I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6328 

To promote equity in advanced coursework and programs at elementary 

and secondary schools. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 9, 2023 

Mr. CASTRO of Texas (for himself, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. NORTON, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. ESPAILLAT, and Mr. RUIZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To promote equity in advanced coursework and programs 

at elementary and secondary schools. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Advanced Coursework 

5 Equity Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purposes of this Act are— 


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1 (1) to expand access to advanced courses and 

2 programs at under-resourced elementary and sec3 ondary schools; 

4 (2) to advance equitable enrollment practices, 

5 so that all students who are ready to engage in more 

6 rigorous coursework can benefit from advanced 

7 courses and programs; and 

8 (3) to equip dramatically more students, espe9 cially students from historically underrepresented 

10 groups, with twenty-first century skills in the fields 

11 of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 

12 (referred to in this Act as ‘‘STEM’’) needed to suc13 ceed in college and a competitive global workforce. 

14 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

15 Congress finds the following: 

16 (1) Black, Latino, and Native American stu17 dents, students with disabilities, English learners, 

18 and students from low-income families are underrep19 resented in advanced programs and courses. 

20 (2) While 1 in 10 students in schools in the 

21 United States participate in the Advanced Place22 ment (AP) program, just over 1 in 20 low-income, 

23 Black, and Native American students participate in 

24 Advanced Placement, 1 in 50 English learners par25 ticipate, and fewer than 1 in 50 students with disVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Nov 22, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6328.IH H6328

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1 abilities participate. One in 10 White students, 1 in 

2 15 Latino students, and 1 in 20 Black students par3 ticipate in dual enrollment programs. 

4 (3) Taking the mathematics course Algebra 1 

5 in grade 8 is necessary for most students to be on 

6 track for enrolling in advanced math courses in high 

7 school. If Black and Latino students had a fair op8 portunity to participate in eighth grade Algebra I 

9 across the country, schools would enroll an addi10 tional 43,019 Black students and 59,452 Latino stu11 dents in eighth grade Algebra I courses. The De12 partment of Education reported that in the 2015– 

13 2016 school year, only 48 percent of schools with 

14 high concentrations of English learners offered Alge15 bra I compared with 70 percent of schools with low 

16 concentrations of English learner students. In the 

17 same year, just 2 percent of English learner stu18 dents nationwide were enrolled in Algebra I in grade 

19 8. 

20 (4) A low-income student with reading and 

21 math achievement levels equal to those of a high-in22 come student is half as likely to receive gifted serv23 ices as the high-income student. Black students are 

24 approximately half as likely as White peers with the 


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1 same mathematics and reading achievement levels to 

2 be referred to gifted services. 

3 (5) A major barrier for Black and Latino stu4 dents and students with disabilities to access ad5 vanced courses and programs is the over-reliance on 

6 subjective criteria, such as the recommendation of 

7 teachers and counselors, in the advanced course ad8 mittance process. When Denver Public Schools im9 plemented universal screening for gifted and talented 

10 programs, Latino students were identified for the 

11 program at twice the rate as the year before. 

12 (6) Just 1 in 12 students in the United States 

13 scored in the top 2 proficiency levels on the 2018 

14 PISA math assessment. This is below the 

15 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Devel16 opment (OECD) average and less than half the rate 

17 of South Korea, Japan, and Switzerland. 

18 (7) Public elementary schools and secondary 

19 schools face a $305,000,000,000 budget shortfall 

20 due to COVID–19 related tax revenue decreases and 

21 new COVID–19 related expenses. As school districts 

22 prepare to make drastic cuts to educational pro23 gramming, access to advanced coursework and pro24 grams is in jeopardy for millions of students, espe25 cially students from underrepresented groups and 


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1 students attending under-resourced schools. Addi2 tional funding and reforms are needed to maintain 

3 and expand access to advanced coursework and pro4 grams, especially for marginalized students in com5 munities hit hardest by the COVID–19 pandemic. 

