I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1698 

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 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2009 

Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. REID, Mr. DODD, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. REED, 

Mr. BROWN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. FRANKEN) 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 2009’’. 


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

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

TITLE I—HIGH SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT AND DROPOUT 

REDUCTION FUND 

Sec. 101. Findings. 

Sec. 102. Purposes. 

Sec. 103. Definitions. 

Sec. 104. Grants authorized. 

Sec. 105. Secretarial peer review and approval. 

Sec. 106. State plan to develop differentiated high school improvement system. 

Sec. 107. Use of grant funds. 

Sec. 108. Statewide differentiated high school improvement system. 

Sec. 109. Subgrants to local educational agencies. 

Sec. 110. Local educational agency implementation of school improvement system. 

Sec. 111. School improvement activities. 

Sec. 112. Evaluation and reporting. 

Sec. 113. 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. 

3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The terms ‘‘distance learn6 ing’’, ‘‘educational service agency’’, ‘‘highly quali7 fied’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘secondary 

8 school’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the 

9 meanings given the terms in section 9101 of the Ele10 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

11 U.S.C. 7801). 


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

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

3 1111(b)(2)(C)(vi) of the Elementary and Secondary 

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

5 6311(b)(2)(C)(vi)), as clarified in section 

6 200.19(b)(1) of title 34, Code of Federal Regula7 tions. 

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

9 means a secondary school in which the— 

10 (A) entering grade of the school is not 

11 lower than grade 6; and 

12 (B) highest grade of the school is— 

13 (i) grade 12; or 

14 (ii) in the case of a secondary school 

15 approved by a State to issue a regular di16 ploma concurrently with a postsecondary 

17 degree or with not more than 2 years’ 

18 worth of postsecondary academic credit, 

19 grade 13. 

20 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

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

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

24 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

25 the Secretary of Education. 


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

2 the several States of the United States, the District 

3 of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

4 TITLE I—HIGH SCHOOL IM5 PROVEMENT AND DROPOUT 

6 REDUCTION FUND 

7 SEC. 101. FINDINGS. 

8 The Senate finds the following: 

9 (1) About a third of our Nation’s high school 

10 students fail to graduate in 4 years, and another 

11 third graduate without the skills and knowledge 

12 needed to succeed in college or the workplace. The 

13 outcomes for minority students are even worse: only 

14 50 percent of American-Indian, 51 percent of Black, 

15 and about 55 percent of Hispanic students graduate 

16 on time, compared to 76 percent of White students. 

17 (2) Approximately half of the Nation’s dropouts 

18 attend a school where 40 percent or more of the 

19 freshman class has dropped out by the time the stu20 dents reach their senior year. These schools, which 

21 are located in nearly every State, disproportionately 

22 serve minority and poor students, and have fewer re23 sources and less qualified teachers than schools in 

24 more affluent neighborhoods. Almost half of African25 American students and nearly 40 percent of Latino 


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1 students—compared to only 11 percent of White 

2 students—attend high schools in which graduation is 

3 not the norm. 

4 (3) A high school diploma is increasingly impor5 tant for success in the 21st century economy. In 

6 fact, nearly 90 percent of the fastest-growing, high7 est-paying jobs require some sort of education be8 yond high school. 

9 (4) For decades, Federal funding has largely 

10 been spent on prekindergarten through grade 6 edu11 cation and higher education, with dramatically less 

12 given the middle and high school grades. While chil13 dren in their early years must build a strong founda14 tion for learning, research also clearly demonstrates 

15 the need to continue the investment at each stage of 

16 the education process or risk losing much of the ben17 efit of the early effort. 

18 (5) High schools receive only 10 percent of 

19 funds under title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

20 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), 

21 leaving millions of title I eligible, high school stu22 dents in low-performing schools without the focused 

23 support, external assistance, and resources for im24 provement that title I was created to provide. Be25 cause title I funds serve as the trigger for school imVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:55 Sep 23, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1698.IS S1698

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1 provement requirements in the Elementary and Sec2 ondary Education Act of 1965, this also means that 

3 most low-income, low-performing high schools are 

4 not required to (or supported to) implement school 

5 improvement activities. 

6 (6) While the Elementary and Secondary Edu7 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) includes 

8 a strong focus on identifying low-performing schools, 

9 America still needs a comprehensive strategy to sup10 port and improve chronically low-performing schools 

11 and local educational agencies. School improvement 

12 strategies should be tailored based on a variety of 

13 indicators and data, so that educators can create 

14 and implement successful school improvement strate15 gies to address the needs of the individual schools. 

16 (7) Most local educational agencies and State 

17 educational agencies do not necessarily have the ca18 pacity or infrastructure to guide, support, and fund 

19 school improvement strategies where they are need20 ed, but good models for turning around low-per21 forming high schools do exist. Federal support 

22 should be used to build this capacity based on evi23 dence from successful high schools. 

24 (8) If the Nation is to maintain and increase its 

25 competitiveness in the global economy, it must invest 


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1 in a systemic approach to improving its high schools 

2 so that every child graduates from high school pre3 pared for success. 

4 SEC. 102. PURPOSES. 

5 The purposes of this title are to— 

6 (1) improve high school student academic 

7 achievement and graduation rates and prepare all 

8 students for postsecondary education and the work9 force; 

10 (2) help States and local educational agencies 

11 develop high school improvement systems to deliver 

12 support and technical assistance to high schools 

13 identified for whole school reform or replacement, as 

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

15 106(b)(2)(B); 

16 (3) ensure students graduate from high school 

17 with the education and skills necessary to compete 

18 in a global economy; and 

19 (4) help build the capacity to develop and im20 plement research-based, sustainable, and replicable 

21 high school improvement models and interventions 

22 that are for high schools in whole school reform and 

23 replacement and that engage the whole community. 

24 SEC. 103. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this title: 


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1 (1) ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS.—The term 

2 ‘‘adequate yearly progress’’ has the meaning given 

3 the term in section 1111(b)(2)(C) of the Elementary 

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

5 6311(b)(2)(C)). 

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

7 partner’’ means an entity— 

8 (A) that is an organization such as a non9 profit organization, community-based organiza10 tion, local education fund, service organization, 

11 educational service agency, or institution of 

12 higher education; and 

13 (B) that has demonstrated expertise and 

14 effectiveness in providing targeted support such 

15 as data analysis, professional development, or 

16 provision of nonacademic support and inte17 grated student services to local educational 

18 agencies, schools, or students that leads to im19 proved teaching, learning, and outcomes for 

20 students, including for those students who are 

21 failing to make sufficient progress to graduate 

22 in the standard amount of years or who have 

23 dropped out of high school. 

24 (3) LOW-INCOME LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN25 CY.—The term ‘‘low-income local educational agenVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:55 Sep 23, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1698.IS S1698

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1 cy’’ means a local educational agency in which not 

2 less than 15 percent of the students served by such 

3 agency are from families with incomes below the 

4 poverty line. 

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

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

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

8 means the poverty line described in section 673 of 

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

10 9902), applicable to a family of the size involved. 

11 (6) SECONDARY SCHOOL REFORM PARTNER.— 

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

13 an organization, such as a school reform organiza14 tion, community-based organization, local education 

15 fund, educational service agency, or institution of 

16 higher education, with expertise in analyzing school 

17 performance data and a track record of success in 

18 improving student achievement and graduation rates 

19 in low-performing high schools. 

20 SEC. 104. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 

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

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

23 State educational agencies with approved State plans that 

24 will— 


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1 (1) improve student achievement and gradua2 tion rates; and 

3 (2) effectively target resources and technical as4 sistance to high schools in whole school reform or re5 placement, as described in clause (ii) or (iii) of sec6 tion 106(b)(2)(B). 

