II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 280 

To provide for flexibility and improvements in elementary and secondary 

education, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2011 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Ms. SNOWE) introduced the following bill; which 

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

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide for flexibility and improvements in elementary 

and secondary education, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Child Left Behind 

5 Flexibility and Improvements Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISCRETION TO MODIFY ADEQUATE YEARLY 

7 PROGRESS TIMELINE. 

8 Section 1111(b)(2)(F) of the Elementary and Sec9 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(F)) 

10 is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘(F) TIMELINE.—Each State’’ 

2 and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(F) TIMELINE.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each State’’; and 

5 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(ii) DISCRETION OF SECRETARY TO

7 MODIFY THE TIMELINE.—Every 3 years, 

8 the Secretary— 

9 ‘‘(I) shall review the require10 ments of the timeline established in 

11 clause (i); and 

12 ‘‘(II) may issue guidance or regu13 lations modifying such requirements if 

14 the Secretary determines, at the Sec15 retary’s discretion and after a review 

16 of the progress of the States towards 

17 making adequate yearly progress for 

18 the 2013–2014 school year, that 

19 modifications to the timeline are in 

20 the interests of improving student 

21 achievement and are in keeping with 

22 the purposes of this title.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. ALTERNATIVE ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEMS. 

2 Section 1111(b)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary 

3 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)) is further 

4 amended— 

5 (1) by striking subparagraph (I) and inserting 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘(I) ANNUAL IMPROVEMENT FOR

8 SCHOOLS.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each year, for a 

10 school to make adequate yearly progress 

11 under this paragraph— 

12 ‘‘(I) each group of students de13 scribed in subparagraph (C)(v) must 

14 meet or exceed the objectives set by 

15 the State under subparagraph (G), ex16 cept that if any group described in 

17 subparagraph (C)(v) does not meet 

18 those objectives in any particular 

19 year, the school shall be considered to 

20 have made adequate yearly progress 

21 if— 

22 ‘‘(aa) the percentage of stu23 dents in that group who did not 

24 meet or exceed the proficient 

25 level of academic achievement on 

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1 graph (3) decreased by 5 percent 

2 over the past year, or an aggre3 gate of 10 percent over 2 years, 

4 and that group has made 

5 progress on 1 or more of the aca6 demic indicators described in 

7 clause (vi) or (vii) of subpara8 graph (C); or 

9 ‘‘(bb) the students in that 

10 group demonstrate that the stu11 dents are making progress to12 wards proficiency through an ad13 ditional model or system for 

14 measuring student progress de15 scribed in subparagraph (J) and 

16 that group has made progress on 

17 1 or more of the academic indica18 tors described in clause (vi) or 

19 (vii) of subparagraph (C); and 

20 ‘‘(II) not less than 95 percent of 

21 each group of students described in 

22 subparagraph (C)(v) who are enrolled 

23 in the school are required to take the 

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1 modations, guidelines, and alternative 

2 assessment provided in the same man3 ner as those provided under section 

4 612(a)(16)(A) of the Individuals with 

5 Disabilities Education Act and para6 graph (3), on which adequate yearly 

7 progress is based (except that the 95 

8 percent requirement described in this 

9 clause shall not apply in a case in 

10 which the number of students in a 

11 category is insufficient to yield statis12 tically reliable information or the re13 sults would reveal personally identifi14 able information about an individual 

15 student). 

16 ‘‘(ii) CHILDREN WITH DISABIL17 ITIES.—In the case of a child with a dis18 ability (as defined in section 602(3) of the 

19 Individuals with Disabilities Education 

20 Act), a State may deem the child to have 

21 met the State’s proficient level of academic 

22 achievement on the State assessments for 

23 purposes of calculating adequate yearly 

24 progress under this section if— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the student’s individualized 

2 education program team (as defined 

3 in section 614(d)(1)(B) of such Act) 

4 designates an alternate assessment 

5 based on alternate or modified student 

6 academic achievement standards as a 

7 more appropriate measure of the stu8 dent’s academic progress and achieve9 ment for purposes of the assessment 

10 requirements under this part; and 

11 ‘‘(II) the student achieves a pro12 ficient score on such alternate assess13 ment. 

