II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3279 

To promote equity in advanced coursework and programs at elementary 

and secondary schools. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 9, 2023 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and 

Mr. BROWN) 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 twenty-first century skills in the fields 

8 of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 

9 (referred to in this Act as ‘‘STEM’’) needed to suc10 ceed in college and a competitive global workforce. 

11 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

12 Congress finds the following: 

13 (1) Black, Latino, and Native American stu14 dents, students with disabilities, English learners, 

15 and students from low-income families are underrep16 resented in advanced programs and courses. 

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

18 United States participate in the Advanced Place19 ment (AP) program, just over 1 in 20 low-income, 

20 Black, and Native American students participate in 

21 Advanced Placement, 1 in 50 English learners par22 ticipate, and fewer than 1 in 50 students with dis23 abilities participate. One in 10 White students, 1 in 

24 15 Latino students, and 1 in 20 Black students par25 ticipate in dual enrollment programs. 


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1 (3) Taking the mathematics course Algebra 1 

2 in grade 8 is necessary for most students to be on 

3 track for enrolling in advanced math courses in high 

4 school. If Black and Latino students had a fair op5 portunity to participate in eighth grade Algebra I 

6 across the country, schools would enroll an addi7 tional 43,019 Black students and 59,452 Latino stu8 dents in eighth grade Algebra I courses. The De9 partment of Education reported that in the 2015– 

10 2016 school year, only 48 percent of schools with 

11 high concentrations of English learners offered Alge12 bra I compared with 70 percent of schools with low 

13 concentrations of English learner students. In the 

14 same year, just 2 percent of English learner stu15 dents nationwide were enrolled in Algebra I in grade 

16 8. 

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

18 math achievement levels equal to those of a high-in19 come student is half as likely to receive gifted serv20 ices as the high-income student. Black students are 

21 approximately half as likely as White peers with the 

22 same mathematics and reading achievement levels to 

23 be referred to gifted services. 

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1 vanced courses and programs is the over-reliance on 

2 subjective criteria, such as the recommendation of 

3 teachers and counselors, in the advanced course ad4 mittance process. When Denver Public Schools im5 plemented universal screening for gifted and talented 

6 programs, Latino students were identified for the 

7 program at twice the rate as the year before. 

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

9 scored in the top 2 proficiency levels on the 2018 

10 PISA math assessment. This is below the 

11 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Devel12 opment (OECD) average and less than half the rate 

13 of South Korea, Japan, and Switzerland. 

14 (7) Public elementary schools and secondary 

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

16 due to COVID–19 related tax revenue decreases and 

17 new COVID–19 related expenses. As school districts 

18 prepare to make drastic cuts to educational pro19 gramming, access to advanced coursework and pro20 grams is in jeopardy for millions of students, espe21 cially students from underrepresented groups and 

22 students attending under-resourced schools. Addi23 tional funding and reforms are needed to maintain 

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1 grams, especially for marginalized students in com2 munities hit hardest by the COVID–19 pandemic. 

3 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) TERMS FROM THE ELEMENTARY AND SEC6 ONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.—The terms 

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

8 ‘‘English learner’’, ‘‘gifted and talented’’, ‘‘institu9 tion of higher education’’, ‘‘parent’’, ‘‘school leader’’, 

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

11 have the meaning given those terms in section 8101 

12 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

13 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

14 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

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

16 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec17 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801), 

18 and includes a public charter school that is a local 

19 educational agency. 

20 (3) OPEN ENROLLMENT.—The term ‘‘open en21 rollment’’ means an enrollment mechanism through 

22 which any student that chooses to enroll in an ad23 vanced course or program is allowed to do so, with24 out regard to previous academic performance or test 

25 scores. 


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1 (4) SUBGROUP OF STUDENTS.—The term ‘‘sub2 group of students’’ has the meaning given that term 

3 in section 1111(c)(2) of the Elementary and Sec4 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

5 6311(c)(2)). 

6 (5) UNIVERSAL SCREENING.—The term ‘‘uni7 versal screening’’ means an enrollment mechanism 

8 through which all students in a grade are screened 

9 for enrollment in advanced courses and programs. 

