I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2706 

To establish a comprehensive literacy program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 17, 2013 

Mr. YARMUTH (for himself, Mr. POLIS, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

RAHALL, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. COHEN, and Mr. CARTWRIGHT) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

the Workforce 

A BILL 

To establish a comprehensive literacy program, 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— 

5 (1) the ‘‘Literacy Education for All, Results for 

6 the Nation Act’’; or 

7 (2) the ‘‘LEARN Act’’. 

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

9 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 


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Sec. 3. Purposes. 

Sec. 4. Programs authorized. 

Sec. 5. State planning grants. 

Sec. 6. State implementation grants. 

Sec. 7. Subgrants to eligible entities in support of literacy for children from 

birth through kindergarten entry. 

Sec. 8. Subgrants to eligible entities in support of literacy for students in kindergarten through grade 12. 

Sec. 9. Additional State activities. 

Sec. 10. National evaluation, information dissemination, and technical assistance. 

Sec. 11. Consequences of insufficient progress, reporting requirements, and 

conflicts of interest. 

Sec. 12. Rules of construction. 

Sec. 13. Definitions. 

Sec. 14. Authorization of appropriations. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds that in order for a comprehensive 

3 and effective literacy program to address the needs of chil4 dren it is critical to address the following: 

5 (1) Literacy development is an ongoing process 

6 that requires a sustained engagement and invest7 ment beginning in early childhood and continuing 

8 through secondary school. 

9 (2) Developing literacy skills begins at birth as 

10 infants and toddlers associate sounds, gestures, and 

11 marks on paper with consequences and meaning. 

12 Many teachers and staff in early learning programs 

13 are not provided with high-quality professional devel14 opment in how to support children’s language and 

15 literacy development. Such high-quality professional 

16 learning and preparation, that is job-embedded and 

17 ongoing, promotes strong early language and literacy 

18 for all children’s readiness for school. 


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1 (3) Research shows that writing leads to im2 proved reading achievement, reading leads to better 

3 writing performance, and combined instruction leads 

4 to improvements in both areas. Students in kinder5 garten through grade 12 need to be engaged in com6 bined reading and writing experiences that lead to a 

7 higher level of thinking than when either process is 

8 taught alone. 

9 (4) Teachers and early childhood educators 

10 need professional development to improve the read11 ing and writing abilities of children who are at risk 

12 for developmental delays or are reading and writing 

13 several years below grade level. Middle school and 

14 secondary school teachers in core academic subjects 

15 must have the tools and skills to teach reading and 

16 writing for subject area understanding and to dif17 ferentiate and provide instruction for students with 

18 varying literacy skills. 

19 (5) Approximately 70 percent of 4th graders 

20 and 8th graders read below the proficient level on 

21 the 2007 National Assessment of Educational 

22 Progress. 

23 (6) Between 1971 and 2008, the reading levels 

24 of 17-year-olds in the United States showed little to 

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1 dents to read complex texts is strongly predictive of 

2 their performance in postsecondary mathematics and 

3 science courses. 

4 (7) Only one-third of secondary school students 

5 who enter 9th grade each year can expect to grad6 uate in 4 years with the skills needed to succeed in 

7 higher education and the workplace. 

8 (8) The 25 fastest growing professions have 

9 higher than average literacy demands while the fast10 est declining professions have lower than average lit11 eracy demands. 

12 (9) The intellectual and linguistic skills nec13 essary for reading and writing must be developed 

14 through explicit, intentional, and systematic lan15 guage activities, to which many low-income and mi16 nority students do not have access. 

17 (10) Only 71 percent of secondary school stu18 dents graduate on time with a diploma, meaning 

19 that every year 1,230,000 students fail to graduate 

20 from secondary school in the United States. These 

21 1,230,000 nongraduates cost the United States more 

22 than $319,000,000,000 in lost wages, taxes, and 

23 productivity over their lifetimes. 

24 (11) Meaningful engagement of families in their 

25 children’s early learning supports school readiness 


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1 and later academic success. Parental literacy habits 

2 are positively associated with parental reading be3 liefs, parent-child literacy and language activities in 

4 the home, children’s print knowledge, and interest in 

5 reading and writing. 

6 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are— 

8 (1) to improve reading, writing, and academic 

9 achievement for children and students by providing 

10 Federal support to State educational agencies, in 

11 collaboration with State agencies that oversee child 

12 care programs, to develop, coordinate, and imple13 ment comprehensive State literacy plans that ensure 

14 high-quality instruction and effective practices in 

15 early language and literacy in early learning pro16 grams (serving children from birth through kinder17 garten entry) and in reading and writing in kinder18 garten through grade 12; and 

19 (2) to assist State educational agencies and 

20 State agencies that oversee child care and other 

21 early childhood programs in achieving the purposes 

22 described in paragraph (1) by— 

23 (A) supporting the development and imple24 mentation of early learning through grade 12 

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1 ically valid research, to ensure that every stu2 dent can read and write at grade level or above; 

3 (B) providing children attending early 

4 learning programs that serve children from 

5 birth through kindergarten entry, including pro6 grams, such as child care, Early Head Start, 

7 Head Start, State-funded preschool, public li8 brary programs, and other early childhood edu9 cation settings, with high-quality, language-rich, 

10 literature-rich, informational text-rich, cul11 turally relevant, developmentally appropriate 

12 environments, so that such children develop the 

13 fundamental knowledge and skills necessary for 

14 literacy engagement, development, and achieve15 ment in kindergarten and beyond; 

16 (C) educating parents in the ways they can 

17 support their child’s communication and lit18 eracy development; 

19 (D) supporting efforts to link and align 

20 standards and evidence-based teaching practices 

21 and instruction in early learning programs serv22 ing children from birth through kindergarten 

23 entry; 

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1 dren and students from birth through grade 12 

2 to develop oral language, reading comprehen3 sion, and writing abilities through evidence4 based instruction and practices; 

5 (F) improving student achievement by es6 tablishing literacy initiatives that provide ex7 plicit and systematic instruction in oral lan8 guage, reading, and writing development across 

9 the curriculum; 

10 (G) identifying and supporting students 

11 who are reading and writing below grade level 

12 by providing evidence-based intensive interven13 tions, including extended learning time, to help 

14 such students acquire the language and literacy 

15 skills they need to graduate from secondary 

16 school; 

17 (H) providing assistance to eligible entities 

18 in order to provide educators with high-quality 

19 professional development in the essential com20 ponents of early literacy instruction and the es21 sential components of reading and writing in22 struction; 

23 (I) supporting State educational agencies 

24 and local educational agencies in using age- and 

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1 rials and strategies, including those consistent 

2 with universal design for learning, that assist 

3 teachers as they work with students to develop 

4 reading and writing competencies appropriate 

5 to the student’s grade and skill levels; 

6 (J) supporting State educational agencies 

7 and eligible entities in improving reading, writ8 ing, and academic achievement for children and 

9 students, especially those that are low-income, 

10 limited English proficient, migratory, Indian or 

11 Alaskan Native, neglected or delinquent, home12 less, in the custody of the child welfare system, 

13 those that have disabilities, or those who have 

14 dropped out of school; and 

15 (K) strengthening coordination among 

16 schools, early learning programs, early literacy 

17 programs, family literacy programs, juvenile 

18 justice programs, public libraries, and outside19 of-school programs that provide children and 

20 youth with strategies, curricula, interventions, 

21 and assessments designed to advance early and 

22 continuing language and literacy development in 

23 ways appropriate for each context. 

24 SEC. 4. PROGRAMS AUTHORIZED. 

25 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized— 


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1 (1) to award State planning grants in accord2 ance with subsection (b) and section 5; and 

3 (2) to award State implementation grants in ac4 cordance with subsection (b) and section 6 to en5 able— 

6 (A) the State agency that oversees child 

7 care programs, in consultation with the State 

8 Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education 

9 and Care described in section 642B of the 

10 Head Start Act and other early childhood agen11 cies, to award subgrants to eligible entities in 

12 accordance with section 7; 

13 (B) the State educational agency to award 

14 subgrants to eligible entities in accordance with 

15 section 8; and 

16 (C) the State educational agency to carry 

17 out the additional State activities described in 

18 section 9. 

19 (b) AWARDS TO STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 

20 (1) DISCRETIONARY GRANTS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the amount appro22 priated under section 14 for a fiscal year is less 

23 than $500,000,000 the Secretary shall— 

24 (i) reserve not more than 5 percent of 

25 such amount for the national evaluation, 


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1 dissemination of information, and technical 

2 assistance under section 10; 

3 (ii) reserve not more than 5 percent of 

4 such amount to make awards, on a com5 petitive basis, under section 5; and 

6 (iii) use the amount not reserved 

7 under clauses (i) and (ii) to make awards, 

8 on a competitive basis and based on the 

9 quality of the applications submitted, to 

10 State educational agencies that have appli11 cations approved under section 6 to enable 

12 the agencies to carry out sections 7 

13 through 9. 

14 (B) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—The Sec15 retary shall allocate the funds described in sub16 paragraph (A)(iii) among approved applicants 

17 on the basis of the relative number or percent18 age of children counted under section 1124(c) 

19 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

20 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6333(c)) in a State 

21 served by an approved applicant compared to 

22 the number or percentage of such children in all 

23 States served by approved applicants, except 

24 that awards under this paragraph shall be of 

25 sufficient size and scope to be effective. 


