I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 547

To improve graduation rates by authorizing the Secretary of Education to 

make grants to improve adolescent literacy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2005

Mr. HINOJOSA (for himself, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 

VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. FILNER, Mrs. DAVIS of California, 

Mr. WEINER, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. OWENS, Ms. LEE, Mrs. 

MCCARTHY, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. ORTIZ, 

Mr. BECERRA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. LINDA

T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. CARDOZA, 

Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. 

CLEAVER, Mr. REYES, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. WATSON, Mr. 

PALLONE, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. HONDA, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. 

NADLER, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. RUSH, Mr. 

DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. BACA, Mr. HOLT, Mr. RANGEL, 

Mr. STARK, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, 

Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. WU, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. SOLIS, 

Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. CASE, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. HOYER, Mr. 

CUELLAR, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. KIND, 

Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. ENGEL, and Mr. EDWARDS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To improve graduation rates by authorizing the Secretary 

of Education to make grants to improve adolescent literacy, and for other purposes.
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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 ‘‘Graduation for All 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) Failure to earn a high school diploma has 

9 serious economic and social consequences for individ10 uals and the Nation. 

11 (2) Recent studies show that less than 75 per12 cent of all eighth graders graduate from high school 

13 in 5 years, and in urban schools the rate falls below 

14 50 percent. 

15 (3) 40 percent of students attending high-mi16 nority-enrollment secondary schools enroll in reme17 dial coursework when entering higher education in 

18 an effort to gain the skills their secondary education 

19 failed to provide. 

20 (4) Students who receive concentrated, focused 

21 support in literacy graduate from high school and 

22 attend college in far greater numbers. 

23 (5) On the 2002 National Assessment of Edu24 cational Progress, one in four students in the eighth 

25 grade scored below basic in reading. 
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1 (6) Improving the literacy skills of adolescents 

2 is a key factor in improving high school graduation 

3 rates. 

4 TITLE I—IMPROVING 

5 ADOLESCENT LITERACY 

6 SEC. 101. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this title are—

8 (1) to provide assistance to State educational 

9 agencies and local educational agencies in estab10 lishing effective research-based reading programs for 

11 students attending secondary schools (including mid12 dle schools and high schools, as defined by the local 

13 education agency) including economically disadvan14 taged students, students from major racial and eth15 nic groups, students with disabilities, students with 

16 limited English proficiency, migrant children, and 

17 homeless children; 

18 (2) to provide adequate resources to schools to 

19 hire, and to provide in-service training for, at least 

20 one literacy coach per 600 students or 20 teachers, 

21 whichever requires the greater number of literacy 

22 coaches, who can assist all teachers to incorporate 

23 research-based reading and writing instruction or 

24 English as a second language instruction into their 

25 teaching of mathematics, science, history, civics, ge-
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1 ography, literature, language arts, and other core 

2 academic subjects; 

3 (3) to provide assistance to State educational 

4 agencies and local educational agencies in strength5 ening reading and writing instruction and providing 

6 diagnostic reading assessments and comprehensive 

7 research-based programs and instructional materials 

8 that will improve overall reading and writing per9 formance among students attending secondary 

10 schools; and 

11 (4) to provide assistance to State educational 

12 agencies and local educational agencies to develop 

13 and implement individual graduation plans for stu14 dents who are most at risk of not graduating from 

15 high school so that such students graduate with a 

16 high school diploma before reaching 21 years of age 

17 or the maximum age for high school attendance in 

18 accordance with State law. 

19 SEC. 102. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

20 The Secretary is authorized to establish a program, 

21 in accordance with the requirements of this title, that will 

22 provide funds to State educational agencies and local edu23 cational agencies to establish reading and writing pro24 grams to improve overall reading and writing performance 

25 among students attending secondary schools (including 
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1 middle and high schools, as defined by the local education 

2 agency). 

3 SEC. 103. GRANTS TO STATES. 

4 (a) ALLOCATION TO STATES.—The Secretary shall 

5 allocate funds to States—

6 (1) to establish a reading and writing partner7 ship to increase the literacy skills for all students, 

8 including strategies for economically disadvantaged 

9 students, students from major racial and ethnic 

10 groups, students with disabilities, students with lim11 ited English proficiency, migrant children, and 

12 homeless children; 

13 (2) to coordinate applications for subgrants 

14 under this title; and 

15 (3) to oversee and evaluate the State’s activities 

16 under this title. 

