II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4928 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to support 

educational programs in civics and history, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 30, 2020 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. CORNYN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants 

to support educational programs in civics and history, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Educating for Democ5 racy Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are— 

8 (1) to support local educational agencies, ele9 mentary schools, and secondary schools in selecting 


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1 and making available to all students innovative, en2 gaging curricula and programs in civics and history 

3 that prepare them to understand American Govern4 ment and engage in American democratic practices 

5 as citizens and residents of the United States; 

6 (2) to provide resources to institutions of higher 

7 education for the purposes of offering effective pro8 fessional development opportunities to enable and 

9 encourage teachers to deliver instruction that en10 gages students in learning civics and history; 

11 (3) to provide resources to nonprofit organiza12 tions that have developed, or are developing, pro13 grams in civic education that incorporate practices 

14 that are proven to be effective in engaging students, 

15 and to assist in making such curricula and programs 

16 more widely available to schools and students, par17 ticularly in rural and inner-city urban areas that 

18 have traditionally been underserved by civic learning 

19 programs; 

20 (4) to provide resources to continue and expand 

21 research into practices, methods, and approaches 

22 that are effective in instructing elementary and sec23 ondary school students in civics and history; and 

24 (5) to encourage participation in the National 

25 Assessment of Educational Progress assessments in 


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1 civics and history in grades 4, 8, and 12, using a 

2 methodology sufficient to provide accurate State3 level data on student proficiency in civics and history 

4 disaggregated so as to have statistical significance 

5 for every State. 

6 SEC. 3. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available 

8 under section 10 the Secretary of Education is authorized 

9 to carry out the civics education grant programs described 

10 in sections 4 through 7. 

11 (b) APPLICATION.—To be considered for a grant 

12 under this Act, an eligible entity shall submit to the Sec13 retary of Education an application at such time, in such 

14 manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 

15 may require. 

16 (c) GRANT DURATION.—Each grant under this Act 

17 shall be awarded for a period of not less than 3 years. 

18 (d) PRIORITY.—Except as otherwise provided in this 

19 Act, the Secretary shall prioritize the award of grants to 

20 eligible entities that demonstrate the greatest potential 

21 to— 

22 (1) improve knowledge and engagement among 

23 students traditionally underserved by comprehensive 

24 civic education and American history programs, in25 cluding rural and inner-city urban students, English 


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1 learners, students who have not completed high 

2 school, and other such students; 

3 (2) close gaps in civic knowledge and achieve4 ment among students of different income levels, ra5 cial and ethnic groups, and native languages; 

6 (3) improve performance on the National As7 sessment of Educational Progress assessments in 

8 civics and history among students in grades 4, 8, 

9 and 12; 

10 (4) integrate evidence-based practices for pro11 moting student proficiency and engagement in civics; 

12 and 

13 (5) provide cost-effective, scalable delivery of 

14 programs and services. 

15 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATES. 

16 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu17 cation is authorized to make grants to States, on a com18 petitive basis, to support educational programs in civics 

19 and history in accordance with this section. 

20 (b) GRANT AMOUNT.—The amount of each grant to 

21 a State under this section shall be proportional to the 

22 amount received by all local educational agencies in the 

23 State under part A of title I of the Elementary and Sec24 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) 

25 for the previous fiscal year relative to the total such 


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1 amount received by all local educational agencies in every 

2 State that receives a grant under this section. 

3 (c) STATE RESERVATION.—A State that receives a 

4 grant under this section may reserve not more than 5 per5 cent of the amount of the grant for— 

6 (1) administrative costs of carrying out the 

7 State’s responsibilities under this section; and 

8 (2) monitoring and evaluating programs and 

9 activities supported with the grant. 

10 (d) SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN11 CIES.—A State that receives a grant under this section 

12 shall use not less than 95 percent of the amount of the 

13 grant to make subgrants, on a competitive or formula 

14 basis, to local educational agencies within the State to as15 sist such agencies in carrying out programs to improve 

16 the achievement of elementary and secondary school stu17 dents in the fields of civics and history. 

18 (e) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—A State shall use 

19 a grant under this section only to supplement the level 

20 of Federal, State, and local public funds that would, in 

21 absence of such grant, be made available for the activities 

22 supported by the grant, and not to supplant such funds. 

23 (f) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—As part of the ap24 plication required under section 3(b), a State shall include 

25 a plan describing how the State intends to use the grant 


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1 under this section. Each State plan shall include, at a min2 imum, the following: 

3 (1) An explanation of how the State will use the 

4 grant to supplement, and not supplant, other public 

5 funds provided for educational programs in civics 

6 and history. 

7 (2) Plans to address civics and history achieve8 ment gaps among students of different income lev9 els, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and native lan10 guages. 

11 (3) Plans to improve civics and history achieve12 ment among traditionally underserved students, in13 cluding rural and urban students and English learn14 ers. 

