I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4037 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 6, 2009 

Mr. YARMUTH (for himself, Mr. POLIS of Colorado, and Mr. GEORGE MILLER

of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor 

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. 

Sec. 3. Purposes. 


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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) The development of literacy skills begins at 

10 birth. Infants and toddlers associate sounds, ges11 tures, and marks on paper with consequences and 

12 meaning. However, many low-income children do not 

13 receive the exposure to oral and print language-rich 

14 environments they need to support strong literacy 

15 development. 

16 (3) Research shows that writing leads to im17 proved reading achievement, reading leads to better 

18 writing performance, and combined instruction leads 


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1 to improvements in both areas. Students in kinder2 garten through grade 12 need to be engaged in com3 bined reading and writing experiences that lead to a 

4 higher level of thinking than when either process is 

5 taught alone. 

6 (4) Teachers and early childhood educators 

7 need professional development to improve the read8 ing and writing abilities of children who are at risk 

9 for developmental delays or are reading and writing 

10 several years below grade level. Middle school and 

11 secondary school teachers in core academic subjects 

12 must have the tools and skills to teach reading and 

13 writing for subject area understanding and to dif14 ferentiate and provide instruction for students with 

15 varying literacy skills. 

16 (5) Approximately 70 percent of 4th graders 

17 and 8th graders read below the proficient level on 

18 the 2007 National Assessment of Educational 

19 Progress. 

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

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

22 no improvement. The ability of secondary school stu23 dents to read complex texts is strongly predictive of 

24 their performance in postsecondary mathematics and 

25 science courses. 


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

2 who enter 9th grade each year can expect to grad3 uate in 4 years with the skills needed to succeed in 

4 higher education and the workplace. 

5 (8) The 25 fastest-growing professions have 

6 higher than average literacy demands and approxi7 mately half of all job growth between 2004 and 

8 2014 will require high-level literacy skills. 

9 (9) The intellectual and linguistic skills nec10 essary for reading and writing must be developed 

11 through explicit, intentional, and systematic lan12 guage activities, to which many low-income and mi13 nority students do not have access. 

14 (10) Only 73.9 percent of secondary school stu15 dents graduate on time with a diploma, meaning 

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

17 from secondary school in the United States. These 

18 1,230,000 nongraduates cost the United States more 

19 than $300,000,000,000 in lost wages, taxes, and 

20 productivity over their lifetimes. 

21 (11) Meaningful engagement of families in their 

22 children’s early learning supports school readiness 

23 and later academic success. Parental literacy habits 

24 are positively associated with parental reading be25 liefs, parent-child literacy and language activities in 


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

2 reading. 

3 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

4 The purposes of this Act are— 

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

6 achievement for children and students by providing 

7 Federal support to State educational agencies, in 

8 collaboration with State agencies that oversee child 

9 care programs, to develop, coordinate, and imple10 ment comprehensive State literacy plans that ensure 

11 high-quality instruction in early language and lit12 eracy in early learning programs (serving children 

13 from birth through kindergarten entry) and in read14 ing and writing in kindergarten through grade 12; 

15 and 

16 (2) to assist State educational agencies and 

17 State agencies that oversee child care programs in 

18 achieving the purposes described in paragraph (1) 

19 by— 

20 (A) supporting the development and imple21 mentation of early learning through grade 12 

22 literacy programs that are based on scientif23 ically valid research, to ensure that every stu24 dent can read and write at grade level or above; 


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1 (B) providing children attending early 

2 learning programs that serve children from 

3 birth through kindergarten entry, including pro4 grams, such as child care, Early Head Start, 

5 Head Start, State-funded preschool, and other 

6 early childhood education settings, with high7 quality, language-rich, literature-rich, and infor8 mational text-rich environments, so that such 

9 children develop the fundamental knowledge 

10 and skills necessary for literacy engagement, 

11 development, and achievement in kindergarten 

12 and beyond; 

13 (C) supporting efforts to link and align 

14 standards and evidence-based instruction in 

15 early learning programs serving children from 

16 birth through kindergarten entry; 

17 (D) supporting effective educational envi18 ronments for children and students from birth 

19 through grade 12 to develop oral language, 

20 reading, and writing abilities through research21 based instruction and practices; 

22 (E) improving student achievement by es23 tablishing literacy initiatives that provide ex24 plicit and systematic instruction in oral lanVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:05 Nov 08, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4037.IH H4037

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1 guage, reading, and writing development across 

2 the curriculum; 

3 (F) identifying and supporting students 

4 who are reading and writing below grade level 

5 by providing evidence-based intensive interven6 tions, including extended learning time, to help 

7 such students acquire the language and literacy 

8 skills they need to graduate from secondary 

9 school; 

10 (G) providing assistance to eligible entities 

11 in order to provide educators with high-quality 

12 professional development in the essential com13 ponents of early literacy instruction and the es14 sential components of reading and writing in15 struction; 

16 (H) supporting State educational agencies 

17 and local educational agencies in using age- and 

18 developmentally appropriate instructional mate19 rials and strategies, including those consistent 

20 with universal design for learning, that assist 

21 teachers as they work with students to develop 

22 reading and writing competencies appropriate 

23 to the student’s grade and skill levels; 

24 (I) supporting State educational agencies 

25 and eligible entities in improving reading, writVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:05 Nov 08, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4037.IH H4037

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1 ing, and academic achievement for children and 

2 students, especially those that are low-income, 

3 limited English proficient, migratory, Indian or 

4 Alaskan Native, neglected or delinquent, home5 less, in the custody of the child welfare system, 

6 those that have disabilities, or those who have 

7 dropped out of school; and 

8 (J) strengthening coordination among 

9 schools, early learning programs, early literacy 

10 programs, family literacy programs, juvenile 

11 justice programs, public libraries, and outside12 of-school programs that provide children and 

13 youth with strategies, curricula, interventions, 

14 and assessments designed to advance early and 

15 continuing language and literacy development in 

16 ways appropriate for each context. 

17 SEC. 4. PROGRAMS AUTHORIZED. 

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

19 (1) to award State planning grants in accord20 ance with subsection (b) and section 5; and 

21 (2) to award State implementation grants in ac22 cordance with subsection (b) and section 6 to en23 able— 


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1 (A) the State agency that oversees child 

2 care programs to award subgrants to eligible 

3 entities in accordance with section 7; 

4 (B) the State educational agency to award 

5 subgrants to eligible entities in accordance with 

6 section 8; and 

7 (C) the State educational agency to carry 

8 out the additional State activities described in 

9 section 9. 

10 (b) AWARDS TO STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 

11 (1) DISCRETIONARY GRANTS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the amount appro13 priated under section 14 for a fiscal year is less 

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

15 (i) reserve not more than 5 percent of 

16 such amount for the national evaluation, 

17 dissemination of information, and technical 

18 assistance under section 10; 

19 (ii) reserve not more than 5 percent of 

20 such amount to make awards, on a com21 petitive basis, under section 5, except that 

22 during the first year in which amounts are 

23 distributed under such section, the Sec24 retary may reserve not more than 15 per25 cent of such amount for this purpose; and 


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1 (iii) use the amount not reserved 

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

3 on a competitive basis and based on the 

4 quality of the applications submitted, to 

5 State educational agencies that have appli6 cations approved under section 6 to enable 

7 the agencies to carry out sections 7 

8 through 9. 

9 (B) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—The Sec10 retary shall allocate the funds described in sub11 paragraph (A)(iii) among approved applicants 

12 on the basis of the relative number or percent13 age of children counted under section 1124(c) 

14 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

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

16 served by an approved applicant compared to 

17 the number or percentage of such children in all 

18 States served by approved applicants, except 

19 that awards under this paragraph shall be of 

20 sufficient size and scope to be effective. 

21 (2) FORMULA GRANTS.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the amount appro23 priated under section 14 for a fiscal year is 

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

25 shall— 


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1 (i) reserve not more than 5 percent of 

2 such amount for the national evaluation, 

3 dissemination of information, and technical 

4 assistance under section 10; 

5 (ii) reserve not more than 5 percent of 

6 such amount to make awards, on a com7 petitive basis, under section 5, except that 

8 during the first year in which amounts are 

9 distributed under such section, the Sec10 retary may reserve not more than 15 per11 cent of such amount for this purpose; 

12 (iii) reserve a total of 1 percent of 

13 such amount for— 

14 (I) allotments for the United 

15 States Virgin Islands, Guam, Amer16 ican Samoa, and the Commonwealth 

17 of the Northern Mariana Islands, to 

18 be distributed among such outlying 

19 areas on the basis of their relative 

20 need, as determined by the Secretary 

21 in accordance with the purposes of 

22 this Act; and 

23 (II) the Secretary of the Interior 

24 for programs under sections 5 

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1 ed by the Bureau of Indian Edu2 cation; and 

3 (iv) use the amount not reserved 

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

5 awards, from allotments under subpara6 graph (B), to State educational agencies 

7 serving States, excluding States described 

8 in clause (iii)(I), that have applications ap9 proved under section 6 to enable the agen10 cies to carry out sections 7 through 9. 

