103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1804

AMENDMENT

TO

SENATE AMENDMENT
In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

February 23, 1994.

Resolved, That the House agree to the amendment of

the Senate to the bill (H.R. 1804) entitled ‘‘An Act to improve learning and teaching by providing a national framework for education reform; to promote the research, consensus building, and systemic changes needed to ensure equitable

educational opportunities and high levels of educational

achievement for all American students; to provide a framework for reauthorization of all Federal education programs;

to promote the development and adoption of a voluntary national system of skill standards and certifications, and for

other purposes’’, with the following

AMENDMENT:

In lieu of the matter inserted by said amendment,

insert:

1 SECTION 1. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

2 The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

3 TITLE I—GOALS 2000: EDUCATE AMERICA ACT

Sec. 101. Purpose.

PART A—NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS

Sec. 111. Purpose.

Sec. 112. National education goals.

PART B—NATIONAL EDUCATION REFORM, LEADERSHIP, STANDARDS, AND

ASSESSMENTS

SUBPART 1—NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS PANEL

Sec. 121. Purpose.

Sec. 122. National Education Goals Panel.
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Sec. 123. Duties.

Sec. 124. Powers of the Goals Panel.

Sec. 125. Administrative provisions.

Sec. 126. Director and staff; experts and consultants.

Sec. 127. Early childhood assessment.

SUBPART 2—NATIONAL EDUCATION STANDARDS AND IMPROVEMENT COUNCIL

Sec. 131. Purpose.

Sec. 132. National Education Standards and Improvement Council.

Sec. 133. Duties.

Sec. 134. Annual reports.

Sec. 135. Powers of the Council.

Sec. 136. Publication for public comment.

Sec. 137. Administrative provisions.

Sec. 138. Director and staff; experts and consultants.

Sec. 139. Opportunity-to-learn development grant.

Sec. 140. Assessment development and evaluation grants.

Sec. 141. Evaluation.

SUBPART 3—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

Sec. 145. Authorization of appropriations.

PART C—STATE AND LOCAL EDUCATION SYSTEMIC IMPROVEMENT

Sec. 151. Congressional findings.

Sec. 152. Purpose.

Sec. 153. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 154. Allotment of funds.

Sec. 155. State applications.

Sec. 156. State improvement plans.

Sec. 157. Secretary’s review of applications; payments.

Sec. 158. State use of funds.

Sec. 159. Subgrants for local reform and professional development.

Sec. 160. Availability of information and training.

Sec. 161. Waivers of statutory and regulatory requirements.

Sec. 162. Progress reports.

Sec. 163. National leadership.

Sec. 164. Assistance to the outlying areas and to the Secretary of the Interior.

PART D—NATIONAL SKILL STANDARDS BOARD

Sec. 171. Purpose.

Sec. 172. Establishment of National Board.

Sec. 173. Functions of the National Board.

Sec. 174. Deadlines.

Sec. 175. Reports.

Sec. 176. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 177. Definitions.

PART E—MISCELLANEOUS

Sec. 181. Definitions.

Sec. 182. Limitations.

Sec. 183. Assessment of educational progress activities.

Sec. 184. Compliance with Buy American Act.

Sec. 185. Sense of Congress; requirement regarding notice.
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Sec. 186. Prohibition of contracts.

PART F—PARENTAL INFORMATION AND RESOURCES

Sec. 191. Parental information and resources

Sec. 192. Eligibility.

Sec. 193. Uses of funds.

Sec. 194. Technical assistance.

Sec. 195. Experimental centers.

Sec. 196. Reports.

Sec. 197. Authorization of appropriations.

TITLE II—EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND

DISSEMINATION EXCELLENCE ACT

Sec. 201. Findings.

PART A—GENERAL PROVISIONS REGARDING OFFICE OF EDUCATIONAL

RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT

Sec. 211. General provisions.

Sec. 212. Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement.

Sec. 213. Savings provision.

Sec. 214. Existing grants and contracts.

PART B—NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH POLICY AND PRIORITIES BOARD

Sec. 221. Establishment within Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

PART C—NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTES

Sec. 231. Establishment within Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

PART D—NATIONAL EDUCATION DISSEMINATION SYSTEM

Sec. 241. Establishment within Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

PART E—NATIONAL LIBRARY OF EDUCATION

Sec. 251. Establishment within Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

TITLE III—SAFE SCHOOLS ACT OF 1994

Sec. 301. Safe schools program authorized.

Sec. 302. Eligible applicants.

Sec. 303. Applications and plans.

Sec. 304. Grants and use of funds.

Sec. 305. National leadership.

Sec. 306. Reports.

Sec. 307. Definitions.
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1 TITLE I—GOALS 2000: EDUCATE

2 AMERICA ACT

3 SEC. 101. PURPOSE.

4 The purpose of this Act is to provide a framework for

5 meeting the National Education Goals established by title

6 I of this Act by—

7 (1) promoting coherent, nationwide, systemic

8 education reform;

9 (2) improving the quality of learning and teach10 ing in the classroom and in the workplace;

11 (3) defining appropriate and coherent Federal,

12 State, and local roles and responsibilities for edu13 cation reform and lifelong learning;

14 (4) establishing valid, reliable, and fair mecha15 nisms for—

16 (A) building a broad national consensus on

17 American education reform;

18 (B) assisting in the development and certifi19 cation of high-quality, internationally competi20 tive content and student performance standards;

21 (C) assisting in the development and certifi22 cation of opportunity-to-learn standards; and

23 (D) assisting in the development and cer24 tification of high-quality assessment measures
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1 that reflect the internationally competitive con2 tent and student performance standards;

3 (5) supporting new initiatives at the Federal,

4 State, local, and school levels to provide equal edu5 cational opportunity for all students to meet high

6 standards and to succeed in the world of employment

7 and civic participation;

8 (6) providing a framework for the reauthoriza9 tion of all Federal education programs by—

10 (A) creating a vision of excellence and eq11 uity that will guide all Federal education and

12 related programs;

13 (B) providing for the establishment of high14 quality, internationally competitive content and

15 student performance standards that all students

16 will be expected to achieve;

17 (C) providing for the establishment of high

18 quality, internationally competitive opportunity19 to-learn standards that all States, local edu20 cational agencies, and schools should achieve;

21 (D) encouraging and enabling all State

22 educational agencies and local educational agen23 cies to develop comprehensive improvement plans

24 that will provide a coherent framework for the

25 implementation of reauthorized Federal edu-
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1 cation and related programs in an integrated

2 fashion that effectively educates all children ena3 bling them to participate fully as workers, par4 ents, and citizens; and

5 (E) providing resources to help individual

6 schools, including those serving students with

7 high needs, develop and implement comprehen8 sive improvement plans;

9 (7) stimulating the development and adoption of

10 a voluntary national system of skill standards and

11 certification to serve as a cornerstone of the national

12 strategy to enhance workforce skills; and

13 (8) assisting every elementary and secondary

14 school that receives funds under this Act to actively

15 involve parents and families in supporting the aca16 demic work of their children at home and in provid17 ing parents with skills to advocate for their children

18 at school.

19 PART A—NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS

20 SEC. 111. PURPOSE.

21 The purpose of this title is to establish national edu22 cation goals.

23 SEC. 112. NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS.

24 The Congress declares that the National Education

25 Goals are the following:
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1 (1) SCHOOL READINESS.—(A) By the year 2000,

2 all children in America will start school ready to

3 learn.

4 (B) The objectives for this goal are that—

5 (i) all children will have access to high6 quality and developmentally appropriate pre7 school programs that help prepare children for

8 school;

9 (ii) every parent in America will be a

10 child’s first teacher and devote time each day to

11 helping his or her preschool child learn, and par12 ents will have access to the training and support

13 they need; and

14 (iii) all children will receive the nutrition

15 and health care needed to arrive at school with

16 healthy minds and bodies, and to maintain the

17 mental alertness necessary to be prepared to

18 learn, and the number of low-birthweight babies

19 will be significantly reduced through enhanced

20 prenatal health systems.

21 (2) SCHOOL COMPLETION.—(A) By the year

22 2000, the high school graduation rate will increase to

23 at least 90 percent.

24 (B) The objectives for this goal are that—
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1 (i) the Nation must dramatically reduce its

2 dropout rate, and 75 percent of those students

3 who do drop out will successfully complete a high

4 school degree or its equivalent; and

5 (ii) the gap in high school graduation rates

6 between American students from minority back7 grounds and their non-minority counterparts

8 will be eliminated.

9 (3) STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP.—

10 (A) By the year 2000, all students will leave grades

11 4, 8, and 12 having demonstrated competency over

12 challenging subject matter including English, mathe13 matics, science, foreign languages, civics and govern14 ment, arts, history, and geography, and every school

15 in America will ensure that all students learn to use

16 their minds well, so they may be prepared for respon17 sible citizenship, further learning, and productive em18 ployment in our modern economy.

19 (B) The objectives for this goal are that—

20 (i) the academic performance of all students

21 at the elementary and secondary level will in22 crease significantly in every quartile, and the

23 distribution of minority students in each level

24 will more closely reflect the student population

25 as a whole;
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1 (ii) the percentage of all students who dem2 onstrate the ability to reason, solve problems,

3 apply knowledge, and write and communicate ef4 fectively will increase substantially;

5 (iii) all students will be involved in activi6 ties that promote and demonstrate good citizen7 ship, community service, and personal respon8 sibility;

9 (iv) all students will have access to physical

10 education and health education to ensure they

11 are healthy and fit;

12 (v) the percentage of all students who are

13 competent in more than one language will sub14 stantially increase; and

15 (vi) all students will be knowledgeable about

16 the diverse cultural heritage of this Nation and

17 about the world community.

18 (4) TEACHER EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL

19 DEVELOPMENT.—(A) By the year 2000, the Nation’s

20 teaching force will have access to programs for the

21 continued improvement of their professional skills and

22 the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills

23 needed to instruct and prepare all American students

24 for the next century.

25 (B) The objectives of this goal are that—
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1 (i) every State will establish opportunity-to2 learn standards and create an integrated strat3 egy to attract, recruit, prepare, retrain, and sup4 port the continued professional development of

5 teachers, administrators, and other educators, so

6 that there is a highly talented workforce of pro7 fessional educators to teach challenging stand8 ards;

9 (ii) subgrants for preservice teacher edu10 cation and professional development activity will

11 be made to local educational agencies, institu12 tions of higher education, private nonprofit orga13 nizations, or consortia of such organizations, to

14 support continuing, sustained, professional devel15 opment activities for all educators; and

16 (iii) partnerships shall be established, when17 ever possible, between local educational agencies,

18 institutions of higher education, local labor, busi19 ness, and professional associations to provide

20 and support programs for the professional devel21 opment of educators, particularly in the area of

22 emerging new technologies in education.

23 (5) MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE.—(A) By the

24 year 2000, United States students will be first in the

25 world in mathematics and science achievement.
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1 (B) The objectives for this goal are that—

2 (i) math and science education, including

3 the metric system of measurement, will be

4 strengthened throughout the system, especially in

5 the early grades;

6 (ii) the number of teachers with a sub7 stantive background in mathematics and science,

8 including the metric system of measurement, will

9 increase by 50 percent; and

10 (iii) the number of United States under11 graduate and graduate students, especially

12 women and minorities, who complete degrees in

13 mathematics, science, and engineering will in14 crease significantly.

15 (6) ADULT LITERACY AND LIFELONG LEARN16 ING.—(A) By the year 2000, every adult American

17 will be literate and will possess the knowledge and

18 skills necessary to compete in a global economy and

19 exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

20 (B) The objectives for this goal are that—

21 (i) every major American business will be

22 involved in strengthening the connection between

23 education and work;

24 (ii) all workers will have the opportunity to

25 acquire the knowledge and skills, from basic to
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1 highly technical, needed to adapt to emerging

2 new technologies, work methods, and markets

3 through public and private educational, voca4 tional, technical, workplace, or other programs;

5 (iii) the number of quality programs, in6 cluding those at libraries, that are designed to

7 serve more effectively the needs of the growing

8 number of part-time and midcareer students will

9 increase substantially;

10 (iv) the proportion of those qualified stu11 dents, especially minorities, who enter college,

12 who complete at least two years, and who com13 plete their degree programs will increase sub14 stantially;

15 (v) the proportion of college graduates who

16 demonstrate an advanced ability to think criti17 cally, communicate effectively, and solve prob18 lems will increase substantially; and

19 (vi) schools, in implementing comprehensive

20 parent involvement programs, will offer more

21 adult literacy, parent training and life-long

22 learning opportunities to improve the ties be23 tween home and school, and enhance parents’

24 work and home lives.
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1 (7) SAFE, DISCIPLINED, AND DRUG-FREE

2 SCHOOLS.—(A) By the year 2000, every school in

3 America will be free of drugs and violence and will

4 offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning.

5 (B) The objectives for this goal are that—

6 (i) every school will implement a firm and

7 fair policy on use, possession, and distribution of

8 drugs and alcohol;

9 (ii) parents, businesses, and community or10 ganizations will work together to ensure the

11 rights of students to study in a safe and secure

12 environment that is free of drugs and crime;

13 (iii) every school district will develop a

14 comprehensive K–12 drug and alcohol prevention

15 education program. Drug and alcohol curricula

16 should be taught as an integral part of health

17 education. In addition, community-based teams

18 should be organized to provide all students and

19 teachers with needed support; and

20 (iv) every school district will develop and

21 implement a policy to ensure that all schools are

22 free of weapons and violence.

23 (8) SCHOOL AND HOME PARTNERSHIP.—(A) By

24 the year 2000, every school and home will engage in

25 partnerships that will increase parental involvement
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1 and participation in promoting the social, emotional,

2 and academic growth of children.

3 (B) The objectives for this goal are that—

4 (i) every State will develop policies to assist

5 local schools and local educational agencies to es6 tablish programs for increasing partnerships

7 that respond to the varying needs of parents and

8 the home, including parents of children who are

9 disadvantaged, bilingual, or disabled;

10 (ii) every school will actively engage par11 ents and families in a partnership which sup12 ports the academic work of children at home and

13 shared educational decision making at school;

14 (iii) every home will be responsible for cre15 ating an environment of respect for education

16 and providing the physical and emotional sup17 port needed for learning; and

18 (iv) parents and families will help to ensure

19 that schools are adequately supported and will

20 hold schools and teachers to high standards of ac21 countability.
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1 PART B—NATIONAL EDUCATION REFORM,

2 LEADERSHIP, STANDARDS, AND ASSESSMENTS

3 Subpart 1—National Education Goals Panel

4 SEC. 121. PURPOSE.

5 It is the purpose of this part to establish a bipartisan

6 mechanism for—

7 (1) building a national consensus for education

8 improvement;

9 (2) reporting on progress toward achieving the

10 National Education Goals; and

11 (3) reviewing the voluntary national content and

12 student performance standards and opportunity-to13 learn standards certified by the National Education

14 Standards and Improvement Council, as well as the

15 criteria for their certification, and the criteria for the

16 certification of State assessments by the National

17 Education Standards and Improvement Council with

18 the option of disapproving such standards and cri19 teria not later than 60 days after receipt from such

20 Council.

21 SEC. 122. NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS PANEL.

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the exec23 utive branch a National Education Goals Panel (referred

24 to in this Act as the ‘‘Goals Panel’’) to advise the President,

25 the Secretary, and the Congress.
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1 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Goals Panel shall be composed

2 of eighteen members (referred to in this part as ‘‘members’’),

3 including—

4 (1) two members appointed by the President;

5 (2) eight members who are Governors, three of

6 whom shall be from the same political party as the

7 President and five of whom shall be of the opposite

8 political party of the President, appointed by the

9 Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the National

10 Governors’ Association, with each appointing rep11 resentatives of his or her respective political party, in

12 consultation with each other;

13 (3) four Members of Congress appointed as fol14 lows—

15 (A) one member appointed by the majority

16 leader of the Senate from among the Members of

17 the Senate;

18 (B) one member appointed by the minority

19 leader of the Senate from among the Members of

20 the Senate;

21 (C) one member appointed by the majority

22 leader of the House of Representatives from

23 among the Members of the House of Representa24 tives; and
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1 (D) one member appointed by the minority

2 leader of the House of Representatives from

3 among the Members of the House of Representa4 tives; and

5 (4) four members of State legislatures appointed

6 by the President of the National Conference of State

7 Legislatures, of whom not more than two may be of

8 the same political party as the President of the

9 United States.

10 (c) SPECIAL APPOINTMENT RULES.—(1) The members

11 appointed pursuant to subsection (b)(2) shall be appointed

12 as follows:

13 (A) If the Chairperson of the National Gov14 ernors’ Association is from the same political party

15 as the President, the Chairperson shall appoint three

16 individuals and the Vice Chairperson shall appoint

17 five individuals.

