II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 940 

To provide grants to States to improve high schools and raise graduation 

rates while ensuring rigorous standards, to develop and implement effective school models for struggling students and dropouts, and to improve 

State policies to raise graduation rates, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 14, 2013 

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

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

A BILL 

To provide grants to States to improve high schools and 

raise graduation rates while ensuring rigorous standards, 

to develop and implement effective school models for 

struggling students and dropouts, and to improve State 

policies to raise graduation rates, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Graduation Promise Act of 2013’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

TITLE I—HIGH SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT AND DROPOUT 

REDUCTION FUND 

Sec. 101. Purposes. 

Sec. 102. Definitions. 

Sec. 103. Grants authorized. 

Sec. 104. Secretarial peer review and approval. 

Sec. 105. State plan to develop differentiated high school improvement system. 

Sec. 106. Use of grant funds. 

Sec. 107. Statewide differentiated high school improvement system. 

Sec. 108. Subgrants to local educational agencies. 

Sec. 109. Local educational agency implementation of school improvement system. 

Sec. 110. School improvement activities. 

Sec. 111. Evaluation and reporting. 

Sec. 112. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE II—DEVELOPMENT OF EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MODELS 

Sec. 201. Purposes. 

Sec. 202. Definitions. 

Sec. 203. Grants authorized. 

Sec. 204. Application. 

Sec. 205. Secretarial peer review and approval. 

Sec. 206. Use of funds. 

Sec. 207. Evaluation and reporting. 

Sec. 208. Authorization of appropriations. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The terms ‘‘distance learn4 ing’’, ‘‘educational service agency’’, ‘‘highly quali5 fied’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘outlying area’’, 

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

7 have the meanings given the terms in section 9101 

8 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

9 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

10 (2) GRADUATION RATE.—The term ‘‘graduation 

11 rate’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

12 1111(b)(2)(C)(vi) of the Elementary and Secondary 


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

2 6311(b)(2)(C)(vi)), as clarified in section 

3 200.19(b)(1) of title 34, Code of Federal Regula4 tions. 

5 (3) HIGH SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘high school’’ 

6 means a secondary school in which the— 

7 (A) entering grade of the school is not 

8 lower than grade 7; and 

9 (B) highest grade of the school is— 

10 (i) grade 12; or 

11 (ii) in the case of a secondary school 

12 approved by a State to issue a regular di13 ploma concurrently with a postsecondary 

14 degree or with not more than 2 years’ 

15 worth of postsecondary academic credit, 

16 grade 13. 

17 (4) INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED CREDENTIAL.—The 

18 term ‘‘industry-recognized credential’’ means a cre19 dential— 

20 (A) that is sought or accepted by employ21 ers within the industry or sector involved as a 

22 recognized, preferred, or required credential for 

23 recruitment, screening, hiring, retention, or ad24 vancement purposes; 


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1 (B) that, where appropriate, is endorsed by 

2 a nationally recognized trade association or or3 ganization representing a significant part of the 

4 industry or sector; and 

5 (C) earned from a program determined by 

6 the State grantee to be a program of high qual7 ity. 

8 (5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

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

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

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

13 the Secretary of Education. 

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

15 the several States of the United States, the District 

16 of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

17 TITLE I—HIGH SCHOOL IM18 PROVEMENT AND DROPOUT 

19 REDUCTION FUND 

20 SEC. 101. PURPOSES. 

21 The purposes of this title are to— 

22 (1) improve high school student academic 

23 achievement and graduation rates and prepare all 

24 students for postsecondary education and the work25 force; 


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1 (2) help States and local educational agencies 

2 develop high school improvement systems to deliver 

3 support and technical assistance to high schools 

4 identified for whole school reform or replacement, as 

5 described in clause (ii) and (iii) of section 

6 105(b)(2)(B); 

7 (3) ensure students graduate from high school 

8 with the education and skills necessary to compete 

9 in a global economy; and 

10 (4) help build the capacity to develop and im11 plement research-based, sustainable, and replicable 

12 high school improvement models and interventions 

13 that are for high schools in whole school reform and 

14 replacement and that engage the whole community. 

15 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this title: 

17 (1) ANNUAL MEASURABLE GROWTH.—The term 

18 ‘‘annual measurable growth’’ means a rate of annual 

19 growth determined by a State educational agency 

20 that is approved by the Secretary. 

21 (2) EXTERNAL PARTNER.—The term ‘‘external 

22 partner’’ means an entity— 

23 (A) that is an organization such as a non24 profit organization, community-based organiza25 tion, local education fund, service organization, 


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1 educational service agency, or institution of 

2 higher education; and 

3 (B) that has demonstrated expertise and 

4 effectiveness in providing targeted support such 

5 as data analysis, professional development, or 

6 provision of nonacademic support and inte7 grated student services to local educational 

8 agencies, schools, or students that leads to im9 proved teaching, learning, and outcomes for 

10 students, including for those students who are 

11 failing to make sufficient progress to graduate 

12 in the standard amount of years or who have 

13 dropped out of high school. 

14 (3) LOW-INCOME LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN15 CY.—The term ‘‘low-income local educational agen16 cy’’ means a local educational agency— 

17 (A) that serves not fewer than 10,000 chil18 dren from families with incomes below the pov19 erty line; or 

20 (B) for which not less than 20 percent of 

21 the children served by the agency are from fam22 ilies with incomes below the poverty line. 

23 (4) MIDDLE GRADES.—The term ‘‘middle 

24 grades’’ means any of grades 5 through 8. 


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1 (5) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘‘poverty line’’ 

2 means the poverty line described in section 673 of 

3 the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 9902), applicable to a family of the size involved. 

5 (6) SECONDARY SCHOOL REFORM PARTNER.— 

6 The term ‘‘secondary school reform partner’’ means 

7 an organization, such as a school reform organiza8 tion, community-based organization, local education 

9 fund, educational service agency, or institution of 

10 higher education, with expertise in analyzing school 

11 performance data and a track record of success in 

12 improving student achievement and graduation rates 

13 in low-performing high schools. 

14 SEC. 103. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to 

16 make grants, through allotments under subsection (b), to 

17 State educational agencies with approved State plans that 

18 will— 

19 (1) improve student achievement and gradua20 tion rates; 

21 (2) effectively target resources and technical as22 sistance to high schools in whole school reform or re23 placement, as described in clause (ii) or (iii) of sec24 tion 105(b)(2)(B); and 


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1 (3) ensure coordination with other Federal pro2 grams, where applicable, including programs author3 ized under the Elementary and Secondary Education 

4 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), the Individ5 uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

6 1401 et seq.), and the Carl D. Perkins Career and 

7 Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2301 

8 et seq.). 

9 (b) DETERMINATION OF ALLOTMENTS.— 

10 (1) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—From the total 

11 amount appropriated under section 112, the Sec12 retary shall reserve not more than— 

13 (A) the lesser of 3 percent or $50,000,000, 

14 to— 

15 (i) provide technical assistance and 

16 ongoing regional training programs that 

17 are equitably distributed— 

18 (I) among the different geo19 graphic regions of the United States; 

20 and 

21 (II) among State and local edu22 cational agencies serving urban and 

23 rural areas; 

24 (ii) evaluate activities authorized 

25 under this title in order to determine the 


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1 most effective strategies for improving stu2 dent achievement and outcomes for stu3 dents attending high schools identified for 

4 targeted intervention, whole school reform, 

5 or replacement under section 105(b)(2); 

6 and 

7 (iii) disseminate the findings of such 

8 evaluations; 

9 (B) the lesser of 4 percent or $75,000,000, 

10 to build the capacity of secondary school reform 

11 partners and external partners to provide serv12 ices under this Act that benefit high schools 

13 and support the development or enhancement of 

14 research-based whole secondary school reform 

15 or new secondary school models, of which not 

16 less than 35 percent of such reserved funds 

17 shall be awarded, on a competitive basis, to sec18 ondary school reform partners or external part19 ners that will provide services under this Act 

20 that benefit high schools designated with a 

21 school locale code of Fringe Rural (41), Distant 

22 Rural (42), or Remote Rural (43), as deter23 mined by the Secretary; 

24 (C) 2 percent to the Secretary of the Inte25 rior, to enable the Secretary to carry out the 


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1 purposes of this Act for schools operated or 

2 funded by the Bureau of Indian Education of 

3 the Department of the Interior; and 

4 (D) one-half of 1 percent to award assist5 ance under this title to the outlying areas ac6 cording to their respective needs for assistance 

7 under this title. 

8 (2) STATE ALLOTMENT.—From the total 

9 amount appropriated under section 112 for a fiscal 

10 year and not reserved under paragraph (1), the Sec11 retary shall make allotments as follows: 

12 (A) LOW-INCOME LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

13 AGENCIES.—From such amount, the Secretary 

14 shall allot to each State an amount that bears 

15 the same ratio to 50 percent of the sums being 

16 allotted as the percentage of students enrolled 

17 in schools served by low-income local edu18 cational agencies in the State bears to the total 

19 of such percentages for all the States. 