7 (b) DETERMINATION OF ALLOTMENTS.— 

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

9 amount appropriated under section 113, the Sec10 retary shall reserve not more than— 

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

12 to— 

13 (i) provide technical assistance and 

14 ongoing regional training programs that 

15 are equitably distributed— 

16 (I) among the different geo17 graphic regions of the United States; 

18 and 

19 (II) among State and local edu20 cational agencies serving urban and 

21 rural areas; 

22 (ii) evaluate activities authorized 

23 under this title in order to determine the 

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1 dents attending high schools identified for 

2 targeted intervention, whole school reform, 

3 or replacement under section 106(b)(2); 

4 and 

5 (iii) disseminate the findings of such 

6 evaluations; 

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

8 to build the capacity of secondary school reform 

9 partners and external partners to provide serv10 ices under this Act that benefit high schools 

11 and support the development or enhancement of 

12 research-based whole secondary school reform 

13 or new secondary school models, of which not 

14 less than 35 percent of such reserved funds 

15 shall be awarded, on a competitive basis, to sec16 ondary school reform partners or external part17 ners that will provide services under this Act 

18 that benefit high schools designated with a 

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

20 Rural (42), or Remote Rural (43), as deter21 mined by the Secretary; and 

22 (C) 2 percent to the Secretary of the Inte23 rior, to enable the Secretary to carry out the 

24 purposes of this Act for schools operated or 

25 funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 


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1 (2) STATE ALLOTMENT.—From the total 

2 amount appropriated under section 113 for a fiscal 

3 year and not reserved under paragraph (1), the Sec4 retary shall make allotments as follows: 

5 (A) LOW-INCOME LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

6 AGENCIES.—From such amount, the Secretary 

7 shall allot to each State an amount that bears 

8 the same ratio to 50 percent of the sums being 

9 allotted as the percentage of students enrolled 

10 in schools served by low-income local edu11 cational agencies in the State bears to the total 

12 of such percentages for all the States. 

13 (B) LOWEST GRADUATION RATE CALCULA14 TION.—From such amount, the Secretary shall 

15 allot to each State for which the graduation 

16 rate is within the lowest one-third of the grad17 uation rates for all States, an amount that 

18 bears the same ratio to 25 percent of the sums 

19 being allotted as the number of students en20 rolled in high schools in the State bears to the 

21 total of such students in all of such States with 

22 the lowest one-third graduation rates. 

23 (C) MIDDLE GRADUATION RATE CALCULA24 TION.—From such amount, the Secretary shall 

25 allot to each State for which the graduation 


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1 rate is within the middle one-third of the grad2 uation rates for all States, an amount that 

3 bears the same ratio to 15 percent of the sums 

4 being allotted as the number of students en5 rolled in high schools in the State bears to the 

6 total of such students in all of such States with7 in the middle one-third graduation rates. 

8 (D) HIGHEST GRADUATION RATE CAL9 CULATION.—From such amount, the Secretary 

10 shall allot to each State for which the gradua11 tion rate is within the highest one-third of the 

12 graduation rates for all States, an amount that 

13 bears the same ratio to 10 percent of the sums 

14 being allotted as the number of students en15 rolled in high schools in the State bears to the 

16 total of such students in all of such States with17 in the highest one-third graduation rates. 

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

19 apply for an allotment under this subsection for any 

20 fiscal year, the Secretary shall reallot the amount of 

21 the allotment to the remaining States in accordance 

22 with this subsection. 

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

24 allotments under this subsection for the second and 

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1 retary shall use the data relating to low-income local 

2 educational agencies and graduation rates used for 

3 the first year of the grant period. 

4 (5) HOLD HARMLESS.—Notwithstanding any 

5 other provision of this subsection but subject to 

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

7 under this section for a fiscal year in an amount 

8 that is less than the amount the State received 

9 under this section for the first fiscal year of the 

10 grant period. 

11 (6) RATABLE REDUCTION.—If the amount ap12 propriated in a fiscal year is not sufficient to pay 

13 the minimum allotments to all eligible institutions 

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

15 allotment to each such eligible institution shall be 

16 ratably reduced. 

17 (c) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—A State edu18 cational agency that receives a grant under this title shall 

19 use the grant funds to supplement, and not supplant, Fed20 eral and non-Federal funds available to high schools. 

21 (d) MATCHING FUNDS.—A State educational agency 

22 that receives a grant under this section shall provide 

23 matching funds, from non-Federal sources, in an amount 

24 equal to 25 percent of the amount of grant funds provided 

25 to the State to carry out the activities supported by the 


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1 grant. Such matching funds may be provided in cash or 

2 in-kind, except that— 

3 (1) not more than 10 percent of the amount of 

4 grant funds may be provided through in-kind con5 tributions; and 

6 (2) any in-kind contributions shall be directed 

7 toward supporting the State educational agency’s 

8 technical assistance efforts or the operation of the 

9 State’s differentiated high school improvement sys10 tem under section 106. 

11 SEC. 105. SECRETARIAL PEER REVIEW AND APPROVAL. 

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

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

14 the review and approval of State plans; 

15 (2) appoint individuals to the peer-review proc16 ess who are educators and experts in educational 

17 standards, assessments, accountability, high school 

18 improvement, dropout prevention, academic needs of 

19 English language learners, and other educational 

20 needs of high school students; 

21 (3) approve a State plan submitted under this 

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

23 submission of the plan unless the Secretary deter24 mines that the plan does not meet the requirements 

25 of this title; 


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1 (4) if the Secretary determines that the State 

2 plan does not meet the requirements of this title, im3 mediately notify the State of such determination and 

4 the reasons for such determination; 

5 (5) if the Secretary determines that the State 

6 does not have the capacity to carry out the school 

7 improvement activities described in sections 

8 106(b)(2) and 108, offer technical assistance to 

9 carry out such activities for States directly or 

10 through contracts with secondary school reform 

11 partners; 

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

13 (A) offering the State an opportunity to 

14 revise the State’s plan; 

15 (B) providing the State with technical as16 sistance in order to submit a successful plan; 

17 and 

18 (C) providing the State an opportunity for 

19 a hearing or accepting input from the State; 

20 and 

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

22 not meeting the requirements of this title. 

23 (b) ACCURACY.—In approving a State plan, the Sec24 retary shall ensure that— 


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1 (1) the process the State educational agency 

2 proposes for differentiating school improvement ac3 tions under sections 106(b)(2) and 108, which proc4 ess will assign high schools to each of the school im5 provement categories described in section 106(b)(2) 

6 in such a way that accurately identifies the high 

7 school and leads to the implementation of the inter8 ventions necessary to meet the needs of the students 

9 attending the high school; and 

10 (2) the annual growth targets proposed by the 

11 State educational agency under section 106(b)(3)(D) 

12 are meaningful and achievable, and demonstrate 

13 continuous and substantial progress. 

14 SEC. 106. STATE PLAN TO DEVELOP DIFFERENTIATED 

15 HIGH SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—For a State to be eligible to re17 ceive a grant under this title, the State educational agency 

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

19 manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 

20 may reasonably require. 

21 (b) CONTENTS.—Each plan submitted under this sec22 tion shall include the following: 

23 (1) SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PROCESS.—The 

24 State educational agency shall describe how the 

25 State educational agency will use funds authorized 


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1 under this title to establish or expand a statewide 

2 differentiated high school improvement system de3 scribed in section 108. 

4 (2) STATEWIDE DIFFERENTIATED HIGH

5 SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT.— 

6 (A) PROCESS OF DIFFERENTIATION.—The 

7 State educational agency shall describe a data8 driven process for categorizing high schools into 

9 the categories described in subparagraph (B) 

10 using— 

11 (i) the indicators used to determine 

12 adequate yearly progress; and 

13 (ii) data from the school performance 

14 indicators described in paragraph (3). 

15 (B) DIFFERENTIATED HIGH SCHOOL IM16 PROVEMENT CATEGORIES.—The State edu17 cational agency shall describe how local edu18 cational agencies will use the process estab19 lished under subparagraph (A) to categorize the 

20 high schools in the State that do not make ade21 quate yearly progress for 2 consecutive years 

22 into one of the following school improvement 

23 categories: 

24 (i) SCHOOLS NEEDING TARGETED

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1 formance on the school performance indi2 cators described in paragraph (3) dem3 onstrate a need for targeted interventions 

4 described in section 111(b) to improve stu5 dent outcomes and make adequate yearly 

6 progress. 

7 (ii) SCHOOLS NEEDING WHOLE

8 SCHOOL REFORMS.—High schools whose 

9 performance on the school performance in10 dicators demonstrate a need for com11 prehensive schoolwide reform described in 

12 section 111(c) to improve student out13 comes and make adequate yearly progress. 

14 (iii) SCHOOLS NEEDING REPLACE15 MENT.—High schools whose school per16 formance indicators demonstrate a need 

17 for replacement, as described in section 

18 111(d). 

19 (C) SPECIAL RULE.—A State educational 

20 agency may propose in the plan under this sec21 tion additional levels of differentiation within a 

22 particular school improvement category de23 scribed in subparagraph (B) to further target 

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1 ferentiation with the State’s existing State ac2 countability systems. 

3 (D) DEMONSTRATION OF DEVELOP4 MENT.—The State shall demonstrate how the 

5 State plan was developed in consultation with a 

6 representative group of local educational agen7 cies. 

8 (E) CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT.—The 

9 State educational agency shall describe how the 

10 State educational agency will evaluate annually 

11 the progress of high schools to ensure that each 

12 high school is making continuous and substan13 tial improvement in accordance with the annual 

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

15 and consistent with the requirements described 

16 in section 111. 

