II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2149 

To authorize resources to provide students with opportunities for summer 

learning through summer learning grants. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 20, 2005 

Mr. OBAMA (for himself and Ms. MIKULSKI) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To authorize resources to provide students with opportunities 

for summer learning through summer learning grants. 

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 ‘‘Summer Term Edu5 cation Programs for Upward Performance Act of 2005’’ 

6 or the ‘‘STEP UP Act of 2005’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) All students experience learning losses when 

2 they do not engage in educational activities during 

3 the summer. 

4 (2) Students on average lose more than 1 

5 month’s worth of reading skills, and 2 months or 

6 more in mathematics facts and skills, during the 

7 summer. 

8 (3) The impact of summer learning loss is 

9 greatest for children living in poverty, for children 

10 with learning disabilities, and for children who do 

11 not speak English at home. 

12 (4) While middle-class children’s test scores pla13 teau or even rise during the summer months, scores 

14 plummet for children living in poverty. Disparities 

15 grow, so that reading scores of disadvantaged stu16 dents can fall more than 3 months behind the scores 

17 of their middle-class peers. 

18 (5) Summer learning losses by children living in 

19 poverty accumulate over the elementary school years, 

20 so that their achievement scores fall further and fur21 ther behind the scores of their more advantaged 

22 peers as the children progress through school. 

23 (6) This summer slide is costly for American 

24 education. Analysis by Professor Harris Cooper and 

25 his colleagues finds that 2 months of the school year 
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1 are lost: 1 month spent in reteaching and 1 month 

2 spent not providing new instruction. 

3 (7) Analysis of summer learning programs has 

4 demonstrated their effectiveness. In the BELL pro5 grams in Boston, New York, and Washington, DC, 

6 students gained several months’ worth of reading 

7 and mathematics skills in 6 weeks, with a majority 

8 of those students moving to a higher performance 

9 category, as assessed by standardized mathematics 

10 and reading tests. In the Center for Summer 

11 Learning’s Teach Baltimore Summer Academy, ran12 domized studies show that students who regularly 

13 attended the program for not less than 2 summers 

14 gained advantages of 70 to 80 percent of 1 full 

15 grade level in reading over control-group peers who 

16 did not attend summer school. 

17 (8) Summer learning programs are proven to 

18 remedy, reinforce, and accelerate learning, and can 

19 serve to close the achievement gap in education. 

20 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

21 The purpose of this Act is to create opportunities for 

22 summer learning by providing summer learning grants to 

23 eligible students, in order to— 

24 (1) provide the students with access to summer 

25 learning; 
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1 (2) facilitate the enrollment of students in ele2 mentary schools or youth development organizations 

3 during the summer; 

4 (3) promote collaboration between teachers and 

5 youth development professionals in order to bridge 

6 gaps between schools and youth programs; and 

7 (4) encourage teachers to try new techniques, 

8 acquire new skills, and mentor new colleagues. 

9 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY.—The 

12 term ‘‘educational service agency’’ has the meaning 

13 given the term in section 9101 of the Elementary 

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

15 7801). 

16 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti17 ty’’ means an entity that— 

18 (A) desires to participate in a summer 

19 learning grant program under this Act by pro20 viding summer learning opportunities described 

21 in section 6(d)(1)(B) to eligible students; and 

22 (B) is— 

23 (i) a local educational agency; 

24 (ii) a for-profit educational provider, 

25 nonprofit organization, or summer enrich-
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1 ment camp, that has been approved by the 

2 State educational agency to provide the 

3 summer learning opportunity described in 

4 section 6(d)(1)(B), including an entity that 

5 is in good standing that has been pre6 viously approved by a State educational 

7 agency to provide supplemental educational 

8 services; or 

9 (iii) a consortium consisting of a local 

10 educational agency and 1 or more of the 

11 following entities: 

12 (I) Another local educational 

13 agency. 

14 (II) A community–based youth 

15 development organization with a dem16 onstrated record of effectiveness in 

17 helping students learn. 

18 (III) An institution of higher 

19 education. 

20 (IV) An educational service agen21 cy. 

22 (V) A for-profit educational pro23 vider described in clause (ii). 

24 (VI) A nonprofit organization de25 scribed in clause (ii). 
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1 (VII) A summer enrichment 

2 camp described in clause (ii) 

3 (3) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

4 student’’ means a student who— 

5 (A) is eligible for a free lunch under the 

6 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 

7 (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); 

8 (B) is served by a local educational agency 

9 identified by the State educational agency in 

10 the application described in section 5(b); or 

11 (C)(i) in the case of a summer learning 

12 grant program authorized under this Act for 

13 fiscal year 2006, 2007, or 2008, is eligible to 

14 enroll in any of the grades kindergarten 

15 through grade 3 for the school year following 

16 participation in the program; or 

17 (ii) in the case of a summer learning grant 

18 program authorized under this Act for fiscal 

19 year 2009 or 2010, is eligible to enroll in any 

20 of the grades kindergarten through grade 5 for 

21 the school year following participation in the 

22 program. 