6 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) TERMS FROM THE ELEMENTARY AND SEC9 ONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.—The terms 

10 ‘‘early college high school’’, ‘‘elementary school’’, 

11 ‘‘English learner’’, ‘‘gifted and talented’’, ‘‘institu12 tion of higher education’’, ‘‘parent’’, ‘‘school leader’’, 

13 ‘‘secondary school’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ 

14 have the meaning given those terms in section 8101 

15 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

16 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

17 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

18 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

19 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec20 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801), 

21 and includes a public charter school that is a local 

22 educational agency. 

23 (3) OPEN ENROLLMENT.—The term ‘‘open en24 rollment’’ means an enrollment mechanism through 

25 which any student that chooses to enroll in an adVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Nov 22, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6328.IH H6328

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1 vanced course or program is allowed to do so, with2 out regard to previous academic performance or test 

3 scores. 

4 (4) SUBGROUP OF STUDENTS.—The term ‘‘sub5 group of students’’ has the meaning given that term 

6 in section 1111(c)(2) of the Elementary and Sec7 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

8 6311(c)(2)). 

9 (5) UNIVERSAL SCREENING.—The term ‘‘uni10 versal screening’’ means an enrollment mechanism 

11 through which all students in a grade are screened 

12 for enrollment in advanced courses and programs. 

13 Students that are determined to be qualified for ad14 vanced courses or programs are automatically en15 rolled in those courses or programs, unless a parent 

16 chooses to opt out a student. The determination of 

17 which students are qualified for advanced courses or 

18 programs— 

19 (A) shall be made after consideration of 

20 not less than 2 objective assessments (except 

21 that a student may qualify based on only 1 

22 such assessment)— 

23 (i) that are combined in a reasoned 

24 way that is not biased against any par25 ticular subgroup of students; 


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1 (ii) that provide appropriate accom2 modations for students with disabilities; 

3 (iii) that may be administered not ex4 plicitly for the primary purpose of deter5 mining enrollment in an advanced course 

6 or program (such as through a statewide 

7 exam that all students in a grade will 

8 take), so long as students with disabilities 

9 have equal access to the assessment and 

10 are provided appropriate accommodations 

11 in accordance with the Individuals with 

12 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

13 1400 et seq.) and section 504 of the Reha14 bilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794); 

15 and 

16 (iv) that may include— 

17 (I) a standardized assessment 

18 that provides appropriate accommoda19 tions for students with disabilities in 

20 accordance with the Individuals with 

21 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

22 1400 et seq.) and section 504 of the 

23 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

24 794); 


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1 (II) a statewide, districtwide, or 

2 schoolwide assessment; or 

3 (III) grades from relevant 

4 courses, a portfolio of relevant work, 

5 or class ranking; and 

6 (B) may be partially based upon a subjec7 tive measure (such as a teacher’s recommenda8 tion) in addition to the required 2 objective 

9 measures. 

10 SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 

12 (1) conduct 3 separate grant programs, by— 

13 (A) awarding not less than 80 percent of 

14 the amounts authorized to be appropriated 

15 under section 9 to State educational agencies to 

16 allow those State educational agencies to award 

17 subgrants to participating local educational 

18 agencies, including public charter schools, to en19 able those local educational agencies to carry 

20 out the activities described in section 7; 

21 (B) awarding not less than 15 percent of 

22 the amounts authorized to be appropriated 

23 under section 9 to participating local edu24 cational agencies to allow those local eduVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Nov 22, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6328.IH H6328

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1 cational agencies to carry out the activities de2 scribed in section 7; and 

3 (C) awarding not more than 4 percent of 

4 the amounts authorized to be appropriated 

5 under section 9 to an institution of higher edu6 cation or other nonprofit entity that has a dem7 onstrated record of effectiveness in delivering or 

8 designing advanced coursework or programs 

9 (such as by previously executing a successful 

10 project that was part of the Jacob K. Javits 

11 Gifted and Talented Students Education Pro12 gram under section 4644 of the Elementary 

13 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

14 U.S.C. 7294)), to enable that institution or en15 tity to provide services to students in rural 

16 areas and students who otherwise lack access to 

17 advanced courses or programs; and 

18 (2) reserve not more than 1 percent of the 

19 amounts authorized to be appropriated under section 

20 9 for the Department of Education to administer the 

21 program under this Act, provide technical assistance 

22 to grantees, evaluate grantees’ performance (as re23 quired by this Act), and disseminate information 

24 about findings and best practices related to the ac25 tivities authorized under this Act. 


