II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 958 

To establish an adolescent literacy program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2007 

Mr. SESSIONS (for himself, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. KERRY, Mr. 

LOTT, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. BURR, Mr. DODD, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. BINGAMAN, and Mrs. LINCOLN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

Pensions 

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 (15) Lessons from the Alabama Reading Initia5 tive, the Washington State Reading Initiative, and 

6 other successful adolescent literacy reforms can form 

7 the basis for the expansion of adolescent literacy ef8 forts, and, in so doing, generate additional informa9 tion on effective practices that can be widely dis10 seminated and applied. 

11 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

12 The purposes of this Act are— 

13 (1) to improve student achievement in grades 4 

14 through 12 by establishing adolescent literacy initia15 tives with measurable goals and explicit action steps 

16 to achieve those goals; 

17 (2) to improve secondary school graduation and 

18 college readiness rates by improving adolescent lit19 eracy achievement; 

20 (3) to provide support for selecting, admin21 istering, and interpreting diagnostic assessments, 

22 formative assessments, and summative assessments 

23 for adolescent literacy achievement; 


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1 (4) to develop curricular materials, instructional 

2 tools, and teaching strategies that boost adolescent 

3 literacy achievement; 

4 (5) to provide intensive high-quality profes5 sional development for teachers of core academic 

6 subjects to integrate adolescent literacy instructional 

7 strategies and assessments that support the learning 

8 of content; 

9 (6) to provide training for literacy coaches to 

10 guide and support all teachers regarding schoolwide 

11 literacy implementation; 

12 (7) to provide high-quality professional develop13 ment for school leaders in developing and admin14 istering adolescent literacy initiatives at the school 

15 level; and 

16 (8) to improve the coordination of standards, 

17 curricula, interventions, and assessments for adoles18 cent literacy skills within and among schools, local 

19 educational agencies, and States. 

20 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

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

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

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

24 school’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the meanVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:34 Mar 26, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S958.IS S958

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1 ings given the terms in section 9101 of the Elementary 

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

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

4 (1) ADOLESCENT LITERACY.—The term ‘‘ado5 lescent literacy’’ means the possession of the grade 

6 level appropriate reading and writing skills required 

7 for students in grades 4 through 12 to construct and 

8 communicate meaning from text and to become ac9 tively engaged in the learning process. 

10 (2) ADOLESCENT LITERACY INITIATIVE.—The 

11 term ‘‘adolescent literacy initiative’’ means a com12 prehensive approach to improving adolescent literacy 

13 achievement in grades 4 through 12. 

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

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

16 term in section 602 of the Individuals with Disabil17 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401). 

18 (4) DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT.—The term ‘‘di19 agnostic assessment’’ means an assessment that is— 

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

21 research; and 

22 (B) used for the purposes of— 

23 (i) identifying a student’s specific 

24 areas of strengths and weaknesses in lit25 eracy; 


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1 (ii) determining any difficulties that 

2 the student may have in literacy and the 

3 potential cause of such difficulties; and 

4 (iii) helping to determine possible lit5 eracy intervention strategies for, and the 

6 related special needs of, the student. 

7 (5) FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT.—The term 

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

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

10 systematic observations by teachers of the stu11 dent performing academic tasks that are part of 

12 the student’s daily classroom experience; 

13 (B) is used to improve instruction in lit14 eracy, including classroom instruction; and 

15 (C) causes the student to reflect on the 

16 student’s strengths and needs, and helps the 

17 student to internalize strategies for improving 

18 the student’s literacy skills. 

19 (6) HIGH-QUALITY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOP20 MENT.—The term ‘‘high-quality professional devel21 opment’’ means job-embedded, ongoing professional 

22 development that— 

23 (A) provides teachers, administrators, and 

24 school leaders with the research-based elements 

25 of an effective adolescent literacy initiative; and 


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1 (B) supports adolescent literacy instruction 

2 in core academic subjects. 