11 (B) STATE ALLOTMENT FORMULA.—From 

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

13 the Secretary shall make an award to each ap14 proved applicant under section 6 on the basis of 

15 the relative number of children counted under 

16 section 1124(c) of the Elementary and Sec17 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

18 6333(c)) in the State served by the applicant 

19 compared to the number of such children in all 

20 States served by approved applicants. 

21 (C) PROPORTIONAL DIVISION.—In each 

22 fiscal year, the amount reserved under subpara23 graph (A)(iii) shall be divided between the uses 

24 described in subclauses (I) and (II) of such sub25 paragraph in the same proportion as the 


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1 amount reserved under section 1121(a) of the 

2 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

3 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6331(a)) is divided between 

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

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

6 (3) CONSULTATION.— 

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

8 educational agency that receives a discretionary 

9 grant or allotment under this subsection shall 

10 engage in timely and meaningful consultation 

11 with representatives of Indian tribes located in 

12 the State in order to improve the coordination 

13 of activities designed to develop effective ap14 proaches to achieve the purposes of the Act 

15 consistent with the cultural, language, and edu16 cational needs of Indian students. 

17 (B) SPECIAL RULE.—Of the funds re18 served under paragraph (2)(A)(iii)(II), the Sec19 retary of the Interior shall consult with tribes 

20 and school boards connected with bureau-fund21 ed schools to ensure allocation of funds to the 

22 extent possible in accordance with subpara23 graphs (A), (B), and (C) of section 6(a)(2). 

24 (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. 

11 (3) MEMBERSHIP.— 

12 (A) COMPOSITION.—A peer review panel 

13 convened under paragraph (1) shall be com14 posed of not less than 9 members, of whom— 

15 (i) 3 shall be appointed by the Sec16 retary; 

17 (ii) 3 shall be appointed by the Sec18 retary from among individuals— 

19 (I) recommended by the Chair20 man of the National Research Council 

21 of the National Academy of Sciences; 

22 and 

23 (II) with expertise in literacy in24 struction and learning at various de25 velopmental stages; and 


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1 (iii) 3 shall be appointed by the Sec2 retary from among individuals— 

3 (I) recommended by the Director 

4 of the National Institute of Child 

5 Health and Human Development; and 

6 (II) with expertise concerning lit7 eracy development from birth through 

8 grade 12. 

9 (B) COMPETENCY AND EXPERTISE.— 

10 (i) COMPETENCY.—The Secretary 

11 shall ensure that each member of the peer 

12 review panel appointed under this para13 graph is competent, by virtue of the train14 ing, expertise, or experience of the mem15 ber, to evaluate grant applications under 

16 sections 5 and 6. 

17 (ii) EXPERTISE.—The Secretary shall 

18 ensure that the peer review panel ap19 pointed under this paragraph includes, at a 

20 minimum— 

21 (I) not less than one individual 

22 with expertise in early childhood de23 velopment and early literacy; 


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1 (II) classroom teachers with ex2 pertise in literacy or literacy coaches, 

3 such as— 

4 (aa) special education teach5 ers; 

6 (bb) teachers of students 

7 who are English language learn8 ers; and 

9 (cc) early childhood edu10 cators who provide high-quality 

11 professional development in child 

12 language and literacy develop13 ment; 

14 (III) experts, including teachers, 

15 who provide high-quality professional 

16 development to individuals who teach 

17 literacy to students, teachers, and 

18 other instructional staff; 

19 (IV) experts in screening, diag20 nostic, and formative assessments of 

21 reading and writing; and 

22 (V) experts in reading and writ23 ing, language development, and 

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1 propriate, including reading and writ2 ing in core academic subjects. 

3 (4) DISTRIBUTION OF RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

4 Not later than 120 days after a peer review panel 

5 submits to the Secretary the panel’s recommenda6 tion regarding an application by a State educational 

7 agency for a grant under section 5 or 6, the Sec8 retary shall notify the State educational agency that 

9 the application has been approved or disapproved 

10 and shall provide to such State educational agency 

11 a copy of the peer review panel’s recommendation. 

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 (e) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Each State edu20 cational agency that receives an award under this Act, and 

21 each eligible entity that receives a subgrant under section 

22 7 or 8, shall maintain the expenditures of the State edu23 cational agency or eligible entity, respectively, for literacy 

24 instruction at a level not less than the level of such ex25 penditures maintained by the State educational agency or 


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1 eligible entity, respectively, for the fiscal year preceding 

2 the fiscal year for which the grant or subgrant is received. 

3 SEC. 5. STATE PLANNING GRANTS. 

4 (a) PLANNING GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

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

6 planning grants to State educational agencies to en7 able the State educational agencies to conduct and 

8 complete comprehensive planning, in consultation 

9 with the State agency that oversees child care pro10 grams, to carry out activities that improve literacy 

11 for children and students from birth through grade 

12 12. 

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

14 this section shall be awarded for a period of not 

15 more than 1 year. 

16 (3) NONRENEWABILITY.—The Secretary shall 

17 not award a State educational agency more than 1 

18 planning grant under this section. 

19 (4) RELATION TO IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 

20 A State educational agency may not receive a plan21 ning grant under this section at the same time it is 

22 receiving an implementation grant under section 6. 

23 (b) APPLICATION.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational 

25 agency desiring a planning grant under this section 


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1 shall submit, jointly with the State agency that over2 sees child care programs, an application to the Sec3 retary at such time, in such manner, and accom4 panied by such information as the Secretary may re5 quire. 

6 (2) CONTENTS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each application shall, 

8 at a minimum, include a description of how the 

9 State educational agency and the State agency 

10 that oversees child care programs propose to 

11 use the planning grant funds awarded under 

12 this section to develop a plan for improving 

13 State efforts to develop, coordinate, and imple14 ment comprehensive literacy activities based on 

15 the essential components of early literacy in16 struction and the essential components of read17 ing and writing instruction. 

18 (B) REQUIRED ITEMS.—Such application 

19 shall— 

20 (i) describe the activities for which as21 sistance under this section is sought; 

22 (ii) provide a budget for the use of the 

23 planning grant funds to complete the re24 quired activities described in subsection 

25 (c); 


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1 (iii) include an assurance that the 

2 State has a process to safeguard against 

3 conflicts of interest consistent with section 

4 11(c) for individuals providing technical 

5 assistance on behalf of the State edu6 cational agency or the State agency that 

7 oversees child care programs or serving on 

8 the State literacy leadership team; and 

9 (iv) provide such additional assur10 ances and information as the Secretary de11 termines to be necessary to ensure compli12 ance with the requirements of this section. 

13 (c) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—A State educational 

14 agency receiving planning grant funds under this section 

15 shall, in collaboration with the State agency that oversees 

16 child care programs, carry out each of the following activi17 ties: 

18 (1) REVIEW.—Reviewing reading, writing, and 

19 other literacy resources and programs across the 

20 State and coordinating any new plans and resources 

21 under this Act with such existing resources and pro22 grams. 

23 (2) STATE LITERACY LEADERSHIP TEAM.— 

24 Forming or designating a State literacy leadership 

25 team that shall execute the following functions: 


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1 (A) COMPREHENSIVE STATE LITERACY

2 PLAN.—Creating a comprehensive State literacy 

3 plan to improve early literacy and language de4 velopment in children, and reading, writing, and 

5 academic achievement in students that— 

6 (i) includes a needs assessment and 

7 an implementation plan; 

8 (ii) ensures high-quality literacy in9 struction in early learning programs (serv10 ing children from birth through kinder11 garten entry) through grade 12; and 

12 (iii) provides for activities designed to 

13 improve literacy achievement for students, 

14 including students with disabilities and 

15 English language learners who— 

16 (I) read or write below grade 

17 level; 

18 (II) attend schools that are iden19 tified for school improvement under 

20 section 1116(b) of the Elementary 

21 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

22 (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)); and 

23 (III) are counted under section 

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1 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

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

3 (B) STANDARDS.—Providing recommenda4 tions to guide the State educational agency in 

5 such agency’s process of strengthening State 

6 literacy standards and embedding State literacy 

7 standards into the State’s challenging academic 

8 content standards, academic achievement stand9 ards, and to guide the State in their early 

10 learning and development standards. 