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1 (b) APPLICATION.— 

2 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—A State 

3 educational agency desiring to receive a grant under 

4 subsection (a)(1)(A) shall submit an application to 

5 the Secretary during the first year of the 3-year 

6 grant cycle, and at such time and in such manner 

7 as the Secretary may require. The application shall 

8 include the following: 

9 (A) An assurance that memoranda of un10 derstanding, as described in section 6(c), have 

11 been executed between the State educational 

12 agency and not less than 50 percent of the local 

13 educational agencies in the State, representing 

14 not less than 50 percent of all students in the 

15 State, to participate in the grant program and 

16 fulfill the program obligations. 

17 (B) A list of the participating local edu18 cational agencies that have executed such 

19 memoranda, and the percentage of the State’s 

20 public school students who are served by those 

21 local educational agencies. 

22 (C) A plan for supporting participating 

23 local educational agencies with implementing 

24 programs and activities to improve enrollment 

25 in all advanced courses or programs offered by 


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1 the local educational agency and improving stu2 dent preparation for and participation in path3 ways to postsecondary education in STEM 

4 fields, which may include— 

5 (i) using data from evidence-based 

6 early warning indicator systems; and 

7 (ii) other evidence-based activities, in8 cluding open enrollment or universal 

9 screening. 

10 (D) A plan to assemble a statewide advi11 sory council of students from underrepresented 

12 subgroups of students, and parents or guard13 ians of students from those subgroups, with at 

14 least 2 members of each subgroup of students. 

15 The plan shall explain how the council will be 

16 involved in the State educational agency’s im17 plementation of the grant, as well as oversight 

18 and evaluation of the grant. 

19 (E) A plan for supporting participating 

20 local educational agencies in collecting and re21 porting data about advanced coursework enroll22 ment and student performance data, including 

23 data disaggregated and cross-tabulated by race 

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1 economic status, and status as an English 

2 learner. 

3 (F) A description of ambitious 3-year en4 rollment and performance goals for each sub5 group of students, and intermediate annual tar6 gets for each subgroup of students, to bridge 

7 statewide inequities (according to race and eth8 nicity, sex, disability status, socioeconomic sta9 tus, and status as an English learner) in ad10 vanced coursework or program participation 

11 and performance. 

12 (G) A proposed budget for how the State 

13 educational agency will spend funding awarded 

14 through the grant. 

15 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—A local 

16 educational agency desiring to receive a grant under 

17 subsection (a)(1)(B) shall be eligible to apply for a 

18 grant if the local educational agency is not also seek19 ing a subgrant from a State educational agency that 

20 receives a grant under this Act. A local educational 

21 agency shall submit an application to the Secretary 

22 at such time and in such manner as the Secretary 

23 may require. The application shall include the fol24 lowing: 

25 (A) An assurance that— 


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1 (i) the local educational agency is not 

2 also seeking a subgrant from a State edu3 cational agency that receives a grant under 

4 this Act during the applicable grant cycle; 

5 and 

6 (ii) the local educational agency has a 

7 high student poverty ratio (as measured by 

8 comparing the number of students meeting 

9 at least one measure of poverty described 

10 in section 1113(a)(5) of the Elementary 

11 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

12 U.S.C. 6313(a)(5)) to the total number of 

13 students in the school). 

14 (B) A description of the enrollment mecha15 nism that the participating local educational 

16 agency will use for its various advanced courses 

17 or programs, which shall include open enroll18 ment or universal screening, including in the 

19 case of universal screening, a description of 

20 what assessments will be used to determine en21 rollment as described in section 4(5), and a jus22 tification for why each assessment was selected. 

23 (C) A plan to assemble a local advisory 

24 council of students from underrepresented sub25 groups of students, and parents or guardians of 


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1 students from those subgroups, with at least 2 

2 members of each subgroup of students. The 

3 plan shall explain how the council will be in4 volved in the local educational agency’s imple5 mentation of the grant, as well as oversight and 

6 evaluation of the grant. 