10 Students that are determined to be qualified for ad11 vanced courses or programs are automatically en12 rolled in those courses or programs, unless a parent 

13 chooses to opt out a student. The determination of 

14 which students are qualified for advanced courses or 

15 programs— 

16 (A) shall be made after consideration of 

17 not less than 2 objective assessments (except 

18 that a student may qualify based on only 1 

19 such assessment)— 

20 (i) that are combined in a reasoned 

21 way that is not biased against any par22 ticular subgroup of students; 

23 (ii) that provide appropriate accom24 modations for students with disabilities; 


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1 (iii) that may be administered not ex2 plicitly for the primary purpose of deter3 mining enrollment in an advanced course 

4 or program (such as through a statewide 

5 exam that all students in a grade will 

6 take), so long as students with disabilities 

7 have equal access to the assessment and 

8 are provided appropriate accommodations 

9 in accordance with the Individuals with 

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

11 1400 et seq.) and section 504 of the Reha12 bilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794); 

13 and 

14 (iv) that may include— 

15 (I) a standardized assessment 

16 that provides appropriate accommoda17 tions for students with disabilities in 

18 accordance with the Individuals with 

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

20 1400 et seq.) and section 504 of the 

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

22 794); 

23 (II) a statewide, districtwide, or 

24 schoolwide assessment; or 


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1 (III) grades from relevant 

2 courses, a portfolio of relevant work, 

3 or class ranking; and 

4 (B) may be partially based upon a subjec5 tive measure (such as a teacher’s recommenda6 tion) in addition to the required 2 objective 

7 measures. 

8 SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

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

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

11 (A) awarding not less than 80 percent of 

12 the amounts authorized to be appropriated 

13 under section 9 to State educational agencies to 

14 allow those State educational agencies to award 

15 subgrants to participating local educational 

16 agencies, including public charter schools, to en17 able those local educational agencies to carry 

18 out the activities described in section 7; 

19 (B) awarding not less than 15 percent of 

20 the amounts authorized to be appropriated 

21 under section 9 to participating local edu22 cational agencies to allow those local edu23 cational agencies to carry out the activities de24 scribed in section 7; and 


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1 (C) awarding not more than 4 percent of 

2 the amounts authorized to be appropriated 

3 under section 9 to an institution of higher edu4 cation or other nonprofit entity that has a dem5 onstrated record of effectiveness in delivering or 

6 designing advanced coursework or programs 

7 (such as by previously executing a successful 

8 project that was part of the Jacob K. Javits 

9 Gifted and Talented Students Education Pro10 gram under section 4644 of the Elementary 

11 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

12 U.S.C. 7294)), to enable that institution or en13 tity to provide services to students in rural 

14 areas and students who otherwise lack access to 

15 advanced courses or programs; and 

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

17 amounts authorized to be appropriated under section 

18 9 for the Department of Education to administer the 

19 program under this Act, provide technical assistance 

20 to grantees, evaluate grantees’ performance (as re21 quired by this Act), and disseminate information 

22 about findings and best practices related to the ac23 tivities authorized under this Act. 

24 (b) APPLICATION.— 


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1 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—A State 

2 educational agency desiring to receive a grant under 

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

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

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

6 as the Secretary may require. The application shall 

7 include the following: 

8 (A) An assurance that memoranda of un9 derstanding, as described in section 6(c), have 

10 been executed between the State educational 

11 agency and not less than 50 percent of the local 

12 educational agencies in the State, representing 

13 not less than 50 percent of all students in the 

14 State, to participate in the grant program and 

15 fulfill the program obligations. 

16 (B) A list of the participating local edu17 cational agencies that have executed such 

18 memoranda, and the percentage of the State’s 

19 public school students who are served by those 

20 local educational agencies. 

21 (C) A plan for supporting participating 

22 local educational agencies with implementing 

23 programs and activities to improve enrollment 

24 in all advanced courses or programs offered by 

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1 dent preparation for and participation in path2 ways to postsecondary education in STEM 

3 fields, which may include— 

4 (i) using data from evidence-based 

5 early warning indicator systems; and 

6 (ii) other evidence-based activities, in7 cluding open enrollment or universal 

8 screening. 