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1 (2) FORMULA GRANTS.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the amount appro3 priated under section 14 for a fiscal year is 

4 equal to or exceeds $500,000,000 the Secretary 

5 shall— 

6 (i) reserve not more than 5 percent of 

7 such amount for the national evaluation, 

8 dissemination of information, and technical 

9 assistance under section 10; 

10 (ii) reserve not more than 5 percent of 

11 such amount to make awards, on a com12 petitive basis, under section 5; 

13 (iii) reserve a total of 1 percent of 

14 such amount for— 

15 (I) allotments for the United 

16 States Virgin Islands, Guam, Amer17 ican Samoa, and the Commonwealth 

18 of the Northern Mariana Islands, to 

19 be distributed among such outlying 

20 areas on the basis of their relative 

21 need, as determined by the Secretary 

22 in accordance with the purposes of 

23 this Act; and 

24 (II) the Secretary of the Interior 

25 for programs under sections 5 


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1 through 9 in schools operated or fund2 ed by the Bureau of Indian Edu3 cation; and 

4 (iv) use the amount not reserved 

5 under clauses (i) through (iii) to make 

6 awards, from allotments under subpara7 graph (B), to State educational agencies 

8 serving States, excluding States described 

9 in clause (iii)(I), that have applications ap10 proved under section 6 to enable the agen11 cies to carry out sections 7 through 9. 

12 (B) STATE ALLOTMENT FORMULA.—From 

13 the funds described in subparagraph (A)(iv), 

14 the Secretary shall make an award to each ap15 proved applicant under section 6 on the basis of 

16 the relative number of children counted under 

17 section 1124(c) of the Elementary and Sec18 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

19 6333(c)) in the State served by the applicant 

20 compared to the number of such children in all 

21 States served by approved applicants. 

22 (C) PROPORTIONAL DIVISION.—In each 

23 fiscal year, the amount reserved under subpara24 graph (A)(iii) shall be divided between the uses 

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1 paragraph in the same proportion as the 

2 amount reserved under section 1121(a) of the 

3 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

4 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6331(a)) is divided between 

5 the uses described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of 

6 such section 1121(a) for such fiscal year. 

7 (3) CONSULTATION.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—As applicable, a State 

9 educational agency that receives a discretionary 

10 grant or allotment under this subsection shall 

11 engage in timely and meaningful consultation 

12 with representatives of Indian tribes located in 

13 the State in order to improve the coordination 

14 of activities designed to develop effective ap15 proaches to achieve the purposes of the Act 

16 consistent with the cultural, language, and edu17 cational needs of Indian students. 

18 (B) SPECIAL RULE.—Of the funds re19 served under paragraph (2)(A)(iii)(II), the Sec20 retary of the Interior shall consult with tribes 

21 and school boards connected with bureau-fund22 ed schools to ensure allocation of funds to the 

23 extent possible in accordance with subpara24 graphs (A), (B), and (C) of section 6(a)(2). 

25 (c) PEER REVIEW.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall convene 

2 a peer review panel to evaluate and make rec3 ommendations to the Secretary regarding each appli4 cation for a grant under section 5 or 6 using the 

5 evaluation criteria described in paragraph (2). 

6 (2) DEVELOPMENT OF EVALUATION CRI7 TERIA.—The Secretary shall report to the Congress 

8 the peer review process and evaluation criteria that 

9 will be used to evaluate grant applications under sec10 tions 5 and 6 and shall make a copy of the peer re11 view panel’s comments available to the public. 

12 (d) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds 

13 provided under this section shall be used to supplement, 

14 and not supplant, other Federal, State, or local funds that 

15 would, in the absence of such grant funds, be made avail16 able for literacy instruction and support of children and 

17 students participating in programs assisted under this 

18 Act. 

19 SEC. 5. STATE PLANNING GRANTS. 

20 (a) PLANNING GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award 

22 planning grants to State educational agencies to en23 able the State educational agencies to develop or im24 prove a comprehensive plan, in consultation with the 

25 State agencies that oversee child care and other 


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1 early childhood programs, the State Advisory Coun2 cil on Early Childhood Education and Care, and the 

3 State Head Start Collaboration Office, to carry out 

4 activities that improve literacy for children and stu5 dents from birth through grade 12. 

6 (2) GRANT PERIOD.—A planning grant under 

7 this section shall be awarded for a period of not 

8 more than 1 year. 

9 (3) NONRENEWABILITY.—The Secretary shall 

10 not award a State educational agency more than 1 

11 planning grant under this section. 

12 (4) RELATION TO IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 

13 A State educational agency may not receive a plan14 ning grant under this section at the same time it is 

15 receiving an implementation grant under section 6. 

16 (b) APPLICATION.—Each State educational agency 

17 desiring a planning grant under this section shall submit, 

18 jointly with the State agencies that oversee child care and 

19 other early childhood programs and the State Advisory 

20 Council on Early Childhood Education and Care, an appli21 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

22 accompanied by such information as the Secretary may 

23 require. 


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1 (c) EXISTING STATE LITERACY PLAN.—An existing 

2 Federally funded comprehensive State literacy plan may 

3 be improved using a grant under this section. 

4 SEC. 6. STATE IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS. 

5 (a) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

7 implementation grants to State educational agen8 cies— 

9 (A) to implement, in collaboration with the 

10 State agencies that oversee child care and other 

11 early childhood programs, the State Advisory 

12 Council on Early Childhood Education and 

13 Care, and the State Head Start Collaboration 

14 Office— 

15 (i) the comprehensive State literacy 

16 plan developed under section 5, if the State 

17 educational agency received a grant under 

18 such section; or 

19 (ii) another comprehensive State lit20 eracy plan for serving children from birth 

21 through grade 12; 

22 (B) to provide funds made available under 

23 paragraph (2)(A) to the State agency that over24 sees child care programs to award subgrants 

25 under section 7; 


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1 (C) to award subgrants under section 8; 

2 and 

3 (D) to carry out additional State activities 

4 under section 9. 

5 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—State educational agency 

6 shall use implementation grant funds received under 

7 this section as follows: 

8 (A) LEARNERS FROM BIRTH THROUGH

9 KINDERGARTEN ENTRY.—Not less than 15 per10 cent of such grant funds shall be used in ac11 cordance with section 7. 

12 (B) STUDENTS IN KINDERGARTEN

13 THROUGH GRADE 5.—Not less than 40 percent 

14 of such grant funds shall be used in accordance 

15 with section 8, to be allocated equitably among 

16 grades kindergarten through grade 5, unless 

17 the State educational agency determines than 

18 an exception is necessary based on a capacity 

19 survey described in section 8(c)(1). 

20 (C) STUDENTS IN GRADES 6 THROUGH

21 12.—Not less than 40 percent of such grant 

22 funds shall be used in accordance with section 

23 8, to be allocated equitably among grades 6 

24 through 12, unless the State educational agency 

25 determines that an exception is necessary based 


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1 on a capacity survey described in section 

2 8(c)(1). 

3 (D) STATE ACTIVITIES.—Not more than 5 

4 percent of such grant funds shall be used for 

5 the State activities described in section 9. 

6 (3) DURATION OF GRANTS.—An implementa7 tion grant under this section shall be awarded for a 

8 period of not less than 3 years and not more than 

9 5 years. 

10 (4) RENEWALS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Implementation grants 

12 under this section may be renewed. 

13 (B) CONDITIONS.—In order to be eligible 

14 to have an implementation grant renewed under 

15 this paragraph, the State educational agency, in 

16 collaboration with the State agencies that over17 see child care and other early childhood pro18 grams and the State Advisory Council on Early 

19 Childhood Education and Care, shall dem20 onstrate, to the satisfaction of the Secretary, 

21 that— 

22 (i) the State educational agency has 

23 complied with the terms of the grant, in24 cluding using the funds to— 


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1 (I) increase access to high-quality 

2 professional development; 

3 (II) use developmentally appro4 priate curricula and teaching mate5 rials; and 

6 (III) use developmentally appro7 priate classroom-based instructional 

8 assessments and developmentally ap9 propriate screening and diagnostic as10 sessments; and 

11 (ii) with respect to students in kinder12 garten through grade 12, during the period 

13 of the grant there has been significant 

14 progress in student achievement, as meas15 ured by appropriate assessments, including 

16 meeting the measurable annual objectives 

17 established pursuant to section 

18 1111(b)(2)(C)(v) of the Elementary and 

19 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(C)(v)). 

21 (b) STATE APPLICATIONS.— 

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

23 that desires to receive an implementation grant 

24 under this section shall, in collaboration with the 

25 State agencies that oversee child care and other 


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1 early childhood programs and the State Advisory 

2 Council on Early Childhood Education and Care, 

3 submit an application to the Secretary at such time, 

4 in such manner, and containing such information as 

5 the Secretary may require. 

6 (2) CONTENTS.—An application described in 

7 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

8 (A) STATE LITERACY TEAM AND PLAN.— 

9 A description of how the State educational 

10 agency has formed a State literacy leadership 

11 team and developed a comprehensive State lit12 eracy plan, as described in section 5. 

13 (B) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—An assur14 ance that the State has a process to safeguard 

15 against conflicts of interest consistent with sec16 tion 11(c) for individuals providing technical as17 sistance on behalf of the State educational 

18 agency or the State agencies that oversee child 

19 care and other early childhood programs or 

20 serving on the State literacy leadership team. 