7 (D) A plan to train school leaders, aca8 demic advisors or counselors, and teachers on 

9 strategies for bridging inequities (according to 

10 race and ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, 

11 disability status, and status as an English 

12 learner) in advanced coursework or STEM pro13 gram participation and performance. 

14 (E) A plan to communicate to students 

15 and families, in multiple languages and through 

16 multiple formats, the process and requirements 

17 to enroll in advanced courses. 

18 (F) An agreement to carry out the activi19 ties described in section 7. 

20 (G) A plan for collecting and reporting 

21 data about advanced coursework enrollment and 

22 student performance data, including data 

23 disaggregated and cross-tabulated by race and 

24 ethnicity, sex, disability status, socioeconomic 

25 status, and status as an English learner. 


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1 (H) A description of ambitious 3-year en2 rollment and performance goals for each sub3 group of students, and intermediate annual tar4 gets for each subgroup of students, to bridge 

5 districtwide inequities (according to race and 

6 ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, disability 

7 status, and status as an English learner) in ad8 vanced coursework or STEM program partici9 pation and performance. 

10 (I) A proposed budget for how the partici11 pating local educational agency will spend fund12 ing awarded through the grant. 

13 (3) OTHER NONPROFIT ENTITY.—An institu14 tion of higher education or other nonprofit entity de15 siring to receive a grant under subsection (a)(1)(C) 

16 shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 

17 time, in such manner, and containing such informa18 tion as the Secretary may require, including, at a 

19 minimum— 

20 (A) at least one memorandum of under21 standing that the applicant has already estab22 lished with a school, local educational agency, 

23 or State educational agency that the applicant 

24 intends to work with, and a description of the 

25 services the applicant would provide to that 


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1 school, local educational agency, or State edu2 cational agency; 

3 (B) materials that demonstrate the appli4 cant’s record of effectiveness in designing or de5 livering advanced coursework or programs and 

6 providing academic supports for students that 

7 belong to underrepresented subgroups; 

8 (C) a description of ambitious 3-year en9 rollment and performance goals for each sub10 group of students that the applicant intends to 

11 serve, and intermediate annual targets for each 

12 such subgroup of students, to bridge statewide 

13 inequities (according to race and ethnicity, sex, 

14 socioeconomic status, disability status, and sta15 tus as an English learner) in advanced 

16 coursework or program participation and per17 formance; 

18 (D) a plan for collecting and reporting 

19 data about advanced coursework enrollment and 

20 student performance data, including data 

21 disaggregated and cross-tabulated by race and 

22 ethnicity, sex, disability status, socioeconomic 

23 status, and status as an English learner; and 


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1 (E) a proposed budget for how the appli2 cant will spend funding awarded through the 

3 grant. 

4 (c) CRITERIA FOR AWARDING GRANTS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—In evaluating applications 

6 for a grant under subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), 

7 of subsection (a)(1), respectively, the Secretary shall 

8 consider— 

9 (A) the 3-year goals, and intermediate an10 nual targets, for bridging statewide inequities 

11 (according to race and ethnicity, sex, socio12 economic status, disability status, and status as 

13 an English learner) in advanced coursework or 

14 program participation and performance; 

15 (B) the level of detail and feasibility of the 

16 plan for implementing (or supporting a partici17 pating State educational agency, local edu18 cational agency, or school in implementing, as 

19 applicable) open enrollment or universal screen20 ing for all advanced courses or programs of21 fered by the local educational agency; 

22 (C) the level of detail and feasibility of the 

23 plan for assembling an advisory council of stu24 dents from underrepresented subgroups of stu25 dents, and parents or guardians of students 


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1 from those subgroups, and involving that advi2 sory council in the implementation of the grant, 

3 as well as oversight and evaluation of the grant; 

4 and 

5 (D) the level of detail and feasibility of the 

6 plan for collecting and reporting (or supporting 

7 a participating State educational agency, local 

8 educational agency, or school in collecting or re9 porting, as applicable) data by subgroup of stu10 dents about advanced coursework enrollment 

11 and performance. 

