II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1236 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 regarding 

highly qualified teachers, growth models, adequate yearly progress, Native 

American language programs, and parental involvement, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 26, 2007 

Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. STEVENS) 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 regarding highly qualified teachers, growth models, adequate yearly progress, Native American language 

programs, and parental involvement, 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 ‘‘School Accountability 

5 Improvements Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS IN SMALL SCHOOLS. 

2 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en3 sure that teachers in public elementary and secondary 

4 schools know the subject matter and curriculum that they 

5 are teaching and can convey the subject matter to stu6 dents. 

7 (b) HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS OF MULTIPLE

8 ACADEMIC SUBJECTS IN SMALL SCHOOLS.—Section 

9 1119(a) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

10 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6319(a)) is amended by adding at the 

11 end the following: 

12 ‘‘(4) EXCEPTION FOR MULTI-SUBJECT TEACH13 ERS IN SMALL SCHOOLS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sec15 tion 9101(23) or any other provision of this 

16 Act, a middle or secondary school teacher who 

17 is employed to teach multiple core academic 

18 subjects in a school designated as a small 

19 school under subparagraph (B) but who is not 

20 highly qualified as the term is defined in such 

21 section, shall be deemed to be highly qualified 

22 for purposes of this Act if the teacher— 

23 ‘‘(i) meets the requirements of sub24 paragraph (A) of such section; 

25 ‘‘(ii) meets the requirements of sub26 clause (I) or (II) of subparagraph (B)(ii) 


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1 of such section for 1 or more of the core 

2 academic subjects that the teacher teaches; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(iii) demonstrates highly effective de5 livery of instruction on a performance as6 sessment, developed or adopted by the 

7 State within which the small school is lo8 cated, that assesses skills that are widely 

9 accepted as necessary for the effective de10 livery of instruction. 

11 ‘‘(B) SMALL SCHOOL.—A State edu12 cational agency shall designate a school as a 

13 small school for a school year if the State edu14 cational agency determines, based on evidence 

15 provided by the local educational agency serving 

16 the school, that the school— 

17 ‘‘(i) has unique staffing or hiring 

18 challenges that require 1 or more teachers 

19 at the school to teach multiple core aca20 demic subjects for such year; 

21 ‘‘(ii) has made a reasonable effort to 

22 recruit and retain for such year middle or 

23 secondary school teachers who meet the re24 quirements of subparagraph (A) and either 

25 subparagraph (B) or (C) of section 


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1 9101(23), to teach all students attending 

2 the school; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) had an average daily student 

4 membership of less than 200 students for 

5 the previous full school year.’’. 

6 SEC. 3. GROWTH MODELS. 

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

8 Education Act (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)) is amended by add9 ing at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(L) GROWTH MODELS.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a 

12 State that desires to satisfy the require13 ments of a single, statewide State account14 ability system under subparagraph (A) 

15 through the use of a growth model, the 

16 Secretary shall approve such State’s use of 

17 the growth model if— 

18 ‘‘(I) the State plan ensures that 

19 100 percent of students in each group 

20 described in subparagraph (C)(v)— 

21 ‘‘(aa) meet or exceed the 

22 State’s proficient level of aca23 demic achievement on the State 

24 assessments under paragraph (3) 

25 by the 2013–2014 school year; or 


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1 ‘‘(bb) are making sufficient 

2 progress to enable each student 

3 to meet or exceed the State’s pro4 ficient level on such assessments 

5 for the student’s corresponding 

6 grade level not later than the stu7 dent’s final year in secondary 

8 school; 

9 ‘‘(II) the State plan complies 

10 with all of the requirements of this 

11 paragraph, except as provided in 

12 clause (ii); 

13 ‘‘(III) the growth model is based 

14 on a fully approved assessment sys15 tem; 

16 ‘‘(IV) the growth model cal17 culates growth in student proficiency 

18 for the purposes of determining ade19 quate yearly progress either by indi20 vidual students or by cohorts of stu21 dents, and may use methodologies, 

22 such as confidence intervals and the 

23 State-approved minimum designa24 tions, that will yield statistically reli25 able data; 


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1 ‘‘(V) the growth model includes 

2 all students; and 

3 ‘‘(VI) in the case of a growth 

4 model that tracks individual students, 

5 the State has the capacity to track 

6 and manage the data efficiently and 

7 effectively. 

8 ‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULE.—Notwith9 standing any other provision of law, for 

10 purposes of any provision that requires the 

11 calculation of a number or percentage of 

12 students who must meet or exceed the pro13 ficient level of academic achievement on a 

14 State assessment under paragraph (3), a 

15 State using a growth model approved 

16 under clause (i) shall calculate such num17 ber or percentage by counting— 

18 ‘‘(I) the students who meet or ex19 ceed the proficient level of academic 

20 achievement on the State assessment; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(II) the students who, as dem23 onstrated through the growth model, 

24 are making sufficient progress to en25 able each student to meet or exceed 


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1 the proficient level on the assessment 

2 for the student’s corresponding grade 

3 level not later than the student’s final 

4 year in secondary school.’’. 

5 SEC. 4. SCHOOL CHOICE AND SUPPLEMENTAL EDU6 CATIONAL SERVICES. 

7 (a) SCHOOL CHOICE AND SUPPLEMENTAL EDU8 CATIONAL SERVICES.—Section 1116(b) of the Elementary 

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

10 6316(b)) is amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

12 (A) by striking subparagraph (E) and in13 serting the following: 

14 ‘‘(E) SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL SERV15 ICES.—In the case of a school identified for 

16 school improvement under this paragraph, the 

17 local educational agency shall, not later than 

18 the first day of the school year following such 

19 identification, make supplemental educational 

20 services available consistent with subsection 

21 (e)(1).’’; and 

22 (B) by striking subparagraph (F); 

23 (2) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(5) FAILURE TO MAKE ADEQUATE YEARLY

2 PROGRESS AFTER IDENTIFICATION.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any 

4 school served under this part that fails to make 

5 adequate yearly progress, as set out in the 

6 State’s plan under section 1111(b)(2), by the 

7 end of the first full school year after identifica8 tion under paragraph (1), the local educational 

9 agency serving such school shall— 

10 ‘‘(i) provide students in grades 3 

11 through 12 who are enrolled in the school 

12 and who did not meet or exceed the pro13 ficient level on the most recent State as14 sessment in mathematics or in reading or 

15 language arts with the option to transfer 

16 to another public school served by the local 

17 educational agency in accordance with sub18 paragraph (B); 

19 ‘‘(ii) continue to make supplemental 

20 educational services available consistent 

21 with subsection (e)(1); and 

22 ‘‘(iii) continue to provide technical as23 sistance. 

24 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out 

2 subparagraph (A)(i) with respect to a 

3 school, the local educational agency serving 

4 such school shall, not later than the first 

5 day of the school year following such iden6 tification, provide all students described in 

7 subparagraph (A)(i) with the option to 

8 transfer to another public school served by 

9 the local educational agency, which may in10 clude a public charter school, that has not 

11 been identified for school improvement 

12 under this paragraph, unless such an op13 tion is prohibited by State law. 

14 ‘‘(ii) RULE.—In providing students 

15 the option to transfer to another public 

16 school, the local educational agency shall 

17 give priority to the lowest achieving chil18 dren from low-income families, as deter19 mined by the local educational agency for 

20 purposes of allocating funds to schools 

21 under section 1113(c)(1). 

22 ‘‘(C) TRANSFER.—Students who use the 

23 option to transfer under subparagraph (A)(i), 

24 paragraph (7)(C)(i) or (8)(A)(i), or subsection 

25 (c)(10)(C)(vii) shall be enrolled in classes and 


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1 other activities in the public school to which the 

2 students transfer in the same manner as all 

3 other children at the public school.’’; and 

4 (3) in paragraph (8)(A)(i), by striking ‘‘all’’. 

5 (b) SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICES PRO6 VIDERS.—Section 1116(e) of the Elementary and Sec7 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(e)) is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating paragraph (12) as para10 graph (13); 

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

13 ‘‘(12) RULE REGARDING PROVIDERS.—Notwith14 standing paragraph (13)(B), a local educational 

15 agency identified under subsection (c) that is re16 quired to arrange for the provision of supplemental 

17 educational services under this subsection may serve 

18 as a provider of such services in accordance with 

19 this subsection.’’; and 

20 (3) in paragraph (13)(A) (as redesignated by 

21 paragraph (1)), by inserting ‘‘, who is in any of 

22 grades 3 through 12 and who did not meet or exceed 

23 the proficient level on the most recent State assess24 ment in mathematics or in reading or language 

25 arts’’ before the semicolon. 


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1 SEC. 5. CALCULATING ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS FOR 

2 STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES AND STU3 DENTS WITH LIMITED ENGLISH PRO4 FICIENCY. 

5 Section 1116 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu6 cation Act of 1965 (as amended by section 4) (20 U.S.C. 

7 6316) is further amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub9 section (i); and 

10 (2) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(h) PARTIAL SATISFACTION OF AYP.— 

13 ‘‘(1) SCHOOLS.—Notwithstanding this section 

14 or any other provision of law, in the case of a school 

15 that failed to make adequate yearly progress under 

16 section 1111(b)(2) solely because the school did not 

17 meet or exceed 1 or more annual measurable objec18 tives set by the State under section 1111(b)(2)(G) 

19 for the subgroup of students with disabilities or stu20 dents with limited English proficiency, or both such 

21 subgroups— 

22 ‘‘(A) if such school is identified for school 

23 improvement under subsection (b)(1), such 

24 school shall only be required to develop or revise 

25 and implement a school plan under subsection 

26 (b)(3) with respect to each such subgroup that 


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1 did not meet or exceed each annual measurable 

2 objective; and 

3 ‘‘(B) if such school is identified for re4 structuring under subsection (b)(8), the local 

5 educational agency serving such school shall not 

6 be required to implement subsection (b)(8)(B) 

7 if the local educational agency demonstrates to 

8 the State educational agency that the school 

9 would have made adequate yearly progress for 

10 each assessment and for each such subgroup for 

11 the most recent school year if the percentage of 

12 students who met or exceeded the proficient 

13 level of academic achievement on the State as14 sessment was calculated by counting— 

15 ‘‘(i) the students who met or exceeded 

16 such proficient level; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) the students who are making suf18 ficient progress to enable each such stu19 dent to meet or exceed the proficient level 

20 on the assessment for the student’s cor21 responding grade level not later than the 

22 student’s final year in secondary school, as 

23 demonstrated through a growth model that 

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1 clauses (III) through (VI) of section 

2 1111(b)(2)(L)(i). 

3 ‘‘(2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—Not4 withstanding this section or any other provision of 

5 law, in the case of a local educational agency that 

6 is identified for corrective action under subsection 

7 (c)(10) solely because the local educational agency 

8 did not meet or exceed 1 or more annual measurable 

9 objectives set by the State under section 

10 1111(b)(2)(G) for the subgroup of students with dis11 abilities or students with limited English proficiency, 

12 or both such subgroups, the State educational agen13 cy shall not be required to implement subsection 

14 (c)(10) if the State educational agency demonstrates 

15 to the Secretary that the school would have made 

16 adequate yearly progress for each assessment and 

17 for each such subgroup if the percentage of students 

18 who met or exceeded the proficient level of academic 

19 achievement on the State assessment was calculated 

20 by counting— 

21 ‘‘(A) the students who meet or exceed such 

22 proficient level; and 

23 ‘‘(B) the students who are making suffi24 cient progress to enable each such student to 

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1 sessment for the student’s corresponding grade 

2 level not later than the student’s final year in 

3 secondary school, as demonstrated through a 

4 growth model that meets the requirements de5 scribed in subclauses (III) through (VI) of sec6 tion 1111(b)(2)(L)(i).’’. 