20 (B) LOWEST GRADUATION RATE CALCULA21 TION.—From such amount, the Secretary shall 

22 allot to each State for which the graduation 

23 rate is within the lowest one-third of the grad24 uation rates for all States, an amount that 

25 bears the same ratio to 25 percent of the sums 


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1 being allotted as the number of students en2 rolled in high schools in the State bears to the 

3 total of such students in all of such States with 

4 the lowest one-third graduation rates. 

5 (C) MIDDLE GRADUATION RATE CALCULA6 TION.—From such amount, the Secretary shall 

7 allot to each State for which the graduation 

8 rate is within the middle one-third of the grad9 uation rates for all States, an amount that 

10 bears the same ratio to 15 percent of the sums 

11 being allotted as the number of students en12 rolled in high schools in the State bears to the 

13 total of such students in all of such States with14 in the middle one-third graduation rates. 

15 (D) HIGHEST GRADUATION RATE CAL16 CULATION.—From such amount, the Secretary 

17 shall allot to each State for which the gradua18 tion rate is within the highest one-third of the 

19 graduation rates for all States, an amount that 

20 bears the same ratio to 10 percent of the sums 

21 being allotted as the number of students en22 rolled in high schools in the State bears to the 

23 total of such students in all of such States with24 in the highest one-third graduation rates. 


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1 (3) REALLOTMENT.—If any State does not 

2 apply for an allotment under this subsection for any 

3 fiscal year, the Secretary shall reallot the amount of 

4 the allotment to the remaining States in accordance 

5 with this subsection. 

6 (4) USING FIRST-YEAR DATA.—In calculating 

7 allotments under this subsection for the second and 

8 each subsequent year of the grant period, the Sec9 retary shall use the data relating to low-income local 

10 educational agencies and graduation rates used for 

11 the first year of the grant period. 

12 (5) HOLD HARMLESS.—Notwithstanding any 

13 other provision of this subsection but subject to 

14 paragraph (6), no State shall receive an allotment 

15 under this section for a fiscal year in an amount 

16 that is less than the amount the State received 

17 under this section for the first fiscal year of the 

18 grant period. 

19 (6) RATABLE REDUCTION.—If the amount ap20 propriated in a fiscal year is not sufficient to pay 

21 the minimum allotments to all eligible institutions 

22 under paragraph (5), the amount of the minimum 

23 allotment to each such eligible institution shall be 

24 ratably reduced. 


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1 (c) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—A State edu2 cational agency that receives a grant under this title shall 

3 use the grant funds to supplement, and not supplant, Fed4 eral and non-Federal funds available to high schools. 

5 (d) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

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

7 that receives a grant under this section shall provide 

8 matching funds, from non-Federal sources, in an 

9 amount equal to 25 percent of the amount of grant 

10 funds provided to the State to carry out the activi11 ties supported by the grant. Such matching funds 

12 may be provided in cash or in-kind, except that— 

13 (A) not more than 10 percent of the 

14 amount of grant funds may be provided 

15 through in-kind contributions; and 

16 (B) any in-kind contributions shall be di17 rected toward supporting the State educational 

18 agency’s technical assistance efforts or the op19 eration of the State’s differentiated high school 

20 improvement system under section 105. 

21 (2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the re22 quirements under paragraph (1). 

23 SEC. 104. SECRETARIAL PEER REVIEW AND APPROVAL. 

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


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1 (1) establish a peer-review process to assist in 

2 the review and approval of State plans; 

3 (2) appoint individuals to the peer-review proc4 ess who are educators and experts in educational 

5 standards, assessments, accountability, high school 

6 improvement, dropout prevention, academic needs of 

7 English language learners, and other educational 

8 needs of high school students; 

9 (3) approve a State plan submitted under this 

10 title not later than 120 days after the date of the 

11 submission of the plan unless the Secretary deter12 mines that the plan does not meet the requirements 

13 of this title; 

14 (4) if the Secretary determines that the State 

15 plan does not meet the requirements of this title, im16 mediately notify the State of such determination and 

17 the reasons for such determination; 

18 (5) if the Secretary determines that the State 

19 does not have the capacity to carry out the school 

20 improvement activities described in sections 

21 105(b)(2) and 107, offer technical assistance to 

22 carry out such activities for States directly or 

23 through contracts with secondary school reform 

24 partners; 

25 (6) not deny a State’s plan before— 


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1 (A) offering the State an opportunity to 

2 revise the State’s plan; 

3 (B) providing the State with technical as4 sistance in order to submit a successful plan; 

5 and 

6 (C) providing the State an opportunity for 

7 a hearing or accepting input from the State; 

8 and 

9 (7) have the authority to deny a State plan for 

10 not meeting the requirements of this title. 

11 (b) ACCURACY.—In approving a State plan, the Sec12 retary shall ensure that— 

13 (1) the process the State educational agency 

14 proposes for differentiating school improvement ac15 tions under sections 105(b)(2) and 107, which proc16 ess will assign high schools to each of the school im17 provement categories described in section 105(b)(2) 

18 in such a way that accurately identifies the high 

19 school and leads to the implementation of the inter20 ventions necessary to meet the needs of the students 

21 attending the high school; and 

22 (2) the annual growth targets proposed by the 

23 State educational agency under section 105(b)(3)(D) 

24 are meaningful and achievable, and demonstrate 

25 continuous and substantial progress. 


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1 SEC. 105. STATE PLAN TO DEVELOP DIFFERENTIATED 

2 HIGH SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—For a State to be eligible to re4 ceive a grant under this title, the State educational agency 

5 shall submit a plan to the Secretary at such time, in such 

6 manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 

7 may reasonably require. 

8 (b) CONTENTS.—Each plan submitted under this sec9 tion shall include the following: 

10 (1) SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PROCESS.—The 

11 State educational agency shall describe how the 

12 State educational agency will use funds authorized 

13 under this title to establish or expand a statewide 

14 differentiated high school improvement system de15 scribed in section 107. 

16 (2) STATEWIDE DIFFERENTIATED HIGH

17 SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT.— 

18 (A) PROCESS OF DIFFERENTIATION.—The 

19 State educational agency shall describe a data20 driven process for categorizing high schools into 

21 the categories described in subparagraph (B) 

22 using— 

23 (i) the indicators used to determine 

24 annual measurable growth; and 

25 (ii) data from the school performance 

26 indicators described in paragraph (3). 


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1 (B) DIFFERENTIATED HIGH SCHOOL IM2 PROVEMENT CATEGORIES.—The State edu3 cational agency shall describe how local edu4 cational agencies will use the process estab5 lished under subparagraph (A) to categorize the 

6 high schools in the State that do not make an7 nual measurable growth for 2 consecutive years 

8 into one of the following school improvement 

9 categories: 

10 (i) SCHOOLS NEEDING TARGETED

11 INTERVENTIONS.—High schools whose per12 formance on the school performance indi13 cators described in paragraph (3) dem14 onstrate a need for targeted interventions 

15 described in section 110(b) to improve stu16 dent outcomes and make annual measur17 able growth. 

18 (ii) SCHOOLS NEEDING WHOLE

19 SCHOOL REFORMS.—High schools whose 

20 performance on the school performance in21 dicators demonstrate a need for com22 prehensive schoolwide reform described in 

23 section 110(c) to improve student out24 comes and make annual measurable 

25 growth. 


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1 (iii) SCHOOLS NEEDING REPLACE2 MENT.—High schools whose school per3 formance indicators demonstrate a need 

4 for replacement, as described in section 

5 110(d). 

6 (C) SPECIAL RULE.—A State educational 

7 agency may propose in the plan under this sec8 tion additional levels of differentiation within a 

9 particular school improvement category de10 scribed in subparagraph (B) to further target 

11 and prioritize school needs and to align dif12 ferentiation with the State’s existing State ac13 countability systems. 

14 (D) DEMONSTRATION OF DEVELOP15 MENT.—The State shall demonstrate how the 

16 State plan was developed in consultation with a 

17 representative group of local educational agen18 cies. 

19 (E) CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT.—The 

20 State educational agency shall describe how the 

21 State educational agency will evaluate annually 

22 the progress of high schools to ensure that each 

23 high school is making continuous and substan24 tial improvement in accordance with the annual 

25 growth targets described in paragraph (3)(D) 


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1 and consistent with the requirements described 

2 in section 110. 

3 (F) AUTOMATIC DESIGNATION.—The proc4 ess of categorization proposed by the State edu5 cational agency shall ensure that a high school 

6 shall be automatically identified as a school in 

7 need of whole school reform or as a school in 

8 need of replacement, if the high school has a 

9 graduation rate of 50 percent or less in the 

10 most recent year for which data are available. 

11 (3) SCHOOL PERFORMANCE INDICATORS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The State educational 

13 agency shall define, in consultation with rep14 resentatives from urban and rural local edu15 cational agencies in the State, a comprehensive 

16 set of school performance indicators that— 

17 (i) shall be used, in addition to the in18 dicators used to determine annual measur19 able growth, to— 

20 (I) analyze the performance of 

21 high schools in the State; 

22 (II) determine the amount, inten23 sity, and type of support each high 

24 school needs; and 


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1 (III) guide the school improve2 ment process; 

3 (ii) demonstrate whether a high school 

4 is making substantial and continuous 

5 progress toward the goal of graduating all 

6 of the school’s students prepared for suc7 cess in higher education and careers; and 

8 (iii)(I) directly measure student 

9 achievement and advancement in high 

10 school; or 

11 (II) have been demonstrated by re12 search to have a direct impact on high 

13 school student achievement and advance14 ment. 