12 (2) PRIORITIES.— 

13 (A) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—In 

14 awarding a grant under subsection (a)(1)(A), 

15 the Secretary shall give priority to— 

16 (i) States that established memoranda 

17 of understanding, as described in section 

18 6(c), with a high percentage of the local 

19 educational agencies in the State and cov20 ering a high percentage of total students in 

21 the State; 

22 (ii) States with large gaps in equitable 

23 access, enrollment, and performance in ad24 vanced coursework across subgroups of 


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1 students, as described in the grant applica2 tions of the State educational agencies; 

3 (iii) States that prioritize evidence4 based strategies to ensure subgroups of 

5 students have equitable access to pathways 

6 to postsecondary education in STEM 

7 fields; and 

8 (iv) States that made recent improve9 ments to equitable participation and per10 formance in advanced coursework among 

11 historically underrepresented subgroups of 

12 students based on data collection from the 

13 Office of Civil Rights of the Department of 

14 Education, and demonstrate a need for ad15 ditional funds to expand improvements. 

16 (B) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—In 

17 awarding a grant under subsection (a)(1)(B), 

18 the Secretary shall give priority to— 

19 (i) local educational agencies that 

20 have made recent improvements to equi21 table participation and performance in ad22 vanced coursework among historically 

23 underrepresented subgroups of students 

24 based on data collection from the Office of 


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1 Civil Rights of the Department of Edu2 cation; 

3 (ii) local educational agencies that 

4 provide pathways to postsecondary edu5 cation in STEM fields to a high proportion 

6 of students who are enrolled in high 

7 schools served by the local educational 

8 agency; and 

9 (iii) local educational agencies that 

10 prioritize evidence-based strategies to en11 sure subgroups of students have equitable 

12 access to pathways to postsecondary edu13 cation in STEM fields. 

14 (d) AMOUNT; DURATION.— 

15 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

16 (A) AMOUNT.—A grant awarded under 

17 subsection (a)(1)(A) shall be in an amount that 

18 is not less than $15,000,000 and not more than 

19 $60,000,000. 

20 (B) DURATION.—A grant awarded under 

21 subsection (a)(1)(A) shall be for a 3-year pe22 riod. 

23 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

24 (A) AMOUNT.—A grant awarded under 

25 subsection (a)(1)(B) shall be in an amount that 


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1 is not less than $1,000,000 and not more than 

2 $20,000,000. 

3 (B) DURATION.—A grant awarded under 

4 subsection (a)(1)(B) shall be for a 3-year pe5 riod. 

6 (3) OTHER NONPROFIT ENTITY.— 

7 (A) AMOUNT.—A grant awarded under 

8 subsection (a)(1)(C) shall be in an amount that 

9 is not more than $3,000,000. 

10 (B) DURATION.—A grant awarded under 

11 subsection (a)(1)(C) shall be for a 3-year pe12 riod. 

13 (e) NUMBER OF GRANTS AWARDED.— 

14 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara16 graph (B), the Secretary shall award not less 

17 than 6 and not more than 10 grants under sub18 section (a)(1)(A) per 3-year grant cycle period. 

19 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding sub20 paragraph (A), if the amount appropriated to 

21 carry out this Act is— 

22 (i) less than $233,000,000 in any 

23 year, the Secretary may award fewer than 

24 6 awards under subsection (a)(1)(A) per 

25 cycle; and 


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1 (ii) more than $300,000,000 in any 

2 year, the Secretary may award more than 

3 10 awards under subsection (a)(1)(A) per 

4 cycle. 

5 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara7 graph (B), the Secretary shall award not less 

8 than 8 and not more than 16 grants under sub9 section (a)(1)(B) per 3-year grant cycle period. 

10 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding sub11 paragraph (A), if the amount appropriated to 

12 carry out this Act is— 

13 (i) less than $233,000,000 in any 

14 year, the Secretary may award fewer than 

15 8 awards under subsection (a)(1)(B) per 

16 cycle; and 

17 (ii) more than $300,000,000 in any 

18 year, the Secretary may award more than 

19 16 awards under subsection (a)(1)(B) per 

20 cycle. 

