II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4480 

To promote equity in advanced coursework and programs at elementary 

and secondary schools. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 6, 2020 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. BROWN, and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To promote equity in advanced coursework and programs 

at elementary and secondary schools. 

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 ‘‘Advanced Coursework 

5 Equity Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purposes of this Act are— 

8 (1) to expand access to advanced courses and 

9 programs at under-resourced elementary and sec10 ondary schools; 


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1 (2) to advance equitable enrollment practices, 

2 so that all students who are ready to engage in more 

3 rigorous coursework can benefit from advanced 

4 courses and programs; and 

5 (3) to equip dramatically more students, espe6 cially students from historically underrepresented 

7 groups, with the twenty-first century skills needed to 

8 succeed in college and a competitive global work9 force. 

10 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

11 Congress finds the following: 

12 (1) Black, Latino, and Native American stu13 dents, students with disabilities, and students from 

14 low-income families are underrepresented in ad15 vanced programs and courses. 

16 (2) While 1 in 10 students in schools in the 

17 United States participate in the Advanced Place18 ment (AP) program, just over 1 in 20 low-income, 

19 Black, and Native American students participate in 

20 Advanced Placement, and fewer than 1 in 50 stu21 dents with disabilities participate. 

22 (3) Taking the mathematics course Algebra I in 

23 grade 8 is necessary for most students to be on 

24 track for enrolling in advanced courses, such as Cal25 culus, in high school, however, Black students are 


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1 half as likely as White students to take Algebra I in 

2 grade 8. If Black and Latino students had a fair op3 portunity to participate in eighth grade Algebra I 

4 across the country, schools would enroll an addi5 tional 43,019 Black students and 59,452 Latino stu6 dents in eighth grade Algebra I courses. The De7 partment of Education reported that in the 2015– 

8 2016 school year, only 48 percent of schools with 

9 high concentrations of English learners offered Alge10 bra I compared with 70 percent of schools with low 

11 concentrations of English learner students. In the 

12 same year, just 2 percent of English learner stu13 dents nationwide were enrolled in Algebra I in grade 

14 8. 

15 (4) A low-income student with reading and 

16 math achievement levels equal to those of a high-in17 come student is half as likely to receive gifted serv18 ices as the high-income student. Black students are 

19 approximately half as likely as White peers with the 

20 same mathematics and reading achievement levels to 

21 be referred to gifted services. 

22 (5) A major barrier for Black and Latino stu23 dents and students with disabilities to access ad24 vanced courses and programs is the over-reliance on 

25 subjective criteria, such as the recommendation of 


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1 teachers and counselors, in the advanced course ad2 mittance process. When Denver Public Schools im3 plemented universal screening for gifted and talented 

4 programs, Latino students were identified for the 

5 program at twice the rate as the year before. 

6 (6) Just 1 in 12 students in the United States 

7 scored in the top 2 proficiency levels on the 2018 

8 PISA math assessment. This is below the 

9 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Devel10 opment (OECD) average and less than half the rate 

11 of South Korea, Japan, and Switzerland. 

12 (7) Public elementary schools and secondary 

13 schools face a $305,000,000,000 budget shortfall 

14 due to COVID–19 related tax revenue decreases and 

15 new COVID–19 related expenses. As school districts 

16 prepare to make drastic cuts to educational pro17 gramming, access to advanced coursework and pro18 grams is in jeopardy for millions of students, espe19 cially students from underrepresented groups and 

20 students attending under-resourced schools. Addi21 tional funding and reforms are needed to maintain 

22 and expand access to advanced coursework and pro23 grams, especially for marginalized students in com24 munities hit hardest by the COVID–19 pandemic. 