3 (7) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

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

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

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

8 coach’’ means a professional— 

9 (A) who— 

10 (i) has previous teaching experience 

11 and a master’s degree with a concentration 

12 in reading and writing education; or 

13 (ii) has obtained such experience and 

14 training not later than 3 years after as15 suming the role of literacy coach; 

16 (B) whose primary role with teachers and 

17 school personnel is to— 

18 (i) provide high-quality professional 

19 development opportunities for teachers and 

20 school personnel; 

21 (ii) collaborate with paraprofessionals, 

22 teachers, administrators, and the commu23 nity served by the school in the areas of 

24 reading and writing; and 


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1 (iii) work cooperatively and collabo2 ratively with other professionals in plan3 ning programs to meet the needs of diverse 

4 population learners, including children with 

5 disabilities and students who are limited 

6 English proficient; and 

7 (C) who may provide students with— 

8 (i) reflective, inquiry-based reading or 

9 writing diagnosis, instruction, and assess10 ment; and 

11 (ii) reading and writing assessment, in 

12 cooperation with other professionals (such 

13 as special education teachers, speech and 

14 language teachers, and school psycholo15 gists). 

16 (9) LITERACY LEADERSHIP TEAM.—The term 

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

18 than 2 individuals in a school that assumes the re19 sponsibility to guide the development and implemen20 tation of an adolescent literacy initiative, which indi21 viduals— 

22 (A) shall include not less than 1 individual 

23 who has literacy training; and 

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

25 specialist serving the school (including a litVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:34 Mar 26, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S958.IS S958

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1 eracy coach or media specialist), a counselor, a 

2 teacher of a core academic subject, a special 

3 education teacher, or a teacher with expertise in 

4 teaching the English language to children who 

5 are limited English proficient. 

6 (10) RESEARCH-BASED ELEMENTS OF AN EF7 FECTIVE ADOLESCENT LITERACY INITIATIVE.—The 

8 term ‘‘research-based elements of an effective adoles9 cent literacy initiative’’ means elements of a com10 prehensive approach to adolescent literacy that en11 tails— 

12 (A) explicit and systematic instruction in 

13 adolescent literacy strategies, including— 

14 (i) direct and explicit comprehension 

15 instruction; 

16 (ii) motivation and self-directed learn17 ing; 

18 (iii) text-based collaborative learning; 

19 (iv) strategic tutoring; 

20 (v) use of diverse texts; 

21 (vi) intensive writing; 

22 (vii) use of technology; and 

23 (viii) use of formative assessments; 

24 and 


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1 (B) school-level structural efforts to im2 prove adolescent literacy instruction, includ3 ing— 

4 (i) extended time for adolescent lit5 eracy instruction; 

6 (ii) high-quality professional develop7 ment for teachers; 

8 (iii) the use of summative assess9 ments; 

10 (iv) creating teacher teams to analyze 

11 student work and to plan instruction; 

12 (v) involving school leaders; and 

13 (vi) creating interdisciplinary and 

14 interdepartmental literacy teams to coordi15 nate literacy instruction in a school. 

16 (11) SCHOOL LEADER.—The term ‘‘school lead17 er’’ means an individual who— 

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

19 and 

20 (B) is responsible for— 

21 (i) the school’s performance; and 

22 (ii) the daily instructional and mana23 gerial operations of the school. 


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1 (12) SCIENTIFICALLY VALID.—The term ‘‘sci2 entifically valid’’, when used with respect to re3 search— 

4 (A) means research that applies rigorous, 

5 systematic, and objective procedures to obtain 

6 valid knowledge relevant to literacy develop7 ment, reading and writing instruction, and 

8 reading and writing difficulties; and 

9 (B) includes research that— 

10 (i) employs experimental, quasi-experi11 mental, or qualitative research methods in12 volving rigorous data analyses that are 

13 adequate to test the stated hypotheses and 

14 justify the general conclusions drawn; and 

15 (ii) has been accepted by a peer-re16 viewed journal, or approved by a panel of 

17 independent experts through a comparably 

18 rigorous, objective, and scientific review. 

19 (13) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

20 means the Secretary of Education. 

21 (14) SPECIAL EDUCATION.—The term ‘‘special 

22 education’’ has the meaning given the term in sec23 tion 602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu24 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1401). 