9 (D) A plan to assemble a statewide advi10 sory council of students from underrepresented 

11 subgroups of students, and parents or guard12 ians of students from those subgroups, with at 

13 least 2 members of each subgroup of students. 

14 The plan shall explain how the council will be 

15 involved in the State educational agency’s im16 plementation of the grant, as well as oversight 

17 and evaluation of the grant. 

18 (E) A plan for supporting participating 

19 local educational agencies in collecting and re20 porting data about advanced coursework enroll21 ment and student performance data, including 

22 data disaggregated and cross-tabulated by race 

23 and ethnicity, sex, disability status, socio24 economic status, and status as an English 

25 learner. 


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1 (F) A description of ambitious 3-year en2 rollment and performance goals for each sub3 group of students, and intermediate annual tar4 gets for each subgroup of students, to bridge 

5 statewide inequities (according to race and eth6 nicity, sex, disability status, socioeconomic sta7 tus, and status as an English learner) in ad8 vanced coursework or program participation 

9 and performance. 

10 (G) A proposed budget for how the State 

11 educational agency will spend funding awarded 

12 through the grant. 

13 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—A local 

14 educational agency desiring to receive a grant under 

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

16 grant if the local educational agency is not also seek17 ing a subgrant from a State educational agency that 

18 receives a grant under this Act. A local educational 

19 agency shall submit an application to the Secretary 

20 at such time and in such manner as the Secretary 

21 may require. The application shall include the fol22 lowing: 

23 (A) An assurance that— 

24 (i) the local educational agency is not 

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1 cational agency that receives a grant under 

2 this Act during the applicable grant cycle; 

3 and 

4 (ii) the local educational agency has a 

5 high student poverty ratio (as measured by 

6 comparing the number of students meeting 

7 at least one measure of poverty described 

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

9 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

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

11 students in the school). 

12 (B) A description of the enrollment mecha13 nism that the participating local educational 

14 agency will use for its various advanced courses 

15 or programs, which shall include open enroll16 ment or universal screening, including in the 

17 case of universal screening, a description of 

18 what assessments will be used to determine en19 rollment as described in section 4(5), and a jus20 tification for why each assessment was selected. 

21 (C) A plan to assemble a local advisory 

22 council of students from underrepresented sub23 groups of students, and parents or guardians of 

24 students from those subgroups, with at least 2 

25 members of each subgroup of students. The 


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1 plan shall explain how the council will be in2 volved in the local educational agency’s imple3 mentation of the grant, as well as oversight and 

4 evaluation of the grant. 

5 (D) A plan to train school leaders, aca6 demic advisors or counselors, and teachers on 

7 strategies for bridging inequities (according to 

8 race and ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, 

9 disability status, and status as an English 

10 learner) in advanced coursework or STEM pro11 gram participation and performance. 

12 (E) A plan to communicate to students 

13 and families, in multiple languages and through 

14 multiple formats, the process and requirements 

15 to enroll in advanced courses. 

16 (F) An agreement to carry out the activi17 ties described in section 7. 

18 (G) A plan for collecting and reporting 

19 data about advanced coursework enrollment and 

20 student performance data, including data 

21 disaggregated and cross-tabulated by race and 

22 ethnicity, sex, disability status, socioeconomic 

23 status, and status as an English learner. 

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1 group of students, and intermediate annual tar2 gets for each subgroup of students, to bridge 

3 districtwide inequities (according to race and 

4 ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, disability 

5 status, and status as an English learner) in ad6 vanced coursework or STEM program partici7 pation and performance. 

8 (I) A proposed budget for how the partici9 pating local educational agency will spend fund10 ing awarded through the grant. 