17 (F) AUTOMATIC DESIGNATION.—The proc18 ess of categorization proposed by the State edu19 cational agency shall ensure that a high school 

20 shall be automatically identified as a school in 

21 need of whole school reform or as a school in 

22 need of replacement, if the high school has a 

23 graduation rate of 50 percent or less in the 

24 most recent year for which data are available. 

25 (3) SCHOOL PERFORMANCE INDICATORS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The State educational 

2 agency shall define, in consultation with rep3 resentatives from urban and rural local edu4 cational agencies in the State, a comprehensive 

5 set of school performance indicators that— 

6 (i) shall be used, in addition to the in7 dicators used to determine adequate yearly 

8 progress, to— 

9 (I) analyze the performance of 

10 high schools in the State; 

11 (II) determine the amount, inten12 sity, and type of support each high 

13 school needs; and 

14 (III) guide the school improve15 ment process; 

16 (ii) demonstrate whether a high school 

17 is making substantial and continuous 

18 progress toward the goal of graduating all 

19 of the school’s students prepared for suc20 cess in higher education and careers; and 

21 (iii)(I) directly measure student 

22 achievement and advancement in high 

23 school; or 

24 (II) have been demonstrated by re25 search to have a direct impact on high 


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1 school student achievement and advance2 ment. 

3 (B) CATEGORIES.— 

4 (i) IN GENERAL.—The comprehensive 

5 set of school performance indicators re6 quired by subparagraph (A) shall include 

7 indicators of— 

8 (I) high school student engage9 ment and effort; 

10 (II) student advancement; 

11 (III) educator quality; and 

12 (IV) academic learning. 

13 (ii) INDICATORS OF HIGH SCHOOL

14 STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND EFFORT.— 

15 With respect to high school student en16 gagement and effort, the indicators— 

17 (I) shall include student attend18 ance rates; and 

19 (II) may include— 

20 (aa) the percentage of stu21 dent suspensions and expulsions; 

22 (bb) surveys of high school 

23 student engagement and effort; 

24 or 


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1 (cc) other indicators of stu2 dent engagement proposed by the 

3 State educational agency and ap4 proved by the Secretary as part 

5 of the peer review process de6 scribed in section 105(a). 

7 (iii) INDICATORS OF STUDENT AD8 VANCEMENT.—With respect to student 

9 achievement, the indicators— 

10 (I) shall include— 

11 (aa)(AA) student-earned on12 time promotion rates from grade 

13 to grade for all grades in the 

14 high school; or 

15 (BB) the percentage of 

16 students who have on-time 

17 credit accumulation at the 

18 end of each grade; and 

19 (bb) the percentage of stu20 dents— 

21 (AA) failing a core, 

22 credit-bearing, English lan23 guage arts, mathematics, or 

24 science course; or 


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1 (BB) failing 2 or more 

2 courses of any type; and 

3 (II) may include— 

4 (aa) measures of enrollment, 

5 retention, persistence, and degree 

6 attainment in two-year and four7 year institutions of higher edu8 cation; 

9 (bb) measures of the em10 ployment success of students who 

11 graduated from the high school; 

12 or 

13 (cc) other indicators of stu14 dent advancement proposed by 

15 the State educational agency and 

16 approved by the Secretary as 

17 part of the peer review process 

18 described in section 105(a). 

19 (iv) INDICATORS OF EDUCATOR QUAL20 ITY.—With respect to educator quality, the 

21 indicators— 

22 (I) shall include— 

23 (aa) measures of teacher at24 tendance, vacancies, and turn25 over; and 


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1 (bb) the percentage of highly 

2 qualified teachers by grade level; 

3 and 

4 (II) may include other indicators 

5 of educator quality proposed by the 

6 State educational agency and ap7 proved by the Secretary as part of the 

8 peer review process described in sec9 tion 105(a). 

10 (v) INDICATORS OF ACADEMIC LEARN11 ING.—With respect to academic learning, 

12 the indicators— 

13 (I) shall include— 

14 (aa) the percentage of stu15 dents taking a college-pre16 paratory curriculum, which may 

17 include the percentage of stu18 dents taking Advanced Placement 

19 courses, International Bacca20 laureate courses, or postsec21 ondary courses for dual credit; 

22 (bb) the percentage of stu23 dents reaching proficiency on the 

24 State academic assessments in 

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1 quired under section 1111 of the 

2 Elementary and Secondary Edu3 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

4 6311), disaggregated by the cat5 egories of students identified in 

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

7 Act (20 U.S.C. 1111(b)(2)(C)(v); 

8 and 

9 (cc) student success on 

10 State or local educational agency 

11 end-of-course examinations or 

12 performance-based assessments 

13 with standardized scoring rubrics 

14 aligned to State standards, where 

15 such assessments are available; 

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 ex22 aminations; or 

23 (bb) other indicators of aca24 demic learning proposed by the 

25 State educational agency and apVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:55 Sep 23, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1698.IS S1698

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1 proved by the Secretary as part 

2 of the peer-review process de3 scribed in section 105(a). 

4 (C) DEMONSTRATION OF CAPACITY TO

5 COLLECT AND REPORT INDICATORS.—The State 

6 educational agency shall demonstrate its capac7 ity to collect, report, and use the indicators de8 fined and used to meet the requirements of sub9 paragraph (A), including through the use of a 

10 statewide longitudinal data system. 

11 (D) ANNUAL GROWTH TARGETS.—The 

12 State educational agency shall set State annual 

13 growth targets that— 

14 (i) include a goal and a minimum per15 centage of expected annual growth for each 

16 school performance indicator; and 

17 (ii) demonstrate continuous and sub18 stantial progress toward the State-defined 

19 goal and making adequate yearly progress. 

20 (4) DEMONSTRATION OF CAPACITY TO SUPPORT

21 SYSTEM.—The State educational agency shall dem22 onstrate capacity to support the statewide differen23 tiated high school improvement system, which shall 

24 include, at a minimum, the following: 

25 (A) SYSTEM ALIGNMENT.— 


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1 (i) ALIGNMENT WITH ACCOUNT2 ABILITY SYSTEM.—The State shall dem3 onstrate an alignment of the State ac4 countability system described in section 

5 1111(b)(2) of the Elementary and Sec6 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

7 6311(b)(2)) and the school improvement 

8 system under section 1116(b) of such Act 

9 (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)) with the statewide 

10 differentiated high school system described 

11 in section 108. 

12 (ii) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

13 The State educational agency shall dem14 onstrate, if the State’s statewide differen15 tiated high school improvement system in16 cludes additional requirements not required 

17 under section 108, how such additional re18 quirements will lead to improved student 

19 achievement and graduation rates and sys20 tem alignment. 

21 (iii) STRENGTHENING AND ALIGNING

22 POLICIES.—The State educational agency 

23 shall demonstrate how the State edu24 cational agency will strengthen and align 

25 policies affecting— 


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1 (I) interventions in schools in 

2 whole school reform or replacement 

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

4 (2)(B); 

5 (II) new school development; and 

6 (III) implementation of effective 

7 school improvement activities that ad8 dress the education needs of high 

9 school students who are off-track or 

10 who have dropped out. 

11 (B) DATA SYSTEMS.—The State edu12 cational agency shall demonstrate the State 

13 educational agency’s use and support of a state14 wide longitudinal data system, including dem15 onstrating— 

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

17 developed, and includes the elements de18 scribed in section 6401(e)(2)(D) of the 

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

20 9871(e)(2)(D)) and any additional ele21 ments described in section 14005(d)(3) of 

22 the American Recovery and Reinvestment 

23 Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5; 123 Stat. 

24 283); 


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1 (ii) a commitment to the maintenance 

2 and growth of such system; 

3 (iii) State policies that ensure the pro4 tection of personally identifiable informa5 tion in such system and authorize such 

6 system to collect, share, and link data from 

7 multiple systems for the purposes of eval8 uations and continuous improvement; 

9 (iv) governance structures to guide 

10 the collection, sharing and use of the data 

11 in such system; and 

12 (v) that such system includes linkages 

13 between kindergarten through grade 12 

14 data systems with early learning, postsec15 ondary education, workforce, social services 

16 and other critical State agency data sys17 tems in order to achieve interoperability 

18 with systems in other States. 