18 (B) If the Chairperson of the National Gov19 ernors’ Association is from the opposite political

20 party as the President, the Chairperson shall appoint

21 five individuals and the Vice Chairperson shall ap22 point three individuals.

23 (2) If the National Governors’ Association has ap24 pointed a panel that meets the requirements of subsections

25 (b) and (c), except for the requirements of subsection (b)(4),
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1 prior to the date of enactment of this title, then the members

2 serving on such panel shall be deemed to be in compliance

3 with subsections (b) and (c) and shall not be required to

4 be reappointed pursuant to such subsections.

5 (3) To the extent feasible, the membership of the Goals

6 Panel shall be geographically representative and reflect the

7 racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of the United States.

8 (d) TERMS.—The terms of service of members shall be

9 as follows:

10 (1) Members appointed under subsection (b)(1)

11 shall serve at the pleasure of the President.

12 (2) Members appointed under subsection (b)(2)

13 shall serve a two-year term, except that the initial ap14 pointments under such paragraph shall be made to

15 ensure staggered terms with one-half of such members’

16 terms concluding every two years.

17 (3) Members appointed under subsection (b) (3)

18 and (4) shall serve a term of two years.

19 (e) DATE OF APPOINTMENT.—The initial members

20 shall be appointed not later than sixty days after the date

21 of enactment of this Act.

22 (f) INITIATION.—The Goals Panel may begin to carry

23 out its duties under this part when ten members of the

24 Goals Panel have been appointed.
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1 (g) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Goals Panel shall

2 not affect the powers of the Goals Panel, but shall be filled

3 in the same manner as the original appointment.

4 (h) TRAVEL.—Each member may be allowed travel ex5 penses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as author6 ized by section 5703 of title 5, United States Code, for each

7 day the member is engaged in the performance of duties

8 away from the home or regular place of business of the

9 member.

10 (i) CHAIRPERSON.—From among the members, the

11 President shall appoint the Chairperson who shall serve a

12 one-year term and shall alternate between political parties.

13 (j) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—A member of the Goals

14 Panel who is an elected official of a State which has devel15 oped content, student performance, or opportunity-to-learn

16 standards may not participate in Goals Panel consider17 ation of such standards.

18 (k) EX OFFICIO MEMBER.—If the President has not

19 appointed the Secretary of Education as 1 of the 2 members

20 he appoints pursuant to subsection (b)(1), then the Sec21 retary shall serve as a nonvoting ex officio member of the

22 Goals Panel.

23 SEC. 123. DUTIES.

24 (a) DUTIES.—The Goals Panel shall—
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1 (1) report to the President, the Secretary, and

2 the Congress regarding the progress the Nation and

3 the States are making toward achieving the National

4 Education Goals established under title I of this Act,

5 including issuing an annual report;

6 (2) report on State opportunity-to-learn stand7 ards and the progress of States in meeting such

8 standards;

9 (3) review, after taking into consideration the

10 public comments received pursuant to section 136,

11 with the option of disapproving by a two-thirds ma12 jority vote of the full membership not later than 60

13 days after receipt of the—

14 (A) criteria developed by the National Edu15 cation Standards and Improvement Council for

16 the certification of content and student perform17 ance standards, assessments, and opportunity-to18 learn standards; and

19 (B) voluntary national content and student

20 performance standards and opportunity-to-learn

21 standards certified by the National Education

22 Standards and Improvement Council;

23 (4) report on promising or effective actions being

24 taken at the national, State, and local levels, in the
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1 public and private sectors, to achieve the National

2 Education Goals; and

3 (5) help build a nationwide, bipartisan consen4 sus for the reforms necessary to achieve the National

5 Education Goals.

6 (b) REPORT.—(1) The Goals Panel shall annually pre7 pare and submit to the President, the Secretary, the appro8 priate committees of Congress, and the Governor of each

9 State a report that shall—

10 (A) report on the progress of the United States

11 toward achieving the National Education Goals;

12 (B) identify actions that should be taken by Fed13 eral, State, and local governments to enhance progress

14 toward achieving the National Education Goals and

15 State opportunity-to-learn standards; and

16 (C) report on State opportunity-to-learn stand17 ards and the progress of States in meeting such

18 standards.

19 (2) Reports shall be presented in a form, and include

20 data, that is understandable to parents and the general

21 public.

22 SEC. 124. POWERS OF THE GOALS PANEL.

23 (a) HEARINGS.—(1) The Goals Panel shall, for the

24 purpose of carrying out this part, conduct such hearings,

25 sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony,
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1 and receive such evidence, as the Goals Panel considers ap2 propriate.

3 (2) In carrying out this part, the Goals Panel shall

4 conduct hearings to receive reports, views, and analyses of

5 a broad spectrum of experts and the public on the establish6 ment of voluntary national content and student perform7 ance standards, assessments, and opportunity-to-learn

8 standards.

9 (b) INFORMATION.—The Goals Panel may secure di10 rectly from any department or agency of the United States

11 information necessary to enable the Goals Panel to carry

12 out this part. Upon request of the Chairperson of the Goals

13 Panel, the head of a department or agency shall furnish

14 such information to the Goals Panel to the extent permitted

15 by law.

16 (c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Goals Panel may use the

17 United States mail in the same manner and under the same

18 conditions as other departments and agencies of the United

19 States.

20 (d) USE OF FACILITIES.—The Goals Panel may, with

21 consent, use the research, equipment, services, and facilities

22 of any agency or instrumentality of the United States, or

23 of any State or political subdivision thereof.

24 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS AND SUP25 PORT.—(1) The Secretary shall provide to the Goals Panel,
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1 on a reimbursable basis, such administrative support serv2 ices as the Goals Panel may request.

3 (2) The Secretary shall, to the extent appropriate, and

4 on a reimbursable basis, make contracts and other arrange5 ments that are requested by the Goals Panel to help it com6 pile and analyze data or carry out other functions necessary

7 to the performance of such responsibilities.

8 SEC. 125. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

9 (a) MEETINGS.—The Goals Panel shall meet on a reg10 ular basis, as necessary, at the call of the Chairperson of

11 the Goals Panel or a majority of its members.

12 (b) QUORUM.—A majority of the members shall con13 stitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

14 (c) VOTING.—No individual may vote, or exercise any

15 of the powers of a member, by proxy.

16 (d) PUBLIC ACCESS.—The Goals Panel shall ensure

17 public access to its proceedings (other than proceedings, or

18 portions of proceedings, relating to internal personnel and

19 management matters) and make available to the public, at

20 reasonable cost, transcripts of such proceedings.

21 SEC. 126. DIRECTOR AND STAFF; EXPERTS AND CONSULT22 ANTS.

23 (a) DIRECTOR.—The Chairperson of the Goals Panel

24 shall, without regard to the provisions of title 5, United

25 States Code, relating to the appointment and compensation
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1 of officers or employees of the United States, appoint a Di2 rector to be paid at a rate not to exceed the rate of basic

3 pay payable for level V of the Executive Schedule.

4 (b) APPOINTMENT AND PAY OF EMPLOYEES.—(1)(A)

5 The Director may appoint not more than four additional

6 employees to serve as staff to the Goals Panel without regard

7 to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing

8 appointments in the competitive service.

9 (B) The employees appointed under paragraph (1)(A)

10 may be paid without regard to the provisions of chapter

11 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of that title relating

12 to classification and General Schedule pay rates, but shall

13 not be paid a rate that exceeds the maximum rate of basic

14 pay payable for GS–15 of the General Schedule.

15 (2) The Director may appoint additional employees to

16 serve as staff to the Goals Panel consistent with title 5,

17 United States Code.

18 (c) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Goals Panel

19 may procure temporary and intermittent services of experts

20 and consultants under section 3109(b) of title 5, United

21 States Code.

22 (d) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the request

23 of the Goals Panel, the head of any department or agency

24 of the United States may detail any of the personnel of such
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1 agency to the Goals Panel to assist the Goals Panel in its

2 duties under this part.

3 SEC. 127. EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSESSMENT.

4 (a) GENERAL.—(1) The Goals Panel shall support the

5 work of its Resource and Technical Planning Groups on

6 School Readiness (referred to in this section as the Groups)

7 to improve the methods of assessing the readiness of children

8 for school that would lead to alternatives to currently used

9 norm-referenced early childhood assessments.

10 (2) The Groups shall—

11 (A) create clear guidelines regarding the nature,

12 functions, and uses of early childhood assessments, in13 cluding a model of school readiness that addresses a

14 broad range of early childhood developmental needs;

15 (B) monitor and evaluate early childhood assess16 ments, including the ability of existing assessments to

17 provide valid information on the readiness of children

18 for school; and

19 (C) monitor and report on the long-term collec20 tion of data on the status of young children to im21 prove policy and practice, including the need for new

22 sources of data necessary to assess the broad range of

23 early childhood developmental needs.

24 (b) ADVICE.—The Groups shall advise and assist the

25 Congress, the Secretary, the Goals Panel, and others regard-
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1 ing how to improve the assessment of young children and

2 how such assessments can improve services to children.

3 (c) REPORT.—The Goals Panel shall provide reports

4 on the work of the Groups to the Congress, the Secretary,

5 and the public.

6 Subpart 2—National Education Standards and

7 Improvement Council

8 SEC. 131. PURPOSE.

9 The purpose of this part is to establish a mechanism

10 to—

11 (1) certify and regularly review voluntary na12 tional content and student performance standards

13 that define what all students should know and be able

14 to do;

15 (2) certify content and student performance

16 standards submitted by States on a voluntary basis,

17 if such standards are of equal or higher quality to the

18 voluntary national content and student performance

19 standards certified by the National Education Stand20 ards and Improvement Council;

21 (3) certify and regularly review voluntary na22 tional opportunity-to-learn standards that describe

23 the conditions of teaching and learning necessary for

24 all students to have a fair opportunity to achieve the

25 knowledge and skills described in the voluntary na-
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1 tional content and student performance standards

2 certified by the National Education Standards and

3 Improvement Council;

4 (4) certify opportunity-to-learn standards sub5 mitted by States on a voluntary basis, if such stand6 ards are of equal or higher quality as compared with

7 the voluntary national opportunity-to-learn stand8 ards; and

9 (5) certify assessment systems submitted by

10 States on a voluntary basis, if such systems are

11 aligned with State content standards certified by the

12 National Education Standards and Improvement

13 Council and if such systems are valid, reliable, and

14 consistent with relevant, nationally recognized, profes15 sional and technical standards for assessment when

16 used for their intended purposes.

17 SEC. 132. NATIONAL EDUCATION STANDARDS AND IM18 PROVEMENT COUNCIL.

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the exec20 utive branch a National Education Standards and Im21 provement Council (referred to in this title as the

22 ‘‘Council’’).

23 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Council shall be composed of

24 twenty members (referred to in this part as ‘‘members’’)

25 who shall be appointed as follows:
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1 (1) 8 members (2 from each of subparagraphs

2 (A) through (D) of subsection (c)(1)) shall be ap3 pointed by the President;

4 (2) 4 members (1 from each of subparagraphs

5 (A) through (D) of subsection (c)(1)) shall be ap6 pointed by the Speaker of the House of Representa7 tives, in consultation with the majority and minority

8 leaders of the House;

9 (3) 4 members (1 from each of subparagraphs

10 (A) through (D) of subsection (c)(1)) shall be ap11 pointed by the majority leader of the Senate, in con12 sultation with the minority leader of the Senate; and

13 (4) 4 members (1 from each of subparagraphs

14 (A) through (D) of subsection (c)(1)) shall be ap15 pointed by the National Education Goals Panel.

16 (c) QUALIFICATIONS.—(1) The members of the Council

17 shall include—

18 (A) 5 professional educators, including elemen19 tary and secondary classroom teachers, preschool edu20 cators and other school-based professionals, local dis21 trict or State administrators, related service person22 nel, and other educators;

23 (B) 5 representatives of business and industry,

24 organized labor, and postsecondary educational insti25 tutions, including at least 1 representative of post-
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1 secondary educational institutions, at least 1 rep2 resentative of organized labor, and at least 1 rep3 resentative of business who is also a member of the

4 National Skill Standards Board;

5 (C) 5 representatives of the public, including

6 representatives of advocacy, civil rights and disability

7 groups, parents, civic leaders, and local and State

8 education policymakers (including State, local, or

9 tribal school boards); and

10 (D) 5 education experts, including experts in

11 measurement and assessment, curriculum, school fi12 nance and equity, and school reform.

13 (2) To the extent feasible, the membership of the Coun14 cil shall be geographically representative of the United

15 States and reflect the diversity of the United States with

16 regard to race, ethnicity, gender, and disability characteris17 tics.

18 (3) One-third of the Council shall consist of individ19 uals with expertise in the educational needs of children who

20 are from low-income families, minority backgrounds, have

21 limited-English proficiency, or have disabilities.

22 (d) TERMS.—(1) Members shall be appointed for 3-

23 year terms, with no member serving more than 2 consecu24 tive terms.
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1 (2) The Council shall establish by lot initial terms for

2 individuals of one, two, or three years in order to establish

3 a rotation in which one-third of the members are selected

4 each year.

5 (e) DATE OF APPOINTMENT.—The initial members

6 shall be appointed not later than 120 days after the date

7 of enactment of this Act.

8 (f) INITIATION.—The Council shall begin to carry out

9 the duties of the Council under this part when all 20 mem10 bers have been appointed.

11 (g) RETENTION.—In order to retain an appointment

12 to the Council, a member must attend at least two-thirds

13 of the scheduled meetings of the Council in any given year.

14 (h) VACANCY.—A vacancy on the Council shall not af15 fect the powers of the Council, but shall be filled in the same

16 manner as the original appointment.

17 (i) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Council who are

18 not regular full-time employees of the United States may,

19 while attending meetings or hearings of the Council, be pro20 vided compensation at a rate fixed by the Secretary, but

21 not exceeding the maximum rate of basic pay payable for

22 GS–15 of the General Schedule.

23 (j) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—(1) A member of the

24 Council may not concurrently serve as a member of the

25 Goals Panel.
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1 (2) Section 208 of title 18 of the United States Code

2 shall apply to members of the Council except that, for the

3 purposes of making written determinations under sub4 section (b)(1), the Government official responsible for the

5 appointment of any member of the Council is deemed to

6 be the Director of the Office of Government Ethics.

7 (3) A member of the Council who resides in a State

8 which has developed standards and assessments may not

9 participate in Council consideration of such standards and

10 assessments.

11 (k) TRAVEL.—Each member of the Council may be al12 lowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsist13 ence, as authorized by section 5703 of title 5, United States

14 Code, for each day the member is engaged in the perform15 ance of duties away from the home or regular place of busi16 ness of the member.

17 (l) OFFICERS.—The members of the Council shall select

18 officers from among its members. The officers of the Council

19 shall serve for one-year terms.

20 SEC. 133. DUTIES.

21 (a) VOLUNTARY NATIONAL CONTENT STANDARDS.—

22 (1) The Council shall—

23 (A) identify areas in which voluntary national

24 content standards need to be developed;
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1 (B) certify voluntary national content and stu2 dent performance standards using the criteria devel3 oped under paragraph (2)(A)(i), that define what all

4 students should know and be able to do;

5 (C) forward such voluntary national content and

6 student performance standards to the Goals Panel for

7 review, except that the Goals Panel shall have the op8 tion of disapproving such standards by a two-thirds

9 majority vote of the full membership not later than 60

10 days after receipt of such standards; and

11 (D) develop a process for regularly reviewing

12 any national voluntary content, student performance,

13 and opportunity-to-learn standards that have been

14 certified.