11 (C) PROGRESS.—Providing recommenda12 tions to guide the State educational agency in 

13 such agency’s process of measuring, assessing, 

14 and monitoring progress in implementation of 

15 literacy instruction and interventions at the 

16 school, local educational agency, and State lev17 els. 

18 (D) CRITERIA.—Identifying criteria for 

19 high-quality professional development providers 

20 for eligible entities. 

21 (E) DATA.—Advising the State educational 

22 agency on how to help ensure that local edu23 cational agencies and schools provide timely and 

24 appropriate student assessment data to teach25 ers. 


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1 (F) EDUCATOR CAPACITY.—Providing rec2 ommendations to guide the State educational 

3 agency and the State agency that oversees child 

4 care programs in such agencies’ planning proc5 ess of building educators’ capacity to provide 

6 high-quality literacy instruction. 

7 (3) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Not later 

8 than 1 year after a State educational agency receives 

9 a planning grant under this section, the State edu10 cational agency, in collaboration with the State 

11 agency that oversees child care programs, shall sub12 mit a report to the Secretary on the performance of 

13 the activities described in this subsection by such 

14 agencies. The Secretary shall submit a report to the 

15 Congress on the activities carried out by State edu16 cational agencies under this section, and shall make 

17 such report available to the public upon its submis18 sion. 

19 SEC. 6. STATE IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS. 

20 (a) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

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

22 implementation grants to State educational agen23 cies— 


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1 (A) to implement, in collaboration with the 

2 State agency that oversees child care pro3 grams— 

4 (i) the comprehensive State literacy 

5 plan developed under section 5, if the State 

6 educational agency received a grant under 

7 such section; or 

8 (ii) another comprehensive State lit9 eracy plan for serving children from birth 

10 through grade 12; 

11 (B) to provide funds made available under 

12 paragraph (2)(A) to the State agency that over13 sees child care programs to award subgrants 

14 under section 7; 

15 (C) to award subgrants under section 8; 

16 and 

17 (D) to carry out additional State activities 

18 under section 9. 

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

20 shall use implementation grant funds received under 

21 this section as follows: 

22 (A) LEARNERS FROM BIRTH THROUGH

23 KINDERGARTEN ENTRY.—Not less than 15 per24 cent of such grant funds shall be used in ac25 cordance with section 7. 


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1 (B) STUDENTS IN KINDERGARTEN

2 THROUGH GRADE 5.—Not less than 40 percent 

3 of such grant funds shall be used in accordance 

4 with section 8, to be allocated equitably among 

5 grades kindergarten through grade 5, unless 

6 the State educational agency determines than 

7 an exception is necessary based on a capacity 

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

9 (C) STUDENTS IN GRADES 6 THROUGH

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

11 funds shall be used in accordance with section 

12 8, to be allocated equitably among grades 6 

13 through 12, unless the State educational agency 

14 determines that an exception is necessary based 

15 on a capacity survey described in section 

16 8(c)(1). 

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

18 percent of such grant funds shall be used for 

19 the State activities described in section 9. 

20 (3) DURATION OF GRANTS.—An implementa21 tion grant under this section shall be awarded for a 

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

23 5 years. 

24 (4) RENEWALS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Implementation grants 

2 under this section may be renewed. 

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

4 to have an implementation grant renewed under 

5 this paragraph, the State educational agency 

6 and the State agency that oversees child care 

7 programs shall demonstrate, to the satisfaction 

8 of the Secretary, that— 

9 (i) the State educational agency, in 

10 collaboration with the State agency that 

11 oversees child care programs, has complied 

12 with the terms of the grant including by 

13 undertaking all required activities; and 

14 (ii) during the period of the grant 

15 there has been significant progress in stu16 dent achievement, as measured by appro17 priate assessments, including meeting the 

18 measurable annual objectives established 

19 pursuant to section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v) of 

20 the Elementary and Secondary Education 

21 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(C)(v)). 

22 (b) STATE APPLICATIONS.— 

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

24 that desires to receive an implementation grant 

25 under this section shall, in collaboration with the 


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1 State agency that oversees child care programs, sub2 mit an application to the Secretary at such time, in 

3 such manner, and containing such information as 

4 the Secretary may require. 

5 (2) CONTENTS.—An application described in 

6 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

7 (A) STATE LITERACY TEAM AND PLAN.— 

8 A description of how the State educational 

9 agency has formed a State literacy leadership 

10 team and developed a comprehensive State lit11 eracy plan, as described in section 5. 

12 (B) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—An assur13 ance that the State has a process to safeguard 

14 against conflicts of interest consistent with sec15 tion 11(c) for individuals providing technical as16 sistance on behalf of the State educational 

17 agency or the State agency that oversees child 

18 care programs or serving on the State literacy 

19 leadership team. 

20 (C) IMPLEMENTATION.—An implementa21 tion plan that includes a description of how the 

22 State educational agency and the State agency 

23 that oversees child care programs will— 

24 (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, to eligible entities 

3 to enable the eligible entities to carry out the activities 

4 described in subsection (e). 

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

6 awarded under this section shall be of sufficient size and 

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

8 described in subsection (e). 

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

10 desires to receive a subgrant under this section shall sub11 mit an application to the State agency that oversees child 

12 care programs, at such time, in such manner, and includ13 ing such information as such agency may require. Such 

14 application shall include a description of— 

15 (1) the programs assisted under the subgrant, 

16 including demographic and socioeconomic informa17 tion on the children from birth through kindergarten 

18 entry enrolled in the programs; 

19 (2) a budget for the eligible entity that projects 

20 the cost of developing and implementing literacy ini21 tiatives to carry out the activities described in sub22 section (e); 

23 (3) how the subgrant funds will be used to en24 hance the language and literacy aspects of school 


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1 readiness of children from birth through kinder2 garten entry in early childhood education programs; 

3 (4) how the subgrant funds will be used to pre4 pare and provide ongoing assistance to staff in the 

5 programs, through professional development focused 

6 on the essential components of early literacy instruc7 tion, including onsite intensive mentoring by early 

8 childhood literacy coaches to provide high-quality lit9 eracy activities based on scientifically valid research 

10 on child development and learning for children from 

11 birth through kindergarten entry; 

12 (5) how the subgrant funds will be used to pro13 vide services, incorporate activities, and select and 

14 use literacy instructional materials that are based on 

15 scientifically valid research on child development and 

16 early learning; 

17 (6) how the subgrant funds will be used to pro18 vide— 

19 (A) screening assessments or other appro20 priate measures— 

21 (i) to effectively identify children from 

22 birth through kindergarten entry who may 

23 be at risk for delayed development or later 

24 academic difficulties; and 


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1 (ii) to determine whether such chil2 dren are developing the fundamental 

3 knowledge necessary for literacy, engage4 ment, development, and achievement in 

5 kindergarten and beyond; and 

6 (B) diagnostic assessments, as appropriate, 

7 to determine the need for additional services; 

8 (7) how the subgrant funds will be used to help 

9 instructional staff in the programs assisted under 

10 the subgrant to more effectively meet the diverse de11 velopmental and linguistic needs of children from 

12 birth through kindergarten entry in the community, 

13 including the needs of English language learners and 

14 children with disabilities; 

15 (8) how the subgrant funds will be used to en16 sure that parents receive instruction— 

17 (A) on their children’s early literacy devel18 opment; and 

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

20 literacy development at home; 

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

22 children, particularly children experiencing difficulty 

23 with spoken and written language, to make the tran24 sition from early education to formal classroom in25 struction; 


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1 (10) how the activities assisted under the 

2 subgrant will be coordinated with literacy instruction 

3 at the kindergarten through grade 3 levels; 

4 (11) how the eligible entity will— 

5 (A) evaluate the success of the activities 

6 supported under the subgrant in enhancing the 

7 early literacy development of children served 

8 under such subgrant; and 

9 (B) evaluate data for program improve10 ment; and 

11 (12) such other information as the State agency 

12 that oversees child care programs may require. 

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

14 agency that oversees child care programs shall— 

15 (1) award subgrants to eligible entities in ac16 cordance with this section based on the quality of 

17 applications submitted; and 

18 (2) prioritize awarding subgrants based on the 

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

20 (e) LOCAL USES OF FUNDS.— 

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 to support the development of early language and 


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1 literacy in children from birth through kindergarten 

2 entry: 

3 (A) Enhance and improve early learning 

4 programs to ensure that children in such pro5 grams are provided with high-quality, develop6 mentally appropriate oral language, literature7 and print-rich environments. 

