II 

Calendar No. 376 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1419 

[Report No. 114–215] 

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

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2015 

Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. UDALL, Mr. HEINRICH, and Ms. 

HEITKAMP) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

FEBRUARY 29, 2016 

Reported by Mr. BARRASSO, with an amendment 

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

A BILL 

To promote the academic achievement of American Indian, 

Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children with the 

establishment of a Native American language grant program. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Congress established the unique status of 

7 Native American languages and distinctive policies 

8 supporting their use as a medium of education in 

9 the Native American Languages Act (Public Law 

10 101–477). 

11 (2) Reports from the Bureau of Indian Affairs 

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

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

16 school graduation and college attendance rates above 

17 the norm for their peers. 

18 (3) Such successful schools include Native 

19 American language medium schools focusing on both 

20 children who enter school speaking Native American 

21 languages and children who enter school with little 

22 or no knowledge of a Native American language, as 

23 well as Native American Language Nests and Native 

24 American Language Survival Schools. 

25 (4) The Elementary and Secondary Education 

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


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1 barriers to schools taught through Native American 

2 languages and a lack of adequate funding to support 

3 such opportunities. 

4 (5) There is a critical need that requires imme5 diate action to support education through Native 

6 American languages to revitalize and maintain these 

7 languages. 

8 SEC. 3. NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE SCHOOLS. 

9 Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Edu10 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) is amended 

11 by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘PART D—NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE 

13 SCHOOLS 

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

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

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

17 schools using Native American languages as the pri18 mary language of instruction of all curriculum 

19 taught at the schools that will improve high school 

20 graduation rates, college attainment, and career 

21 readiness; and 

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

23 policy for such schools, as established in the Native 

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

25 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 


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

2 available to carry out this section, the Secretary may 

3 award grants to eligible entities to develop and 

4 maintain, or to improve and expand, programs that 

5 support schools, including prekindergarten through 

6 postsecondary education sites and streams, using 

7 Native American languages as the primary language 

8 of instruction of all curriculum taught. 

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

10 term ‘eligible entity’ means any of the following enti11 ties that has a plan to develop and maintain, or to 

12 improve and expand, programs that support the en13 tity’s use of one or more Native American languages 

14 as the primary language of instruction in a school: 

15 ‘‘(A) An Indian tribe (as defined in section 

16 103 of the Native American Languages Act (25 

17 U.S.C. 2902)). 

18 ‘‘(B) A Tribal College or University (as de19 fined in section 316 of the Higher Education 

20 Act of 1965). 

21 ‘‘(C) A tribal education agency. 

22 ‘‘(D) A public elementary school or sec23 ondary school (including a public charter 

24 school). 


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1 ‘‘(E) A private and accredited elementary 

2 school or secondary school. 

3 ‘‘(F) A school operated by the Bureau of 

4 Indian Education. 

5 ‘‘(G) A Regional Corporation (as defined 

6 in section 3 of the Alaska Native Claims Settle7 ment Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)). 

8 ‘‘(H) A private or tribal nonprofit organi9 zation. 

10 ‘‘(I) A consortium of any of the entities de11 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (H). 

12 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that de14 sires to receive a grant under this section shall sub15 mit an application to the Secretary at such time, in 

16 such manner, and containing such information as 

17 the Secretary may require, including the following: 

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

19 language to be used for instruction at the 

20 school supported by the eligible entity. 

21 ‘‘(B) The number of students attending 

22 such school. 

23 ‘‘(C) The number of present hours of in24 struction in or through 1 or more Native AmerVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Feb 29, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1419.RS S1419

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1 ican languages being provided to targeted stu2 dents at such school, if any. 

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

4 to any applicable tribal education department or 

5 agency, public education system, indigenous 

6 language schooling research and cooperative, or 

7 accrediting body. 

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

9 ‘‘(i) is engaged in meeting targeted 

10 academic proficiency levels for students, as 

11 may be required by applicable Federal, 

12 State, or tribal law, including the avail13 ability of coursework for students to fulfill 

14 the requirements necessary to obtain a 

15 high school diploma; 

16 ‘‘(ii) will strive to achieve high level 

17 language fluency in students in the Native 

18 American language of the school; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) provides assessments of students 

20 using the Native American language of in21 struction, where appropriate. 