21 (C) IMPLEMENTATION.—An implementa22 tion plan that includes a description of how the 

23 State educational agency and the State agency 

24 that oversees child care programs will— 

25 (i) assist eligible entities with— 


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1 (I) selecting and using screening 

2 assessments and diagnostic assess3 ments; 

4 (II) providing classroom-based 

5 instruction that is supported by one6 to-one and small group instruction; 

7 (III) using curricular materials 

8 and instructional tools, which may in9 clude technology, to improve instruc10 tion and literacy achievement; 

11 (IV) using the principles of uni12 versal design for learning in all phases 

13 of instructional practice, including 

14 professional development, curriculum 

15 development and selection of instruc16 tional materials, and classroom in17 struction; 

18 (V) providing high-quality profes19 sional development as part of such eli20 gible entities’ literacy initiatives to im21 prove the literacy development and 

22 learning of children and students 

23 served under the implementation 

24 grant; and 


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1 (VI) providing diverse learners, 

2 including English language learners, 

3 with culturally, linguistically, and de4 velopmentally appropriate curricula, 

5 instructional materials, interactive 

6 technologies, and valid and reliable as7 sessments that support such learners 

8 in meeting State academic and con9 tent standards; 

10 (ii) ensure that eligible entities in the 

11 State have leveraged and are effectively 

12 leveraging the resources to implement 

13 high-quality literacy instruction, and have 

14 the capacity to implement high-quality lit15 eracy initiatives effectively; 

16 (iii) ensure that professional develop17 ment activities are based on— 

18 (I) the essential components of 

19 early literacy instruction and the es20 sential components of reading and 

21 writing instruction, as appropriate; 

22 and 

23 (II) evidence-based English lan24 guage acquisition and adult learning 

25 research, as appropriate; 


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1 (iv) coordinate and align, as appro2 priate, the activities assisted under this 

3 section and sections 7 and 8 with other 

4 State and local programs that— 

5 (I) serve children and students, 

6 and their families; and 

7 (II) promote literacy instruction 

8 and learning; 

9 (v) ensure that funds provided under 

10 this section are awarded in a manner that 

11 will provide services to all age and grade 

12 levels consistent with section 6(a)(2); 

13 (vi) award subgrants to eligible enti14 ties to enable the eligible entities to carry 

15 out the activities described in sections 7 

16 and 8, including to— 

17 (I) eligible entities that serve 

18 rural areas; and 

19 (II) eligible entities that serve 

20 urban areas; and 

21 (vii) assist the eligible entities in the 

22 State in— 

23 (I) providing strategic and inten24 sive literacy instruction for students 

25 reading and writing below grade level, 


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1 including through the use of multi2 tiered systems of supports; 

3 (II) providing high-quality pro4 fessional development in literacy in5 struction to teachers, including— 

6 (aa) special education teach7 ers or teachers of students who 

8 are English language learners; 

9 and 

10 (bb) teachers of core aca11 demic subjects; 

12 (III) addressing the literacy 

13 needs of children and students with 

14 disabilities and English language 

15 learners served by the eligible entity; 

16 and 

17 (IV) providing training to par18 ents so that the parents can partici19 pate in the literacy related activities 

20 described under sections 7 and 8 to 

21 assist in the language and literacy de22 velopment of their children. 

23 (D) KEY DATA METRICS.—A description of 

24 the key data metrics that will be collected and 

25 reported annually under section 11(b)(1)(E). 


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1 (E) NATIONAL EVALUATION.—An assur2 ance that the State educational agency, the 

3 State agency that awards subgrants under sec4 tion 7, and any eligible entity receiving a 

5 subgrant under section 7 or 8, will, if re6 quested, participate in the national evaluation 

7 under section 10. 

8 (F) PRIORITY.—An assurance that the 

9 State educational agency and the State agency 

10 that oversees child care programs, as appro11 priate, shall prioritize awarding subgrants— 

12 (i) under section 7, based on the per13 centage of low-income children proposed to 

14 be served by the applicant; and 

15 (ii) under section 8, based on the 

16 number or percentage of children counted 

17 under section 1124(c) of the Elementary 

18 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

19 U.S.C. 6333(c)) proposed to be served by 

20 the applicant. 

21 SEC. 7. SUBGRANTS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES IN SUPPORT OF 

22 LITERACY FOR CHILDREN FROM BIRTH 

23 THROUGH KINDERGARTEN ENTRY. 

24 (a) SUBGRANTS.—A State educational agency shall 

25 provide the funds provided under section 4(a)(2)(A) to the 


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1 State agency that oversees child care programs, who shall 

2 award subgrants, on a competitive basis, in consultation 

3 with the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Edu4 cation and Care and other State early childhood agencies, 

5 to eligible entities to enable the eligible entities to carry 

6 out the activities described in subsection (e). 

7 (b) SUFFICIENT SIZE AND SCOPE.—Each subgrant 

8 awarded under this section shall be of sufficient size and 

9 scope to allow the eligible entity to carry out the activities 

10 described in subsection (e). 

11 (c) LOCAL APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity that 

12 desires to receive a subgrant under this section shall sub13 mit an application to the State agency that oversees child 

14 care programs, at such time, in such manner, and includ15 ing such information as such agency may require. Such 

16 application shall include a description of— 

17 (1) a needs assessment, including an analysis of 

18 data on child literacy as applicable; 

19 (2) an implementation plan that utilizes the 

20 needs assessment described in paragraph 1 that 

21 identifies a baseline level of literacy and early lit22 eracy skills, as well as benchmarks for making im23 provements and monitoring progress; 

24 (3) the programs assisted under the subgrant, 

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1 tion on the children from birth through kindergarten 

2 entry enrolled in the programs; 

3 (4) a budget for the eligible entity that projects 

4 the cost of developing and implementing literacy ini5 tiatives to carry out the activities described in sub6 section (e); 

7 (5) how the subgrant funds will be used to en8 hance the language and literacy aspects of school 

9 readiness of children from birth through kinder10 garten entry in early childhood education programs; 

11 (6) how the subgrant funds will be used to pre12 pare and provide ongoing assistance to staff in the 

13 programs, through professional development focused 

14 on the essential components of early literacy instruc15 tion, including onsite intensive mentoring by early 

16 childhood literacy coaches to provide high-quality lit17 eracy activities based on scientifically valid research 

18 on child development and learning for children from 

19 birth through kindergarten entry; 

20 (7) how the subgrant funds will be used to pro21 vide services, incorporate activities, and select and 

22 use literacy instructional materials that are based on 

23 scientifically valid research on child development and 

24 early learning; 


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1 (8) how the subgrant funds will be used to pro2 vide— 

3 (A) screening assessments or other appro4 priate measures— 

5 (i) to effectively identify children from 

6 birth through kindergarten entry who may 

7 be at risk for delayed development or later 

8 academic difficulties; and 

9 (ii) to determine whether such chil10 dren are developing the fundamental 

11 knowledge necessary for literacy, engage12 ment, development, and achievement in 

13 kindergarten and beyond; and 

14 (B) diagnostic assessments, as appropriate, 

15 to determine the need for additional services; 

16 (C) classroom-based instructional assess17 ments; and 

18 (D) other appropriate assessments of de19 velopmental progress; 

20 (9) how the subgrant funds will be used to help 

21 instructional staff in the programs assisted under 

22 the subgrant to more effectively meet the diverse de23 velopmental and linguistic needs of children from 

24 birth through kindergarten entry in the community, 


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1 including the needs of English language learners and 

2 children with disabilities; 

3 (10) how the subgrant funds will be used to en4 sure that parents receive instruction— 

5 (A) on their children’s early literacy devel6 opment; and 

7 (B) on how parents can support children’s 

8 literacy development at home; 

9 (11) how the subgrant funds will be used to 

10 help children, particularly children experiencing dif11 ficulty with spoken and written language, to make 

12 the transition from early education to formal class13 room instruction; 

14 (12) how the activities assisted under the 

15 subgrant will be coordinated with literacy instruction 

16 at the kindergarten through grade 3 levels; 

17 (13) how the eligible entity will— 

18 (A) evaluate the success of the activities 

19 supported under the subgrant in enhancing the 

20 early language and literacy development of chil21 dren served under such subgrant; and 

22 (B) evaluate data for program improve23 ment; and 

24 (14) such other information as the State agency 

25 that oversees child care programs may require. 


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1 (d) APPROVAL OF LOCAL APPLICATIONS.—The State 

2 agency that oversees child care programs shall— 

3 (1) award subgrants to eligible entities in ac4 cordance with this section based on the quality of 

5 applications submitted; and 

6 (2) prioritize awarding subgrants based on the 

7 criteria described in section 6(b)(2)(F). 

8 (e) LOCAL USES OF FUNDS.— 

9 (1) REQUIRED USES.—An eligible entity that 

10 receives a subgrant under this section shall use the 

11 subgrant funds to carry out the following activities 

12 to support the development of early language and 

13 literacy in children from birth through kindergarten 

14 entry: 

15 (A) Enhance and improve early learning 

16 programs to ensure that children in such pro17 grams are provided with high-quality, develop18 mentally appropriate oral language, literature19 and print-rich environments. 