15 (2)(A) The Council shall—

16 (i) identify and develop criteria to be used for

17 certifying the voluntary national content and student

18 performance standards; and

19 (ii) before applying such criteria, forward them

20 to the Goals Panel for review, except that the Goals

21 Panel shall have the option of disapproving such cri22 teria by a two-thirds majority vote of the full mem23 bership not later than 60 days after receipt of such

24 criteria.
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 (B) The criteria developed by the Council shall ad2 dress—

3 (i) the extent to which the proposed standards

4 are internationally competitive and comparable to the

5 best in the world;

6 (ii) the extent to which the proposed content and

7 student performance standards reflect the best avail8 able knowledge about how all students learn and

9 about how the content area can be most effectively

10 taught;

11 (iii) the extent to which the proposed content and

12 student performance standards have been developed

13 through an open and public process that provides for

14 input and involvement of all relevant parties, includ15 ing teachers, related services personnel, and other pro16 fessional educators, employers and postsecondary edu17 cation institutions, curriculum and subject matter

18 specialists, parents, advocacy groups, and the public;

19 and

20 (iv) other factors that the Council deems appro21 priate.

22 (C) In developing the criteria, the Council shall work

23 with entities that are developing, or have already developed,

24 content and student performance standards, and any other
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1 entities that the Council deems appropriate, to identify ap2 propriate certification criteria.

3 (b) VOLUNTARY STATE CONTENT STANDARDS.—The

4 Council may certify content and student performance

5 standards presented on a voluntary basis by States, using

6 the criteria developed under subsection (a)(2)(A)(i), if such

7 standards are of equal or higher quality to the voluntary

8 national content and student performance standards cer9 tified by the Council.

10 (c) VOLUNTARY NATIONAL OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN

11 STANDARDS.—(1) The Council shall certify exemplary, vol12 untary national opportunity-to-learn standards that will

13 establish a basis for providing all students a fair oppor14 tunity to achieve the knowledge and skills set out in the

15 voluntary national content standards certified by the

16 Council.

17 (2) The voluntary national opportunity-to-learn

18 standards certified by the Council shall address—

19 (A) the quality and availability of curricula, in20 structional materials, and technologies, including dis21 tance learning, to all students;

22 (B) the capability of teachers to provide high23 quality instruction to meet diverse learning needs in

24 each content area to all students;
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 (C) the extent to which teachers, principals, and

2 administrators have ready and continuing access to

3 professional development, including the best knowl4 edge about teaching, learning, and school improve5 ment;

6 (D) the extent to which curriculum, instructional

7 practices, and assessments are aligned to content

8 standards;

9 (E) the extent to which school facilities provide

10 a safe and secure environment for learning and in11 struction and have the requisite libraries, labora12 tories, and other resources necessary to provide an op13 portunity to learn;

14 (F) the extent to which schools utilize policies,

15 curricula, and instructional practices which ensure

16 nondiscrimination on the basis of gender; and

17 (G) other factors that the Council deems appro18 priate to ensure the students receive a fair oppor19 tunity to achieve the knowledge and skills described in

20 the voluntary content and student performance stand21 ards certified by the Council.

22 (3) In carrying out this subsection, the Council shall—

23 (A) identify what countries with rigorous content

24 standards do to—
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 (i) provide their children with opportunities

2 to learn;

3 (ii) prepare their teachers; and

4 (iii) provide continuing professional devel5 opment opportunities for their teachers; and

6 (B) develop criteria to be used for certifying the

7 voluntary national and State opportunity-to-learn

8 standards and, before applying such criteria, forward

9 them to the Goals Panel for review, except that the

10 Goals Panel shall have the option of disapproving

11 such standards by a two-thirds majority vote of the

12 full membership not later than 60 days after receipt

13 of such criteria.

14 (4) The Council shall assist in the development of the

15 voluntary national opportunity-to-learn standards devel16 oped by the consortium under section 139 by—

17 (A) making recommendations to the Secretary

18 regarding priorities and selection criteria for the

19 award made under section 139 and

20 (B) coordinating with the consortium receiving

21 an award under section 139 to ensure that the oppor22 tunity-to-learn standards the consortium develops are

23 appropriate for the needs of all students, are of high

24 quality, and are consistent with the criteria developed

25 by the Council for the certification of such standards.
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1 (5) The Council shall forward the voluntary national

2 opportunity-to-learn standards it certifies to the Goals

3 Panel for review, except that the Goals Panel shall have

4 the option of disapproving such standards by a two-thirds

5 majority vote of the full membership not later than 60 days

6 after receipt of such standards.

7 (d) VOLUNTARY STATE OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN

8 STANDARDS.—The Council may certify opportunity-to9 learn standards submitted voluntarily by a State, using the

10 criteria developed under subsection (c)(3)(B), if such stand11 ards are of equal or higher quality as compared to the vol12 untary national opportunity-to-learn standards.

13 (e) GENERAL PROVISION REGARDING VOLUNTARY NA14 TIONAL STANDARDS.—The Council may certify voluntary

15 national content, student performance, and opportunity-to16 learn standards if such standards are sufficiently general

17 to be used by any State without restricting State and local

18 control of curriculum and prerogatives regarding instruc19 tional methods to be employed.

20 (f) ASSESSMENTS.—(1)(A) The Council may certify an

21 assessment system that is submitted voluntarily by a State,

22 using the criteria developed under paragraph (2)(A), if such

23 system is aligned with the State’s content standards cer24 tified by the Council.
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1 (B) Assessment systems shall be certified by the Coun2 cil for the purposes of—

3 (i) informing students, parents, teachers, and re4 lated services personnel about the progress of all stu5 dents toward the standards;

6 (ii) improving classroom instruction and im7 proving the learning outcomes for all students;

8 (iii) exemplifying for students, parents, and

9 teachers the kinds and levels of achievement that

10 should be expected of all students, including the iden11 tification of student performance standards;

12 (iv) measuring and motivating individual stu13 dents, schools, districts, States, and the Nation to im14 prove educational performance; and

15 (v) assisting education policymakers in making

16 decisions about education programs.

17 (C) The Council shall certify an assessment system

18 only if—

19 (i) the State has established or adopted oppor20 tunity-to-learn standards;

21 (ii) such system will not be used to make deci22 sions regarding graduation, grade promotion, or re23 tention of students for a period of five years from the

24 date of enactment of this Act; and

25 (iii) the State has submitted—
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1 (I) a description of the purposes for which

2 the assessment system has been designed;

3 (II) the methodologies and process used to

4 develop, select, validate, and use such assessment

5 systems;

6 (III) a copy of the test instrument and, as

7 appropriate, other measures that will make up

8 the system; and

9 (IV) evidence that the test or tests which are

10 part of the assessment system are valid, reliable

11 measures of their intended purposes, are aligned

12 with the State content standards, are capable of

13 assessing the progress of all students toward

14 learning the material in the State content stand15 ards, and are consistent with relevant nationally

16 recognized professional and technical standards.

17 (D) The Council shall, at the request of a State prior

18 to developing an assessment system for a proposed use, re19 view and provide guidance to such State on a proposed

20 package of measures, including tests that would be included

21 in such a system.

22 (2)(A) The Council shall develop and, no sooner than

23 three years or later than four years after the enactment of

24 this Act, begin utilizing criteria for the certification of as25 sessment systems for the purposes indicated in paragraph
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1 (1)(B). Before using such criteria, the Council shall forward

2 the criteria to the Goals Panel for review, except that the

3 Goals Panel shall have the option of disapproving such cri4 teria by a two-thirds majority vote of the full membership

5 not later than 60 days after receipt of such criteria.

6 (B) The certification criteria developed by the Council

7 shall address the extent to which the assessment system—

8 (i) is aligned with State content standards cer9 tified by the Council; and

10 (ii) is to be used for a purpose for which it is

11 valid, reliable, free of discrimination, and is consist12 ent with relevant, nationally recognized professional

13 and technical standards for assessment.

14 (C) In determining appropriate certification criteria,

15 the Council shall—

16 (i) consider standards and criteria being devel17 oped by other national organizations, research on as18 sessment, and emerging new State and local assess19 ments;

20 (ii) recommend needed research;

21 (iii) encourage the development and field testing

22 of assessment systems; and

23 (iv) provide a public forum for discussing, debat24 ing, and building consensus for the criteria to be used

25 for the certification of assessment systems.
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1 (D) Prior to determining the certification criteria, the

2 Council shall seek public comment regarding the proposed

3 criteria.

4 (E) The Council shall certify an assessment system

5 only if such system includes all students.

6 (g) PERFORMANCE OF DUTIES.—In carrying out its

7 responsibilities under this title, the Council shall—

8 (1) provide for a process of broad public input

9 as part of the process of developing criteria for stand10 ards and assessments;

11 (2) work with Federal and non-Federal agencies

12 and organizations which are conducting research,

13 studies, or demonstration projects to determine inter14 nationally competitive standards and assessments,

15 and may establish subject matter and other panels to

16 advise it on particular content, student performance,

17 and opportunity-to-learn standards and on assess18 ments;

19 (3) establish cooperative arrangements with the

20 National Skill Standards Board to promote the co21 ordination of the development of content and student

22 performance standards under this title with the devel23 opment of skill standards under title IV of this Act;

24 (4) recommend studies to the Secretary that are

25 necessary to carry out the Council’s responsibilities;
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1 (5) inform the public about what constitutes high

2 quality, internationally competitive, content, student

3 performance, and opportunity-to-learn standards, and

4 assessment systems;

5 (6) on a regular basis, review and update cri6 teria for certifying content, student performance, and

7 opportunity-to-learn standards, and assessment sys8 tems; and

9 (7) periodically recertify, as appropriate, the vol10 untary national content and student performance

11 standards, and the voluntary national opportunity12 to-learn standards and the assessments that it cer13 tifies under this section.

14 (h) UNCONDITIONED STATE PARTICIPATION.—No

15 State shall be required to obtain certification of standards

16 or assessments developed under subsection (b), (d), or (f)

17 of this section or to participate in programs under title III

18 of this Act, as a condition of participating in any Federal

19 education program under this or any other Act.

20 SEC. 134. ANNUAL REPORTS.

21 Not later than one year after the date the Council con22 cludes its first meeting, and in each succeeding year, the

23 Council shall prepare and submit a report to the President,

24 the Secretary, the appropriate committees of Congress, the
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1 Governor of each State, and the Goals Panel regarding its

2 work.

3 SEC. 135. POWERS OF THE COUNCIL.

4 (a) HEARINGS.—(1) The Council shall, for the purpose

5 of carrying out its responsibilities, conduct such hearings,

6 sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony,

7 and receive such evidence, as the Council considers appro8 priate.

9 (2) In carrying out this part, the Council shall conduct

10 public hearings in different geographic areas of the United

11 States, both urban and rural, to receive the reports, views,

12 and analyses of a broad spectrum of experts and the public

13 on the establishment of voluntary national content, student

14 performance, and opportunity-to-learn standards, and as15 sessment systems.

16 (b) INFORMATION.—The Council may secure directly

17 from any department or agency of the United States infor18 mation necessary to enable the Council to carry out this

19 part. Upon request of the Chairperson of the Council, the

20 head of a department or agency shall furnish such informa21 tion to the Council to the extent permitted by law.

22 (c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Council may use the

23 United States mail in the same manner and under the same

24 conditions as other departments and agencies of the United

25 States.
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1 (d) USE OF FACILITIES.—The Council may, with their

2 consent, use the research, equipment, services, and facilities

3 of any agency or instrumentality of the United States, or

4 of any State or political subdivision thereof.

5 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS AND SUP6 PORT.—(1) The Secretary shall provide to the Council, on

7 a reimbursable basis, such administrative support services

8 as the Council may request.

9 (2) The Secretary shall, to the extent appropriate, and

10 on a reimbursable basis, make contracts and other arrange11 ments that are requested by the Council to help it compile

12 and analyze data or carry out other functions necessary to

13 the performance of its responsibilities.

14 SEC. 136. PUBLICATION FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.

15 (a) TRANSMITTAL.—For the purpose of obtaining pub16 lic comment through publication in the Federal Register,

17 the Council shall transmit to the Secretary—

18 (1) proposed criteria for certifying national and

19 State content and performance standards;

20 (2) proposed criteria for certifying national and

21 State opportunity-to-learn standards;

22 (3) proposed criteria for certifying State assess23 ment systems; and

24 (4) proposed national content, performance, and

25 opportunity-to-learn standards.
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1 (b) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall publish such

2 proposed procedures, standards, and criteria in the Federal

3 Register.

4 SEC. 137. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

5 (a) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet on a regular

6 basis, as necessary, at the call of the Chairperson of the

7 Council, or a majority of its members.

8 (b) QUORUM.—A majority of the members shall con9 stitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

10 (c) VOTING.—The Council shall take all action of the

11 Council by a majority vote of the total membership of the

12 Council, ensuring the right of the minority to issue written

13 views. No individual may vote or exercise any of the powers

14 of a member by proxy.

15 (d) PUBLIC ACCESS.—The Council shall ensure public

16 access to its proceedings (other than proceedings, or por17 tions of proceedings, relating to internal personnel and

18 management matters) and make available to the public, at

19 reasonable cost, transcripts of such proceedings.

20 SEC. 138. DIRECTOR AND STAFF; EXPERTS AND CONSULT21 ANTS.

22 (a) DIRECTOR.—The Chairperson of the Council shall,

23 without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States

24 Code, relating to the appointment and compensation of offi25 cers or employees of the United States, appoint a Director
46

•HR 1804 EAH

1 to be paid at a rate not to exceed the rate of basic pay

2 payable for level V of the Executive Schedule.

3 (b) APPOINTMENT AND PAY OF EMPLOYEES.—(1)(A)

4 The Director may appoint not more than four additional

5 employees to serve as staff to the Council without regard

6 to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing

7 appointments in the competitive service.

8 (B) The employees appointed under subparagraph (A)

9 may be paid without regard to the provisions of chapter

10 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of that title relating

11 to classification and General Schedule pay rates, but shall

12 not be paid a rate that exceeds the maximum rate of basic

13 pay payable for GS–15 of the General Schedule.

14 (2) The Director may appoint additional employees to

15 serve as staff of the Council consistent with title 5, United

16 States Code.

17 (c) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Council may

18 procure temporary and intermittent services under section

19 3019(b) of title 5, United States Code.

20 (d) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the request

21 of the Council, the head of any department or agency of

22 the United States may detail any of the personnel of such

23 department or agency to the Council to assist the Council

24 in its duties under this part.
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1 SEC. 139. OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN DEVELOPMENT GRANT.

2 (a) OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN DEVELOPMENT

3 GRANT.—(1) The Secretary is authorized to make a grant,

4 on a competitive basis, to a consortium of individuals and

5 organizations to develop voluntary national opportunity-to6 learn standards consistent with the provisions of section

7 123(c).

8 (2) To the extent possible, such consortium shall in9 clude the participation of—

10 (A) State-level policymakers, such as Governors,

11 State legislators, chief State school officers, and State

12 school board members;

13 (B) local policymakers and administrators, such

14 as local school board members, superintendents, and

15 principals;

16 (C) teachers (especially teachers involved in the

17 development of content standards);

18 (D) parents and individuals with experience in

19 promoting parental involvement in education;

20 (E) representatives of business;

21 (F) experts in vocational-technical education;

22 (G) representatives of regional accrediting asso23 ciations;

24 (H) individuals with expertise in school finance

25 and equity, the education of at-risk students, and the
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1 preparation and training of teachers and school ad2 ministrators;

3 (I) curriculum and school reform experts;

4 (J) student and civil rights advocacy groups;

5 (K) representatives of higher education; and

6 (L) secondary school students.

7 (3) In developing voluntary national opportunity-to8 learn standards, such consortium shall—

9 (A) draw upon current research about student

10 achievement and the necessary conditions for effective

11 teaching and learning; and

12 (B) provide for the development of several con13 secutive drafts of standards which incorporate the

14 comments and recommendations of educators and

15 other knowledgeable individuals across the Nation.