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1 (15) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

2 the several States of the United States, the District 

3 of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

4 (16) SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT.—The term 

5 ‘‘summative assessment’’ means an assessment that 

6 evaluates a student’s learning based on a standard7 ized examination designed to measure literacy 

8 achievement. 

9 SEC. 5. STRIVING READERS PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

10 (a) GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 

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

12 which the funds appropriated under section 11 are 

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

14 (A) reserve not more than a total of 1 per15 cent of such funds— 

16 (i) to award a contract under section 

17 9 for a national evaluation of the grant 

18 programs assisted under this subsection; 

19 and 

20 (ii) for the dissemination of informa21 tion, resulting from the grant programs as22 sisted under this subsection, in accordance 

23 with section 10; and 

24 (B) use the funds not reserved under sub25 paragraph (A) to award grants, on a competiVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:34 Mar 26, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S958.IS S958

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1 tive basis and in accordance with section 7(c), 

2 to local educational agencies (or consortia of 

3 local educational agencies) described in para4 graph (2) that apply under section 7(b), for the 

5 purpose of enabling the local educational agen6 cies or consortia to carry out the authorized ac7 tivities described in section 7(d). 

8 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—A local educational agency 

9 or consortium of local educational agencies shall only 

10 be eligible for a grant under this subsection if— 

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

12 agency, the local educational agency is eligible 

13 for assistance under part A of title I of the Ele14 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

15 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.); and 

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

17 educational agencies, each local educational 

18 agency participating in the consortium is eligi19 ble for assistance under such part. 

20 (b) GRANTS TO STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 

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

22 which the funds appropriated under section 11 equal 

23 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 

25 to State educational agencies, through allotVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:34 Mar 26, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S958.IS S958

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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 

receive less than 1 10 ⁄4 of 1 percent of the total 

11 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; 

16 (iii) 3 shall be appointed by the Sec17 retary from among persons recommended 

18 by the Chairman of the National Research 

19 Council of the National Academy of 

20 Sciences; and 

21 (iv) 3 shall be appointed by the Sec22 retary from among persons recommended 

23 by the Director of the National Institute of 

24 Child Health and Human Development. 

25 (B) COMPETENCY AND EXPERTISE.— 


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1 (i) COMPETENCY.—The Secretary 

2 shall ensure that each member of the peer 

3 review panel appointed under subpara4 graph (A) is competent, by virtue of the 

5 training, expertise, or experience of the 

6 member, to evaluate grant applications 

7 under this section. 

8 (ii) EXPERTISE.—The Secretary shall 

9 ensure that the peer review panel ap10 pointed under subparagraph (A) includes, 

11 at a minimum— 

12 (I) classroom teachers or literacy 

13 coaches with expertise in literacy, in14 cluding special education teachers and 

15 teachers of students who are limited 

16 English proficient; 

17 (II) experts who provide high18 quality professional development to in19 dividuals who teach literacy to chil20 dren and adults; 

21 (III) experts who provide high22 quality professional development to 

23 other instructional staff; and 


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1 (IV) experts in screening, diag2 nostic, and classroom-based instruc3 tional reading assessments. 

4 (4) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The panel shall rec5 ommend grant applications under this section to the 

6 Secretary for funding or for disapproval. 

7 (5) DISTRIBUTION OF RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

8 Not later than 120 days after the panel submits the 

9 panel’s recommendation regarding an application by 

10 a State educational agency or a local educational 

11 agency for a grant under this section to the Sec12 retary, the Secretary shall notify the State edu13 cational agency or local educational agency that the 

14 application has been approved or disapproved and 

15 shall provide to such State educational agency or 

16 local educational agency a copy of the panel’s rec17 ommendation. 

18 (e) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds 

19 awarded under this section shall supplement, and not sup20 plant, non-Federal funds that would, in the absence of 

21 such grant funds, be made available for the literacy in22 struction of pupils participating in programs assisted 

23 under this Act. 

