 

8 student’s strengths and needs, and helps the 

9 student to internalize strategies for improving 

10 the student’s literacy skills. 

11 (6) HIGH-QUALITY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOP12 MENT.—The term ‘‘high-quality professional devel13 opment’’ means job-embedded, ongoing professional 

14 development that— 

15 (A) provides teachers, administrators, and 

16 school leaders with the research-based elements 

17 of an effective adolescent literacy initiative; and 

18 (B) supports adolescent literacy instruction 

19 in core academic subjects. 

20 (7) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

21 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

22 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

23 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

24 (8) LITERACY COACH.—The term ‘‘literacy 

25 coach’’ means a professional— 


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1 (A) who— 

2 (i) has previous teaching experience 

3 and a master’s degree with a concentration 

4 in reading and writing education; 

5 (ii) has obtained such experience and 

6 training not later than 3 years after as7 suming the role of literacy coach; or 

8 (iii) has demonstrated proficiency in 

9 teaching reading and/or writing in a con10 tent area such as math, science, or social 

11 studies; 

12 (B) whose primary role with teachers and 

13 school personnel is to— 

14 (i) provide high-quality professional 

15 development opportunities for teachers and 

16 school personnel; 

17 (ii) collaborate with paraprofessionals, 

18 teachers, administrators, and the commu19 nity served by the school in the areas of 

20 reading and writing; and 

21 (iii) work cooperatively and collabo22 ratively with other professionals in plan23 ning programs to meet the needs of diverse 

24 population learners, including children with 


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1 disabilities and students who are limited 

2 English proficient; and 

3 (C) who may provide students with— 

4 (i) reflective, inquiry-based reading or 

5 writing diagnosis, instruction, and assess6 ment; and 

7 (ii) reading and writing assessment, in 

8 cooperation with other professionals (such 

9 as special education teachers, speech and 

10 language teachers, and school psycholo11 gists). 

12 (9) LITERACY LEADERSHIP TEAM.—The term 

13 ‘‘literacy leadership team’’ means a team of not less 

14 than 2 individuals in a school that assumes the re15 sponsibility to guide the development and implemen16 tation of an adolescent literacy initiative, which indi17 viduals— 

18 (A) shall include not less than 1 individual 

19 who has literacy training; and 

20 (B) may include a school leader, a literacy 

21 specialist serving the school (including a lit22 eracy coach or media specialist), a counselor, a 

23 teacher of a core academic subject, a special 

24 education teacher, or a teacher with expertise in 


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1 teaching the English language to children who 

2 are limited English proficient. 

3 (10) RESEARCH-BASED ELEMENTS OF AN EF4 FECTIVE ADOLESCENT LITERACY INITIATIVE.—The 

5 term ‘‘research-based elements of an effective adoles6 cent literacy initiative’’ means elements of a com7 prehensive approach to adolescent literacy that en8 tails— 

9 (A) explicit and systematic instruction in 

10 adolescent literacy strategies, including— 

11 (i) direct and explicit comprehension 

12 instruction; 

13 (ii) motivation and self-directed learn14 ing; 

15 (iii) text-based collaborative learning; 

16 (iv) strategic tutoring; 

17 (v) use of diverse texts; 

18 (vi) intensive writing; 

19 (vii) use of technology; and 

20 (viii) use of formative assessments; 

21 and 

22 (B) school-level structural efforts to im23 prove adolescent literacy instruction, includ24 ing— 


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1 (i) extended time for adolescent lit2 eracy instruction; 

3 (ii) high-quality professional develop4 ment for teachers; 

5 (iii) the use of summative assess6 ments; 

7 (iv) creating teacher teams to analyze 

8 student work and to plan instruction; 

9 (v) involving school leaders; and 

10 (vi) creating interdisciplinary and 

11 interdepartmental literacy teams to coordi12 nate literacy instruction in a school. 

13 (11) SCHOOL LEADER.—The term ‘‘school lead14 er’’ means an individual who— 

15 (A) is an employee or officer of a school; 

16 and 

17 (B) is responsible for— 

18 (i) the school’s performance; and 

19 (ii) the daily instructional and mana20 gerial operations of the school. 

21 (12) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

22 means the Secretary of Education. 

23 (13) SPECIAL EDUCATION.—The term ‘‘special 

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1 tion 602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu2 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1401). 

3 (14) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

4 the several States of the United States, the District 

5 of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

6 (15) SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT.—The term 

7 ‘‘summative assessment’’ means an assessment that 

8 evaluates a student’s learning based on a standard9 ized examination designed to measure literacy 

10 achievement. 