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1 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) TERMS FROM THE ELEMENTARY AND SEC4 ONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.—The terms 

5 ‘‘early college high school’’, ‘‘elementary school’’, 

6 ‘‘English learner’’, ‘‘gifted and talented’’, ‘‘institu7 tion of higher education’’, ‘‘parent’’, ‘‘school leader’’, 

8 ‘‘secondary school’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ 

9 have the meaning given those terms in section 8101 

10 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

12 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

13 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

14 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec15 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801), 

16 and includes a public charter school that is a local 

17 educational agency. 

18 (3) OPEN ENROLLMENT.—The term ‘‘open en19 rollment’’ means an enrollment mechanism through 

20 which any student that chooses to enroll in an ad21 vanced course or program is allowed to do so, with22 out regard to previous academic performance or test 

23 scores. 

24 (4) SUBGROUP OF STUDENTS.—The term ‘‘sub25 group of students’’ has the meaning given that term 

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1 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

2 6311(c)(2)). 

3 (5) UNIVERSAL ENROLLMENT.—The term ‘‘uni4 versal enrollment’’ means an enrollment mechanism 

5 through which all students are automatically en6 rolled in an advanced course or program for a par7 ticular subject, without regard to previous academic 

8 performance or test scores. A parent may choose to 

9 opt out a student from enrolling in one or more ad10 vanced courses or programs. 

11 (6) UNIVERSAL SCREENING.—The term ‘‘uni12 versal screening’’ means an enrollment mechanism 

13 through which all students in a grade are screened 

14 for enrollment in advanced courses and programs. 

15 Students that are determined to be qualified for ad16 vanced courses or programs are automatically en17 rolled in those courses or programs, unless a parent 

18 chooses to opt out a student. The determination of 

19 which students are qualified for advanced courses or 

20 programs— 

21 (A) shall be made after consideration of 

22 not less than 2 objective assessments (except 

23 that a student may qualify based on only 1 

24 such assessment)— 


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1 (i) that are combined in a reasoned 

2 way that is not biased against any par3 ticular subgroup of students; 

4 (ii) that provide appropriate accom5 modations for students with disabilities; 

6 (iii) that may be administered not ex7 plicitly for the primary purpose of deter8 mining enrollment in an advanced course 

9 or program (such as through a statewide 

10 exam that all students in a grade will 

11 take), so long as students with disabilities 

12 have equal access to the assessment and 

13 are provided appropriate accommodations 

14 in accordance with the Individuals with 

15 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

16 1400 et seq.) and section 504 of the Reha17 bilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794); 

18 and 

19 (iv) that may include— 

20 (I) a standardized assessment 

21 that provides appropriate accommoda22 tions for students with disabilities in 

23 accordance with the Individuals with 

24 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

25 1400 et seq.) and section 504 of the 


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1 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

2 794); 

3 (II) a statewide, districtwide, or 

4 schoolwide assessment; or 

5 (III) grades from relevant 

6 courses, a portfolio of relevant work, 

7 or class ranking; and 

8 (B) may be partially based upon a subjec9 tive measure (such as a teacher’s recommenda10 tion) in addition to the required 2 objective 

11 measures. 

12 SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 

14 (1) conduct 3 separate grant programs, by— 

15 (A) awarding not less than 80 percent of 

16 the amounts authorized to be appropriated 

17 under section 9 to State educational agencies to 

18 allow those State educational agencies to award 

19 subgrants to participating local educational 

20 agencies, including public charter schools, to en21 able those local educational agencies to carry 

22 out the activities described in section 7; 

23 (B) awarding not less than 15 percent of 

24 the amounts authorized to be appropriated 

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1 cational agencies to allow those local edu2 cational agencies to carry out the activities de3 scribed in section 7; and 

4 (C) awarding not more than 4 percent of 

5 the amounts authorized to be appropriated 

6 under section 9 to a nonprofit institution of 

7 higher education or other nonprofit entity that 

8 has a demonstrated record of effectiveness in 

9 delivering or designing advanced coursework or 

10 programs (such as by previously executing a 

11 successful project that was part of the Jacob K. 