19 (C) CAPACITY AND TECHNICAL ASSIST20 ANCE.—The State educational agency shall 

21 demonstrate how it will support the statewide 

22 differentiated high school improvement system, 

23 including— 

24 (i) a description of the statewide sys25 tem of support, including regional support 


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1 services and how schools identified under 

2 this Act can utilize such supports to im3 prove teaching, learning, and student out4 comes; 

5 (ii) a description of how the State 

6 educational agency will review, support, 

7 monitor, and provide technical support for 

8 local educational agency plans in accord9 ance with paragraph (5); 

10 (iii) a description of the State edu11 cational agency staffing structure that is 

12 designed to— 

13 (I) carry out the activities de14 scribed in clause (ii); 

15 (II) assist local educational agen16 cy school improvement teams de17 scribed in section 110(b)(2), including 

18 supporting local educational agencies 

19 and school officials in developing and 

20 implementing school improvement 

21 plans, including though the provision 

22 of resources, training and technical 

23 assistance; and 

24 (III) coordinate services across 

25 other State agencies to streamline and 


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1 improve support provided to schools 

2 identified as needing targeted inter3 vention, whole school reform, or re4 placement under paragraph (2)(B); 

5 (iv) a description of how the State 

6 educational agency will develop and iden7 tify school improvement planning tools for 

8 use by the local educational agencies and 

9 schools, such as needs assessments; and 

10 (v) a description of how the State 

11 educational agency will ensure local edu12 cational agencies with high numbers of 

13 schools in whole school reform and replace14 ment and such schools will be prioritized 

15 and targeted with support. 

16 (D) INCREASING LOCAL CAPACITY FOR IM17 PROVEMENT.—The State educational agency 

18 shall demonstrate how the State educational 

19 agency will align its resources and policies to 

20 increase State and local capacity to ensure com21 prehensive support for schools identified as 

22 needing targeted intervention, whole school re23 form, or replacement under paragraph (2)(B), 

24 including how the State educational agency 

25 will— 


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

3 improve teacher and principal effectiveness 

4 in such schools including using data for de5 cision-making; 

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 principals 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 access to substantially 

4 equal educational funding (for each stu5 dent in the State), such as through ad6 dressing per pupil expenditures or inter7 district funding disparities; 

8 (vii) support the development of effec9 tive school leaders for high schools identi10 fied for targeted intervention, whole school 

11 reform, or replacement under paragraph 

12 (2)(B); 

13 (viii) assist local educational agencies 

14 in developing early warning indicator sys15 tems described in section 110(b)(6)(A); 

16 and 

17 (ix) assist local educational agencies 

18 in developing education options as de19 scribed in section 110(b)(6)(B). 

20 (5) STATE REVIEW OF LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

21 AGENCY PLANS.— 

22 (A) REVIEW LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY

23 PLANS.—The State educational agency shall de24 scribe how the State educational agency will 

25 collect and review high school improvement 


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1 plans described in section 110(b)(4), including 

2 a description of— 

3 (i) how the State educational agency 

4 will measure and ensure local educational 

5 agencies have the capacity to carry out 

6 such high school improvement plans; 

7 (ii) how a local educational agency 

8 may propose additional levels of differen9 tiation within a particular school improve10 ment category described in paragraph 

11 (2)(B) that are aligned with the State ac12 countability system under section 

13 1111(b)(2) of the Elementary and Sec14 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

15 6311(b)(2)) and the local educational 

16 agency’s school improvement system under 

17 section 1116(b) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

18 6136(b)) existing as of the time of the 

19 plan; 

20 (iii) how the State educational agency 

21 will allow consortia of local educational 

22 agencies, particularly those in rural areas, 

23 to collaborate to develop and implement 

24 school improvement plans; 


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1 (iv) how the State educational agency 

2 will review plans with the assistance and 

3 advice of a peer review panel that includes 

4 educators and individuals who are experts 

5 in— 

6 (I) educational standards, assess7 ments, and accountability; 

8 (II) high school improvement; 

9 (III) dropout prevention, inter10 vention, and recovery; 

11 (IV) parental involvement; and 

12 (V) other educational needs of 

13 high school students; 

14 (v) how the State, in consultation with 

15 the peer review panel, shall ensure the 

16 local educational agency has identified the 

17 school improvement category described in 

18 section 106(b)(2) for each high school 

19 served by the local educational agency that 

20 did not make adequate yearly progress for 

21 2 consecutive years in such a way that ac22 curately identifies the high school and 

23 leads to the implementation of the inter24 ventions necessary to meet student needs; 


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1 (vi) how the State will provide local 

2 educational agencies the opportunity to re3 vise high school improvement plans, includ4 ing, if the State educational agency, in 

5 consultation with the peer review panel de6 scribed in clause (iv), determines that the 

7 local educational agency’s plan does not 

8 meet the requirements of this title— 

9 (I) immediately notifying the 

10 local educational agency of such deter11 mination and the reasons for such de12 termination; and 

13 (II) offering the local educational 

14 agency an opportunity to revise the 

15 plan, and technical assistance for re16 vising the plan; and 

17 (vii) how the State will make the 

18 school improvement plans available to the 

19 public. 

20 (B) ALLOCATION OF SUBGRANTS.—The 

21 State educational agency shall describe how it 

22 will award subgrants to local educational agen23 cies consistent with section 109. 

24 (C) MONITORING OF SCHOOL IMPROVE25 MENT PLANS.—The State educational agency 


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1 shall describe how the State educational agency 

2 will review and monitor the implementation of 

3 high school improvement plans, including how 

4 the State will analyze the implementation of the 

5 high school improvement plans of high schools 

6 that do not meet the annual growth targets set 

7 in accordance with paragraph (3)(D) and de8 fined in the school improvement plan described 

9 in section 110(b)(4). 

10 (D) PROVIDING TECHNICAL ASSIST11 ANCE.—The State educational agency shall de12 scribe how it will provide technical assistance to 

13 local educational agencies and high schools that 

14 need support to develop and to implement high 

15 school improvement plans described in section 

16 110(b)(4) and improve graduation rates and 

17 student achievement, including through the use 

18 of secondary school reform partners, where ap19 propriate. 

20 (6) EVALUATION OF SUCCESS.—The State edu21 cational agency shall describe how, every 5 years, 

22 the State educational agency will evaluate how the 

23 activities assisted under this title have been success24 ful in improving student achievement and outcomes 

25 of the cohort of students whose year of entry into 


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1 high school was 4 years before the evaluation, in2 cluding measurement of the State educational agen3 cy’s effectiveness in carrying out the activities de4 scribed in the application under this subsection. 

5 SEC. 107. USE OF GRANT FUNDS. 

6 A State educational agency that receives a grant 

7 under this title— 

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

9 the grant funds— 

10 (A) to carry out the activities described in 

11 the State plan under section 106; and 

12 (B) to establish or expand a statewide dif13 ferentiated high school improvement system de14 scribed in section 108; and 

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

16 grant funds to make subgrants to local educational 

17 agencies in accordance with section 109. 

18 SEC. 108. STATEWIDE DIFFERENTIATED HIGH SCHOOL IM19 PROVEMENT SYSTEM. 

20 A Statewide differentiated high school improvement 

21 system shall be designed by the State educational agency 

22 to— 

23 (1) use data to identify high schools for whole 

24 school reform or replacement, as described in clause 

25 (ii) or (iii) of section 106(b)(2)(B), within the State; 


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1 (2) differentiate school improvement actions 

2 under section 106(b)(2) based on the amount and 

3 type of supports necessary to improve student 

4 achievement and graduation rates in high schools 

5 within the State; 

6 (3) provide resources to support the evidence7 based activities that school improvement teams 

8 choose, based on school performance data, to carry 

9 out under section 111; 

10 (4) target resources and support to those high 

11 schools in the State that are identified for whole 

12 school reform and replacement; 

13 (5) ensure that each high school identified for 

14 targeted intervention, whole school reform, or re15 placement that is making progress on the State’s 

16 school performance indicators described in section 

17 106(b)(3)) continues to implement effective school 

18 improvement strategies identified in the high 

19 school’s school improvement plan; 

20 (6) ensure that high schools identified for whole 

21 school reform or replacement making progress on 

22 the State’s school performance indicators have the 

23 resources and supports necessary to improve high 

24 school graduation rates and student achievement; 


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1 (7) build the capacity of the State educational 

2 agency and local educational agencies to assist in 

3 improving student achievement and graduation rates 

4 in high schools identified for whole school reform 

5 and replacement; and 

6 (8) ensure that high schools identified for whole 

7 school reform and replacement making progress on 

8 school performance indicators continue to have the 

9 resources and support necessary to further improve 

10 high school graduation rates and student achieve11 ment. 

