II 

Calendar No. 538 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1948 

To promote the academic achievement of American Indian, Alaska Native, 

and Native Hawaiian children with the establishment of a Native American language grant program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 16, 2014 

Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. BEGICH, Mr. JOHNSON of South 

Dakota, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Ms. 

HEITKAMP, Mr. WALSH, and Mr. HEINRICH) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

AUGUST 26, 2014 

Reported, under authority of the order of the Senate of August 5 (legislative 

day, August 1), 2014, by Mr. TESTER, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To promote the academic achievement of American Indian, 

Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children with the 

establishment of a Native American language grant program. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Native Language Im3 mersion Student Achievement Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Congress established the unique status of 

7 Native American languages and distinctive policies 

8 supporting their use as a medium of education in 

9 the Native American Languages Act (Public Law 

10 101–477). 

11 (2) Reports from the Bureau of Indian Affairs 

12 and tribal, public, charter, and private schools and 

13 colleges that use primarily Native American lan14 guages to deliver education, have indicated that stu15 dents from these schools have generally had high 

16 school graduation and college attendance rates above 

17 the norm for their peers. 

18 (3) The Elementary and Secondary Education 

19 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) includes policy 

20 barriers to schools taught through Native American 

21 languages and a lack of adequate funding to support 

22 such opportunities. 

23 (4) There is a critical need that requires imme24 diate action to support education through Native 

25 American languages to preserve these languages. 


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1 SEC. 3. NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE SCHOOLS. 

2 Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Edu3 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) is amended 

4 by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘PART D—NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE 

6 SCHOOLS 

7 ‘‘SEC. 7401. NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE SCHOOLS. 

8 ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are— 

9 ‘‘(1) to establish a grant program to support 

10 schools using Native American languages as the pri11 mary language of instruction of all curriculum 

12 taught at the school that will improve high school 

13 graduation rates, college attainment, and career 

14 readiness; and 

15 ‘‘(2) to further integrate into this Act, Federal 

16 policy for such schools, as established in the Native 

17 American Languages Act (Public Law 101–477). 

18 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts made 

20 available to carry out this section, the Secretary may 

21 award grants to eligible entities to develop and 

22 maintain, or to improve and expand, programs that 

23 support schools, including prekindergarten through 

24 postsecondary education, using Native American lan25 guages as the primary language of instruction of all 

26 curriculum taught at the schools. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—In this section, the 

2 term ‘eligible entity’ means a school or a private or 

3 tribal, nonprofit organization that has a plan to de4 velop and maintain, or to improve and expand, pro5 grams that support schools using Native American 

6 languages as the primary language of instruction of 

7 all curriculum taught at the schools. 

8 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that de10 sires to receive a grant under this section shall sub11 mit an application to the Secretary at such time, in 

12 such manner, and containing such information as 

13 the Secretary may require, including the following: 

14 ‘‘(A) The name of the Native American 

15 language to be used for instruction at the 

16 school supported by the eligible entity. 

17 ‘‘(B) The number of students attending 

18 such school. 

19 ‘‘(C) The number of present hours of Na20 tive American language instruction being pro21 vided to students at such school, if any. 

22 ‘‘(D) The status of such school with regard 

23 to any applicable tribal education department or 

24 agency, public education system, indigenous 


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1 language schooling research and cooperative, or 

2 accrediting body. 

3 ‘‘(E) A statement that such school— 

4 ‘‘(i) is engaged in meeting targeted 

5 proficiency levels for students, as may be 

6 required by applicable Federal, State, or 

7 tribal law; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) provides assessments of student 

9 using the Native American language of in10 struction, where appropriate. 

11 ‘‘(F) A list of the instructors, staff, admin12 istrators, contractors, or subcontractors at such 

13 school and their qualifications to deliver high 

14 quality education through the Native American 

15 language of the school. 

16 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL APPLICATION MATERIALS.— 

17 In addition to the application described in paragraph 

18 (1), an eligible entity that desires to receive a grant 

19 under this section shall submit to the Secretary the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(A) A certification from a Federally rec22 ognized Indian tribe, or a letter from any Na23 tive American entity, on whose land the school 

24 supported by the eligible entity is located, or 

25 which is served by such school, indicating that 


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1 the school has the capacity to provide education 

2 primarily through a Native American language 

3 and that there are sufficient speakers of such 

4 Native American language at the school or 

5 available to be hired by the school. 