17 (b) LENGTH OF GRANT.—Grants made to States 

18 under this title shall be in effect for a period of 6 years. 

19 (c) APPLICATIONS.—In order to receive a grant 

20 under this title, a State shall submit to the Secretary an 

21 application in a form established by the Secretary, which 

22 satisfies the following conditions: 

23 (1) The application shall not be consolidated 

24 with an application made under the Elementary and 
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1 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 

2 et seq.). 

3 (2) The application shall include assurances 

4 that the State—

5 (A) has established a reading and writing 

6 partnership that—

7 (i) coordinated the application; and 

8 (ii) will assist in administering the 

9 program; and 

10 (B) will participate, if requested, in the ex11 ternal national evaluation of the program. 

12 (3) The application shall include a program 

13 plan that contains a description of the following: 

14 (A) How the State will assist local edu15 cational agencies in implementing grants, in16 cluding providing ongoing professional develop17 ment for literacy coaches, teachers, paraprofes18 sionals, and administrators. 

19 (B) How the State will help local edu20 cational agencies identify screening, diagnostic, 

21 and classroom-based instructional reading and 

22 writing assessments. 

23 (C) How the State will help local edu24 cational agencies identify scientifically based 

25 materials and programs. 
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1 (D) How the State will help local edu2 cational agencies identify materials, programs, 

3 and assessments for economically disadvantaged 

4 students, students from major racial and ethnic 

5 groups, students with disabilities, students with 

6 limited English proficiency, migrant children, 

7 and homeless children. 

8 (E) How the State will ensure that profes9 sional development is based on scientifically 

10 based reading research, will effectively improve 

11 instructional practices for reading and writing, 

12 and is coordinated with professional develop13 ment activities funded through other programs. 

14 (F) How funded activities will help teach15 ers and other instructional staff to implement 

16 scientifically based components of reading in17 struction. 

18 (G) The subgrant process, including how 

19 the State will ensure that eligible local edu20 cational agencies receiving subgrants will use 

21 practices based on scientifically based reading 

22 research. 

23 (H) How the State will build on, and pro24 mote coordination among, reading and writing 

25 programs in the State to increase overall effec-
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1 tiveness in reading and writing instruction, in2 cluding effectiveness among economically dis3 advantaged students, students from major ra4 cial and ethnic groups, students with disabil5 ities, students with limited English proficiency, 

6 migrant children, and homeless children. 

7 (I) How the State will assist local edu8 cational agencies receiving subgrants under this 

9 title in providing one-on-one counseling to de10 velop graduation plans for students at risk of 

11 not graduating on time. 

12 (J) How the State will assess and evaluate 

13 the effectiveness of eligible local educational 

14 agency activities on a regular basis. 

15 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—

16 (1) SUBGRANTS.—Each State shall allocate 80 

17 percent of the funds the State receives under this 

18 title to local educational agencies, utilizing a com19 petitive priority based upon the graduation rate for 

20 students attending middle schools and high schools. 

21 (2) STATE-LEVEL ACTIVITIES.—

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational 

23 agency shall use 20 percent of the grant funds 

24 the State educational agency receives under this 

25 title—
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1 (i) to carry out State-level activities 

2 described in subsection (c); 

3 (ii) to provide technical support to 

4 local educational agencies and high-quality 

5 professional development to teachers and 

6 literacy coaches; 

7 (iii) to provide grants to secondary 

8 schools that have low graduation rates but 

9 are not in a local education agency with 

10 low graduation rates; and 

11 (iv) for administrative costs. 

12 (B) LIMITATION.—Not more than 10 per13 cent of the grant funds distributed to a State 

14 under this title for any fiscal year may be used 

15 for planning, administration, and reporting. 

16 (e) NOTICE TO LOCAL EDUCATION AGENCIES.—

17 Each State receiving a grant under this title shall provide 

18 notice to all eligible local educational agencies about the 

19 availability of subgrants under this title. 