16 (4) One-third of the consortium shall consist of indi17 viduals with expertise in the educational needs and assess18 ment of children who are from low-income families, minor19 ity backgrounds, have limited-English proficiency, or have

20 disabilities.

21 (5) The membership of the consortium shall be geo22 graphically representative and reflect the racial, ethnic, and

23 gender diversity of the United States.

24 (b) APPLICATIONS.—(1) Any consortium that desires

25 to receive a grant under this subsection shall submit an ap-
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1 plication to the Secretary at such time, in such manner,

2 and containing such information and assurances as the

3 Secretary may require.

4 (2) In awarding such grant, the Secretary shall give

5 priority to applications from consortia which involve indi6 viduals and organizations with the greatest diversity of per7 spectives and points of view.

8 (3) In establishing additional priorities and selection

9 criteria for such grant, the Secretary shall give serious con10 sideration to the recommendations made by the Council

11 pursuant to section 123(c)(4)(A).

12 (c) REPORT.—After the development of the voluntary

13 national opportunity-to-learn standards, the consortium

14 funded under this section shall submit a report to the Sec15 retary which discusses the background, important issues,

16 and rationale regarding such standards.

17 SEC. 140. ASSESSMENT DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION

18 GRANTS.

19 (a) GENERAL.—(1) The Secretary is authorized to

20 make grants to States and local educational agencies or

21 consortia of such agencies to help defray the cost of develop22 ing, field testing, and evaluating assessment systems, to be

23 used for some or all of the purposes indicated in section

24 123(f)(1)(B), that are aligned to State content standards

25 certified by the Council.
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1 (2) The Secretary shall reserve a portion of the funds

2 authorized under section 141(d) for grants to State edu3 cational agencies and local educational agencies for pur4 poses of developing such assessments in languages other

5 than English.

6 (b) APPLICATIONS.—A State, local educational agency,

7 or consortium of such agencies that desires to receive a

8 grant under subsection (a)(1) shall submit an application

9 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and contain10 ing such information and assurances as the Secretary may

11 require.

12 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—(1) A recipient of a grant under

13 this section shall—

14 (A) examine the validity and reliability of an

15 assessment system for the particular purposes for

16 which such assessment system was developed;

17 (B) ensure that an assessment system is consist18 ent with relevant, nationally recognized professional

19 and technical standards for assessments; and

20 (C) devote special attention to how an assessment

21 system, treats all students, especially with regard to

22 the race, gender, ethnicity, disability, and language

23 proficiency.

24 (2) An assessment system developed and evaluated

25 with funds under this section may not be used for decisions
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1 about individual students relating to program placement,

2 promotion, or retention, graduation, or employment for a

3 period of five years from the date of enactment of this Act.

4 SEC. 141. EVALUATION.

5 (a) GRANT.—From funds reserved under section

6 154(a)(2), the Secretary annually shall make a grant, in

7 an amount not to exceed $500,000, to the Commission on

8 Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education of the Na9 tional Academy of Sciences or to the National Academy of

10 Education to—

11 (1) evaluate—

12 (A) the technical quality of the work per13 formed by the Goals Panel and the Council;

14 (B) the process the Council uses to develop

15 criteria for certification of standards and assess16 ments;

17 (C) the process the Council uses to certify

18 voluntary national standards as well as stand19 ards and assessments voluntarily submitted by

20 States; and

21 (D) the process the Goals Panel uses to ap22 prove certification criteria and voluntary na23 tional standards;
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1 (2) periodically provide to the Goals Panel and

2 the Council, as appropriate, information from the

3 evaluation under paragraph (1); and

4 (3) report on the activities authorized under sec5 tions 139 and 140.

6 (b) REPORT.—The grant recipient shall periodically

7 report to the Congress, the Secretary, and the public regard8 ing findings and shall make a final report not later than

9 January 1, 1998.

10 Subpart 3—Authorization of Appropriations

11 SEC. 145. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

12 (a) NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS PANEL.—There are

13 authorized to be appropriated $3,000,000 for fiscal year

14 1994 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the

15 four succeeding fiscal years to carry out part A of this title.

16 (b) NATIONAL EDUCATION STANDARDS AND IMPROVE17 MENT COUNCIL.—There are authorized to be appropriated

18 $3,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 and such sums as may be

19 necessary for each of the fiscal years 1995 through 1998 to

20 carry out part B of this title.

21 (c) OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN DEVELOPMENT GRANT.—

22 There are authorized to be appropriated $3,000,000 for fis23 cal year 1994 and such sums as may be necessary for fiscal

24 year 1995 to carry out the Opportunity-to-Learn Develop-
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1 ment Grant Program established under section 139 of this

2 title.

3 (d) ASSESSMENT DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION

4 GRANTS.—There are authorized to be appropriated

5 $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 and such sums as may be

6 necessary for each of the fiscal years 1995 through 1998 to

7 carry out the Assessment Development and Evaluation

8 Grants Program established under section 140 of this title.

9 PART C—STATE AND LOCAL EDUCATION

10 SYSTEMIC IMPROVEMENT

11 SEC. 151. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

12 The Congress finds that—

13 (1) all students can learn and achieve high

14 standards and must realize their potential if the

15 United States is to prosper;

16 (2) the reforms in education of the last 15 years

17 have achieved some good results, but these efforts often

18 have been limited to a few schools or to a single part

19 of the educational system;

20 (3) leadership must come both from teachers, re21 lated services personnel, principals, and parents in

22 individual schools and from policymakers at the local,

23 State, tribal, and national levels, in order for lasting

24 improvements in student performance to occur;
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1 (4) simultaneous top-down and bottom-up edu2 cation reform is necessary to spur creative and inno3 vative approaches by individual schools to help all

4 students achieve internationally competitive stand5 ards;

6 (5) strategies must be developed by communities

7 and States to support the revitalization of all local

8 public schools by fundamentally changing the entire

9 system of public education through comprehensive, co10 herent, and coordinated improvement in order to in11 crease student learning;

12 (6) parents, teachers, and other local educators,

13 and business, community, and tribal leaders must be

14 involved in developing systemwide improvement strat15 egies that reflect the needs of their individual commu16 nities;

17 (7) State and local education improvement ef18 forts must incorporate strategies for providing all stu19 dents and families with coordinated access to appro20 priate social services, health care, nutrition, and child

21 care to remove preventable barriers to learning and

22 enhance school readiness for all students;

23 (8) States and local educational agencies, work24 ing together, must immediately set about developing

25 and implementing such systemwide improvement
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1 strategies if the Nation is to educate all children to

2 meet their full potential and achieve the National

3 Education Goals listed in title I of this Act;

4 (9) State and local systemic improvement strate5 gies must provide all students with effective mecha6 nisms and appropriate paths to the workforce as well

7 as to higher education;

8 (10) business should be encouraged to enter into

9 partnerships with schools, provide information and

10 guidance to schools on the needs of area business for

11 properly educated graduates in general and on the

12 need for particular workplace skills, that the schools

13 may provide necessary material and support, and

14 continue the lifelong learning process throughout the

15 employment years of an individual, and schools

16 should provide information to business regarding how

17 the business community can assist schools in meeting

18 the goals of this Act;

19 (11) institutions of higher education should be

20 encouraged to enter into partnerships with schools to

21 provide information and guidance to schools on the

22 skills and knowledge graduates need in order to enter

23 and successfully complete postsecondary education,

24 and schools should provide information and guidance

25 to institutions of higher education on the skills,
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1 knowledge, and preservice training teachers need, and

2 the types of professional development educators need

3 in order to meet the goals of this Act;

4 (12) the appropriate and innovative use of tech5 nology, including distance learning, can be very effec6 tive in helping to bring all students the opportunity

7 to learn and meet high standards; and

8 (13) Federal funds should be targeted to support

9 local and State initiatives, and to leverage State and

10 local resources for designing and implementing sys11 tem-wide improvement plans.

12 SEC. 152. PURPOSE.

13 The purpose of this title is to improve the quality of

14 education for all students by improving student learning

15 through a long-term, broad-based effort to promote coherent

16 and coordinated improvements in the system of education

17 throughout the Nation at the local and State levels. This

18 title provides new authorities and funding for the Nation’s

19 school systems without replacing or reducing funding for

20 existing Federal education programs. It is the intention of

21 the Congress that no State or local educational agency will

22 reduce its funding for education or for education reform on

23 account of receiving any funds under this title.
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1 SEC. 153. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 For the purpose of carrying out this title, there are

3 authorized to be appropriated $393,000,000 for the fiscal

4 year 1994, and such sums as may be necessary for each

5 of the fiscal years 1995 through 1998.

6 SEC. 154. ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.

7 (a) RESERVATIONS OF FUNDS.—From funds appro8 priated under section 153, the Secretary—

9 (1) shall reserve a total of one percent to provide

10 assistance, in amounts determined by the Secretary—

11 (A) to the outlying areas; and

12 (B) to the Secretary of the Interior to bene13 fit Indian students in schools operated or funded

14 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (referred to in

15 this Act as the ‘‘Bureau’’); and

16 (2) may reserve a total of up to 6 percent for—

17 (A) national leadership activities under sec18 tion 163;

19 (B) the costs of peer review of State im20 provement plans and applications under this

21 title; and

22 (C) evaluation activities under section 141.

23 (b) STATE ALLOTMENTS.—The Secretary shall allot

24 the remaining amount appropriated under section 153 for

25 each fiscal year to the States (which for the purposes of this

26 subsection does not include the outlying areas) as follows:
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1 (1) 50 percent of such remaining amount shall

2 be allocated in accordance with the relative amounts

3 such State received under chapter 1 of title I of the

4 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for

5 the preceding fiscal year.

6 (2) 50 percent of such remaining amount shall

7 be allocated in accordance with the relative amounts

8 each such State received under part A of chapter 2 of

9 title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education

10 Act of 1965 for the preceding fiscal year.

11 (c) REALLOTMENTS.—If the Secretary determines that

12 any amount of a State’s allotment for any fiscal year under

13 subsection (b) will not be needed for such fiscal year by the

14 State, the Secretary shall reallot such amount to other

15 States that need additional funds, in such manner as the

16 Secretary determines is appropriate.

17 SEC. 155. STATE APPLICATIONS.

18 (a) GENERAL.—(1) If a State desires to receive a grant

19 under this title, the State educational agency shall submit

20 an application to the Secretary at such time and in such

21 manner as the Secretary may determine.

22 (2) In addition to the information described in sub23 sections (b) and (c), each such application shall include—

24 (A) an assurance that the State educational

25 agency will cooperate with the Secretary in carrying
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1 out the Secretary’s responsibilities under section 162,

2 and will comply with reasonable requests of the Sec3 retary for data related to the State’s progress in de4 veloping and implementing its State improvement

5 plan under this title;

6 (B) an assurance that State law provides ade7 quate authority to carry out each component of the

8 State’s improvement plan developed, or to be devel9 oped under section 156, or that such authority will be

10 sought;

11 (C) an assurance that the standards developed

12 for student achievement are not less rigorous than stu13 dent achievement standards used prior to the date of

14 enactment of this Act;

15 (D) an assurance that the State will provide for

16 broad public participation in the planning process;

17 and

18 (E) such other assurances and information as

19 the Secretary may require.

20 (b) FIRST YEAR.—A State’s application for the first

21 year of assistance under this title shall—

22 (1) describe the process by which the State will

23 develop a school improvement plan that meets the re24 quirements of section 156; and
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1 (2) describe how the State educational agency

2 will use funds received under this title for such year,

3 including how the State educational agency will make

4 subgrants to local educational agencies and for teach5 er training.

6 (c) SUBSEQUENT YEARS.—A State’s second applica7 tion under this title shall—

8 (1) cover the second through fifth years of its

9 participation;

10 (2) include a copy of the State’s improvement

11 plan that meets the requirements of section 156 or, if

12 the State plan is not complete, a statement of the

13 steps it will take to complete the plan and a schedule

14 for doing so; and

15 (3) include an explanation of how the State will

16 use funds received under this title, including how it

17 will make subgrants to local educational agencies and

18 for teacher training under section 159(b)(1).

19 SEC. 156. STATE IMPROVEMENT PLANS.

20 (a) BASIC SCOPE OF PLAN.—Any State educational

21 agency that wishes to receive a grant under this title after

22 its first year of participation shall develop and implement

23 a plan for the fundamental restructuring and improvement

24 of elementary and secondary education in the State. This

25 plan must address—
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1 (1) in accordance with subsection (c), the estab2 lishment or adoption of challenging content and stu3 dent performance standards for all students and the

4 use of curricula, instructional practices, assessments,

5 technology, parental involvement programs, and pro6 fessional preparation and development approaches

7 appropriate to help all students reach such standards;

8 (2) in accordance with subsection (d), the estab9 lishment or adoption of opportunity-to-learn stand10 ards that will define the conditions of teaching and

11 learning that provide all students the opportunity to

12 meet the challenging content and student performance

13 standards;

14 (3) in accordance with subsection (e), needed

15 changes in the governance and management of the

16 education system in order to effectively focus schools

17 on, and assist them in, preparing all students to meet

18 the challenging State standards;

19 (4) in accordance with subsection (f), comprehen20 sive strategies to involve communities, including par21 ents, businesses, libraries, institutions of higher edu22 cation, employment and training agencies, health and

23 human service agencies, advocacy groups, cultural in24 stitutions, and other public and private agencies that

25 provide social services, health care, child care, early
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1 childhood education, and nutrition to students, in

2 helping all students meet the challenging State stand3 ards;

4 (5) in accordance with subsection (g), strategies

5 for ensuring that all local educational agencies and

6 schools within the State are involved in developing

7 and implementing needed improvements within a

8 specified period of time;

9 (6) in accordance with subsection (h), strategies

10 for ensuring that comprehensive, systemic reform is

11 promoted from the bottom up in communities, local

12 educational agencies, and schools; and

13 (7) the needs of the children, ages 5 through 18,

14 who are out of school and the extent to which such

15 children can be brought back into the education sys16 tem and meet the standards set forth in this Act.

17 (b) PLAN DEVELOPMENT.—(1) A State improvement

18 plan under this title must be developed by a broad-based

19 panel (referred to in this title as the ‘‘panel’’) in coopera20 tion with the State educational agency and the Governor.

21 The panel shall include—

22 (A) the Governor and the chief State school offi23 cer, or their designees;
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1 (B) the chairman of the State board of education

2 and the chairmen of the appropriate authorizing com3 mittees of the State legislature, or their designees;

4 (C) teachers, principals, and administrators who

5 have successfully improved student performance and

6 deans of colleges of education;

7 (D) representatives of teacher organizations, par8 ents, institutions of higher education, business and

9 labor leaders, community-based organizations, Indian

10 tribes, local boards of education, State and local offi11 cials responsible for health, social services, and other

12 related services, and others, as appropriate;

13 (E) representatives from rural and urban local

14 educational agencies in the State; and

15 (F) experts in educational measurement and as16 sessment.

17 (2) The Governor and the chief State school officer

18 shall each appoint half the members of the State panel. The

19 full panel shall establish the procedures regarding the oper20 ation of the panel, including the designation of the panel

21 chairperson.

22 (3) To the extent feasible, the membership of the panel

23 shall be geographically representative of the State and re24 flect the diversity of the population of the State with regard

25 to race, ethnicity, gender, and disability characteristics.
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1 (4) One-third of the panel members shall be individ2 uals with expertise in the educational needs and assess3 ments of children who are from low-income families, minor4 ity group backgrounds, have limited-English proficiency, or

5 have disabilities.

6 (5) The panel shall consult the Governor, the chief

7 State school officer, the State board of education, and rel8 evant committees of the State legislature in developing the

9 plan.

10 (6) The panel shall be responsible for conducting a

11 statewide, grassroots outreach process, including conducting

12 public hearings, to involve educators, related services per13 sonnel, parents, secondary school students, local officials,

14 private nonprofit elementary and secondary schools, com15 munity and business leaders, Indian tribes, citizens, chil16 dren’s advocates, and others with a stake in the success of

17 students and their education system, and who are represent18 ative of the diversity of the State and its student popu19 lation, in the development of the State plan and in a

20 continuing dialog regarding the need for and nature of chal21 lenging standards for all students and local and State re22 sponsibilities for helping all students achieve them.

23 (7) The panel shall develop a continuing process for

24 interacting with local educational agencies and individual

25 schools engaged in systemic reform, especially including
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1 local educational agencies and schools which receive

2 subgrants under section 159 of this Act, to ensure that the

3 development and implementation of the State plan reflects

4 their needs and experiences.

5 (8) The panel shall develop a State plan, provide op6 portunity for public comment, and submit the State plan

7 to the State educational agency for approval.

8 (9) The State educational agency shall submit the

9 original State improvement plan developed by the panel

10 and the State improvement plan if modified by such agen11 cy, together with an explanation of any changes made by

12 such agency to the plan developed by the panel, to the Sec13 retary for approval.

14 (10) If any portion of the State plan addresses matters

15 that, under State or other applicable law, are not under

16 the authority of the State educational agency, the State edu17 cational agency shall obtain the approval of, or changes to,

18 such portion, with an explanation from the Governor or

19 other official responsible for that portion before submitting

20 the plan to the Secretary.

21 (11) After approval of the State plan by the Secretary,

22 the panel, in close consultation with teachers, principals,

23 administrators, school boards, advocacy groups, advocates

24 of children with disabilities and parents in local edu25 cational agencies and schools receiving funds under this
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1 title, shall monitor the implementation and effectiveness of

2 the State plan to determine if revisions are appropriate,

3 and shall periodically report its findings to the public.

4 (c) TEACHING, LEARNING, STANDARDS, AND ASSESS5 MENTS.—Each State plan shall establish strategies and a

6 timetable for improving teaching and learning, including—

7 (1) a process for developing or adopting chal8 lenging content and student performance standards

9 for all students which includes coordinating the

10 standards developed pursuant to section 115 of the

11 Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology

12 Education Act of 1990;

13 (2) a process for providing assistance and sup14 port to local educational agencies and schools to give

15 them the capacity and responsibility to provide all

16 students the opportunity to increase education

17 achievement and meet challenging State content and

18 student performance standards;

19 (3) assessing the effectiveness and equity of the

20 school finance program of the State to identify dis21 parities in the resources available to each local edu22 cational agency and school in such State and how

23 such disparities affect the ability of the State edu24 cational agency and local educational agencies to de25 velop and implement plans under this title;
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1 (4) a process for developing, adopting, or rec2 ommending instructional materials, including gender

3 equitable and multicultural materials, and technology

4 to support and assist local educational agencies and

5 schools to provide all students the opportunity to meet

6 the challenging State content and student perform7 ance standards;

8 (5) a process for developing and implementing a

9 valid and nondiscriminatory assessment system or set

10 of locally-based assessment systems which are consist11 ent with relevant, nationally recognized, professional

12 and technical standards for assessment, and are capa13 ble of providing coherent information about student

14 attainments relative to the State content standards;

15 (6) a process for monitoring the implementation

16 of such system or systems and the impact on im17 proved instruction for all students;

18 (7) a process for improving the State’s system of

19 teacher and school administrator preparation, licen20 sure, and continuing professional development so that

21 all teachers, related services personnel, and adminis22 trators develop the subject matter and pedagogical ex23 pertise needed to prepare all students to meet the

24 challenging standards under paragraph (1);
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1 (8) a process for providing appropriate and ef2 fective professional development, including the use of

3 technology, distance learning, and gender-equitable

4 methods, necessary for teachers, school administrators,

5 and others to help all students meet the challenging

6 standards under paragraph (1); and

7 (9) a process to ensure widespread participation

8 of classroom teachers in developing the portions of the

9 plan described in this subsection.

10 (d) OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN STANDARDS.—Each

11 State plan shall establish a strategy and timetable for—

12 (1) adopting or establishing opportunity-to-learn

13 standards that are consistent with the challenging

14 content and student performance standards that have

15 been adopted or established;

16 (2) ensuring that every school in the State is

17 making demonstrable progress toward meeting the

18 State’s opportunity-to-learn standards;

19 (3) ensuring that the State’s opportunity-to20 learn standards address the need of all students;

21 (4) providing for periodic assessments of the ex22 tent to which opportunity-to-learn standards are

23 being met throughout the State; and

24 (5) periodically reporting to the public on the ex25 tent of the State’s improvement in achieving such
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1 standards and providing all students with a fair op2 portunity to achieve the knowledge and skill levels

3 that meet the State’s content and student performance

4 standards.

5 (e) GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT.—Each State

6 plan shall establish strategies for improved governance and

7 management of its education system, such as—

8 (1) aligning responsibility, authority, and ac9 countability throughout the education system, so that

10 decisions regarding content and student performance

11 standards are coordinated and decisions regarding the

12 means for achieving such standards are made closest

13 to the learners;

14 (2) creating an integrated and coherent ap15 proach to attracting, recruiting, preparing and li16 censing, appraising, rewarding, retaining, and sup17 porting the continued professional development of

18 teachers (including vocational teachers), administra19 tors, and other educators, including bilingual edu20 cators and special education providers, so that there

21 is a highly talented workforce of professional edu22 cators capable of preparing all students to reach chal23 lenging standards, with special attention to the re24 cruitment, training, and retention of qualified mi25 norities into the education profession within the State
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1 to ensure that the profession reflects the racial and

2 ethnic diversity of the student population;

3 (3) providing incentives for high performance,

4 such as—

5 (A) working with employers and institu6 tions of higher education to devise strategies to

7 reward student achievement;

8 (B) incentives for classroom teachers, prin9 cipals, and other professional educators to par10 ticipate in professional development activities;

11 and

12 (C) school-based incentives for schools and

13 local educational agencies to improve student

14 performance;

15 (4) increasing the proportion of State and local

16 funds allocated to direct instructional purposes; and

17 (5) increasing flexibility for local educational

18 agencies and schools by, for example—

19 (A) waiving State regulations and other re20 quirements that impede educational improve21 ment;

22 (B) focusing accountability on educational

23 outcomes rather than monitoring compliance

24 with input requirements; and
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1 (C) fostering conditions that allow teachers,

2 principals, and parents in the school community

3 to be creative in helping all students meet chal4 lenging standards.

5 (f) PARENTAL AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT AND IN6 VOLVEMENT.—Each State plan shall describe strategies for

7 how the State will involve parents and other community

8 members in planning, designing, and implementing its

9 plan, including such strategies as—

10 (1) educating the public about the need for high11 er standards, systemic improvement, and awareness

12 of diverse learning needs;

13 (2) involving parents, communities, and advo14 cacy groups in the standard-setting and improvement

15 process;

16 (3) linking the family and school in supporting

17 students to meet the challenging student content and

18 performance standards established;

19 (4) reporting, on an ongoing basis, to parents,

20 educators, and the public on the progress in imple21 menting the plan and improving student perform22 ance;

23 (5) focusing public and private community re24 sources and public school resources on prevention and
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1 early intervention to address the needs of all students

2 by—

3 (A) identifying and removing unnecessary

4 regulations and obstacles to coordination;

5 (B) improving communication and infor6 mation exchange; and

7 (C) providing appropriate training to agen8 cy personnel; and

9 (6) increasing the access of all students to social

10 services, health care, nutrition, related services, and

11 child care services, and locating such services in

12 schools, cooperating service agencies, community13 based centers, or other convenient sites designed to

14 provide ‘‘one-stop shopping’’ for parents and students.

15 (g) MAKING THE IMPROVEMENTS SYSTEMWIDE.—To

16 help provide all students throughout the State the oppor17 tunity to meet challenging State standards, each State plan

18 shall describe strategies such as—

19 (1) ensuring that the improvement efforts expand

20 from the initial local educational agencies, schools,

21 and educators involved to all local educational agen22 cies, schools, and educators in the State education

23 system through such approaches as teacher and ad24 ministrator professional development, technical assist25 ance, whole school projects, intensive summer train-
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1 ing, and networking of teachers and other educators,

2 consortia of schools, and local educational agencies

3 undertaking similar improvements;

4 (2) developing partnerships among preschools, el5 ementary and secondary schools, institutions of higher

6 education, cultural institutions, health and social

7 service providers, and employers to improve teaching

8 and learning at all levels of the education system for

9 all students and to foster collaboration and continu10 ous improvement;

11 (3) developing strategies to provide for the close

12 coordination of standards development and improve13 ment efforts among institutions of higher education

14 and secondary, and elementary schools;

15 (4) conducting parental involvement activities

16 and outreach programs aimed at parents whose lan17 guage is a language other than English, individuals

18 with disabilities, and other special populations, in19 cluding American Indians, Alaskan Natives, and Na20 tive Hawaiians, to involve all segments of the commu21 nity in the development of the State plan;

22 (5) developing partnerships with Indian tribes

23 and schools funded by the Bureau, where appropriate,

24 to improve consistency and compatibility in curricu-
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1 lum among public and such schools funded by the

2 Bureau at all grade levels;

3 (6) allocating all available local, State, and Fed4 eral resources to achieve system-wide improvement;

5 (7) providing for the development of objective cri6 teria and measures against which the success of local

7 plans will be evaluated;

8 (8) providing for the availability of curricular

9 materials, learning technologies, including distance

10 learning, and professional development in a manner

11 ensuring equal access by all local educational agencies

12 in the State;

13 (9) taking steps to ensure that all local edu14 cational agencies, schools, and educators in the State

15 benefit from successful programs and practices sup16 ported by funds made available to local educational

17 agencies and schools under this title; and

18 (10) providing assistance to students, teachers,

19 schools, and local educational agencies that are iden20 tified through the assessment system developed under

21 subsection (c)(5) as needing such assistance.

22 (h) PROMOTING BOTTOM-UP REFORM.—Each State

23 plan shall include strategies for ensuring that comprehen24 sive, systemic reform is promoted from the bottom up in

25 communities, local educational agencies, and schools, as
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1 well as guided by coordination and facilitation from State

2 leaders, including strategies such as—

3 (1) ensuring that the State plan is responsive to

4 the needs and experiences of local educational agen5 cies, schools, teachers, the community, and parents;

6 (2) establishing mechanisms for continuous

7 input from local schools, communities, advocacy

8 groups, institutions of higher education, and local

9 educational agencies into, and feedback on, the imple10 mentation of the State plan;

11 (3) providing discretionary resources that enable

12 teachers and schools to purchase needed professional

13 development and other forms of assistance consistent

14 with their improvement plan from high-quality pro15 viders of their choice;

16 (4) establishing collaborative networks of teachers

17 centered on content standards and assessments for the

18 purpose of improving teaching and learning;

19 (5) providing flexibility to individual schools

20 and local educational agencies to enable them to

21 adapt and integrate State content standards into

22 courses of study appropriate for individual schools

23 and communities;

24 (6) facilitating the provision of waivers from

25 State rules and regulations that impede the ability of
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1 local educational agencies or schools to carry out local

2 education improvement plans; and

3 (7) facilitating communication among educators

4 within and between local educational agencies for the

5 purpose of sharing innovative and effective practices,

6 including, through the use of telecommunications, dis7 tance learning, site visits, and other means.

8 (i) COORDINATION WITH SCHOOL-TO-WORK PRO9 GRAMS.—If a State has received Federal assistance for the

10 purpose of planing for, expanding, or establishing a school11 to-work program, then a State shall include in the State

12 plan a description of how such school-to-work program will

13 be incorporated into the school reform efforts of the State.

14 In particular, the State plan shall include a description

15 of how secondary schools will be modified in order to pro16 vide career guidance, the integration of academic and voca17 tional education, and work-based learning, if such pro18 grams are proposed in the State’s school-to-work plan.

19 (j) BENCHMARKS AND TIMELINES.—Each State plan

20 shall include specific benchmarks of improved student per21 formance and of progress in implementing the improvement

22 plan, and timelines against which the progress of the State

23 in carrying out its plan, including the elements described

24 in subsections (c) through (h), can be measured.
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1 (k) COORDINATING STRATEGIES.—Each State plan

2 shall include strategies for coordinating the integration of

3 academic and vocational instruction pursuant to the Carl

4 D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education

5 Act.

6 (l) PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY.—

7 Each State shall describe—

8 (1) how the State will monitor progress towards

9 implementing the State and local plans; and

10 (2) procedures the State will use to ensure

11 schools and school districts meet State opportunity-to12 learn and content standards within the established

13 time lines.

14 (m) PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL MANDATES, DIREC15 TION, AND CONTROL.—Nothing in this section shall be con16 strued to authorize an officer or employee of the Federal

17 Government to mandate, direct, or control a State, local

18 educational agency, or school’s curriculum, program of in19 struction, or allocation of State and local resources.

20 (n) PEER REVIEW AND SECRETARIAL APPROVAL.—(1)

21 The Secretary shall review each State improvement plan

22 prepared under this section, and each application submit23 ted under section 155, with the assistance and advice of

24 State and local education policymakers, educators, class25 room teachers, related services personnel, experts on edu-
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1 cational innovation and improvement, parents, advocates

2 for children with disabilities, representatives of other advo3 cacy groups, and other appropriate individuals. The peer

4 review process shall be performed by individuals representa5 tive of the diversity of the United States with regard to ge6 ography, race, ethnicity, gender, and disability. The review

7 of each State plan shall include at least one site visit to

8 each State.

9 (2) The Secretary shall approve a State’s plan when

10 the Secretary determines, after considering the peer review11 ers’ comment, that it—

12 (A) reflects a widespread commitment within the

13 State;

14 (B) holds reasonable promise of enabling all stu15 dents to achieve at the high levels called for by this

16 Act;

17 (C) meets the requirements of subsections (a)

18 through (k); and

19 (D) allows local schools, local educational agen20 cies and communities the flexibility to implement

21 local improvement plans in a manner which reflects

22 local needs and requirements in order to promote a

23 ‘bottom up’ system of school reform.
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1 (3) The Secretary shall not decline to approve a State’s

2 plan, or any State application submitted under section 155,

3 before offering the State—

4 (A) an opportunity to revise its plan or applica5 tion; and

6 (B) a hearing.

7 (o) REGULAR REVIEW.—Each State plan shall include

8 a process for regularly reviewing and updating any State

9 content, student performance, and opportunity-to-learn

10 standards and assessment systems.

11 (p) AMENDMENTS TO PLAN.—(1) Each State shall pe12 riodically review its plan and revise it, as appropriate, in

13 accordance with the process described in subsection (b).

14 (2) The Secretary shall review major amendments to

15 a State’s plan through the same process, described in sub16 section (j), used to review the original plan.

17 (q) PREEXISTING STATE PLANS AND PANELS.—(1) If

18 a State has developed a comprehensive and systemic im19 provement plan to help all students meet challenging stand20 ards, or any component of such a plan, that otherwise meets

21 the requirements of this section, the Secretary may approve

22 such plan or component notwithstanding that it was not

23 developed in accordance with subsection (b), if the Secretary

24 determines that such approval would further the purposes

25 of State systemic education improvement.
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1 (2) If, before the enactment of this Act, a State has

2 made substantial progress in developing a plan that other3 wise meets, or is likely to meet, the requirements of this

4 section, but was developed by a panel that does not meet

5 the requirements of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of sub6 section (b), the Secretary may, at the request of the Gov7 ernor and the State educational agency, treat such panel

8 as meeting the requirements of this title if the Secretary

9 determines that there has been statewide involvement of edu10 cators, parents, students, advocacy groups, other interested

11 members of the public in the development of the plan.

12 SEC. 157. SECRETARY’S REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS; PAY13 MENTS.

14 (a) FIRST YEAR.—The Secretary shall approve the ini15 tial year application of a State educational agency under

16 section 155(b) if the Secretary determines that—

17 (1) such application meets the requirements of

18 this title; and

19 (2) there is a substantial likelihood that the re20 newal application of the State will be able to develop

21 and implement an education improvement plan that

22 complies with section 156.