6 ‘‘(B) A statement that such school will 

7 participate in data collection conducted by the 

8 Secretary that will determine best practices and 

9 further academic evaluation of the school. 

10 ‘‘(C) A demonstration of the capacity to 

11 have speakers of its Native American language 

12 provide the basic education offered by such 

13 school on a full-time basis. 

14 ‘‘(d) AWARDING OF GRANTS.—In awarding grants 

15 under this section, the Secretary shall— 

16 ‘‘(1) determine the amount and length of each 

17 grant; 

18 ‘‘(2) ensure, to the maximum extent feasible, 

19 that diversity in languages is represented; and 

20 ‘‘(3) require the eligible entities to present a 

21 Native language education plan to improve high 

22 school graduation rates, college attainment, and ca23 reer readiness. 


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1 ‘‘(e) ACTIVITIES AUTHORIZED.—An eligible entity 

2 that receives a grant under this section shall carry out 

3 the following activities: 

4 ‘‘(1) Support Native American language edu5 cation and development. 

6 ‘‘(2) Develop or refine instructional curriculum 

7 for the school supported by the eligible entity, in8 cluding distinctive teaching materials and activities, 

9 as appropriate. 

10 ‘‘(3) Fund training opportunities for teachers 

11 and, as appropriate, staff and administrators, that 

12 would strengthen the overall language and academic 

13 goals of such school. 

14 ‘‘(4) Other activities that promote Native Amer15 ican language education and development, as appro16 priate. 

17 ‘‘(f) REPORT TO SECRETARY.—Each eligible entity 

18 that receives a grant under this section shall provide an 

19 annual report to the Secretary in such form and manner 

20 as the Secretary may require. 

21 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—There is 

22 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

23 $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2015, and such sums as may 

24 be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Native Language Im3 mersion Student Achievement Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Congress established the unique status of Na7 tive American languages and distinctive policies sup8 porting their use as a medium of education in the 

9 Native American Languages Act (Public Law 101– 

10 477). 

11 (2) Reports from the Bureau of Indian Affairs 

12 and tribal, public, charter, and private schools and 

13 colleges that use primarily Native American lan14 guages to deliver education, have indicated that stu15 dents from these schools have generally had high 

16 school graduation and college attendance rates above 

17 the norm for their peers. 

18 (3) Such successful schools include Native Amer19 ican language medium schools focusing primarily on 

20 children who enter school speaking Native American 

21 languages and immersion schools that focus primarily 

22 on teaching Native American languages to children 

23 who enter school with little or no knowledge of a Na24 tive American language, as well as programs com25 bining features of both types of schools, such as Native 


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1 American Language Nests and Native American Lan2 guage Survival Schools. 

3 (4) The Elementary and Secondary Education 

4 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) includes policy 

5 barriers to schools taught through Native American 

6 languages and a lack of adequate funding to support 

7 such opportunities. 

8 (5) There is a critical need that requires imme9 diate action to support education through Native 

10 American languages to preserve these languages. 

11 SEC. 3. NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE SCHOOLS. 

12 Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

13 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) is amended by adding 

14 at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘PART D—NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE 

16 SCHOOLS 

17 ‘‘SEC. 7401. NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE SCHOOLS. 

18 ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are— 

19 ‘‘(1) to establish a grant program to support 

20 schools using Native American languages as the pri21 mary language of instruction of all curriculum taught 

22 at the schools that will improve high school gradua23 tion rates, college attainment, and career readiness; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(2) to further integrate into this Act, Federal 

2 policy for such schools, as established in the Native 

3 American Languages Act (Public Law 101–477). 

4 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts made 

6 available to carry out this section, the Secretary may 

7 award grants to eligible entities to develop and main8 tain, or to improve and expand, programs that sup9 port schools, including prekindergarten through post10 secondary education sites and streams, using Native 

11 American languages as the primary language of in12 struction of all curriculum taught. 

13 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—In this section, the 

14 term ‘eligible entity’ means a tribe, Tribal College or 

15 University (as defined in section 316 of the Higher 

16 Education Act of 1965), tribal education agency, 

17 school, or a private or tribal, nonprofit organization, 

18 which has a plan to develop and maintain, or to im19 prove and expand, programs that support schools 

20 using Native American languages as the primary lan21 guage of instruction of all curriculum taught at the 

22 schools. 