15 (4) Plans for making subgrants to local edu16 cational agencies as required under subsection (d), 

17 including— 

18 (A) details of how the State intends to dis19 tribute funding to local educational agencies, 

20 whether by competition or through a formula21 based system; 

22 (B) how the State’s approach to distrib23 uting funds to local educational agencies will 

24 take into account requirements of paragraphs 

25 (1) through (3); 


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1 (C) criteria by which local educational 

2 agencies’ applications for funding will be evalu3 ated, including how such applications will take 

4 into account the requirements of paragraphs 

5 (1) through (3); 

6 (D) how the State will ensure that local 

7 educational agencies will use grant funds to 

8 supplement, and not supplant, other public 

9 funding for educational programs in civics and 

10 history; and 

11 (E) how the State will evaluate and hold 

12 local educational agencies accountable for im13 proved student knowledge and achievement in 

14 civics and history. 

15 (5) An assurance that the State will participate 

16 in the National Assessment of Educational Progress 

17 assessments in civics and history in grades 4, 8, and 

18 12. 

19 (6) In the case of a State applying to renew a 

20 grant previously received under this section, an eval21 uation of the effectiveness of the activities carried 

22 out using the previous grant, which shall be based 

23 on the results of the most recent National Assess24 ment of Educational Progress assessment in civics 

25 and history, to the extent the results of such assessVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4928.IS S4928

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1 ment are available at the time of the State’s applica2 tion. 

3 SEC. 5. GRANTS TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS. 

4 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu5 cation is authorized to make grants to qualified nonprofit 

6 organizations, on a competitive basis, to assist such orga7 nizations in developing or expanding access to evidence8 based curricula, instructional models, and other edu9 cational programs to enhance student knowledge and 

10 achievement in civics and history in elementary schools 

11 and secondary schools. 

12 (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—As part of the ap13 plication required under section 3(b), a qualified nonprofit 

14 organization shall include a proposal that demonstrates 

15 how the activities proposed to be carried out with the 

16 grant under this section will enhance student knowledge 

17 and achievement in civics and history in elementary 

18 schools and secondary schools. 

19 (c) PRIORITY OF AWARDS.—In awarding grants 

20 under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to 

21 qualified nonprofit organizations that propose to use the 

22 grant to develop or expand access to curricula, instruc23 tional models, and other educational programs that— 


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1 (1) address the learning needs of traditionally 

2 underserved students, including rural and inner-city 

3 urban students and English learners; and 

4 (2) incorporate evidence-based practices to en5 hance student learning and engagement in civics and 

6 history. 

7 SEC. 6. GRANTS TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 

8 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu9 cation is authorized to make grants to institutions of high10 er education, on a competitive basis, to assist such institu11 tions in developing and implementing programs to train 

12 elementary and secondary school teachers in methods for 

13 instructing and engaging students in civics and history. 

14 (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—As part of the ap15 plication required under section 3(b), an institution of 

16 higher education shall include a proposal demonstrating 

17 that the institution— 

18 (1) has the ability to train elementary and sec19 ondary school teachers to provide comprehensive 

20 civics education; 

21 (2) is familiar with research on practices that 

22 are proven to contribute to effective instruction in 

23 civics and history and will incorporate such research 

24 into the training provided to teachers using the 

25 grant; and 


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1 (3) will use the grant to make training in civics 

2 education available to elementary and secondary 

3 school teachers in the State or geographic region 

4 served by the institution. 

5 (c) PRIORITY OF AWARDS.—In awarding grants 

6 under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to in7 stitutions of higher education that propose to use the 

8 grant to carry out training programs for teachers that— 

9 (1) address the specific needs of teachers work10 ing with traditionally underserved students, includ11 ing rural and inner-city urban students and English 

12 learners; and 

13 (2) incorporate evidence-based practices for im14 proving the ability of teachers to provide effective in15 struction in civics and history. 

16 SEC. 7. RESEARCH GRANTS. 

17 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu18 cation is authorized to make grants, on a competitive 

19 basis, to qualified researchers to research and evaluate— 

20 (1) elementary and secondary school students’ 

21 knowledge of civics and history; and 

22 (2) effective instructional practices and educa23 tor professional development in the fields of civics 

24 and history. 


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1 (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—As part of the ap2 plication required under section 3(b), a qualified re3 searcher shall include a description of the project to be 

4 funded with the grant under this section. The description 

5 of the project shall include a separate section that de6 scribes how the project may directly or indirectly affect 

7 civics education generally, which may include effects such 

8 as— 

9 (1) achieving the full participation of women, 

10 persons with disabilities, and underrepresented mi11 norities in civics and history education; 

12 (2) increasing public civic literacy and civic en13 gagement; 

14 (3) developing a diverse educator workforce; or 

15 (4) other such effects. 

