II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 676 

To provide for Project GRAD programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 17, 2005 

Mr. STEVENS (for himself, Mr. FRIST, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. 

DEWINE, Mrs. CLINTON, and Mrs. HUTCHISON) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL

To provide for Project GRAD programs, 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 ‘‘Graduation Really 

5 Achieves Dreams Act’’ or the ‘‘GRAD Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The national secondary school graduation 

9 rate is only 70 percent. For the class of 2001, the 

10 national graduation rate was only 51 percent for Af-
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1 rican-American students and 52 percent for Latino 

2 students. 

3 (2) In our Nation’s high poverty urban districts, as few as 1 4 ⁄3 of students graduate from sec5 ondary school. In these places, completion rates 

6 among certain disadvantaged groups of students are 

7 often lower still. 

(3) In rural areas, where 1 8 ⁄3 of American stu9 dents attend school, only 58.8 percent of students 

10 attend institutions of higher education, compared 

11 with 68.2 percent of American students from urban 

12 and suburban areas. 

13 (4) Each school day, approximately 3,000 sec14 ondary school students drop out of school. 

15 (5) Alaska Natives have a substantially higher 

16 dropout rate than all other students in Alaska as a 

17 group. The dropout rate is 8.8 percent for Alaska 

18 Natives compared to 4.7 percent for the 2001–2002 

19 school year for other students in Alaska. 

20 (6) The 6,000,000 secondary students who 

21 make up the lowest 25 percent in terms of achieve22 ment scores are 3.5 times more likely to drop out of 

23 secondary school than students in the next highest 

24 quarter of academic achievement, and are 20 times 

25 more likely to drop out than high achieving students. 
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1 (7) Approximately 25 percent of secondary 

2 school students are reading at below basic levels. 

3 The problem is even more severe for poor students 

4 of color. The average minority or low-income 9th 

5 grader performs at only the 5th or 6th grade level 

6 in reading. 

7 (8) During the 2002–2003 school year Alaska 

8 Benchmark Examinations, significantly lower per9 centages of Alaska Natives were proficient in read10 ing, writing, and mathematics at each of the 3 test11 ed grade levels when compared to all other students. 

12 These achievement gaps persist into secondary 

13 school, where significantly lower percentages of Alas14 ka Natives were proficient in the subjects tested on 

15 the Alaska High School Graduation Qualifying Ex16 amination in all grade levels where that test was ad17 ministered in 2002–2003 school year. 

18 (9) Achievement gaps persist across racial and 

19 socioeconomic lines in rural schools. There are 

20 2,500,000 poor children in rural areas and the child 

21 poverty rate in some rural areas is 2 to 3 times the 

22 national average. 

23 (10) Recruiting and retaining good teachers is 

24 an enormous challenge in rural areas. The average 

25 salary in rural districts is 13.4 percent lower than 
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1 in nonrural areas, and teachers often teach more 

2 than 1 subject, teach in poor working conditions, live 

3 far from colleges, have little access to training, and 

4 face geographic and social isolation. 

5 (11) Low graduation rates and college attend6 ance rates are evidence that, in the earlier grades, 

7 schools are not meeting the fundamental achieve8 ment needs of low-income, minority, and rural stu9 dents. 

10 (12) Even those students who do graduate from 

11 secondary schools and go on to college are struggling 

12 because they lack the basic skills to succeed. Ap13 proximately 40 percent of all 4-year college students 

14 take a remedial course and 63 percent of all commu15 nity college students are assigned to at least 1 reme16 dial course. 

17 (13) A small percentage of low-income students 

18 who manage to enter college are able to complete a 

19 degree. Of students from families in the bottom 20 

20 percent in terms of income who enter college, only 

21 27 percent go on to complete a 2- or 4-year college 

22 degree within 8 years. 

23 (14) Graduation rates impact early drop-out 

24 rates in the military. The attrition rates in the mili25 tary of both individuals who are not secondary 
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1 school graduates and GED recipients are 8 percent2 age points higher than the attrition rate of sec3 ondary school graduates. As a result, the Armed 

4 Forces no longer accept secondary school dropouts 

5 and put less value on alternative certificates. 

6 (15) Students who fail to graduate from sec7 ondary school are more likely to engage in criminal 

8 activity than students who graduate. A 1-percent in9 crease in secondary school graduation rates would 

10 save approximately $1,400,000,000 in costs associ11 ated with incarceration, or about $2,100 for each 

12 male secondary school graduate. 

13 (16) In today’s workplace, nearly 8 in 10 adults 

14 with baccalaureate degrees are employed, but for 

15 those who completed secondary school only, the 

16 number falls to about 6 in 10. And for students who 

17 dropped out of secondary school, the number drops 

18 further to 4 in 10. 

