I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2906 

To establish dual language education programs in low-income communities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011 

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

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To establish dual language education programs in low-income 

communities. 

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 ‘‘Providing Resources 

5 to Improve Dual Language Education Act of 2011’’ or 

6 the ‘‘PRIDE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 The Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) Dual language programs have been found to 

10 provide the greatest academic gains for limited 

11 English proficient children. 


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1 (2) Few children from low-income communities, 

2 particularly African-American children, have had ac3 cess to a well-developed and well-implemented dual 

4 language program. 

5 (3) Children in dual language programs experi6 ence substantial gains in language, literacy, and 

7 mathematics. 

8 SEC. 3. DUAL LANGUAGE FLAGSHIP GRANTS. 

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

10 follows: 

11 (1) To provide incentives for local educational 

12 agencies to develop innovative strategies for working 

13 with low-income and limited English proficient chil14 dren. 

15 (2) To improve the school readiness of low-in16 come and limited English proficient children and to 

17 ensure they enter school ready to succeed. 

18 (3) To provide consistent support for learning 

19 through high-quality dual language programs from 

20 preschool through the fifth grade. 

21 (4) To authorize the Secretary to carry out a 

22 demonstration project to enhance the biliteracy and 

23 bilingualism skills for children in impoverished com24 munities, including limited English proficient and 

25 minority children, through the use and longitudinal 


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1 evaluation of dual language programs beginning in 

2 preschool through the fifth grade. 

3 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—From funds made available 

5 under subsection (i), and after reserving funds under 

6 subsection (c), the Secretary is authorized to award 

7 not more than five grants to fund partnerships of 

8 local educational agencies, early childhood education 

9 programs including State-funded preschool programs 

10 and Head Start programs, and technical assistance 

11 providers to demonstrate effective strategies in en12 suring the academic success of low-income minority 

13 students through the implementation and evaluation 

14 of a high-quality dual language program that— 

15 (A) serves cohorts of economically dis16 advantaged minority and limited English pro17 ficient children from preschool through fifth 

18 grade; 

19 (B) establishes an infrastructure that sup20 ports a rigorous assessment system, including 

21 dedicated staff time and professional develop22 ment in assessment, a data collection plan, and 

23 the collection of multiple measures of academic 

24 progress, bilingualism, and biliteracy; 


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1 (C) implements and aligns a curriculum 

2 that promotes the development of bilingual and 

3 biliterate competencies for all students through 

4 at least grade five; 

5 (D) utilizes and aligns student-centered in6 structional methods that enhance the develop7 ment of bilingualism, biliteracy, and academic 

8 achievement; 

9 (E) aligns professional development and 

10 training for early childhood education instruc11 tors and elementary school teachers and staff, 

12 with an emphasis on dual language instruction, 

13 second language acquisition, and content knowl14 edge; 

15 (F) recruits, trains, and continuously de16 velops staff to implement high-quality, dual lan17 guage programs; and 

18 (G) establishes a responsive infrastructure 

19 for positive, active, and ongoing relationships 

20 with students’ families and the community that 

21 responds to and is reflective of the needs of the 

22 community and goals of the program. 

23 (c) RESERVATION.—The Secretary shall reserve not 

24 more than 5 percent of the amount appropriated under 

25 subsection (i) to carry out this Act, including the technical 


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1 assistance and evaluation described is subsection (g) and 

2 dissemination of best practices described in subsection (h). 

3 (d) DURATION.—Each grant under this section shall 

4 be awarded for a period of not more than five years. 

5 (e) APPLICATIONS FOR GRANTS.— 

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

7 a grant under this section shall submit an applica8 tion to the Secretary at such time and in such man9 ner as the Secretary may require. 

10 (2) REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION.—Each appli11 cation submitted by a partnership under this section 

12 for a proposed program shall include documentation 

13 that— 

14 (A) the partnership has partnered with an 

15 entity that has proven expertise in the imple16 mentation of high-quality dual language pro17 grams to provide on-going technical assistance 

18 and assist with the evaluation of the program; 

19 (B) the partnership has the qualified per20 sonnel to develop, administer, evaluate, and im21 plement the program; and 

22 (C) the partnership is serving economically 

23 disadvantaged minority and limited English 

24 proficient children. 