23 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

24 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
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1 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

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

3 (5) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

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

5 the term in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec6 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

7 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

8 the Secretary of Education. 

9 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

10 the several States of the United States, the District 

11 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 

12 Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin 

13 Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar14 iana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, 

15 the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Repub16 lic of Palau. 

17 (8) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

18 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

19 the term in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec20 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

21 SEC. 5. DEMONSTRATION GRANT PROGRAM. 

22 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—From the funds appro24 priated under section 8 for a fiscal year, the Sec25 retary shall carry out a demonstration grant pro-
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1 gram in which the Secretary awards grants, on a 

2 competitive basis, to State educational agencies to 

3 enable the State educational agencies to pay the 

4 Federal share of summer learning grants for eligible 

5 students. 

6 (2) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—For each fiscal year, 

7 the Secretary shall award not more than 5 grants 

8 under this section. 

9 (b) APPLICATION.—A State educational agency that 

10 desires to receive a grant under this section shall submit 

11 an application to the Secretary at such time, in such man12 ner, and accompanied by such information as the Sec13 retary may require. Such application shall identify the 

14 areas in the State where the summer learning grant pro15 gram will be offered and the local educational agencies 

16 that serve such areas. 

17 (c) AWARD BASIS.—In awarding grants under this 

18 section, the Secretary shall take into consideration an eq19 uitable geographic distribution of the grants. 

20 SEC. 6. SUMMER LEARNING GRANTS. 

21 (a) USE OF GRANTS FOR SUMMER LEARNING

22 GRANTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational 

24 agency that receives a grant under section 5 for a 

25 fiscal year shall use the grant funds to provide sum-
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1 mer learning grants for the fiscal year to eligible 

2 students in the State who desire to attend a summer 

3 learning opportunity offered by an eligible entity 

4 that enters into an agreement with the State edu5 cational agency under subsection (d)(1). 

6 (2) AMOUNT; FEDERAL AND NON-FEDERAL

7 SHARES.— 

8 (A) AMOUNT.—The amount of a summer 

9 learning grant provided under this Act shall 

10 be— 

11 (i) for each of the fiscal years 2006 

12 through 2009, $1,600; and 

13 (ii) for fiscal year 2010, $1,800. 

14 (B) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share 

15 of each summer learning grant shall be not 

16 more than 50 percent of the amount of the 

17 summer learning grant determined under sub18 paragraph (A). 

19 (C) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Fed20 eral share of each summer learning grant shall 

21 be not less than 50 percent of the amount of 

22 the summer learning grant determined under 

23 subparagraph (A), and shall be provided from 

24 non-Federal sources, such as State or local 

25 sources. 
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1 (b) DESIGNATION OF SUMMER SCHOLARS.—Eligible 

2 students who receive summer learning grants under this 

3 Act shall be known as ‘‘summer scholars’’. 

4 (c) SELECTION OF SUMMER LEARNING OPPOR5 TUNITY.— 

6 (1) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—A 

7 State educational agency that receives a grant under 

8 section 5 shall disseminate information about sum9 mer learning opportunities and summer learning 

10 grants to the families of eligible students in the 

11 State. 

12 (2) APPLICATION.—The parents of an eligible 

13 student who are interested in having their child par14 ticipate in a summer learning opportunity and re15 ceive a summer learning grant shall submit an appli16 cation to the State educational agency that includes 

17 a ranked list of preferred summer learning opportu18 nities. 

19 (3) PROCESS.—A State educational agency that 

20 receives an application under paragraph (2) shall— 

21 (A) process such application; 

22 (B) determine whether the eligible student 

23 shall receive a summer learning grant; 
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1 (C) coordinate the assignment of eligible 

2 students receiving summer learning grants with 

3 summer learning opportunities; and 

4 (D) if demand for a summer learning op5 portunity exceeds capacity— 

6 (i) in a case where information on the 

7 school readiness (based on school records 

8 and assessments of student achievement) 

9 of the eligible students is available, give 

10 priority for the summer learning oppor11 tunity to eligible students with low levels of 

12 school readiness; or 

13 (ii) in a case where such information 

14 on school readiness is not available, rely on 

15 randomization to assign the eligible stu16 dents. 

17 (4) FLEXIBILITY.—A State educational agency 

18 may assign a summer scholar to a summer learning 

19 opportunity program that is offered in an area 

20 served by a local educational agency that is not the 

21 local educational agency serving the area where such 

22 scholar resides. 