20 (B) Provide high-quality professional devel21 opment on how children develop language and 

22 literacy skills (including children with disabil23 ities and English language learners), and the 

24 selection and integration of developmentally, 

25 linguistically, and culturally appropriate literacy 


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1 instructional strategies, activities, and mate2 rials, which may include the use of an early lit3 eracy coach for the staff of the eligible entity, 

4 in such entity’s curriculum and activities. 

5 (C) Acquire, provide training for, and im6 plement, as appropriate— 

7 (i) screening assessments or other ap8 propriate measures to determine whether 

9 children from birth through kindergarten 

10 entry are developing appropriate early lan11 guage and literacy skills; 

12 (ii) diagnostic assessments, as appro13 priate, to determine the need for additional 

14 services; and 

15 (iii) classroom-based instructional as16 sessments. 

17 (D) Acquire, as appropriate, and integrate 

18 evidence-based instructional materials, activi19 ties, tools, and measures into the early learning 

20 programs offered by the eligible entity to im21 prove development of children’s early language 

22 and literacy skills. 

23 (2) ALLOWABLE USES.—An eligible entity that 

24 receives a subgrant under this section may use the 

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1 lowing activities to support the development of early 

2 language and literacy in children from birth through 

3 kindergarten entry: 

4 (A) Selecting, developing, and imple5 menting a multitier system of supports. 

6 (B) Providing activities that encourage 

7 family literacy experiences and practices and 

8 educate parents of children enrolled in a pro9 gram receiving funds under this section on the 

10 development of their children’s early literacy 

11 skills. 

12 (f) PROHIBITION.—The use of assessment items and 

13 data on any assessment authorized under this section to 

14 provide rewards or sanctions for individual children, early 

15 learning providers, program directors, or principals is pro16 hibited. 

17 SEC. 8. SUBGRANTS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES IN SUPPORT OF 

18 LITERACY FOR STUDENTS IN KINDERGARTEN 

19 THROUGH GRADE 12. 

20 (a) SUBGRANTS.—A State educational agency shall 

21 use the implementation grant funds provided under sec22 tion 4(a)(2)(B) to award subgrants, on a competitive 

23 basis, to eligible entities to enable the eligible entities to 

24 carry out the activities described in subsection (e). 


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1 (b) SUFFICIENT SIZE AND SCOPE.—Each subgrant 

2 awarded under this section shall be of sufficient size and 

3 scope to allow the eligible entity to carry out the activities 

4 described in subsection (e). 

5 (c) LOCAL APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity desir6 ing to receive a subgrant under this section shall submit 

7 an application to the State educational agency at such 

8 time, in such manner, and containing such information as 

9 the State educational agency may require. Such applica10 tion shall include, the following information: 

11 (1) CAPACITY SURVEY.—Results of the eligible 

12 entity’s capacity survey that— 

13 (A) identify— 

14 (i) the strengths and weaknesses of 

15 such entity related to literacy; 

16 (ii) how subgrant funds will be used 

17 to inform and improve literacy instruction 

18 within such entity; and 

19 (iii) the demographic and socio20 economic information on the students en21 rolled in such entity; and 

22 (B) include an analysis, disaggregated by 

23 the subgroups described in section 

24 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the Elementary and 


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

2 6311(b)(2)(C)(v)(II)) and by grade level, of— 

3 (i) State scores on the reading or lan4 guage arts assessments conducted under 

5 section 1111(b)(3) of the Elementary and 

6 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

7 U.S.C. 6311(b)(3)); 

8 (ii) National Assessment of Edu9 cational Progress reading scores, as appro10 priate; 

11 (iii) the percentage of students in 

12 need of reading and writing remediation; 

13 (iv) core course passing and failure 

14 rates for secondary school students; 

15 (v) credit accumulation for secondary 

16 school students; and 

17 (vi) graduation rates. 

18 (2) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.—How each 

19 participating school, eligible entity, or a provider of 

20 high-quality professional development will provide 

21 ongoing high-quality professional development in 

22 language development, English language acquisition 

23 (as appropriate), and literacy instruction to all 

24 teachers, principals, and other school leaders served 

25 by the school. 


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1 (3) INTERVENTIONS.—How each participating 

2 school will identify students in need of interventions 

3 and provide appropriate scientifically valid instruc4 tional interventions or other services which may in5 clude one-on-one instruction and extended learning 

6 time for struggling students. 

7 (4) BUDGET.—A budget for each participating 

8 school that projects the cost of developing and im9 plementing literacy initiatives to carry out the activi10 ties described in subsection (e). 

11 (5) INTEGRATION.—An explanation of how each 

12 participating school will integrate literacy instruction 

13 into core academic subjects. 

14 (6) COORDINATION.—A description of how each 

15 participating school will coordinate literacy instruc16 tion with early education, after-school programs, and 

17 other programs serving students in the school, such 

18 as library programs, as appropriate. 

19 (7) ASSESSMENTS.—A description of the 

20 screening, diagnostic, formative, and summative as21 sessments that will be used in an assessment system 

22 to improve literacy instruction and track student lit23 eracy progress. 

24 (8) FAMILIES AND CAREGIVERS.—A description 

25 of how the families and caregivers will be involved 


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1 in supporting their children’s literacy instruction 

2 and assessment. 

3 (9) INITIATIVES.—A description of the literacy 

4 and other academic initiatives, if any, in place and 

5 how these initiatives will be coordinated and inte6 grated with activities supported under this section. 

7 (10) PARTICIPATION IN EVALUATION.—An as8 surance that the eligible entity will, if requested, 

9 participate in the national evaluation described in 

10 section 10. 

11 (d) APPROVAL OF LOCAL APPLICATIONS.—The State 

12 educational agency shall— 

13 (1) award subgrants to eligible entities in ac14 cordance with this section based on the quality of 

15 applications submitted; and 

16 (2) prioritize awarding subgrants to eligible en17 tities based on the criteria described in section 

18 6(b)(2)(F). 

19 (e) LOCAL USES OF FUNDS FOR KINDERGARTEN

20 THROUGH GRADE 12.— 

21 (1) REQUIRED USES.—An eligible entity that 

22 receives a subgrant under this section shall use the 

23 subgrant funds to carry out the following activities 

24 for students in kindergarten through grade 12: 


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1 (A) Develop and implement a literacy ini2 tiative that— 

3 (i) includes all of the essential compo4 nents of reading and writing instruction; 

5 (ii) supports activities that are pro6 vided primarily during the regular school 

7 day but which may be augmented by in8 struction during nonschool hours or peri9 ods when school is not in session (such as 

10 before and after school or during summer 

11 recess); 

12 (iii) integrates literacy instruction into 

13 core academic subjects and, to the extent 

14 practicable, other subjects taught in a 

15 school, such as career and technical edu16 cation; and 

17 (iv) addresses the literacy needs of 

18 English language learners and students 

19 with disabilities. 

20 (B) Form school literacy leadership teams 

21 to help implement, assess, and identify changes 

22 to the literacy initiative. 

23 (C) Provide high-quality, developmentally 

24 appropriate oral language, including listening 


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1 and speaking, literature, and print-rich class2 room environments. 

3 (D) Provide high-quality professional de4 velopment for instructional staff, including lit5 eracy coaches and teachers of students with dis6 abilities and English language learners. 

7 (E) Select and administer screening and 

8 diagnostic assessments and support teachers’ 

9 use of formative assessments and assessment 

10 data to plan instruction. 

11 (F) Select and implement a multitier sys12 tem of supports that includes intensive, supple13 mental interventions for students. 

14 (G) Provide training to principals and 

15 other school and district personnel in imple16 menting the literacy initiative, particularly in 

17 the areas of— 

18 (i) utilizing data; 

19 (ii) assessing the quality of literacy in20 struction across content areas; and 

21 (iii) providing time and support for 

22 teachers to plan literacy instruction. 

23 (H) Provide family literacy services for 

24 students and their parents, including training 


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1 to enable families and caregivers to support the 

2 literacy initiative. 

3 (I) Promote writing experiences and imple4 ment programs that instruct and engage stu5 dents in practicing writing for multiple audi6 ences and purposes appropriate to the interests 

7 and capacities of students. 

8 (J) Annually collect, analyze, and report 

9 data to the State educational agency. 

10 (2) ALLOWABLE USES.—An eligible entity that 

11 receives a subgrant under this section may use the 

12 subgrant funds to carry out the following activities 

13 for students in kindergarten through grade 12: 

14 (A) Acquire and utilize developmentally ap15 propriate instructional materials based on sci16 entifically valid research, including materials 

17 that utilize technology. 

18 (B) Hire and train literacy coaches. 

19 (C) Promote reading, library, and writing 

20 programs that provide access to engaging read21 ing material in school and at home. 

22 (D) Connect out-of-school learning oppor23 tunities to in-school learning, including the 

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1 school curricula, in order to improve the literacy 

2 achievement of students. 

3 (E) Form an acting partnership with 1 or 

4 more public or private nonprofit organizations 

5 that have a demonstrated record of effective6 ness in improving literacy development or pro7 viding professional development aligned with 

8 the activities described in this subsection. 

9 (F) Providing time for teachers and school 

10 librarians to meet to plan literacy instruction, 

11 as appropriate. 