12 Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education 

13 Program under section 4644 of the Elementary 

14 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

15 U.S.C. 7294)), to enable that institution or en16 tity to provide services to students in rural 

17 areas and students who otherwise lack access to 

18 advanced courses or programs; and 

19 (2) reserve not more than 1 percent of the 

20 amounts authorized to be appropriated under section 

21 9 for the Department of Education to administer the 

22 program under this Act, provide technical assistance 

23 to grantees, evaluate grantees’ performance (as re24 quired by this Act), and disseminate information 


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1 about findings and best practices related to the ac2 tivities authorized under this Act. 

3 (b) APPLICATION.— 

4 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—A State 

5 educational agency desiring to receive a grant under 

6 subsection (a)(1)(A) shall submit an application to 

7 the Secretary during the first year of the 3-year 

8 grant cycle, and at such time and in such manner 

9 as the Secretary may require. The application shall 

10 include the following: 

11 (A) An assurance that memoranda of un12 derstanding, as described in section 6(b), have 

13 been executed between the State educational 

14 agency and not less than 50 percent of the local 

15 educational agencies in the State, representing 

16 not less than 50 percent of all students in the 

17 State, to participate in the grant program and 

18 fulfill the program obligations. 

19 (B) A list of the participating local edu20 cational agencies that have executed such 

21 memoranda, and the percentage of the State’s 

22 public school students who are served by those 

23 local educational agencies. 

24 (C) A plan for supporting participating 

25 local educational agencies with implementing 


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1 open enrollment, universal enrollment, or uni2 versal screening for all advanced courses or pro3 grams offered by the local educational agency. 

4 (D) A plan to assemble a statewide advi5 sory council of students from underrepresented 

6 subgroups of students, and parents or guard7 ians of students from those subgroups, with at 

8 least 2 members of each subgroup of students. 

9 The plan shall explain how the council will be 

10 involved in the State educational agency’s im11 plementation of the grant, as well as oversight 

12 and evaluation of the grant. 

13 (E) A plan for supporting participating 

14 local educational agencies in collecting and re15 porting data about advanced coursework enroll16 ment and student performance data, including 

17 data disaggregated and cross-tabulated by race 

18 and ethnicity, sex, disability status, socio19 economic status, and status as an English 

20 learner. 

21 (F) A description of ambitious 3-year en22 rollment and performance goals for each sub23 group of students, and intermediate annual tar24 gets for each subgroup of students, to bridge 

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1 nicity, sex, disability status, socioeconomic sta2 tus, and status as an English learner) in ad3 vanced coursework or program participation 

4 and performance. 

5 (G) A proposed budget for how the State 

6 educational agency will spend funding awarded 

7 through the grant. 

8 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—A local 

9 educational agency desiring to receive a grant under 

10 subsection (a)(1)(B) shall be eligible to apply for a 

11 grant if the local educational agency is not also seek12 ing a subgrant from a State educational agency that 

13 receives a grant under this Act. A local educational 

14 agency shall submit an application to the Secretary 

15 at such time and in such manner as the Secretary 

16 may require. The application shall include the fol17 lowing: 

18 (A) An assurance that— 

19 (i) the local educational agency is not 

20 also seeking a subgrant from a State edu21 cational agency that receives a grant under 

22 this Act during the applicable grant cycle; 

23 and 

24 (ii) the local educational agency has a 

25 high student poverty ratio (as measured by 


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1 comparing the number of students meeting 

2 at least one measure of poverty described 

3 in section 1113(a)(5) of the Elementary 

4 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

5 U.S.C. 6313(a)(5)) to the total number of 

6 students in the school). 

7 (B) A description of the enrollment mecha8 nism that the participating local educational 

9 agency will use for its various advanced courses 

10 or programs, which shall include open enroll11 ment, universal enrollment, or universal screen12 ing, including in the case of universal screening, 

13 a description of what assessments will be used 

14 to determine enrollment as described in section 

15 4(6), and a justification for why each assess16 ment was selected. 

