II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 557 

To promote Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2015 

Mr. FRANKEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

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

A BILL 

To promote Advanced Placement and International 

Baccalaureate programs. 

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 ‘‘Accelerated Learning 

5 Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 It is the purpose of this Act— 

8 (1) to raise student academic achievement 

9 through accelerated learning programs, including 

10 Advanced Placement and International Bacca11 laureate programs, by increasing the number of 


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1 teachers serving high-need schools who are qualified 

2 to teach Advanced Placement or International Bac3 calaureate courses; 

4 (2) to increase the number of students attend5 ing high-need schools who enroll and succeed in Ad6 vanced Placement or International Baccalaureate 

7 courses and Advanced Placement or International 

8 Baccalaureate examinations; 

9 (3) to support efforts by States and local edu10 cational agencies to increase the availability of, and 

11 enrollment in, Advanced Placement or International 

12 Baccalaureate courses and pre-Advanced Placement 

13 or pre-International Baccalaureate courses in high14 need schools; and 

15 (4) to provide high-quality professional develop16 ment for teachers of Advanced Placement or Inter17 national Baccalaureate courses and pre-Advanced 

18 Placement or pre-International Baccalaureate 

19 courses in high-need schools. 

20 SEC. 3. FUNDING DISTRIBUTION RULE. 

21 From amounts appropriated under section 8 for a fis22 cal year, the Secretary shall give priority to funding activi23 ties under section 4 and shall distribute any remaining 

24 funds under section 5. 


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1 SEC. 4. ADVANCED PLACEMENT EXAMINATION FEE PRO2 GRAM. 

3 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From amounts made 

4 available under section 3 for a fiscal year, the Secretary 

5 shall award grants to State educational agencies having 

6 applications approved under this section to enable the 

7 State educational agencies to reimburse low-income stu8 dents to cover part or all of the costs of Advanced Place9 ment or International Baccalaureate examination fees, if 

10 the low-income students— 

11 (1) are enrolled in an Advanced Placement or 

12 International Baccalaureate course; and 

13 (2) plan to take an Advanced Placement or 

14 International Baccalaureate examination. 

15 (b) AWARD BASIS.—In determining the amount of 

16 the grant awarded to a State educational agency under 

17 this section for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall consider 

18 the number of children eligible to be counted under section 

19 1124(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

20 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6333(c)) in the State in relation to 

21 the number of such children so counted in all States. 

22 (c) INFORMATION DISSEMINATION.—A State edu23 cational agency that is awarded a grant under this section 

24 shall make publicly available information regarding the 

25 availability of Advanced Placement or International Bac26 calaureate examination fee payments under this section, 


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1 and shall disseminate such information to eligible sec2 ondary school students and parents, including through 

3 secondary school teachers and counselors. 

4 (d) APPLICATIONS.—Each State educational agency 

5 desiring to receive a grant under this section shall submit 

6 an application to the Secretary at such time, in such man7 ner, and accompanied by such information as the Sec8 retary may require. At a minimum, each State educational 

9 agency application shall— 

10 (1) describe the Advanced Placement or Inter11 national Baccalaureate examination fees the State 

12 educational agency will pay on behalf of low-income 

13 students in the State from grant funds awarded 

14 under this section; 

15 (2) provide an assurance that any grant funds 

16 awarded under this section shall be used only to pay 

17 for Advanced Placement or International Bacca18 laureate examination fees; and 

19 (3) contain such information as the Secretary 

20 may require to demonstrate that the State edu21 cational agency will ensure that a student is eligible 

22 for payments authorized under this section, includ23 ing ensuring that the student is a low-income stu24 dent. 


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1 (e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

2 such regulations as are necessary to carry out this section. 

3 (f) REPORT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational 

5 agency awarded a grant under this section shall, 

6 with respect to each Advanced Placement or Inter7 national Baccalaureate course subject, annually re8 port to the Secretary the following data for the pre9 ceding year: 

10 (A) The number of students in the State 

11 who are taking an Advanced Placement or 

12 International Baccalaureate course in such sub13 ject. 

14 (B) The number of Advanced Placement or 

15 International Baccalaureate examinations taken 

16 by students in the State who have taken an Ad17 vanced Placement or International Bacca18 laureate course in such subject. 