15 (B) CATEGORIES.— 

16 (i) IN GENERAL.—The comprehensive 

17 set of school performance indicators re18 quired by subparagraph (A) shall include 

19 indicators of— 

20 (I) high school student engage21 ment and effort; 

22 (II) student advancement; 

23 (III) educator effectiveness; and 

24 (IV) academic learning. 


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1 (ii) INDICATORS OF HIGH SCHOOL

2 STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND EFFORT.— 

3 With respect to high school student en4 gagement and effort, the indicators— 

5 (I) shall include student attend6 ance rates; and 

7 (II) may include— 

8 (aa) the percentage of stu9 dent suspensions and expulsions; 

10 (bb) surveys of high school 

11 student engagement and effort; 

12 or 

13 (cc) other indicators of stu14 dent engagement proposed by the 

15 State educational agency and ap16 proved by the Secretary as part 

17 of the peer review process de18 scribed in section 104(a). 

19 (iii) INDICATORS OF STUDENT AD20 VANCEMENT.—With respect to student 

21 achievement, the indicators— 

22 (I) shall include— 

23 (aa)(AA) student-earned on24 time promotion rates from grade 


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1 to grade for all grades in the 

2 high school; or 

3 (BB) the percentage of stu4 dents who have on-time credit ac5 cumulation at the end of each 

6 grade; and 

7 (bb) the percentage of stu8 dents— 

9 (AA) failing a core, 

10 credit-bearing, English lan11 guage arts, mathematics, or 

12 science course; or 

13 (BB) failing 2 or more 

14 courses of any type; and 

15 (II) may include— 

16 (aa) measures of enrollment, 

17 retention, persistence, and degree 

18 attainment in two-year and four19 year institutions of higher edu20 cation; 

21 (bb) measures of the em22 ployment success of students who 

23 graduated from the high school; 

24 or 


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1 (cc) other indicators of stu2 dent advancement proposed by 

3 the State educational agency and 

4 approved by the Secretary as 

5 part of the peer review process 

6 described in section 104(a). 

7 (iv) INDICATORS OF EDUCATOR EF8 FECTIVENESS.—With respect to educator 

9 effectiveness, the indicators— 

10 (I) shall include— 

11 (aa) measures of teacher at12 tendance, vacancies, and turn13 over; and 

14 (bb) the percentage of highly 

15 qualified teachers by grade level; 

16 and 

17 (II) may include— 

18 (aa) student performance 

19 and growth, observations, and 

20 portfolio review; and 

21 (bb) other indicators of edu22 cator effectiveness proposed by 

23 the State educational agency and 

24 approved by the Secretary as 


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1 part of the peer review process 

2 described in section 104(a). 

3 (v) INDICATORS OF ACADEMIC LEARN4 ING.—With respect to academic learning, 

5 the indicators— 

6 (I) shall include— 

7 (aa) the percentage of stu8 dents taking a college-pre9 paratory curriculum, which may 

10 include the percentage of stu11 dents taking Advanced Placement 

12 courses, International Bacca13 laureate courses, or postsec14 ondary courses for dual credit; 

15 (bb) the percentage of stu16 dents reaching proficiency on the 

17 State academic assessments in 

18 reading and mathematics re19 quired under section 1111 of the 

20 Elementary and Secondary Edu21 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

22 6311), disaggregated by the cat23 egories of students identified in 

24 section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v) of such 


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1 Act (20 U.S.C. 

2 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)); 

3 (cc) student success on 

4 State or local educational agency 

5 end-of-course examinations or 

6 performance-based assessments 

7 with standardized scoring rubrics 

8 aligned to State standards, where 

9 such assessments are available; 

10 and 

11 (dd) the percentage of stu12 dents who earn a postsecondary 

13 credential while enrolled in sec14 ondary school (including an in15 dustry-recognized credential); 

16 and 

17 (II) may also include— 

18 (aa) student achievement on 

19 college entrance and placement 

20 examinations such as the ACT or 

21 SAT, or Advanced Placement or 

22 International Baccalaureate ex23 aminations; or 

24 (bb) other indicators of aca25 demic learning proposed by the 


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1 State educational agency and ap2 proved by the Secretary as part 

3 of the peer-review process de4 scribed in section 104(a). 

5 (C) DEMONSTRATION OF CAPACITY TO

6 COLLECT AND REPORT INDICATORS.—The State 

7 educational agency shall demonstrate its capac8 ity to collect, report, and use the indicators de9 fined and used to meet the requirements of sub10 paragraph (A), including through the use of a 

11 statewide longitudinal data system. 

12 (D) ANNUAL GROWTH TARGETS.—The 

13 State educational agency shall set State annual 

14 growth targets that— 

15 (i) include a goal and a minimum per16 centage of expected annual growth for each 

17 school performance indicator; and 

18 (ii) demonstrate continuous and sub19 stantial progress toward the State-defined 

20 goal and making annual measurable 

21 growth. 

22 (4) DEMONSTRATION OF CAPACITY TO SUPPORT

23 SYSTEM.—The State educational agency shall dem24 onstrate capacity to support the statewide differenVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:46 May 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S940.IS S940

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1 tiated high school improvement system, which shall 

2 include, at a minimum, the following: 

3 (A) SYSTEM ALIGNMENT.— 

4 (i) ALIGNMENT WITH ACCOUNT5 ABILITY SYSTEM.—The State shall dem6 onstrate an alignment of the State ac7 countability system described in section 

8 1111(b)(2) of the Elementary and Sec9 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

10 6311(b)(2)) with other accountability sys11 tems approved by the Secretary under such 

12 section 1111. 

13 (ii) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

14 The State educational agency shall dem15 onstrate, if the State’s statewide differen16 tiated high school improvement system in17 cludes additional requirements not required 

18 under section 107, how such additional re19 quirements will lead to improved student 

20 achievement and graduation rates and sys21 tem alignment. 

22 (iii) STRENGTHENING AND ALIGNING

23 POLICIES.—The State educational agency 

24 shall demonstrate how the State eduVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:46 May 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S940.IS S940

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1 cational agency will strengthen and align 

2 policies affecting— 

3 (I) interventions in schools in 

4 whole school reform or replacement 

5 under clause (ii) or (iii) of paragraph 

6 (2)(B); 

7 (II) new school development; and 

8 (III) implementation of effective 

9 school improvement activities that ad10 dress the education needs of high 

11 school students who are off-track or 

12 who have dropped out. 

13 (B) DATA SYSTEMS.—The State edu14 cational agency shall demonstrate the State 

15 educational agency’s use and support of a state16 wide longitudinal data system, including dem17 onstrating— 

18 (i) that such system exists, or is being 

19 developed, and includes the elements de20 scribed in section 6401(e)(2)(D) of the 

21 America COMPETES Act (20 U.S.C. 

22 9871(e)(2)(D)); 

23 (ii) a commitment to the maintenance 

24 and growth of such system; 


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1 (iii) State policies that ensure the pro2 tection of personally identifiable informa3 tion in such system and authorize such 

4 system to collect, share, and link data from 

5 multiple systems for the purposes of eval6 uations and continuous improvement; 

7 (iv) governance structures to guide 

8 the collection, sharing and use of the data 

9 in such system; and 

10 (v) that such system includes linkages 

11 between kindergarten through grade 12 

12 data systems with early learning, postsec13 ondary education, workforce, social services 

14 and other critical State agency data sys15 tems in order to achieve interoperability 

16 with systems in other States. 

17 (C) CAPACITY AND TECHNICAL ASSIST18 ANCE.—The State educational agency shall 

19 demonstrate how it will support the statewide 

20 differentiated high school improvement system, 

21 including— 

22 (i) a description of the statewide sys23 tem of support, including regional support 

24 services and how schools identified under 

25 this Act and the local educational agencies 


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1 that serve such schools can utilize such 

2 supports to improve teaching, learning, 

3 and student outcomes; 

4 (ii) a description of how the State 

5 educational agency will review, support, 

6 monitor, and provide technical support for 

7 local educational agency plans in accord8 ance with paragraph (5); 

9 (iii) a description of the State edu10 cational agency staffing structure that is 

11 designed to— 

12 (I) carry out the activities de13 scribed in clause (ii); 

14 (II) assist local educational agen15 cy school improvement teams de16 scribed in section 109(b)(2), including 

17 supporting local educational agencies 

18 and school officials in developing and 

19 implementing school improvement 

20 plans, including through the provision 

21 of resources, training and technical 

22 assistance; and 

23 (III) coordinate services across 

24 other State agencies to streamline and 

25 improve support provided to schools 


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1 identified as needing targeted inter2 vention, whole school reform, or re3 placement under paragraph (2)(B); 

4 (iv) a description of how the State 

5 educational agency will develop and iden6 tify school improvement planning tools for 

7 use by the local educational agencies and 

8 schools, such as needs assessments; and 

9 (v) a description of how the State 

10 educational agency will ensure local edu11 cational agencies with high numbers of 

12 schools in whole school reform and replace13 ment and such schools will be prioritized 

14 and targeted with support. 