19 (17) Employment projections indicate that jobs 

20 requiring only a secondary school degree will grow 

21 by just 9 percent by the year 2008, while those jobs 

22 requiring a bachelor’s degree will grow by 25 percent 

23 and those jobs requiring an associate’s degree will 

24 grow by 31 percent. 
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1 (18) Personalization of the school environment 

2 has been proven to increase success rates for low3 performing secondary school students. Nearly 50 

4 percent of middle school youth and 40 percent of 

5 secondary school youth report feelings of disengage6 ment from school. Rates are even higher for teens 

7 and minorities in urban schools. These feelings re8 sult in failure to work hard, to seek assistance, or 

9 to take appropriate courses. 

10 (19) Effective research-based education pro11 grams that improve secondary school graduation 

12 rates are comprehensive in nature and include inter13 ventions that begin in kindergarten or earlier and 

14 span all the grades through grade 12. 

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) AT-RISK.—The term ‘‘at-risk’’ has the same 

18 meaning given such term in section 1432 of the Ele19 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

20 U.S.C. 6472). 

21 (2) FEEDER PATTERN.—The term ‘‘feeder pat22 tern’’ means a secondary school and the elementary 

23 schools and middle schools that channel students 

24 into that secondary school. 
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1 (3) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; SECONDARY

2 SCHOOL.—The terms ‘‘elementary school’’ and ‘‘sec3 ondary school’’ have the meanings given such terms 

4 in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary 

5 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

6 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

7 the Secretary of Education. 

8 SEC. 4. PROJECT GRAD. 

9 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

10 (1) to provide support and assistance to pro11 grams implementing integrated education reform 

12 services in order to improve secondary school grad13 uation, college attendance, and college completion 

14 rates for at-risk students; and 

15 (2) to promote the establishment of new pro16 grams to implement such integrated education re17 form services. 

18 (b) GRANT AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary is author19 ized to award a grant to Project GRAD USA (referred 

20 to in this Act as the ‘‘grantee’’), a nonprofit educational 

21 organization that has as its primary purpose the improve22 ment of secondary school graduation, college attendance, 

23 and college completion rates for at-risk students, to imple24 ment and sustain the integrated education reform services 

25 described in subsection (d)(3) at existing Project GRAD 
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1 program sites and to promote the expansion of Project 

2 GRAD programs to new sites. 

3 (c) REQUIREMENTS OF GRANT AGREEMENT.—The 

4 Secretary shall enter into an agreement with the grantee 

5 that requires that the grantee shall— 

6 (1) enter into subcontracts with nonprofit edu7 cational organizations that serve a substantial num8 ber or percentage of at-risk students (referred to in 

9 this Act as ‘‘subcontractors’’), under which the sub10 contractors agree to implement the programs de11 scribed in subsection (d) and provide matching funds 

12 for such programs; 

13 (2) directly carry out— 

14 (A) activities to implement and sustain the 

15 reading, mathematics, classroom management, 

16 social service, and college access programs de17 scribed in subsection (d)(3); 

18 (B) activities to build the organizational 

19 and management capacity of the subcontractors 

20 to effectively implement and sustain the pro21 grams; 

22 (C) activities for the purpose of improving 

23 and expanding the programs, including activi24 ties to further articulate a program for 1 or 

25 more grade levels and across grade levels, to 
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1 tailor a program for a particular target audi2 ence, and to provide tighter integration across 

3 programs; 

4 (D) activities for the purpose of imple5 menting new Project GRAD program sites; 

6 (E) activities for the purpose of promoting 

7 greater public awareness of integrated edu8 cation reform services to improve secondary 

9 school graduation, college attendance, and col10 lege completion rates for at-risk students; and 

11 (F) other activities directly related to im12 proving secondary school graduation, college at13 tendance, and college completion rates for at14 risk students; and 

15 (3) use grant funds available under this Act to 

16 pay— 

17 (A) to subcontractors the amount deter18 mined under subsection (f); and 

19 (B) the costs associated with carrying out 

20 the activities described in paragraph (2). 

21 (d) SUPPORTED PROGRAMS.— 

22 (1) DESIGNATION.—The subcontractor pro23 grams referred to in subsection (c)(1) shall be 

24 known as ‘‘Project GRAD programs’’. 
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1 (2) FEEDER PATTERNS.—Each subcontractor 

2 shall implement a Project GRAD program and shall, 

3 with the agreement of the grantee— 

4 (A) identify or establish not less than 1 

5 feeder pattern of public schools; and 

6 (B) provide the integrated educational re7 form services described in paragraph (3) at the 

8 identified feeder pattern or feeder patterns. 

