I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1966 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish 

a partnership program in foreign languages. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 24, 2011 

Mr. HOLT (for himself, Mr. WU, Mr. PIERLUISI, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. POLIS, 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. REYES) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to establish a partnership program in foreign 

languages. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign Language 

5 Education Partnership Program Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5494 of the Elementary 

8 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7259c) 

9 is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 5494. PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM IN FOREIGN LAN2 GUAGES. 

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

4 ‘‘(1) to provide grants for developing and main5 taining model programs of articulated foreign lan6 guage learning from kindergarten through grade 12 

7 that increase the number of students graduating 

8 from high school with an advanced level of pro9 ficiency in at least one foreign language; and 

10 ‘‘(2) to widely disseminate information on the 

11 model programs that demonstrate success. 

12 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

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

14 available to carry out this section for a fiscal year, 

15 the Secretary shall make grants to eligible partner16 ships to develop and maintain, or to improve and ex17 pand, model programs that support articulated for18 eign language learning in kindergarten through 

19 grade 12. 

20 ‘‘(2) PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT.—For the 

21 first 2 fiscal years that an eligible partnership re22 ceives funds under paragraph (1) for a model pro23 gram on a less-commonly-taught foreign language 

24 (as determined by the Secretary), the Secretary may 

25 allow that partnership, based on demonstrated need, 


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1 to use those funds for planning and development ac2 tivities, including— 

3 ‘‘(A) development of an articulated instruc4 tional curriculum for the less-commonly-taught 

5 foreign language to which the model program 

6 relates; 

7 ‘‘(B) in-service and pre-service develop8 ment of teachers, and development of cur9 riculum and language assessments in the less10 commonly-taught foreign language to which the 

11 model program relates; and 

12 ‘‘(C) development of contextual programs 

13 and curriculum materials related to the less14 commonly-taught foreign language to which the 

15 model program relates, as described in sub16 section (e). 

17 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible partnership 

19 desiring a grant under this section shall submit an 

20 application to the Secretary at such time, in such 

21 manner, and containing such information as the Sec22 retary may require. 

23 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each application shall— 

24 ‘‘(A) identify each member of the partner25 ship, provide contact information and letters of 


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1 commitment for each such member, and de2 scribe the responsibilities of each such member, 

3 including— 

4 ‘‘(i) identifying the member that will 

5 receive and manage the grant; 

6 ‘‘(ii) specifying how each member will 

7 be involved in the planning, development, 

8 and implementation of the activities pro9 posed under the grant; 

10 ‘‘(iii) describing the resources to be 

11 provided by each member; and 

12 ‘‘(iv) describing how each member will 

13 contribute to ensuring the continuity of 

14 student progress in proficiency from kin15 dergarten through grade 12 in not less 

16 than 1 foreign language to which the pro17 gram relates; 

18 ‘‘(B) describe how an articulated cur19 riculum for students to achieve an advanced 

20 level of proficiency by grade 12 in the foreign 

21 language will be developed and implemented; 

22 ‘‘(C) identify target proficiency levels in 

23 the foreign language for students at critical 

24 benchmarks, and describe how progress toward 


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1 those proficiency levels will be assessed at the 

2 benchmarks; 

3 ‘‘(D) describe how the partnership will 

4 support and continue the program after the 

5 grant has expired, including how the partner6 ship will seek support from other sources, such 

7 as State and local governments, foundations, 

8 and the private sector; and 

9 ‘‘(E) describe what assessments will be 

10 used or, if assessments are not available, how 

11 assessments will be developed. 

12 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible partnership receiv13 ing a grant under this section— 

14 ‘‘(1) shall use grant funds— 

15 ‘‘(A) to design model programs and teach16 ing strategies relating to not less than one for17 eign language that are informed by the best 

18 practices recognized by the field and by avail19 able research; 

20 ‘‘(B) to develop, for the foreign language 

21 to which the model program relates, curriculum 

22 materials based on an articulated framework or 

23 approach designed to bring students to an ad24 vanced level of proficiency by grade 12; 


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1 ‘‘(C) to recruit students and teachers for 

2 the foreign language, such as individuals from 

3 heritage populations; and 

4 ‘‘(D) to carry out teacher in-service and 

5 pre-service professional development programs, 

6 including summer institutes, that support the 

7 model programs; and 

8 ‘‘(2) may be used— 

9 ‘‘(A)(i) to develop nationally recognized as10 sessments for kindergarten through grade 12 

11 for the foreign language to which the model 

12 program relates, if such assessments do not 

13 exist for that language; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) to enhance nationally recognized as15 sessments for kindergarten through grade 12 

16 for the foreign language to which the model 

17 program relates, if such assessments already 

18 exist for that language; 

19 ‘‘(B) to provide scholarships and incentives 

20 to recruit new teachers for the foreign lan21 guage, and encourage practicing teachers to 

22 take advantage of the professional development 

23 opportunities; 

24 ‘‘(C) to provide opportunities for maximum 

25 foreign language exposure for students domestiVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:31 May 28, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1966.IH H1966

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1 cally, such as the creation of immersion envi2 ronments in the classroom and school and on 