21 (f) SPECIAL RULE.—In the event a local educational 

22 agency that is receiving a subgrant cannot carry out one 

23 or more of the activities described in section 7, a State 

24 educational agency receiving a grant under subsection 

25 (a)(1)(A) may use not more than 4 percent of the grant 


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1 funds to carry out high-quality technical assistance for 

2 local educational agencies in the State. 

3 SEC. 6. SUBGRANTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency re5 ceiving a grant under this Act shall use the grant funds 

6 to award subgrants to local educational agencies in the 

7 State. 

8 (b) REQUIREMENT.—A State educational agency 

9 shall award not less than 65 percent of grant funds to— 

10 (1) local educational agencies that have a high 

11 student poverty ratio (as measured by comparing the 

12 number of students meeting at least one measure of 

13 poverty described in section 1113(a)(5) of the Ele14 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

15 U.S.C. 6313(a)(5)) to the total number of children 

16 in the school); and 

17 (2) local educational agencies that will support 

18 elementary schools and secondary schools that offer 

19 fewer advanced course or program offerings (or 

20 fewer available slots in those courses or programs) 

21 than the average for the State. 

22 (c) SUBGRANT AGREEMENT.—As part of a memo23 randum of understanding described in section 5(b)(1)(A), 

24 and as a requirement for receiving a subgrant under this 

25 Act, a participating local educational agency shall— 


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1 (1) establish ambitious 3-year enrollment and 

2 performance goals for each subgroup of students, 

3 and intermediate annual targets for each subgroup 

4 of students to bridge districtwide inequities (accord5 ing to race, sex, socioeconomic status, disability sta6 tus, and status as an English learner) in— 

7 (A) advanced coursework; 

8 (B) STEM program participation and per9 formance; or 

10 (C) both advanced coursework and STEM 

11 program participation and performance; 

12 (2) specify the enrollment mechanism that the 

13 local educational agency will use for its various ad14 vanced courses or programs, which shall include 

15 open enrollment or universal screening, including in 

16 the case of universal screening, a description of what 

17 assessments will be used to determine enrollment as 

18 described in section 4(5), and a justification for why 

19 each assessment was selected; 

20 (3) submit a plan to train school leaders, aca21 demic counselors or advisors, and teachers on strate22 gies for bridging inequities (according to race and 

23 ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, disability status, 

24 and status as an English learner) in advanced 


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1 coursework or program participation and perform2 ance; 

3 (4) submit a plan to assemble a local advisory 

4 council of students from underrepresented subgroups 

5 of students, and parents or guardians of students 

6 from those subgroups, with at least 2 members of 

7 each subgroup of students, including an explanation 

8 of how the council will be involved in the local edu9 cational agency’s implementation of the grant, as 

10 well as oversight and evaluation of the grant; 

11 (5) submit a plan to communicate to students 

12 and families, in multiple languages and through 

13 multiple formats, the process and requirements to 

14 enroll in advanced courses; and 

15 (6) an agreement to carry out the activities de16 scribed in section 7. 

17 SEC. 7. USES OF FUNDS. 

18 (a) REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS.—A local educational 

19 agency receiving a grant or subgrant under this Act shall 

20 use the grant or subgrant funds to carry out 2 or more 

21 of the following activities: 

22 (1) Conducting community engagement (includ23 ing by assembling a local advisory council) with re24 gard to changes to advanced courses or programs. 


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1 (2) Not later than 1 year after funding is re2 ceived, training school leaders, academic counselors 

3 or advisors, and teachers on strategies for bridging 

4 inequities (according to race and ethnicity, sex, so5 cioeconomic status, disability status, and status as 

6 an English learner) in advanced coursework or pro7 gram participation and performance. 

8 (3) Expanding enrollment in advanced courses 

9 or programs for underrepresented students. 

10 (4) Not later than 1 year after funding is re11 ceived, implementing open enrollment or universal 

12 screening for all advanced courses and programs, in13 cluding— 

14 (A) gifted and talented programs, 8th 

15 grade Algebra I, Advanced Placement, Inter16 national Baccalaureate, dual enrollment, early 

17 college high school, and any similarly advanced 

18 courses or programs; and 

19 (B) training individuals involved in the as20 sessment process in the administration of the 

21 assessments and the interpretation of the re22 sults. 

