I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 541 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to award 

grants to eligible entities to establish, expand, or support school-based 

mentoring programs to assist at-risk middle school students with the 

transition from middle school to high school. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 27, 2015 

Mr. CARSON of Indiana (for himself, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. LOEBSACK, 

and Mr. POLIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to award grants to eligible entities to establish, 

expand, or support school-based mentoring programs to 

assist at-risk middle school students with the transition 

from middle school to high school. 

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 ‘‘Transition-to-Success 

5 Mentoring Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PROGRAM. 

2 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

3 1803 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

4 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6553) is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 

6 part $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2016 and such sums as 

7 may be necessary for each succeeding fiscal year.’’. 

8 (b) TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PRO9 GRAM.—Part H of title I of such Act (20 U.S.C. 6551 

10 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘Subpart 3—Transition-to-Success Mentoring 

12 Program 

13 ‘‘SEC. 1831. TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PRO14 GRAM. 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appropriated 

16 to carry out this section, the Secretary shall award grants 

17 to eligible entities to establish, expand, or support school18 based mentoring programs to assist eligible students with 

19 the transition from middle school to high school. 

20 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this 

21 section, an eligible entity shall submit an application to 

22 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con23 taining such information as the Secretary may require. 

24 ‘‘(c) USES OF FUNDS.— 

25 ‘‘(1) REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible 

26 entity that receives a grant under this section shall 


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1 use the grant funds to establish a mentoring pro2 gram, or to expand or provide technical support to 

3 an existing mentoring program, in all middle schools 

4 served by the entity, under which each eligible stu5 dent is assigned to a success coach who— 

6 ‘‘(A) creates a plan for success for the stu7 dent that— 

8 ‘‘(i) is created with the student, teach9 ers, mentor, and parents of the student; 

10 ‘‘(ii) includes, for each academic year, 

11 the student’s academic, personal, and ca12 reer exploration goals, and a strategy on 

13 how to accomplish such goals; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) identifies the student’s 

15 strengths, weaknesses, and academic 

16 progress; 

17 ‘‘(B) enters into a signed, written agree18 ment with the parents of the student that de19 scribes how the parents should assist the stu20 dent in carrying out the plan for success; 

21 ‘‘(C) meets with the student at least once 

22 per month to— 

23 ‘‘(i) assist the student in achieving the 

24 goals under the plan for success; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) identify the student’s academic 

2 areas of weaknesses; 

3 ‘‘(iii) provide the student with the 

4 tools necessary to improve the student’s 

5 potential for academic excellence, and en6 sure the student’s successful transition 

7 from middle school to high school by iden8 tifying improved attitude, behavior, 

9 coursework, and social involvement; and 

10 ‘‘(iv) in the case of a student with be11 havioral issues, assist the student in behav12 ior management techniques; 

13 ‘‘(D) at least monthly, meets with the stu14 dent and the parents, teachers, or counselors of 

15 the student to— 

16 ‘‘(i) evaluate the student’s progress in 

17 achieving the goals under the plan for the 

18 current academic year; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) revise or establish new goals for 

20 the next academic year; and 

21 ‘‘(E) serves as the student’s advocate be22 tween the teachers and parents of the student 

23 to ensure that the teachers and parents under24 stand the student’s plan. 


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1 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED USES OF FUNDS.—An eligi2 ble entity that receives a grant under this section 

3 may use such funds to— 

4 ‘‘(A) develop and carry out a training pro5 gram for success coaches, including providing 

6 support to match success coaches with eligible 

7 students; 

8 ‘‘(B) cover the cost of any materials used 

9 by success coaches under the mentoring pro10 gram; and 

11 ‘‘(C) hire staff to perform or support the 

12 program objectives. 

13 ‘‘(d) GRANT DURATION.—A grant under this section 

14 shall be awarded for a period of not more than 5 years. 

15 ‘‘(e) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An eligible entity 

17 receiving a grant under this section shall submit to 

18 the Secretary, at the end of each academic year dur19 ing the grant period, a report that includes— 

20 ‘‘(A) the number of students who partici21 pated in the school-based mentoring program 

22 that was funded in whole or in part with the 

23 grant funds under this section; 

24 ‘‘(B) data on the academic achievement of 

25 such students; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the number of contact hours between 

2 such students and their success coaches; and 

3 ‘‘(D) any other information that the Sec4 retary may require to evaluate the success of 

5 the school-based mentoring program. 