3 weekend or summer experiences, and special tu4 toring and academic support; 

5 ‘‘(D) to provide the possibility for multiple 

6 entry points for studying the foreign language; 

7 ‘‘(E) to provide scholarships for study8 abroad opportunities related to the foreign lan9 guage, for students in grades 9 through 12 and 

10 teachers and prospective teachers of such stu11 dents, except that the eligible entity shall not 

12 use more than 20 percent of the grant funds 

13 for this purpose; 

14 ‘‘(F) to carry out activities to integrate 

15 foreign languages into the school curriculum 

16 and generate whole-school collaboration, includ17 ing activities and support for teachers of other 

18 subjects and administrators; 

19 ‘‘(G) to carry out activities to encourage 

20 community involvement in the model program, 

21 especially with respect to heritage communities; 

22 ‘‘(H) to incorporate effective and innova23 tive uses of technology to enhance student 

24 learning and teaching in the foreign language; 


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1 ‘‘(I) to develop certification and alternative 

2 certification programs at the State level, espe3 cially for less-commonly-taught foreign lan4 guages (as determined by the Secretary); 

5 ‘‘(J) to obtain technical assistance in the 

6 development and implementation of the model 

7 program funded under this section; and 

8 ‘‘(K) to recruit or appoint a language su9 pervisor to oversee and coordinate the progress 

10 of the articulated foreign language program 

11 funded under this section across grade levels in 

12 the local educational agency. 

13 ‘‘(e) CONTEXTUAL DIMENSION.—A grant under this 

14 section may not be used to support a model program un15 less the program includes a dimension, carried out in con16 junction with foreign language instruction, under which 

17 each foreign language learner also participates in pro18 grams to expand the understanding and knowledge of his19 toric, geographic, cultural, economic, and other contextual 

20 factors of countries with populations who speak the for21 eign language to which the model program relates. 

22 ‘‘(f) RESEARCH AND EVALUATION.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A grant under this section 

24 may not be used to support a model program unless 


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1 the program includes a research and evaluation com2 ponent, under which— 

3 ‘‘(A) information is collected and analyzed 

4 regarding the effectiveness of activities carried 

5 out under the program, including— 

6 ‘‘(i) program design; 

7 ‘‘(ii) student and teacher recruitment 

8 strategies; 

9 ‘‘(iii) curricular approaches; 

10 ‘‘(iv) teacher development; and 

11 ‘‘(v) foreign language assessment in12 struments; 

13 ‘‘(B) information is collected and analyzed 

14 regarding the impact of each activity in sub15 paragraph (A) on the foreign language pro16 ficiency of the students; 

17 ‘‘(C) information is collected and analyzed 

18 regarding program participation, including data 

19 on student enrollments and numbers of foreign 

20 language teachers; and 

21 ‘‘(D) the information collected, and the 

22 analyses of that information, are made widely 

23 available to the public. 

24 ‘‘(2) STANDARDIZATION.—The Secretary shall 

25 provide guidelines to standardize the categories of 


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1 information collected and analyzed under paragraph 

2 (1) and the manner in which that information is col3 lected, analyzed, and made available to the public. 

4 ‘‘(g) DURATION OF PAYMENTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) INITIAL GRANTS.—An initial grant award6 ed under this section to an eligible partnership shall 

7 be for a period of 4 years. 

8 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL GRANTS.—An eligible part9 nership completing a 4-year grant award under this 

10 section may be eligible for not more than 2 addi11 tional 5-year awards under this section, but only if 

12 the partnership demonstrates, based on nationally 

13 recognized standardized foreign language assess14 ments, that the partnership’s model program is ef15 fective. 

16 ‘‘(h) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible partnership that 

18 receives a grant under this section shall provide, to19 ward the cost of carrying out the activities sup20 ported by the grant, from non-Federal sources an 

21 amount equal to–– 

22 ‘‘(A) 20 percent of the amount of the 

23 grant payment for the first fiscal year for which 

24 a grant payment is made; 


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1 ‘‘(B) 30 percent of the amount of the 

2 grant payment for the second such fiscal year; 

3 ‘‘(C) 40 percent of the amount of the 

4 grant payment for the third such fiscal year; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(D) 50 percent of the amount of the 

7 grant payment for the fourth such fiscal year, 

8 and for each year of any subsequent grants 

9 made to the eligible partnership under this sec10 tion. 

11 ‘‘(2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal 

12 share required under paragraph (1) may be provided 

13 in cash or in-kind. 

14 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive, in 

15 whole or in part, the matching requirement under 

16 paragraph (1) for any fiscal year if–– 

17 ‘‘(A) the eligible partnership demonstrates 

18 hardship and the waiver will best serve the pur19 poses of this section; or 

20 ‘‘(B) the foreign language to which the 

21 model program relates is a less-commonly22 taught foreign language (as determined by the 

23 Secretary). 

24 ‘‘(i) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds 

25 provided under this section shall be used to supplement, 


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1 not supplant, other Federal and non-Federal funds avail2 able to carry out the activities described in this section. 

