I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3753 

To establish dual language education programs in low-income communities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 7, 2009 

Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Mr. HONDA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. HINOJOSA, and 

Ms. CLARKE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To establish dual language education programs in low-income 

communities. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Providing Resources 

5 to Improve Dual Language Education Act of 2009’’ or 

6 the ‘‘PRIDE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 The Congress finds the following: 

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1 (1) Dual language programs have been found to 

2 provide the greatest academic gains for limited3 English-proficient students. 

4 (2) Few children from low-income communities, 

5 particularly African-American children, have had ac6 cess to a well-developed and well-implemented dual 

7 language program. 

8 (3) Children in dual language programs experi9 ence substantial gains in language, literacy, and 

10 mathematics. 

11 SEC. 3. DUAL LANGUAGE FLAGSHIP GRANTS. 

12 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are as 

13 follows: 

14 (1) To provide incentives for school districts to 

15 develop innovative strategies for working with low16 income and limited-English-proficient students. 

17 (2) To improve the school readiness of low-in18 come and limited-English-proficient children and to 

19 ensure they enter school ready to succeed. 

20 (3) To provide consistent support for learning 

21 through high-quality dual language programs from 

22 preschool through the fifth grade. 

23 (4) To authorize the Secretary to carry out a 

24 demonstration project to enhance the biliteracy, bi25 lingualism, and multicultural skills for children in 

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1 impoverished communities, including limited2 English-proficient and minority children, through 

3 the use and longitudinal evaluation of dual language 

4 programs beginning in preschool through the fifth 

5 grade. 

6 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—From funds made available 

8 under subsection (i), and after reserving funds under 

9 subsection (c), the Secretary is authorized to award 

10 not more than five grants to fund partnerships of 

11 local education agencies, early childhood education 

12 programs including State-funded preschool programs 

13 and Head Start programs, and technical assistance 

14 providers to demonstrate effective strategies in en15 suring the academic success of low-income minority 

16 students through the implementation and evaluation 

17 of a high-quality dual language program that— 

18 (A) serves cohorts of economically dis19 advantaged minority and limited-English-pro20 ficient students from preschool through fifth 

21 grade; 

22 (B) establishes an infrastructure that sup23 ports a rigorous assessment system, including 

24 dedicated staff time and professional develop25 ment in assessment, a data collection plan, and 

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1 the collection of multiple measures of academic 

2 progress, bilingualism, biliteracy, and 

3 multiculturalism; 

4 (C) implements and aligns a curriculum 

5 that promotes the development of bilingual, 

6 biliterate, and multicultural competencies for all 

7 students through at least grade five; 

8 (D) utilizes and aligns student-centered in9 structional methods that enhance the develop10 ment of bilingualism, biliteracy, and academic 

11 achievement; 

12 (E) aligns professional development and 

13 training for early childhood education instruc14 tors and elementary school teachers and staff, 

15 with an emphasis on dual language instruction, 

16 second language acquisition, and content knowl17 edge; 

18 (F) recruits, trains, and continuously de19 velops staff to implement high-quality, dual lan20 guage programs; and 

21 (G) establishes a responsive infrastructure 

22 for positive, active, and ongoing relationships 

23 with students’ families and the community that 

24 responds to and is reflective of the needs of the 

25 community and goals of the program. 

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1 (c) RESERVATION.—The Secretary shall reserve not 

2 more than 5 percent of the amount appropriated under 

3 subsection (i) to carry out this Act, including the technical 

4 assistance and evaluation described is subsection (g) and 

5 dissemination of best practices described in subsection (h). 

6 (d) DURATION.—Each grant under this section shall 

7 be awarded for a period of not more than five years. 

8 (e) APPLICATIONS FOR GRANTS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity desiring 

10 a grant under this section shall submit an applica11 tion to the Secretary at such time and in such man12 ner as the Secretary may require. 

13 (2) REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION.—Each appli14 cation submitted by a partnership under this section 

15 for a proposed program shall include documentation 

16 that— 

17 (A) the partnership has partnered with an 

18 entity that has proven expertise in the imple19 mentation of high-quality dual language pro20 grams to provide on-going technical assistance 

21 and assist with the evaluation of the program; 

22 (B) the partnership has the qualified per23 sonnel to develop, administer, evaluate, and im24 plement the program; and 

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1 (C) the partnership is serving economically 

2 disadvantaged minority and limited-English3 proficient students. 