8 (B) Provide high-quality professional devel9 opment on how children develop language and 

10 literacy skills (including children with disabil11 ities and English language learners), and the 

12 selection and integration of developmentally, 

13 linguistically, and culturally appropriate literacy 

14 instructional strategies, activities, and mate15 rials, which may include the use of an early lit16 eracy coach for the staff of the eligible entity, 

17 in such entity’s curriculum and activities. 

18 (C) Acquire, provide training for, and im19 plement, as appropriate— 

20 (i) screening assessments or other ap21 propriate measures to determine whether 

22 children from birth through kindergarten 

23 entry are developing appropriate early lan24 guage and literacy skills; and 


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1 (ii) diagnostic assessments, as appro2 priate, to determine the need for additional 

3 services. 

4 (D) Acquire, as appropriate, and integrate 

5 evidence-based instructional materials, activi6 ties, tools, and measures into the early learning 

7 programs offered by the eligible entity to im8 prove development of children’s early language 

9 and literacy skills. 

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

11 receives a subgrant under this section may use the 

12 subgrant funds to carry out either or both of the fol13 lowing activities to support the development of early 

14 language and literacy in children from birth through 

15 kindergarten entry: 

16 (A) Selecting, developing, and imple17 menting a multi-tier system of supports. 

18 (B) Providing activities that encourage 

19 family literacy experiences and practices and 

20 educate parents of children enrolled in a pro21 gram receiving funds under this section on the 

22 development of their children’s early literacy 

23 skills. 

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

25 data on any assessment authorized under this section to 


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1 provide rewards or sanctions for individual children, early 

2 learning providers, program directors, or principals is pro3 hibited. 

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

5 LITERACY FOR STUDENTS IN KINDERGARTEN 

6 THROUGH GRADE 12. 

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

8 use the implementation grant funds provided under sec9 tion 4(a)(2)(B) to award subgrants, on a competitive 

10 basis, to eligible entities to enable the eligible entities to 

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

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

13 awarded under this section shall be of sufficient size and 

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

15 described in subsection (e). 

16 (c) LOCAL APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity desir17 ing to receive a subgrant under this section shall submit 

18 an application to the State educational agency at such 

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

20 the State educational agency may require. Such applica21 tion shall include, the following information: 

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

23 entity’s capacity survey that— 

24 (A) identify— 


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1 (i) the strengths and weaknesses of 

2 such entity related to literacy; 

3 (ii) how subgrant funds will be used 

4 to inform and improve literacy instruction 

5 within such entity; and 

6 (iii) the demographic and socio7 economic information on the students en8 rolled in such entity; and 

9 (B) include an analysis, disaggregated by 

10 the subgroups described in section 

11 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the Elementary and 

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

13 6311(b)(2)(C)(v)(II)) and by grade level, of— 

14 (i) State scores on the reading or lan15 guage arts assessments conducted under 

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

17 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

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

19 (ii) National Assessment of Edu20 cational Progress reading scores, as appro21 priate; 

22 (iii) the percentage of students in 

23 need of reading and writing remediation; 

24 (iv) core course passing and failure 

25 rates for secondary school students; 


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1 (v) credit accumulation for secondary 

2 school students; and 

3 (vi) graduation rates. 

4 (2) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.—How each 

5 participating school, eligible entity, or a provider of 

6 high-quality professional development will provide 

7 ongoing high-quality professional development in 

8 language development, English language acquisition 

9 (as appropriate), and literacy instruction to all 

10 teachers, principals, and other school leaders served 

11 by the school. 

12 (3) INTERVENTIONS.—How each participating 

13 school will identify students in need of interventions 

14 and provide appropriate scientifically valid instruc15 tional interventions and extended learning time for 

16 struggling students. 

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

18 school that projects the cost of developing and im19 plementing literacy initiatives to carry out the activi20 ties described in subsection (e). 

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

22 participating school will integrate literacy instruction 

23 into core academic subjects. 

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

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1 tion with early education, after-school programs, and 

2 other programs serving students in the school, as 

3 appropriate. 

4 (7) ASSESSMENTS.—A description of the 

5 screening, diagnostic, formative, and summative as6 sessments that will be used in an assessment system 

7 to improve literacy instruction and track student lit8 eracy progress. 

9 (8) FAMILIES AND CAREGIVERS.—A description 

10 of how the families and caregivers will be involved 

11 in supporting their children’s literacy instruction 

12 and assessment. 

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

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

15 how these initiatives will be coordinated and inte16 grated with activities supported under this section. 

17 (10) PARTICIPATION IN EVALUATION.—An as18 surance that the eligible entity will, if requested, 

19 participate in the national evaluation described in 

20 section 10. 

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

22 educational agency shall— 

23 (1) award subgrants to eligible entities in ac24 cordance with this section based on the quality of 

25 applications submitted; and 


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1 (2) prioritize awarding subgrants to eligible en2 tities based on the criteria described in section 

3 6(b)(2)(F). 

4 (e) LOCAL USES OF FUNDS FOR KINDERGARTEN

5 THROUGH GRADE 12.— 

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

7 receives a subgrant under this section shall use the 

8 subgrant funds to carry out the following activities 

9 for students in kindergarten through grade 12: 

10 (A) Develop and implement a literacy ini11 tiative that— 

12 (i) includes all of the essential compo13 nents of reading and writing instruction; 

14 (ii) supports activities that are pro15 vided primarily during the regular school 

16 day but which may be augmented by in17 struction during nonschool hours or peri18 ods when school is not in session (such as 

19 before and after school or during summer 

20 recess); 

21 (iii) integrates literacy instruction into 

22 core academic subjects and, to the extent 

23 practicable, other subjects taught in a 

24 school, such as career and technical edu25 cation; and 


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1 (iv) addresses the literacy needs of 

2 English language learners and students 

3 with disabilities. 

4 (B) Form school literacy leadership teams 

5 to help implement, assess, and identify changes 

6 to the literacy initiative. 

7 (C) Provide high-quality, developmentally8 appropriate oral language, including listening 

9 and speaking, literature, and print-rich class10 room environments. 

11 (D) Provide high-quality professional de12 velopment for instructional staff, including lit13 eracy coaches and teachers of students with dis14 abilities and English language learners. 

15 (E) Select and administer screening and 

16 diagnostic assessments and support teachers’ 

17 use of formative assessments and assessment 

18 data to plan instruction. 

19 (F) Select and implement a multi-tier sys20 tem of supports that includes intensive, supple21 mental interventions for students in grades kin22 dergarten through grade 5 reading below grade 

23 level. 

24 (G) Provide training to principals and 

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1 menting the literacy initiative, particularly in 

2 the areas of— 

3 (i) utilizing data; 

4 (ii) assessing the quality of literacy in5 struction across content areas; and 

6 (iii) providing time and support for 

7 teachers to plan literacy instruction. 

8 (H) Provide family literacy services for 

9 students and their parents, including training 

10 to enable families and caregivers to support the 

11 literacy initiative. 

12 (I) Promote writing experiences and imple13 ment programs that instruct and engage stu14 dents in practicing writing for multiple audi15 ences and purposes appropriate to the interests 

16 and capacities of students. 

17 (J) Annually collect, analyze, and report 

18 data to the State educational agency. 

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

20 receives a subgrant under this section may use the 

21 subgrant funds to carry out the following activities 

22 for students in kindergarten through grade 12: 

23 (A) Acquire and utilize developmentally ap24 propriate instructional materials based on sciVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:05 Nov 08, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4037.IH H4037

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1 entifically valid research, including materials 

2 that utilize technology. 

3 (B) Hire and train literacy coaches. 

4 (C) Select and implement a multi-tier sys5 tem of supports that includes intensive, supple6 mental interventions for students in grades 6 

7 through 12 reading below grade level. 

8 (D) Promote reading, library, and writing 

9 programs that provide access to engaging read10 ing material in school and at home. 

11 (E) Connect out-of-school learning oppor12 tunities to in-school learning, including the 

13 alignment of after-school activities with in14 school curricula, in order to improve the literacy 

15 achievement of students. 

16 (F) Form an acting partnership with 1 or 

17 more public or private nonprofit organizations 

18 that have a demonstrated record of effective19 ness in improving literacy development or pro20 viding professional development aligned with 

21 the activities described in this subsection. 