15 (D) INCREASING LOCAL CAPACITY FOR IM16 PROVEMENT.—The State educational agency 

17 shall demonstrate how the State educational 

18 agency will align its resources and policies to 

19 increase State and local capacity to ensure com20 prehensive support for schools identified as 

21 needing targeted intervention, whole school re22 form, or replacement under paragraph (2)(B), 

23 including how the State educational agency 

24 will— 


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1 (i) target resources, including re2 sources from additional funding sources, to 

3 improve teacher and school leader quality 

4 or effectiveness in such schools including 

5 using data for decisionmaking; 

6 (ii) leverage resources from other 

7 funding sources, such as school improve8 ment funds, technology and data funds, 

9 and professional development funds; 

10 (iii) provide local educational agencies 

11 with support in finding and utilizing sec12 ondary school reform partners and other 

13 external partners; 

14 (iv) increase access to State and re15 gional technical assistance services; 

16 (v) ensure an equitable distribution of 

17 teachers and school leaders with a dem18 onstrated record of improving student 

19 achievement and graduation rates among 

20 the schools in the State that are identified 

21 for targeted intervention, whole school re22 form, or replacement under paragraph 

23 (2)(B), particularly those schools in whole 

24 school reform or replacement, as compared 


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1 to schools not identified under paragraph 

2 (2)(B); 

3 (vi) ensure that local educational 

4 agencies in the State have adequate re5 sources to serve schools; 

6 (vii) support the development of effec7 tive school leaders for high schools identi8 fied for targeted intervention, whole school 

9 reform, or replacement under paragraph 

10 (2)(B); 

11 (viii) assist local educational agencies 

12 in developing early warning indicator sys13 tems described in section 109(b)(6)(A); 

14 and 

15 (ix) assist local educational agencies 

16 in developing education options as de17 scribed in section 109(b)(6)(B). 

18 (5) STATE REVIEW OF LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

19 AGENCY PLANS.— 

20 (A) REVIEW LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY

21 PLANS.—The State educational agency shall de22 scribe how the State educational agency will 

23 collect and review high school improvement 

24 plans described in section 109(b)(4), including 

25 a description of— 


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1 (i) how the State educational agency 

2 will measure and ensure local educational 

3 agencies have the capacity to carry out 

4 such high school improvement plans; 

5 (ii) how a local educational agency 

6 may propose additional levels of differen7 tiation within a particular school improve8 ment category described in paragraph 

9 (2)(B) that are aligned with the State ac10 countability system under section 

11 1111(b)(2) of the Elementary and Sec12 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

13 6311(b)(2)); 

14 (iii) how the State educational agency 

15 will allow consortia of local educational 

16 agencies, particularly those in rural areas, 

17 to collaborate to develop and implement 

18 school improvement plans; 

19 (iv) how the State educational agency 

20 will review plans with the assistance and 

21 advice of a peer review panel that includes 

22 educators and individuals who are experts 

23 in— 

24 (I) educational standards, assess25 ments, and accountability; 


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1 (II) high school improvement; 

2 (III) dropout prevention, inter3 vention, and recovery; 

4 (IV) parental involvement; and 

5 (V) other educational needs of 

6 high school students; 

7 (v) how the State, in consultation with 

8 the peer review panel, shall ensure the 

9 local educational agency has identified the 

10 school improvement category described in 

11 section 105(b)(2) for each high school 

12 served by the local educational agency that 

13 did not make annual measurable growth 

14 for 2 consecutive years in such a way that 

15 accurately identifies the high school and 

16 leads to the implementation of the inter17 ventions necessary to meet student needs; 

18 (vi) how the State will provide local 

19 educational agencies the opportunity to re20 vise high school improvement plans, includ21 ing, if the State educational agency, in 

22 consultation with the peer review panel de23 scribed in clause (iv), determines that the 

24 local educational agency’s plan does not 

25 meet the requirements of this title— 


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1 (I) immediately notifying the 

2 local educational agency of such deter3 mination and the reasons for such de4 termination; and 

5 (II) offering the local educational 

6 agency an opportunity to revise the 

7 plan, and technical assistance for re8 vising the plan; and 

9 (vii) how the State will make the 

10 school improvement plans available to the 

11 public. 

12 (B) ALLOCATION OF SUBGRANTS.—The 

13 State educational agency shall describe how it 

14 will award subgrants to local educational agen15 cies consistent with section 108. 

16 (C) MONITORING OF SCHOOL IMPROVE17 MENT PLANS.—The State educational agency 

18 shall describe how the State educational agency 

19 will review and monitor the implementation of 

20 high school improvement plans, including how 

21 the State will analyze the implementation of the 

22 high school improvement plans of high schools 

23 that do not meet the annual growth targets set 

24 in accordance with paragraph (3)(D) and deVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:46 May 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S940.IS S940

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1 fined in the school improvement plan described 

2 in section 109(b)(4). 

3 (D) PROVIDING TECHNICAL ASSIST4 ANCE.—The State educational agency shall de5 scribe how it will provide technical assistance to 

6 local educational agencies and high schools that 

7 need support to develop and to implement high 

8 school improvement plans described in section 

9 109(b)(4) and improve graduation rates and 

10 student achievement, including through the use 

11 of secondary school reform partners, where ap12 propriate. 

13 (6) EVALUATION OF SUCCESS.—The State edu14 cational agency shall describe how, every 5 years, 

15 the State educational agency will evaluate how the 

16 activities assisted under this title have been success17 ful in improving student achievement and outcomes 

18 of the cohort of students whose year of entry into 

19 high school was 4 years before the evaluation, in20 cluding measurement of the State educational agen21 cy’s effectiveness in carrying out the activities de22 scribed in the application under this subsection. 

23 SEC. 106. USE OF GRANT FUNDS. 

24 A State educational agency that receives a grant 

25 under this title— 


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1 (1) shall reserve not more than 10 percent of 

2 the grant funds— 

3 (A) to carry out the activities described in 

4 the State plan under section 105; and 

5 (B) to establish or expand a statewide dif6 ferentiated high school improvement system de7 scribed in section 107; and 

8 (2) shall use not less than 90 percent of the 

9 grant funds to make subgrants to local educational 

10 agencies in accordance with section 108. 

11 SEC. 107. STATEWIDE DIFFERENTIATED HIGH SCHOOL IM12 PROVEMENT SYSTEM. 

13 A statewide differentiated high school improvement 

14 system shall be designed by the State educational agency 

15 to— 

16 (1) use data to identify high schools for tar17 geted intervention, whole school reform, or replace18 ment, as described in section 105(b)(2)(B), within 

19 the State; 

20 (2) differentiate school improvement actions 

21 under section 105(b)(2) based on the amount and 

22 type of supports necessary to improve student 

23 achievement and graduation rates in high schools 

24 within the State; 


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1 (3) provide resources to support the evidence2 based activities that school improvement teams 

3 choose, based on school performance data, to carry 

4 out under section 110; 

5 (4) target resources and support to those high 

6 schools in the State that are identified for whole 

7 school reform or replacement; 

8 (5) ensure that each high school identified for 

9 targeted intervention, whole school reform, or re10 placement that is making progress on the State’s 

11 school performance indicators described in section 

12 105(b)(3) continues to implement effective school 

13 improvement strategies identified in the high 

14 school’s school improvement plan; 

15 (6) ensure that high schools identified for whole 

16 school reform or replacement making progress on 

17 the State’s school performance indicators have the 

18 resources and supports necessary to improve high 

19 school graduation rates and student achievement; 

20 (7) build the capacity of the State educational 

21 agency and local educational agencies to assist in 

22 improving student achievement and graduation rates 

23 in high schools identified for whole school reform 

24 and replacement; and 


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1 (8) ensure that high schools identified for whole 

2 school reform and replacement making progress on 

3 school performance indicators continue to have the 

4 resources and support necessary to further improve 

5 high school graduation rates and student achieve6 ment. 

7 SEC. 108. SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 

8 (a) AWARD BASIS.— 

9 (1) PRIORITY OF WHOLE SCHOOL REFORM AND

10 REPLACEMENT.—In awarding subgrants under this 

11 section, a State educational agency shall— 

12 (A) before awarding any subgrants to local 

13 educational agencies serving high schools identi14 fied for targeted intervention under section 

15 105(b)(2), award subgrants to, on a competitive 

16 basis, local educational agencies serving high 

17 schools identified as needing whole school re18 form and replacement; and 

19 (B) ensure that each subgrant awarded to 

20 a local educational agency provides funding ade21 quate to fulfill the school improvement needs 

22 outlined in the local educational agency’s school 

23 plan, as approved by the State educational 

24 agency. 


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1 (2) TARGETED INTERVENTIONS.—If subgrant 

2 funds remain after the application of subsection (a), 

3 then the State educational agency shall award re4 maining subgrant funds to local educational agencies 

5 serving high schools needing targeted interventions. 