6 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY.— 

7 ‘‘(A) INTERIM REPORT.—At the end of the 

8 third fiscal year for which funds are made 

9 available to carry out this section, the Secretary 

10 shall submit to Congress an interim report on 

11 the success of the school-based mentoring pro12 grams funded under this section that includes 

13 the information received under paragraph (1). 

14 ‘‘(B) FINAL REPORT.—At the end of the 

15 fifth fiscal year for which funds are made avail16 able to carry out this section, the Secretary 

17 shall submit to Congress a final report on the 

18 success of the school-based mentoring programs 

19 funded under this section that includes the in20 formation received under paragraph (1). 

21 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 ‘‘(1) AT-RISK STUDENT.—The term ‘at-risk stu23 dent’ means a student who has been identified as a 

24 student who has below a 2.0 grade point average or 


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1 the equivalent or who has been determined by par2 ents, teachers, or other school officials to— 

3 ‘‘(A) be at-risk of academic failure; 

4 ‘‘(B) have expressed interest in dropping 

5 out of school; 

6 ‘‘(C) show signs of a drug or alcohol prob7 lem; 

8 ‘‘(D) be pregnant or a parent; 

9 ‘‘(E) have come into contact with the juve10 nile justice system in the past; 

11 ‘‘(F) have limited English proficiency; 

12 ‘‘(G) be a gang member; or 

13 ‘‘(H) have a high absenteeism rate at 

14 school. 

15 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en16 tity’ means— 

17 ‘‘(A) a local educational agency that— 

18 ‘‘(i) receives, or is eligible to receive, 

19 funds under part A of title I; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) is a high-need local educational 

21 agency; or 

22 ‘‘(B) a partnership between a local edu23 cational agency described in subparagraph (A) 

24 and a nonprofit, community-based organization. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘eligible 

2 student’ means a student who— 

3 ‘‘(A) is enrolled in a middle school served 

4 by an eligible entity; and 

5 ‘‘(B) is an at-risk student. 

6 ‘‘(4) HIGH-NEED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN7 CY.—The term ‘high-need local educational agency’ 

8 has the meaning given to the term in section 

9 2102(3)(A). 

10 ‘‘(5) MIDDLE SCHOOL.—The term ‘middle 

11 school’ means a nonprofit institutional day or resi12 dential school, including a public charter school, that 

13 provides middle school education, as determined 

14 under State law, except that the term does not in15 clude any education below grade 6 or beyond grade 

16 9. 

17 ‘‘(6) SCHOOL-BASED MENTORING.—The term 

18 ‘school-based mentoring’ refers to mentoring activi19 ties that— 

20 ‘‘(A) are closely coordinated with a school 

21 by involving teachers, counselors, and other 

22 school staff who may identify and refer stu23 dents for mentoring services; and 

24 ‘‘(B) assist at-risk students in improving 

25 academic achievement, reducing disciplinary reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Feb 02, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H541.IH H541

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1 ferrals, and increasing positive regard for 

2 school. 

3 ‘‘(7) SUCCESS COACH.—The term ‘success 

4 coach’ means an individual who— 

5 ‘‘(A) is— 

6 ‘‘(i) an employee or volunteer of a 

7 local educational agency in which a men8 toring program receiving support under 

9 this section is being carried out; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) a volunteer or employee from a 

11 nonprofit, community-based organization 

12 that provides volunteers for mentoring pro13 grams in secondary schools; and 

14 ‘‘(B) prior to becoming a success coach— 

15 ‘‘(i) received training and support in 

16 mentoring from an eligible entity, which, at 

17 a minimum, was 2 hours in length and 

18 covered the roles and responsibilities of a 

19 success coach; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) underwent a screening by an eli21 gible entity that included— 

22 ‘‘(I) appropriate job reference 

23 checks; 

24 ‘‘(II) child and domestic abuse 

25 record checks; and 


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1 ‘‘(III) criminal background 

2 checks.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 The table of contents in section 2 of the Elementary 

5 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 

6 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating 

7 to section 1830 the following: 

‘‘SUBPART 3—TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PROGRAM

‘‘Sec. 1831. Transition to success mentoring program.’’. 

Æ 


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