20 (f) REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.—State applications 

21 shall be reviewed by the Secretary in the order in which 

22 they are received. 

23 SEC. 104. SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 

24 (a) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT.—To be eligible to 

25 receive a subgrant under this title, a local educational 
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1 agency shall be among the local educational agencies in 

2 the State with the lowest graduation rates for public sec3 ondary school students (as defined in section 

4 1111(b)(2)(C)(vi) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu5 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(C)(vi))). 

6 (b) APPLICATIONS.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Local educational agencies 

8 shall submit applications to the State in the form 

9 and according to the schedule established by the 

10 State. 

11 (2) CONTENTS.—In addition to any other infor12 mation required by the State, applications for sub13 grants under this title shall demonstrate how the 

14 local educational agency will carry out the following 

15 required activities: 

16 (A) Reading assessments. 

17 (B) Reading programs. 

18 (C) Reading and writing programs for eco19 nomically disadvantaged students, students 

20 from major racial and ethnic groups, students 

21 with disabilities, students with limited English 

22 proficiency, migrant children, and homeless 

23 children. 
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1 (D) One-on-one counseling to develop grad2 uation plans for students at risk of not grad3 uating on time. 

4 (E) Selection and implementation of in5 structional materials based on scientifically 

6 based reading research. 

7 (F) Professional development, including in8 struction on how to identify and work with eco9 nomically disadvantaged students, students 

10 from major racial and ethnic groups, students 

11 with disabilities, students with limited English 

12 proficiency, migrant children, and homeless 

13 children. 

14 (G) Evaluation strategies. 

15 (H) Reporting. 

16 (I) Providing access to reading material, 

17 including reading materials for economically 

18 disadvantaged students, students from major 

19 racial and ethnic groups, students with disabil20 ities, students with limited English proficiency, 

21 migrant children, and homeless children. 

22 (3) CONSORTIA.—Local educational agencies 

23 may apply to the State for a grant as a consortium, 

24 if each member of the consortium meets the eligi25 bility requirement described in subsection (a). 
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1 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—A local educational agency re2 ceiving a subgrant under this title shall use the funds to 

3 provide the following services at the middle school and 

4 high school levels (as defined by the agency): 

5 (1) Hiring and providing inservice training for 

6 literacy coaches who shall—

7 (A) work with classroom teachers to incor8 porate reading and writing instruction within 

9 all subject areas, during regular classroom peri10 ods and after school and summer school pro11 grams, for all students, including economically 

12 disadvantaged students, students from major 

13 racial and ethnic groups, students with disabil14 ities, students with limited English proficiency, 

15 migrant children, and homeless children; 

16 (B) work with classroom teachers to iden17 tify students with reading problems and provide 

18 remediation or referral for additional services; 

19 (C) in partnership with classroom teachers, 

20 diagnose and remediate reading difficulties of 

21 the lowest performing students (including low22 performing economically disadvantaged stu23 dents, students from major racial and ethnic 

24 groups, students with disabilities, students with 

25 limited English proficiency, migrant children, 
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1 and homeless children) by providing intensive, 

2 research-based instruction (including before3 and after-school and summer sessions) focused 

4 on reading and writing skills and geared toward 

5 ensuring that such students can perform rig6 orous academic coursework in high school; and 

7 (D) assess and organize student data on 

8 literacy and communicate such data to school 

9 administrators. 

10 (2) Providing one-on-one counseling to all stu11 dents, beginning in grade 9, who are at risk of not 

12 graduating on time because of insufficient accumula13 tion of credits, failure to pass State graduation ex14 aminations, or low or failing grades, which coun15 seling shall include—

16 (A) developing individual graduation plans 

17 for such students so that they are able to grad18 uate from high school with a standard diploma 

19 before reaching 21 years of age or the max20 imum age for high school attendance in accord21 ance with State law; 

22 (B) working with students and their par23 ents or caregivers to develop an individual grad24 uation plan that will define each student’s ca25 reer and education goals, ensure enrollment in 
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1 the coursework necessary for graduation and 

2 preparation for postsecondary education and 

3 work, and identify the courses and supple4 mental services necessary to meet those goals; 

5 (C) advocating for the student, helping the 

6 student to access the services and supports nec7 essary to achieving the goals in the individual 

8 graduation plan; and 

9 (D) ensuring that limited or non-English 

10 speaking parents are able to understand the 

11 goals outlined in such plan and to participate in 

12 assisting their child in meeting such goals; 

13 (3) As necessary, hiring personnel to implement 

14 the requirements of paragraph (2). 