6 (3) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—A State educational 

7 agency that receives a grant under this title shall 

8 award subgrants, in accordance with subsections (a) 

9 and (b), to local educational agencies on the basis 

10 of— 

11 (A) the quality of the school improvement 

12 plan to improve student graduation rates and 

13 student achievement in high schools that have 

14 not made annual measurable growth for 2 con15 secutive years; 

16 (B) the capacity of the local educational 

17 agency to implement the plan; and 

18 (C) the need of the local educational agen19 cy, based on student high school graduation 

20 rates and the percentage of students from fami21 lies with incomes below the poverty line. 

22 (b) APPLICATION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

24 subgrant under this title, a local educational agency 

25 shall submit an application to the State educational 


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1 agency at such time, in such manner, and containing 

2 such information as the State educational agency 

3 may reasonably require. 

4 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

5 under this subsection shall include— 

6 (A) a description, for each high school 

7 identified pursuant to section 109(b)(1), of how 

8 the local educational agency will carry out ac9 tivities described in section 110 for the high 

10 school; 

11 (B) a description of the local educational 

12 agency staffing structure that is designed to— 

13 (i) carry out the activities described in 

14 section 109(a); 

15 (ii) assist school improvement teams, 

16 including supporting local educational 

17 agency and school officials in developing 

18 and implementing high school improvement 

19 plans, by providing resources, training, and 

20 technical assistance, and through other 

21 means; and 

22 (iii) coordinate services across other 

23 governmental agencies and nongovern24 mental organizations to streamline and im25 prove support provided to schools identified 


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1 for a school improvement category de2 scribed in section 105(b)(2); 

3 (C) a description of the policies and proce4 dures the local educational agency shall imple5 ment to ensure the distribution and assignment 

6 of high-quality teachers and leaders in a man7 ner that first fulfills the needs of the schools 

8 identified as needing targeted intervention, 

9 whole school reform, or replacement; 

10 (D) an assurance that the local educational 

11 agency will use subgrant funds under this title 

12 first to meet the needs of high schools served 

13 by the local educational agency that are identi14 fied for whole school reform or replacement 

15 under clause (ii) or (iii) of section 105(b)(2); 

16 (E) an assurance that the local educational 

17 agency shall provide ongoing support and re18 sources to high schools identified for whole 

19 school reform or replacement, and are making 

20 progress on the State’s school performance indi21 cators described in section 105(b)(3), to ensure 

22 continued improvement; 

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1 prove high schools with low student achieve2 ment and graduation rates; and 

3 (G) an assurance that the local educational 

4 agency will conduct the capacity and needs as5 sessment required under subsection (b)(9) and 

6 provide the results of the assessment to the 

7 State educational agency. 

8 (3) USE OF DATA.—The local educational agen9 cy shall describe how data will be used, consistent 

10 with the requirements of this section, to inform the 

11 classification of high schools, and development and 

12 implementation of school improvement plans, includ13 ing that data described in section 109(b)(1)(A). 

14 (c) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—A local edu15 cational agency that receives a subgrant under this section 

16 shall use the subgrant funds to supplement, and not sup17 plant, other Federal and non-Federal funds available for 

18 high schools served by the local educational agency. 

19 (d) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency 

21 receiving a subgrant under this section shall provide 

22 matching funds, from non-Federal sources, in an 

23 amount equal to not less than 15 percent of the 

24 total subgrant award for the local educational agen25 cy, which may be provided in cash or in-kind. 


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1 (2) USE OF MATCHING FUNDS.—The matching 

2 funds shall be used to provide technical assistance to 

3 high schools served by the local educational agency 

4 in— 

5 (A) developing the high schools’ high 

6 school improvement plans described in section 

7 109(b)(4); 

8 (B) conducting the capacity and needs as9 sessments described in section 109(b)(9); and 

10 (C) implementing and monitoring the im11 plementation of the high school improvement 

12 plans. 

13 (3) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive all or 

14 part of the matching requirement described in para15 graph (1) for any fiscal year for a local educational 

16 agency if the Secretary determines that applying the 

17 matching requirement to such local educational 

18 agency would result in serious hardship or an inabil19 ity to carry out the authorized activities described in 

20 section 110. 

21 SEC. 109. LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY IMPLEMENTATION 

22 OF SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM. 

23 (a) DISTRICT-WIDE HIGH SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT.— 

24 A local educational agency that receives a subgrant under 

25 section 108 shall use subgrant funds to develop, lead, and 


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1 implement a district-wide approach to high school im2 provement that meets the requirements of subsection (b) 

3 and carry out the activities described in section 110. 

4 (b) SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.— 

5 (1) DIFFERENTIATE HIGH SCHOOLS.—The local 

6 educational agency shall— 

7 (A) identify the category of high school im8 provement, as described in section 105(b)(2), 

9 using data from the school performance indica10 tors as prescribed by the State educational 

11 agency in accordance with section 105(b), for 

12 each high school served by such agency that 

13 does not make annual measurable growth for 2 

14 consecutive years; and 

15 (B) publicly identify such schools by school 

16 improvement category. 

17 (2) SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT TEAMS.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The local educational 

19 agency shall convene a school improvement 

20 team for each high school served by such agen21 cy that is assigned to one of the school improve22 ment categories described in section 105(b)(2). 

23 (B) MEMBERS.— 


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1 (i) MANDATORY MEMBERS.—The 

2 school improvement team for a high school 

3 shall include— 

4 (I) the school leader of the high 

5 school; 

6 (II) if applicable, at least 1 

7 teacher from the high school rep8 resenting career and technical edu9 cation; 

10 (III) at least 2 teachers from the 

11 high school representing different 

12 grade levels or disciplines; 

13 (IV) local educational agency 

14 staff; 

15 (V) a school counselor from the 

16 high school; and 

17 (VI) a local representative of the 

18 business community, with preference 

19 given to a member of a school’s busi20 ness advisory council, if applicable. 

21 (ii) ADDITIONAL MEMBERS.—The 

22 school improvement team for a high school 

23 shall include at least one of the following: 

24 (I) A parent of a student in the 

25 high school. 


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1 (II) A community representative, 

2 such as a representative of nonprofit 

3 organizations serving young people 

4 and the business community. 

5 (III) A pupil service representa6 tive. 

7 (IV) In the case of a school in 

8 whole school reform or replacement, 

9 secondary school reform partners. 

10 (iii) OPTIONAL MEMBERS.—The 

11 school improvement team for a high school 

12 may include State educational agency staff, 

13 if requested by the local educational agency 

14 or assigned by the State educational agen15 cy. 

16 (C) COLLABORATION.—The local edu17 cational agency shall ensure collaboration— 

18 (i) of school improvement teams with 

19 personnel of middle grades schools served 

20 by the local educational agency whose stu21 dents will attend high schools that are 

22 identified for one of the categories de23 scribed in section 105(b)(2), to the extent 

24 appropriate; and 


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1 (ii) among or between school improve2 ment teams at schools assigned to one of 

3 the school improvement categories and 

4 school leadership and other personnel at 

5 schools served by the local educational 

6 agency that have made annual measurable 

7 growth. 

8 (3) USE OF DATA.—Consistent with the re9 quirements of this section, the local educational 

10 agency shall use, at minimum, data on the following 

11 to inform the classification of high schools: 

12 (A) School performance indicators de13 scribed in section 105(b)(3). 

14 (B) Indicators used to determine annual 

15 measurable growth. 

16 (C) Information about incoming students 

17 in the initial grade of the high school. 

18 (D) Information about the student popu19 lation, including data provided through the 

20 early warning indicator system described in 

21 paragraph (6)(A). 

22 (E) The schools’ capacity and needs, as de23 scribed in paragraph (9). 

24 (4) DEVELOP HIGH SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT

25 PLANS.—The school improvement team convened 


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1 under paragraph (2) for each school shall use the 

2 data described in paragraph (3), and other relevant 

3 data and knowledge regarding the school, to develop 

4 a multiyear school improvement plan. Such plan 

5 shall— 

6 (A) identify the school annual growth tar7 gets for the State’s school performance indica8 tors described in section 105(b)(3) that meet or 

9 exceed the State’s annual growth targets de10 scribed in such section; 

11 (B) define the evidence-based academic 

12 and nonacademic interventions and resources 

13 necessary to meet the school annual growth tar14 gets and make annual measurable growth; 

15 (C) identify the roles of the State edu16 cational agency, the local educational agency, 

17 the school, and secondary school reform part18 ners and other external partners, as appro19 priate, in providing such interventions and the 

20 resources necessary to meet the school annual 

21 growth targets and make annual measurable 

22 growth; 

23 (D) provide for the involvement of business 

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1 er education, in the activities to be assisted 

2 under the subgrant; and 

3 (E) describe and direct the use of— 

4 (i) any additional funding to be pro5 vided by the State educational agency, the 

6 local educational agency, or other sources 

7 to support activities carried out under this 

8 title; and 

9 (ii) in the case of a high school identi10 fied for whole school reform or replace11 ment, secondary school reform partners 

12 and external partners. 