12 SEC. 109. SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 

13 (a) AWARD BASIS.— 

14 (1) PRIORITY OF WHOLE SCHOOL REFORM AND

15 REPLACEMENT.—In awarding subgrants under this 

16 section, a State educational agency shall— 

17 (A) before awarding any subgrants to local 

18 educational agencies serving high schools identi19 fied for targeted intervention under section 

20 106(b)(2), award subgrants to, on a competitive 

21 basis, local educational agencies serving high 

22 schools identified as needing whole school re23 form and replacement; and 

24 (B) ensure that each subgrant awarded to 

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1 quate to fulfill the school improvement needs 

2 outlined in the local educational agency’s school 

3 plan, as approved by the State educational 

4 agency. 

5 (2) TARGETED INTERVENTIONS.—If subgrant 

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

7 then the State educational agency shall award re8 maining subgrant funds to local educational agencies 

9 serving high schools needing targeted interventions. 

10 (3) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—A State educational 

11 agency that receives a grant under this title shall 

12 award subgrants, in accordance with subsections (a) 

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

14 of— 

15 (A) the quality of the school improvement 

16 plan to improve student graduation rates and 

17 student achievement in high schools that have 

18 not made adequate yearly progress for 2 con19 secutive years; 

20 (B) the capacity of the local educational 

21 agency to implement the plan; and 

22 (C) the need of the local educational agen23 cy, based on student high school graduation 

24 rates and the percentage of students from fami25 lies with incomes below the poverty line. 


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1 (b) APPLICATION.— 

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

3 subgrant under this title, a local educational agency 

4 shall submit an application to the State educational 

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

6 such information as the State educational agency 

7 may reasonably require. 

8 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

9 under this subsection shall include— 

10 (A) a description, for each high school 

11 identified pursuant to section 110(b)(1), of how 

12 the local educational agency will carry out ac13 tivities described in section 111 for the high 

14 school; 

15 (B) a description of the local educational 

16 agency staffing structure that is designed to— 

17 (i) carry out the activities described in 

18 section 110(a); 

19 (ii) assist school improvement teams, 

20 including supporting local educational 

21 agency and school officials in developing 

22 and implementing high school improvement 

23 plans, by providing resources, training, and 

24 technical assistance, and through other 

25 means; and 


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1 (iii) coordinate services across other 

2 governmental agencies and nongovern3 mental organizations to streamline and im4 prove support provided to schools identified 

5 for a school improvement category de6 scribed in section 106(b)(2); 

7 (C) a description of the policies and proce8 dures the local educational agency shall imple9 ment to ensure the distribution and assignment 

10 of high-quality teachers and leaders in a man11 ner that first fulfills the needs of the schools 

12 identified as needing targeted intervention, 

13 whole school reform, or replacement; 

14 (D) an assurance that the local educational 

15 agency will use subgrant funds under this title 

16 first to meet the needs of high schools served 

17 by the local educational agency that are identi18 fied for whole school reform or replacement 

19 under clause (ii) or (iii) of section 106(b)(2); 

20 (E) an assurance that the local educational 

21 agency shall provide ongoing support and re22 sources to high schools identified for whole 

23 school reform or replacement, and are making 

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1 cators described in section 106(b)(3), to ensure 

2 continued improvement; 

3 (F) a description of how the local edu4 cational agency will increase its capacity to im5 prove high schools with low student achieve6 ment and graduation rates; and 

7 (G) an assurance that the local educational 

8 agency will conduct the capacity and needs as9 sessment required under subsection (b)(9) and 

10 provide the results of the assessment to the 

11 State educational agency and the Secretary. 

12 (3) USE OF DATA.—The local educational agen13 cy shall describe how data will be used, consistent 

14 with the requirements of this section, to inform the 

15 classification of high schools, and development and 

16 implementation of school improvement plans, includ17 ing that data described in section 110(b)(1)(A). 

18 (c) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—A local edu19 cational agency that receives a subgrant under this section 

20 shall use the subgrant funds to supplement, and not sup21 plant, other Federal and non-Federal funds available for 

22 high schools served by the local educational agency. 

23 (d) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

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

25 receiving a subgrant under this section shall provide 


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

2 amount equal to not less than 15 percent of the 

3 total subgrant award for the local educational agen4 cy, which may be provided in cash or in-kind. 

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

6 funds shall be used to provide technical assistance to 

7 high schools served by the local educational agency 

8 in— 

9 (A) developing the high schools’ high 

10 school improvement plans described in section 

11 110(b)(4); 

12 (B) conducting the capacity and needs as13 sessments described in section 110(b)(9); and 

14 (C) implementing and monitoring the im15 plementation of the high school improvement 

16 plans. 

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

18 part of the matching requirement described in para19 graph (1) for any fiscal year for a local educational 

20 agency if the Secretary determines that applying the 

21 matching requirement to such local educational 

22 agency would result in serious hardship or an inabil23 ity to carry out the authorized activities described in 

24 section 111. 


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1 SEC. 110. LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY IMPLEMENTATION 

2 OF SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM. 

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

4 A local educational agency that receives a subgrant under 

5 section 109 shall use subgrant funds to develop, lead, and 

6 implement a district-wide approach to high school im7 provement that meets the requirements of subsection (b) 

8 and carry out the activities described in section 111. 

9 (b) SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.— 

10 (1) DIFFERENTIATE HIGH SCHOOLS.—The local 

11 educational agency shall— 

12 (A) identify the category of high school im13 provement, as described in section 106(b)(2), 

14 using data from the school performance indica15 tors as prescribed by the State educational 

16 agency in accordance with section 106(b), for 

17 each high school served by such agency that 

18 does not make adequate yearly progress for 2 

19 consecutive years; and 

20 (B) publicly identify such schools by school 

21 improvement category. 

22 (2) SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT TEAMS.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The local educational 

24 agency shall convene a school improvement 

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1 cy that is assigned to one of the school improve2 ment categories described in section 106(b)(2). 

3 (B) MEMBERS.— 

4 (i) MANDATORY MEMBERS.—The 

5 school improvement team for a high school 

6 shall include— 

7 (I) the principal of the high 

8 school; 

9 (II) at least 2 teachers from the 

10 high school representing different 

11 grade levels or disciplines; and 

12 (III) local educational agency 

13 staff. 

14 (ii) ADDITIONAL MEMBERS.—The 

15 school improvement team for a high school 

16 shall include at least one of the following: 

17 (I) A parent of a student in the 

18 high school. 

19 (II) A community representative, 

20 such as a representative of nonprofit 

21 organizations serving young people 

22 and the business community. 

23 (III) A pupil service representa24 tive. 


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1 (IV) In the case of a school in 

2 whole school reform or replacement, 

3 secondary school reform partners. 

4 (iii) OPTIONAL MEMBERS.—The 

5 school improvement team for a high school 

6 may include State educational agency staff, 

7 if requested by the local educational agency 

8 or assigned by the State educational agen9 cy. 

10 (C) COLLABORATION.—The local edu11 cational agency shall ensure collaboration— 

12 (i) of school improvement teams with 

13 personnel of middle grades schools served 

14 by the local educational agency whose stu15 dents will attend high schools that are 

16 identified for one of the categories de17 scribed in section 106(b)(2), to the extent 

18 appropriate; and 

19 (ii) among or between school improve20 ment teams at schools assigned to one of 

21 the school improvement categories and 

22 school leadership and other personnel at 

23 schools served by the local educational 

24 agency that have made adequate yearly 

25 progress. 


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1 (3) USE OF DATA.—Consistent with the re2 quirements of this section, the local educational 

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

4 to inform the classification of high schools: 

5 (A) School performance indicators de6 scribed in section 106(b)(3). 

7 (B) Indicators used to determine adequate 

8 yearly progress. 

9 (C) Information about incoming students 

10 in the initial grade of the high school. 

11 (D) Information about the student popu12 lation, including data provided through the 

13 early warning indicator system described in 

14 paragraph (6)(A). 

15 (E) The schools’ capacity and needs, as de16 scribed in paragraph (9). 

17 (4) DEVELOP HIGH SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT

18 PLANS.—The school improvement team convened 

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

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

21 data and knowledge regarding the school, to develop 

22 a multiyear school improvement plan. Such plan 

23 shall— 

24 (A) identify the school annual growth tar25 gets for the State’s school performance indicaVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:55 Sep 23, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1698.IS S1698

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1 tors described in section 106(b)(3) that meet or 

2 exceed the State’s annual growth targets de3 scribed in such section; 

4 (B) define the evidence-based academic 

5 and nonacademic interventions and resources 

6 necessary to meet the school annual growth tar7 gets and make adequate yearly progress; 

8 (C) identify the roles of the State edu9 cational agency, the local educational agency, 

10 the school, and secondary school reform part11 ners and other external partners, as appro12 priate, in providing such interventions and the 

13 resources necessary to meet the school annual 

14 growth targets and make adequate yearly 

15 progress; 

16 (D) provide for the involvement of business 

17 and community organizations and other enti18 ties, including parents and institutions of high19 er education, in the activities to be assisted 

20 under the subgrant; 

21 (E) describe and direct the use of— 

22 (i) any additional funding to be pro23 vided by the State educational agency, the 

24 local educational agency, or other sources 


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1 to support activities carried out under this 

2 title; and 

3 (ii) in the case of a high school identi4 fied for whole school reform or replace5 ment, secondary school reform partners 

6 and external partners. 