15 (4) Reviewing, analyzing, developing, and, 

16 where possible, adapting curricula to ensure literacy 

17 skills are taught within the content area subjects. 

18 (5) Providing reading professional development 

19 for all teachers in middle and high schools that ad20 dresses both remedial and higher level literacy skills 

21 for students in the applicable curricula. 

22 (6) Providing professional development for all 

23 teachers, administrators, and paraprofessionals, 

24 where appropriate, in middle and high schools that 

25 addresses the literacy needs of economically dis-
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1 advantaged students, students from major racial and 

2 ethnic groups, students with disabilities, students 

3 with limited English proficiency, migrant children, 

4 and homeless children. 

5 (7) Procuring and implementing instructional 

6 materials, including screening, diagnostic, and class7 room-based instructional reading and writing assess8 ments, and software and other educational tech9 nology. 

10 (8) Evaluating the effectiveness of the instruc11 tional strategies, teacher professional development 

12 programs, and other interventions that are imple13 mented under the subgrant. 

14 (d) EVALUATIONS.—A local educational agency re15 ceiving a subgrant under this title shall provide to the 

16 State administering the subgrant interim reports, which 

17 may be included as part of a consolidated annual report, 

18 on the effectiveness of the interventions implemented 

19 using the subgrant after year 3 and year 6 of the subgrant 

20 award period. 

21 SEC. 105. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; ALLOCA22 TIONS. 

23 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—For the purposes of carrying 

24 out this title, there are authorized to be appropriated 
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1 $1,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2006 and such sums as 

2 may be necessary for the 5 succeeding fiscal years. 

3 (b) SPECIAL RULE.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the funds appropriated 

5 under this section for a fiscal year are less than 

6 $500,000,000, then the Secretary shall award 

7 grants, on a competitive basis, directly to eligible 

8 local educational agencies to establish reading and 

9 writing programs to improve overall reading and 

10 writing performance among students in middle 

11 school and secondary school. 

12 (2) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT.—To be eligible 

13 to receive a grant under this subsection, a local edu14 cational agency shall be among the local educational 

15 agencies in the State with the lowest graduation 

16 rates for public secondary school students (as de17 fined in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(vi) of the Elementary 

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

19 6311(b)(2)(C)(vi))). 

20 (c) STATE ALLOCATIONS.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds appropriated 

22 under subsection (a), 95 percent shall be allocated to 

23 the States submitting applications under this title. 
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1 (2) MINIMUM.—The minimum State allocation 

2 is 0.25 percent of the total amount allocated to 

3 States. 

4 (3) PUERTO RICO.—For any fiscal year, Puerto 

5 Rico shall receive an allocation that represents not 

6 more than the percentage of the total allocation it 

7 received under part A of title I of the Elementary 

8 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

9 6311 et seq.) for the preceding fiscal year. 

10 (4) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—States 

11 shall not use funds received under this title to sup12 plant funding already being provided by the State 

13 for such activities or for other educational activities. 

14 Funds may only be used to provide new services au15 thorized under this title. 

16 (5) REALLOCATION.—If a State does not apply 

17 for funding, the Secretary shall reallocate such 

18 State’s funds to the remaining States. 

19 (d) FUNDS RETAINED BY THE SECRETARY.—Funds 

20 retained by the Secretary shall be used to fund national 

21 activities in support of the programs funded under this 

22 title, except that the Secretary may not make direct grants 

23 to local educational agencies except as provided in sub24 section (b). 

25 (e) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY SUBGRANTS.—
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1 (1) MINIMUM.—For any fiscal year, each eligi2 ble local educational agency shall receive a minimum 

3 subgrant amount equal to at least the percentage of 

4 the total allocation it received under part A of title 

5 I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

6 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) for the preceding 

7 fiscal year. 