17 (C) A plan to assemble a local advisory 

18 council of students from underrepresented sub19 groups of students, and parents or guardians of 

20 students from those subgroups, with at least 2 

21 members of each subgroup of students. The 

22 plan shall explain how the council will be in23 volved in the local educational agency’s imple24 mentation of the grant, as well as oversight and 

25 evaluation of the grant. 


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1 (D) A plan to train school leaders, aca2 demic advisors or counselors, and teachers on 

3 strategies for bridging inequities (according to 

4 race and ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, 

5 disability status, and status as an English 

6 learner) in advanced coursework or program 

7 participation and performance. 

8 (E) A plan to communicate to students 

9 and families, in multiple languages and through 

10 multiple formats, the process and requirements 

11 to enroll in advanced courses. 

12 (F) An agreement to carry out the activi13 ties described in section 7. 

14 (G) A plan for collecting and reporting 

15 data about advanced coursework enrollment and 

16 student performance data, including data 

17 disaggregated and cross-tabulated by race and 

18 ethnicity, sex, disability status, socioeconomic 

19 status, and status as an English learner. 

20 (H) A description of ambitious 3-year en21 rollment and performance goals for each sub22 group of students, and intermediate annual tar23 gets for each subgroup of students, to bridge 

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1 tus, and status as an English learner) in ad2 vanced coursework or program participation 

3 and performance. 

4 (I) A proposed budget for how the partici5 pating local educational agency will spend fund6 ing awarded through the grant. 

7 (3) OTHER NONPROFIT ENTITY.—A nonprofit 

8 institution of higher education or nonprofit entity 

9 desiring to receive a grant under subsection 

10 (a)(1)(C) shall submit an application to the Sec11 retary at such time, in such manner, and containing 

12 such information as the Secretary may require, in13 cluding, at a minimum— 

14 (A) at least one memorandum of under15 standing that the applicant has already estab16 lished with a school, local educational agency, 

17 or State educational agency that the applicant 

18 intends to work with, and a description of the 

19 services the applicant would provide to that 

20 school, local educational agency, or State edu21 cational agency; 

22 (B) materials that demonstrate the appli23 cant’s record of effectiveness in designing or de24 livering advanced coursework or programs and 


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1 providing academic supports for students that 

2 belong to underrepresented subgroups; 

3 (C) a description of ambitious 3-year en4 rollment and performance goals for each sub5 group of students that the applicant intends to 

6 serve, and intermediate annual targets for each 

7 such subgroup of students, to bridge statewide 

8 inequities (according to race and ethnicity, sex, 

9 socioeconomic status, disability status, and sta10 tus as an English learner) in advanced 

11 coursework or program participation and per12 formance; 

13 (D) a plan for collecting and reporting 

14 data about advanced coursework enrollment and 

15 student performance data, including data 

16 disaggregated and cross-tabulated by race and 

17 ethnicity, sex, disability status, socioeconomic 

18 status, and status as an English learner; and 

19 (E) a proposed budget for how the appli20 cant will spend funding awarded through the 

21 grant. 

22 (c) CRITERIA FOR AWARDING GRANTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—In evaluating applications 

24 for a grant under subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), 


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1 of subsection (a)(1), respectively, the Secretary shall 

2 consider— 

3 (A) the 3-year goals, and intermediate an4 nual targets, for bridging statewide inequities 

5 (according to race and ethnicity, sex, socio6 economic status, disability status, and status as 

7 an English learner) in advanced coursework or 

8 program participation and performance; 

9 (B) the level of detail and feasibility of the 

10 plan for implementing (or supporting a partici11 pating State educational agency, local edu12 cational agency, or school in implementing, as 

13 applicable) open enrollment, universal enroll14 ment, or universal screening for all advanced 

15 courses or programs offered by the local edu16 cational agency; 

17 (C) the level of detail and feasibility of the 

18 plan for assembling an advisory council of stu19 dents from underrepresented subgroups of stu20 dents, and parents or guardians of students 

21 from those subgroups, and involving that advi22 sory council in the implementation of the grant, 

23 as well as oversight and evaluation of the grant; 

24 and 


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1 (D) the level of detail and feasibility of the 

2 plan for collecting and reporting (or supporting 

3 a participating State educational agency, local 

4 educational agency, or school in collecting or re5 porting, as applicable) data by subgroup of stu6 dents about advanced coursework enrollment 

7 and performance. 

