II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1891

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

literacy through family literacy projects.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 9, 1999

Mr. L. CHAFEE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

of 1965 to improve literacy through family literacy projects.

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 ‘‘Literacy Involves Fam5 ilies Together Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 Section 1002(b) of the Elementary and Secondary

8 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6302(b)) is amended

9 by striking ‘‘$118,000,000 for fiscal year 1995’’ and in10 serting ‘‘$500,000,000 for fiscal year 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 3. IMPROVING BASIC PROGRAMS OPERATED BY

2 LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.

3 Section 1111(c) of the Elementary and Secondary

4 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(c)) is amended—

5 (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

6 end;

7 (2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at

8 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

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

10 ‘‘(7) the State educational agency will encour11 age local educational agencies and individual schools

12 participating in a program assisted under this part

13 to offer family literacy services (using funds under

14 this part), if the agency or school determines that a

15 substantial number of students served under this

16 part by the agency or school have parents who do

17 not have a secondary school diploma or its recog18 nized equivalent or who have low levels of literacy.’’.

19 SEC. 4. EVEN START FAMILY LITERACY PROGRAMS.

20 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—

21 (1) RESERVATION FOR MIGRANT PROGRAMS,

22 OUTLYING AREAS, AND INDIAN TRIBES.—Section

23 1202(a) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu24 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6362(a)) is

25 amended—
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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘(or, if

2 such appropriated amount exceeds

3 $250,000,000, 6 percent of such amount)’’

4 after ‘‘1002(b)’’;

5 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘If the

6 amount of funds made available under this sub7 section exceeds $4,600,000,’’ and inserting

8 ‘‘After the date of the enactment of the Lit9 eracy Involves Families Together Act,’’; and

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

11 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION OF PROGRAMS FOR AMER12 ICAN INDIANS.—The Secretary shall ensure that

13 programs under paragraph (1)(C) are coordinated

14 with family literacy programs operated by the Bu15 reau of Indian Affairs in order to avoid duplication

16 and to encourage the dissemination of information

17 on high-quality family literacy programs serving

18 American Indians.’’.

19 (2) RESERVATION FOR FEDERAL ACTIVITIES.—

20 Section 1202(b) of the Elementary and Secondary

21 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6362(b)) is

22 amended to read as follows:

23 ‘‘(b) RESERVATION FOR FEDERAL ACTIVITIES.—

24 ‘‘(1) EVALUATION, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE,

25 PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT, AND REPLICATION ACTIVI-
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1 TIES.—From amounts appropriated under section

2 1002(b), the Secretary may reserve not more than 3

3 percent of such amounts or the amount reserved to

4 carry out the activities described in paragraphs (1)

5 and (2) of subsection (a) for the fiscal year 1994,

6 whichever is greater, for purposes of—

7 ‘‘(A) carrying out the evaluation required

8 by section 1209; and

9 ‘‘(B) providing, through grants or con10 tracts with eligible organizations, technical as11 sistance, program improvement, and replication

12 activities.

13 ‘‘(2) RESEARCH.—In the case of fiscal years

14 2000 through 2004, if the amounts appropriated

15 under section 1002(b) for any of such years exceed

16 such amounts appropriated for the preceding fiscal

17 year, the Secretary shall reserve from such excess

18 amount $2,000,000 or 50 percent, whichever is less,

19 to carry out section 1211(b).

20 (b) USES OF FUNDS.—Section 1204 of the Elemen21 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.

22 6364) is amended—

23 (1) in subsection (b)(1)(A)—

24 (A) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘and’’ after

25 the semicolon; and
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1 (B) by striking clause (v) and adding the

2 following:

3 ‘‘(v) 50 percent in the fifth, sixth, sev4 enth, and eighth such years; and

5 ‘‘(vi) 35 percent in any subsequent

6 such year.’’; and

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

8 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS FOR FAMILY LITERACY SERV9 ICES.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—States may use a portion of

11 funds received under this part to assist eligible enti12 ties receiving a subgrant under section 1203(b) in

13 improving the quality of family literacy services pro14 vided under Even Start programs under this part,

15 except that in no case may a State’s use of funds

16 for this purpose for a fiscal year result in a decrease

17 from the level of activities and services provided to

18 program participants in the preceding year.

19 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In carrying out paragraph (1),

20 a State shall give priority to programs that were of

21 low quality, as evaluated based on the indicators of

22 program quality developed by the State under sec23 tion 1210.

24 ‘‘(3) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING.—

25 Assistance under paragraph (1) shall be in the form
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1 of technical assistance and training, provided by a

2 State through a grant, contract, or cooperative

3 agreement with an entity that has experience in of4 fering high quality training and technical assistance

5 to family literacy providers.’’.

6 (c) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—Section 1205 of the Ele7 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.

8 6365) is amended—

9 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (9) and (10)

10 as paragraphs (10) and (11), respectively; and

11 (2) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol12 lowing:

13 ‘‘(9) use instructional programs based on sci14 entifically based reading research (as defined in sec15 tion 2252) for children and, to the extent such re16 search is available, for adults;’’.

17 (d) ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS.—Section 1206(b) of

18 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20

19 U.S.C. 6366(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing:

21 ‘‘(3) CHILDREN 8 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER.—

22 If an Even Start program assisted under this part

23 collaborates with a program under part A, and funds

24 received under such part A program contribute to

25 paying the cost of providing programs under this
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1 part to children 8 years of age or older, the Even

2 Start program, notwithstanding subsection (a)(2),

3 may permit the participation of children 8 years of

4 age or older.’’.