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

23 entity receiving a subgrant under this section shall, in dis24 tributing subgrant funds under this subsection, provide 


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1 the subgrant funds only to schools, including public char2 ter schools, that— 

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

4 entity with the highest numbers or percentages of 

5 students in grades kindergarten through 12 reading 

6 and writing below grade level, based on the most 

7 current State data as available; and 

8 (2) have the highest numbers or percentages of 

9 children counted under section 1124(c) of the Ele10 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

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

12 SEC. 9. ADDITIONAL STATE ACTIVITIES. 

13 (a) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—A State educational 

14 agency, in consultation with the State agency that over15 sees child care programs, shall use funds made available 

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

17 6(a)(1)(D) to carry out each of the following activities: 

18 (1) Providing technical assistance or engaging 

19 qualified providers to provide such assistance, to as20 sist eligible entities to design and implement literacy 

21 initiatives. 

22 (2) Identifying and supporting high-quality pro23 fessional development in literacy instruction for eligi24 ble entities. 


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1 (3) Coordinating activities under this Act with 

2 reading, writing, and other literacy resources and 

3 programs across the State. 

4 (4) Disseminating information, including mak5 ing publicly available on the websites of the State 

6 educational agency and the State agency that over7 sees child care programs, on promising practices to 

8 improve children’s early literacy and language devel9 opment and student literacy achievement. 

10 (5) Reviewing and developing recommendations 

11 in collaboration with teachers, early childhood pro12 viders, statewide educational and professional orga13 nizations representing teachers, and statewide and 

14 educational and professional organizations rep15 resenting institutions of higher education, to 

16 strengthen State licensure and certification stand17 ards for literacy instruction in early education 

18 through grade 12. 

19 (6) Coordinating with institutions of higher 

20 education in the State to strengthen and enhance 

21 pre-service course work for students preparing to 

22 teach literacy to children and students from birth 

23 through grade 12. 

24 (7) Administration and reporting. 


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1 (b) PERMISSIVE ACTIVITIES.—A State educational 

2 agency, in collaboration with the State agency that over3 sees child care programs, may use funds made available 

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

5 6(a)(1)(D) to carry out 1 or more of the following activi6 ties: 

7 (1) Training personnel of eligible entities to use 

8 data systems to track student literacy achievement. 

9 (2) Developing and providing training to lit10 eracy coaches, including literacy coaches with exper11 tise in early literacy development, language develop12 ment, and adolescent literacy. 

13 SEC. 10. NATIONAL EVALUATION, INFORMATION DISSEMI14 NATION, AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 

15 (a) NATIONAL EVALUATION.— 

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

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

18 Secretary shall perform a 5-year national evaluation 

19 of the grant and subgrant programs assisted under 

20 this Act by entering into one or more contracts or 

21 cooperative agreements with independent organiza22 tions. Such evaluation shall include scientifically 

23 valid research that applies rigorous and systematic 

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1 plementation and effect of the programs assisted 

2 under this Act. 

3 (2) CONTENTS OF EVALUATION.—The evalua4 tion described in this subsection shall include an 

5 analysis of each of the following: 

6 (A) IMPACT.—The impact of literacy ini7 tiatives supported under this Act on improving 

8 early literacy skills and student academic out9 comes, including student literacy development 

10 in reading and writing, student literacy develop11 ment in other academic content areas, grade 

12 promotion, and graduation. 

13 (B) IMPLEMENTATION OF CORE FEA14 TURES.—The fidelity of implementation of core 

15 program features, such as coherence of program 

16 across grades, quality of technical assistance, 

17 State and school district leadership, profes18 sional development for teachers and administra19 tors, use of quality materials and pedagogy, and 

20 use of assessment. 

21 (C) OTHER INQUIRIES.—Other inquiries as 

22 designated by the Secretary, such as— 

23 (i) the types of literacy initiatives that 

24 have demonstrated the greatest impact on 

25 student achievement; 


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1 (ii) how State standards, local edu2 cational agency and school curricula, as3 sessments, and interventions combine to 

4 improve literacy; 

5 (iii) how screening, diagnostic, and 

6 formative assessments of reading and writ7 ing assist teachers in identifying students’ 

8 reading and writing needs; 

9 (iv) how job-embedded, ongoing, high10 quality professional development improves 

11 teacher practice and increases literacy 

12 skills of children and students; 

13 (v) the types of literacy activities that 

14 improve the early reading, writing, and 

15 language skills of children from birth 

16 through kindergarten entry; 

17 (vi) how early learning providers are 

18 being prepared with scientifically valid re19 search on early childhood literacy and lit20 eracy development; 

21 (vii) how early literacy instructional 

22 materials and activities based on scientif23 ically valid research are being integrated 

24 into preschools, child care programs and 

25 programs carried out under the Head 


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

2 family literacy programs; 

3 (viii) the impact of adolescent literacy 

4 initiatives on student motivation, engage5 ment, and participation in adolescent lit6 eracy activities; 

7 (ix) the impact of literacy initiatives 

8 on diverse learners, including English lan9 guage learners; and 

10 (x) the relationship between students’ 

11 literacy achievement and secondary school 

12 graduation rates. 

13 (3) REPORTS.— 

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

15 years after the date of the enactment of this 

16 Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress 

17 an interim report on the national evaluation 

18 conducted under this subsection. 

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

20 years after the date of the enactment of this 

21 Act, the Secretary shall submit a final report 

22 containing the results of the national evaluation 

23 conducted under this subsection to— 


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1 (i) State educational agencies and eli2 gible entities on a periodic basis for use in 

3 program improvement; and 

4 (ii) the Congress. 

5 (b) INFORMATION DISSEMINATION AND TECHNICAL

6 ASSISTANCE.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts reserved 

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

9 4(b), the Secretary shall, in collaboration with the 

10 Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Direc11 tor of the National Institute of Child Health and 

12 Human Development, regional educational labora13 tories established under section 174 of the Edu14 cation Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 

15 9564), and the comprehensive centers established 

16 under section 203 of the Educational Technical As17 sistance Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9602), distribute 

18 information and provide technical assistance on lit19 eracy instruction, including— 

20 (A) information on literacy instruction and 

21 the impact of the instruction on— 

22 (i) student achievement, motivation, 

23 and engagement for literacy; and 

24 (ii) student graduation with a sec25 ondary school diploma; 


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1 (B) information on elements of job-embed2 ded, ongoing, high-quality professional develop3 ment that improves literacy achievement in chil4 dren and students in early education through 

5 grade 12; and 

6 (C) information on schools, eligible enti7 ties, and States that have successfully improved 

8 literacy achievement in early education through 

9 grade 12. 

10 (2) DISSEMINATION AND COORDINATION.—The 

11 Secretary shall disseminate and make publicly avail12 able the information described in paragraph (1) to— 

13 (A) recipients of Federal financial assist14 ance under this Act, part A of title I of the Ele15 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

16 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.), the Head Start Act 

17 (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), the Individuals with 

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

19 seq.), and the Adult Education and Family Lit20 eracy Act (20 U.S.C. 9201 et seq.); and 

21 (B) each school operated or funded by the 

22 Bureau of Indian Education. 

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

24 subsection, the Secretary shall, to the extent prac25 ticable, use information and dissemination networks 


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1 developed and maintained through other public and 

2 private entities. 

3 SEC. 11. CONSEQUENCES OF INSUFFICIENT PROGRESS, RE4 PORTING REQUIREMENTS, AND CONFLICTS 

5 OF INTEREST. 

6 (a) CONSEQUENCES OF INSUFFICIENT PROGRESS.— 

7 (1) CONSEQUENCES FOR GRANT RECIPIENTS.— 

8 If the Secretary determines that a State educational 

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

10 eligible entity receiving a subgrant under section 7 

11 or 8 is not making significant progress in meeting 

12 the purposes of this Act after the submission of a 

13 report described in subsection (b), then the Sec14 retary may withhold, in whole or in part, further 

15 payments under this Act in accordance with section 

16 455 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 

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

18 by law as the Secretary determines necessary, in19 cluding providing technical assistance upon request 

20 of the State educational agency, or eligible entity, 

21 respectively. 

22 (2) CONSEQUENCES FOR SUBGRANT RECIPI23 ENTS.—A State educational agency or State agency 

24 that oversees child care programs, as appropriate, 

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


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1 award subgrant funds to an eligible entity under sec2 tion 7 or 8 if such State agency finds that the eligi3 ble entity is not making significant progress in meet4 ing the purposes of this Act, after— 

5 (A) providing technical assistance to the el6 igible entity; and 

7 (B) affording the eligible entity notice and 

8 an opportunity for a hearing. 