12 (f) LIMITATION TO CERTAIN SCHOOLS.—An eligible 

13 entity receiving a subgrant under this section shall, in dis14 tributing subgrant funds under this subsection, provide 

15 the subgrant funds only to schools, including public char16 ter schools, that— 

17 (1) are among the schools served by the eligible 

18 entity with the highest numbers or percentages of 

19 students in grades kindergarten through 12 reading 

20 and writing below grade level, based on the most 

21 current State data as available; and 

22 (2) have the highest numbers or percentages of 

23 children counted under section 1124(c) of the Ele24 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

25 U.S.C. 6333(c)). 


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1 SEC. 9. ADDITIONAL STATE ACTIVITIES. 

2 (a) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—A State educational 

3 agency, in consultation with the State agency that over4 sees child care programs, shall use funds made available 

5 under section 4(a)(2)(C) and described in section 

6 6(a)(1)(D) to carry out each of the following activities: 

7 (1) Providing technical assistance or engaging 

8 qualified providers to provide such assistance, to as9 sist eligible entities to design and implement literacy 

10 initiatives. 

11 (2) Identifying and supporting high-quality pro12 fessional development in literacy instruction for eligi13 ble entities. 

14 (3) Coordinating activities under this Act with 

15 reading, writing, and other literacy resources and 

16 programs across the State. 

17 (4) Disseminating information, including mak18 ing publicly available on the Web sites of the State 

19 educational agency and the State agency that over20 sees child care programs, on promising practices to 

21 improve children’s early literacy and language devel22 opment and student literacy achievement. 

23 (5) Reviewing and developing recommendations 

24 in collaboration with teachers, early childhood pro25 viders, statewide educational and professional orga26 nizations representing teachers, and statewide and 


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1 educational and professional organizations rep2 resenting institutions of higher education, to 

3 strengthen State licensure and certification stand4 ards for literacy instruction in early education 

5 through grade 12. 

6 (6) Coordinating with institutions of higher 

7 education in the State to strengthen and enhance 

8 pre-service course work for students preparing to 

9 teach literacy to children and students from birth 

10 through grade 12. 

11 (7) Administration and reporting. 

12 (b) PERMISSIVE ACTIVITIES.—A State educational 

13 agency, in collaboration with the State agency that over14 sees child care programs, may use funds made available 

15 under section 4(a)(2)(C) and described in section 

16 6(a)(1)(D) to carry out one or more of the following activi17 ties: 

18 (1) Training personnel of eligible entities to use 

19 data systems to track student literacy achievement. 

20 (2) Developing and providing training to lit21 eracy coaches, including literacy coaches with exper22 tise in early literacy development, language develop23 ment, and adolescent literacy. 


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1 SEC. 10. NATIONAL EVALUATION, INFORMATION DISSEMI2 NATION, AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 

3 (a) NATIONAL EVALUATION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—From funds reserved under 

5 paragraph (1)(A)(i) or (2)(A)(i) of section 4(b), the 

6 Secretary shall perform a 5-year national evaluation 

7 of the grant and subgrant programs assisted under 

8 this Act by entering into one or more contracts or 

9 cooperative agreements with independent organiza10 tions. Such evaluation shall include scientifically 

11 valid research that applies rigorous and systematic 

12 procedures to obtain information relevant to the im13 plementation and effect of the programs assisted 

14 under this Act. 

15 (2) CONTENTS OF EVALUATION.—The evalua16 tion described in this subsection shall include an 

17 analysis of each of the following: 

18 (A) IMPACT.—The impact of literacy ini19 tiatives supported under this Act on improving 

20 early literacy skills and student academic out21 comes, including student literacy development 

22 in reading and writing, student literacy develop23 ment in other academic content areas, grade 

24 promotion, and graduation. 

25 (B) IMPLEMENTATION OF CORE FEA26 TURES.—The fidelity of implementation of core 


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1 program features, such as coherence of program 

2 across grades, quality of technical assistance, 

3 State and school district leadership, profes4 sional development for teachers and administra5 tors, use of quality materials and pedagogy, and 

6 use of assessment. 

7 (C) OTHER INQUIRIES.—Other inquiries as 

8 designated by the Secretary, such as— 

9 (i) the types of literacy initiatives that 

10 have demonstrated the greatest impact on 

11 student achievement; 

12 (ii) how State standards, local edu13 cational agency and school curricula, as14 sessments, and interventions combine to 

15 improve literacy; 

16 (iii) how screening, diagnostic, and 

17 formative assessments of reading and writ18 ing assist teachers in identifying students’ 

19 reading and writing needs; 

20 (iv) how job-embedded, ongoing, high21 quality professional development improves 

22 teacher practice and increases literacy 

23 skills of children and students; 

24 (v) the types of literacy activities that 

25 improve the early reading, writing, and 


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1 language skills of children from birth 

2 through kindergarten entry; 

3 (vi) how early learning providers are 

4 being prepared with scientifically valid re5 search on early childhood literacy and lit6 eracy development; 

7 (vii) how early literacy instructional 

8 materials and activities based on scientif9 ically valid research are being integrated 

10 into preschools, child care programs and 

11 programs carried out under the Head 

12 Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), and 

13 family literacy programs; 

14 (viii) the impact of adolescent literacy 

15 initiatives on student motivation, engage16 ment, and participation in adolescent lit17 eracy activities; 

18 (ix) the impact of literacy initiatives 

19 on diverse learners, including English lan20 guage learners; 

21 (x) the relationship between students’ 

22 literacy achievement and secondary school 

23 graduation rates; and 


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1 (xi) effective strategies to integrate 

2 school and public library programs to im3 prove literacy. 

4 (3) REPORTS.— 

5 (A) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 2 

6 years after the date of the enactment of this 

7 Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress 

8 an interim report on the national evaluation 

9 conducted under this subsection. 

10 (B) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 5 

11 years after the date of the enactment of this 

12 Act, the Secretary shall submit a final report 

13 containing the results of the national evaluation 

14 conducted under this subsection to— 

15 (i) State educational agencies and eli16 gible entities on a periodic basis for use in 

17 program improvement; and 

18 (ii) the Congress. 

19 (b) INFORMATION DISSEMINATION AND TECHNICAL

20 ASSISTANCE.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts reserved 

22 under paragraph (1)(A)(i) or (2)(A)(i) of section 

23 4(b), the Secretary shall, in collaboration with the 

24 Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Direc25 tor of the National Institute of Child Health and 


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1 Human Development, regional educational labora2 tories established under section 174 of the Edu3 cation Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 

4 9564), and the comprehensive centers established 

5 under section 203 of the Educational Technical As6 sistance Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9602), distribute 

7 information and provide technical assistance on lit8 eracy instruction, including— 

9 (A) information on literacy instruction and 

10 the impact of the instruction on— 

11 (i) student achievement, motivation, 

12 and engagement for literacy; and 

13 (ii) student graduation with a sec14 ondary school diploma; 

15 (B) information on elements of job-embed16 ded, ongoing, high-quality professional develop17 ment that improves literacy achievement in chil18 dren and students in early education through 

19 grade 12; and 

20 (C) information on schools, eligible enti21 ties, and States that have successfully improved 

22 literacy achievement in early education through 

23 grade 12. 


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1 (2) DISSEMINATION AND COORDINATION.—The 

2 Secretary shall disseminate and make publicly avail3 able the information described in paragraph (1) to— 

4 (A) recipients of Federal financial assist5 ance under this Act, part A of title I of the Ele6 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

7 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.), the Head Start Act 

8 (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), the Individuals with 

9 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et 

10 seq.), and the Adult Education and Family Lit11 eracy Act (20 U.S.C. 9201 et seq.); and 

12 (B) each school operated or funded by the 

13 Bureau of Indian Education. 

14 (3) USE OF NETWORKS.—In carrying out this 

15 subsection, the Secretary shall, to the extent prac16 ticable, use information and dissemination networks 

17 developed and maintained through other public and 

18 private entities. 

19 SEC. 11. CONSEQUENCES OF INSUFFICIENT PROGRESS, RE20 PORTING REQUIREMENTS, AND CONFLICTS 

21 OF INTEREST. 

22 (a) CONSEQUENCES OF INSUFFICIENT PROGRESS.— 

23 (1) CONSEQUENCES FOR GRANT RECIPIENTS.— 

24 If the Secretary determines that a State educational 

25 agency receiving an award under section 4(b) or an 


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1 eligible entity receiving a subgrant under section 7 

2 or 8 is not making significant progress in meeting 

3 the purposes of this Act after the submission of a 

4 report described in subsection (b), then the Sec5 retary may withhold, in whole or in part, further 

6 payments under this Act in accordance with section 

7 455 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 

8 U.S.C. 1234d) or take such other action authorized 

9 by law as the Secretary determines necessary, in10 cluding providing technical assistance upon request 

11 of the State educational agency, or eligible entity, 

12 respectively. 

13 (2) CONSEQUENCES FOR SUBGRANT RECIPI14 ENTS.—A State educational agency or State agency 

15 that oversees child care programs, as appropriate, 

16 receiving an award under section 4(b) may refuse to 

17 award subgrant funds to an eligible entity under sec18 tion 7 or 8 if such State agency finds that the eligi19 ble entity is not making significant progress in meet20 ing the purposes of this Act, after— 

21 (A) providing technical assistance to the el22 igible entity; and 

23 (B) affording the eligible entity notice and 

24 an opportunity for a hearing. 