23 (b) SECOND THROUGH FIFTH YEARS.—The Secretary

24 shall approve a renewal application of a State educational
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1 agency under section 155(c) for the second through fifth

2 years only if—

3 (1)(A) the Secretary has approved the State’s

4 improvement plan under section 156(l); or

5 (B) the Secretary determines that the State has

6 made substantial progress in developing such plan;

7 and

8 (2) such application meets the other require9 ments of this title.

10 (c) PAYMENTS.—For any fiscal year for which a State

11 has an approved application under this title, the Secretary

12 shall make a grant to the State educational agency in the

13 amount determined under section 154(b).

14 SEC. 158. STATE USE OF FUNDS.

15 (a) FIRST YEAR.—In the first year for which a State

16 educational agency receives a grant under this title, the

17 State—

18 (1) shall use at least 75 percent of such funds to

19 make subgrants, in accordance with section 159(a), to

20 local educational agencies for the development or im21 plementation of local improvement plans and to make

22 subgrants, in accordance with section 159(b), to im23 prove educator preservice programs and for profes24 sional development activities consistent with the State

25 plan, if the amount allocated to States under section
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1 154(b) for such year is at least $50,000,000. The

2 State may use such funds for such subgrants if such

3 amount is less than $50,000,000; and

4 (2) shall use the remainder of such funds to de5 velop, revise, expand, or implement an education im6 provement plan described in section 156.

7 (b) SUCCEEDING YEARS.—A State that receives assist8 ance under this title for any year after the first year of

9 participation shall—

10 (1) use at least 90 percent of such assistance in

11 each succeeding year to make subgrants—

12 (A) to local educational agencies, in accord13 ance with section 159(a), for the implementation

14 of the State improvement plan and of local im15 provement plans; and

16 (B) in accordance with section 159(b), to

17 improve educator preservice programs and for

18 professional development activities that are con19 sistent with the State improvement plan; and

20 (2) use the remainder of such assistance for State

21 activities designed to implement its improvement

22 plan, such as—

23 (A) supporting the development or adoption

24 of State content and student performance stand25 ards, State opportunity-to-learn standards, and
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1 assessments linked to the standards, including

2 through consortia of States, and in conjunction

3 with the National Education Standards and Im4 provement Council established under part B of

5 title II of this Act;

6 (B) supporting the implementation of high7 performance management and organizational

8 strategies, such as site-based management, shared

9 decisionmaking, or quality management prin10 ciples, to promote effective implementation of

11 such plan;

12 (C) supporting the development and imple13 mentation, at the local educational agency and

14 school building level, of improved human re15 source development systems for recruiting, select16 ing, mentoring, supporting, evaluating, and re17 warding educators;

18 (D) providing special attention to the needs

19 of minority, limited-English proficient, disabled,

20 and female students, including instructional pro21 grams and activities that encourage such stu22 dents in elementary and secondary schools to as23 pire to enter post secondary education or train24 ing;
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1 (E) supporting the development, at the

2 State or local level, of performance-based ac3 countability and incentive systems for schools;

4 (F) outreach related to education improve5 ment to parents, Indian tribal officials, class6 room teachers, related services personnel, and

7 other educators, and the public;

8 (G) providing technical assistance and other

9 services to increase the capacity of local edu10 cational agencies and schools to develop and im11 plement local systemic improvement plans, im12 plement new assessments, and develop curricula

13 consistent with the content and student perform14 ance standards of the State;

15 (H) promoting public magnet schools, pub16 lic ‘‘charter schools’’, and other mechanisms for

17 increasing choice among public schools; and

18 (I) collecting and analyzing data.

19 (c) LIMIT ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—In each year,

20 a State may use not more than four percent of its annual

21 allotment under this title, or $100,000, whichever is greater,

22 for administrative expenses, not including the activities of

23 the panel established under section 156(b)(1).
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1 SEC. 159. SUBGRANTS FOR LOCAL REFORM AND PROFES2 SIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

3 (a) SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN4 CIES.—(1)(A) Each State educational agency shall make

5 subgrants to local educational agencies (or consortia of such

6 agencies) consistent with subsections (a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)

7 of section 158 through a competitive process.

8 (B) In making such subgrants, the State educational

9 agency shall award not less than 1 subgrant in each fiscal

10 year to an urban local educational agency and not less than

11 1 subgrant in each fiscal year to a rural local educational

12 agency, except that this provision shall not apply to the

13 District of Columbia. Rural local educational agencies may

14 include or be represented as a fiscal agent by an education

15 service agency.

16 (C) Each subgrant shall be for a project of sufficient

17 duration and of sufficient size, scope, and quality to carry

18 out the purpose of this title effectively.

19 (2) A local educational agency wishing to receive a

20 subgrant under this title for the purpose of developing a

21 comprehensive local plan shall submit an application to the

22 State educational agency. Such application shall contain

23 assurances that the local educational agency intends to de24 velop a plan that meets the requirements of this section.

25 (3) Each local educational agency wishing to receive

26 a subgrant for the purpose of implementing a plan under
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 this subsection shall submit a local plan to the State edu2 cational agency which—

3 (A) is developed by a broad-based panel that—

4 (i) is appointed by the local educational

5 agency and is representative of the diversity of

6 students and community with regard to race,

7 language, ethnicity, gender, disability, and socio8 economic characteristics and includes teachers,

9 parents, advocacy groups, school administrators,

10 business representatives, and others, as appro11 priate; and

12 (ii) shall, following the selection of its mem13 bers, establish the procedures regarding the oper14 ation of the panel, including the designation of

15 the chairperson;

16 (B) includes a comprehensive local plan for dis17 trictwide education improvement, directed at enabling

18 all students to meet the challenging content and stu19 dent performance standards of the State, including

20 specific goals and benchmarks, consistent with the

21 State improvement plan (either approved or under

22 development) and includes a strategy for—

23 (i) implementing opportunity-to-learn

24 standards;

25 (ii) improving teaching and learning;
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1 (iii) improving governance and manage2 ment;

3 (iv) generating and strengthening parental

4 and community involvement; and

5 (v) expanding improvements throughout the

6 local educational agency;

7 (C) promotes the flexibility of local schools in de8 veloping plans which address the particular needs of

9 their school and community and are consistent with

10 the local plan;

11 (D) describes a process of broad-based commu12 nity participation in the development, implementa13 tion, and evaluation of the local plan;

14 (E) describes how the local educational agency

15 will encourage and assist schools to develop com16 prehensive school improvement plans that focus on

17 helping all students reach challenging content and

18 student performance standards and that address rel19 evant elements of the improvement plan of the local

20 educational agency identified in subparagraph (B);

21 (F) describes how the local educational agency

22 will implement specific programs aimed at ensuring

23 improvements in school readiness and the ability of

24 students to learn effectively at all grade levels by

25 identifying the most pressing needs facing students
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 and their families with regard to social services,

2 health care, nutrition, and child care, and by entering

3 into partnerships with public and private agencies to

4 increase the access of students and families to coordi5 nated services in a school setting or at a nearby site;

6 (G) describes how the subgrant will be used by

7 the local educational agency, and the procedures to be

8 used to make funds available to schools in accordance

9 with paragraph (6)(A);

10 (H) identifies, with an explanation, any State or

11 Federal requirements that the local educational agen12 cy believes impede educational improvement and that

13 such local educational agency requests be waived in

14 accordance with section 161 (such requests shall

15 promptly be transmitted to the Secretary by the State

16 educational agency); and

17 (I) contains such other information as the State

18 educational agency may reasonably require.

19 (4) A local educational agency which has approved a

20 local plan shall submit such plan to the State for approval

21 together with a description of modifications to such plan

22 and any comments from the local panel regarding such

23 plan.

24 (5) The panel appointed under paragraph (3)(A) shall,

25 after approval by the State educational agency of the appli-
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1 cation of the local educational agency, monitor the imple2 mentation and effectiveness of the local improvement plan

3 in close consultation with teachers, related services person4 nel, principals, administrators, community members, and

5 parents from schools receiving funds under this title, to de6 termine if revisions to the local plan should be recommended

7 to the local educational agency. The panel shall make public

8 its findings.

9 (6)(A) A local educational agency that receives a

10 subgrant under this subsection shall—

11 (i) in the first year, use not more than 25 per12 cent of subgrant funds to develop a local improvement

13 plan or to implement any local educational activities

14 approved by the State educational agency which are

15 reasonably related to carrying out the State or local

16 improvement plans, and not less than 75 percent of

17 such funds to support individual school improvement

18 initiatives directly related to providing all students

19 in the school the opportunity to meet challenging

20 State content and student performance standards;

21 and

22 (ii) in subsequent years, use subgrant funds for

23 any activities approved by the State educational

24 agency which are reasonably related to carrying out

25 the State or local improvement plans, except that at
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1 least 85 percent of such funds shall be made available

2 to individual schools to develop and implement com3 prehensive school improvement plans which are tai4 lored to meet the needs of their particular student

5 populations and are designed to help all students

6 meet challenging State content standards.

7 (B) At least 50 percent of the funds made available

8 by a local educational agency to individual schools under

9 this section in any fiscal year shall be made available to

10 schools with a special need for such assistance, as indicated

11 by a high number or percentage of students from low-income

12 families, low student achievement, or other similar criteria

13 developed by the local educational agency.

14 (C) A local educational agency may not use more than

15 five percent of its annual allotment under this Act for ad16 ministrative expenses.

17 (7) The State educational agency shall give priority

18 in awarding a subgrant to—

19 (A) a consortium of local educational agencies;

20 or

21 (B) a local educational agency that makes assur22 ances that funds will be used to assist a consortium

23 of schools that has developed a plan for school im24 provement.
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1 (b) SUBGRANTS FOR PRESERVICE TEACHER EDU2 CATION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES.—

3 (1)(A) Each State educational agency shall make subgrants

4 to consortia of local educational agencies, institutions of

5 higher education, private nonprofit organizations, or com6 binations thereof, consistent with subsections (a)(1) and

7 (b)(1) of section 158 through a competitive, peer-reviewed

8 process to—

9 (i) improve preservice teacher education pro10 grams consistent with the State plan, including how

11 to work effectively with parents and the community;

12 and

13 (ii) support continuing, sustained professional

14 development activities for educators which will in15 crease student learning and are consistent with the

16 State plan.

17 (B)(i) In order to apply for a subgrant described in

18 subparagraph (A)(i), a consortium must include at least

19 one local educational agency and at least one institution

20 of higher education.

21 (ii) In order to apply for a subgrant described in sub22 paragraph (A)(ii), a consortium must include at least one

23 local educational agency.
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1 (2) A consortium that wishes to receive a subgrant

2 under this subsection shall submit an application to the

3 State educational agency which—

4 (A) describes how the applicant will use the

5 subgrant to improve teacher preservice and school ad6 ministrator education programs or to implement edu7 cator professional development activities consistent

8 with the State plan;

9 (B) identifies the criteria to be used by the ap10 plicant to judge improvements in preservice education

11 or the effects of professional development activities

12 consistent with the State plan; and

13 (C) contains any other information that the

14 State educational agency determines is appropriate.

15 (3) A recipient of a subgrant under this subsection

16 shall use the subgrant funds for activities supporting—

17 (A) the improvement of preservice teacher edu18 cation and school administrator programs so that

19 such programs equip educators with the subject mat20 ter and pedagogical expertise necessary for preparing

21 all students to meet challenging standards; or

22 (B) the development and implementation of new

23 and improved forms of continuing and sustained pro24 fessional development opportunities for teachers, prin25 cipals, and other educators at the school or district
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 level that equip educators with such expertise, and

2 with other knowledge and skills necessary for leading

3 and participating in continuous education improve4 ment.

5 (4) A recipient may use the subgrant funds under this

6 subsection for costs related to release time for teachers to

7 participate in professional development activities.

8 (5) Professional development shall include related serv9 ices personnel as appropriate.

10 (6) In awarding subgrants under this subsection, the

11 State educational agency shall give priority to local edu12 cational agencies that form partnerships with collegiate

13 educators to establish professional development school sites.

14 (c) SPECIAL AWARD RULE.—(1) Each State edu15 cational agency shall award at least 50 percent of subgrant

16 funds under subsection (a) in each fiscal year to local edu17 cational agencies that have a greater percentage or number

18 of disadvantaged children than the statewide average per19 centage or number for all local educational agencies in the

20 State.

21 (2) The State educational agency may waive the re22 quirement of paragraph (1) if such State does not receive

23 a sufficient number of applications to comply with such

24 requirement.
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1 SEC. 160. AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION AND TRAINING.

2 (a) INFORMATION AND TRAINING.—Proportionate to

3 the number of children in a State or in a local educational

4 agency who are enrolled in private elementary or secondary

5 schools—

6 (1) a State educational agency or local edu7 cational agency which uses funds under this title to

8 develop goals, content standards, curricular materials,

9 and assessments shall, upon request, make informa10 tion related to such goals, standards, materials, and

11 assessments available to private schools; and

12 (2) a State educational agency or local edu13 cational agency which uses funds under this title for

14 teacher and administrator training shall provide in

15 its plan for the training of teachers and administra16 tors in private schools located in the geographical

17 area served by such agency.

18 (b) WAIVER.—If, by reason of any provision of law,

19 a State or local educational agency is prohibited from pro20 viding for the equitable participation of teachers and ad21 ministrators from private schools in training programs as22 sisted with Federal funds provided under this title, or if

23 the Secretary determines that a State or local educational

24 agency has substantially failed or is unwilling to provide

25 for such participation, the Secretary shall waive such re26 quirements and shall arrange for the provision of training
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1 consistent with State goals and content standards for such

2 teachers and administrators. Such waivers shall be subject

3 to consultation, withholding, notice, and judicial review in

4 accordance with section 1017 of the Elementary and

5 Secondary Education Act of 1965.

6 SEC. 161. WAIVERS OF STATUTORY AND REGULATORY RE7 QUIREMENTS.

8 (a) GENERAL.—(1) Except as provided in subsection

9 (c), the Secretary may waive any requirement of any stat10 ute listed in subsection (b) or of the regulations issued under

11 such statute for a State educational agency, local edu12 cational agency, or school that requests such a waiver—

13 (A) if, and only to the extent that, the Secretary

14 determines that such requirement impedes the ability

15 of the State, or of a local educational agency or school

16 in the State, to carry out the State or local education

17 improvement plan;

18 (B) if the State educational agency has waived,

19 or agrees to waive, similar requirements of State law;

20 and

21 (C) if, in the case of a Statewide waiver, the

22 State educational agency—

23 (i) provides all local educational agencies

24 and parent organizations in the State with no25 tice and an opportunity to comment on the pro-
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1 posal of the State educational agency to seek a

2 waiver; and

3 (ii) submits the comments of such agencies

4 to the Secretary.

5 (2) To request a waiver, a State educational agency,

6 local educational agency, or school that receives funds under

7 this Act or a local educational agency that does not receive

8 funds under this Act but is undertaking school reform efforts

9 that meet the objectives of the State plan, shall submit an

10 application to the Secretary that includes—

11 (A) the identification of statutory or regulatory

12 requirements that are requested to be waived and the

13 goals that the State local educational agency or school

14 intends to achieve;

15 (B) a description of the action that the State has

16 undertaken to remove State statutory or regulatory

17 barriers identified in the applications of local edu18 cational agencies;

19 (C) a description of the goals of the waiver and

20 the expected programmatic outcomes if the request is

21 granted;

22 (D) the numbers and types of students to be im23 pacted by such waiver;

24 (E) a timetable for implementing a waiver; and
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1 (F) the process the State will use to monitor, on

2 a biannual basis, the progress in implementing a

3 waiver.

4 (3) The Secretary shall act promptly on a waiver re5 quest and state in writing the reasons for granting or deny6 ing such request. If a waiver is granted, the Secretary must

7 also include the expected outcome of granting such waiver.

8 (4) The Secretary’s decision shall be—

9 (A) published in the Federal Register; and

10 (B) disseminated by the State educational agen11 cy to interested parties, including educators, parents,

12 students, advocacy and civil rights organizations,

13 other interested parties, and the public.