9 (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

10 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY REPORTS.— 

11 Each State educational agency receiving an award 

12 under section 6 shall report annually to the Sec13 retary regarding the State educational agency’s 

14 progress and the progress of the State agency that 

15 oversees child care programs in addressing the pur16 poses of this Act. Such report shall include, at a 

17 minimum, a description of— 

18 (A) the professional development activities 

19 provided under the award, including types of 

20 activities and entities involved in providing pro21 fessional development to early childhood pro22 viders, classroom teachers, and other instruc23 tional staff; 


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1 (B) instruction, strategies, activities, cur2 ricula, materials, and assessments used in the 

3 programs funded under the award; 

4 (C) the types of programs funded under 

5 the award and the ages, grade levels, and demo6 graphic information of children served by the 

7 programs funded under the award, except that 

8 individually identifiable information shall not be 

9 included; 

10 (D) the experience and qualifications of 

11 the instructional staff who provide literacy in12 struction under the programs funded under the 

13 award, including the experience and qualifica14 tions of those staff working with children with 

15 disabilities and with English language learners; 

16 (E) key data metrics used for literacy ini17 tiatives; 

18 (F) student performance on relevant pro19 gram metrics, as identified in the State edu20 cation agency’s implementation plan under sec21 tion 6(b)(2)(C), such as— 

22 (i) the number of students reading 

23 and writing on grade level by the end of 

24 the third grade, disaggregated by the sub25 groups described in section 


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1 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the Elementary 

2 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

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

4 (ii) the instruction and activities deliv5 ered to at-risk students served under the 

6 award; and 

7 (G) the outcomes of programs and activi8 ties provided under the award. 

9 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY REPORTS.—Each eligible 

10 entity receiving a subgrant under section 7 or 8 

11 shall report annually to the State educational agency 

12 or the State agency that oversees child care pro13 grams, as appropriate, regarding the eligible entity’s 

14 progress in addressing the purposes of this Act. 

15 Such report shall include, at a minimum, a descrip16 tion of— 

17 (A) how the subgrant funds were used; 

18 (B) the literacy achievement growth of stu19 dents, including children who are English lan20 guage learners and children with disabilities, as21 sisted under the subgrant; 

22 (C) the professional development of activi23 ties provided under the award, including types 

24 of activities and entities involved in providing 

25 professional development to early childhood proVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:05 Nov 08, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00058 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4037.IH H4037

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1 viders, classroom teachers, and other instruc2 tional staff; 

3 (D) instruction, strategies, activities, cur4 ricula, materials, and assessments used in the 

5 programs funded under the award; 

6 (E) the types of programs funded under 

7 the award and the ages, grade levels, and demo8 graphic information of children served by the 

9 programs funded under the award, except that 

10 individually identifiable information shall not be 

11 included; 

12 (F) the experience and qualifications of the 

13 instructional staff who provide literacy instruc14 tion under the programs funded under the 

15 award, including the experience and qualifica16 tions of those staff working with children with 

17 disabilities and with English language learners; 

18 (G) key data metrics used for literacy ini19 tiatives; 

20 (H) student performance on relevant pro21 gram metrics, as identified in the State edu22 cation agency’s implementation plan under sec23 tion 6(b)(2)(C), such as— 

24 (i) the number of students reading 

25 and writing on grade level by the end of 


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1 the third grade, disaggregated by the sub2 groups described in section 

3 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the Elementary 

4 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

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

6 (ii) the instruction and activities deliv7 ered to at-risk students served under the 

8 award; 

9 (I) the outcomes of programs and activities 

10 provided under the award; and 

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

12 the Secretary determines applicable. 

13 (c) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.— 

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

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

16 of Education shall create and implement proce17 dures— 

18 (A) to assess whether a covered individual 

19 or entity has a potential conflict of interest; and 

20 (B) to require the disclosure and mitiga21 tion of any such conflict of interest to ensure 

22 the integrity of the related program. 

23 (2) EVALUATION BY THE COMPTROLLER GEN24 ERAL.— 


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

2 after the creation of the procedures described in 

3 paragraph (1), the Comptroller General of the 

4 United States shall report to the Committee on 

5 Education and Labor of the House of Rep6 resentatives and the Committee on Health, 

7 Education, Labor and Pensions of the Senate 

8 on the adequacy of such procedures to identify, 

9 disclose, and manage conflicts of interest. 

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

11 months after the report described in subpara12 graph (A) is filed, the Comptroller General shall 

13 evaluate the Department’s implementation of 

14 the procedures described in paragraph (1) and 

15 report to the Committee on Education and 

16 Labor of the House of Representatives and the 

17 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

18 Pensions of the Senate every 6 months to en19 sure that the Department has adequately imple20 mented such procedures. The Comptroller Gen21 eral shall include in the reports any rec22 ommendations for modifications to such proce23 dures that the Comptroller General determines 

24 are appropriate to properly identify, disclose, 

25 and manage conflicts of interest. 


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

2 subsection: 

3 (A) The term ‘‘covered individual or enti4 ty’’ means— 

5 (i) an officer or professional employee 

6 of the Department of Education; 

7 (ii) a contractor or subcontractor of 

8 the Department, or an individual hired by 

9 the contracted entity; 

10 (iii) a member of a peer review panel 

11 described in section 4(c); or 

12 (iv) a consultant or advisor to the De13 partment. 

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

15 a financial interest or other self-interest that a 

16 reasonable person would expect to lead to an 

17 undue bias, or the appearance of such bias, to18 wards a particular product or service purchased 

19 with, guaranteed or insured by, or under con20 sideration for purchase with, or to be guaran21 teed or insured by, funds administered by the 

22 Department of Education or a contracted entity 

23 of the Department. 


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1 SEC. 12. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

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

3 shall be construed to prohibit students eligible for assist4 ance under title I or III of the Elementary and Secondary 

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

6 seq.) or students eligible for assistance under the Individ7 uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et 

8 seq.) from receiving literacy instruction and intervention 

9 under this Act. 

10 (b) IDEA EVALUATION.—The assessments required 

11 under this Act shall not be construed to constitute an eval12 uation required under the Individuals with Disabilities 

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

14 SEC. 13. DEFINITIONS. 

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

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

17 given such terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and 

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

19 (b) OTHER TERMS.—In this Act: 

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

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

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

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

24 (2) DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT.—The term ‘‘di25 agnostic assessment’’ means an assessment that— 


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1 (A) is developmentally, linguistically, and 

2 culturally appropriate; 

3 (B) is valid, reliable, and based on scientif4 ically valid research on literacy and English lan5 guage acquisition; 

6 (C) is used for the purposes of— 

7 (i) identifying a student’s specific 

8 areas of strengths and weaknesses in lit9 eracy; 

10 (ii) determining any difficulties that 

11 the student may have in literacy and the 

12 potential cause of such difficulties; and 

13 (iii) helping to determine possible lit14 eracy intervention strategies and related 

15 special needs of the student; and 

16 (D) in the case of young children, is con17 ducted after a screening assessment that identi18 fies potential risks for delayed development or 

19 later academic difficulties. 

20 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti21 ty’’ means— 

22 (A) when used with respect to children 

23 from birth through kindergarten entry— 

24 (i) 1 or more local educational agen25 cies providing early learning programs, or 


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1 1 or more public or private early learning 

2 programs, serving children from birth 

3 through kindergarten entry, such as a 

4 Head Start agency, a child care program, 

5 a State-funded pre-kindergarten program, 

6 a public library program, or a family lit7 eracy program that has a demonstrated 

8 record of providing effective literacy in9 struction for the age group such agency or 

10 program is proposing to serve under sec11 tion 7; or 

12 (ii) 1 or more local educational agen13 cies providing early learning programs, or 

14 1 or more public or private early learning 

15 programs, serving children from birth 

16 through kindergarten entry, such as a 

17 Head Start agency, a child care program, 

18 a State-funded pre-kindergarten program, 

19 a public library program, or a family lit20 eracy program in partnership with 1 or 

21 more public or private nonprofit organiza22 tions or agencies that have a demonstrated 

23 record of effectiveness— 


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1 (I) in improving the early literacy 

2 development of children from birth 

3 through kindergarten entry; and 

4 (II) in providing professional de5 velopment aligned with the activities 

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

7 (B) when used with respect to students in 

8 kindergarten through grade 12, a local edu9 cational agency or consortium of local edu10 cational agencies that— 

11 (i) is among the local educational 

12 agencies in the State with the highest 

13 numbers or percentages of students read14 ing and writing below grade level, based on 

15 the most current State data, where avail16 able; and 

17 (ii) has the highest numbers or per18 centages of children who are counted under 

19 section 1124(c) of the Elementary and 

20 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

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

22 local educational agencies in the State. 