9 (3) INTEGRATED EDUCATION REFORM SERV10 ICES.—The services provided through a Project 

11 GRAD program shall include— 

12 (A) research-based programs in reading, 

13 mathematics, and classroom management; 

14 (B) campus-based social services programs, 

15 including a systematic approach to increase 

16 family and community involvement in the 

17 schools served by the Project GRAD program; 

18 (C) a college access program that in19 cludes— 

20 (i) providing college scholarships for 

21 students who meet established criteria; 

22 (ii) proven approaches for increasing 

23 student and family college awareness; and 
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1 (iii) assistance for such students in 

2 applying for higher education financial aid; 

3 and 

4 (D) such other services identified by the 

5 grantee as necessary to increase secondary 

6 school graduation, college attendance, and col7 lege completion rates. 

8 (e) GRANTEE USE OF FUNDS.—Of the funds made 

9 available under this Act, not more than 8 percent, or 

10 $4,000,000, whichever is less, shall be used by the grantee 

11 to pay for administration of the grant, with the remainder 

12 of funds to be used for the purposes described in sub13 section (c) (1) and (2). 

14 (f) GRANTEE CONTRIBUTION AND MATCHING RE15 QUIREMENT.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The grantee shall provide to 

17 each subcontractor an average of $200 for each 

18 pupil served by the subcontractor in the Project 

19 GRAD program, adjusted to take into consider20 ation— 

21 (A) the resources available in the area 

22 where the subcontractor will implement the 

23 Project GRAD program; and 

24 (B) the need for Project GRAD programs 

25 in such area to improve student outcomes, in-
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1 cluding reading and mathematics achievement 

2 and, where applicable, secondary school gradua3 tion, college attendance, and college completion 

4 rates. 

5 (2) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Each subcon6 tractor shall provide funds for the Project GRAD 

7 program in an amount that is equal to the amount 

8 received by the subcontractor from the grantee. 

9 Such matching funds may be provided in cash or in 

10 kind, fairly evaluated. 

11 (3) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The grantee may 

12 waive, in whole or in part, the requirement of para13 graph (2) for a subcontractor, if the subcontractor— 

14 (A) demonstrates that the subcontractor 

15 would not otherwise be able to participate in 

16 the program; and 

17 (B) enters into an agreement with the 

18 grantee with respect to the amount to which the 

19 waiver will apply. 

20 (4) DECREASE IN GRANTEE SHARE.—Based on 

21 the funds or resources available to a subcontractor, 

22 the grantee may elect to provide the subcontractor 

23 with an amount that is less than the amount deter24 mined under paragraph (1). 

25 (g) EVALUATION.— 
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1 (1) EVALUATION BY THE SECRETARY.—The 

2 Secretary shall select an independent entity to evalu3 ate, every 3 years, the performance of students who 

4 participate in a Project GRAD program under this 

5 Act. The evaluation shall— 

6 (A) be conducted using the strongest pos7 sible research design for determining the effec8 tiveness of the Project GRAD programs funded 

9 under this Act; and 

10 (B) compare reading and mathematics 

11 achievement and, where applicable, the sec12 ondary school graduation, college attendance, 

13 and college completion rates of students who 

14 participate in a Project GRAD program funded 

15 under this Act with those indicators for stu16 dents of similar backgrounds who do not par17 ticipate in such programs. 

18 (2) EVALUATION BY GRANTEE AND SUB19 CONTRACTORS.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The grantee shall re21 quire each subcontractor to prepare an in-depth 

22 report of the results and the use of funds of 

23 each Project GRAD program funded under this 

24 Act that includes— 
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1 (i) data on the reading and mathe2 matics achievement of students involved in 

3 the Project GRAD program; 

4 (ii) statistics on secondary school 

5 graduation, college attendance, and college 

6 completion rates; and 

7 (iii) such financial reporting as re8 quired by the Secretary to review the effec9 tiveness and efficiency of the program. 

10 (B) FORM OF REPORT.—The report shall 

11 be in a form and include such content as shall 

12 be determined by the grantee, in consultation 

13 with the Secretary or the entity selected by the 

14 Secretary to evaluate the Project GRAD pro15 grams in accordance with paragraph (1). 

16 (3) AVAILABILITY OF EVALUATIONS.—Copies of 

17 any evaluation or report prepared under this sub18 section shall be made available to— 

19 (A) the Secretary; 

20 (B) the chairperson and ranking member 

21 of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

22 and Pensions of the Senate; and 

23 (C) the chairperson and ranking member 

24 of the Committee on Education and the Work25 force of the House of Representatives. 
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1 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this Act $27,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, and such sums 

4 as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal 

5 years.

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