23 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that de25 sires to receive a grant under this section shall submit 


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1 an application to the Secretary at such time, in such 

2 manner, and containing such information as the Sec3 retary may require, including the following: 

4 ‘‘(A) The name of the Native American lan5 guage to be used for instruction at the school 

6 supported by the eligible entity. 

7 ‘‘(B) The number of students attending such 

8 school. 

9 ‘‘(C) The number of present hours of in10 struction in or through 1 or more Native Amer11 ican languages being provided to targeted stu12 dents at such school, if any. 

13 ‘‘(D) The status of such school with regard 

14 to any applicable tribal education department or 

15 agency, public education system, indigenous lan16 guage schooling research and cooperative, or ac17 crediting body. 

18 ‘‘(E) A statement that such school— 

19 ‘‘(i) is engaged in meeting targeted 

20 proficiency levels for students, as may be re21 quired by applicable Federal, State, or trib22 al law; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) provides assessments of student 

24 using the Native American language of in25 struction, where appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(F) A list of the instructors, staff, adminis2 trators, contractors, or subcontractors at such 

3 school and their qualifications to deliver high 

4 quality education through the Native American 

5 language of the school. 

6 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL APPLICATION MATERIALS.—In 

7 addition to the application described in paragraph 

8 (1), an eligible entity that desires to receive a grant 

9 under this section shall submit to the Secretary the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(A) A certification from a Federally recog12 nized Indian tribe, or a letter from any Native 

13 American entity, on whose land the school sup14 ported by the eligible entity is located, or which 

15 is served by such school, indicating that the 

16 school has the capacity to provide education pri17 marily through a Native American language and 

18 that there are sufficient speakers of such Native 

19 American language at the school or available to 

20 be hired by the school. 

21 ‘‘(B) A statement that such school will col22 lect data relative to high school graduation, col23 lege attendance, or other data relevant to student 

24 achievement, career readiness, or community 

25 participation of students who matriculate 


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1 through its programs, and will participate in 

2 data collection conducted by the Secretary that 

3 will determine best practices and further aca4 demic evaluation of the school. 

5 ‘‘(C) A demonstration of the capacity to 

6 have speakers of its Native American language 

7 provide the basic education offered by such school 

8 on a full-time basis. 

9 ‘‘(d) AWARDING OF GRANTS.—In awarding grants 

10 under this section, the Secretary shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) determine the amount and length of each 

12 grant; 

13 ‘‘(2) ensure, to the maximum extent feasible, that 

14 diversity in languages is represented; and 

15 ‘‘(3) require the eligible entities to present a Na16 tive language education plan that integrates high 

17 achievement in the Native American language with 

18 improved student academic achievement, high school 

19 graduation rates, college attainment, and career read20 iness. 

21 ‘‘(e) ACTIVITIES AUTHORIZED.—An eligible entity 

22 that receives a grant under this section shall carry out the 

23 following activities: 

24 ‘‘(1) Support Native American language edu25 cation and development. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Develop or refine instructional curriculum 

2 for the school supported by the eligible entity, includ3 ing distinctive teaching materials and activities, as 

4 appropriate. 

5 ‘‘(3) Fund training opportunities for teachers 

6 and, as appropriate, staff and administrators, that 

7 would strengthen the overall language and academic 

8 goals of such school. 

9 ‘‘(4) Develop a Native Language alignment plan 

10 to create or refine assessments of student proficiency 

11 on State or tribally-developed academic standards for 

12 Native American language schools, aligned with the 

13 Native language of instruction in such schools, as ap14 propriate. 

15 ‘‘(5) Other activities that promote Native Amer16 ican language education and development, as appro17 priate. 

18 ‘‘(f) REPORT TO SECRETARY.—Each eligible entity 

19 that receives a grant under this section shall provide an 

20 annual report to the Secretary in such form and manner 

21 as the Secretary may require. 

22 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—There is 

23 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

24 $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2015, and such sums as may be 

25 necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 


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Calendar No. 538 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1948 

A BILL 

To promote the academic achievement of American 

ican language grant program. dren with the establishment of a Native AmerIndian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian chilAUGUST 26, 2014 

Reported with an amendment 


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