22 ‘‘(F) A list of the qualifications of the staff 

23 to deliver effective education through the Native 

24 American language of the school. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL APPLICATION MATERIALS.— 

2 In addition to the application described in paragraph 

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

4 under this section shall submit to the Secretary the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(A) TRIBAL CERTIFICATION.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A certification 

8 from a Federally recognized Indian tribe, 

9 or a letter from any State or community 

10 recognized Native American entity, on 

11 whose land the school supported by the eli12 gible entity is located, or which is served 

13 by such school, indicating that the school 

14 has an endorsement to provide education 

15 primarily through the Native American 

16 language and that there are sufficient 

17 speakers of such Native American lan18 guage at the school or available to be hired 

19 by the school. 

20 ‘‘(ii) INABILITY TO SECURE CERTIFI21 CATION.—If neither a certification nor a 

22 letter can be secured as described in clause 

23 (i), the eligible entity may submit to the 

24 Secretary an explanation of why such cer25 tification and letter cannot be obtained. 


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1 The Secretary may waive the certification 

2 and letter requirement under clause (i) if 

3 the explanation is deemed acceptable. 

4 ‘‘(B) COLLECTION OF DATA.—A statement 

5 that such school will collect data relative to 

6 high school graduation, college attendance, or 

7 other data relevant to student achievement, ca8 reer readiness, or community participation of 

9 students who matriculate through its programs, 

10 and will participate in data collection conducted 

11 by the Secretary that will determine best prac12 tices and further academic evaluation of the 

13 school. 

14 ‘‘(C) DEMONSTRATION OF CAPACITY.—A 

15 demonstration of the capacity to have speakers 

16 of its Native American language provide in17 struction in the content curriculum offered by 

18 such school. 

19 ‘‘(D) NATIVE LANGUAGE EDUCATION

20 PLAN.—A Native language education plan that 

21 integrates high achievement in the Native 

22 American language with improved student aca23 demic achievement, high school graduation 

24 rates, college attainment, and career readiness 


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1 by carrying out the activities authorized in sub2 section (e). 

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

4 under this section, the Secretary shall— 

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

6 grant; and 

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

8 that diversity in languages is represented. 

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

10 that receives a grant under this section shall carry out 

11 the following activities: 

12 ‘‘(1) Support Native American language edu13 cation and development. 

14 ‘‘(2) Develop or refine instructional curriculum 

15 for the school supported by the eligible entity, in16 cluding distinctive teaching materials and activities, 

17 as appropriate. 

18 ‘‘(3) Fund training opportunities for teachers 

19 and, as appropriate, staff and administrators, that 

20 would strengthen the overall language and academic 

21 goals of such school. 

22 ‘‘(4) Develop a Native language alignment plan 

23 to create or refine assessments of student proficiency 

24 on State or tribally developed academic standards 

25 for Native American language schools, aligned with 


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1 the Native language of instruction in such schools, 

2 as appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(5) Other activities that promote Native Amer4 ican language education and development, as appro5 priate. 

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

7 that receives a grant under this section shall provide an 

8 annual report to the Secretary in such form and manner 

9 as the Secretary may require. 

10 ‘‘(g) BUILDING NATIVE LANGUAGE IMMERSION EVI11 DENCE BASE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta13 tion with the Commissioner of the National Center 

14 for Education Statistics, shall compile and analyze 

15 data and reports provided under subsection (f) to 

16 evaluate the outcomes of the grant program and 

17 contribute to the evidence base of Native language 

18 immersion student outcomes. 

19 ‘‘(2) DISSEMINATION.—Not later than 180 days 

20 after the date the Secretary receives all reports 

21 under subsection (f), the information described in 

22 paragraph (1) shall be disseminated to Congress, in23 cluding the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and 

24 Alaska Native Affairs and the Committee on Edu25 cation and the Workforce of the House of RepVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Feb 29, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1419.RS S1419

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1 resentatives, and the Committee on Indian Affairs 

2 and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor 

3 and Pensions of the Senate. 

4 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—There is 

5 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

6 $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2016, and such sums as may 

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

8 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

9 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Native Language Im10 mersion Student Achievement Act’’. 

11 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

12 Congress finds the following: 

13 (1) Congress established the unique status of Na14 tive American languages and distinctive policies sup15 porting their use as a medium of education in the 

16 Native American Languages Act (Public Law 101– 

17 477). 