11 (3) OTHER NONPROFIT ENTITY.—An institu12 tion of higher education or other nonprofit entity de13 siring to receive a grant under subsection (a)(1)(C) 

14 shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 

15 time, in such manner, and containing such informa16 tion as the Secretary may require, including, at a 

17 minimum— 

18 (A) at least one memorandum of under19 standing that the applicant has already estab20 lished with a school, local educational agency, 

21 or State educational agency that the applicant 

22 intends to work with, and a description of the 

23 services the applicant would provide to that 

24 school, local educational agency, or State edu25 cational agency; 


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1 (B) materials that demonstrate the appli2 cant’s record of effectiveness in designing or de3 livering advanced coursework or programs and 

4 providing academic supports for students that 

5 belong to underrepresented subgroups; 

6 (C) a description of ambitious 3-year en7 rollment and performance goals for each sub8 group of students that the applicant intends to 

9 serve, and intermediate annual targets for each 

10 such subgroup of students, to bridge statewide 

11 inequities (according to race and ethnicity, sex, 

12 socioeconomic status, disability status, and sta13 tus as an English learner) in advanced 

14 coursework or program participation and per15 formance; 

16 (D) a plan for collecting and reporting 

17 data about advanced coursework enrollment and 

18 student performance data, including data 

19 disaggregated and cross-tabulated by race and 

20 ethnicity, sex, disability status, socioeconomic 

21 status, and status as an English learner; and 

22 (E) a proposed budget for how the appli23 cant will spend funding awarded through the 

24 grant. 

25 (c) CRITERIA FOR AWARDING GRANTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In evaluating applications 

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

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

4 consider— 

5 (A) the 3-year goals, and intermediate an6 nual targets, for bridging statewide inequities 

7 (according to race and ethnicity, sex, socio8 economic status, disability status, and status as 

9 an English learner) in advanced coursework or 

10 program participation and performance; 

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

12 plan for implementing (or supporting a partici13 pating State educational agency, local edu14 cational agency, or school in implementing, as 

15 applicable) open enrollment or universal screen16 ing for all advanced courses or programs of17 fered by the local educational agency; 

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

19 plan for assembling an advisory council of stu20 dents from underrepresented subgroups of stu21 dents, and parents or guardians of students 

22 from those subgroups, and involving that advi23 sory council in the implementation of the grant, 

24 as well as oversight and evaluation of the grant; 

25 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(c), 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 (iii) States that prioritize evidence24 based strategies to ensure subgroups of 

25 students have equitable access to pathways 


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1 to postsecondary education in STEM 

2 fields; and 

3 (iv) States that made recent improve4 ments to equitable participation and per5 formance in advanced coursework among 

6 historically underrepresented subgroups of 

7 students based on data collection from the 

8 Office of Civil Rights of the Department of 

9 Education, and demonstrate a need for ad10 ditional funds to expand improvements. 

11 (B) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—In 

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

13 the Secretary shall give priority to— 

14 (i) local educational agencies that 

15 have made recent improvements to equi16 table participation and performance in ad17 vanced coursework among historically 

18 underrepresented subgroups of students 

19 based on data collection from the Office of 

20 Civil Rights of the Department of Edu21 cation; 

22 (ii) local educational agencies that 

23 provide pathways to postsecondary edu24 cation in STEM fields to a high proportion 

25 of students who are enrolled in high 


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1 schools served by the local educational 

2 agency; and 

3 (iii) local educational agencies that 

4 prioritize evidence-based strategies to en5 sure subgroups of students have equitable 

6 access to pathways to postsecondary edu7 cation in STEM fields. 

8 (d) AMOUNT; DURATION.— 

9 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

10 (A) AMOUNT.—A grant awarded under 

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

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

13 $60,000,000. 

14 (B) DURATION.—A grant awarded under 

15 subsection (a)(1)(A) shall be for a 3-year pe16 riod. 

17 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

18 (A) AMOUNT.—A grant awarded under 

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

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

21 $20,000,000. 

22 (B) DURATION.—A grant awarded under 

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

25 (3) OTHER NONPROFIT ENTITY.— 


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1 (A) AMOUNT.—A grant awarded under 

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

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

4 (B) DURATION.—A grant awarded under 

5 subsection (a)(1)(C) shall be for a 3-year pe6 riod. 

7 (e) NUMBER OF GRANTS AWARDED.— 

8 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara10 graph (B), the Secretary shall award not less 

11 than 6 and not more than 10 grants under sub12 section (a)(1)(A) per 3-year grant cycle period. 