8 (2) PRIORITIES.— 

9 (A) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—In 

10 awarding a grant under subsection (a)(1)(A), 

11 the Secretary shall give priority to— 

12 (i) States that established memoranda 

13 of understanding, as described in section 

14 6(b), with a high percentage of the local 

15 educational agencies in the State and cov16 ering a high percentage of total students in 

17 the State; 

18 (ii) States with large gaps in equitable 

19 access, enrollment, and performance in ad20 vanced coursework across subgroups of 

21 students, as described in the grant applica22 tions of the State educational agencies; 

23 and 

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1 formance in advanced coursework among 

2 historically underrepresented subgroups of 

3 students based on data collection from the 

4 Office of Civil Rights of the Department of 

5 Education, and demonstrate a need for ad6 ditional funds to expand improvements. 

7 (B) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—In 

8 awarding a grant under subsection (a)(1)(B), 

9 the Secretary shall give priority to local edu10 cational agencies that have made recent im11 provements to equitable participation and per12 formance in advanced coursework among his13 torically underrepresented subgroups of stu14 dents based on data collection from the Office 

15 of Civil Rights of the Department of Education. 

16 (d) AMOUNT; DURATION.— 

17 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

18 (A) AMOUNT.—A grant awarded under 

19 subsection (a)(1)(A) shall be in an amount that 

20 is not less than $15,000,000 and not more than 

21 $60,000,000. 

22 (B) DURATION.—A grant awarded under 

23 subsection (a)(1)(A) shall be for a 3-year pe24 riod. 

25 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 


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1 (A) AMOUNT.—A grant awarded under 

2 subsection (a)(1)(B) shall be in an amount that 

3 is not less than $1,000,000 and not more than 

4 $20,000,000. 

5 (B) DURATION.—A grant awarded under 

6 subsection (a)(1)(B) shall be for a 3-year pe7 riod. 

8 (3) OTHER NONPROFIT ENTITY.— 

9 (A) AMOUNT.—A grant awarded under 

10 subsection (a)(1)(C) shall be in an amount that 

11 is not more than $3,000,000. 

12 (B) DURATION.—A grant awarded under 

13 subsection (a)(1)(C) shall be for a 3-year pe14 riod. 

15 (e) NUMBER OF GRANTS AWARDED.— 

16 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara18 graph (B), the Secretary shall award not less 

19 than 6 and not more than 10 grants under sub20 section (a)(1)(A) per 3-year grant cycle period. 

21 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding sub22 paragraph (A), if the amount appropriated to 

23 carry out this Act is— 

24 (i) less than $233,000,000 in any 

25 year, the Secretary may award fewer than 


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1 6 awards under subsection (a)(1)(A) per 

2 cycle; and 

3 (ii) more than $300,000,000 in any 

4 year, the Secretary may award more than 

5 10 awards under subsection (a)(1)(A) per 

6 cycle. 

7 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara9 graph (B), the Secretary shall award not less 

10 than 8 and not more than 16 grants under sub11 section (a)(1)(B) per 3-year grant cycle period. 

12 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding sub13 paragraph (A), if the amount appropriated to 

14 carry out this Act is— 

15 (i) less than $233,000,000 in any 

16 year, the Secretary may award fewer than 

17 8 awards under subsection (a)(1)(B) per 

18 cycle; and 

19 (ii) more than $300,000,000 in any 

20 year, the Secretary may award more than 

21 16 awards under subsection (a)(1)(B) per 

22 cycle. 