16 (c) PRIORITY OF AWARDS.—In awarding grants 

17 under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to 

18 qualified researchers who propose to carry out activities 

19 that will benefit historically underserved communities, in20 cluding rural and inner-city urban communities and com21 munities of English learners. 

22 SEC. 8. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL 

23 PROGRESS. 

24 Section 303(b) of the Education Sciences Reform Act 

25 of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9622(b)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

2 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) 

3 through (H) as subparagraphs (E) through (I) 

4 respectively; 

5 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘(D) conduct a national assessment, using 

8 a methodology sufficient to provide accurate, 

9 disaggregated, statistically significant State10 level data on student proficiency for every 

11 State, on student academic achievement in pub12 lic and private elementary schools and sec13 ondary schools at least once every 2 years, in 

14 grades 4, 8, and 12 in civics and history;’’; and 

15 (C) in subparagraph (E), as so redesig16 nated, by striking ‘‘history, geography, civics’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘geography’’; and 

18 (2) in paragraph (3)(A)— 

19 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘(2)(E)’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘(2)(F)’’; 

21 (B) by redesignating clauses (iii) and (iv) 

22 as clauses (iv) and (v), respectively; 

23 (C) by inserting after clause (ii) the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(iii) shall conduct biennial State aca2 demic assessments of student achievement 

3 in civics and history in grades 4, 8, and 

4 12, as described in paragraph (2)(D)’’; and 

5 (D) in clause (iv), as so redesignated, by 

6 striking ‘‘(2)(D)’’ and inserting ‘‘(2)(E)’’. 

7 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) The term ‘‘civics’’, when used with respect 

10 to an educational program, means a program that 

11 addresses the following: 

12 (A) Acquisition of civic knowledge, includ13 ing an understanding of the history, heritage, 

14 civic life, and civic institutions of the United 

15 States. 

16 (B) Acquisition of civic skills, such as the 

17 ability to analyze text and determine the reli18 ability of sources and an understanding of the 

19 ways in which civic institutions operate and how 

20 individuals may be involved in civic life. 

21 (C) Acquisition of civic dispositions, values 

22 such as appreciation for free speech, civil dis23 course, tolerance and inclusion, and under24 standing perspectives that differ from one’s own 

25 as well as a disposition to be civically engaged. 


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1 (D) Development of civic behaviors, includ2 ing civic habits and practices such as voting, 

3 serving on juries, engagement in deliberative 

4 discussions, volunteering, attending public 

5 meetings, and other activities related to civic 

6 life. 

7 (2) The term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means— 

8 (A) with respect to grant program under 

9 section 4, a State; 

10 (B) with respect to the grant program 

11 under section 5, a qualified nonprofit organiza12 tion; 

13 (C) with respect to the grant program 

14 under section 6, an institution of higher edu15 cation; and 

16 (D) with respect to the grant program 

17 under section 7, a qualified researcher. 

18 (3) The term ‘‘evidence-based practices’’ means 

19 practices proven to contribute to the effectiveness of 

20 educational programs in civics, including— 

21 (A) innovative and engaging classroom in22 struction in civics, Government, and history; 

23 (B) service learning and student civic 

24 projects linked to classroom learning; 


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1 (C) learning through participation in mod2 els and simulations of democratic processes and 

3 experiential learning; 

4 (D) guided classroom discussion of current 

5 issues and events; 

6 (E) meaningful participation in school gov7 ernance; and 

8 (F) instruction in media literacy. 

9 (4) The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ 

10 has the meaning given that term in section 101 of 

11 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

12 1001). 

13 (5) The term ‘‘National Assessment of Edu14 cational Progress’’ means the National Assessment 

15 of Educational Progress carried out under section 

16 303(b) of the National Assessment of Educational 

17 Progress Authorization Act (20 U.S.C. 9622(b)). 

18 (6) The term ‘‘qualified nonprofit organization’’ 

19 means an organization that— 

20 (A) is described in section 501(c)(3) of the 

21 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and which is ex22 empt from taxation under section 501(a) of 

23 such Code; and 

24 (B) has experience developing curricula, in25 structional models, and other educational proVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4928.IS S4928

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1 grams for students in elementary schools and 

2 secondary schools. 

3 (7) The term ‘‘qualified researcher’’ means— 

4 (A) a nonprofit organization that has abil5 ity and capacity to carry out scientifically valid 

6 research; or 

7 (B) an individual affiliated with such an 

8 organization. 

9 (8) The terms ‘‘English learner’’, ‘‘elementary 

10 school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘secondary 

11 school’’, and ‘‘State’’ have the meanings given those 

12 terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec13 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

14 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 There are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal 

16 year 2021 and each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years— 

17 (1) $600,000,000 to carry out section 4; 

18 (2) $200,000,000 to carry out section 5; 

19 (3) $150,000,000 to carry out section 6; and 

20 (4) $50,000,000 to carry out section 7. 

Æ 


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