13 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding sub14 paragraph (A), if the amount appropriated to 

15 carry out this Act is— 

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

17 year, the Secretary may award fewer than 

18 6 awards under subsection (a)(1)(A) per 

19 cycle; and 

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

21 year, the Secretary may award more than 

22 10 awards under subsection (a)(1)(A) per 

23 cycle. 

24 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara2 graph (B), the Secretary shall award not less 

3 than 8 and not more than 16 grants under sub4 section (a)(1)(B) per 3-year grant cycle period. 

5 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding sub6 paragraph (A), if the amount appropriated to 

7 carry out this Act is— 

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

9 year, the Secretary may award fewer than 

10 8 awards under subsection (a)(1)(B) per 

11 cycle; and 

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

13 year, the Secretary may award more than 

14 16 awards under subsection (a)(1)(B) per 

15 cycle. 

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

17 agency that is receiving a subgrant cannot carry out one 

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

19 educational agency receiving a grant under subsection 

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

21 funds to carry out high-quality technical assistance for 

22 local educational agencies in the State. 

23 SEC. 6. SUBGRANTS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency re25 ceiving a grant under this Act shall use the grant funds 


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1 to award subgrants to local educational agencies in the 

2 State. 

3 (b) REQUIREMENT.—A State educational agency 

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

5 (1) local educational agencies that have a high 

6 student poverty ratio (as measured by comparing the 

7 number of students meeting at least one measure of 

8 poverty described in section 1113(a)(5) of the Ele9 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

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

11 in the school); and 

12 (2) local educational agencies that will support 

13 elementary schools and secondary schools that offer 

14 fewer advanced course or program offerings (or 

15 fewer available slots in those courses or programs) 

16 than the average for the State. 

17 (c) SUBGRANT AGREEMENT.—As part of a memo18 randum of understanding described in section 5(b)(1)(A), 

19 and as a requirement for receiving a subgrant under this 

20 Act, a participating local educational agency shall— 

21 (1) establish ambitious 3-year enrollment and 

22 performance goals for each subgroup of students, 

23 and intermediate annual targets for each subgroup 

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1 ing to race, sex, socioeconomic status, disability sta2 tus, and status as an English learner) in— 

3 (A) advanced coursework; 

4 (B) STEM program participation and per5 formance; or 

6 (C) both advanced coursework and STEM 

7 program participation and performance; 

8 (2) specify the enrollment mechanism that the 

9 local educational agency will use for its various ad10 vanced courses or programs, which shall include 

11 open enrollment or universal screening, including in 

12 the case of universal screening, a description of what 

13 assessments will be used to determine enrollment as 

14 described in section 4(5), and a justification for why 

15 each assessment was selected; 

16 (3) submit a plan to train school leaders, aca17 demic counselors or advisors, and teachers on strate18 gies for bridging inequities (according to race and 

19 ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, disability status, 

20 and status as an English learner) in advanced 

21 coursework or program participation and perform22 ance; 

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

24 council of students from underrepresented subgroups 

25 of students, and parents or guardians of students 


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1 from those subgroups, with at least 2 members of 

2 each subgroup of students, including an explanation 

3 of how the council will be involved in the local edu4 cational agency’s implementation of the grant, as 

5 well as oversight and evaluation of the grant; 

6 (5) submit a plan to communicate to students 

7 and families, in multiple languages and through 

8 multiple formats, the process and requirements to 

9 enroll in advanced courses; and 

10 (6) an agreement to carry out the activities de11 scribed in section 7. 

12 SEC. 7. USES OF FUNDS. 

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

14 agency receiving a grant or subgrant under this Act shall 

15 use the grant or subgrant funds to carry out 2 or more 

16 of the following activities: 

17 (1) Conducting community engagement (includ18 ing by assembling a local advisory council) with re19 gard to changes to advanced courses or programs. 

20 (2) Not later than 1 year after funding is re21 ceived, training school leaders, academic counselors 

22 or advisors, and teachers on strategies for bridging 

23 inequities (according to race and ethnicity, sex, so24 cioeconomic status, disability status, and status as 


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1 an English learner) in advanced coursework or pro2 gram participation and performance. 