23 (4) ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘English lan25 guage acquisition’’ means the process by which 


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1 a non-native English speaker acquires pro2 ficiency in speaking, listening, reading, and 

3 writing the English language. 

4 (B) INCLUSION FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE

5 LEARNERS IN SCHOOL.—For an English lan6 guage learner in school, such term includes not 

7 only the social language proficiency needed to 

8 participate in the school environment, but also 

9 the academic language proficiency needed to ac10 quire literacy and academic content and dem11 onstrate the student’s learning. 

12 (5) ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER.—The term 

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

14 is limited English proficient, as defined in section 

15 9101(25) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu16 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(25)). 

17 (6) ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF EARLY LIT18 ERACY INSTRUCTION.—The term ‘‘essential compo19 nents of early literacy instruction’’ means providing, 

20 for children prior to the age of kindergarten entry, 

21 interactive experiences in a print- and literacy-rich 

22 environment that promote the development of— 

23 (A) oral language, including vocabulary, 

24 grammar, and syntax; 


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1 (B) motivational aspects of early literacy, 

2 including enjoyment of reading and books; 

3 (C) book-reading behaviors, including book 

4 handling and orientation; 

5 (D) recognition and understanding of pic6 tures and story concepts; 

7 (E) concepts about print; 

8 (F) alphabet knowledge; 

9 (G) phonological awareness, including the 

10 awareness of rhymes, sounds, and syllables; 

11 (H) emergent writing skills, including use 

12 of writing materials; and 

13 (I) integration of print concepts into play. 

14 (7) ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF READING AND

15 WRITING INSTRUCTION.—The term ‘‘essential com16 ponents of reading and writing instruction’’ means, 

17 for students in kindergarten through grade 12, de18 velopmentally appropriate, explicit, and systematic 

19 instruction that provides students the following: 

20 (A) With respect to students in kinder21 garten through grade 12— 

22 (i) high-quality professional develop23 ment for teachers, instructional staff, and 

24 principals; 


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1 (ii) diverse texts at the appropriate 

2 reading and interest level of students; 

3 (iii) differentiated instructional ap4 proaches; 

5 (iv) instruction and supports to in6 crease students’ motivation to read, includ7 ing self-directed learning; 

8 (v) as appropriate, systematic and in9 tensive one-to-one and small group instruc10 tion, including extended time for intense 

11 intervention for students reading signifi12 cantly below grade level, which can be pro13 vided both inside and outside the classroom 

14 as well as during and outside regular 

15 school hours; 

16 (vi) opportunities to write individually 

17 and collaboratively; 

18 (vii) instruction in uses of print mate19 rials, multimedia, and technological re20 sources for research and for generating 

21 and presenting content and ideas; and 

22 (viii) use of screening, diagnostic, 

23 formative, and summative assessments. 

24 (B) With respect to students in grades kin25 dergarten through grade 3— 


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1 (i) strategic and explicit instruction 

2 using phonological awareness, phonic de3 coding, vocabulary, language structure, 

4 reading fluency and reading comprehen5 sion; 

6 (ii) use of oral modeling techniques to 

7 build language skills; and 

8 (iii) coordinated involvement of fami9 lies, caregivers, school leaders, and instruc10 tional staff. 

11 (C) With respect to students in grades 4 

12 through 12— 

13 (i) direct and explicit comprehension 

14 instruction; 

15 (ii) direct and explicit instruction that 

16 builds academic vocabulary; 

17 (iii) multiple opportunities to write 

18 with clear purposes and critical reasoning 

19 appropriate to the topic and purpose and 

20 with specific instruction and feedback from 

21 teachers; 

22 (iv) text-based collaborative learning; 

23 and 

24 (v) coordinated involvement of school 

25 leaders and instructional staff that are 


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1 interdisciplinary and interdepartmental 

2 and that analyze student work over time 

3 and plan literacy instruction. 

4 (8) FAMILY LITERACY SERVICES.—The term 

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

6 participants on a voluntary basis that are of suffi7 cient intensity in terms of hours, and of sufficient 

8 duration, to make sustainable changes in a family, 

9 and that integrate all of the following activities: 

10 (A) Interactive literacy activities between 

11 parents and their children. 

12 (B) Training for parents regarding how to 

13 be the primary teacher for their children and 

14 full partners in the education of their children. 

15 (C) Parent literacy training that leads to 

16 economic self-sufficiency. 

17 (D) An age-appropriate education to pre18 pare children for success in school and life ex19 periences. 

20 (9) FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT.—The term 

21 ‘‘formative assessment’’ means assessment ques22 tions, tools, and processes that are— 

23 (A) developmentally, linguistically, and cul24 turally appropriate; 

25 (B) embedded in instruction; and 


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1 (C) used by teachers and students to pro2 vide timely feedback for purposes of adjusting 

3 instruction to improve learning. 

4 (10) HIGH-QUALITY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOP5 MENT.—The term ‘‘high-quality professional devel6 opment’’ means professional development that— 

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

8 on scientifically valid research; 

9 (B) is sustained, intensive, and classroom 

10 focused, and may include a 1-day or short-term 

11 workshop or conference, if such workshop or 

12 conference is part of a professional development 

13 plan for the attendee; 

14 (C) is designed to increase the knowledge 

15 and expertise of instructional staff in imple16 menting the essential components of early lit17 eracy instruction and the essential components 

18 of reading and writing instruction, as appro19 priate; 

20 (D) includes and supports early learning 

21 providers and teachers in appropriately and ef22 fectively administering screening and diagnostic 

23 assessments, and in using information from 

24 such assessments when implementing the essen25 tial components of early literacy instruction and 


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1 the essential components of reading and writing 

2 instruction for the purposes of planning, moni3 toring, adapting, and improving classroom in4 struction in order to improve student learning, 

5 as appropriate; 

6 (E) supports the integration of literacy in7 struction in core academic subjects and, to the 

8 extent practicable, other subjects taught at 

9 school, such as career and technical education; 

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

11 small group, and classroom-based instructional 

12 materials and approaches based on scientifically 

13 valid research on literacy; 

14 (G) provides ongoing instructional literacy 

15 coaching— 

16 (i) to ensure high-quality implementa17 tion of effective practices of literacy in18 struction that is content centered, collabo19 rative, and school and classroom embed20 ded; and 

21 (ii) that uses student data to improve 

22 instruction; 

23 (H) includes and supports teachers in set24 ting high reading and writing achievement goals 

25 for all students and provides the teachers with 


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1 the instructional tools and skills, including 

2 strategies consistent with the principles of uni3 versal design for learning, to help students 

4 reach such goals. 

5 (11) INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘instruc7 tional staff’’ means individuals who have re8 sponsibility for teaching students to read and 

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

10 kindergarten entry, teaching early literacy skills 

11 and language development. 

12 (B) INCLUSIONS.—Such term includes 

13 principals, teachers, early learning providers, 

14 supervisors of instruction, pupil services per15 sonnel, librarians, library school media special16 ists, teachers of academic subjects other than 

17 reading or writing, other school leaders, literacy 

18 coaches, and other individuals who have respon19 sibility for assisting children to learn to read 

20 and write. 

21 (12) LITERACY COACH.—The term ‘‘literacy 

22 coach’’ means a professional— 

23 (A) who— 

24 (i) has previous teaching experience 

25 and— 


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1 (I) for the purpose of literacy 

2 coaches working with early learning 

3 programs, has expertise in early child4 hood development and early literacy; 

5 (II) for the purpose of literacy 

6 coaches working with kindergarten 

7 through grade 12— 

8 (aa) a master’s degree with 

9 a concentration in reading and 

10 writing education; or 

11 (bb) has demonstrated pro12 ficiency in teaching reading or 

13 writing in a core academic sub14 ject; and 

15 (ii) is able to demonstrate the ability 

16 to help early learning providers or teach17 ers— 

18 (I) use evidence-based research 

19 on how children and students become 

20 successful readers, writers, and com21 municators; 

22 (II) use multiple forms of assess23 ment to guide instructional decision 

24 making; 


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1 (III) for the purpose of literacy 

2 coaches working with— 

3 (aa) early learning pro4 grams, support and coordinate 

5 the language and literacy cur6 ricula and activities with the 

7 overall early childhood education 

8 program; and 

9 (bb) teachers in kinder10 garten through grade 12, im11 prove student writing and read12 ing in and across content areas 

13 such as mathematics, science, so14 cial studies, and language arts; 