18 (2) Reports from the Bureau of Indian Affairs 

19 and tribal, public, charter, and private schools and 

20 colleges that use primarily Native American lan21 guages to deliver education, have indicated that stu22 dents from these schools have generally had high 

23 school graduation and college attendance rates above 

24 the norm for their peers. 


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1 (3) Such successful schools include Native Amer2 ican language medium schools focusing on both chil3 dren who enter school speaking Native American lan4 guages and children who enter school with little or no 

5 knowledge of a Native American language, as well as 

6 Native American Language Nests and Native Amer7 ican Language Survival Schools. 

8 (4) The Elementary and Secondary Education 

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

10 barriers to schools taught through Native American 

11 languages and a lack of adequate funding to support 

12 such opportunities. 

13 (5) There is a critical need that requires imme14 diate action to support education through Native 

15 American languages to revitalize and maintain these 

16 languages. 

17 SEC. 3. NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE SCHOOLS. 

18 Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

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

20 at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘PART D—NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE 

22 SCHOOLS 

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

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


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

2 schools using Native American languages as the pri3 mary language of instruction of all curriculum taught 

4 at the schools that will improve high school gradua5 tion rates, college attainment, and career readiness; 

6 and 

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

8 policy for such schools, as established in the Native 

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

10 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

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

12 available to carry out this section, the Secretary may 

13 award grants to eligible entities to develop and main14 tain, or to improve and expand, programs that sup15 port schools, including prekindergarten through post16 secondary education sites and streams, using Native 

17 American languages as the primary language of in18 struction of all curriculum taught. 

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

20 term ‘eligible entity’ means any of the following enti21 ties that has a plan to develop and maintain, or to 

22 improve and expand, programs that support the enti23 ty’s use of one or more Native American languages as 

24 the primary language of instruction in a school: 


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1 ‘‘(A) An Indian tribe (as defined in section 

2 103 of the Native American Languages Act (25 

3 U.S.C. 2902)). 

4 ‘‘(B) A Tribal College or University (as de5 fined in section 316 of the Higher Education Act 

6 of 1965). 

7 ‘‘(C) A tribal education agency. 

8 ‘‘(D) A local educational agency. 

9 ‘‘(E) A private and accredited elementary 

10 school or secondary school. 

11 ‘‘(F) A school operated by the Bureau of In12 dian Education. 

13 ‘‘(G) A Regional Corporation (as defined in 

14 section 3 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 

15 Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)). 

16 ‘‘(H) A private or tribal nonprofit organi17 zation. 

18 ‘‘(I) A consortium of any of the entities de19 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (H). 

20 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that de22 sires to receive a grant under this section shall submit 

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

24 manner, and containing such information as the Sec25 retary may require, including the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) The name of the Native American lan2 guage to be used for instruction at the school 

3 supported by the eligible entity. 

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

5 school. 

6 ‘‘(C) The number of present hours of in7 struction in or through 1 or more Native Amer8 ican languages being provided to targeted stu9 dents at such school, if any. 

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

11 to any applicable tribal education department or 

12 agency, public education system, indigenous lan13 guage schooling research and cooperative, or ac14 crediting body. 

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

16 ‘‘(i) is engaged in meeting targeted 

17 academic proficiency levels for students, as 

18 may be required by applicable Federal, 

19 State, or tribal law, including the avail20 ability of coursework for students to fulfill 

21 the requirements necessary to obtain a high 

22 school diploma; 

23 ‘‘(ii) will strive to achieve high level 

24 language fluency in students in the Native 

25 American language of the school; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) provides assessments of students 

2 using the Native American language of in3 struction, where appropriate. 

4 ‘‘(F) A list of the qualifications of the staff 

5 to deliver effective education through the Native 

6 American language of the school. 

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

8 addition to the application described in paragraph 

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

10 under this section shall submit to the Secretary the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(A) TRIBAL CERTIFICATION.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

14 (ii), a certification from— 

15 ‘‘(I) a federally recognized Indian 

16 tribe on whose land the school sup17 ported by the eligible entity is located; 

18 ‘‘(II) the State in which the school 

19 supported by the eligible entity is lo20 cated; or 

21 ‘‘(III) a community-recognized 

22 Native American entity on whose land 

23 the school supported by the eligible en24 tity is located. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) CONTENTS OF CERTIFICATION.— 

2 The certification required under clause (i) 

3 shall certify that— 

4 ‘‘(I) the school supported by the 

5 eligible entity has an endorsement to 

6 provide education primarily through 

7 the Native American language; and 

8 ‘‘(II) there are sufficient speakers 

9 of such Native American language at 

10 the school or available to be hired by 

11 the school. 