3 ‘‘(j) DATA COLLECTION, ANALYSIS, AND DISSEMINA4 TION.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may reserve 

6 not more than 3 percent of the total amount appro7 priated for this section for any fiscal year to— 

8 ‘‘(A) annually collect and analyze data on 

9 the model programs supported under this sec10 tion; and 

11 ‘‘(B) disseminate nationally, including 

12 through a Web-based clearinghouse— 

13 ‘‘(i) aggregated data collected under 

14 subparagraph (A); and 

15 ‘‘(ii) promising kindergarten through 

16 grade 12 foreign language learning and 

17 teaching practices, and successful program 

18 models, that are developed under this sec19 tion. 

20 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY FOR GRANTS OR CON21 TRACTS.—The activities described in paragraph (1) 

22 may be carried out by the Secretary directly or 

23 through grants or contracts to institutions of higher 

24 education or public or private nonprofit agencies and 

25 organizations. 


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1 ‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 ‘‘(1) ADVANCED LEVEL OF PROFICIENCY.—The 

3 term ‘advanced level of proficiency’ means— 

4 ‘‘(A) the advanced level as measured by 

5 the American Council on the Teaching of For6 eign Languages; 

7 ‘‘(B) level 2 as measured by the Inter8 agency Language Roundtable; or 

9 ‘‘(C) any other nationally recognized meas10 ure of advanced standards of foreign language 

11 proficiency, as determined by the Secretary. 

12 ‘‘(2) ARTICULATED.—The term ‘articulated’ 

13 means that each grade level of the foreign language 

14 program is designed to sequentially expand on the 

15 student achievement of the previous level with a goal 

16 toward achieving an established level of language 

17 proficiency. 

18 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘eligi19 ble partnership’ means a partnership that— 

20 ‘‘(A) shall include— 

21 ‘‘(i) one or more local educational 

22 agencies or State educational agencies; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) one or more institutions of high24 er education, which shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(I) a school, department, or pro2 gram within the institution or institu3 tions of higher education that provides 

4 a teacher preparation program; 

5 ‘‘(II) a school, department, pro6 gram, or center within the institution 

7 or institutions of higher education 

8 that provides a program of study or 

9 research in foreign languages; and 

10 ‘‘(III) a school, department, pro11 gram, or center within the institution 

12 or institutions of higher education 

13 that provides programs of study about 

14 the historic, geographic, cultural, eco15 nomic, and other contextual factors of 

16 the world area or country with popu17 lations who speak the foreign lan18 guage to which the model program re19 lates; and 

20 ‘‘(B) may also include one or more busi21 nesses or nonprofit organizations. 

22 ‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

23 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

24 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2012 and such sums as may 

25 be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 


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1 (b) FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.—Subpart 9 of part D 

2 of title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

3 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7259 et seq.) is further amended by 

4 inserting after section 5491 the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 5491A. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

6 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) According to the National Research Coun8 cil in 2007, a pervasive lack of knowledge about for9 eign cultures and foreign languages in this country 

10 threatens the security of the United States as well 

11 as its ability to compete in the global marketplace 

12 and produce an informed citizenry. 

13 ‘‘(2) According to the National Research Coun14 cil in 2007, early language learning in elementary 

15 and secondary school is key to establishing a pipeline 

16 of students who can eventually reach a high enough 

17 level of proficiency in foreign language and culture 

18 to meet national needs. 

19 ‘‘(3) According to the Committee for Economic 

20 Development in 2006, current efforts to develop lan21 guage skills and knowledge of world regions at an 

22 early age are clearly inadequate to prepare high 

23 school graduates with the skills necessary for pro24 ductivity and citizenship in an integrated global 

25 economy. 


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1 ‘‘(4) The American Council on the Teaching of 

2 Foreign Languages found that only 34 percent of 

3 United States students in kindergarten through 

4 grade 12 were enrolled in foreign language classes in 

5 2000. Furthermore, the length of time students 

6 spend studying languages at school has stagnated, 

7 so that many students reach only introductory levels 

8 of proficiency. 

9 ‘‘(5) Research demonstrates that success lies 

10 not only in the number of years of learning but also 

11 in having carefully sequenced and articulated pro12 grams of language learning across a child’s school 

13 experience, requiring bridging the gaps between lev14 els in foreign language education. 

15 ‘‘(6) A survey of secondary school principals 

16 and foreign language teachers by the Center for Ap17 plied Linguistics in 1999 identified a shortage of 

18 foreign language teachers as a major impediment to 

19 greater foreign language learning, along with fund20 ing, lack of training, and poor academic counseling. 

21 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this subpart are— 

22 ‘‘(1) to provide grants for model programs that 

23 address the needs for developing, strengthening, and 

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1 guages and foreign cultures in the elementary and 

2 secondary schools of the United States; and 

3 ‘‘(2) to widely disseminate information on suc4 cessful programs and practices.’’. 

5 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of con6 tents in section 2 of such Act is amended— 

7 (1) by inserting after the item relating to sec8 tion 5491 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 5491A. Findings; purposes.’’; 

9 and 

10 (2) by striking the item relating to section 5494 

11 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 5494. Partnership program in foreign languages.’’. 

Æ 


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