24 (f) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Each State edu25 cational agency that receives a grant under this section, 


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1 and each local educational agency that receives a grant 

2 or subgrant under this section, shall maintain the expendi3 tures of the State educational agency or local educational 

4 agency, respectively, for literacy instruction in grades 4 

5 through 12 at a level not less than the level of such ex6 penditures maintained by the State educational agency or 

7 local educational agency, respectively, for the fiscal year 

8 preceding the fiscal year for which the grant or subgrant 

9 is received. 

10 SEC. 6. STATE GRANTS. 

11 (a) STATE APPLICATIONS.—A State educational 

12 agency desiring to receive an allotment under section 

13 5(b)(1)(D) shall submit an application to the Secretary 

14 at such time, in such manner, and containing such infor15 mation as the Secretary may require. Each such applica16 tion shall include— 

17 (1) an assurance from the State educational 

18 agency that the State educational agency will form 

19 an adolescent literacy team that— 

20 (A) builds public support for a statewide 

21 focus on adolescent literacy; 

22 (B) strengthens and aligns State literacy 

23 standards with curricula, assessments, and 

24 high-quality professional development require25 ments; 


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1 (C) guides local educational agencies and 

2 schools in the creation of adolescent literacy ini3 tiatives; 

4 (D) builds educators’ capacity to provide 

5 adolescent literacy instruction; 

6 (E) measures and assesses progress in ad7 olescent literacy at the school, local educational 

8 agency, and State levels, using existing data if 

9 such data are valid, appropriate, and approved 

10 by the Secretary; and 

11 (F) disseminates information on promising 

12 practices and progress in student literacy 

13 achievement; 

14 (2) an assurance that the State educational 

15 agency, and any local educational agency receiving a 

16 subgrant from the State educational agency under 

17 section 7, will, if requested, participate in the na18 tional evaluation under section 9; and 

19 (3) an implementation plan that includes— 

20 (A) a description of how the State edu21 cational agency will assist local educational 

22 agencies with developing and using the forma23 tive assessments, summative assessments, 

24 teaching strategies, curricular materials, in25 structional tools, high-quality professional develVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:34 Mar 26, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S958.IS S958

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1 opment, and research-based elements of an ef2 fective adolescent literacy initiative; 

3 (B) evidence that local educational agen4 cies in the State are committed to instructional 

5 changes and can implement adolescent literacy 

6 initiatives effectively; 

7 (C) a description of how the State edu8 cational agency will coordinate and align the 

9 State grant program assisted under this Act 

10 with— 

11 (i) other State and local programs 

12 that promote adolescent literacy instruc13 tion; and 

14 (ii) overall literacy instruction in the 

15 State in kindergarten through grade 12; 

16 (D) a description of how the State edu17 cational agency will, to the extent practicable, 

18 award grants to— 

19 (i) local educational agencies that 

20 serve rural areas; and 

21 (ii) local educational agencies that 

22 serve urban areas; and 

23 (E) a description of how local educational 

24 agencies in the State will address the literacy 

25 needs of children with disabilities, and students 


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1 who are limited English proficient, in grades 4 

2 through 12 and how local educational agencies 

3 in the State will provide professional develop4 ment in adolescent literacy instruction to spe5 cial education teachers or teachers of students 

6 who are limited English proficient. 

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

8 amount allotted to a State educational agency under sec9 tion 5(b)(1)(D), the State educational agency shall use— 

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

11 award subgrants under section 7; 

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

13 to administer the subgrant program; and 

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

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

16 (c) STATE ACTIVITIES.— 

17 (1) MANDATORY ACTIVITIES.—A State edu18 cational agency that receives an allotment under sec19 tion 5(b)(1)(D) shall use the funds made available 

20 under subsection (b)(3) to carry out all of the fol21 lowing activities: 

22 (A) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OR

23 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The State edu24 cational agency shall provide high-quality pro25 fessional development, or technical assistance, 


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1 to a local educational agency, or a provider of 

2 high-quality professional development associated 

3 with a local educational agency, to help the 

4 local educational agency or provider administer 

5 high-quality professional development in order 

6 to train teachers and school leaders in adoles7 cent literacy instruction. 