13 (5) IMPLEMENT HIGH SCHOOL IMPROVE14 MENT.—The local educational agency shall use funds 

15 to— 

16 (A) engage in a planning period of not 

17 longer than 180 days to prepare to implement 

18 the school improvement plan for each high 

19 school, including preparation activities such 

20 as— 

21 (i) creating a skilled leadership team 

22 and providing professional development in 

23 best practice and successful school models 

24 that educate similar student populations; 


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1 (ii) working with secondary school re2 form partners to identify roles and respon3 sibilities to create a comprehensive ap4 proach and effort to implementing the 

5 school improvement plan for each school 

6 identified for targeted intervention, whole 

7 school improvement, or replacement; 

8 (iii) planning and providing profes9 sional development to high school teachers 

10 in instruction, use of data, and working in 

11 the identified schools; 

12 (iv) appropriately identifying teachers 

13 for each grade and course; 

14 (v) establishing and implementing use 

15 of the early warning indicator system de16 scribed in paragraph (6)(A); and 

17 (vi) establishing a school schedule that 

18 enables the implementation of the high 

19 school improvement plan; and 

20 (B) ensure the implementation of the high 

21 school improvement plans for the high schools 

22 identified for one of the categories described in 

23 section 105(b)(2). 

24 (6) IMPLEMENT DISTRICT-WIDE ACTIVITIES.— 

25 The local educational agency shall support successful 


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1 implementation of high school improvement plans 

2 and district-wide improvement through— 

3 (A) establishing an early warning indicator 

4 system to identify students who are at risk of 

5 dropping out of high school and to guide pre6 ventive and recuperative school improvement 

7 strategies, including— 

8 (i) identifying and analyzing the aca9 demic risk factors that most reliably pre10 dict dropouts, such as by using longitu11 dinal data of past cohorts of students; 

12 (ii) identifying specific indicators of 

13 student progress and performance, such as 

14 attendance, academic performance in core 

15 courses, and credit accumulation, to guide 

16 decisionmaking; 

17 (iii) identifying or developing a mech18 anism for regularly collecting and ana19 lyzing data about the impact of interven20 tions on the indicators of student progress 

21 and performance; and 

22 (iv) analyzing academic indicators to 

23 determine whether students are on track to 

24 graduate secondary school in the standard 

25 number of years; 


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1 (B) providing academically rigorous edu2 cation options that lead to a secondary school 

3 diploma consistent with readiness for postsec4 ondary education and the workforce, based on 

5 an analysis of data described in paragraph (3) 

6 and other student-level data and designed to 

7 meet the students’ needs and interests, such 

8 as— 

9 (i) effective research-based dropout 

10 prevention, credit and dropout recovery, 

11 and recuperative education programs for 

12 students who are not making sufficient 

13 progress to graduate high school in the 

14 standard number of years or have dropped 

15 out of high school; 

16 (ii) providing students with post-sec17 ondary learning opportunities, such as 

18 through access to a relevant curriculum or 

19 course of study that enables a student to 

20 earn a secondary school diploma and— 

21 (I) an associate’s degree; 

22 (II) an industry-recognized cre23 dential; or 

24 (III) transferable credit toward a 

25 postsecondary degree or credential; 


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1 (iii) combining rigorous academic edu2 cation with career training, including 

3 training that leads to postsecondary or in4 dustry-recognized credentials, for students; 

5 (iv) increasing access to Advanced 

6 Placement or International Baccalaureate 

7 courses and examinations; 

8 (v) developing and utilizing innovative, 

9 high quality distance learning strategies to 

10 improve student academic achievement; or 

11 (vi) increasing access to work-based 

12 learning opportunities; 

13 (C) providing targeted research-based 

14 interventions for middle schools that feed into 

15 the high schools identified by the local edu16 cational agency as needing whole school reform 

17 or replacement; 

18 (D) identifying and implement strategies 

19 for pairing academic support with integrated 

20 student services and case-managed interven21 tions for students requiring intensive supports, 

22 which may include partnership with other exter23 nal partners; 


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1 (E) providing technical assistance to high 

2 schools identified for 1 of the categories de3 scribed in section 105(b)(2) through— 

4 (i) streamlining and prioritizing re5 sources to organize support for schools in 

6 whole school reform or replacement, such 

7 as through identifying and developing cat8 egories or clusters of schools with similar 

9 school improvement needs; and 

10 (ii) assisting schools in identifying 

11 secondary school reform partners and 

12 other external partners; and 

13 (F) supporting the use of data to improve 

14 teaching and learning, including— 

15 (i) improving longitudinal student 

16 data systems; 

17 (ii) regularly analyzing and commu18 nicating data to educators, parents, and 

19 students that they can use; and 

20 (iii) building school leaders’ and 

21 teachers’ data and assessment literacy. 

22 (7) ENSURE CONTINUOUS HIGH SCHOOL IM23 PROVEMENT.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The local educational 

2 agency shall ensure the continuous improve3 ment of high schools by— 

4 (i) evaluating the progress of each 

5 high school in making continuous and sub6 stantial progress based on the high school’s 

7 annual growth targets identified under 

8 paragraph (4) for the school; and 

9 (ii) determining the high school’s 

10 progress and taking appropriate actions, as 

11 provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C). 

12 (B) ON TRACK.—Each high school that is 

13 meeting the school’s annual growth targets 

14 identified in the high school improvement plan 

15 for the high school, shall continue to implement 

16 school improvement activities in accordance 

17 with the high school improvement plan. 

18 (C) NOT ON TRACK.— 

19 (i) ANNUAL REVIEW.—For each high 

20 school that is not meeting the high school’s 

21 annual growth targets, the local edu22 cational agency shall— 

23 (I) after the first year that the 

24 high school fails to meet the high 

25 school’s annual growth targets, review 


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1 the high school improvement plan and 

2 develop and implement a new plan; 

3 and 

4 (II) after the high school fails to 

5 meet the high school’s annual growth 

6 targets for 2 or more consecutive 

7 years, reclassify the school as a school 

8 in need of whole school reform or re9 placement, as appropriate based on 

10 the State educational agency’s cat11 egorization system described in sec12 tion 105(b)(2). 

13 (ii) RESUBMISSION OF SCHOOL

14 PLAN.—For each high school that fails to 

15 meet the high school’s annual growth tar16 gets for 2 or more consecutive years, the 

17 local educational agency may develop and 

18 submit to the State educational agency for 

19 review a new school improvement plan, as 

20 the local educational agency determines ap21 propriate. 

22 (8) ASSURANCES.—The local educational agen23 cy shall ensure that high schools receiving additional 

24 students due to other high schools being replaced 

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1 sources, and funding to deliver a high quality edu2 cation to all students. 

3 (9) CAPACITY AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each school improve5 ment team described in subsection (b)(2) and 

6 the local educational agency shall conduct a 

7 high school capacity and needs assessment for 

8 the high school served by the team that in9 cludes— 

10 (i) a description and analysis of the 

11 high school’s capacity to implement the 

12 school improvement activities identified in 

13 the high school improvement plan, includ14 ing an analysis of— 

15 (I) the number, experience, train16 ing level, responsibilities, and stability 

17 of existing administrative, instruc18 tional, and noninstructional staff for 

19 the high school; and 

20 (II) a review of the budget, in21 cluding how Federal, State, and local 

22 funds are being spent, as of the time 

23 of the assessment, for instruction and 

24 operations at the school level for staff 

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1 fessional development, and student 

2 support services, in order to establish 

3 the extent to which existing resources 

4 need to and can be reallocated to sup5 port the needed school improvement 

6 activities; 

7 (ii) additional resources and staff nec8 essary to implement the school improve9 ment activities identified in the high school 

10 improvement plan; and 

11 (iii) an analysis of the local edu12 cational agency’s capacity to provide tech13 nical assistance, additional staff, and re14 sources to implement the high school im15 provement plan and to improve the high 

16 school’s performance. 

17 (B) ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS.—A 

18 local educational agency shall use the informa19 tion provided in the capacity and needs assess20 ment for a high school, in coordination with the 

21 high school’s school improvement plan and the 

22 understanding of the reform history of high 

23 schools, to— 

24 (i) determine the level and direct the 

25 use of— 


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1 (I) the funds requested by the 

2 local educational agency for the high 

3 school under the subgrant under this 

4 section; and 

5 (II) any additional funding to be 

6 provided by the State educational 

7 agency, the local educational agency, 

8 or other sources; and 

9 (ii) to determine the number and di10 rect the use of secondary school reform 

11 partners and external partners. 

12 (C) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—A local edu13 cational agency may request technical assist14 ance from the State educational agency in pre15 paring the plan and the capacity and needs as16 sessment required under this paragraph. 

17 (c) AUTHORITY TO INTERVENE.—The State edu18 cational agency may intervene to develop or implement the 

19 high school improvement plans, or enter into contracts 

20 with secondary school reform partners to assist local edu21 cational agencies with the development and implementa22 tion of high school improvement plans, if the State edu23 cational agency determines that— 

24 (1) a local educational agency serving a high 

25 school in whole school reform or replacement has not 


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1 submitted an application described in section 108(b); 

2 or 

3 (2) a local educational agency does not have the 

4 capacity to implement the school improvement activi5 ties described in the school improvement plan sub6 mitted under subsection (b)(4). 

7 SEC. 110. SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The school improvement team de9 scribed in section 109(b)(2) for each high school identified 

10 for a school improvement category described in section 

11 105(b)(2) shall ensure that the school improvement activi12 ties included in the school improvement plan are imple13 mented. 