23 (f) SPECIAL RULE.—In the event a local educational 

24 agency that is receiving a subgrant cannot carry out one 

25 or more of the activities described in section 7, a State 


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1 educational agency receiving a grant under subsection 

2 (a)(1)(A) may use not more than 4 percent of the grant 

3 funds to carry out high-quality technical assistance for 

4 local educational agencies in the State. 

5 SEC. 6. SUBGRANTS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency re7 ceiving a grant under this Act shall use the grant funds 

8 to award subgrants to local educational agencies in the 

9 State. 

10 (b) REQUIREMENT.—A State educational agency 

11 shall award not less than 65 percent of grant funds to— 

12 (1) local educational agencies that have a high 

13 student poverty ratio (as measured by comparing the 

14 number of students meeting at least one measure of 

15 poverty described in section 1113(a)(5) of the Ele16 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

17 U.S.C. 6313(a)(5)) to the total number of children 

18 in the school); and 

19 (2) local educational agencies that will support 

20 elementary schools and secondary schools that offer 

21 fewer advanced course or program offerings (or 

22 fewer available slots in those courses or programs) 

23 than the average for the State. 

24 (c) SUBGRANT AGREEMENT.—As part of a memo25 randum of understanding described in section 5(b)(1)(A), 


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1 and as a requirement for receiving a subgrant under this 

2 Act, a participating local educational agency shall— 

3 (1) establish ambitious 3-year enrollment and 

4 performance goals for each subgroup of students, 

5 and intermediate annual targets for each subgroup 

6 of students, to bridge districtwide inequities (accord7 ing to race, sex, socioeconomic status, disability sta8 tus, and status as an English learner) in advanced 

9 coursework or program participation and perform10 ance; 

11 (2) specify the enrollment mechanism that the 

12 local educational agency will use for its various ad13 vanced courses or programs, which shall include 

14 open enrollment, universal enrollment, or universal 

15 screening, including in the case of universal screen16 ing, a description of what assessments will be used 

17 to determine enrollment as described in section 4(6), 

18 and a justification for why each assessment was se19 lected; 

20 (3) submit a plan to train school leaders, aca21 demic counselors or advisors, and teachers on strate22 gies for bridging inequities (according to race and 

23 ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, disability status, 

24 and status as an English learner) in advanced 


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1 coursework or program participation and perform2 ance; 

3 (4) submit a plan to assemble a local advisory 

4 council of students from underrepresented subgroups 

5 of students, and parents or guardians of students 

6 from those subgroups, with at least 2 members of 

7 each subgroup of students, including an explanation 

8 of how the council will be involved in the local edu9 cational agency’s implementation of the grant, as 

10 well as oversight and evaluation of the grant; 

11 (5) submit a plan to communicate to students 

12 and families, in multiple languages and through 

13 multiple formats, the process and requirements to 

14 enroll in advanced courses; and 

15 (6) an agreement to carry out the activities de16 scribed in section 7. 

17 SEC. 7. USES OF FUNDS. 

18 (a) REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS.—A local educational 

19 agency receiving a grant or subgrant under this Act shall 

20 use the grant or subgrant funds to carry out each of the 

21 following: 

22 (1) Use not more than 5 percent of funds to 

23 conduct community engagement (including by as24 sembling a local advisory council) with regard to 

25 changes to advanced courses or programs. 


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1 (2) Not later than 1 year after funding is re2 ceived, use not more than 5 percent of subgrant 

3 funds to train school leaders, academic counselors or 

4 advisors, and teachers on strategies for bridging in5 equities (according to race and ethnicity, sex, socio6 economic status, disability status, and status as an 

7 English learner) in advanced coursework or program 

8 participation and performance. 

9 (3) Expand enrollment in advanced courses or 

10 programs for underrepresented students. 