19 (C) The number of students in the State 

20 scoring at each level on Advanced Placement or 

21 International Baccalaureate examinations in 

22 that subject, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, 

23 sex, English proficiency status, and socio24 economic status. 


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1 (D) Demographic information regarding 

2 students in the State taking Advanced Place3 ment or International Baccalaureate courses 

4 and Advanced Placement or International Bac5 calaureate examinations in that subject, 

6 disaggregated by race, ethnicity, sex, English 

7 proficiency status, and socioeconomic status. 

8 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 

9 shall annually compile the information received from 

10 each State educational agency under paragraph (1) 

11 and report to the authorizing committees of Con12 gress regarding the information. 

13 (g) BIA AS SEA.—For purposes of this section, the 

14 Bureau of Indian Affairs shall be treated as a State edu15 cational agency. 

16 SEC. 5. ADVANCED PLACEMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAM 

17 GRANTS. 

18 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail20 able under section 3 for a fiscal year, the Secretary 

21 shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible 

22 entities to enable such entities to carry out the au23 thorized activities described in subsection (e). 

24 (2) DURATION, RENEWAL, AND PAYMENTS.— 


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1 (A) DURATION.—The Secretary shall 

2 award a grant under this section for a period 

3 of not more than 3 years. 

4 (B) RENEWAL.—The Secretary may renew 

5 a grant awarded under this section for an addi6 tional period of not more than 2 years, if an eli7 gible entity— 

8 (i) is achieving the objectives of the 

9 grant; and 

10 (ii) has shown improvement against 

11 baseline data on the performance measures 

12 described in subparagraphs (A) through 

13 (E) of subsection (g)(1). 

14 (C) PAYMENTS.—The Secretary shall 

15 make grant payments under this section on an 

16 annual basis. 

17 (b) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term 

18 ‘‘eligible entity’’ means— 

19 (1) a State educational agency; 

20 (2) a local educational agency; or 

21 (3) a partnership consisting of— 

22 (A) a national, regional, or statewide non23 profit organization, with expertise and experi24 ence in providing Advanced Placement or Inter25 national Baccalaureate course services; and 


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1 (B) a State educational agency or local 

2 educational agency. 

3 (c) APPLICATION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity desiring 

5 a grant under this section shall submit an applica6 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 

7 and accompanied by such information as the Sec8 retary may require. 

9 (2) CONTENTS.—The application shall, at a 

10 minimum, include a description of— 

11 (A) the goals and objectives for the project 

12 supported by the grant under this section, in13 cluding— 

14 (i) increasing the number of teachers 

15 serving high-need schools who are qualified 

16 to teach Advanced Placement or Inter17 national Baccalaureate courses; 

18 (ii) increasing the number of Ad19 vanced Placement or International Bacca20 laureate courses that are offered at high21 need schools; and 

22 (iii) increasing the number of students 

23 attending a high-need school, particularly 

24 low-income students, who enroll and suc25 ceed in— 


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1 (I) Advanced Placement or Inter2 national Baccalaureate courses; and 

3 (II) if offered by the school, pre4 Advanced Placement or pre-Inter5 national Baccalaureate courses; 

6 (B) how the eligible entity will ensure that 

7 students have access to courses, including pre8 Advanced Placement or pre-International Bac9 calaureate courses, that will prepare students to 

10 enroll and succeed in Advanced Placement or 

11 International Baccalaureate courses; 

12 (C) how the eligible entity will provide pro13 fessional development for teachers that will fur14 ther the goals and objectives of the grant 

15 project; 

16 (D) how the eligible entity will ensure that 

17 teachers serving high-need schools are qualified 

18 to teach Advanced Placement or International 

19 Baccalaureate courses; 

20 (E) how the eligible entity will provide for 

21 the involvement of business and community or22 ganizations and other entities, including institu23 tions of higher education, in carrying out the 

24 activities described in subsection (e); 


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1 (F) how the eligible entity will use funds 

2 received under this section; and 

3 (G) how the eligible entity will evaluate the 

4 success of the grant project. 