14 (5) Each such waiver shall be for a period not to exceed

15 three years. The Secretary may extend such period if the

16 Secretary determines that the waiver has been effective in

17 enabling the State or affected local educational agencies to

18 carry out reform plans.

19 (b) INCLUDED PROGRAMS.—The statutes subject to the

20 waiver authority of this section are as follows:

21 (1) Chapter 1 of title I of the Elementary and

22 Secondary Education Act of 1965.

23 (2) Part A of chapter 2 of title I of the Elemen24 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
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1 (3) The Dwight D. Eisenhower Mathematics and

2 Science Education Act (part A of title II of the Ele3 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965).

4 (4) The Emergency Immigrant Education Act of

5 1984 (part D of title IV of the Elementary and Sec6 ondary Education Act of 1965).

7 (5) The Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act

8 of 1986 (title V of the Elementary and Secondary

9 Education Act of 1965).

10 (6) The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied

11 Technology Education Act.

12 (c) WAIVERS NOT AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may

13 not waive any statutory or regulatory requirement of the

14 programs listed in subsection (b) relating to—

15 (1) maintenance of effort;

16 (2) comparability of services;

17 (3) the equitable participation of students and

18 professional staff in private schools;

19 (4) parental participation and involvement; or

20 (5) the distribution of funds to State or to local

21 educational agencies.

22 (d) TERMINATION OF WAIVERS.—The Secretary shall

23 periodically review the performance of any State, local edu24 cational agency, or school for which the Secretary has

25 granted a waiver and shall terminate the waiver if the per-
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1 formance of the State, the local educational agency, or the

2 school in the area affected by the waiver has been inad3 equate to justify a continuation of the waiver.

4 SEC. 162. PROGRESS REPORTS.

5 (a) STATE REPORTS TO THE SECRETARY.—Each

6 State educational agency that receives funds under this title

7 shall annually report to the Secretary regarding—

8 (1) progress in meeting State goals and plans;

9 (2) proposed State activities for the succeeding

10 year; and

11 (3) in summary form, the progress of local edu12 cational agencies in meeting local goals and plans

13 and increasing student learning.

14 (b) SECRETARY’S REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—By April

15 30, 1996, and every two years thereafter, the Secretary shall

16 submit a report to the Committee on Education and Labor

17 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on

18 Labor and Human Resources of the Senate describing the

19 activities and outcomes of grants under—

20 (1) section 140 of this Act, including—

21 (A) a description of the purpose, uses, and

22 technical merit of assessments evaluated with

23 funds under such section; and

24 (B) an analysis of the impact of such as25 sessments on the performance of all students,
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1 particularly students of different racial, gender,

2 ethnic, language groups, or individuals with dis3 abilities; and

4 (2) this title, including a description of the effect

5 of waivers granted under section 151.

6 SEC. 163. NATIONAL LEADERSHIP.

7 (a) ACTIVITIES AUTHORIZED.—From funds reserved

8 each year under section 154(a)(2)(A), the Secretary shall,

9 through the Office of Educational Research and Improve10 ment in accordance with the provisions of sections 405 and

11 406 of the General Education Provisions Act, directly or

12 through grants or contracts—

13 (1) provide technical assistance to States and

14 local educational agencies developing or implementing

15 school improvement plans, in a manner that ensures

16 that each such State has access to such assistance;

17 (2) gather data on, conduct research on, and

18 evaluate systemic education improvement, including

19 the programs authorized by this title;

20 (3) disseminate research findings and other in21 formation on systemic education improvement and

22 how it affects student learning;

23 (4) provide grants to tribal divisions of edu24 cation for coordination efforts between school reform

25 plans developed for schools funded by the Bureau of
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1 Indian Affairs and public schools described in section

2 156(g)(5), including tribal activities in support of

3 plans; and

4 (5) support national demonstration projects that

5 unite local and State educational agencies, institu6 tions of higher education, government, business, and

7 labor in collaborative arrangements in order to make

8 educational improvements systemwide.

9 (b) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—(1) The Secretary shall

10 use at least 50 percent of the funds reserved each year under

11 section 154(a)(2)(A) to make grants, consistent with the

12 provisions of section 159(a) that the Secretary finds appro13 priate, and provide technical and other assistance to urban

14 and rural local educational agencies with large numbers or

15 concentrations of students who are economically disadvan16 taged or who have limited English proficiency, to assist

17 such agencies in developing and implementing local school

18 improvement plans.

19 (2) The Secretary shall use not less than $1,000,000

20 of the funds reserved the first year under section

21 154(a)(2)(A) to survey coordinated services programs that

22 have been found to be successful in helping students and

23 families and improving student outcomes, and shall dis24 seminate information about such programs to schools that

25 plan to develop coordinated services programs.
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1 SEC. 164. ASSISTANCE TO THE OUTLYING AREAS AND TO

2 THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.

3 (a) OUTLYING AREAS.—(1) Funds reserved for outly4 ing areas under section 154(a)(1)(A) shall be distributed

5 among such areas by the Secretary according to relative

6 need.

7 (2) The provisions of Public Law 95–134, permitting

8 the consolidation of grants to the insular areas, shall not

9 apply to funds received by such areas under this title.

10 (b) SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The funds reserved to the Sec12 retary of the Interior under section 154 shall be made

13 in a payment which shall be pursuant to an agree14 ment between the Secretary and the Secretary of the

15 Interior containing such assurances and terms as the

16 Secretary determines shall best achieve the provisions

17 of this section and this Act. The agreement shall, at

18 a minimum, contain assurances that—

19 (A) a panel, as set forth in paragraph (4)

20 of this subsection, shall be established;

21 (B) a reform and improvement plan, de22 signed to increase student learning and assist

23 students in meeting the National Education

24 Goals, meeting the requirements pertaining to

25 State improvement plans required in section 156

26 and providing for the fundamental restructuring
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1 and improvement of elementary and secondary

2 education in schools funded by the Bureau, shall

3 be developed by such panel; and

4 (C) the provisions and activities required

5 under State improvement plans, including the

6 requirements for timetables for opportunity-to7 learn standards, shall be carried out in the same

8 time frames and under the same conditions stip9 ulated for the States in sections 155 and 156,

10 provided that for these purposes, the term ‘‘local

11 educational agencies’’ shall be interpreted to

12 mean ‘‘schools funded by the Bureau’’.

13 (2) VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION.—The provisions

14 applicable to the States in section 123 of this Act

15 shall apply to the Bureau plan with regard to vol16 untary submission of standards and assessment sys17 tems to the National Education Standards and

18 Improvement Council for review and certification.

19 (3) PLAN SPECIFICS.—The reform and improve20 ment plan shall include, in addition to the require21 ments referenced above, specific provisions for—

22 (A) opportunity to learn standards pertain23 ing to residential programs and transportation

24 costs associated with programs located on or
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1 near reservations or serving students in off-res2 ervation residential boarding schools;

3 (B) review and incorporation of the Na4 tional Education Goals and the voluntary na5 tional content, student performance, and oppor6 tunity-to-learn standards developed under part

7 B of title II of this Act, provided that such re8 view shall include the issues of cultural and lan9 guage differences; and

10 (C) provision for coordination of the efforts

11 of the Bureau with the efforts for school improve12 ment of the States and local educational agencies

13 in which the schools funded by the Bureau are

14 located, to include, but not be limited to, the de15 velopment of the partnerships outlined in section

16 156(g)(5) of the Act.

17 (4) PANEL.—To carry out the provisions of this

18 section, and to develop the plan for system-wide re19 form and improvement required under the agreement

20 required under paragraph (1), the Secretary of the

21 Interior shall establish a panel coordinated by the As22 sistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs.

23 Such panel shall consist of—

24 (A) the Director of the Office of Indian

25 Education Programs of the Bureau of Indian Af-
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1 fairs and two heads of other divisions of such

2 Bureau as the Assistant Secretary shall des3 ignate;

4 (B) a designee of the Secretary of Edu5 cation; and

6 (C) a representative nominated by each of

7 the following:

8 (i) The organization representing the

9 majority of teachers and professional per10 sonnel in schools operated by the Bureau.

11 (ii) The organization representing the

12 majority of nonteaching personnel in

13 schools operated by the Bureau, if not the

14 same organization as in clause (i).

15 (iii) School administrators of schools

16 operated by the Bureau.

17 (iv) Education line officers located in

18 Bureau area or agency offices serving

19 schools funded by the Bureau.

20 (v) The organization representing the

21 majority of contract or grant schools funded

22 by the Bureau not serving students on the

23 Navajo reservation.

24 (vi) The organization representing the

25 majority of contract or grant schools funded
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1 by the Bureau serving students on the Nav2 ajo reservation.

3 (vii) The organization representing the

4 school boards required by statute for schools

5 operated by the Bureau not serving students

6 on the Navajo reservation.

7 (viii) The organization representing

8 the school boards required by statute for

9 schools funded by the Bureau serving stu10 dents on the Navajo reservation.

11 Including the additional members required by para12 graph (5), a majority of the members of such panel

13 shall be from the entities designated under subpara14 graph (C).

15 (5) ADDITIONAL MEMBERS.—In addition, the

16 members of the panel stipulated above shall designate

17 for full membership four additional members—

18 (A) one of whom shall be a representative of

19 a national organization which represents pri20 marily national Indian education concerns; and

21 (B) three of whom shall be chairpersons (or

22 their designees) of Indian tribes with schools

23 funded by the Bureau on their reservations

24 (other than those specifically represented by or25 ganizations referred to in paragraph (4)), pro-
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1 vided that preference for no less than two of these

2 members shall be given to Indian tribes with a

3 significant number of schools funded by the Bu4 reau on their reservations, or with a significant

5 percentage of their children enrolled in schools

6 funded by the Bureau.

7 (c) BIA COST ANALYSIS.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—(A) The Secretary of the Inte9 rior shall reserve from the first allotment made to the

10 Department of the Interior pursuant to section 154

11 an amount not to exceed $500,000 to provide, through

12 the National Academy of Sciences, for an analysis of

13 the costs associated with meeting the academic and

14 home-living/residential standards of the Bureau of In15 dian Affairs for each school funded by such Bureau.

16 The purpose of such analysis shall be to provide the

17 Bureau and the Panel with baseline data regarding

18 the current state of operations funded by the Bureau

19 and to provide a framework for addressing the imple20 mentation of opportunity-to-learn standards.

21 (B) The results of such analysis shall be re22 ported, in aggregate and school specific form, to the

23 chairpersons and ranking minority members of the

24 Committees on Education and Labor and Appropria25 tions of the House of Representatives and the Select
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1 Committee on Indian Affairs and the Committee on

2 Appropriations of the Senate, and to the Secretary of

3 the Interior, the Secretary of Education (who shall

4 transmit the report to the proper entities under this

5 Act), and the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for

6 Indian Affairs, not later than 6 months after the date

7 of enactment of this Act.

8 (2) CONTENT.—Such analysis shall evaluate the

9 costs of providing a program in each school for the

10 next succeeding academic year and shall be based

11 on—

12 (A) the standards either published in the

13 Federal Register as having effect in schools oper14 ated by the Bureau on the date of enactment of

15 this Act or the standards incorporated into each

16 grant or contract in effect on such date with a

17 tribally controlled school funded under section

18 1128 of Public Law 95–561 (as amended);

19 (B) the best projections of student counts

20 and demographics, as provided by the Bureau

21 and as independently reviewed by the Academy;

22 and

23 (C) the pay and benefit schedules and other

24 personnel requirements for each school operated
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1 by the Bureau, as existing on the date of enact2 ment.

3 (d) SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.—The Secretary shall

4 consult with the Secretary of Defense to ensure that, to the

5 extent practicable, the purposes of this title are applied to

6 the Department of Defense schools.

7 PART D—NATIONAL SKILL STANDARDS BOARD

8 SEC. 171. PURPOSE.

9 It is the purpose of this title to establish a National

10 Board to serve as a catalyst in stimulating the development

11 and adoption of a voluntary national system of skill stand12 ards and certification that will serve as a cornerstone of

13 the national strategy to enhance workforce skills, and that

14 can be used, consistent with Federal civil rights laws—

15 (1) by the Nation, to ensure the development of

16 a high skills, high quality, high performance

17 workforce, including the most skilled front-line

18 workforce in the world, and that will result in in19 creased productivity, economic growth and American

20 economic competitiveness;

21 (2) by industries, as a vehicle for informing

22 training providers and prospective employees of skills

23 necessary for employment;
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1 (3) by employers, to assist in evaluating the skill

2 levels of prospective employees and to assist in the

3 training of current employees;

4 (4) by labor organizations, to enhance the em5 ployment security of workers by providing portable

6 credentials and skills;

7 (5) by workers, to obtain certifications of their

8 skills to protect against dislocation, to pursue career

9 advancement, and to enhance their ability to reenter

10 the workforce;

11 (6) by students and entry level workers, to deter12 mine the skill levels and competencies needed to be ob13 tained in order to compete effectively for high wage

14 jobs;

15 (7) by training providers and educators, to de16 termine appropriate training services to offer;

17 (8) by Government, to evaluate whether publicly18 funded training assists participants to meet skill

19 standards where they exist and thereby protect the in20 tegrity of public expenditures;

21 (9) to facilitate the transition to high perform22 ance work organizations;

23 (10) to increase opportunities for minorities and

24 women, including removing barriers to the entry of

25 women in non-traditional employment; and
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1 (11) to facilitate linkages between other compo2 nents of the workforce investment strategy, including

3 school-to-work transition, secondary and postsecond4 ary vocational-technical education, and job training

5 programs.

6 SEC. 172. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL BOARD.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a National

8 Skill Standards Board (in this title referred to as the

9 ‘‘National Board’’).

10 (b) COMPOSITION.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The National Board shall be

12 composed of 28 members, appointed in accordance

13 with paragraph (3), of whom—

14 (A) one member shall be the Secretary of

15 Labor;

16 (B) one member shall be the Secretary of

17 Education;

18 (C) one member shall be the Secretary of

19 Commerce;

20 (D) one member shall be the Chairperson of

21 the National Education Standards and Improve22 ment Council established pursuant to section

23 122(a);

24 (E) eight members shall be representatives

25 of small and large business and industry selected
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1 from among individuals recommended by recog2 nized national business organizations and trade

3 associations;

4 (F) eight members shall be representatives of

5 organized labor selected from among individuals

6 recommended by recognized national labor fed7 erations; and

8 (G) eight members shall be representatives

9 from the following groups, with at least one

10 member from each group:

11 (i) Educational institutions.

12 (ii) Community-based organizations.

13 (iii) State and local governments.

14 (iv) Nongovernmental organizations

15 with a demonstrated history of successfully

16 protecting the rights of racial, ethnic and

17 religious minorities, women, persons with

18 disabilities or older persons.

19 (2) DIVERSITY REQUIREMENTS.—The members

20 described in subparagraph (G) of paragraph (1) shall

21 have expertise in the area of education and training.

22 The members described in subparagraphs (E), (F),

23 and (G) of paragraph (1) shall—

24 (A) in the aggregate, represent a broad

25 cross-section of occupations and industries; and
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1 (B) to the extent feasible, be geographically

2 representative of the United States and reflect

3 the racial, ethnic and gender diversity of the

4 United States.

5 (3) APPOINTMENT.—The membership of the Na6 tional Board shall be appointed as follows:

7 (A) Twelve members (four from each class of

8 members described in subparagraphs (E), (F),

9 and (G) of paragraph (1)) shall be appointed by

10 the President.