3 (3) Expanding enrollment in advanced courses 

4 or programs for underrepresented students. 

5 (4) Not later than 1 year after funding is re6 ceived, implementing open enrollment or universal 

7 screening for all advanced courses and programs, in8 cluding— 

9 (A) gifted and talented programs, 8th 

10 grade Algebra I, Advanced Placement, Inter11 national Baccalaureate, dual enrollment, early 

12 college high school, and any similarly advanced 

13 courses or programs; and 

14 (B) training individuals involved in the as15 sessment process in the administration of the 

16 assessments and the interpretation of the re17 sults. 

18 (5) Launching advanced courses or programs, 

19 or expand enrollment capacity in advanced courses 

20 or programs, which may include gifted and talented 

21 programs, 8th grade Algebra I, Advanced Place22 ment, International Baccalaureate, dual enrollment, 

23 early college high school, or any similarly advanced 

24 courses or programs. 


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1 (6) Providing direct services, such as tutoring, 

2 to students from underrepresented groups to enable 

3 those students to thrive academically in advanced 

4 courses and programs, and if applicable, prioritize 

5 services to be delivered by paraprofessionals or other 

6 qualified school personnel. 

7 (b) PERMITTED USES OF FUNDS.—A local edu8 cational agency receiving a grant or subgrant under this 

9 Act may (in addition to the required uses described in sub10 section (a)) use the grant or subgrant funds to carry out 

11 one or more of the following activities: 

12 (1) Launching innovative advanced coursework 

13 models that allow all students to benefit from ad14 vanced coursework, such as embedded enrichment 

15 (for elementary and middle school students), and 

16 open honors (for high school students). 

17 (2) Purchasing curricula and materials for ad18 vanced courses and programs, such as calculators, 

19 books, and laboratory materials. 

20 (3) Covering the cost of advanced coursework 

21 fees for low-income students. 

22 (4) Using funds to train or hire teachers to 

23 teach advanced coursework. 

24 (5) Strengthening or developing a positive 

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1 sional development, including implicit bias training, 

2 identity-affirming curricula, peer mentoring, pro3 grams to recruit and retain diverse educators, en4 gaging and supporting families, and expanding alter5 natives to punitive and exclusionary discipline prac6 tices. 

7 (c) NONPROFIT ENTITY.—An institution of higher 

8 education or other nonprofit entity receiving a grant under 

9 section 5(a)(1)(C) may use the grant to carry out one or 

10 more of the following activities for students in rural areas 

11 and students who otherwise lack access to advanced 

12 courses or programs: 

13 (1) Providing direct services, such as tutoring, 

14 to students from underrepresented groups to enable 

15 those students to thrive academically in advanced 

16 courses and programs, which may include gifted and 

17 talented programs, 8th grade Algebra I, Advanced 

18 Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual enroll19 ment, early college high school, embedded enrich20 ment (for elementary and middle school students), 

21 open honors (for high school students), or any simi22 larly advanced courses or programs. 

23 (2) Purchasing curricula and materials for ad24 vanced courses and programs, such as calculators, 

25 books, and laboratory materials. 


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1 (3) Covering the cost of advanced coursework 

2 exams for low-income students. 

3 SEC. 8. REPORTING; BONUS GRANT. 

4 (a) REPORT TO SECRETARY.— 

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

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

7 educational agency or local educational agency re8 ceiving a grant shall prepare and submit to the Sec9 retary a report containing the following: 

10 (A) A description of the training that the 

11 local educational agency receiving a grant, or 

12 local educational agencies receiving a subgrant 

13 in the State, as applicable, conducted to train 

14 school leaders, academic counselors or advisors, 

15 and teachers on strategies for bridging inequi16 ties (according to race and ethnicity, sex, socio17 economic status, disability status, and status as 

18 an English learner) in advanced coursework or 

19 program participation and performance, includ20 ing the number of people trained and what 

21 schools those trained individuals are affiliated 

22 with. 