14 ‘‘(iii) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY

15 REPORT.—For any year that a State edu16 cational agency makes use of the flexibility 

17 provided by this section to allow alternate 

18 assessments for more than 3 percent of the 

19 total student population statewide, the 

20 State educational agency shall make avail21 able to the public a report that includes 

22 the percentage of all special education stu23 dents in the State who were assessed ac24 cording to clause (ii).’’; 


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1 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (J) and (K) 

2 as subparagraphs (L) and (M), respectively; and 

3 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (I) (as 

4 amended by paragraph (1)) the following: 

5 ‘‘(J) ADDITIONAL MODELS AND SYSTEMS

6 FOR MEASURING STUDENT PROGRESS.—In de7 veloping a single, statewide State accountability 

8 system pursuant to subparagraph (A), a State 

9 may establish models and systems for meas10 uring student progress for purposes of deter11 mining whether an agency or school has made 

12 adequate yearly progress that are in addition to 

13 the models and systems otherwise described in 

14 this paragraph if the models and systems are in 

15 keeping with the purposes of this title. Addi16 tional models and systems that measure student 

17 progress under this paragraph may include— 

18 ‘‘(i) cohort growth models that— 

19 ‘‘(I) demonstrate progress based 

20 on longitudinal student assessment re21 sults indicating improvement in the 

22 academic performance of the same co23 hort of students over time; and 

24 ‘‘(II) may in some instances 

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1 ferent intermediate goals, and dif2 ferent annual measurable objectives 

3 for different cohorts; 

4 ‘‘(ii) indexing systems that dem5 onstrate progress based on improvement in 

6 assessment scores for students below the 

7 proficient level, such as improvements from 

8 the below basic to basic level, or from basic 

9 to another intermediate level below the 

10 proficient level, if the system does not in11 clude improvement in students’ scores for 

12 students who scored at the proficient level 

13 and higher; or 

14 ‘‘(iii) a system that demonstrates 

15 progress based on improvements in closing 

16 the achievement gap or making progress 

17 toward another State-established high18 achievement target, such as a system that 

19 demonstrates progress towards having all 

20 subgroups meet or exceed the current per21 centage of proficient students at the 

22 State’s top-performing schools (such as the 

23 top 20 percent of schools), if the system 

24 requires continued improvement towards 


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1 subsequently higher targets until all stu2 dents have reached the proficient level. 

3 ‘‘(K) REQUIREMENT FOR GUIDANCE FROM

4 THE SECRETARY ON ADDITIONAL MODELS AND

5 SYSTEMS FOR MEASURING STUDENT

6 PROGRESS.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 

8 120 days after the date of enactment of 

9 the No Child Left Behind Flexibility and 

10 Improvements Act, the Secretary shall es11 tablish specific models of additional models 

12 and systems for measuring student 

13 progress that meet the requirements of 

14 subparagraph (J), including models of co15 hort-growth systems, indexing systems, or 

16 high-achievement target systems described 

17 in such subparagraph. 

18 ‘‘(ii) MAXIMUM FLEXIBILITY OF MOD19 ELS.—To the extent possible, the models 

20 described in clause (i) shall demonstrate 

21 the maximum amount of flexibility avail22 able under this part in the design of addi23 tional models and systems for measuring 

24 student progress. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) TASK FORCE.—The Secretary 

2 shall create a task force to provide guid3 ance and other technical assistance to 

4 those States interested in incorporating ad5 ditional models and systems for measuring 

6 student progress into their State account7 ability plan.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. STATE OPTION REGARDING STUDENTS WITH LIM9 ITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY. 

10 Section 1111(b)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary 

11 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)) (as amend12 ed by section 3) is further amended by adding at the end 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(N) STATE OPTION REGARDING STU15 DENTS WITH LIMITED ENGLISH PRO16 FICIENCY.— 

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In determining 

18 whether a school, local educational agency, 

19 or State has made adequate yearly 

20 progress under this subsection, a State 

21 shall have the option to include in the stu22 dents with limited English proficiency sub23 group a student who was formerly included 

24 in the subgroup and subsequently acquired 

25 proficiency in English. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) DURATION OF INCLUSION IN

2 THE SUBGROUP.—A State may include a 

3 student described in clause (i) in the stu4 dents with limited English proficiency sub5 group until the student completes sec6 ondary school. 