7 (5) IMPLEMENT HIGH SCHOOL IMPROVE8 MENT.—The local educational agency shall use funds 

9 to— 

10 (A) engage in a planning period of not 

11 longer than 180 days to prepare to implement 

12 the school improvement plan for each high 

13 school, including preparation activities such 

14 as— 

15 (i) creating a skilled leadership team 

16 and providing professional development in 

17 best practice and successful school models 

18 that educate similar student populations; 

19 (ii) working with secondary school re20 form partners to identify roles and respon21 sibilities to create a comprehensive ap22 proach and effort to implementing the 

23 school improvement plan for each school 

24 identified for targeted intervention, whole 

25 school improvement, or replacement; 


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1 (iii) planning and providing profes2 sional development to high school teachers 

3 in instruction, use of data, and working in 

4 the identified schools; 

5 (iv) appropriately identifying teachers 

6 for each grade and course; 

7 (v) establishing and implementing use 

8 of the early warning indicator system de9 scribed in paragraph (6)(A); and 

10 (vi) establishing a school schedule that 

11 enables the implementation of the high 

12 school improvement plan; and 

13 (B) ensure the implementation of the high 

14 school improvement plans for the high schools 

15 identified for one of the categories described in 

16 section 106(b)(2). 

17 (6) IMPLEMENT DISTRICT-WIDE ACTIVITIES.— 

18 The local educational agency shall support successful 

19 implementation of high school improvement plans 

20 and district-wide improvement through— 

21 (A) establishing an early warning indicator 

22 system to identify students who are at risk of 

23 dropping out of high school and to guide pre24 ventive and recuperative school improvement 

25 strategies, including— 


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1 (i) identifying and analyzing the aca2 demic risk factors that most reliably pre3 dict dropouts, such as by using longitu4 dinal data of past cohorts of students; 

5 (ii) identifying specific indicators of 

6 student progress and performance, such as 

7 attendance, academic performance in core 

8 courses, and credit accumulation, to guide 

9 decisionmaking; 

10 (iii) identifying or developing a mech11 anism for regularly collecting and ana12 lyzing data about the impact of interven13 tions on the indicators of student progress 

14 and performance; and 

15 (iv) analyzing academic indicators to 

16 determine whether students are on track to 

17 graduate secondary school in the standard 

18 number of years; 

19 (B) providing academically rigorous edu20 cation options that lead to a secondary school 

21 diploma consistent with readiness for postsec22 ondary education and the workforce, based on 

23 an analysis of data described in paragraph (3) 

24 and other student-level data and designed to 


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1 meet the students’ needs and interests, such 

2 as— 

3 (i) effective research-based dropout 

4 prevention, credit and dropout recovery, 

5 and recuperative education programs for 

6 students who are not making sufficient 

7 progress to graduate high school in the 

8 standard number of years or have dropped 

9 out of high school; 

10 (ii) providing students with post-sec11 ondary learning opportunities, such as 

12 through access to a relevant curriculum or 

13 course of study that enables a student to 

14 earn a secondary school diploma and— 

15 (I) an associate’s degree; or 

16 (II) not more than 2 years of 

17 transferable credit toward a postsec18 ondary degree or credential; 

19 (iii) combining rigorous academic edu20 cation with career training, including 

21 training that leads to postsecondary cre22 dentials, for students; 

23 (iv) increasing access to Advanced 

24 Placement or International Baccalaureate 

25 courses and examinations; or 


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1 (v) developing and utilizing innovative, 

2 high quality distance learning strategies to 

3 improve student academic achievement; 

4 (C) providing targeted research-based 

5 interventions for middle schools that feed into 

6 the high schools identified by the local edu7 cational agency as needing whole school reform 

8 or replacement; 

9 (D) identifying and implement strategies 

10 for pairing academic support with integrated 

11 student services and case-managed interven12 tions for students requiring intensive supports, 

13 which may include partnership with other exter14 nal partners; 

15 (E) providing technical assistance to high 

16 schools identified for 1 of the categories de17 scribed in section 106(b)(2) through— 

18 (i) streamlining and prioritizing re19 sources to organize support for schools in 

20 whole school reform or replacement, such 

21 as through identifying and developing cat22 egories or clusters of schools with similar 

23 school improvement needs; and 


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1 (ii) assisting schools in identifying 

2 secondary school reform partners and 

3 other external partners; and 

4 (F) supporting the use of data to improve 

5 teaching and learning, including— 

6 (i) improving longitudinal student 

7 data systems; 

8 (ii) regularly analyzing and commu9 nicating data to educators, parents, and 

10 students that they can use; and 

11 (iii) building principals’ and teachers’ 

12 data and assessment literacy. 

13 (7) ENSURE CONTINUOUS HIGH SCHOOL IM14 PROVEMENT.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The local educational 

16 agency shall ensure the continuous improve17 ment of high schools by— 

18 (i) evaluating the progress of each 

19 high school in making continuous and sub20 stantial progress based on the high school’s 

21 annual growth targets identified under 

22 paragraph (4) for the school; and 

23 (ii) determining the high school’s 

24 progress and taking appropriate actions, as 

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


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

2 meeting the school’s annual growth targets 

3 identified in the high school improvement plan 

4 for the high school, shall continue to implement 

5 school improvement activities in accordance 

6 with the high school improvement plan. 

7 (C) NOT ON TRACK.— 

8 (i) ANNUAL REVIEW.—For each high 

9 school that is not meeting the high school’s 

10 annual growth targets, the local edu11 cational agency shall— 

12 (I) after the first year that the 

13 high school fails to meet the high 

14 school’s annual growth targets, review 

15 the high school improvement plan and 

16 develop and implement a new plan; 

17 and 

18 (II) after the high school fails to 

19 meet the high school’s annual growth 

20 targets for 2 or more consecutive 

21 years, reclassify the school as a school 

22 in need of whole school reform or re23 placement, as appropriate based on 

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1 egorization system described in sec2 tion 106(b)(2). 

3 (ii) RESUBMISSION OF SCHOOL

4 PLAN.—For each high school that fails to 

5 meet the high school’s annual growth tar6 gets for 2 or more consecutive years, the 

7 local educational agency may develop and 

8 submit to the State educational agency for 

9 review a new school improvement plan, as 

10 the local educational agency determines ap11 propriate. 

12 (8) ASSURANCES.—The local educational agen13 cy shall ensure that high schools receiving additional 

14 students due to other high schools being replaced 

15 under subsection (c) will have sufficient capacity, re16 sources, and funding to deliver a high quality edu17 cation to all students. 

18 (9) CAPACITY AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each school improve20 ment team described in subsection (b)(2) and 

21 the local educational agency shall conduct a 

22 high school capacity and needs assessment for 

23 the high school served by the team that in24 cludes— 


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1 (i) a description and analysis of the 

2 high school’s capacity to implement the 

3 school improvement activities identified in 

4 the high school improvement plan, includ5 ing an analysis of— 

6 (I) the number, experience, train7 ing level, responsibilities, and stability 

8 of existing administrative, instruc9 tional, and noninstructional staff for 

10 the high school; and 

11 (II) a review of the budget, in12 cluding how Federal, State, and local 

13 funds are being spent, as of the time 

14 of the assessment, for instruction and 

15 operations at the school level for staff 

16 salaries, instructional materials, pro17 fessional development, and student 

18 support services, in order to establish 

19 the extent to which existing resources 

20 need to and can be reallocated to sup21 port the needed school improvement 

22 activities; 

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1 ment activities identified in the high school 

2 improvement plan; and 

3 (iii) an analysis of the local edu4 cational agency’s capacity to provide tech5 nical assistance, additional staff, and re6 sources to implement the high school im7 provement plan and to improve the high 

8 school’s performance. 

9 (B) ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS.—A 

10 local educational agency shall use the informa11 tion provided in the capacity and needs assess12 ment for a high school, in coordination with the 

13 high school’s school improvement plan and the 

14 understanding of the reform history of high 

15 schools, to— 

16 (i) determine the level and direct the 

17 use of— 

18 (I) the funds requested by the 

19 local educational agency for the high 

20 school under the subgrant under this 

21 section; and 

22 (II) any additional funding to be 

23 provided by the State educational 

24 agency, the local educational agency, 

25 or other sources; and 


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1 (ii) to determine the number and di2 rect the use of secondary school reform 

3 partners and external partners. 