14 (b) TARGETED INTERVENTIONS.—A high school 

15 identified for targeted interventions under section 

16 109(b)(1) or the local educational agency serving such 

17 high school, shall implement research-based targeted 

18 interventions, using data from the school performance in19 dicators, the early warning indicator system, other student 

20 indicators, and the capacity and needs assessment for the 

21 high school. The targeted interventions shall be designed, 

22 at a minimum, to address the specific problems identified 

23 by the indicators, including the needs of students who are 

24 not making sufficient progress to graduate in the standard 

25 number of years. 


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1 (c) WHOLE SCHOOL REFORM.—The local educational 

2 agency or State educational agency, with technical assist3 ance from secondary school reform partners, shall enable 

4 and assist each school identified as needing whole school 

5 reform pursuant to section 109(b)(1) to implement whole 

6 school reform based on scientifically valid research using 

7 the data described in section 109(b)(3). Such reform— 

8 (1) shall address the comprehensive aspects of 

9 high school reform, including— 

10 (A) schoolwide needs; 

11 (B) students who need targeted assistance; 

12 and 

13 (C) students who need intensive interven14 tions, including those who are not making suffi15 cient progress to graduate on time; 

16 (2) shall address schoolwide factors to improve 

17 student achievement, including— 

18 (A) setting high expectations and infusing 

19 relevance into learning for all students; 

20 (B) personalizing the high school experi21 ence; and 

22 (C) improving school climate, including 

23 student attendance and behavior; 

24 (3) shall include activities that— 

25 (A) ensure continuous improvement by— 


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1 (i) ensuring the school improvement 

2 plan is supported to the extent practicable 

3 by all school staff; 

4 (ii) establishing clear— 

5 (I) goals and growth targets for 

6 implementation outcomes; and 

7 (II) school annual growth tar8 gets; and 

9 (iii) regularly evaluating implementa10 tion of and fidelity to the high school im11 provement plan, such as dedicating a staff 

12 member to support implementation of the 

13 school improvement plan; 

14 (B) organize the school to improve teach15 ing and learning, including through— 

16 (i) strategic use of time, such as— 

17 (I) establishing common planning 

18 time for subject area teachers and 

19 interdisciplinary teams who share 

20 common groups of students; 

21 (II) utilizing block scheduling or 

22 redesigning the school calendar year 

23 or day to create extended learning 

24 time in core subjects; or 


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1 (III) creating a flexible school pe2 riod to address specific student aca3 demic needs and interests such as 

4 credit recovery, electives, or service 

5 learning; 

6 (ii) alignment of resources to improve7 ment goals, such as through ensuring that 

8 students in their initial year in the high 

9 school are taught by teachers prepared to 

10 meet their specific learning needs; and 

11 (iii) development of effective leader12 ship structures, supports, and clear deci13 sionmaking processes, such as through de14 veloping distributive leadership and leader15 ship teams; 

16 (C) improve curriculum and instruction, 

17 including through— 

18 (i) increasing access to rigorous and 

19 advanced coursework, including adoption 

20 and implementation of a college- and work21 ready curriculum, and evidence-based, en22 gaging instructional materials aligned with 

23 such a curriculum, for all students; 

24 (ii) increasing access to contextualized 

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1 ness for postsecondary education and the 

2 workforce, such as— 

3 (I) providing work-based, project4 based, and service-learning opportuni5 ties; 

6 (II) providing a high quality, col7 lege preparatory curriculum in the 

8 context of a rigorous career and tech9 nical education core; or 

10 (III) implementing career acad11 emies or programs of study in high12 demand fields leading to industry-rec13 ognized credentials or postsecondary 

14 credit; 

15 (iii) regularly collecting and using 

16 data to inform instruction, such as— 

17 (I) through use of formative as18 sessments; 

19 (II) creating and using common 

20 grading rubrics; or 

21 (III) identifying effective instruc22 tional approaches to meet student 

23 needs; and 

24 (iv) emphasizing core skills instruc25 tion, such as literacy, across content areas; 


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1 (D) provide students with academic and 

2 social support to address individual student 

3 learning needs, including through— 

4 (i) increasing personalization through 

5 learning structures that facilitate the de6 velopment of student and staff relation7 ships such as— 

8 (I) implementing grade 9 acad9 emies, career academies, or programs 

10 of study; 

11 (II) establishing teams of teach12 ers who work exclusively with small 

13 groups of students; or 

14 (III) creating advisor positions to 

15 provide students with study, organiza16 tional, and social skills; 

17 (ii) offering extended-learning, credit 

18 recovery, mentoring, or tutoring options of 

19 sufficient scale to meet student needs; 

20 (iii) providing evidence-based acceler21 ated learning for students with academic 

22 skill levels below grade level; 

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1 ers, and behavior and mental health pro2 viders to deliver such services; 

3 (v) providing graduation and postsec4 ondary planning and transition supports, 

5 including college awareness and planning; 

6 and 

7 (vi) providing up-to-date, regionally 

8 relevant workforce information; 

9 (E) increase teacher and school leader ef10 fectiveness, including through— 

11 (i) professional development activities 

12 that respond to student and schoolwide 

13 needs as identified through the data de14 scribed in section 109(b)(3), such as— 

15 (I) training teachers, leaders, and 

16 administrators together with staff 

17 from high schools making annual 

18 measurable growth that serve similar 

19 populations and in such schools; and 

20 (II) establishing peer learning 

21 and coaching among teachers; and 

22 (ii) facilitating collaboration, including 

23 through professional communities across 

24 subject area and interdisciplinary groups 

25 and similar high schools; and 


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1 (F) engage families and community part2 ners, including community-based organizations, 

3 organizations assisting parent involvement, in4 stitutions of higher education, and industry, in 

5 school improvement activities through evidence6 based strategies; and 

7 (4) may include— 

8 (A) providing enabling policies, such as ad9 ditional flexibility regarding staffing and com10 pensation, budgeting, student credit attainment, 

11 or use of school time, that support the imple12 mentation of effective school improvement ac13 tivities and educational options, including flexi14 bility provided under section 1114(a)(3) of the 

15 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

16 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6314(a)(3)); 

17 (B) implementing multiple school options 

18 or effective school models that address the 

19 needs of students who are not making sufficient 

20 progress to graduate in the standard number of 

21 years or have dropped out of high school, as in22 formed by analysis of school performance indi23 cator data described in section 105(b)(3) and 

24 early warning indicator system data described 

25 in section 109(b)(6)(A); and 


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1 (C) other activities designed to address 

2 whole school needs, such as implementing a 

3 comprehensive reform model for the high 

4 school. 

5 (d) REPLACEMENT.—The local educational agency, 

6 in consultation with the State educational agency, sec7 ondary school reform partners, and external partners, 

8 shall replace each high school that, using data under sec9 tion 109(b)(3), is identified for replacement pursuant to 

10 section 109(b)(1). The local educational agency shall en11 sure successful implementation of the replacement strat12 egy through— 

13 (1) closing and reopening the schools or imple14 menting multiple school options or effective school 

15 models that address the needs of students in the re16 placed schools, including students who are not mak17 ing sufficient progress to graduate in the standard 

18 number of years or have dropped out of high school; 

19 (2) providing enabling policies, such as addi20 tional flexibility regarding staffing and compensa21 tion, budgeting, or use of school time; and 

22 (3) implementing activities described in sub23 section (c). 


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1 SEC. 111. EVALUATION AND REPORTING. 

2 (a) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY REPORTING.—On 

3 an annual basis, each local educational agency receiving 

4 a subgrant under section 108 shall report to the State 

5 educational agency and to the public on— 

6 (1) the identified category of school improve7 ment for each high school in the school that failed 

8 to make annual measurable growth for the most re9 cent 2 consecutive years; 

10 (2) the school performance indicators (as de11 scribed in section 105(b)(3)) for each such high 

12 school, in the aggregate and disaggregated by the 

13 subgroups described in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) 

14 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

15 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(C)(v)(II)); 

16 (3) each such high school’s progress in meeting 

17 the high school’s annual growth targets under sec18 tion 109(b)(4)(A); and 

19 (4) the use of subgrant funds in carrying out 

20 the purposes of this title by the local educational 

21 agency and each such school. 

22 (b) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY REPORTING.—On 

23 an annual basis, each State educational agency receiving 

24 a grant under this title shall prepare and submit to the 

25 Secretary, and make available to the public, a report on— 


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1 (1) the school performance indicators (as de2 scribed in section 105(b)(3)) for each high school 

3 served by the State educational agency that receives 

4 assistance under this title, in the aggregate and 

5 disaggregated by the subgroups described in section 

6 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the Elementary and Sec7 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

8 6311(b)(2)(C)(v)(II)); 

9 (2) progress in meeting the annual growth tar10 gets under section 109(b)(4)(A) for each such high 

11 school; 

12 (3) the high schools in the State that have 

13 changed school improvement categories pursuant to 

14 section 109(b)(7); 

15 (4) the use of funds in carrying out the pur16 poses of this title by each local educational agency 

17 and each school served with such funds; 

18 (5) the State definition of a new school, for 

19 purposes of whole school reform or replacement; 

20 (6) the number of schools closed for each local 

21 educational agency in the State; 

22 (7) the number of new schools for each local 

23 educational agency in the State; and 

24 (8) the new schools in the State that have made 

25 annual measurable growth. 