11 SEC. 5. STRIVING READERS PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

12 (a) GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—For any fiscal year for 

14 which the funds appropriated under section 11 are 

15 less than $200,000,000, the Secretary shall— 

16 (A) reserve not more than a total of 1 per17 cent of such funds— 

18 (i) to award a contract under section 

19 9 for a national evaluation of the grant 

20 programs assisted under this subsection; 

21 and 

22 (ii) for the dissemination of informa23 tion, resulting from the grant programs as24 sisted under this subsection, in accordance 

25 with section 10; and 


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1 (B) use the funds not reserved under sub2 paragraph (A) to award grants, on a competi3 tive basis and in accordance with section 7(c), 

4 to local educational agencies (or consortia of 

5 local educational agencies) described in para6 graph (2) that apply under section 7(b), for the 

7 purpose of enabling the local educational agen8 cies or consortia to carry out the authorized ac9 tivities described in section 7(d). 

10 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—A local educational agency 

11 or consortium of local educational agencies shall only 

12 be eligible for a grant under this subsection if— 

13 (A) in the case of a single local educational 

14 agency, the local educational agency is eligible 

15 for assistance under part A of title I of the Ele16 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

17 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.); and 

18 (B) in the case of a consortium of local 

19 educational agencies, each local educational 

20 agency participating in the consortium is eligi21 ble for assistance under such part. 

22 (b) GRANTS TO STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—For any fiscal year for 

24 which the funds appropriated under section 11 equal 

25 or exceed $200,000,000, the Secretary shall— 


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1 (A) reserve not more than a total of 1 per2 cent of such funds or $3,000,000, whichever 

3 amount is less— 

4 (i) to award a contract under section 

5 9 for a national evaluation of the State 

6 grant and subgrant programs assisted 

7 under this Act; and 

8 (ii) for the dissemination of informa9 tion, resulting from the State grant and 

10 subgrant programs assisted under this Act, 

11 in accordance with section 10; 

(B) reserve 1 12 ⁄2 of 1 percent for allotments 

13 for the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, 

14 American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of 

15 the Northern Mariana Islands, to be distributed 

16 among such outlying areas on the basis of their 

17 relative need, as determined by the Secretary in 

18 accordance with the purposes of this Act; 

(C) reserve 1 19 ⁄2 of 1 percent for the Sec20 retary of the Interior for programs under this 

21 Act in schools operated or funded by the Bu22 reau of Indian Affairs; and 

23 (D) use the funds not reserved under sub24 paragraphs (A), (B), and (C) to award grants 

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1 ments under paragraph (2), to enable the State 

2 educational agencies to award subgrants to 

3 local educational agencies or consortia of local 

4 educational agencies for the implementation of 

5 adolescent literacy initiatives in accordance with 

6 section 7. 

7 (2) ALLOTMENT FORMULA.—From the funds 

8 made available under paragraph (1)(D) for a fiscal 

9 year and subject to paragraph (3), the Secretary 

10 shall allot to each State educational agency for the 

11 fiscal year an amount that bears the same ratio to 

12 such funds as the product of— 

13 (A) the number of children, aged 5 to 17, 

14 who reside within the State and are from fami15 lies below the poverty level, based on the most 

16 recent satisfactory data provided to the Sec17 retary by the Bureau of the Census for deter18 mining eligibility under section 1124(c)(1)(A) 

19 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

20 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6333(c)(1)(A)); multi21 plied by 

22 (B) the percentage of students in grade 8 

23 in the State who received a score below the 

24 basic level of achievement on the most recent 

25 grade 8 reading assessment conducted as part 


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1 of the National Assessment of Educational 

2 Progress under section 303 of the National As3 sessment of Educational Progress Authorization 

4 Act (20 U.S.C. 9622) for which data are avail5 able, 

6 bears to the sum of all such products for all States. 

7 (3) SPECIAL RULES.— 

8 (A) MINIMUM ALLOTMENT.—No State re9 ceiving an allotment under paragraph (2) may 

10 receive less than one-fourth of 1 percent of the 

11 total amount allotted under such paragraph. 

12 (B) SPECIAL RULES FOR PUERTO RICO.— 

13 In determining the allotment under paragraph 

14 (2) for Puerto Rico, the Secretary shall comply 

15 with the following: 

16 (i) USE OF NATIONAL PERCENT17 AGE.—If Puerto Rico did not participate in 

18 the most recent grade 8 reading assess19 ment of the National Assessment of Edu20 cational Progress for which data are avail21 able, the Secretary shall use the national 

22 percentage of students who received a 

23 score below the basic level of achievement 

24 on such assessment to calculate Puerto 

25 Rico’s allotment. 


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1 (ii) LIMITATION OF ALLOTMENT PER2 CENTAGE.—Notwithstanding clause (i) or 

3 paragraph (2), in no case shall the Sec4 retary allot to Puerto Rico under para5 graph (2) for a fiscal year a percentage of 

6 the total amount available for all allot7 ments under paragraph (1)(D) that ex8 ceeds the percentage allotted to Puerto 

9 Rico of the total funds allotted to all 

10 States under part A of title I of the Ele11 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 

12 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) for the pre13 ceding fiscal year. 

14 (c) DURATION OF GRANT OR SUBGRANT.—Each 

15 grant or subgrant awarded under subsection (b) shall be 

16 for a period of not more than 5 years. 

17 (d) PEER REVIEW.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta19 tion with the Director of the National Institute for 

20 Literacy, shall convene a peer review panel to evalu21 ate applications for each grant awarded to a State 

22 educational agency under subsection (b)(1)(D), or to 

23 a local educational agency under subsection 

24 (a)(1)(B), using the evaluation criteria described in 

25 paragraph (2). 


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1 (2) DEVELOPMENT OF EVALUATION CRI2 TERIA.—The Secretary shall promulgate regulations, 

3 subject to notice and comment, establishing the cri4 teria that the peer review panel shall use to evaluate 

5 the grant applications under this section. 

6 (3) MEMBERSHIP.— 

7 (A) COMPOSITION.—The peer review panel 

8 convened under paragraph (1) shall be com9 posed of not less than 12 members, of whom— 

10 (i) 3 shall be appointed by the Sec11 retary; 

12 (ii) 3 shall be appointed by the Sec13 retary from among persons recommended 

14 by the Director of the National Institute 

15 for Literacy and relevant education organi16 zations and professional associations with 

17 expertise in adolescent literacy; 

18 (iii) 3 shall be appointed by the Sec19 retary from among persons recommended 

20 by the Chairman of the National Research 

21 Council of the National Academy of 

22 Sciences; and 

23 (iv) 3 shall be appointed by the Sec24 retary from among persons recommended 


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1 by the Director of the National Institute of 

2 Child Health and Human Development. 

3 (B) COMPETENCY AND EXPERTISE.— 

4 (i) COMPETENCY.—The Secretary 

5 shall ensure that each member of the peer 

6 review panel appointed under subpara7 graph (A) is competent, by virtue of the 

8 training, expertise, or experience of the 

9 member, to evaluate grant applications 

10 under this section. 

11 (ii) EXPERTISE.—The Secretary shall 

12 ensure that the peer review panel ap13 pointed under subparagraph (A) includes, 

14 at a minimum— 

15 (I) classroom teachers or literacy 

16 coaches with expertise in literacy, in17 cluding special education teachers and 

18 teachers of students who are limited 

19 English proficient; 

20 (II) experts who provide high21 quality professional development to in22 dividuals who teach literacy to chil23 dren and adults; 


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1 (III) experts who provide high2 quality professional development to 

3 other instructional staff; and 

4 (IV) experts in screening, diag5 nostic, and classroom-based instruc6 tional reading assessments. 

7 (iii) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—The 

8 Secretary shall ensure that members of the 

9 peer review panel do not stand to benefit 

10 financially from grants awarded under this 

11 Act. 

12 (4) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The panel shall rec13 ommend grant applications under this section to the 

14 Secretary for funding or for disapproval. 

15 (5) DISTRIBUTION OF RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

16 Not later than 120 days after the panel submits the 

17 panel’s recommendation regarding an application by 

18 a State educational agency or a local educational 

19 agency for a grant under this section to the Sec20 retary, the Secretary shall notify the State edu21 cational agency or local educational agency that the 

22 application has been approved or disapproved and 

23 shall provide to such State educational agency or 

24 local educational agency a copy of the panel’s rec25 ommendation. 


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1 (e) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds 

2 awarded under this section shall supplement, and not sup3 plant, non-Federal funds that would, in the absence of 

4 such grant funds, be made available for the literacy in5 struction of pupils participating in programs assisted 

6 under this Act. 

7 (f) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Each State edu8 cational agency that receives a grant under this section, 

9 and each local educational agency that receives a grant 

10 or subgrant under this section, shall maintain the expendi11 tures of the State educational agency or local educational 

12 agency, respectively, for literacy instruction in grades 4 

13 through 12 at a level not less than the level of such ex14 penditures maintained by the State educational agency or 

15 local educational agency, respectively, for the fiscal year 

16 preceding the fiscal year for which the grant or subgrant 

17 is received. 

18 SEC. 6. STATE GRANTS. 

19 (a) STATE APPLICATIONS.—A State educational 

20 agency desiring to receive an allotment under section 

21 5(b)(1)(D) shall submit an application to the Secretary 

22 at such time, in such manner, and containing such infor23 mation as the Secretary may require. Each such applica24 tion shall include— 


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1 (1) an assurance from the State educational 

2 agency that the State educational agency will form 

3 an adolescent literacy team that— 

4 (A) builds public support for a statewide 

5 focus on adolescent literacy; 

6 (B) strengthens and aligns State literacy 

7 standards with curricula, assessments, and 

8 high-quality professional development require9 ments; 

10 (C) guides local educational agencies and 

11 schools in the creation of adolescent literacy ini12 tiatives; 

13 (D) builds educators’ capacity to provide 

14 adolescent literacy instruction; 

15 (E) measures and assesses progress in ad16 olescent literacy at the school, local educational 

17 agency, and State levels, using existing data if 

18 such data are valid, appropriate, and approved 

19 by the Secretary; and 

20 (F) disseminates information on promising 

21 practices and progress in student literacy 

22 achievement; 

23 (2) an assurance that the State educational 

24 agency, and any local educational agency receiving a 

25 subgrant from the State educational agency under 


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1 section 7, will, if requested, participate in the na2 tional evaluation under section 9; and 

3 (3) an implementation plan that includes— 

4 (A) a description of how the State edu5 cational agency will assist local educational 

6 agencies with developing and using the forma7 tive assessments, summative assessments, 

8 teaching strategies, curricular materials, in9 structional tools, high-quality professional devel10 opment, and research-based elements of an ef11 fective adolescent literacy initiative; 

12 (B) evidence that local educational agen13 cies in the State are committed to instructional 

14 changes and can implement adolescent literacy 

15 initiatives effectively; 

16 (C) a description of how the State edu17 cational agency will coordinate and align the 

18 State grant program assisted under this Act 

19 with— 

20 (i) other State and local programs 

21 that promote adolescent literacy instruc22 tion; and 

23 (ii) overall literacy instruction in the 

24 State in kindergarten through grade 12; 


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1 (D) a description of how the State edu2 cational agency will, to the extent practicable, 

3 award grants to— 

4 (i) local educational agencies that 

5 serve rural areas; and 

6 (ii) local educational agencies that 

7 serve urban areas; and 

8 (E) a description of how local educational 

9 agencies in the State will address the literacy 

10 needs of children with disabilities, and students 

11 who are limited English proficient, in grades 4 

12 through 12 and how local educational agencies 

13 in the State will provide professional develop14 ment in adolescent literacy instruction to spe15 cial education teachers or teachers of students 

16 who are limited English proficient. 

17 (b) STATE DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—Of the 

18 amount allotted to a State educational agency under sec19 tion 5(b)(1)(D), the State educational agency shall use— 

20 (1) not less than 80 percent of such amount to 

21 award subgrants under section 7; 

22 (2) not more than 15 percent of such amount 

23 to administer the subgrant program; and 

24 (3) not more than 5 percent of such amount to 

25 carry out the activities described in subsection (c). 


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1 (c) STATE ACTIVITIES.— 

2 (1) MANDATORY ACTIVITIES.—A State edu3 cational agency that receives an allotment under sec4 tion 5(b)(1)(D) shall use the funds made available 

5 under subsection (b)(3) to carry out all of the fol6 lowing activities: 

7 (A) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OR

8 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The State edu9 cational agency shall provide high-quality pro10 fessional development, or technical assistance, 

11 to a local educational agency, or a provider of 

12 high-quality professional development associated 

13 with a local educational agency, to help the 

14 local educational agency or provider administer 

15 high-quality professional development in order 

16 to train teachers and school leaders in adoles17 cent literacy instruction. 

18 (B) PRESERVICE COURSEWORK REVIEW.— 

19 The State educational agency shall strengthen 

20 and enhance preservice courses for students 

21 preparing, at all public institutions of higher 

22 education in the State, to teach any of grades 

23 4 through 12 by— 

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1 sistent with findings of the most recent lit2 eracy research, including findings on the 

3 researched based elements of an effective 

4 adolescent literacy initiative; 

5 (ii) following up such reviews with 

6 recommendations to ensure that such insti7 tutions offer courses that meet the highest 

8 standards; and 

9 (iii) preparing a report on the results 

10 of such reviews and submitting the report 

11 to the reading and literacy partnership for 

12 the State established under section 

13 1203(d) of the Elementary and Secondary 

14 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

15 6363(d)) and all public institutions of 

16 higher education in the State, and making 

17 the report available for public review by 

18 means of the Internet. 

19 (C) STATE LICENSURE AND CERTIFI20 CATION RECOMMENDATIONS.—The State edu21 cational agency shall make recommendations on 

22 how the State licensure and certification stand23 ards in the area of reading instruction in 

24 grades 4 through 12 might be improved. 


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1 (D) PROGRESS REPORTS FOR STATE EDU2 CATIONAL AGENCY GRANT RECIPIENTS.— 

3 (i) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 60 

4 days after the termination of the third 

5 year and the fifth year of the grant period, 

6 the State educational agency shall submit 

7 a progress report to the Secretary that 

8 shall include— 

9 (I) information on the progress 

10 the State educational agency and local 

11 educational agencies within the State 

12 are making in reducing the number of 

13 students served under this Act in 

14 grades 4 through 12 who are reading 

15 or writing below grade level (as dem16 onstrated by such information as 

17 teacher reports and school evaluations 

18 of mastery of the research-based ele19 ments of an effective adolescent lit20 eracy initiative); 

21 (II) evidence from the State edu22 cational agency and local educational 

23 agencies within the State that the 

24 State educational agency and the local 

25 educational agencies have— 


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1 (aa) significantly increased 

2 the number of students reading 

3 and writing at or above grade 

4 level; 

5 (bb) significantly increased 

6 the percentages of students de7 scribed in section 

8 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the Ele9 mentary and Secondary Edu10 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

11 6311 (b)(2)(C)(v)(II)) who are 

12 reading at or above grade level; 

13 and 

14 (cc) successfully imple15 mented the State educational 

16 agency’s duties under this Act; 

17 and 

18 (III) information regarding the 

19 number and percentage of students 

20 served by the local educational agen21 cies within the State who are grad22 uating from secondary school with a 

23 regular secondary school diploma in 

24 the standard number of years. 


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1 (ii) PEER REVIEW.—The progress re2 port described in this paragraph shall be 

3 reviewed by the peer review panel convened 

4 under section 5(d). 

5 (2) PERMISSIVE ACTIVITIES.—A State edu6 cational agency that receives an allotment under sec7 tion 5(b)(1)(D) may use the funds made available 

8 under subsection (b)(3) to carry out any of the fol9 lowing activities: 

10 (A) Identifying providers of high-quality 

11 professional development for local educational 

12 agencies. 

13 (B) Training the personnel of local edu14 cational agencies to use data systems that track 

15 student literacy achievement. 

16 SEC. 7. GRANTS AND SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL 

17 AGENCIES. 

18 (a) SUBGRANTS AUTHORIZED.—A State receiving an 

19 allotment under section 5(b)(1)(D) shall use funds made 

20 available under section 6(b)(1) to award subgrants, on a 

21 competitive basis, to local educational agencies and con22 sortia of local educational agencies to enable the local edu23 cational agencies and consortia to carry out the authorized 

24 activities described in subsection (d). 


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1 (b) APPLICATIONS.—A local educational agency or 

2 consortium desiring to receive a grant or subgrant under 

3 this Act shall submit an application to the Secretary or 

4 the State educational agency (as appropriate) at such 

5 time, in such manner, and containing such information as 

6 the Secretary or the State educational agency, respec7 tively, may require. Such application shall include the fol8 lowing information: 

9 (1) For each school that the local educational 

10 agency or consortium identifies as participating in a 

11 grant or subgrant program under this Act— 

12 (A) how the school, local educational agen13 cy, or a provider of high-quality professional de14 velopment will provide ongoing high-quality pro15 fessional development in adolescent literacy in16 struction to teachers of core academic subjects 

17 and school leaders served by the school, local 

18 educational agency, or provider, respectively; 

19 (B) how the school will perform a capacity 

20 survey to identify the strengths and weaknesses 

21 of such school related to adolescent literacy; 

22 (C) how the results of the survey described 

23 in subparagraph (B) will be used to inform in24 struction at the school; 


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1 (D)(i) how the school will form a literacy 

2 leadership team; 

3 (ii) the composition of the literacy leader4 ship team; and 

5 (iii) how the literacy leadership team will— 

6 (I) create an adolescent literacy initia7 tive; 

8 (II) assess the success of the adoles9 cent literacy initiative; and 

10 (III) determine what refinements and 

11 changes are needed to the adolescent lit12 eracy initiative; 

13 (E) a budget for the school that projects 

14 the costs of developing and implementing an 

15 adolescent literacy initiative; and 

16 (F) an explanation of how the school will 

17 integrate adolescent literacy instruction into 

18 core academic subjects. 

19 (2) A description of— 

20 (A) the assessment system that will be 

21 used to track literacy progress in schools that 

22 the local educational agency or consortium iden23 tifies as participating in a grant program or 

24 subgrant program, as appropriate, under this 

25 Act; 


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1 (B) the types of formative assessments and 

2 summative assessments that will be used in the 

3 assessment system; and 

4 (C) the types of assessment results that 

5 will determine the success of the adolescent lit6 eracy initiative under this Act. 

7 (3) How parents will be involved in supporting 

8 adolescent literacy instruction. 

9 (4) In the case of a local educational agency de10 siring a grant under section 5(a)(1)(B), an assur11 ance that the local educational agency will, if re12 quested, participate in the national evaluation under 

13 section 9. 

14 (c) AWARD BASIS.— 

15 (1) PRIORITY.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary or the 

17 State educational agency, as appropriate, shall 

18 give priority to awarding a grant or subgrant 

19 under this Act to a local educational agency or 

20 consortium, on the basis of the factors de21 scribed in subparagraph (B). 

22 (B) FACTORS.—The factors referred to in 

23 subparagraph (A) are— 

24 (i) the number of children aged 5 to 

25 17 served by the local educational agency 


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•HR 2289 IH

1 or consortium who are from families below 

2 the poverty level, based on the most recent 

3 satisfactory data provided to the Secretary 

4 by the Bureau of the Census for deter5 mining eligibility under section 

6 1124(c)(1)(A) of the Elementary and Sec7 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

8 6333(c)(1)(A)); 

9 (ii) the number or percentage of stu10 dents in grades 4 through 12 served by the 

11 local educational agency or consortium who 

12 are reading or writing below grade level; 

13 and 

14 (iii) the total number or percentage of 

15 schools served by the local educational 

16 agency or consortium that— 

17 (I) enroll students in any of the 

18 grades 4 through 12; and 

19 (II) were identified for school im20 provement, corrective action, or re21 structuring under paragraph (1),(7), 

22 or (8) of section 1116(b) of the Ele23 mentary and Secondary Education 

24 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)) for 

25 the preceding academic year. 


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1 (2) AMOUNT OF THE GRANT.—In determining 

2 the amounts of the grant or subgrant awards under 

3 this Act, the Secretary or the State educational 

4 agency, as applicable, shall— 

5 (A) provide funds in sufficient size and 

6 scope to enable the local educational agency or 

7 consortium receiving a grant or subgrant to im8 prove adolescent literacy instruction; and 

9 (B) provide funds in an amount related to 

10 the number or percentage of students in grades 

11 4 through 12 served by the local educational 

12 agency or consortium who are reading below 

13 grade level. 

14 (d) LOCAL AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.— 

15 (1) MANDATORY ACTIVITIES.—A local edu16 cational agency or consortium that receives a grant 

17 or subgrant under this Act shall use the grant or 

18 subgrant funds to carry out all of the following ac19 tivities for students in grades 4 through 12: 

20 (A) Selecting and administering 

21 screenings, diagnostic assessments, formative 

22 assessments, and summative assessments to de23 termine the students’ literacy difficulties, read24 ing and writing levels, and literacy growth. 


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1 (B) Developing and implementing adoles2 cent literacy plans that serve the needs of stu3 dents (including children with disabilities and 

4 students who are limited English proficient) 

5 who are reading or writing significantly below 

6 grade level, which plans shall— 

7 (i) provide intensive, accelerated, ex8 plicit instruction in reading to students 

9 who have significant deficits in reading 

10 skills; 

11 (ii) include the research-based ele12 ments of an effective adolescent literacy 

13 initiative; 

14 (iii) provide literacy materials and in15 structional strategies to improve reading or 

16 writing achievement; 

17 (iv) provide, to teachers in core aca18 demic subjects, high-quality professional 

19 development that includes instruction on 

20 utilizing the research-based elements of an 

21 effective adolescent literacy initiative, in22 cluding utilizing age-appropriate reading 

23 materials and instructional strategies to 

24 improve the literacy skills of the students 

25 within the content area; 


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1 (v) provide, in addition to regular 

2 classroom instruction, extended learning 

3 opportunities for the students during 

4 school hours or at school facilities; and 

5 (vi) allow teachers to meet together to 

6 plan instruction, review the work of the 

7 students, and analyze literacy data. 