8 (2) FULL IMPLEMENTATION.—Subgrants to eli9 gible local educational agencies shall be of sufficient 

10 size and scope to enable such entities to fully imple11 ment programs. 

12 (3) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Local edu13 cational agencies shall not use funds received under 

14 this title to supplant funding already being provided 

15 by a local educational agency for such activities or 

16 for other educational activities. Funds may only be 

17 used to provide new services authorized under this 

18 title. 

19 SEC. 106. DEFINITIONS. 

20 For the purposes of this title: 

21 (1) INDIVIDUAL GRADUATION PLAN.—The term 

22 ‘‘individual graduation plan’’ means a written plan, 

23 developed in partnership school personnel, parents, 

24 and students, to list the steps necessary for the indi-
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1 vidual to achieve high school graduation with a 

2 standard diploma. 

3 (2) LITERACY COACH.—The term ‘‘literacy 

4 coach’’ means a certified teacher, with a dem5 onstrated effectiveness in teaching reading to stu6 dents with specialized needs and the ability to work 

7 with classroom teachers to improve their instruc8 tional techniques to support reading and writing im9 provement, who works on site at a school to—

10 (A) train teachers from across the cur11 riculum to incorporate the teaching of reading 

12 and writing skills into their instruction of con13 tent; 

14 (B) train teachers to assess students’ read15 ing and writing skills and identify students re16 quiring remediation; and 

17 (C) provide or assess remedial literacy in18 struction, including for after school and sum19 mer school programs, for students requiring at20 tention, including economically disadvantaged 

21 students, students from major racial and ethnic 

22 groups, students with disabilities, students with 

23 limited English proficiency, migrant children, 

24 and homeless children. 
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1 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Education. 

3 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the 50 

4 States, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the District of 

5 Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, 

6 American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the 

7 Northern Mariana Islands. 

8 TITLE II—ACCOUNTABILITY 

9 SEC. 201. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ADEQUATE YEARLY 

10 PROGRESS. 

11 Section 1111(b)(2)(C) of the Elementary and Sec12 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(C)) 

13 is amended—

14 (1) in clause (v)—

15 (A) by striking the semicolon at the end of 

16 subclause (II) and inserting a period; and 

17 (B) by inserting after subclause (II) the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(III) In the case of secondary 

20 schools, the graduation rates for all 

21 students as described in clause (vi);’’; 

22 and 

23 (2) by amending clause (vi) to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(vi) in accordance with subparagraph 

25 (D), includes graduation rates for public 
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1 secondary school students (defined as the 

2 percentage of students who graduate from 

3 secondary school with a regular diploma, 

4 as defined by the State, before reaching 21 

5 years of age or the maximum age for high 

6 school attendance in accordance with State 

7 law), measured separately for each group 

8 described in clause (v).’’. 

9 SEC. 202. GRADUATION RATE INFORMATION ON ANNUAL 

10 STATE REPORT CARDS. 

11 Section 1111(h)(1)(C) of the Elementary and Sec12 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(h)(1)(C)) 

13 is amended—

14 (1) in clause (vii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

15 (2) in clause (viii), by striking the period at the 

16 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(ix) for secondary schools, informa19 tion in the aggregate on graduate rates de20 scribed in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(vi), 

21 disaggregated as described in clause (i).’’. 
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1 SEC. 203. ADULT EDUCATION AND FAMILY LITERACY ACT 

2 ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 

3 Section 241 of the Adult Education and Family Lit4 eracy Act (20 U.S.C. 9251) is amended by adding at the 

5 end the following: 

6 ‘‘(c) REPORTS.—

7 ‘‘(1) REPORTS TO THE SECRETARY.—An eligi8 ble agency receiving funds under this title shall an9 nually provide the Secretary with a report on the 

10 number participants who are 16, 17, or 18 years of 

11 age in the programs and services provided under 

12 section 231, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gen13 der, limited English proficiency status, disability, 

14 and socioeconomic status. 

15 ‘‘(2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

16 June 30, 2007, and by June 30 annually thereafter, 

17 the Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress 

18 containing the results of the eligible agency reports 

19 required by paragraph (1).’’.

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