23 (5) Launching advanced courses or programs, 

24 or expand enrollment capacity in advanced courses 

25 or programs, which may include gifted and talented 


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1 programs, 8th grade Algebra I, Advanced Place2 ment, International Baccalaureate, dual enrollment, 

3 early college high school, or any similarly advanced 

4 courses or programs. 

5 (6) Providing direct services, such as tutoring, 

6 to students from underrepresented groups to enable 

7 those students to thrive academically in advanced 

8 courses and programs, and if applicable, prioritize 

9 services to be delivered by paraprofessionals or other 

10 qualified school personnel. 

11 (b) PERMITTED USES OF FUNDS.—A local edu12 cational agency receiving a grant or subgrant under this 

13 Act may (in addition to the required uses described in sub14 section (a)) use the grant or subgrant funds to carry out 

15 one or more of the following activities: 

16 (1) Launching innovative advanced coursework 

17 models that allow all students to benefit from ad18 vanced coursework, such as embedded enrichment 

19 (for elementary and middle school students), and 

20 open honors (for high school students). 

21 (2) Purchasing curricula and materials for ad22 vanced courses and programs, such as calculators, 

23 books, and laboratory materials. 

24 (3) Covering the cost of advanced coursework 

25 fees for low-income students. 


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1 (4) Using funds to train or hire teachers to 

2 teach advanced coursework. 

3 (5) Strengthening or developing a positive 

4 school climate through teacher training and profes5 sional development, including implicit bias training, 

6 identity-affirming curricula, peer mentoring, pro7 grams to recruit and retain diverse educators, en8 gaging and supporting families, and expanding alter9 natives to punitive and exclusionary discipline prac10 tices. 

11 (c) NONPROFIT ENTITY.—An institution of higher 

12 education or other nonprofit entity receiving a grant under 

13 section 5(a)(1)(C) may use the grant to carry out one or 

14 more of the following activities for students in rural areas 

15 and students who otherwise lack access to advanced 

16 courses or programs: 

17 (1) Providing direct services, such as tutoring, 

18 to students from underrepresented groups to enable 

19 those students to thrive academically in advanced 

20 courses and programs, which may include gifted and 

21 talented programs, 8th grade Algebra I, Advanced 

22 Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual enroll23 ment, early college high school, embedded enrich24 ment (for elementary and middle school students), 


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1 open honors (for high school students), or any simi2 larly advanced courses or programs. 

3 (2) Purchasing curricula and materials for ad4 vanced courses and programs, such as calculators, 

5 books, and laboratory materials. 

6 (3) Covering the cost of advanced coursework 

7 exams for low-income students. 

8 SEC. 8. REPORTING; BONUS GRANT. 

9 (a) REPORT TO SECRETARY.— 

10 (1) STATES AND LEAS.—Not later than 60 days 

11 after the end of each year of the grant, each State 

12 educational agency or local educational agency re13 ceiving a grant shall prepare and submit to the Sec14 retary a report containing the following: 

15 (A) A description of the training that the 

16 local educational agency receiving a grant, or 

17 local educational agencies receiving a subgrant 

18 in the State, as applicable, conducted to train 

19 school leaders, academic counselors or advisors, 

20 and teachers on strategies for bridging inequi21 ties (according to race and ethnicity, sex, socio22 economic status, disability status, and status as 

23 an English learner) in advanced coursework or 

24 program participation and performance, includ25 ing the number of people trained and what 


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1 schools those trained individuals are affiliated 

2 with. 

3 (B) A listing of the advanced courses or 

4 programs available at the local educational 

5 agency receiving a grant, or at each local edu6 cational agency that received a subgrant, as ap7 plicable, and the student enrollment mechanism 

8 for each of those courses or programs. If a local 

9 educational agency uses universal screening in10 stead of open enrollment, then the list shall in11 clude a description of what assessments will be 

12 used to determine enrollment as described in 

13 section 4(5). 