25 (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY REPORTS.— 

2 Each State educational agency receiving an award 

3 under section 6 shall report annually to the Sec4 retary regarding the State educational agency’s 

5 progress and the progress of the State agency that 

6 oversees child care programs in addressing the pur7 poses of this Act. Such report shall include, at a 

8 minimum, a description of— 

9 (A) the professional development activities 

10 provided under the award, including types of 

11 activities and entities involved in providing pro12 fessional development to early childhood pro13 viders, classroom teachers, and other instruc14 tional staff; 

15 (B) instruction, strategies, activities, cur16 ricula, materials, and assessments used in the 

17 programs funded under the award; 

18 (C) the types of programs and program 

19 settings for children younger than kindergarten 

20 entry funded under the award and the ages, 

21 grade levels, and demographic information of 

22 children served by the programs funded under 

23 the award, except that individually identifiable 

24 information shall not be included; 


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1 (D) the experience and qualifications of 

2 the instructional staff who provide literacy in3 struction under the programs funded under the 

4 award, including the experience and qualifica5 tions of those staff working with children with 

6 disabilities, English language learners, and chil7 dren younger than kindergarten entry; 

8 (E) key data metrics used for literacy ini9 tiatives; 

10 (F) student performance on relevant pro11 gram metrics, as identified in the State edu12 cation agency’s implementation plan under sec13 tion 6(b)(2)(C), such as— 

14 (i) the number of students reading 

15 and writing on grade level by the end of 

16 the third grade, disaggregated by the sub17 groups described in section 

18 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the Elementary 

19 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

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

21 (ii) the instruction and activities deliv22 ered to at-risk students served under the 

23 award; and 

24 (G) the outcomes of programs and activi25 ties provided under the award. 


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1 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY REPORTS.—Each eligible 

2 entity receiving a subgrant under section 7 or 8 

3 shall report annually to the State educational agency 

4 or the State agency that oversees child care pro5 grams, as appropriate, regarding the eligible entity’s 

6 progress in addressing the purposes of this Act. 

7 Such report shall include, at a minimum, a descrip8 tion of— 

9 (A) how the subgrant funds were used; 

10 (B) the degree of appropriate develop11 mental progress or literacy achievement growth 

12 of students, including children who are English 

13 language learners and children with disabilities, 

14 assisted under the subgrant; 

15 (C) the professional development of activi16 ties provided under the award, including types 

17 of activities and entities involved in providing 

18 professional development to early childhood pro19 viders, classroom teachers, and other instruc20 tional staff; 

21 (D) instruction, strategies, activities, cur22 ricula, materials, and assessments used in the 

23 programs funded under the award; 

24 (E) the types of programs funded under 

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1 graphic information of children served by the 

2 programs funded under the award, except that 

3 individually identifiable information shall not be 

4 included; 

5 (F) the experience and qualifications of the 

6 instructional staff who provide literacy instruc7 tion under the programs funded under the 

8 award, including the experience and qualifica9 tions of those staff working with children with 

10 disabilities and with English language learners; 

11 (G) key data metrics used for literacy ini12 tiatives; 

13 (H) student performance on relevant pro14 gram metrics, as identified in the State edu15 cation agency’s implementation plan under sec16 tion 6(b)(2)(C), such as— 

17 (i) the number of students reading 

18 and writing on grade level by the end of 

19 the third grade, disaggregated by the sub20 groups described in section 

21 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the Elementary 

22 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

23 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(C)(v)(II)); and 


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1 (ii) the instruction and activities deliv2 ered to at-risk students served under the 

3 award; 

4 (I) the outcomes of programs and activities 

5 provided under the award; and 

6 (J) the results of an external evaluation, if 

7 the Secretary determines applicable. 

8 (c) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

10 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

11 of Education shall create and implement proce12 dures— 

13 (A) to assess whether a covered individual 

14 or entity has a potential conflict of interest; and 

15 (B) to require the disclosure and mitiga16 tion of any such conflict of interest to ensure 

17 the integrity of the related program. 

18 (2) EVALUATION BY THE COMPTROLLER GEN19 ERAL.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days 

21 after the creation of the procedures described in 

22 paragraph (1), the Comptroller General of the 

23 United States shall report to the Committee on 

24 Education and Labor of the House of Rep25 resentatives and the Committee on Health, 


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1 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate 

2 on the adequacy of such procedures to identify, 

3 disclose, and manage conflicts of interest. 

4 (B) UPDATES.—Beginning not less than 6 

5 months after the report described in subpara6 graph (A) is filed, the Comptroller General shall 

7 evaluate the Department’s implementation of 

8 the procedures described in paragraph (1) and 

9 report to the Committee on Education and 

10 Labor of the House of Representatives and the 

11 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

12 Pensions of the Senate every 6 months to en13 sure that the Department has adequately imple14 mented such procedures. The Comptroller Gen15 eral shall include in the reports any rec16 ommendations for modifications to such proce17 dures that the Comptroller General determines 

18 are appropriate to properly identify, disclose, 

19 and manage conflicts of interest. 

20 (3) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this 

21 subsection: 

22 (A) The term ‘‘covered individual or enti23 ty’’ means— 

24 (i) an officer or professional employee 

25 of the Department of Education; 


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1 (ii) a contractor or subcontractor of 

2 the Department, or an individual hired by 

3 the contracted entity; 

4 (iii) a member of a peer review panel 

5 described in section 4(c); or 

6 (iv) a consultant or advisor to the De7 partment. 

8 (B) The term ‘‘conflict of interest’’ means 

9 a financial interest or other self-interest that a 

10 reasonable person would expect to lead to an 

11 undue bias, or the appearance of such bias, to12 wards a particular product or service purchased 

13 with, guaranteed or insured by, or under con14 sideration for purchase with, or to be guaran15 teed or insured by, funds administered by the 

16 Department of Education or a contracted entity 

17 of the Department. 

18 SEC. 12. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

19 (a) STUDENT ELIGIBILITY.—Nothing in this Act 

20 shall be construed to prohibit students eligible for assist21 ance under title I or III of the Elementary and Secondary 

22 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq., 6801 et 

23 seq.) or students eligible for assistance under the Individ24 uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et 


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1 seq.) from receiving literacy instruction and intervention 

2 under this Act. 

3 (b) IDEA EVALUATION.—The assessments required 

4 under this Act shall not be construed to constitute an eval5 uation required under the Individuals with Disabilities 

6 Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.). 

7 SEC. 13. DEFINITIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in 

9 this Act, the terms used in this Act have the meanings 

10 given such terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and 

11 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

12 (b) OTHER TERMS.—In this Act: 

13 (1) CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—The term 

14 ‘‘child with a disability’’ has the same meaning given 

15 the term in section 602(3) of the Individuals with 

16 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401(3)). 

17 (2) CLASSROOM-BASED INSTRUCTIONAL AS18 SESSMENT.—The term ‘‘classroom-based instruc19 tional assessment’’ means an assessment for children 

20 in third grade or younger that— 

21 (A) is valid and reliable for the age and 

22 population of children served in the program, 

23 and is used to evaluate children’s developmental 

24 progress and learning, including systematic ob25 servations by teachers of children performing 


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1 tasks, including academic and literary tasks, 

2 that are part of their daily classroom experi3 ence; and 

4 (B) is used to improve classroom instruc5 tion. 

6 (3) DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT.—The term ‘‘di7 agnostic assessment’’ means an assessment that— 

8 (A) is developmentally, linguistically, and 

9 culturally appropriate; 

10 (B) is valid, reliable, and based on scientif11 ically valid research on language, literacy, and 

12 English language acquisition; 

13 (C) is used for the purposes of— 

14 (i) identifying a student’s specific 

15 areas of strengths and weaknesses in oral 

16 language and literacy; 

17 (ii) determining any difficulties that 

18 the student may have in language and lit19 eracy and the potential cause of such dif20 ficulties; and 

21 (iii) helping to determine possible lit22 eracy intervention strategies and related 

23 special needs of the student; and 

24 (D) in the case of young children, is con25 ducted after a screening assessment that identiVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:35 Jul 19, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00058 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2706.IH H2706

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1 fies potential risks for delayed development or 

2 later academic difficulties. 

3 (4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti4 ty’’ means— 

5 (A) when used with respect to children 

6 from birth through kindergarten entry— 

7 (i) one or more local educational agen8 cies providing early learning programs, or 

9 one or more public or private early learn10 ing programs, serving children from birth 

11 through kindergarten entry, such as a 

12 Head Start agency, an Early Head Start 

13 program, a child care program, a State14 funded pre-kindergarten program, a public 

15 library program, or a family literacy pro16 gram that has a demonstrated record of 

17 providing effective literacy instruction for 

18 the age group such agency or program is 

19 proposing to serve under section 7; or 

20 (ii) one or more local educational 

21 agencies providing early learning pro22 grams, or one or more public or private 

23 early learning programs, serving children 

24 from birth through kindergarten entry, 

25 such as a Head Start agency, an Early 


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1 Head Start program, a child care program, 

2 a State-funded pre-kindergarten program, 

3 a public library program, or a family lit4 eracy program in partnership with one or 

5 more public or private nonprofit organiza6 tions or agencies that have a demonstrated 

7 record of effectiveness— 

8 (I) in improving the early literacy 

9 development of children from birth 

10 through kindergarten entry; and 

11 (II) in providing professional de12 velopment aligned with the activities 

13 described in section 7(e)(1); and 

14 (B) when used with respect to students in 

15 kindergarten through grade 12, a local edu16 cational agency or consortium of local edu17 cational agencies that— 

18 (i) is among the local educational 

19 agencies in the State with the highest 

20 numbers or percentages of students read21 ing and writing below grade level, based on 

22 the most current State data, where avail23 able; and 

24 (ii) has the highest numbers or per25 centages of children who are counted under 


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1 section 1124(c) of the Elementary and 

2 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

3 U.S.C. 6333(c)), in comparison to other 

4 local educational agencies in the State. 