5 (d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec6 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to applications from 

7 eligible entities that— 

8 (1) are part of a statewide or districtwide strat9 egy, as applicable, for increasing the availability of 

10 Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate 

11 courses, and pre-Advanced Placement or pre-Inter12 national Baccalaureate courses, in high-need schools; 

13 (2) demonstrate a focus on increasing the avail14 ability of Advanced Placement or International Bac15 calaureate courses in the core academic subjects; 

16 and 

17 (3) propose to carry out activities that target 

18 high-need schools. 

19 (e) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity that re21 ceives a grant under this section shall use the grant 

22 funds to carry out activities designed to increase— 

23 (A) the number of qualified teachers serv24 ing high-need schools who are teaching AdVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Mar 05, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S557.IS S557

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1 vanced Placement or International Bacca2 laureate courses; and 

3 (B) the number of students attending 

4 high-need schools who enroll in, and succeed in 

5 the examinations for, such courses, including 

6 through reimbursing low-income students at7 tending high-need schools for part or all of the 

8 cost of Advanced Placement or International 

9 Baccalaureate examination fees. 

10 (2) ALLOWABLE ACTIVITIES.—In addition to 

11 the activities described in paragraph (1), an eligible 

12 entity that receives a grant under this section may 

13 use grant funds for— 

14 (A) high-quality teacher professional devel15 opment, in order to expand the pool of teachers 

16 in the participating State, local educational 

17 agency, or high-need school who are qualified to 

18 teach Advanced Placement or International 

19 Baccalaureate courses, including through inno20 vative models such as online academies and 

21 training institutes; 

22 (B) pre-Advanced Placement or pre-Inter23 national Baccalaureate teacher and counselor 

24 high-quality professional development in sec25 ondary school to prepare students for success in 


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1 Advanced Placement or International Bacca2 laureate courses, and in institutions of higher 

3 education; 

4 (C) coordination and articulation between 

5 grade levels to prepare students to enroll and 

6 succeed in Advanced Placement or International 

7 Baccalaureate courses; 

8 (D) the purchase of instructional materials 

9 for Advanced Placement or International Bac10 calaureate courses; 

11 (E) activities to increase the availability of, 

12 and participation in, online Advanced Place13 ment or International Baccalaureate courses; 

14 (F) carrying out the requirements of sub15 section (g); and 

16 (G) in the case of an eligible entity de17 scribed in subsection (b)(1), awarding sub18 grants to local educational agencies to enable 

19 the local educational agencies to carry out au20 thorized activities described in subparagraphs 

21 (A) through (F). 

22 (f) CONTRACTS.—An eligible entity that is awarded 

23 a grant to provide online Advanced Placement or Inter24 national Baccalaureate courses under this section may 

25 enter into a contract with an organization to provide the 


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1 online Advanced Placement or International Bacca2 laureate courses, including contracting for necessary sup3 port services. 

4 (g) COLLECTING AND REPORTING REQUIRE5 MENTS.— 

6 (1) REPORT.—Each eligible entity receiving a 

7 grant under this section shall collect and report to 

8 the Secretary annually such data regarding the re9 sults of the grant as the Secretary may reasonably 

10 require, including— 

11 (A) the number of students served by the 

12 eligible entity enrolling in Advanced Placement 

13 or International Baccalaureate courses and pre14 Advanced Placement or pre-International Bac15 calaureate courses, disaggregated by grade level 

16 of the student, and the grades received by such 

17 students in the courses; 

18 (B) the number of students taking an Ad19 vanced Placement or International Bacca20 laureate examination and the distribution of 

21 scores on those examinations, disaggregated by 

22 the grade level of the student at the time of ex23 amination; 

24 (C) the number of teachers who are cur25 rently, as of the date of the report, receiving 


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1 training to teach Advanced Placement or Inter2 national Baccalaureate courses and will teach 

3 such courses in the next school year; 

4 (D) the number of teachers becoming 

5 qualified to teach Advanced Placement or Inter6 national Baccalaureate courses; and 

7 (E) the number of qualified teachers who 

8 are teaching Advanced Placement or Inter9 national Baccalaureate courses in high-need 

10 schools served by the eligible entity. 