8 (C) Training school leaders to support, de9 velop, and administer adolescent literacy initia10 tives that— 

11 (i) utilize data— 

12 (I) to inform instructional deci13 sions; and 

14 (II) to assess professional devel15 opment needs; 

16 (ii) assess the quality of adolescent lit17 eracy instruction in core academic subjects; 

18 and 

19 (iii) provide time for teachers to meet 

20 to plan adolescent literacy instruction in 

21 core academic subjects. 

22 (D) Collecting, analyzing, and reporting 

23 data on the literacy achievement growth of the 

24 students who are served by the local educational 

25 agency or consortium and who read or write 


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•HR 2289 IH

1 significantly below grade level (as determined 

2 by the Secretary or the State educational agen3 cy, as appropriate), which may include con4 tracting with an external evaluator to measure 

5 the impact of adolescent literacy interventions 

6 on the students. 

7 (E) In the case of a local educational agen8 cy or consortium receiving a subgrant under 

9 subsection (a)— 

10 (i) collecting and summarizing data— 

11 (I) to document the effectiveness 

12 of activities carried out under this Act 

13 in individual schools and in the local 

14 educational agency as a whole; and 

15 (II) to stimulate and accelerate 

16 improvement by identifying the 

17 schools that produce significant gains 

18 in academic achievement; and 

19 (ii) reporting data to the State edu20 cational agency for all students and cat21 egories of students described in section 

22 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the Elementary 

23 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

24 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(C)(v)(II)). 


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•HR 2289 IH

1 (F) In the case of a local educational agen2 cy or consortium receiving a grant under sec3 tion 5(a)(1)(B), submitting to the Secretary, 

4 not later than 60 days after the termination of 

5 the third year and the fifth year of the grant 

6 period, a progress report that contains the in7 formation described in section 6(c)(1)(D)(i) 

8 with respect to the local educational agency, 

9 which report shall be reviewed by the peer re10 view panel convened under section 5(d). 

11 (2) PERMISSIVE ACTIVITIES.—A local edu12 cational agency or consortium that receives a grant 

13 or subgrant under this Act may use the grant or 

14 subgrant funds to carry out any of the following ac15 tivities for students in grades 4 through 12: 

16 (A) Recruiting, placing, and training ado17 lescent literacy coaches. 

18 (B) Providing high-quality professional de19 velopment for teachers or identifying providers 

20 of high-quality professional development for 

21 teachers. 

22 (C) Connecting out-of-school learning op23 portunities to in-school learning in order to im24 prove the literacy achievement of the students. 


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•HR 2289 IH

1 (D) Training parents and family members 

2 to support the improvement of adolescent lit3 eracy, as appropriate. 

4 (E) Acquiring academically rich literacy 

5 materials that support multiple reading levels 

6 and engage the interests of the students. 

7 (F) Utilizing technology and purchasing 

8 software to improve literacy achievement. 

9 (G) Purchasing, implementing, or adapting 

10 supplementary literacy interventions for stu11 dents who are reading or writing below grade 

12 level. 

13 (3) LIMITATION TO CERTAIN SCHOOLS.—A 

14 local educational agency receiving a subgrant under 

15 subsection (a) shall, in distributing subgrant funds 

16 under this subsection, provide funds only to schools 

17 that both— 

18 (A) are among the schools served by the 

19 local educational agency with the highest per20 centages or numbers of students in grades 4 

21 through 12 reading below grade level, based on 

22 the most currently available data; and 

23 (B)(i) are identified for school improve24 ment, corrective action, or restructuring under 

25 paragraph (1), (7), or (8) of section 1116(b) of 


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•HR 2289 IH

1 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

2 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)); or 

3 (ii) have the highest percentages or num4 bers of children counted under section 1124(c) 

5 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 6333(c)). 