11 (4) Not later than 1 year after funding is re12 ceived, implement open enrollment, universal enroll13 ment, or universal screening for all advanced courses 

14 and programs, including— 

15 (A) gifted and talented programs, 8th 

16 grade Algebra I, Advanced Placement, Inter17 national Baccalaureate, dual enrollment, early 

18 college high school, and any similarly advanced 

19 courses or programs; and 

20 (B) training individuals involved in the as21 sessment process in the administration of the 

22 assessments and the interpretation of the re23 sults. 

24 (5) Launch advanced courses or programs, or 

25 expand enrollment capacity in advanced courses or 


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1 programs, which may include gifted and talented 

2 programs, 8th grade Algebra I, Advanced Place3 ment, International Baccalaureate, dual enrollment, 

4 early college high school, or any similarly advanced 

5 courses or programs. 

6 (6) Provide direct services, such as tutoring, to 

7 students from underrepresented groups to enable 

8 those students to thrive academically in advanced 

9 courses and programs. 

10 (b) PERMITTED USES OF FUNDS.—A local edu11 cational agency receiving a grant or subgrant under this 

12 Act may (in addition to the required uses described in sub13 section (a)) use the grant or subgrant funds to carry out 

14 one or more of the following: 

15 (1) Launch innovative advanced coursework 

16 models that allow all students to benefit from ad17 vanced coursework, such as embedded enrichment 

18 (for elementary and middle school students), and 

19 open honors (for high school students). 

20 (2) Purchase curricula and materials for ad21 vanced courses and programs, such as calculators, 

22 books, and laboratory materials. 

23 (3) Cover the cost of advanced coursework 

24 exams for low-income students. 


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1 (4) Use not more than 20 percent of funds to 

2 train or hire teachers to teach advanced coursework. 

3 (c) NONPROFIT ENTITY.—A nonprofit institution of 

4 higher education or other nonprofit entity receiving a 

5 grant under section 5(a)(1)(C) may use the grant to carry 

6 out one or more of the following activities for students 

7 in rural areas and students who otherwise lack access to 

8 advanced courses or programs: 

9 (1) Provide direct services, such as tutoring, to 

10 students from underrepresented groups to enable 

11 those students to thrive academically in advanced 

12 courses and programs, which may include gifted and 

13 talented programs, 8th grade Algebra I, Advanced 

14 Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual enroll15 ment, early college high school, embedded enrich16 ment (for elementary and middle school students), 

17 open honors (for high school students), or any simi18 larly advanced courses or programs. 

19 (2) Purchase curricula and materials for ad20 vanced courses and programs, such as calculators, 

21 books, and laboratory materials. 

22 (3) Cover the cost of advanced coursework 

23 exams for low-income students. 

24 SEC. 8. REPORTING; BONUS GRANT. 

25 (a) REPORT TO SECRETARY.— 


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1 (1) STATES AND LEAS.—Not later than 60 days 

2 after the end of each year of the grant, each State 

3 educational agency or local educational agency re4 ceiving a grant shall prepare and submit to the Sec5 retary a report containing the following: 

6 (A) A description of the training that the 

7 local educational agency receiving a grant, or 

8 local educational agencies receiving a subgrant 

9 in the State, as applicable, conducted to train 

10 school leaders, academic counselors or advisors, 

11 and teachers on strategies for bridging inequi12 ties (according to race and ethnicity, sex, socio13 economic status, disability status, and status as 

14 an English learner) in advanced coursework or 

15 program participation and performance, includ16 ing the number of people trained and what 

17 schools those trained individuals are affiliated 

18 with. 

19 (B) A listing of the advanced courses or 

20 programs available at the local educational 

21 agency receiving a grant, or at each local edu22 cational agency that received a subgrant, as ap23 plicable, and the student enrollment mechanism 

24 for each of those courses or programs. If a local 

25 educational agency uses universal screening inVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:10 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4480.IS S4480

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1 stead of open enrollment or universal enroll2 ment, then the list shall include a description of 

3 what assessments will be used to determine en4 rollment as described in section 4(4). 