4 (C) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—A local edu5 cational agency may request technical assist6 ance from the State educational agency in pre7 paring the plan and the capacity and needs as8 sessment required under this paragraph. 

9 (c) AUTHORITY TO INTERVENE.—The State edu10 cational agency may intervene to develop or implement the 

11 high school improvement plans, or enter into contracts 

12 with secondary school reform partners to assist local edu13 cational agencies with the development and implementa14 tion of high school improvement plans, if the State edu15 cational agency determines that— 

16 (1) a local educational agency serving a high 

17 school in whole school reform or replacement has not 

18 submitted an application described in section 109(b); 

19 or 

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

21 capacity to implement the school improvement activi22 ties described in the school improvement plan sub23 mitted under subsection (b)(4). 


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1 SEC. 111. SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The school improvement team de3 scribed in section 110(b)(2) for each high school identified 

4 for a school improvement category described in section 

5 106(b)(2) shall ensure that the school improvement activi6 ties included in the school improvement plan are imple7 mented. 

8 (b) TARGETED INTERVENTIONS.—A high school 

9 identified for targeted interventions under section 

10 110(b)(1) or the local educational agency serving such 

11 high school, shall implement research-based targeted 

12 interventions, using data from the school performance in13 dicators, the early warning indicator system, other student 

14 indicators, and the capacity and needs assessment for the 

15 high school. The targeted interventions shall be designed, 

16 at a minimum, to address the specific problems identified 

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

18 not making sufficient progress to graduate in the standard 

19 number of years. 

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

21 agency or State educational agency, with technical assist22 ance from secondary school reform partners, shall enable 

23 and assist each school identified as needing whole school 

24 reform pursuant to section 110(b)(1) to implement whole 

25 school reform based on scientifically valid research using 

26 the data described in section 110(b)(3). Such reform— 


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1 (1) shall address the comprehensive aspects of 

2 high school reform, including— 

3 (A) schoolwide needs; 

4 (B) students who need targeted assistance; 

5 and 

6 (C) students who need intensive interven7 tions, including those who are not making suffi8 cient progress to graduate on time; 

9 (2) shall address schoolwide factors to improve 

10 student achievement, including— 

11 (A) setting high expectations and infusing 

12 relevance into learning for all students; 

13 (B) personalizing the high school experi14 ence; and 

15 (C) improving school climate, including 

16 student attendance and behavior; 

17 (3) shall include activities that— 

18 (A) ensure continuous improvement by— 

19 (i) ensuring the school improvement 

20 plan is supported to the extent practicable 

21 by all school staff; 

22 (ii) establishing clear— 

23 (I) goals and growth targets for 

24 implementation outcomes; and 


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1 (II) school annual growth tar2 gets; and 

3 (iii) regularly evaluating implementa4 tion of and fidelity to the high school im5 provement plan, such as dedicating a staff 

6 member to support implementation of the 

7 school improvement plan; 

8 (B) organize the school to improve teach9 ing and learning, including through— 

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

11 (I) establishing common planning 

12 time for subject area teachers and 

13 interdisciplinary teams who share 

14 common groups of students; 

15 (II) utilizing block scheduling or 

16 redesigning the school calendar year 

17 or day to create extended learning 

18 time in core subjects; or 

19 (III) creating a flexible school pe20 riod to address specific student aca21 demic needs and interests such as 

22 credit recovery, electives, or service 

23 learning; 

24 (ii) alignment of resources to improve25 ment goals, such as through ensuring that 


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1 students in their initial year in the high 

2 school are taught by teachers prepared to 

3 meet their specific learning needs; and 

4 (iii) development of effective leader5 ship structures, supports, and clear deci6 sion-making processes, such as through de7 veloping distributive leadership and leader8 ship teams; 

9 (C) improve curriculum and instruction, 

10 including through— 

11 (i) increasing access to rigorous and 

12 advanced coursework, including adoption 

13 and implementation of a college- and work14 ready curriculum, and evidence-based, en15 gaging instructional materials aligned with 

16 such a curriculum, for all students; 

17 (ii) increasing access to contextualized 

18 learning opportunities aligned with readi19 ness for postsecondary education and the 

20 workforce, such as— 

21 (I) providing work-based, project22 based, and service-learning opportuni23 ties; or 

24 (II) providing a high quality, col25 lege preparatory curriculum in the 


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1 context of a rigorous career and tech2 nical education core; 

3 (iii) regularly collecting and using 

4 data to inform instruction, such as— 

5 (I) through use of formative as6 sessments; 

7 (II) creating and using common 

8 grading rubrics; or 

9 (III) identifying effective instruc10 tional approaches to meet student 

11 needs; and 

12 (iv) emphasizing core skills instruc13 tion, such as literacy, across content areas; 

14 (D) provide students with academic and 

15 social support to address individual student 

16 learning needs, including through— 

17 (i) increasing personalization through 

18 learning structures that facilitate the de19 velopment of student and staff relation20 ships such as— 

21 (I) implementing grade 9 acad22 emies or thematic smaller learning 

23 communities; 


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1 (II) establishing teams of teach2 ers who work exclusively with small 

3 groups of students; or 

4 (III) creating advisor positions to 

5 provide students with study, organiza6 tional, and social skills; 

7 (ii) offering extended-learning, credit 

8 recovery, mentoring, or tutoring options of 

9 sufficient scale to meet student needs; 

10 (iii) providing evidence-based acceler11 ated learning for students with academic 

12 skill levels below grade level; 

13 (iv) coordinating and increasing ac14 cess to integrated services, such as pro15 viding additional counselors, social work16 ers, and behavior and mental health pro17 viders to deliver such services; and 

18 (v) providing graduation and postsec19 ondary planning and transition supports, 

20 including college awareness and planning; 

21 (E) increase teacher and school leader ef22 fectiveness, including through— 

23 (i) professional development activities 

24 that respond to student and schoolwide 


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1 needs as identified through the data de2 scribed in section 110(b)(3), such as— 

3 (I) training teachers, leaders, and 

4 administrators together with staff 

5 from high schools making adequate 

6 yearly progress that serve similar pop7 ulations and in such schools; and 

8 (II) establishing peer learning 

9 and coaching among teachers; and 

10 (ii) facilitating collaboration, including 

11 through professional communities across 

12 subject area and interdisciplinary groups 

13 and similar high schools; and 

14 (F) engage families and community part15 ners, including community-based organizations, 

16 organizations assisting parent involvement, in17 stitutions of higher education, and industry, in 

18 school improvement activities through evidence19 based strategies; and 

20 (4) may include— 

21 (A) providing enabling policies, such as ad22 ditional flexibility regarding staffing and com23 pensation, budgeting, student credit attainment, 

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1 mentation of effective school improvement ac2 tivities and educational options; 

3 (B) implementing multiple school options 

4 or effective school models that address the 

5 needs of students who are not making sufficient 

6 progress to graduate in the standard number of 

7 years or have dropped out of high school, as in8 formed by analysis of school performance indi9 cator data described in section 106(b)(3) and 

10 early warning indicator system data described 

11 in section 110(b)(6)(A); and 

12 (C) other activities designed to address 

13 whole school needs, such as implementing a 

14 comprehensive reform model for the high 

15 school. 

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

17 in consultation with the State educational agency, sec18 ondary school reform partners, and external partners, 

19 shall replace each high school that, using data under sec20 tion 110(b)(3), is identified for replacement pursuant to 

21 section 110(b)(1). The local educational agency shall en22 sure successful implementation of the replacement strat23 egy through— 

24 (1) closing and reopening the schools or imple25 menting multiple school options or effective school 


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1 models that address the needs of students in the re2 placed schools, including students who are not mak3 ing sufficient progress to graduate in the standard 

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

5 (2) providing enabling policies, such as addi6 tional flexibility regarding staffing and compensa7 tion, budgeting, or use of school time; and 

8 (3) implementing activities described in sub9 section (c). 

10 SEC. 112. EVALUATION AND REPORTING. 

11 (a) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY REPORTING.—On 

12 an annual basis, each local educational agency receiving 

13 a subgrant under section 109 shall report to the State 

14 educational agency and to the public on— 

15 (1) the identified category of school improve16 ment for each high school in the school that failed 

17 to make adequate yearly progress for the most re18 cent 2 consecutive years; 

19 (2) the school performance indicators (as de20 scribed in section 106(b)(3)) for each such high 

21 school, in the aggregate and disaggregated by the 

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

23 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

24 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(C)(v)(II)); 


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

2 the high school’s annual growth targets under sec3 tion 110(b)(4)(A); and 

4 (4) the use of funds by the local educational 

5 agency and each such school. 