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1 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 

3 thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to Con4 gress and make available to the public— 

5 (1) a summary of the State reports under sub6 section (b); and 

7 (2) a report on the use of funds by each State 

8 under this title. 

9 SEC. 112. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

11 the activities authorized under this title, $2,440,000,000 

12 for fiscal year 2014 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal 

13 years. 

14 TITLE II—DEVELOPMENT OF 

15 EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MODELS 

16 SEC. 201. PURPOSES. 

17 The purposes of this title are— 

18 (1) to facilitate the development and implemen19 tation of effective secondary school models for strug20 gling students and dropouts in order to raise sec21 ondary school graduation rates and more effectively 

22 prepare students for postsecondary education and 

23 the workforce; and 

24 (2) to build the capacity of State educational 

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1 nizations, and institutions of higher education to im2 plement effective secondary school models for strug3 gling students and dropouts. 

4 SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this title: 

6 (1) DROPOUT.—The term ‘‘dropout’’ means an 

7 individual who— 

8 (A) is not older than 21; 

9 (B) is not attending any school; and 

10 (C) has not received a secondary school di11 ploma or its recognized equivalent. 

12 (2) EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MODEL.—The term 

13 ‘‘effective school model’’ means— 

14 (A) an existing secondary school model 

15 with demonstrated effectiveness in improving 

16 student academic achievement and outcomes for 

17 off-track students or dropouts; or 

18 (B) a proposed new secondary school 

19 model design that is based on research-based 

20 organizational and instructional practices for 

21 improving student academic achievement and 

22 outcomes for struggling students or dropouts. 

23 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti24 ty’’ means— 


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1 (A) a local educational agency, nonprofit 

2 organization, or institution of higher edu3 cation— 

4 (i) that proposes to enhance or ex5 pand an existing effective school model for 

6 off-track students or dropouts; or 

7 (ii) that has a track record of serving 

8 struggling students or dropouts and pro9 poses to develop a new effective school 

10 model for off-track students or dropouts; 

11 or 

12 (B) a partnership involving 2 or more enti13 ties described in subparagraph (A). 

14 (4) LATE ENTRANT ENGLISH LANGUAGE

15 LEARNER.—The term ‘‘late entrant English lan16 guage learner’’ means a high school student who— 

17 (A) enters a school served by a local edu18 cational agency at grade 9 or higher; and 

19 (B) is identified by the local educational 

20 agency as being limited English proficient and 

21 as having experienced interrupted formal edu22 cation. 

23 (5) STRUGGLING STUDENT.—The term ‘‘strug24 gling student’’— 


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1 (A) means a high-school-aged student who 

2 is not making sufficient progress toward grad3 uating from secondary school with a regular di4 ploma in the standard number of years; and 

5 (B) includes a student who— 

6 (i) has been retained in grade level; 

7 (ii) is an undercredited student; or 

8 (iii) is a late entrant English language 

9 learner. 

10 (6) UNDERCREDITED STUDENT.—The term 

11 ‘‘undercredited student’’ means a high school stu12 dent who lacks either the necessary credits or 

13 courses, as determined by the relevant local edu14 cational agency and State educational agency, to 

15 graduate from secondary school with a regular di16 ploma in the standard number of years. 

17 SEC. 203. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to 

19 award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities 

20 to enable the eligible entities to develop and implement, 

21 or replicate, effective school models for struggling students 

22 and dropouts. 

23 (b) PERIOD OF GRANT.—A grant awarded under this 

24 section shall be for a period of 5 years. 


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1 SEC. 204. APPLICATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity desiring a 

3 grant under this title shall submit an application to the 

4 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 

5 such information as the Secretary may require. 

6 (b) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted under 

7 this section shall include a description of— 

8 (1) how the eligible entity will carry out the 

9 mandatory activities under section 206(a); 

10 (2) the research or evidence concerning the ef11 fective school model that the eligible entity proposes 

12 to develop and implement or replicate, including— 

13 (A) for an existing effective school model 

14 described in section 202(2)(A), the evidence 

15 that the model has improved academic out16 comes for struggling students or dropouts; or 

17 (B) for a proposed effective school model 

18 described in section 202(2)(B), the research 

19 that supports the key organizational and in20 structional practices of the proposed effective 

21 school model; 

22 (3) the eligible entity’s school design elements 

23 and principles that will be used in the effective 

24 school model, including— 

25 (A) the academic program; 


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1 (B) the career and technical education pro2 gram, if applicable; 

3 (C) the instructional practices; 

4 (D) the methods of assessment; and 

5 (E) student supports and services, such as 

6 the supports and services provided by the school 

7 or offered by other organizations and agencies 

8 in the community, to support positive student 

9 academic achievement and outcomes; 

10 (4) how the eligible entity will use student data 

11 from the local educational agency or State edu12 cational agency to evaluate and improve academic 

13 outcomes for struggling students or dropouts; 

14 (5) for each school in which the eligible entity 

15 implements or replicates an effective school model 

16 under this title, how the eligibility entity will sustain 

17 the implementation or replication of the effective 

18 school model, including the financing mechanism to 

19 be used; 

20 (6) how the eligible entity will collect data and 

21 information to assess the performance of the effec22 tive school model and will make necessary adjust23 ments to ensure continuous and substantial improve24 ment in student academic achievement and out25 comes; and 


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1 (7) how the eligible entity will make the per2 formance data available to State educational agen3 cies, local educational agencies, and schools serving 

4 struggling students or dropouts. 

5 SEC. 205. SECRETARIAL PEER REVIEW AND APPROVAL. 

6 The Secretary shall— 

7 (1) establish a peer-review process to assist in 

8 the review and approval of applications submitted by 

9 eligible entities under section 204; and 

10 (2) appoint individuals to the peer-review proc11 ess who are experts in high school reform, dropout 

12 prevention and recovery, new school development for 

13 struggling students and dropouts, and adolescent 

14 and academic development. 

15 SEC. 206. USE OF FUNDS. 

16 (a) MANDATORY USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity 

17 receiving a grant under this title shall use grant funds 

18 to— 

19 (1) enhance and expand, or replicate an existing 

20 effective school model described in section 

21 202(2)(A), or develop a proposed effective school 

22 model described in section 202(2)(B), for struggling 

23 students and dropouts; 

24 (2) assess the progress of the implementation 

25 or replication of the effective school model and make 


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1 necessary adjustments to ensure continuous im2 provement; 

3 (3) provide opportunities for professional devel4 opment associated with the continuous improvement 

5 and implementation or replication of the effective 

6 school model; 

7 (4) collect data and information on the school 

8 model’s effectiveness in improving student academic 

9 achievement and outcomes for struggling students 

10 and dropouts and disseminate such data and infor11 mation to State educational agencies, local edu12 cational agencies, and schools; and 

13 (5) build the capacity of the eligible entity to— 

14 (A) sustain the implementation or replica15 tion of the effective school model assisted under 

16 paragraph (1) after the grant period has ended; 

17 and 

18 (B) replicate the effective school model. 

19 (b) OPTIONAL USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity re20 ceiving a grant under this title may use grant funds— 

21 (1) to identify and create partnerships needed 

22 to improve the academic achievement and outcomes 

23 of the students attending a school assisted under 

24 this title; 


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1 (2) to support family and community engage2 ment in the effective school model; and 

3 (3) to carry out any additional activities that 

4 the Secretary determines are within the purposes de5 scribed in section 201. 

6 SEC. 207. EVALUATION AND REPORTING. 

7 (a) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—Each eligible entity re8 ceiving a grant under this title shall annually report to 

9 the Secretary on— 

10 (1) the data and information being gathered to 

11 assess the effective school model’s effectiveness in 

12 improving student academic achievement and out13 comes for struggling students and dropouts; 

14 (2) the implementation status of the models, 

15 any barriers to implementation, and actions taken to 

16 overcome the barriers; 

17 (3) any professional development activities to 

18 build the capacity of— 

19 (A) the eligible entity to sustain or rep20 licate the effective school model; or 

21 (B) the staff of a school assisted under 

22 this title to implement or improve the effective 

23 school model; 

24 (4) the progress made in improving student 

25 academic achievement and outcomes in the effective 


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1 school models for struggling students and dropouts; 

2 and 

3 (5) the use of grant funds by the eligible entity. 

4 (b) INDEPENDENT EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary 

5 shall reserve not more than $5,000,000 to carry out an 

6 independent evaluation of the grant program under this 

7 title and the progress of the eligible entities receiving 

8 grants under this title. 

9 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 

10 submit a report to Congress— 

11 (1) on the activities carried out with grant 

12 funds under this title; and 

13 (2) that includes, for the purpose of making 

14 publicly available, effective secondary school models 

15 for struggling students and dropouts developed with 

16 grant funds under this title. 

17 SEC. 208. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

19 this title $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2014 and each of 

20 the 4 succeeding fiscal years. 

Æ 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS