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[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1653 Introduced in House (IH)]

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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Accuracy and Uniformity in Dropout 
Rate Reporting Study Act''

SEC. 2. STUDY TO DEVELOP STANDARDS TO MEASURE DROPOUT RATE.

    (a) In General.--In accordance with this section, the Secretary of 
Education shall 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.
    (b) Investigation of Means of Measurement.--In conducting the study 
under this section, the Secretary shall investigate means by which 
States and local educational agencies can most accurately measure--
            (1) the number of students enrolled in a secondary school 
        on the first day of October of each year;
            (2) the number of students who were enrolled in the 
        secondary school at some time during the previous year, but who 
        are not enrolled on such day; and
            (3) of the number described in paragraph (2), the number of 
        students who are not enrolled--
                    (A) because they are enrolled in another public or 
                private school;
                    (B) because they are being taught in home schools;
                    (C) because they are completing a General 
                Equivalency Diploma (GED); or
                    (D) for other permissible reasons, such as illness, 
                suspension, or death.
    (c) Longitudinal Measures.--In investigating means of measurement 
as part of the study required by this section, the Secretary shall 
examine longitudinal means of measurement that track students from the 
beginning of 9th grade until graduation.
    (d) Treatment of GED Students.--In conducting the study under this 
section, the Secretary shall investigate how best to factor the 
students to whom subsection (b)(3)(C) applies in calculating the 
dropout rate described in subsection (a).
    (e) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary shall transmit to Congress a report containing 
the results of the study conducted under this section and any 
recommendations that the Secretary may have regarding the subject of 
the study.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section, the terms ``local educational 
agency'' and ``secondary school'' have the meanings given such terms in 
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et 
seq.).
                                 <all>
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