23 (5) REQUIREMENT OF ACCEPTANCE.—An eligi24 ble entity shall accept, enroll, and provide the sum25 mer learning opportunity of such entity to, any sum-
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1 mer scholar assigned to such summer learning op2 portunity by a State educational agency pursuant to 

3 this subsection. 

4 (d) AGREEMENT WITH ELIGIBLE ENTITY.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency 

6 shall enter into an agreement with the eligible entity 

7 offering a summer learning opportunity, under 

8 which— 

9 (A) the State educational agency shall 

10 agree to make payments to the eligible entity, 

11 in accordance with paragraph (2), for a summer 

12 scholar; and 

13 (B) the eligible entity shall agree to pro14 vide the summer scholar with a summer learn15 ing opportunity that— 

16 (i) provides a total of not less than 

17 the equivalent of 30 full days of instruction 

18 (or not less than the equivalent of 25 full 

19 days of instruction, if the equivalent of an 

20 additional 5 days is devoted to field trips 

21 or other enrichment opportunities) to the 

22 summer scholar; 

23 (ii) employs small-group, research24 based educational programs, materials, 

25 curricula, and practices; 
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1 (iii) provides a curriculum that— 

2 (I) emphasizes reading and 

3 mathematics; 

4 (II) is primarily designed to in5 crease the literacy and numeracy of 

6 the summer scholar; and 

7 (III) is aligned with the stand8 ards and goals of the school year cur9 riculum of the local educational agen10 cy serving the summer scholar; 

11 (iv) applies assessments to measure 

12 the skills taught in the summer learning 

13 opportunity and disaggregates the results 

14 of the assessments for summer scholars by 

15 race and ethnicity, economic status, limited 

16 English proficiency status, and disability 

17 category, in order to determine the oppor18 tunity’s impact on each subgroup of sum19 mer scholars; 

20 (v) collects daily attendance data on 

21 each summer scholar; and 

22 (vi) meets all applicable Federal, 

23 State, and local civil rights laws. 

24 (2) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

2 subparagraph (B), a State educational agency 

3 shall make a payment to an eligible entity for 

4 a summer scholar in the amount determined 

5 under subsection (a)(2)(A). 

6 (B) ADJUSTMENT.—In the case in which a 

7 summer scholar does not attend the full sum8 mer learning opportunity, the State educational 

9 agency shall reduce the amount provided to the 

10 eligible entity pursuant to subparagraph (A) by 

11 a percentage that is equal to the percentage of 

12 the summer learning opportunity not attended 

13 by such scholar. 

14 (e) USE OF SCHOOL FACILITIES.—State educational 

15 agencies are encouraged to require local educational agen16 cies in the State to allow eligible entities, in offering sum17 mer learning opportunities, to make use of school facilities 

18 in schools served by such local educational agencies at rea19 sonable or no cost. 

20 (f) ACCESS OF RECORDS.—An eligible entity offering 

21 a summer learning opportunity under this Act is eligible 

22 to receive, upon request, the school records and any pre23 vious supplemental educational services assessment 

24 records of a summer scholar served by such entity. 
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1 (g) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—A State educational 

2 agency or eligible entity receiving funding under this Act 

3 may use not more than 5 percent of such funding for ad4 ministrative costs associated with carrying out this Act. 

5 SEC. 7. EVALUATIONS; REPORT; WEBSITE. 

6 (a) EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT.—For each year 

7 that an eligible entity enters into an agreement under sec8 tion 6(d), the eligible entity shall prepare and submit to 

9 the Secretary a report on the activities and outcomes of 

10 each summer learning opportunity that enrolled a summer 

11 scholar, including— 

12 (1) information on the design of the summer 

13 learning opportunity; 

14 (2) the alignment of the summer learning op15 portunity with State standards; and 

16 (3) data from assessments of student mathe17 matics and reading skills for the summer scholars 

18 and on the attendance of the scholars, disaggregated 

19 by the subgroups described in section 6(d)(1)(B)(iv). 

20 (b) REPORT.—For each year funds are appropriated 

21 under section 8 for this Act, the Secretary shall prepare 

22 and submit a report to Congress on the summer learning 

23 grant programs, including the effectiveness of the summer 

24 learning opportunities in improving student achievement. 
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1 (c) SUMMER LEARNING GRANTS WEBSITE.—The 

2 Secretary shall make accessible, on the Department of 

3 Education website, information for parents and school 

4 personnel on successful programs and curricula, and best 

5 practices, for summer learning opportunities. 

6 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

8 this Act $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2006 and such sums 

9 as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2007 

10 through 2010. 

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