7 ‘‘(iii) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

8 Nothing in this subparagraph shall be con9 strued— 

10 ‘‘(I) to count a student described 

11 in clause (i) as a student with limited 

12 English proficiency for purposes of— 

13 ‘‘(aa) determining a State14 defined minimum subgroup size; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(bb) allocating funds under 

17 title III; or 

18 ‘‘(II) to require a student de19 scribed in clause (i)— 

20 ‘‘(aa) to continue to take a 

21 limited English proficiency as22 sessment under paragraph (7); 

23 and 


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1 ‘‘(bb) to receive language 

2 services provided to students with 

3 limited English proficiency.’’. 

4 SEC. 5. LOCAL ACADEMIC ASSESSMENTS. 

5 Section 1111(b)(3)(A) of the Elementary and Sec6 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(3)(A)) 

7 is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each State 

9 plan’’ and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(A) IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSESS11 MENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each State plan’’; 

13 and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(ii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION RE16 GARDING USE OF LOCAL ASSESSMENTS.— 

17 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to 

18 prohibit a State from using a local assess19 ment system or a mixed system of State 

20 and local assessments in carrying out 

21 clause (i), if the assessment system— 

22 ‘‘(I) is aligned with the State’s 

23 content and achievement standards 

24 and provides coherent information 


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1 about student attainment of those 

2 standards; 

3 ‘‘(II) is valid and reliable, and 

4 consistent with relevant professional 

5 and technical standards; 

6 ‘‘(III) provides individual student 

7 reports and itemized score analysis; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(IV) allows the State to aggre10 gate, with confidence, data from dis11 parate local assessments. 

12 ‘‘(iii) REQUIRED TECHNICAL ASSIST13 ANCE.—Not later than 120 days after the 

14 date of enactment of the No Child Left 

15 Behind Flexibility and Improvements Act, 

16 the Secretary shall provide models of local 

17 assessment systems or mixed systems of 

18 State and local assessments meeting the 

19 requirements described in clause (ii), and 

20 shall provide guidance and technical assist21 ance to States on ways that these systems 

22 may be used to satisfy the assessment re23 quirements of this part.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. DEFERRAL OF ACADEMIC ASSESSMENTS. 

2 Section 1111(b)(3)(D) of the Elementary and Sec3 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(3)(D)) 

4 is amended by striking clauses (i) through (iv) and insert5 ing the following: 

6 ‘‘(i) $640,000,000 for fiscal year 

7 2011; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) $670,000,000 for fiscal year 

9 2012.’’. 

10 SEC. 7. ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS BY GROUP AND SUB11 JECT. 

12 Section 1116(b) of the Elementary and Secondary 

13 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)) is amended— 

14 (1) in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1), by 

15 inserting ‘‘with respect to the performance of a par16 ticular group of students described in section 

17 1111(b)(2)(C)(v) in the same academic subject,’’ 

18 after ‘‘that fails, for 2 consecutive years,’’; 

19 (2) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) 

20 of paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘with respect to the 

21 performance of a particular group of students de22 scribed in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v) in the same aca23 demic subject,’’ after ‘‘that fails to make adequate 

24 yearly progress,’’; 

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1 formance of a particular group of students described 

2 in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v) in the same academic 

3 subject,’’ after ‘‘that fails to make adequate yearly 

4 progress,’’; and 

5 (4) in the matter preceding clause (i) of para6 graph (8)(A), by inserting ‘‘with respect to the per7 formance of a particular group of students described 

8 in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v) in the same academic 

9 subject,’’ after ‘‘continues to fail to make adequate 

10 yearly progress,’’. 

11 SEC. 8. MODIFICATION OF THE DEFINITION OF HIGHLY 

12 QUALIFIED TEACHER. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart 1 of part A of title I of 

14 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

15 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

16 the following: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 1120C. MODIFICATION OF THE DEFINITION OF HIGH18 LY QUALIFIED TEACHER. 