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1 (3) OTHER APPLICATION CONTENTS.—Each ap2 plication submitted by an entity under this section 

3 for a proposed program shall include— 

4 (A) data showing that the program is serv5 ing economically disadvantaged and limited 

6 English proficient children; 

7 (B) a description of how the program will 

8 align the language of assessment with the lan9 guage of instruction; 

10 (C) a description of how the program will 

11 be evaluated to assess the goals of the program; 

12 (D) a description of how the evaluation will 

13 be used to inform broader efforts to improve in14 struction for limited English proficient children, 

15 including for preschool-aged children; 

16 (E) a description of activities that will be 

17 pursued by the program including a description 

18 of— 

19 (i) how the activities will further the 

20 school readiness and academic progress of 

21 children served by this program and sup22 port dual language development through 

23 grade five; 


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1 (ii) methods of designing culturally 

2 and linguistically appropriate dual lan3 guage curriculum; and 

4 (iii) methods of teacher training and 

5 parent outreach that will be used or devel6 oped through the programs; 

7 (F) an assurance that the program will an8 nually provide to the Secretary such informa9 tion as may be required by subsection (f); and 

10 (G) any other information that the sec11 retary may require. 

12 (f) SELECTION OF GRANTEES.— 

13 (1) CRITERIA.—The Secretary through a peer 

14 review process shall select partnerships to receive 

15 grants under this section based on— 

16 (A) the articulation of preschool through 

17 fifth-grade instructional practices, curriculum, 

18 and assessments strategies; 

19 (B) the extent to which school leadership 

20 has been involved and has demonstrated a com21 mitment to a high-quality dual language pro22 grams; and 

23 (C) the quality of the programs and pro24 posed in the applications submitted under sub25 section (b). 


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1 (g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND EVALUATION.— 

2 From funds reserved under subsection (i) for a fiscal year, 

3 the Secretary shall reserve $250,000 to contract with an 

4 entity with a proven track record in dual language pro5 grams for the purpose of— 

6 (1) providing technical assistance to local edu7 cation agencies receiving grants under this Act in 

8 order to strengthen programs conducted by grantees 

9 pursuant to this Act; and 

10 (2) conducting an evaluation of programs fund11 ed under this act, which shall— 

12 (A) be used by the Secretary to determine 

13 effectiveness of programs funded through this 

14 Act and improve services to participating chil15 dren; and 

16 (B) include— 

17 (i) a comprehensive evaluation of the 

18 impact of the programs on students, in19 cluding an assessment of literacy skills and 

20 language development in both English and 

21 the minority language; 

22 (ii) a comprehensive evaluation of the 

23 effectiveness of instructional practices used 

24 in the programs; and 


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1 (iii) a comprehensive evaluation of 

2 professional development strategies. 

3 (h) DISSEMINATION OF BEST PRACTICES.—The Sec4 retary shall disseminate information on model programs, 

5 materials, and other information developed under this sec6 tion that the Secretary determines to be appropriate for 

7 use by early childhood education providers to improve the 

8 school readiness of limited English proficient children. 

9 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

10 purposes of carrying out this section, there are authorized 

11 to be appropriated $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2012 and 

12 such sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 suc13 ceeding fiscal years. 

14 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 (1) DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM.—The term 

16 ‘‘dual language program’’ means an instructional 

17 strategy in which students are taught literacy and 

18 content in two languages and use the partner lan19 guage for at least half of the instructional day and 

20 foster bilingualism, biliteracy, enhanced awareness of 

21 linguistic and cultural diversity, and high levels of 

22 academic achievement through instruction in two 

23 languages. 


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1 (2) STATE-FUNDED PRESCHOOL PROGRAM.— 

2 The term ‘‘State-funded preschool program’’ means 

3 a program that— 

4 (A) serves children who are ages 3 through 

5 5; 

6 (B) has a primary focus of supporting 

7 early childhood education, including supporting 

8 children’s cognitive, social, emotional, and phys9 ical development and approaches to learning; 

10 (C) helps prepare children for a successful 

11 transition to kindergarten; 

12 (D) is either a school- or community-based 

13 program; and 

14 (E) is funded either in whole or in part by 

15 a State through a State agency with authority 

16 to promulgate regulations and monitor partici17 pating programs. 

18 (3) LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT.—The term 

19 ‘‘limited English proficient’’, when used with respect 

20 to a child, means a child— 

21 (A)(i) who was not born in the United 

22 States or whose native language is a language 

23 other than English; 

24 (ii)(I) who is a Native American (as de25 fined in section 9101 of the Elementary and 


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1 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

2 7801)), an Alaska Native, or a native resident 

3 of an outlying area (as defined in such section 

4 9101); and 

5 (II) who comes from an environment where 

6 a language other than English has had a sig7 nificant impact on the child’s level of English 

8 language proficiency; or 

9 (iii) who is migratory, whose native lan10 guage is a language other than English, and 

11 who comes from an environment where a lan12 guage other than English is dominant; and 

13 (B) whose difficulties in speaking or un14 derstanding the English language may be suffi15 cient to deny the child— 

16 (i) the ability to successfully achieve 

17 in a classroom in which the language of in18 struction is English; or 

19 (ii) the opportunity to participate fully 

20 in society. 

Æ 


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