II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1268 

To amend the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 and the Educational 

Technical Assistance Act of 2002 to strengthen research in adult education. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 25, 2023 

Mr. REED (for himself and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 and 

the Educational Technical Assistance Act of 2002 to 

strengthen research in adult education. 

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 ‘‘Strengthening Re5 search in Adult Education Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STRENGTHEN RESEARCH IN ADULT EDUCATION. 

7 (a) EDUCATION SCIENCES REFORM ACT OF 2002.— 

8 The Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 

9 9501 et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) in section 102 (20 U.S.C. 9501)— 

2 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 

3 through (8), (9) through (13), (14) through 

4 (22), and (23), as paragraphs (3) through (9), 

5 (11) through (15), (17) through (25), and (27), 

6 respectively; 

7 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(2) ADULT EDUCATION; ADULT EDUCATION

10 AND LITERACY ACTIVITIES.—The terms ‘adult edu11 cation’ and ‘adult education and literacy activities’ 

12 have the meanings given the terms in section 203 of 

13 the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (29 

14 U.S.C. 3272).’’; 

15 (C) by inserting after paragraph (9), as re16 designated by subparagraph (A), the following: 

17 ‘‘(10) DIGITAL LITERACY SKILLS.—The term 

18 ‘digital literacy skills’ has the meaning given the 

19 term in section 202 of the Museum and Library 

20 Services Act (20 U.S.C. 9101).’’; 

21 (D) by inserting after paragraph (15), as 

22 redesignated by subparagraph (A) the following: 

23 ‘‘(16) INFORMATION LITERACY SKILLS.—The 

24 term ‘information literacy skills’ means the set of 

25 skills needed to find, retrieve, understand, evaluate, 


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1 analyze, discern the reliability and accuracy of, and 

2 effectively use information (which encompasses spo3 ken and broadcast words and videos, printed mate4 rials, and digital content, data, and images).’’; and 

5 (E) by inserting after paragraph (25), as 

6 redesignated by subparagraph (A), the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(26) STUDENT.—Unless otherwise provided, 

9 the term ‘student’ means any elementary, secondary, 

10 postsecondary, or adult education student.’’; 

11 (2) in section 111(b)(1) (20 U.S.C. 

12 9511(b)(1)), in the matter preceding subparagraph 

13 (A), by inserting ‘‘, and adult education’’ after 

14 ‘‘postsecondary study’’; 

15 (3) in section 115(a) (20 U.S.C. 9515(a))— 

16 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

17 by inserting ‘‘the Adult Education and Family 

18 Literacy Act (29 U.S.C. 3271 et seq.),’’ after 

19 ‘‘the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

20 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.),’’; and 

21 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

22 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

23 ‘‘children’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals’’; 

24 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

25 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 


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1 (iii) by redesignating subparagraph 

2 (C) as subparagraph (D); and 

3 (iv) by inserting after subparagraph 

4 (B) the following: 

5 ‘‘(C) access to, and opportunities for, adult 

6 education and literacy activities; and’’; 

7 (4) in section 116(c)(4)(A)(ii) (20 U.S.C. 

8 9516(c)(4)(A)(ii))— 

9 (A) by inserting ‘‘adult educators,’’ after 

10 ‘‘professional educators,’’; and 

11 (B) by inserting ‘‘State directors of adult 

12 education,’’ after ‘‘postsecondary education ex13 ecutives,’’; 

14 (5) in section 131(b)(1) (20 U.S.C. 

15 9531(b)(1))— 

16 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

17 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

18 (B) in subparagraph (D), by inserting 

19 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; and 

20 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(E) improve the literacy, numeracy, dig22 ital literacy skills, and information literacy 

23 skills of individuals who need adult education;’’; 

24 (6) in section 133 (20 U.S.C. 9533)— 

25 (A) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (i) in paragraph (10)(D), by striking 

2 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

3 (ii) in paragraph (11), by striking the 

4 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

5 and 

6 (iii) by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(12) carry out research initiatives regarding 

9 the impact of adult education and literacy activities, 

10 including— 

11 ‘‘(A) research into successful State and 

12 local adult education and literacy activities 

13 that— 

14 ‘‘(i) result in increased literacy, 

15 numeracy, digital literacy skills, informa16 tion literacy skills, and educational attain17 ment for adult learners; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) prepare students for postsec19 ondary education or employment; and 

20 ‘‘(B) research to determine which indica21 tors of performance and measurable skills gains 

22 are most effective, valid, reliable, and accessible 

23 for use across a broad range of adult education 

24 and literacy programs to assess the progress of 


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1 adult learners and improve instruction in adult 

2 education and literacy programs.’’; and 

3 (B) in subsection (c)— 

4 (i) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘At 

5 least 1 center shall be assigned the topic of 

6 adult education.’’ after ‘‘paragraph (2).’’; 

7 and 

8 (ii) in paragraph (2)— 

9 (I) by striking subparagraph (A) 

10 and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) Adult education.’’; 

12 (II) by redesignating subpara13 graphs (C) through (K) as subpara14 graphs (E) through (M), respectively; 

15 and 

16 (III) by inserting after subpara17 graph (B) the following: 

18 ‘‘(C) Digital literacy skills.’’; 

19 ‘‘(D) Information literacy skills.’’; 

20 (7) in section 153(a)(1) (20 U.S.C. 

21 9543(a)(1))— 

22 (A) by striking subparagraph (D) and in23 serting the following: 

24 ‘‘(D) secondary school graduation and 

25 completion rates, including the four-year adVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Apr 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1268.IS S1268

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1 justed cohort graduation rate and the extended2 year adjusted cohort graduation rate (as de3 fined in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

4 Secondary Education Act (20 U.S.C. 7801)), 

5 school dropout rates, and adult literacy;’’; 

6 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) 

7 through (O) as subparagraphs (G) through (P), 

8 respectively; 

9 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘(F) access to, and opportunity for, adult 

12 education and literacy activities;’’; and 

13 (D) in subparagraph (L), as redesignated 

14 by subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘and in 

15 adult education’’ after ‘‘secondary schools’’; 

16 (8) in section 154(b)(2)(A) (20 U.S.C. 

17 9544(b)(2)(A)), by striking ‘‘vocational and adult 

18 education,’’ and inserting ‘‘career and technical edu19 cation, adult education,’’; and 

20 (9) in section 172(a)(2) (20 U.S.C. 

21 9562(a)(2))— 

22 (A) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

23 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

24 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as 

25 subparagraph (F); and 


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1 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (D) 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(E) educational practices that improve 

4 digital literacy skills and information literacy 

5 skills; and’’. 

6 (b) EDUCATIONAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ACT OF

7 2002.—Section 206(b)(2) of the Educational Technical 

8 Assistance Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9605(b)(2)) is amend9 ed— 

10 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 

11 through (F) as subparagraphs (C) through (G), re12 spectively; and 

13 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(B) Representatives of local or regional 

16 adult education providers.’’. 

Æ 


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