6 SEC. 8. CONSEQUENCES OF INSUFFICIENT PROGRESS. 

7 (a) CONSEQUENCES FOR GRANT RECIPIENTS.—If 

8 the Secretary determines that a State educational agency 

9 receiving a grant under section 5(b)(1)(D) or a local edu10 cational agency or consortium receiving a grant under sec11 tion 5(a)(1)(B) is not making significant progress in meet12 ing the purposes of this Act after the submission of a 

13 progress report described in section 6(c)(1)(D) or section 

14 7(d)(1)(F), respectively, then the Secretary may withhold, 

15 in whole or in part, further payments under this Act in 

16 accordance with section 455 of the General Education 

17 Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1234d) or take such other ac18 tion authorized by law as the Secretary determines nec19 essary, including providing technical assistance upon re20 quest of the State educational agency, local educational 

21 agency, or consortium, respectively. 

22 (b) CONSEQUENCES FOR SUBGRANT RECIPIENTS.— 

23 A State educational agency receiving a grant under section 

24 5(b)(1)(D) may refuse to award subgrant funds to a local 

25 educational agency or consortium under section 7(a) if the 


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•HR 2289 IH

1 State educational agency finds that the local educational 

2 agency or consortium is not making significant progress 

3 in meeting the purposes of this Act, after— 

4 (1) providing technical assistance to the local 

5 educational agency or consortium; and 

6 (2) affording the local educational agency or 

7 consortium notice and an opportunity for a hearing. 

8 SEC. 9. NATIONAL EVALUATION. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts reserved under 

10 subsection (a)(1) or (b)(1) (as the case may be) of section 

11 5, the Secretary shall enter into a contract with an inde12 pendent organization to perform a 5-year evaluation of the 

13 grant and subgrant programs assisted under this Act. 

14 Such evaluation shall include research that applies rig15 orous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain valid 

16 knowledge relevant to literacy development, reading and 

17 writing instruction, and reading and writing difficulties; 

18 and includes research that employs experimental, quasi19 experimental, and qualitative research methods involving 

20 rigorous data analyses that are adequate to test the stated 

21 hypotheses and justify the general conclusions drawn. 

22 (b) CONTENTS OF EVALUATION.—The evaluation de23 scribed in subsection (a) shall include an analysis of each 

24 of the following: 


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•HR 2289 IH

1 (1) The impact of the research-based elements 

2 of an effective adolescent literacy initiative on stu3 dent achievement, and how various elements combine 

4 to promote student learning. 

5 (2) How State standards, local educational 

6 agency and school curricula, and school interventions 

7 combine to impact student achievement. 

8 (3) The impact of diagnostic assessments and 

9 formative assessments on student achievement. 

10 (4) High-quality professional development and 

11 the improvement of teacher practice and student 

12 achievement resulting from such professional devel13 opment. 

14 (5) The impact of adolescent literacy initiatives 

15 on student motivation, engagement, and participa16 tion in literacy activities and academics. 

17 (6) The relationship between students’ literacy 

18 achievement and secondary school graduation rates. 

19 SEC. 10. INFORMATION DISSEMINATION. 

20 From amounts reserved under subsection (a)(1) or 

21 (b)(1) (as the case may be) of section 5, the Director of 

22 the National Institute for Literacy, in collaboration with 

23 the Secretary, the regional educational laboratories estab24 lished under part D of the Education Sciences Reform Act 

25 of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9561 et seq.), and the Director of the 


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•HR 2289 IH

1 National Institute of Child Health and Human Develop2 ment, shall distribute information on adolescent literacy 

3 instruction, including— 

4 (1) information on adolescent literacy instruc5 tion and the impact of the instruction on— 

6 (A) student achievement, motivation, and 

7 engagement for literacy; and 

8 (B) student graduation with a secondary 

9 school diploma; 

10 (2) information on elements of high-quality pro11 fessional development that improve literacy achieve12 ment in students in grades 4 through 12; and 

13 (3) information on schools, local educational 

14 agencies, and States that have successfully improved 

15 literacy achievement in grades 4 through 12. 

16 SEC. 11. PROHIBITION AGAINST FEDERAL MANDATES, DI17 RECTION, OR CONTROL. 

18 Nothing in this title shall be construed to authorize 

19 an officer, employee, or contractor of the Federal Govern20 ment to mandate, direct, limit, or control a State, local 

21 educational agency, or school’s specific instructional con22 tent, academic achievement standards and assessments, 

23 curriculum, or program of instruction. 


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1 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this Act— 

4 (1) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

5 (2) $400,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

6 (3) $600,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

7 (4) $800,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; and 

8 (5) $1,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2012. 

Æ 


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