19 ‘‘(a) HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS OF MULTIPLE

20 ACADEMIC SUBJECTS.—Notwithstanding section 

21 9101(23) or any other provision of law, a middle or sec22 ondary school teacher employed to teach multiple aca23 demic subjects shall be deemed to be highly qualified for 

24 purposes of this part, if— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the teacher meets the requirements of sec2 tion 9101(23)(A); 

3 ‘‘(2) the teacher has a bachelor’s degree; 

4 ‘‘(3) the teacher has demonstrated a high level 

5 of competency in at least one subject taught by the 

6 teacher by— 

7 ‘‘(A) passing a test described in section 

8 9101(23)(B)(ii)(I) that is applicable to such 

9 subject; or 

10 ‘‘(B) successful completion of a course of 

11 study, certification, or credential described in 

12 section 9101(23)(B)(ii) that is applicable to 

13 such subject; and 

14 ‘‘(4)(A) the State educational agency makes a 

15 determination, for a period of not more than 3 years 

16 at a time, that— 

17 ‘‘(i) the teacher should be considered high18 ly qualified for purposes of this part based on 

19 a showing that the teacher is making progress 

20 toward becoming highly qualified as defined in 

21 section 9101(23); and 

22 ‘‘(ii) at the time the State educational 

23 agency makes such determination, the teacher 

24 teaches in a local educational agency of the 

25 State that has provided the State educational 


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1 agency with evidence (that may include the fact 

2 that the local educational agency serves a small 

3 and rural school facing unique staffing or hir4 ing challenges that require teachers to teach 

5 multiple academic subjects) that the local edu6 cational agency has made a reasonable effort to 

7 provide teachers who are highly qualified as de8 fined in section 9101(23) to every student 

9 served by the local educational agency; or 

10 ‘‘(B) the teacher has an academic minor con11 sisting of not less than 15 credit hours, or the equiv12 alent of an academic minor as defined by the State 

13 educational agency in its State plan pursuant to sec14 tion 1119(a)(2), in each academic subject that is 

15 taught by the teacher (other than a subject for 

16 which the teacher has demonstrated a high level of 

17 competency under paragraph (3)), and each such 

18 subject is related to a subject for which the teacher 

19 has demonstrated a high level of competency under 

20 paragraph (3). 

21 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—For each year that a teacher in a 

22 State is deemed to be highly qualified under subsection 

23 (a), the State educational agency in the State shall make 

24 available to the public a report that includes— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the number of teachers in the State that 

2 are deemed highly qualified under subsection (a); 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(2) the total amount of subgrant funds made 

5 available under subpart 2 of part A of title II that 

6 the State awards to local educational agencies under 

7 such subpart that are available to assist the teachers 

8 described in paragraph (1) with the process of be9 coming highly qualified as defined in section 

10 9101(23).’’. 

11 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

12 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is 

13 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

14 1120B the following: 

‘‘Sec. 1120C. Modification of the definition of highly qualified teacher.’’. 

15 SEC. 9. REAUTHORIZATION OF READING FIRST AND EARLY 

16 READING FIRST PROGRAMS. 

17 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

18 1002(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

19 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6302(b)) is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘2002’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘2012’’; and 

22 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘2002’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘2012’’. 

24 (b) USE OF FUNDS FOR READING ACTIVITIES.— 


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1 (1) FINDING.—Congress finds that, based on 

2 the Office of Inspector General of the Department of 

3 Education’s September 2006 report entitled ‘‘The 

4 Reading First Program’s Grant Application Proc5 ess’’, it is crucial to achieving the goals of the Read6 ing First program under subpart 1 of part B of title 

7 I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

8 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6361 et seq.) that greater flexi9 bility is afforded to program participants, including 

10 allowing participants to choose from a variety of sci11 entifically based reading programs. 

12 (2) USE OF FUNDS FOR READING ACTIVI13 TIES.—Section 1202(c)(7) of the Elementary and 

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

15 6362(c)(7)) is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(C) READING ACTIVITIES FOR INDI18 VIDUAL STUDENTS.—Notwithstanding any 

19 other provision of this subpart, an eligible local 

20 educational agency may use the funds provided 

21 under the subgrant for any activity described in 

22 subparagraph (A) that is provided to a student 

23 in a manner other than on a classwide instruc24 tion basis, including small group instruction 

25 and one-to-one instruction.’’. 


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1 SEC. 10. DEFINITION OF HIGHLY QUALIFIED. 

2 Section 9101(23)(B)(ii)(II) of the Elementary and 

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

4 7801(23)(B)(ii)(II)) is amended by striking 

5 ‘‘credentialing; and’’ and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘credentialing, 

7 ‘‘except that the Secretary shall promul8 gate regulations permitting a teacher to 

9 demonstrate subject area competence in 

10 history, geography, economics, government, 

11 civics, or related subjects at middle or sec12 ondary schools in the State through a 

13 State social studies certificate that quali14 fies the teacher to teach such subjects; 

15 and’’. 

Æ 


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