8 (B) PRESERVICE COURSEWORK REVIEW.— 

9 The State educational agency shall strengthen 

10 and enhance preservice courses for students 

11 preparing, at all public institutions of higher 

12 education in the State, to teach any of grades 

13 4 through 12 by— 

14 (i) reviewing such courses to deter15 mine whether the courses’ content is con16 sistent with the findings of the most cur17 rent scientifically based literacy research, 

18 including findings on the research-based 

19 elements of an effective adolescent literacy 

20 initiative; 

21 (ii) following up such reviews with 

22 recommendations to ensure that such insti23 tutions offer courses that meet the highest 

24 standards; and 


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1 (iii) preparing a report on the results 

2 of such reviews and submitting the report 

3 to the reading and literacy partnership for 

4 the State established under section 

5 1203(d) of the Elementary and Secondary 

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

7 6363(d)) and all public institutions of 

8 higher education in the State, and making 

9 the report available for public review by 

10 means of the Internet. 

11 (C) STATE LICENSURE AND CERTIFI12 CATION RECOMMENDATIONS.—The State edu13 cational agency shall make recommendations on 

14 how the State licensure and certification stand15 ards in the area of reading instruction in 

16 grades 4 through 12 might be improved. 

17 (D) PROGRESS REPORTS FOR STATE EDU18 CATIONAL AGENCY GRANT RECIPIENTS.— 

19 (i) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 60 

20 days after the termination of the third 

21 year and the fifth year of the grant period, 

22 the State educational agency shall submit 

23 a progress report to the Secretary that 

24 shall include— 


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1 (I) information on the progress 

2 the State educational agency and local 

3 educational agencies within the State 

4 are making in reducing the number of 

5 students served under this Act in 

6 grades 4 through 12 who are reading 

7 or writing below grade level (as dem8 onstrated by such information as 

9 teacher reports and school evaluations 

10 of mastery of the research-based ele11 ments of an effective adolescent lit12 eracy initiative); 

13 (II) evidence from the State edu14 cational agency and local educational 

15 agencies within the State that the 

16 State educational agency and the local 

17 educational agencies have— 

18 (aa) significantly increased 

19 the number of students reading 

20 and writing at or above grade 

21 level; 

22 (bb) significantly increased 

23 the percentages of students de24 scribed in section 

25 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the EleVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:34 Mar 26, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S958.IS S958

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1 mentary and Secondary Edu2 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

3 6311 (b)(2)(C)(v)(II)) who are 

4 reading at or above grade level; 

5 and 

6 (cc) successfully imple7 mented the State educational 

8 agency’s duties under this Act; 

9 and 

10 (III) information regarding the 

11 number and percentage of students 

12 served by the local educational agen13 cies within the State who are grad14 uating from secondary school with a 

15 regular secondary school diploma in 

16 the standard number of years. 

17 (ii) PEER REVIEW.—The progress re18 port described in this paragraph shall be 

19 reviewed by the peer review panel convened 

20 under section 5(d). 

21 (2) PERMISSIVE ACTIVITIES.—A State edu22 cational agency that receives an allotment under sec23 tion 5(b)(1)(D) may use the funds made available 

24 under subsection (b)(3) to carry out any of the fol25 lowing activities: 


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1 (A) Identifying providers of high-quality 

2 professional development for local educational 

3 agencies. 

4 (B) Training the personnel of local edu5 cational agencies to use data systems that track 

6 student literacy achievement. 

7 SEC. 7. GRANTS AND SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL 

8 AGENCIES. 

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

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

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

12 competitive basis, to local educational agencies and con13 sortia of local educational agencies to enable the local edu14 cational agencies and consortia to carry out the authorized 

15 activities described in subsection (d). 