15 (IV) develop and implement dif16 ferentiated instruction to serve the 

17 needs of diverse learners, including 

18 English language learners and chil19 dren with disabilities; 

20 (V) use the principles of uni21 versal design for learning in instruc22 tional strategies and in selecting ma23 terials and tools to serve the diverse 

24 needs of all learners, including 


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1 English language learners and chil2 dren with disabilities; 

3 (VI) employ best practices in en4 gaging principals, teachers, early 

5 learning providers, and other edu6 cation staff to change school cultures 

7 to better encourage and support lit8 eracy development and achievement; 

9 (VII) use data to improve in10 struction; and 

11 (VIII) for the purpose of literacy 

12 coaches working with— 

13 (aa) early learning pro14 grams, set developmentally ap15 propriate early literacy goals and 

16 select and acquire instructional 

17 tools and skills to help children 

18 reach such goals; 

19 (bb) kindergarten through 

20 grade 12, set high reading and 

21 writing achievement goals for all 

22 students and select and acquire 

23 instructional tools and skills to 

24 help students reach such goals; 

25 and 


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1 (B) whose role with early learning pro2 viders, teachers and school personnel is— 

3 (i) to provide high-quality professional 

4 development opportunities in literacy and 

5 language development for early learning 

6 providers, teachers and school personnel, 

7 including in the case of early learning pro8 viders, helping staff in planning and imple9 mentation of ongoing professional develop10 ment; 

11 (ii) to work cooperatively and collabo12 ratively with principals, teachers, early 

13 learning providers and other professionals 

14 in planning programs to help, as appro15 priate— 

16 (I) early learning providers iden17 tify children’s early literacy needs so 

18 that such providers can meet the early 

19 literacy needs of children at risk for 

20 delayed development and later aca21 demic difficulties; 

22 (II) teachers identify student lit23 eracy needs and teach literacy across 

24 the content areas so that the teachers 


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1 can meet the needs of students read2 ing and writing below grade level; and 

3 (iii) to work cooperatively and collabo4 ratively with other professionals in plan5 ning programs to help early learning pro6 viders and teachers teach literacy across 

7 content areas so that the early learning 

8 providers and teachers can meet the needs 

9 of diverse learners, including children with 

10 disabilities, English language learners, and 

11 students who are reading at grade level. 

12 (13) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

13 ‘‘local educational agency’’— 

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

15 section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary 

16 Education Act of 1965; and 

17 (B) includes any public charter school that 

18 constitutes a local educational agency under 

19 State law. 

20 (14) MULTI-TIER SYSTEM OF SUPPORTS.—The 

21 term ‘‘multi-tier system of supports’’ means a com22 prehensive system of differentiated supports that in23 cludes evidence-based instruction, universal screen24 ing, progress monitoring, formative assessment, and 

25 research-based interventions matched to student 


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1 needs, and educational decisionmaking using student 

2 outcome data. 

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

4 complex system of deriving meaning from print that 

5 requires all of the following: 

6 (A) The skills and knowledge to under7 stand how phonemes, or speech sounds, are 

8 connected to print. 

9 (B) The ability to decode unfamiliar words. 

10 (C) The ability to read fluently. 

11 (D) Sufficient background information and 

12 vocabulary to foster reading comprehension. 

13 (E) The development of appropriate active 

14 strategies to construct meaning from print. 

15 (F) The development and maintenance of a 

16 motivation to read. 

17 (16) SCHOOL LEADER.—The term ‘‘school lead18 er’’ means an individual who— 

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

20 and 

21 (B) is responsible for— 

22 (i) the school’s performance; and 

23 (ii) the daily instructional and mana24 gerial operations of the school. 


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1 (17) SCIENTIFICALLY VALID RESEARCH.—The 

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

3 given the term in section 200 of the Higher Edu4 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021). 

5 (18) SCREENING ASSESSMENT.—The term 

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

7 (A) is developmentally, linguistically, and 

8 culturally appropriate; 

9 (B) is valid, reliable, and based on scientif10 ically valid research on literacy and English lan11 guage acquisition; and 

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

13 in identifying children who may be at high risk 

14 for delayed development or later academic dif15 ficulties and in need of further diagnosis of the 

16 children’s need for special services or additional 

17 literacy instruction. 

18 (19) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

19 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Com20 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 

21 Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Common22 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

23 (20) STATE LITERACY LEADERSHIP TEAM.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (i) APPOINTMENT; RESPONSIBILITY; 

2 COMPOSITION.—The term ‘‘State literacy 

3 leadership team’’ means a team that— 

4 (I) is appointed and coordinated 

5 by the State educational agency, ex6 cept that individuals described in sub7 clauses (I)(aa), (I)(hh), and (II)(gg) 

8 of clause (ii) shall be appointed by the 

9 State agency that oversees child care 

10 programs; and 

11 (II) is composed of not less than 

12 13 individuals and includes the indi13 viduals described in clause (ii). 

14 (ii) INDIVIDUALS INCLUDED.—A 

15 State literacy team— 

16 (I) shall include— 

17 (aa) an individual who has 

18 literacy expertise with respect to 

19 children from birth through kin20 dergarten entry; 

21 (bb) an individual who has 

22 literacy expertise with respect to 

23 students in kindergarten through 

24 grade 5; 


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1 (cc) an individual who has 

2 literacy expertise with respect to 

3 students in grades 6 through 12; 

4 (dd) a school principal; 

5 (ee) a special education 

6 teacher with literacy expertise; 

7 (ff) a representative from 

8 the family literacy community; 

9 (gg) a teacher or adminis10 trator with expertise in teaching 

11 English language learners; 

12 (hh) a representative from 

13 the States agency that oversees 

14 child care programs; 

15 (ii) a representative from 

16 the State educational agency who 

17 oversees literacy initiatives; and 

18 (jj) a representative from 

19 higher education who is actively 

20 involved in research, develop21 ment, and teacher preparation in 

22 literacy instruction and interven23 tion based on scientifically valid 

24 research; and 

25 (II) may include— 


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1 (aa) a literacy specialist 

2 serving in a school district within 

3 the State; 

4 (bb) a literacy coach; 

5 (cc) a library media spe6 cialist; 

7 (dd) a school counselor; 

8 (ee) a teacher of a core aca9 demic subject; 

10 (ff) a special education ad11 ministrator; 

12 (gg) an early learning pro13 vider; 

14 (hh) a college or university 

15 professor; 

16 (ii) a parent; 

17 (jj) a business leader; 

18 (kk) a representative from 

19 the Governor’s office; 

20 (ll) a representative from 

21 the State board of education; 

22 (mm) a representative from 

23 the State legislature; 

24 (nn) a nonprofit and com25 munity-based organization proVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:50 Nov 08, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00084 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4037.IH H4037

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1 viding literacy instruction and 

2 support; and 

3 (oo) a representative from a 

4 school district superintendent’s 

5 office. 

6 (B) INCLUSION OF A PREEXISTING PART7 NERSHIP.—If, before the date of the enactment 

8 of this Act, a State educational agency estab9 lished a consortium, partnership, or any other 

10 similar body that was considered a literacy 

11 partnership for purposes of subpart 1 or 2 of 

12 part B of title I of the Elementary and Sec13 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6361 

14 et seq., 6371 et seq.) and that includes the indi15 viduals required under subparagraph (A)(ii)(I), 

16 such consortium, partnership, or body may be 

17 considered a State literacy leadership team for 

18 purposes of subparagraph (A). 

19 (21) STUDENT WITH A DISABILITY.—The term 

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

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

22 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 

23 (20 U.S.C. 1401(3)). 


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1 (22) SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT.—The term 

2 ‘‘summative assessment’’ means an assessment 

3 that— 

4 (A) is developmentally, linguistically, and 

5 culturally appropriate; 

6 (B) is valid, reliable, and based on scientif7 ically valid research on literacy and English lan8 guage acquisition; and 

9 (C) measures what students have learned 

10 over time. 

11 (23) UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING.—The 

12 term ‘‘universal design for learning’’ has the mean13 ing given the term in section 103 of the Higher 

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

15 (24) WRITING.—The term ‘‘writing’’ means— 

16 (A) the ability to compose meaning and 

17 print to communicate ideas, including the use of 

18 vocabulary, tone, and genre to fit purpose, audi19 ence and occasion; 

20 (B) the use of conventions such as spelling 

21 and punctuation; and 

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

23 clarity of ideas, coherence, logical development, 

24 and precision of language use. 


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1 SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this Act— 

4 (1) $2,350,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

5 (2) $2,350,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

6 (3) $2,350,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; 

7 (4) $2,350,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; and 

8 (5) $2,350,000,000 for fiscal year 2014. 

Æ 


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