5 (5) ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘English lan7 guage acquisition’’ means the process by which 

8 a non-native English speaker acquires pro9 ficiency in speaking, listening, reading, and 

10 writing the English language. 

11 (B) INCLUSION FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE

12 LEARNERS IN SCHOOL.—For an English lan13 guage learner in school, such term includes not 

14 only the social language proficiency needed to 

15 participate in the school environment, but also 

16 the academic language proficiency needed to ac17 quire literacy and academic content and dem18 onstrate the student’s learning. 

19 (6) ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER.—The term 

20 ‘‘English language learner’’ means an individual who 

21 is limited English proficient, as defined in section 

22 9101(25) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu23 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(25)). 

24 (7) ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF EARLY LIT25 ERACY INSTRUCTION.—The term ‘‘essential compoVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:35 Jul 19, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00061 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2706.IH H2706

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1 nents of early literacy instruction’’ means providing, 

2 for children prior to the age of kindergarten entry, 

3 interactive experiences in a print- and literacy-rich 

4 environment that promote the development of— 

5 (A) oral language, including vocabulary, 

6 grammar, and syntax; 

7 (B) motivational aspects of early literacy, 

8 including enjoyment of reading and books; 

9 (C) book-reading behaviors, including book 

10 handling and orientation; 

11 (D) recognition and understanding of pic12 tures and story concepts; 

13 (E) concepts about print; 

14 (F) alphabet knowledge; 

15 (G) phonological awareness, including the 

16 awareness of rhymes, sounds, and syllables; 

17 (H) emergent writing skills, including use 

18 of writing materials; and 

19 (I) integration of print concepts into play. 

20 (8) ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF READING AND

21 WRITING INSTRUCTION.—The term ‘‘essential com22 ponents of reading and writing instruction’’ means, 

23 for students in kindergarten through grade 12, de24 velopmentally appropriate, explicit, and systematic 

25 instruction that provides students the following: 


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1 (A) With respect to students in kinder2 garten through grade 12— 

3 (i) high-quality professional develop4 ment for teachers, instructional staff, and 

5 principals; 

6 (ii) diverse texts at the appropriate 

7 reading and interest level of students; 

8 (iii) differentiated instructional ap9 proaches; 

10 (iv) instruction and supports to in11 crease students’ motivation to read, includ12 ing self-directed learning; 

13 (v) as appropriate, systematic and in14 tensive one-to-one and small group instruc15 tion, including extended time for intense 

16 intervention for students reading signifi17 cantly below grade level, which can be pro18 vided both inside and outside the classroom 

19 as well as during and outside regular 

20 school hours; 

21 (vi) opportunities to write individually 

22 and collaboratively; 

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1 sources for research and for generating 

2 and presenting content and ideas; and 

3 (viii) use of screening, diagnostic, 

4 formative, and summative assessments. 

5 (B) With respect to students in grades kin6 dergarten through grade 3— 

7 (i) strategic and explicit instruction 

8 using phonological awareness, phonic de9 coding, vocabulary, language structure, 

10 reading fluency and reading comprehen11 sion; 

12 (ii) use of oral modeling techniques to 

13 build language skills; and 

14 (iii) coordinated involvement of fami15 lies, caregivers, school leaders, and instruc16 tional staff. 

17 (C) With respect to students in grades 4 

18 through 12— 

19 (i) direct and explicit comprehension 

20 instruction; 

21 (ii) direct and explicit instruction that 

22 builds academic vocabulary; 

23 (iii) multiple opportunities to write 

24 with clear purposes and critical reasoning 

25 appropriate to the topic and purpose and 


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1 with specific instruction and feedback from 

2 teachers; 

3 (iv) text-based collaborative learning; 

4 and 

5 (v) coordinated involvement of school 

6 leaders and instructional staff that are 

7 interdisciplinary and interdepartmental 

8 and that analyze student work over time 

9 and plan literacy instruction. 

10 (9) FAMILY LITERACY SERVICES.—The term 

11 ‘‘family literacy services’’ means services provided to 

12 participants on a voluntary basis that are of suffi13 cient intensity in terms of hours, and of sufficient 

14 duration, to make sustainable changes in a family, 

15 and that integrate all of the following activities: 

16 (A) Interactive literacy activities between 

17 parents and their children. 

18 (B) Training for parents regarding how to 

19 be the primary teacher for their children and 

20 full partners in the education of their children. 

21 (C) Parent literacy training that leads to 

22 economic self-sufficiency. 

23 (D) An age-appropriate education to pre24 pare children for success in school and life ex25 periences. 


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1 (10) FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT.—The term 

2 ‘‘formative assessment’’ means assessment ques3 tions, tools, and processes that are— 

4 (A) developmentally, linguistically, and cul5 turally appropriate; 

6 (B) embedded in instruction; and 

7 (C) used by teachers and students to pro8 vide timely feedback for purposes of adjusting 

9 instruction to improve learning. 

10 (11) HIGH-QUALITY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOP11 MENT.—The term ‘‘high-quality professional devel12 opment’’ means professional development that— 

13 (A) is job-embedded, ongoing, and based 

14 on scientifically valid research; 

15 (B) is sustained, intensive, and classroom 

16 focused, if such workshop or conference is part 

17 of a professional development plan for the 

18 attendee; 

19 (C) is designed to increase the knowledge 

20 and expertise of instructional staff in imple21 menting the essential components of early lit22 eracy instruction and the essential components 

23 of reading and writing instruction, as appro24 priate; 


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1 (D) includes and supports teachers and 

2 early learning providers in administering age3 and developmentally appropriate assessments; 

4 and analyzing the results of these student as5 sessments when implementing the essential 

6 components of early literacy instruction and the 

7 essential components of reading and writing in8 struction for the purposes of planning, moni9 toring, adapting, and improving classroom in10 struction or teaching strategies to improve stu11 dent learning, as appropriate; 

12 (E) for kindergarten through 12th grade, 

13 supports the integration of literacy instruction 

14 in core academic subjects and, to the extent 

15 practicable, other subjects taught at school, 

16 such as career and technical education; 

17 (F) includes information on one-to-one, 

18 small group, and classroom-based instructional 

19 materials and approaches based on scientifically 

20 valid research on literacy; 

21 (G) provides ongoing instructional literacy 

22 coaching— 

23 (i) to ensure high-quality implementa24 tion of effective practices of literacy in25 struction that is content centered, inteVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:35 Jul 19, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00067 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2706.IH H2706

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1 grated across the curricula, collaborative, 

2 and school, setting, and classroom embed3 ded; and 

4 (ii) that uses student data to improve 

5 instruction; 

6 (H) includes and supports teachers in set7 ting high reading and writing achievement goals 

8 for all students and provides the teachers with 

9 the instructional tools and skills, including 

10 strategies consistent with the principles of uni11 versal design for learning, to help students 

12 reach such goals; and 

13 (I) is differentiated for educators working 

14 with children from birth through kindergarten 

15 entry, students in kindergarten through grade 

16 5, and students in grades 6 through 12, and, as 

17 appropriate, by student grade or student need. 

18 (12) INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘instruc20 tional staff’’ means individuals who have re21 sponsibility for teaching students to read and 

22 write, or in the case of children from birth to 

23 kindergarten entry, teaching early literacy skills 

24 and language development. 


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1 (B) INCLUSIONS.—Such term includes 

2 principals, teachers, early learning providers, 

3 supervisors of instruction, pupil services per4 sonnel, librarians, library school media special5 ists, teachers of academic subjects other than 

6 reading or writing, other school leaders, literacy 

7 coaches, and other individuals who have respon8 sibility for assisting children to learn to read 

9 and write. 