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

17 consortium desiring to receive a grant or subgrant under 

18 this Act shall submit an application to the Secretary or 

19 the State educational agency (as appropriate) at such 

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

21 the Secretary or the State educational agency, respec22 tively, may require. Such application shall include the fol23 lowing information: 


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1 (1) For each school that the local educational 

2 agency or consortium identifies as participating in a 

3 grant or subgrant program under this Act— 

4 (A) how the school, local educational agen5 cy, or a provider of high-quality professional de6 velopment will provide ongoing high-quality pro7 fessional development in adolescent literacy in8 struction to teachers of core academic subjects 

9 and school leaders served by the school, local 

10 educational agency, or provider, respectively; 

11 (B) how the school will perform a capacity 

12 survey to identify the strengths and weaknesses 

13 of such school related to adolescent literacy; 

14 (C) how the results of the survey described 

15 in subparagraph (B) will be used to inform in16 struction at the school; 

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

18 leadership team; 

19 (ii) the composition of the literacy leader20 ship team; and 

21 (iii) how the literacy leadership team will— 

22 (I) create an adolescent literacy initia23 tive; 

24 (II) assess the success of the adoles25 cent literacy initiative; and 


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1 (III) determine what refinements and 

2 changes are needed to the adolescent lit3 eracy initiative; 

4 (E) a budget for the school that projects 

5 the costs of developing and implementing an 

6 adolescent literacy initiative; and 

7 (F) an explanation of how the school will 

8 integrate adolescent literacy instruction into 

9 core academic subjects. 

10 (2) A description of— 

11 (A) the assessment system that will be 

12 used to track literacy progress in schools that 

13 the local educational agency or consortium iden14 tifies as participating in a grant program or 

15 subgrant program, as appropriate, under this 

16 Act; 

17 (B) the types of formative assessments and 

18 summative assessments that will be used in the 

19 assessment system; and 

20 (C) the types of assessment results that 

21 will determine the success of the adolescent lit22 eracy initiative under this Act. 

23 (3) How parents will be involved in supporting 

24 adolescent literacy instruction. 


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1 (4) In the case of a local educational agency de2 siring a grant under section 5(a)(1)(B), an assur3 ance that the local educational agency will, if re4 quested, participate in the national evaluation under 

5 section 9. 

6 (c) AWARD BASIS.— 

7 (1) PRIORITY.— 

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

9 State educational agency, as appropriate, shall 

10 give priority to awarding a grant or subgrant 

11 under this Act to a local educational agency or 

12 consortium, on the basis of the factors de13 scribed in subparagraph (B). 

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

15 subparagraph (A) are— 

16 (i) the number of children aged 5 to 

17 17 served by the local educational agency 

18 or consortium who are from families below 

19 the poverty level, based on the most recent 

20 satisfactory data provided to the Secretary 

21 by the Bureau of the Census for deter22 mining eligibility under section 

23 1124(c)(1)(A) of the Elementary and Sec24 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

25 6333(c)(1)(A)); 


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1 (ii) the number or percentage of stu2 dents in grades 4 through 12 served by the 

3 local educational agency or consortium who 

4 are reading or writing below grade level; 

5 and 

6 (iii) the total number or percentage of 

7 schools served by the local educational 

8 agency or consortium that— 

9 (I) enroll students in any of the 

10 grades 4 through 12; and 

11 (II) were identified for school im12 provement, corrective action, or re13 structuring under paragraph (1), (7), 

14 or (8) of section 1116(b) of the Ele15 mentary and Secondary Education 

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

17 the preceding academic year. 

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

19 the amounts of the grant or subgrant awards under 

20 this Act, the Secretary or the State educational 

21 agency, as applicable, shall— 

22 (A) provide funds in sufficient size and 

23 scope to enable the local educational agency or 

24 consortium receiving a grant or subgrant to im25 prove adolescent literacy instruction; and 


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1 (B) provide funds in an amount related to 

2 the number or percentage of students in grades 

3 4 through 12 served by the local educational 

4 agency or consortium who are reading below 

5 grade level. 

6 (d) LOCAL AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.— 

7 (1) MANDATORY ACTIVITIES.—A local edu8 cational agency or consortium that receives a grant 

9 or subgrant under this Act shall use the grant or 

10 subgrant funds to carry out all of the following ac11 tivities for students in grades 4 through 12: 

12 (A) Selecting and administering 

13 screenings, diagnostic assessments, formative 

14 assessments, and summative assessments to de15 termine the students’ literacy difficulties, read16 ing and writing levels, and literacy growth. 

