I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1653

To direct the Secretary of Education to conduct a study to determine the

best means of developing a national standard by which to measure

the rate at which students drop out of secondary schools in the United

States, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 1, 2001

Mr. GONZALEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Education to conduct a study

to determine the best means of developing a national

standard by which to measure the rate at which students

drop out of secondary schools in the United States, 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 ‘‘Accuracy and Uni5 formity in Dropout Rate Reporting Study Act’’
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1 SEC. 2. STUDY TO DEVELOP STANDARDS TO MEASURE

2 DROPOUT RATE.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this section,

4 the Secretary of Education shall conduct a study to deter5 mine the best means of developing a national standard by

6 which to measure the rate at which students drop out of

7 secondary schools in the United States.

8 (b) INVESTIGATION OF MEANS OF MEASUREMENT.—

9 In conducting the study under this section, the Secretary

10 shall investigate means by which States and local edu11 cational agencies can most accurately measure—

12 (1) the number of students enrolled in a sec13 ondary school on the first day of October of each

14 year;

15 (2) the number of students who were enrolled

16 in the secondary school at some time during the pre17 vious year, but who are not enrolled on such day;

18 and

19 (3) of the number described in paragraph (2),

20 the number of students who are not enrolled—

21 (A) because they are enrolled in another

22 public or private school;

23 (B) because they are being taught in home

24 schools;

25 (C) because they are completing a General

26 Equivalency Diploma (GED); or
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1 (D) for other permissible reasons, such as

2 illness, suspension, or death.

3 (c) LONGITUDINAL MEASURES.—In investigating

4 means of measurement as part of the study required by

5 this section, the Secretary shall examine longitudinal

6 means of measurement that track students from the be7 ginning of 9th grade until graduation.

8 (d) TREATMENT OF GED STUDENTS.—In con9 ducting the study under this section, the Secretary shall

10 investigate how best to factor the students to whom sub11 section (b)(3)(C) applies in calculating the dropout rate

12 described in subsection (a).

13 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date

14 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit to

15 Congress a report containing the results of the study con16 ducted under this section and any recommendations that

17 the Secretary may have regarding the subject of the study.

18 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘local

19 educational agency’’ and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the

20 meanings given such terms in the Elementary and Sec21 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.).

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