10 (13) LITERACY COACH.—The term ‘‘literacy 

11 coach’’ means a professional— 

12 (A) who— 

13 (i) has previous teaching experience 

14 and— 

15 (I) for the purpose of literacy 

16 coaches working with early learning 

17 programs, has expertise in early child18 hood development and early literacy; 

19 and 

20 (II) for the purpose of literacy 

21 coaches working with kindergarten 

22 through grade 12— 

23 (aa) a master’s degree with 

24 a concentration in reading and 

25 writing education; or 


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1 (bb) has demonstrated pro2 ficiency in teaching reading or 

3 writing in a core academic sub4 ject; and 

5 (ii) is able to demonstrate the ability 

6 to help early learning providers or teach7 ers— 

8 (I) use evidence-based research 

9 on how children and students become 

10 successful readers, writers, and com11 municators; 

12 (II) use multiple forms of assess13 ment to guide instructional decision14 making; 

15 (III) for the purpose of literacy 

16 coaches working with— 

17 (aa) early learning pro18 grams, support and coordinate 

19 the language and literacy cur20 ricula and activities with the 

21 overall early childhood education 

22 program; and 

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1 ing in and across content areas 

2 such as mathematics, science, so3 cial studies, and language arts; 

4 (IV) develop and implement dif5 ferentiated instruction and teaching 

6 approaches to serve the needs of di7 verse learners, including English lan8 guage learners and children with dis9 abilities; 

10 (V) use the principles of uni11 versal design for learning in instruc12 tional strategies and in selecting ma13 terials and tools to serve the diverse 

14 needs of all learners, including 

15 English language learners and chil16 dren with disabilities; 

17 (VI) employ best practices in en18 gaging instructional staff to change 

19 school cultures to better encourage 

20 and support literacy development and 

21 achievement; 

22 (VII) use data to improve in23 struction; and 

24 (VIII) for the purpose of literacy 

25 coaches working with— 


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1 (aa) early learning pro2 grams, set developmentally ap3 propriate early literacy goals and 

4 select and acquire instructional 

5 tools and skills to help children 

6 reach such goals; and 

7 (bb) kindergarten through 

8 grade 12, set high reading and 

9 writing achievement goals for all 

10 students and select and acquire 

11 instructional tools and skills to 

12 help students reach such goals; 

13 and 

14 (B) whose role with early learning pro15 viders, teachers and school personnel is— 

16 (i) to provide high-quality professional 

17 development opportunities in literacy and 

18 language development for early learning 

19 providers, teachers and school personnel, 

20 including in the case of early learning pro21 viders, helping staff in planning and imple22 mentation of ongoing professional develop23 ment; 

24 (ii) to work cooperatively and collabo25 ratively with principals, teachers, early 


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1 learning providers and other professionals 

2 in planning programs to help, as appro3 priate— 

4 (I) early learning providers iden5 tify children’s early literacy needs so 

6 that such providers can meet the early 

7 literacy needs of children at risk for 

8 delayed development and later aca9 demic difficulties; and 

10 (II) teachers identify student lit11 eracy needs and teach literacy across 

12 the content areas so that the teachers 

13 can meet the needs of students read14 ing and writing below grade level; and 

15 (iii) to work cooperatively and collabo16 ratively with other professionals in plan17 ning programs to help early learning pro18 viders and teachers teach literacy across 

19 content areas so that the early learning 

20 providers and teachers can meet the needs 

21 of diverse learners, including children with 

22 disabilities, English language learners, and 

23 students who are reading at grade level. 

24 (14) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

25 ‘‘local educational agency’’— 


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1 (A) has the meaning given to that term in 

2 section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary 

3 Education Act of 1965; and 

4 (B) includes any public charter school that 

5 constitutes a local educational agency under 

6 State law. 

7 (15) MULTITIER SYSTEM OF SUPPORTS.—The 

8 term ‘‘multitier system of supports’’ means a com9 prehensive system of differentiated supports that in10 cludes evidence-based instruction, universal screen11 ing, progress monitoring, formative assessment, and 

12 evidence-based interventions matched to student 

13 needs, and educational decisionmaking using student 

14 outcome data. 

15 (16) READING.—The term ‘‘reading’’ means a 

16 complex system of deriving meaning from print that 

17 requires all of the following: 

18 (A) The skills and knowledge to under19 stand how phonemes, or speech sounds, are 

20 connected to print. 

21 (B) The ability to decode unfamiliar words. 

22 (C) The ability to read fluently. 

23 (D) Sufficient background information and 

24 vocabulary to foster reading comprehension. 


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1 (E) The development of appropriate active 

2 strategies to construct meaning from print. 

3 (F) The development and maintenance of a 

4 motivation to read. 

5 (17) SCHOOL LEADER.—The term ‘‘school lead6 er’’ means an individual who— 

7 (A) is an employee or officer of a school; 

8 and 

9 (B) is responsible for— 

10 (i) the school’s performance; and 

11 (ii) the daily instructional and mana12 gerial operations of the school. 

13 (18) SCIENTIFICALLY VALID RESEARCH.—The 

14 term ‘‘scientifically valid research’’ has the meaning 

15 given the term in section 200 of the Higher Edu16 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021). 

17 (19) SCREENING ASSESSMENT.—The term 

18 ‘‘screening assessment’’ means an assessment that— 

19 (A) is developmentally, linguistically, and 

20 culturally appropriate; 

21 (B) is valid, reliable, and based on scientif22 ically valid research on literacy and English lan23 guage acquisition; and 

24 (C) is a procedure designed as a first step 

25 in identifying children who may be at high risk 


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1 for delayed development or later academic dif2 ficulties and in need of further diagnosis of the 

3 children’s need for special services or additional 

4 literacy instruction. 

5 (20) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

6 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Com7 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 

8 Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Common9 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

10 (21) STATE LITERACY LEADERSHIP TEAM.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.— 

12 (i) APPOINTMENT; RESPONSIBILITY; 

13 COMPOSITION.—The term ‘‘State literacy 

14 leadership team’’ means a team that— 

15 (I) is appointed and coordinated 

16 by the State educational agency, ex17 cept that individuals described in sub18 clauses (I)(aa), (I)(hh), and (II)(gg) 

19 of clause (ii) shall be appointed by the 

20 State agency that oversees child care 

21 programs; and 

22 (II) is composed of not less than 

23 13 individuals and includes the indi24 viduals described in clause (ii). 


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1 (ii) INDIVIDUALS INCLUDED.—A 

2 State literacy team— 

3 (I) shall include— 

4 (aa) an individual who has 

5 literacy expertise with respect to 

6 children from birth through kin7 dergarten entry; 

8 (bb) an individual who has 

9 literacy expertise with respect to 

10 students in kindergarten through 

11 grade 5; 

12 (cc) an individual who has 

13 literacy expertise with respect to 

14 students in grades 6 through 12; 

15 (dd) a school principal; 

16 (ee) a special education 

17 teacher with literacy expertise; 

18 (ff) a representative from 

19 the family literacy community; 

20 (gg) a teacher or adminis21 trator with expertise in teaching 

22 English language learners; 

23 (hh) a representative from 

24 the State’s agency that oversees 

25 child care programs; 


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1 (ii) a representative from 

2 the State educational agency who 

3 oversees literacy initiatives; and 

4 (jj) a representative from 

5 higher education who is actively 

6 involved in research, develop7 ment, and teacher preparation in 

8 literacy instruction and interven9 tion based on scientifically valid 

10 research; and 

11 (II) may include— 

12 (aa) a literacy specialist 

13 serving in a school district within 

14 the State; 

15 (bb) a literacy coach; 

16 (cc) a library media spe17 cialist; 

18 (dd) a school counselor; 

19 (ee) a teacher of a core aca20 demic subject; 

21 (ff) a special education ad22 ministrator; 

23 (gg) an early learning pro24 vider; 


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1 (hh) a college or university 

2 professor; 

3 (ii) a parent; 

4 (jj) a business leader; 

5 (kk) a representative from 

6 the Governor’s office; 

7 (ll) a representative from 

8 the State board of education; 

9 (mm) a representative from 

10 the State legislature; 

11 (nn) a nonprofit and com12 munity-based organization pro13 viding literacy instruction and 

14 support; and 

15 (oo) a representative from a 

16 school district superintendent’s 

17 office. 

18 (B) INCLUSION OF A PREEXISTING PART19 NERSHIP.—If, before the date of the enactment 

20 of this Act, a State educational agency estab21 lished a consortium, partnership, or any other 

22 similar body that was considered a literacy 

23 partnership for purposes of subpart 1 or 2 of 

24 part B of title I of the Elementary and Sec25 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6361 


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1 et seq., 6371 et seq.) and that includes the indi2 viduals required under subparagraph (A)(ii)(I), 

3 such consortium, partnership, or body may be 

4 considered a State literacy leadership team for 

5 purposes of subparagraph (A). 

6 (22) STUDENT WITH A DISABILITY.—The term 

7 ‘‘student with a disability’’ has the meaning given 

8 the term ‘‘child with a disability’’ in section 602(3) 

9 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 

10 (20 U.S.C. 1401(3)). 

11 (23) SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT.—The term 

12 ‘‘summative assessment’’ means an assessment 

13 that— 

14 (A) is developmentally, linguistically, and 

15 culturally appropriate; 

16 (B) is valid, reliable, and based on scientif17 ically valid research on literacy and English lan18 guage acquisition; and 

19 (C) measures how young children have pro20 gressed over time relative to developmental 

21 norms and what students have learned over 

22 time. 

23 (24) UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING.—The 

24 term ‘‘universal design for learning’’ has the meanVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:35 Jul 19, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00080 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2706.IH H2706

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81 

•HR 2706 IH

1 ing given the term in section 103 of the Higher 

2 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). 

3 (25) WRITING.—The term ‘‘writing’’ means— 

4 (A) the ability to compose meaning and 

5 print to communicate ideas, including the use of 

6 vocabulary, tone, and genre to fit purpose, audi7 ence and occasion; 

8 (B) the use of conventions such as spelling 

9 and punctuation; and 

10 (C) the ability to revise in order to improve 

11 clarity of ideas, coherence, logical development, 

12 and precision of language use. 

13 SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

15 this Act— 

16 (1) $2,350,000,000 for fiscal year 2014; 

17 (2) $2,350,000,000 for fiscal year 2015; 

18 (3) $2,350,000,000 for fiscal year 2016; 

19 (4) $2,350,000,000 for fiscal year 2017; and 

20 (5) $2,350,000,000 for fiscal year 2018. 

Æ 


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