17 (B) Developing and implementing adoles18 cent literacy plans that serve the needs of stu19 dents (including children with disabilities and 

20 students who are limited English proficient) 

21 who are reading or writing significantly below 

22 grade level, which plans shall— 

23 (i) provide intensive, accelerated, ex24 plicit instruction in reading to students 


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1 who have significant deficits in reading 

2 skills; 

3 (ii) include the research-based ele4 ments of an effective adolescent literacy 

5 initiative; 

6 (iii) provide literacy materials and in7 structional strategies to improve reading or 

8 writing achievement; 

9 (iv) provide, to teachers in core aca10 demic subjects, high-quality professional 

11 development that includes instruction on 

12 utilizing the research-based elements of an 

13 effective adolescent literacy initiative, in14 cluding utilizing age-appropriate reading 

15 materials and instructional strategies to 

16 improve the literacy skills of the students 

17 within the content area; 

18 (v) provide, in addition to regular 

19 classroom instruction, extended learning 

20 opportunities for the students during 

21 school hours or at school facilities; and 

22 (vi) allow teachers to meet together to 

23 plan instruction, review the work of the 

24 students, and analyze literacy data. 


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1 (C) Training school leaders to support, de2 velop, and administer adolescent literacy initia3 tives that— 

4 (i) utilize data— 

5 (I) to inform instructional deci6 sions; and 

7 (II) to assess professional devel8 opment needs; 

9 (ii) assess the quality of adolescent lit10 eracy instruction in core academic subjects; 

11 and 

12 (iii) provide time for teachers to meet 

13 to plan adolescent literacy instruction in 

14 core academic subjects. 

15 (D) Collecting, analyzing, and reporting 

16 data on the literacy achievement growth of the 

17 students who are served by the local educational 

18 agency or consortium and who read or write 

19 significantly below grade level (as determined 

20 by the Secretary or the State educational agen21 cy, as appropriate), which may include con22 tracting with an external evaluator to measure 

23 the impact of adolescent literacy interventions 

24 on the students. 


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1 (E) In the case of a local educational agen2 cy or consortium receiving a subgrant under 

3 subsection (a)— 

4 (i) collecting and summarizing data— 

5 (I) to document the effectiveness 

6 of activities carried out under this Act 

7 in individual schools and in the local 

8 educational agency as a whole; and 

9 (II) to stimulate and accelerate 

10 improvement by identifying the 

11 schools that produce significant gains 

12 in academic achievement; and 

13 (ii) reporting data to the State edu14 cational agency for all students and cat15 egories of students described in section 

16 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the Elementary 

17 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

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

19 (F) In the case of a local educational agen20 cy or consortium receiving a grant under sec21 tion 5(a)(1)(B), submitting to the Secretary, 

22 not later than 60 days after the termination of 

23 the third year and the fifth year of the grant 

24 period, a progress report that contains the in25 formation described in section 6(c)(1)(D)(i) 


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1 with respect to the local educational agency, 

2 which report shall be reviewed by the peer re3 view panel convened under section 5(d). 

4 (2) PERMISSIVE ACTIVITIES.—A local edu5 cational agency or consortium that receives a grant 

6 or subgrant under this Act may use the grant or 

7 subgrant funds to carry out any of the following ac8 tivities for students in grades 4 through 12: 

9 (A) Recruiting, placing, and training ado10 lescent literacy coaches. 

11 (B) Providing high-quality professional de12 velopment for teachers or identifying providers 

13 of high-quality professional development for 

14 teachers. 

15 (C) Connecting out-of-school learning op16 portunities to in-school learning in order to im17 prove the literacy achievement of the students. 

18 (D) Training parents and family members 

19 to support the improvement of adolescent lit20 eracy, as appropriate. 

21 (E) Acquiring academically rich literacy 

22 materials that support multiple reading levels 

23 and engage the interests of the students. 

24 (F) Utilizing technology and purchasing 

25 software to improve literacy achievement. 