14 (C) The number and percentages of stu15 dents in the State (or in the local educational 

16 agency, in the case of a local educational agen17 cy receiving a grant) that are enrolled in ad18 vanced courses or programs, disaggregated and 

19 cross-tabulated by race and ethnicity, sex, dis20 ability status, socioeconomic status, and status 

21 as an English learner. 

22 (D) The academic outcomes (such as 

23 grades or exam scores) of students enrolled in 

24 advanced courses or programs in the State (or 

25 in the local educational agency, in the case of 


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1 a local educational agency receiving a grant), 

2 disaggregated and cross-tabulated by race and 

3 ethnicity, sex, disability status, socioeconomic 

4 status, and status as an English learner. 

5 (E) A final budget for how the State or 

6 local educational agency spent funding awarded 

7 through the grant. 

8 (F) A narrative articulating whether the 

9 State or local educational agency receiving a 

10 grant met its annual intermediate targets for 

11 equitable enrollment and performance among 

12 underrepresented subgroups of students in ad13 vanced coursework or programs, including anal14 ysis for why the State did or did not meet these 

15 targets across underrepresented subgroups of 

16 students, and a plan to remediate any gaps for 

17 the coming grant year. This narrative shall also 

18 include the analysis from the local advisory 

19 council (in the case of a grantee that is a local 

20 educational agency) or the State advisory coun21 cil (in the case of a grantee that is a State edu22 cational agency). 

23 (G) A description of communication with 

24 families, including how parents were notified 

25 of— 


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1 (i) advanced coursework opportunities; 

2 (ii) the value of the programs; and 

3 (iii) the ability to opt out. 

4 (2) OTHER NONPROFIT ENTITIES.—Not later 

5 than 60 days after the end of each year of the grant, 

6 each nonprofit entity receiving a grant under section 

7 5(a)(1)(C) shall prepare and submit to the Secretary 

8 a report containing the information described in sub9 paragraph (C) through (F) of paragraph (1) with re10 spect to students that are enrolled in advanced 

11 courses or programs provided by the nonprofit entity 

12 and the nonprofit entity’s targets. 

13 (b) BONUS.— 

14 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The State 

15 educational agency receiving a grant under section 

16 5(a)(1)(A) that achieves the greatest growth toward 

17 that State’s advanced coursework enrollment and 

18 performance equity goals described in section 

19 5(b)(1)(F) at the end of the first or second grant 

20 year shall receive a bonus payment of 5 percent of 

21 the original grant amount (to be used during the 

22 subsequent grant year). A State educational agency 

23 shall direct not less than 50 percent of the bonus 

24 funds to local educational agency subgrantees that 

25 achieved the greatest growth toward the local eduVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Nov 22, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6328.IH H6328

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1 cational agency’s advanced coursework equity goals 

2 described in section 6(c)(1). 

3 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The local 

4 educational agency receiving a grant under section 

5 5(a)(1)(B) that achieves the greatest growth toward 

6 that local educational agency’s advanced coursework 

7 enrollment and performance equity goals described 

8 in section 5(b)(2)(H) at the end of the first grant 

9 year shall receive a bonus payment of 5 percent of 

10 the original grant amount (to be used during the 

11 subsequent grant year). A local educational agency 

12 shall direct not less than 50 percent of the bonus 

13 funds to the schools that achieved the greatest 

14 growth toward the local educational agency’s ad15 vanced coursework equity goals described in section 

16 5(b)(2)(H). 

17 (c) EVALUATION.—At the end of the 3-year grant pe18 riod, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to Congress 

19 a report containing an evaluation of the grant program 

20 under this Act and a summary of the reports submitted 

21 under subsection (a). The evaluation shall contain an anal22 ysis of the effectiveness of the program, including the im23 pact of the grants on equitable enrollment and perform24 ance in advanced courses and programs. This evaluation 


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1 shall provide recommendations based on the Secretary’s 

2 findings from the grant program. 

3 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

5 this Act $266,000,000 for fiscal year 2023, $266,000,000 

6 for fiscal year 2024, and $266,000,000 for fiscal year 

7 2025. 

Æ 


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