4 (3) OTHER APPLICATION CONTENTS.—Each ap5 plication submitted by an entity under this section 

6 for a proposed program shall include— 

7 (A) data showing that the program is serv8 ing economically disadvantaged and limited9 English-proficient students; 

10 (B) a description of how the program will 

11 align the language of assessment with the lan12 guage of instruction; 

13 (C) a description of how the program will 

14 be evaluated to assess the goals of the program; 

15 (D) a description of how the evaluation will 

16 be used to inform broader efforts to improve in17 struction for limited-English-proficient stu18 dents, including for preschool-aged children; 

19 (E) a description of activities that will be 

20 pursued by the program including a description 

21 of— 

22 (i) how the activities will further the 

23 school readiness and academic progress of 

24 children served by this program and supmstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

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1 port dual language development through 

2 grade five; 

3 (ii) methods of designing culturally 

4 and linguistically appropriate dual lan5 guage curriculum; and 

6 (iii) methods of teacher training and 

7 parent outreach that will be used or devel8 oped through the programs; 

9 (F) an assurance that the program will an10 nually provide to the Secretary such informa11 tion as may be required by subsection (f); and 

12 (G) any other information that the sec13 retary may require. 

14 (f) SELECTION OF GRANTEES.— 

15 (1) CRITERIA.—The Secretary through a peer 

16 review process shall select partnerships to receive 

17 grants under this section based on— 

18 (A) the articulation of preschool through 

19 fifth-grade instructional practices, curriculum, 

20 and assessments strategies; 

21 (B) the extent to which school leadership 

22 has been involved and has demonstrated a com23 mitment to a high-quality dual language pro24 grams; and 

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1 (C) the quality of the programs and pro2 posed in the applications submitted under sub3 section (b). 

4 (g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND EVALUATION.— 

5 From funds reserved under subsection (i) for a fiscal year, 

6 the Secretary shall reserve $250,000 to contract with an 

7 entity with a proven track record in dual language pro8 grams for the purpose of— 

9 (1) providing technical assistance to local edu10 cation agencies receiving grants under this Act in 

11 order to strengthen programs conducted by grantees 

12 pursuant to this Act; and 

13 (2) conducting an evaluation of programs fund14 ed under this act, which shall— 

15 (A) be used by the Secretary to determine 

16 effectiveness of programs funded through this 

17 Act and improve services to participating chil18 dren; and 

19 (B) include— 

20 (i) a comprehensive evaluation of the 

21 impact of the programs on students, in22 cluding an assessment of literacy skills and 

23 language development in both English and 

24 the minority language; 

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1 (ii) a comprehensive evaluation of the 

2 effectiveness of instructional practices used 

3 in the programs; and 

4 (iii) a comprehensive evaluation of 

5 professional development strategies. 

6 (h) DISSEMINATION OF BEST PRACTICES.—The Sec7 retary shall disseminate information on model programs, 

8 materials, and other information developed under this sec9 tion that the Secretary determines to be appropriate for 

10 use by early childhood education providers to improve the 

11 school readiness of limited-English-proficient students. 

12 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

13 purposes of carrying out this section, there are authorized 

14 to be appropriated $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2009 and 

15 such sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 suc16 ceeding fiscal years. 

17 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 (1) DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM.—The term 

19 dual language program means an instructional strat20 egy in which students are taught literacy and con21 tent in two languages and use the partner language 

22 for at least half of the instructional day and foster 

23 bilingualism, biliteracy, enhanced awareness of lin24 guistic and cultural diversity, and high levels of acamstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

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1 demic achievement through instruction in two lan2 guages. 

3 (2) STATE-FUNDED PRESCHOOL PROGRAM.— 

4 The term ‘‘State-funded preschool program’’ means 

5 a program that— 

6 (A) serves children who are ages 3 through 

7 5; 

8 (B) has a primary focus of supporting 

9 early childhood education, including supporting 

10 children’s cognitive, social, emotional, and phys11 ical development and approaches to learning; 

12 (C) helps prepare children for a successful 

13 transition to kindergarten; 

14 (D) is either a school- or community-based 

15 program; and 

16 (E) is funded either in whole or in part by 

17 a State through a State agency with authority 

18 to promulgate regulations and monitor partici19 pating programs. 

20 (3) WITH LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY.— 

21 The term ‘‘with limited English proficiency’’, when 

22 used with respect to a child, means a child— 

23 (A)(i) who was not born in the United 

24 States or whose native language is a language 

25 other than English; 

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1 (ii)(I) who is a Native American (as de2 fined in section 9101 of the Elementary and 

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

4 7801)), an Alaska Native, or a native resident 

5 of an outlying area (as defined in such section 

6 9101); and 

7 (II) who comes from an environment where 

8 a language other than English has had a sig9 nificant impact on the child’s level of English 

10 language proficiency; or 

11 (iii) who is migratory, whose native lan12 guage is a language other than English, and 

13 who comes from an environment where a lan14 guage other than English is dominant; and 

15 (B) whose difficulties in speaking or un16 derstanding the English language may be suffi17 cient to deny the child— 

18 (i) the ability to successfully achieve 

19 in a classroom in which the language of in20 struction is English; or 

21 (ii) the opportunity to participate fully 

22 in society. 

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