5 (e) PLAN.—Section 1207(c)(1)(F) of the Elementary

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

7 6367(c)(1)(F)) is amended by striking ‘‘Act, the Goals

8 2000: Educate America Act,’’ and inserting ‘‘Act’’.

9 (f) AWARD OF SUBGRANTS.—Section 1208(b) of the

10 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20

11 U.S.C. 6368(b)) is amended—

12 (1) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the

13 following:

14 ‘‘(3) CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY.—In awarding

15 subgrant funds to continue a program under this

16 part after the first year, the State educational agen17 cy shall review the progress of each eligible entity in

18 meeting the goals of the program referred to in sec19 tion 1207(c)(1)(A) and shall evaluate the program

20 based on the indicators of program quality developed

21 by the State under section 1210.’’; and

22 (2) in paragraph (5)—

23 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking the

24 last sentence; and
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1 (B) by amending subparagraph (B) to read

2 as follows:

3 ‘‘(B) The Federal share of any subgrant re4 newed under subparagraph (A) shall be limited in

5 accordance with section 1204(b).’’.

6 (g) RESEARCH.—Section 1211 of the Elementary

7 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6369b)

8 is amended—

9 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘subsection

10 (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (a) and (b)’’;

11 (2) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub12 section (c); and

13 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol14 lowing:

15 ‘‘(b) SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED RESEARCH ON FAMILY

16 LITERACY.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts reserved

18 under section 1202(b)(2), the National Institute for

19 Literacy shall carry out research that—

20 ‘‘(A) is scientifically-based reading re21 search (as defined in section 2252); and

22 ‘‘(B) determines—

23 ‘‘(i) the most effective ways of improv24 ing the literacy skills of adults with read25 ing difficulties; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) how family literacy services can

2 best provide parents with the knowledge

3 and skills they need to support their chil4 dren’s literacy development.

5 ‘‘(2) USE OF EXPERT ENTITY.—The National

6 Institute for Literacy shall carry out the research

7 under paragraph (1) through an entity, including a

8 Federal agency, that has expertise in carrying out

9 longitudinal studies of the development of literacy

10 skills in children and has developed effective inter11 ventions to help children with reading difficulties.’’.

12 SEC. 5. EDUCATION OF MIGRATORY CHILDREN.

13 Section 1304(b) of the Elementary and Secondary

14 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6394(b)) is amended—

15 (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

16 end;

17 (2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at

18 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

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

20 ‘‘(7) a description of how the State will encour21 age programs and projects assisted under this part

22 to offer family literacy services if the program or

23 project serves a substantial number of migratory

24 children who have parents who do not have a sec-
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1 ondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent

2 or who have low levels of literacy.’’.

3 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 14101 of the Elementary

5 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801)

6 is amended—

7 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (15) through

8 (29) as paragraphs (16) through (30), respectively;

9 and

10 (2) by inserting after paragraph (14) the fol11 lowing:

12 ‘‘(15) FAMILY LITERACY SERVICES.—The term

13 ‘family literacy services’ means services provided to

14 participants on a voluntary basis that are of suffi15 cient intensity in terms of hours, and of sufficient

16 duration, to make sustainable changes in a family,

17 and that integrate all of the following activities:

18 ‘‘(A) Interactive literacy activities between

19 parents and their children.

20 ‘‘(B) Training for parents regarding how

21 to be the primary teacher for their children and

22 full partners in the education of their children.

23 ‘‘(C) Parent literacy training that leads to

24 economic self-sufficiency.
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1 ‘‘(D) An age-appropriate education to pre2 pare children for success in school and life ex3 periences.’’.

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

5 (1) EVEN START FAMILY LITERACY PRO6 GRAMS.—Section 1202(e) of the Elementary and

7 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (6362(e)) is

8 amended—

9 (A) by striking paragraph (3); and

10 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and

11 (5) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively.

12 (2) READING AND LITERACY GRANTS.—Section

13 2252 of the Elementary and Secondary Education

14 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6661a) is amended—

15 (A) by striking paragraph (2); and

16 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (3)

17 through (5) as paragraphs (2) through (4), re18 spectively.

19 SEC. 7. INDIAN EDUCATION.

20 (a) EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.—

21 Section 1143 of the Education Amendments of 1978 (25

22 U.S.C. 2023) is amended—

23 (1) in subsection (b)(1)—

24 (A) by striking ‘‘(f)’’ and inserting ‘‘(g)’’;

25 and
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘(e))’’ and inserting ‘‘(f))’’;

2 (2) in subsection (d)(1)—

3 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (D)

4 and (E) as subparagraphs (E) and (F), respec5 tively; and

6 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (C)

7 the following:

8 ‘‘(D) family literacy services,’’;

9 (3) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘(f),’’ and in10 serting ‘‘(g),’’;

11 (4) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as

12 subsections (f) and (g), respectively; and

13 (5) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol14 lowing:

15 ‘‘(e) Family literacy programs operated under this

16 section, and other family literacy programs operated by

17 the Bureau of Indian Affairs, shall be coordinated with

18 family literacy programs for American Indian children

19 under part B of title I of the Elementary and Secondary

20 Education Act of 1965 in order to avoid duplication and

21 to encourage the dissemination of information on quality

22 family literacy programs serving American Indians.’’.

23 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 1146 of the Education

24 Amendments of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2026) is amended—
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1 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) through

2 (14) as paragraphs (8) through (15), respectively;

3 and

4 (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol5 lowing:

6 ‘‘(7) the term ‘family literacy services’ has the

7 meaning given such term in section 14101 of the El8 ementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20

9 U.S.C. 8801);’’.

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