6 (b) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY REPORTING.—On 

7 an annual basis, each State educational agency receiving 

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

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

10 (1) the school performance indicators (as de11 scribed in section 106(b)(3)) for each high school 

12 served by the State educational agency that receives 

13 assistance under this title, in the aggregate and 

14 disaggregated by the subgroups described in section 

15 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the Elementary and Sec16 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

17 6311(b)(2)(C)(v)(II)); 

18 (2) progress in meeting the annual growth tar19 gets under section 110(b)(4)(A) for each such high 

20 school; 

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

22 changed school improvement categories pursuant to 

23 section 110(b)(7); 

24 (4) the use of funds by each local educational 

25 agency and each school served with such funds; 


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

2 purposes of whole school reform or replacement; 

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

4 educational agency in the State; 

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

6 educational agency in the State; and 

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

8 adequate yearly progress. 

9 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Every 2 years, the Sec10 retary shall prepare and submit to Congress and make 

11 available to the public— 

12 (1) a summary of the State reports under sub13 section (b); and 

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

15 under this title. 

16 SEC. 113. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

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

19 for fiscal year 2011 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal 

20 years. 

21 TITLE II—DEVELOPMENT OF 

22 EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MODELS 

23 SEC. 201. PURPOSES. 

24 The purposes of this title are— 


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1 (1) to facilitate the development and implemen2 tation of effective secondary school models for strug3 gling students and dropouts in order to raise sec4 ondary school graduation rates and more effectively 

5 prepare students for postsecondary education and 

6 the workforce; and 

7 (2) to build the capacity of State educational 

8 agencies, local educational agencies, nonprofit orga9 nizations, and institutions of higher education to im10 plement effective secondary school models for strug11 gling students and dropouts. 

12 SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this title: 

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

15 individual who— 

16 (A) is not older than 21; 

17 (B) is not attending any school; and 

18 (C) has not received a secondary school di19 ploma or its recognized equivalent. 

20 (2) EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MODEL.—The term 

21 ‘‘effective school model’’ means— 

22 (A) an existing secondary school model 

23 with demonstrated effectiveness in improving 

24 student academic achievement and outcomes for 

25 off-track students or dropouts; or 


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1 (B) a proposed new secondary school 

2 model design that is based on research-based 

3 organizational and instructional practices for 

4 improving student academic achievement and 

5 outcomes for struggling students or dropouts. 

6 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti7 ty’’ means— 

8 (A) a local educational agency, nonprofit 

9 organization, or institution of higher edu10 cation— 

11 (i) that proposes to enhance or ex12 pand an existing effective school model for 

13 off-track students or dropouts; or 

14 (ii) that has a track record of serving 

15 struggling students or dropouts and pro16 poses to develop a new effective school 

17 model for off-track students or dropouts; 

18 or 

19 (B) a partnership involving 2 or more enti20 ties described in subparagraph (A). 

21 (4) LATE ENTRANT ENGLISH LANGUAGE

22 LEARNER.—The term ‘‘late entrant English lan23 guage learner’’ means a high school student who— 

24 (A) enters a school served by a local edu25 cational agency at grade 9 or higher; and 


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1 (B) is identified by the local educational 

2 agency as being limited English proficient and 

3 as having experienced interrupted formal edu4 cation. 

5 (5) STRUGGLING STUDENT.—The term ‘‘strug6 gling student’’— 

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

8 is not making sufficient progress toward grad9 uating from secondary school with a regular di10 ploma in the standard number of years; and 

11 (B) includes a student who— 

12 (i) has been retained in grade level; 

13 (ii) is an undercredited student; or 

14 (iii) is a late entrant English language 

15 learner. 

16 (6) UNDERCREDITED STUDENT.—The term 

17 ‘‘undercredited student’’ means a high school stu18 dent who lacks either the necessary credits or 

19 courses, as determined by the relevant local edu20 cational agency and State educational agency, to 

21 graduate from secondary school with a regular di22 ploma in the standard number of years. 

23 SEC. 203. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 

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

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


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1 to enable the eligible entities to develop and implement, 

2 or replicate, effective school models for struggling students 

3 and dropouts. 

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

5 section shall be for a period of 5 years. 

6 SEC. 204. APPLICATION. 

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

8 grant under this title shall submit an application to the 

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

10 such information as the Secretary may require. 

11 (b) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted under 

12 this section shall include a description of— 

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

14 mandatory activities under section 206(a); 

15 (2) the research or evidence concerning the ef16 fective school model that the eligible entity proposes 

17 to develop and implement or replicate, including— 

18 (A) for an existing effective school model 

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

20 that the model has improved academic out21 comes for struggling students or dropouts; or 

22 (B) for a proposed effective school model 

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

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1 structional practices of the proposed effective 

2 school model; 

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

4 and principles that will be used in the effective 

5 school model, including— 

6 (A) the academic program; 

7 (B) the instructional practices; 

8 (C) the methods of assessment; and 

9 (D) student supports and services, such as 

10 the supports and services provided by the school 

11 or offered by other organizations and agencies 

12 in the community, to support positive student 

13 academic achievement and outcomes; 

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

15 from the local educational agency or State edu16 cational agency to evaluate and improve academic 

17 outcomes for struggling students or dropouts; 

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

19 implements or replicates an effective school model 

20 under this title, how the eligibility entity will sustain 

21 the implementation or replication of the effective 

22 school model, including the financing mechanism to 

23 be used; 

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

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1 tive school model and will make necessary adjust2 ments to ensure continuous and substantial improve3 ment in student academic achievement and out4 comes; and 

5 (7) how the eligible entity will make the per6 formance data available to State educational agen7 cies, local educational agencies, and schools serving 

8 struggling students or dropouts. 

9 SEC. 205. SECRETARIAL PEER REVIEW AND APPROVAL. 

10 The Secretary shall— 

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

12 the review and approval of applications submitted by 

13 eligible entities under section 204; and 

14 (2) appoint individuals to the peer-review proc15 ess who are experts in high school reform, dropout 

16 prevention and recovery, new school development for 

17 struggling students and dropouts, and adolescent 

18 and academic development. 

19 SEC. 206. USE OF FUNDS. 

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

21 receiving a grant under this title shall use grant funds 

22 to— 

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

24 effective school model described in section 

25 202(2)(A), or develop a proposed effective school 


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

2 students and dropouts; 

3 (2) assess the progress of the implementation 

4 or replication of the effective school model and make 

5 necessary adjustments to ensure continuous im6 provement; 

7 (3) provide opportunities for professional devel8 opment associated with the continuous improvement 

9 and implementation or replication of the effective 

10 school model; 

11 (4) collect data and information on the school 

12 model’s effectiveness in improving student academic 

13 achievement and outcomes for struggling students 

14 and dropouts and disseminate such data and infor15 mation to State educational agencies, local edu16 cational agencies, and schools; and 

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

18 (A) sustain the implementation or replica19 tion of the effective school model assisted under 

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

21 and 

22 (B) replicate the effective school model. 

23 (b) OPTIONAL USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity re24 ceiving a grant under this title may use grant funds— 


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1 (1) to identify and create partnerships needed 

2 to improve the academic achievement and outcomes 

3 of the students attending a school assisted under 

4 this title; 

5 (2) to support family and community engage6 ment in the effective school model; and 

7 (3) to carry out any additional activities that 

8 the Secretary determines are within the purposes de9 scribed in section 201. 

10 SEC. 207. EVALUATION AND REPORTING. 

11 (a) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—Each eligible entity re12 ceiving a grant under this title shall annually report to 

13 the Secretary on— 

14 (1) the data and information being gathered to 

15 assess the effective school model’s effectiveness in 

16 improving student academic achievement and out17 comes for struggling students and dropouts; 

18 (2) the implementation status of the models, 

19 any barriers to implementation, and actions taken to 

20 overcome the barriers; 

21 (3) any professional development activities to 

22 build the capacity of— 

23 (A) the eligible entity to sustain or rep24 licate the effective school model; or 


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1 (B) the staff of a school assisted under 

2 this title to implement or improve the effective 

3 school model; 

4 (4) the progress made in improving student 

5 academic achievement and outcomes in the effective 

6 school models for struggling students and dropouts; 

7 and 

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

9 (b) INDEPENDENT EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary 

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

11 independent evaluation of the grant program under this 

12 title and the progress of the eligible entities receiving 

13 grants under this title. 

14 SEC. 208. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

16 this title $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2011 and each of 

17 the 4 succeeding fiscal years. 

Æ 


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