12 ‘‘(iii) WAIVER.— 

13 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The eligible 

14 entity may request from the Secretary 

15 a waiver of the certification require16 ment under this subparagraph only if 

17 the eligible entity submits— 

18 ‘‘(aa) proof that an entity 

19 described in subclause (I) or (III) 

20 of clause (i) has denied providing 

21 or failed to provide the certifi22 cation; and 

23 ‘‘(bb) an explanation of why 

24 such certification cannot be ob25 tained. 


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1 ‘‘(II) APPROVAL OF WAIVER.— 

2 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—Subject 

3 to item (bb), the Secretary may 

4 waive the certification require5 ment under this subparagraph if 

6 the Secretary determines that the 

7 explanation provided in subclause 

8 (I)(bb) is acceptable. 

9 ‘‘(bb) RESTRICTION.—The 

10 Secretary shall not waive the cer11 tification requirement under this 

12 subparagraph if the Indian tribe 

13 on whose land the school sup14 ported by the eligible entity is lo15 cated submits an objection to the 

16 waiver in writing to the Sec17 retary. 

18 ‘‘(B) COLLECTION OF DATA.—A statement 

19 that such school will collect data relative to high 

20 school graduation, college attendance, or other 

21 data relevant to student achievement, career 

22 readiness, or community participation of stu23 dents who matriculate through its programs, and 

24 will participate in data collection conducted by 


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1 the Secretary that will determine best practices 

2 and further academic evaluation of the school. 

3 ‘‘(C) DEMONSTRATION OF CAPACITY.—A 

4 demonstration of the capacity to have speakers of 

5 its Native American language provide instruc6 tion in the content curriculum offered by such 

7 school. 

8 ‘‘(D) NATIVE LANGUAGE EDUCATION

9 PLAN.—A Native language education plan that 

10 integrates high achievement in the Native Amer11 ican language with improved student academic 

12 achievement, high school graduation rates, college 

13 attainment, and career readiness by carrying out 

14 the activities authorized in subsection (e). 

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

16 under this section, the Secretary shall— 

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

18 grant; and 

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

20 diversity in languages is represented. 

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

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

23 following activities: 

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


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1 ‘‘(2) Develop or refine instructional curriculum 

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

4 appropriate. 

5 ‘‘(3) Fund training opportunities for teachers 

6 and, as appropriate, staff and administrators, that 

7 would strengthen the overall language and academic 

8 goals of such school. 

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

10 to create or refine assessments of student proficiency 

11 on State or tribally developed academic standards for 

12 Native American language schools, aligned with the 

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

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

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

19 that receives a grant under this section shall provide an 

20 annual report to the Secretary in such form and manner 

21 as the Secretary may require. 

22 ‘‘(g) BUILDING NATIVE LANGUAGE IMMERSION EVI23 DENCE BASE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta25 tion with the Commissioner of the National Center for 


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1 Education Statistics, shall compile and analyze data 

2 and reports provided under subsection (f) to evaluate 

3 the outcomes of the grant program and contribute to 

4 the evidence base of Native language immersion stu5 dent outcomes. 

6 ‘‘(2) DISSEMINATION.—Not later than 180 days 

7 after the date the Secretary receives all reports under 

8 subsection (f), the information described in paragraph 

9 (1) shall be disseminated to Congress, including the 

10 Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native 

11 Affairs and the Committee on Education and the 

12 Workforce of the House of Representatives, and the 

13 Committee on Indian Affairs and the Committee on 

14 Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of the Senate. 

15 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—There is 

16 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

17 $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2016, and such sums as may be 

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


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Calendar No. 376 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1419 

[Report No. 114–215] 

A BILL 

To promote the academic achievement of American 

ican language grant program. dren with the establishment of a Native AmerIndian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian chilFEBRUARY 29, 2016 

Reported with an amendment 


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