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1 (G) Purchasing, implementing, or adapting 

2 supplementary literacy interventions for stu3 dents who are reading or writing below grade 

4 level. 

5 (3) LIMITATION TO CERTAIN SCHOOLS.—A 

6 local educational agency receiving a subgrant under 

7 subsection (a) shall, in distributing subgrant funds 

8 under this subsection, provide funds only to schools 

9 that both— 

10 (A) are among the schools served by the 

11 local educational agency with the highest per12 centages or numbers of students in grades 4 

13 through 12 reading below grade level, based on 

14 the most currently available data; and 

15 (B)(i) are identified for school improve16 ment, corrective action, or restructuring under 

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

18 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

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

20 (ii) have the highest percentages or num21 bers of children counted under section 1124(c) 

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

23 SEC. 8. CONSEQUENCES OF INSUFFICIENT PROGRESS. 

24 (a) CONSEQUENCES FOR GRANT RECIPIENTS.—If 

25 the Secretary determines that a State educational agency 


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1 receiving a grant under section 5(b)(1)(D) or a local edu2 cational agency or consortium receiving a grant under sec3 tion 5(a)(1)(B) is not making significant progress in meet4 ing the purposes of this Act after the submission of a 

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

6 7(d)(1)(F), respectively, then the Secretary may withhold, 

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

8 accordance with section 455 of the General Education 

9 Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1234d) or take such other ac10 tion authorized by law as the Secretary determines nec11 essary, including providing technical assistance upon re12 quest of the State educational agency, local educational 

13 agency, or consortium, respectively. 

14 (b) CONSEQUENCES FOR SUBGRANT RECIPIENTS.— 

15 A State educational agency receiving a grant under section 

16 5(b)(1)(D) may refuse to award subgrant funds to a local 

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

18 State educational agency finds that the local educational 

19 agency or consortium is not making significant progress 

20 in meeting the purposes of this Act, after— 

21 (1) providing technical assistance to the local 

22 educational agency or consortium; and 

23 (2) affording the local educational agency or 

24 consortium notice and an opportunity for a hearing. 


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1 SEC. 9. NATIONAL EVALUATION. 

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

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

4 5, the Secretary shall enter into a contract with an inde5 pendent organization to perform a scientifically valid, 

6 quantitative, and qualitative 5-year evaluation of the grant 

7 and subgrant programs assisted under this Act. 

8 (b) CONTENTS OF EVALUATION.—The evaluation de9 scribed in subsection (a) shall include an analysis of each 

10 of the following: 

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

12 of an effective adolescent literacy initiative on stu13 dent achievement, and how various elements combine 

14 to promote student learning. 

15 (2) How State standards, local educational 

16 agency and school curricula, and school interventions 

17 combine to impact student achievement. 

18 (3) The impact of diagnostic assessments and 

19 formative assessments on student achievement. 

20 (4) High-quality professional development and 

21 the improvement of teacher practice and student 

22 achievement resulting from such professional devel23 opment. 

24 (5) The impact of adolescent literacy initiatives 

25 on student motivation, engagement, and participa26 tion in literacy activities and academics. 


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1 (6) The relationship between students’ literacy 

2 achievement and secondary school graduation rates. 

3 SEC. 10. INFORMATION DISSEMINATION. 

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

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

6 the National Institute for Literacy, in collaboration with 

7 the Secretary, the regional educational laboratories estab8 lished under part D of the Education Sciences Reform Act 

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

10 National Institute of Child Health and Human Develop11 ment, shall distribute information on adolescent literacy 

12 instruction, including— 

13 (1) information on adolescent literacy instruc14 tion and the impact of the instruction on— 

15 (A) student achievement, motivation, and 

16 engagement for literacy; and 

17 (B) student graduation with a secondary 

18 school diploma; 

19 (2) information on elements of high-quality pro20 fessional development that improve literacy achieve21 ment in students in grades 4 through 12; and 

22 (3) information on schools, local educational 

23 agencies, and States that have successfully improved 

24 literacy achievement in grades 4 through 12. 


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1 SEC. 11. 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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