5 (C) The number and percentages of stu6 dents in the State (or in the local educational 

7 agency, in the case of a local educational agen8 cy receiving a grant) that are enrolled in ad9 vanced courses or programs, disaggregated and 

10 cross-tabulated by race and ethnicity, sex, dis11 ability status, socioeconomic status, and status 

12 as an English learner. 

13 (D) The academic outcomes (such as 

14 grades or exam scores) of students enrolled in 

15 advanced courses or programs in the State (or 

16 in the local educational agency, in the case of 

17 a local educational agency receiving a grant), 

18 disaggregated and cross-tabulated by race and 

19 ethnicity, sex, disability status, socioeconomic 

20 status, and status as an English learner. 

21 (E) A final budget for how the State or 

22 local educational agency spent funding awarded 

23 through the grant. 

24 (F) A narrative articulating whether the 

25 State or local educational agency receiving a 


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1 grant met its annual intermediate targets for 

2 equitable enrollment and performance among 

3 underrepresented subgroups of students in ad4 vanced coursework or programs, including anal5 ysis for why the State did or did not meet these 

6 targets across underrepresented subgroups of 

7 students, and a plan to remediate any gaps for 

8 the coming grant year. This narrative shall also 

9 include the analysis from the local advisory 

10 council (in the case of a grantee that is a local 

11 educational agency) or the State advisory coun12 cil (in the case of a grantee that is a State edu13 cational agency). 

14 (2) OTHER NONPROFIT ENTITIES.—Not later 

15 than 60 days after the end of each year of the grant, 

16 each nonprofit entity receiving a grant under section 

17 5(a)(1)(C) shall prepare and submit to the Secretary 

18 a report containing the information described in sub19 paragraphs (C) through (F) of paragraph (1) with 

20 respect to students that are enrolled in advanced 

21 courses or programs provided by the nonprofit entity 

22 and the nonprofit entity’s targets. 

23 (b) BONUS.— 

24 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The State 

25 educational agency receiving a grant under section 


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1 5(a)(1)(A) that achieves the greatest growth toward 

2 that State’s advanced coursework enrollment and 

3 performance equity goals described in section 

4 5(b)(1)(E) at the end of the first or second grant 

5 year shall receive a bonus payment of 5 percent of 

6 the original grant amount (to be used during the 

7 subsequent grant year). A State educational agency 

8 shall direct not less than 50 percent of the bonus 

9 funds to local educational agency subgrantees that 

10 achieved the greatest growth toward the local edu11 cational agency’s advanced coursework equity goals 

12 described in section 6(c)(1). 

13 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The local 

14 educational agency receiving a grant under section 

15 5(a)(1)(B) that achieves the greatest growth toward 

16 that local educational agency’s advanced coursework 

17 enrollment and performance equity goals described 

18 in section 5(b)(2)(G) at the end of the first grant 

19 year shall receive a bonus payment of 5 percent of 

20 the original grant amount (to be used during the 

21 subsequent grant year). A local educational agency 

22 shall direct not less than 50 percent of the bonus 

23 funds to the schools that achieved the greatest 

24 growth toward the local educational agency’s adVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:10 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4480.IS S4480

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1 vanced coursework equity goals described in section 

2 5(b)(2)(G). 

3 (c) EVALUATION.—At the end of the 3-year grant pe4 riod, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to Congress 

5 a report containing an evaluation of the grant program 

6 under this Act and a summary of the reports submitted 

7 under subsection (a). The evaluation shall contain an anal8 ysis of the effectiveness of the program, including the im9 pact of the grants on equitable enrollment and perform10 ance in advanced courses and programs. This evaluation 

11 shall provide recommendations based on the Secretary’s 

12 findings from the grant program. 

13 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

15 this Act $266,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, $266,000,000 

16 for fiscal year 2022, and $266,000,000 for fiscal year 

17 2023. 

Æ 


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