11 (2) REPORTING OF DATA.—Each eligible entity 

12 receiving a grant under this section shall report the 

13 data required under paragraph (1)— 

14 (A) disaggregated by subject area; 

15 (B) in the case of student data, 

16 disaggregated in the same manner as informa17 tion is disaggregated under section 

18 1111(b)(2)(C)(v) of the Elementary and Sec19 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

20 6311(b)(2)(C)(v)); and 

21 (C) in a manner that allows for an assess22 ment of the effectiveness of the grant program. 

23 (h) EVALUATION.—The Secretary, acting through 

24 the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, shall, 

25 in consultation with the relevant program office at the DeVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Mar 05, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S557.IS S557

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1 partment, evaluate the implementation and impact of the 

2 activities supported under this section, including progress 

3 as measured by the performance measures established 

4 under subparagraphs (A) through (E) of subsection 

5 (g)(1). 

6 (i) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding paragraph 

8 (3), each eligible entity that receives a grant under 

9 this section shall provide toward the cost of the ac10 tivities assisted under the grant, from non-Federal 

11 sources, an amount equal to 100 percent of the 

12 amount of the grant, except that an eligible entity 

13 that is a high-need local educational agency, as de14 termined by the Secretary, shall provide an amount 

15 equal to not more than 50 percent of the amount of 

16 the grant. 

17 (2) MATCHING FUNDS.—The eligible entity may 

18 provide the matching funds described in paragraph 

19 (1) in cash or in-kind, fairly evaluated, but may not 

20 provide more than 50 percent of the matching funds 

21 in-kind. The eligible entity may provide the match22 ing funds from State, local, or private sources. 

23 (3) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive all or 

24 part of the matching requirement described in para25 graph (1) for any fiscal year for an eligible entity if 


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1 the Secretary determines that applying the matching 

2 requirement to such eligible entity would result in 

3 serious hardship or an inability to carry out the au4 thorized activities described in subsection (e). 

5 SEC. 6. SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT. 

6 Grant funds provided under this Act shall supple7 ment, and not supplant, other non-Federal funds that are 

8 available to assist low-income students to pay for the cost 

9 of Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate ex10 amination fees or to expand access to Advanced Placement 

11 and pre-Advanced Placement courses or International 

12 Baccalaureate and pre-International Baccalaureate 

13 courses. 

14 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro17 vided, the terms used in this Act have the meanings 

18 given the terms in section 9101 of the Elementary 

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

20 7801). 

21 (2) ADVANCED PLACEMENT OR INTERNATIONAL

22 BACCALAUREATE COURSE.—The term ‘‘Advanced 

23 Placement or International Baccalaureate course’’ 

24 means— 


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1 (A) a course of postsecondary-level instruc2 tion provided to middle or secondary school stu3 dents, terminating in an Advanced Placement 

4 or International Baccalaureate examination; or 

5 (B) another highly rigorous, evidence6 based, postsecondary preparatory program ter7 minating in— 

8 (i) an examination or sequence of 

9 courses that are widely accepted for credit 

10 at institutions of higher education; or 

11 (ii) another examination or sequence 

12 of courses approved by the Secretary. 

13 (3) ADVANCED PLACEMENT OR INTERNATIONAL

14 BACCALAUREATE EXAMINATION.—The term ‘‘Ad15 vanced Placement or International Baccalaureate ex16 amination’’ means an Advanced Placement examina17 tion administered by the College Board, an Inter18 national Baccalaureate examination administered by 

19 the International Baccalaureate, or another such ex20 amination approved by the Secretary. 

21 (4) HIGH-NEED SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘high-need 

22 school’’ means a secondary school— 

23 (A) with a demonstrated need for Ad24 vanced Placement or International Bacca25 laureate courses; and 


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1 (B) that— 

2 (i) has a high concentration of low-in3 come students; or 

4 (ii) is designated with a school locale 

5 code of 41, 42, or 43, as determined by the 

6 Secretary. 

7 (5) LOW-INCOME STUDENT.—The term ‘‘low-in8 come student’’ means a student who is eligible for 

9 a free or reduced-price lunch under the school lunch 

10 program established under the Richard B. Russell 

11 National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et 

12 seq.). 

13 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

15 this Act such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 

16 2016 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years. 

Æ 


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