7 SEC. 6. NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE PROGRAMS. 

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

9 Education Act of 1965 (as amended by section 3) (20 

10 U.S.C. 6316(b)(2)) is further amended by adding at the 

11 end the following: 

12 ‘‘(M) NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE PRO13 GRAMS.—Notwithstanding subparagraph (I) or 

14 any other provision of law— 

15 ‘‘(i) a school serving students who re16 ceive not less than a half day of daily Na17 tive language instruction in an American 

18 Indian language, an Alaska Native lan19 guage, or Native Hawaiian in at least 

20 grades kindergarten through grade 2 for a 

21 school year that does not have State as22 sessments under paragraph (3) available in 

23 the Native American language taught at 

24 the school as provided for in paragraph 

25 (3)(C)(ix)(III)— 


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1 ‘‘(I) shall assess students in 

2 grade 3 as required under paragraph 

3 (3), and such students shall be in4 cluded in determining if the school 

5 met the participation requirements for 

6 all groups of students as required 

7 under subparagraph (I)(ii) for such 

8 school year; and 

9 ‘‘(II) shall not include such as10 sessment results for students in grade 

11 3 in determining if the school met or 

12 exceeded the annual measurable objec13 tives for all groups of students as re14 quired under subparagraph (I)(i) for 

15 such school year; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a school serving 

17 students in any of grades 4 through 8 who 

18 received such Native American language 

19 instruction, such school shall count for 

20 purposes of calculating the percentage of 

21 students who met or exceeded the pro22 ficient level of academic achievement on 

23 the State assessment— 

24 ‘‘(I) the students who met or ex25 ceeded such proficient level; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) the students who are mak2 ing sufficient progress to enable each 

3 such student to meet or exceed such 

4 proficient level on the assessment for 

5 the student’s corresponding grade 

6 level by the time the student enters 

7 grade 7, as demonstrated through a 

8 growth model that meets the require9 ments described in subclauses (III) 

10 through (VI) of paragraph (L)(i).’’. 

11 SEC. 7. IMPROVING EFFECTIVE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT. 

12 Section 2134 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu13 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6634) is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a)(2)(C), by inserting ‘‘one or 

15 more parent teacher associations or organizations,’’ 

16 after ‘‘such local educational agencies,’’; 

17 (2) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub18 section (c); and 

19 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(b) OPTIONAL USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible part22 nership that receives a subgrant under this section may 

23 use subgrant funds remaining after carrying out all of the 

24 activities described in subsection (a) for— 


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1 ‘‘(1) developing parental engagement strategies, 

2 with accountability goals, as a key part of the ongo3 ing school improvement plan under section 

4 1116(b)(3)(A) for a school identified for improve5 ment under section 1116(b)(1); or 

6 ‘‘(2) providing training to teachers, principals, 

7 and parents in skills that will enhance effective com8 munication, which training shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) include the research-based standards 

10 and methodologies of effective parent or family 

11 involvement programs; and 

12 ‘‘(B) to the greatest extent possible, in13 volve the members of the local and State parent 

14 teacher association or organization in such 

15 training activities and in the implementation of 

16 school improvement plans under section 

17 1116(b)(3)(A).’’. 

18 SEC. 8. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

19 Section 1116 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu20 cation Act of 1965 (as amended by sections 4 and 5) (20 

21 U.S.C. 6316) is further amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (b)— 

23 (A) in paragraph (6)(F), by striking 

24 ‘‘(1)(E),’’; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (7)(C)(i), by striking 

2 ‘‘paragraph (1)(E) and (F)’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (5)’’; 

4 (C) in paragraph (8)(A)(i), by striking 

5 ‘‘paragraph (1)(E) and (F)’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (5)’’; 

7 (D) in paragraph (9)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)(E)’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘paragraph (5)(B)’’; and 

10 (ii) by striking ‘‘(1)(A), (5),’’ and in11 serting ‘‘(5)(A),’’; and 

12 (E) in paragraph (11), by striking 

13 ‘‘(1)(A),’’; 

14 (2) in subsection (c)(10)(C)(vii), by striking 

15 ‘‘subsections (b)(1)(E) and (F),’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘subparagraphs (B) and (C) of subsection (b)(5)’’; 

17 (3) in subsection (e)(1), by inserting ‘‘(1),’’ 

18 after ‘‘described in paragraph’’; 

19 (4) in subsection (f)(1)(A)(ii), by inserting 

20 ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(b)(5)’’; and 

21 (5) in subsection (g)(3)(A), by striking ‘‘sub22 section (b)(1)(E)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

23 (b)(5)(B)’’. 

Æ 


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