23 (B) A listing of the advanced courses or 

24 programs available at the local educational 

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1 cational agency that received a subgrant, as ap2 plicable, and the student enrollment mechanism 

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

4 educational agency uses universal screening in5 stead of open enrollment, then the list shall in6 clude a description of what assessments will be 

7 used to determine enrollment as described in 

8 section 4(5). 

9 (C) The number and percentages of stu10 dents in the State (or in the local educational 

11 agency, in the case of a local educational agen12 cy receiving a grant) that are enrolled in ad13 vanced courses or programs, disaggregated and 

14 cross-tabulated by race and ethnicity, sex, dis15 ability status, socioeconomic status, and status 

16 as an English learner. 

17 (D) The academic outcomes (such as 

18 grades or exam scores) of students enrolled in 

19 advanced courses or programs in the State (or 

20 in the local educational agency, in the case of 

21 a local educational agency receiving a grant), 

22 disaggregated and cross-tabulated by race and 

23 ethnicity, sex, disability status, socioeconomic 

24 status, and status as an English learner. 


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

2 local educational agency spent funding awarded 

3 through the grant. 

4 (F) A narrative articulating whether the 

5 State or local educational agency receiving a 

6 grant met its annual intermediate targets for 

7 equitable enrollment and performance among 

8 underrepresented subgroups of students in ad9 vanced coursework or programs, including anal10 ysis for why the State did or did not meet these 

11 targets across underrepresented subgroups of 

12 students, and a plan to remediate any gaps for 

13 the coming grant year. This narrative shall also 

14 include the analysis from the local advisory 

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

16 educational agency) or the State advisory coun17 cil (in the case of a grantee that is a State edu18 cational agency). 

19 (G) A description of communication with 

20 families, including how parents were notified 

21 of— 

22 (i) advanced coursework opportunities; 

23 (ii) the value of the programs; and 

24 (iii) the ability to opt out. 


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1 (2) OTHER NONPROFIT ENTITIES.—Not later 

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

3 each nonprofit entity receiving a grant under section 

4 5(a)(1)(C) shall prepare and submit to the Secretary 

5 a report containing the information described in sub6 paragraph (C) through (F) of paragraph (1) with re7 spect to students that are enrolled in advanced 

8 courses or programs provided by the nonprofit entity 

9 and the nonprofit entity’s targets. 

10 (b) BONUS.— 

11 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The State 

12 educational agency receiving a grant under section 

13 5(a)(1)(A) that achieves the greatest growth toward 

14 that State’s advanced coursework enrollment and 

15 performance equity goals described in section 

16 5(b)(1)(F) at the end of the first or second grant 

17 year shall receive a bonus payment of 5 percent of 

18 the original grant amount (to be used during the 

19 subsequent grant year). A State educational agency 

20 shall direct not less than 50 percent of the bonus 

21 funds to local educational agency subgrantees that 

22 achieved the greatest growth toward the local edu23 cational agency’s advanced coursework equity goals 

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


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1 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The local 

2 educational agency receiving a grant under section 

3 5(a)(1)(B) that achieves the greatest growth toward 

4 that local educational agency’s advanced coursework 

5 enrollment and performance equity goals described 

6 in section 5(b)(2)(H) at the end of the first grant 

7 year shall receive a bonus payment of 5 percent of 

8 the original grant amount (to be used during the 

9 subsequent grant year). A local educational agency 

10 shall direct not less than 50 percent of the bonus 

11 funds to the schools that achieved the greatest 

12 growth toward the local educational agency’s ad13 vanced coursework equity goals described in section 

14 5(b)(2)(H). 

15 (c) EVALUATION.—At the end of the 3-year grant pe16 riod, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to Congress 

17 a report containing an evaluation of the grant program 

18 under this Act and a summary of the reports submitted 

19 under subsection (a). The evaluation shall contain an anal20 ysis of the effectiveness of the program, including the im21 pact of the grants on equitable enrollment and perform22 ance in advanced courses and programs. This evaluation 

23 shall provide recommendations based on the Secretary’s 

24 findings from the grant program. 


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1 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this Act $266,000,000 for fiscal year 2023, $266,000,000 

4 for fiscal year 2024, and $266,000,000 for fiscal year 

5 2025. 

Æ 


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