11 (B) Six members (two from each class of

12 members described in subparagraphs (E), (F),

13 and (G) of paragraph (1)) shall be appointed by

14 the Speaker of the House of Representatives, of

15 whom three members (one from each class of

16 members described in subparagraphs (E), (F),

17 and (G) of paragraph (1)) shall be selected from

18 recommendations made by the Majority Leader

19 of the House of Representatives and three mem20 bers (one from each class of members described in

21 subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G) of paragraph

22 (1)) shall be selected from recommendations

23 made by the Minority Leader of the House of

24 Representatives.
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1 (C) Six members (two from each class of

2 members described in subparagraphs (E), (F),

3 and (G) of paragraph (1)) shall be appointed by

4 the President pro tempore of the Senate, of whom

5 three members (one from each class of members

6 described in subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G) of

7 paragraph (1)) shall be selected from rec8 ommendations made by the Majority Leader of

9 the Senate and three members (one from each

10 class of members described in subparagraphs (E),

11 (F), and (G) of paragraph (1)) shall be selected

12 from recommendations made by the Minority

13 Leader of the Senate.

14 (4) TERM.—Each member of the National Board

15 appointed under subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G) of

16 paragraph (1) shall be appointed for a term of 4

17 years, except that of the initial members of the Board

18 appointed under such paragraph—

19 (A) twelve members shall be appointed for a

20 term of 3 years (four from each class of members

21 described in subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G) of

22 paragraph (1)), of whom—

23 (i) two from each class shall be ap24 pointed in accordance with paragraph

25 (3)(A);
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1 (ii) one from each such class shall be

2 appointed in accordance with paragraph

3 (3)(B); and

4 (iii) one from each such class shall be

5 appointed in accordance with paragraph

6 (3)(C); and

7 (B) twelve members shall be appointed for

8 a term of 4 years (four from each class of mem9 bers described in subparagraphs (E), (F), and

10 (G) of paragraph (1)), of whom—

11 (i) two from each such class shall be

12 appointed in accordance with paragraph

13 (3)(A);

14 (ii) one from each such class shall be

15 appointed in accordance with paragraph

16 (3)(B); and

17 (iii) one from each such class shall be

18 appointed in accordance with paragraph

19 (3)(C).

20 (c) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSONS.—

21 (1) CHAIRPERSON.—The National Board shall

22 biennially elect a Chairperson from among the mem23 bers of the National Board by a majority vote of such

24 members.
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1 (2) VICE CHAIRPERSONS.—The National Board

2 shall annually elect 3 Vice Chairpersons (each rep3 resenting a different class of the classes of members

4 described in subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G) of sub5 section (b)(1)) from among its members appointed

6 under subsection (b)(3) by a majority vote of such

7 members, each of whom shall serve for a term of 1

8 year.

9 (d) COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES.—

10 (1) COMPENSATION.—Members of the National

11 Board who are not regular full-time employees or offi12 cers of the Federal Government shall serve without

13 compensation.

14 (2) EXPENSES.—The members of the National

15 Board shall receive travel expenses, including per

16 diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with sub17 chapter I of chapter 57, title 5, United States Code,

18 while away from their homes or regular places of

19 business in the performance of services for the Na20 tional Board.

21 (e) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND STAFF.—The Chair22 person of the National Board shall appoint an Executive

23 Director, who shall be compensated at a rate determined

24 by the National Board that shall not exceed the rate of pay

25 for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316
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1 of title 5, United States Code, and who shall appoint such

2 staff as is necessary in accordance with title 5, United

3 States Code. Such staff shall include at least one individual

4 with expertise in measurement and assessment.

5 (f) AGENCY SUPPORT.—

6 (1) USE OF FACILITIES.—The National Board

7 may use the research, equipment, services and facili8 ties of any agency or instrumentality of the United

9 States with the consent of such agency or instrumen10 tality.

11 (2) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the

12 request of the National Board, the head of any de13 partment or agency of the United States may detail

14 to the National Board, on a reimbursable basis, any

15 of the personnel of such department or agency to as16 sist the National Board in carrying out this title.

17 (g) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—An individual who has

18 served as a member of the National Board may not have

19 any financial interest in an assessment and certification

20 system developed or endorsed under this title for a period

21 of three years after the termination of service of such indi22 vidual from the National Board.

23 SEC. 173. FUNCTIONS OF THE NATIONAL BOARD.

24 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF OCCUPATIONAL CLUSTERS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), the

2 National Board, after extensive public review and

3 comment and study of the national labor market,

4 shall identify broad clusters of major occupations that

5 involve one or more than one industry in the United

6 States.

7 (2) PROCEDURES FOR IDENTIFICATION.—Prior

8 to identifying broad clusters of major occupations

9 under paragraph (1), the National Board shall—

10 (A) develop procedures for the identification

11 of such clusters;

12 (B) publish such procedures in the Federal

13 Register; and

14 (C) allow for extensive public review of and

15 comment on such procedures.

16 (b) VOLUNTARY PARTNERSHIPS TO DEVELOP STAND17 ARDS.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each of the occupational

19 clusters identified pursuant to subsection (a), the Na20 tional Board shall encourage and facilitate the estab21 lishment of voluntary partnerships to develop a skill

22 standards system in accordance with subsection (d).

23 (2) REPRESENTATIVES.—Such voluntary part24 nerships shall include the full and balanced partici25 pation of—
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1 (A) representatives of business and industry

2 who have expertise in the area of workforce skill

3 requirements, including representatives of large

4 and small employers, recommended by national

5 business organizations and trade associations

6 representing employers in the occupation or in7 dustry for which a standard is being developed,

8 and representatives of trade associations that

9 have received demonstration grants from the De10 partment of Labor or the Department of Edu11 cation to establish skill standards prior to the

12 enactment of this title;

13 (B) employee representatives who have ex14 pertise in the area of workforce skill require15 ments and who shall be—

16 (i) individuals recommended by recog17 nized national labor organizations rep18 resenting employees in the occupation or in19 dustry for which a standard is being devel20 oped; and

21 (ii) such other individuals who are

22 nonmanagerial employees with significant

23 experience and tenure in such occupation or

24 industry as are appropriate given the na-
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1 ture and structure of employment in the oc2 cupation or industry;

3 (C) representatives of—

4 (i) educational institutions;

5 (ii) community-based organizations;

6 (iii) State and local agencies with ad7 ministrative control or direction over edu8 cation, vocational-technical education, or

9 employment and training;

10 (iv) other policy development organiza11 tions with expertise in the area of workforce

12 skill requirements; and

13 (v) non-governmental organizations

14 with a demonstrated history of successfully

15 protecting the rights of racial, ethnic, and

16 religious minorities, women, individuals

17 with disabilities, and older persons; and

18 (D) individuals with expertise in measure19 ment and assessment, including relevant experi20 ence in designing unbiased assessments and per21 formance-based assessments.

22 (3) EXPERTS.—The partnerships described in

23 paragraph (1) may also include such other individ24 uals who are independent, qualified experts in their

25 fields.
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1 (c) RESEARCH, DISSEMINATION, AND COORDINA2 TION.—In order to support the development of a skill stand3 ards system in accordance with subsection (d), the National

4 Board shall—

5 (1) conduct workforce research relating to skill

6 standards (including research relating to how to use

7 skill standards in compliance with civil rights laws)

8 and make such research available to the public, in9 cluding the partnerships described in subsection (b);

10 (2) identify and maintain a catalog of skill

11 standards used by other countries and by States and

12 leading firms and industries in the United States;

13 (3) serve as a clearinghouse to facilitate the shar14 ing of information on the development of skill stand15 ards and other relevant information among represent16 atives of occupations and industries identified pursu17 ant to subsection (a), the voluntary partnerships rec18 ognized pursuant to subsection (b), and among edu19 cation and training providers through such mecha20 nisms as the Capacity Building and Information and

21 Dissemination Network established under section

22 453(b) of the Job Training Partnership Act;

23 (4) develop a common nomenclature relating to

24 skill standards;
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1 (5) encourage the development and adoption of

2 curricula and training materials for attaining the

3 skill standards developed pursuant to subsection (d)

4 that include structured work experiences and related

5 study programs leading to progressive levels of profes6 sional and technical certification and postsecondary

7 education;

8 (6) provide appropriate technical assistance; and

9 (7) facilitate coordination among voluntary

10 partnerships that meet the requirements of subsection

11 (b) to promote the development of a coherent national

12 system of voluntary skill standards.

13 (d) ENDORSEMENT OF SKILL STANDARDS SYSTEMS.—

14 (1) DEVELOPMENT OF ENDORSEMENT CRI15 TERIA.—

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The National Board,

17 after extensive public consultation, shall develop

18 objective criteria for endorsing skills standards

19 systems relating to the occupational clusters

20 identified pursuant to subsection (a). Such cri21 teria shall, at a minimum, include the compo22 nents of a skill standards system described in

23 subparagraph (B). The endorsement criteria

24 shall be published in the Federal Register, and

25 updated as appropriate.
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1 (B) COMPONENTS OF SYSTEM.—The compo2 nents of a skill standards systems shall include

3 the following:

4 (i) Voluntary skill standards, which at

5 a minimum—

6 (I) meet or exceed, to the extent

7 practicable, the highest standards used

8 in other countries and the highest

9 international standards;

10 (II) meet or exceed the highest ap11 plicable standards used in the United

12 States, including apprenticeship stand13 ards registered under the National Ap14 prenticeship Act;

15 (III) take into account content

16 and performance standards certified

17 pursuant to title II;

18 (IV) take into account the require19 ments of high performance work orga20 nizations;

21 (V) are in a form that allows for

22 regular updating to take into account

23 advances in technology or other devel24 opments within the occupational clus25 ter;
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1 (VI) are formulated in such a

2 manner that promotes the portability

3 of credentials and facilitates worker

4 mobility within an occupational clus5 ter or industry and among industries;

6 and

7 (VII) are not discriminatory with

8 respect to race, color, gender, age, reli9 gion, ethnicity, disability, or national

10 origin, consistent with Federal civil

11 rights laws.

12 (ii) A voluntary assessment system and

13 certification of the attainment of skill

14 standards developed pursuant to subpara15 graph (A), which at a minimum—

16 (I) takes into account, to the ex17 tent practicable, methods of assessment

18 and certification used in other coun19 tries;

20 (II) utilizes a variety of evalua21 tion techniques, including, where ap22 propriate, oral and written evalua23 tions, portfolio assessments and per24 formance tests; and
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1 (III) includes methods for estab2 lishing that the assessment and certifi3 cation system is not discriminatory

4 with respect to race, color, gender, age,

5 religion, ethnicity, disability, or na6 tional origin, consistent with Federal

7 civil rights laws.

8 (iii) A system to promote the use of

9 and to disseminate information relating to

10 skill standards, and assessment and certifi11 cation systems developed pursuant to this

12 paragraph (including dissemination of in13 formation relating to civil rights laws rel14 evant to the use of such standards and sys15 tems) to entities such as institutions of post16 secondary education offering professional

17 and technical education, labor organiza18 tions, trade associations, employers provid19 ing formalized training and other organiza20 tions likely to benefit from such systems.

21 (iv) A system to evaluate the imple22 mentation of the skill standards, and assess23 ment and certification systems developed

24 pursuant to this paragraph, and the effec25 tiveness of the information disseminated
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1 pursuant to subparagraph (C) for inform2 ing the users of such standards and systems

3 of the requirements of relevant civil rights

4 laws.

5 (v) A system to periodically revise and

6 update the skill standards, and assessment

7 and certification systems developed pursu8 ant to this paragraph, which will take into

9 account changes in standards in other coun10 tries.

11 (2) ENDORSEMENT.—The National Board, after

12 extensive public review and comment, shall endorse

13 those skill standards systems relating to the occupa14 tional clusters identified pursuant to subsection (a)

15 that—

16 (A) meet the objective endorsement criteria

17 that are developed pursuant to paragraph (1);

18 and

19 (B) are submitted by partnerships that meet

20 the representation requirements of subsection

21 (b)(2).

22 (e) RELATIONSHIP WITH ANTIDISCRIMINATION

23 LAWS.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this title shall be

25 construed to modify or affect any Federal or State
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1 law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race,

2 religion, color, ethnicity, national origin, gender, age,

3 or disability.

4 (2) EVIDENCE.—The endorsement or absence of

5 an endorsement by the Board of a skill standard or

6 assessment and certification system under subsection

7 (d) shall not be used in any action or proceeding to

8 establish that the skill standard or assessment and

9 certification system conforms or does not conform to

10 the requirements of civil rights laws.

11 (f) COORDINATION WITH EDUCATION STANDARDS.—

12 The National Board shall establish cooperative arrange13 ments with the National Education Standards and Im14 provement Council to promote the coordination of the devel15 opment of skill standards under this title with the develop16 ment of content and performance standards under title II.

17 (g) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—From funds appropriated

19 pursuant to section 166(a), the Secretary of Labor

20 may award grants (including grants to the voluntary

21 partnerships in accordance with paragraph (2)) and

22 enter into contracts and cooperative arrangements

23 that are requested by the National Board for the pur24 poses of carrying out this title.
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1 (2) GRANT PROGRAMS FOR VOLUNTARY PART2 NERSHIPS.—

3 (A) ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION.—Vol4 untary partnerships that meet the requirements

5 of subsection (b) shall be eligible to apply for a

6 grant under this subsection. Each such voluntary

7 partnership desiring a grant shall submit an ap8 plication to the National Board at such time, in

9 such manner, and accompanied by such informa10 tion as the National Board may reasonably re11 quire.

12 (B) REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION.—The

13 National Board shall review each application

14 submitted pursuant to subparagraph (A) in ac15 cordance with the objective criteria published

16 pursuant to subparagraph (C) and shall forward

17 each such application to the Secretary of Labor

18 accompanied by a recommendation for the ap19 proval or disapproval of each such application

20 by the Secretary.

21 (C) CRITERIA FOR REVIEW.—Prior to each

22 fiscal year, the National Board shall publish ob23 jective criteria to be used by the Board in re24 viewing applications under subparagraph (B).

25 (3) LIMITATION ON THE USE OF FUNDS.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not more than 20 per2 cent of the funds appropriated under section

3 166(a) for each fiscal year shall be used by the

4 National Board for the costs of administration.

5 (B) COSTS OF ADMINISTRATION DEFINED.—

6 For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘‘costs

7 of administration’’ means costs relating to staff,

8 supplies, equipment, space, travel and per diem,

9 costs of conducting meetings and conferences,

10 and other related costs.

11 SEC. 174. DEADLINES.

12 Not later than December 31, 1996, the National Board

13 shall—

14 (1) identify occupational clusters pursuant to

15 section 163(a) representing a substantial portion of

16 the workforce; and

17 (2) promote the development of an initial set of

18 skill standards in accordance with section 163(d) for

19 such clusters.

20 SEC. 175. REPORTS.

21 The National Board shall submit to the President and

22 the Congress in each fiscal year a report on the activities

23 conducted under this title, including the extent to which

24 skill standards have been adopted by employers, training

25 providers, and other entities and the effectiveness of such
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1 standards in accomplishing the purposes described in sec2 tion 161.

3 SEC. 176. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro5 priated $15,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 and such sums as

6 may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1995 through

7 1998 to carry out this title.

8 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pursuant

9 to subsection (a) shall remain available until expended.

10 SEC. 177. DEFINITIONS.

11 For purposes of this title, the following definitions

12 apply:

13 (1) COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS.—The

14 term ‘‘community-based organizations’’ means such

15 organizations as defined in section 4(5) of the Job

16 Training Partnership Act.

17 (2) EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.—The term

18 ‘‘educational institution’’ means a high school, a vo19 cational school, and an institution of higher edu20 cation.

21 (3) SKILL STANDARD.—The term ‘‘skill stand22 ard’’ means the level of knowledge and competence re23 quired to successfully perform work-related functions

24 within an occupational cluster.
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1 PART E—MISCELLANEOUS

2 SEC. 181. DEFINITIONS.

3 As used in this Act—

4 (1) the terms ‘‘all students’’ and ‘‘all children’’

5 mean students or children from a broad range of

6 backgrounds and circumstances, including disadvan7 taged students, students with diverse racial, ethnic,

8 and cultural backgrounds, American Indians, Alaska

9 Natives, Native Hawaiians, students with disabilities,

10 students with limited-English proficiency, migrant

11 children, school-aged children who have dropped out,

12 migrant children, and academically talented students;

13 (2) the term ‘‘assessment system’’ means meas14 ures of student performance which include at least 1

15 test, and may include other measures of student per16 formance, for a specific purpose and use which are

17 intended to evaluate the progress of all students in the

18 State toward learning the material in State content

19 standards in 1 or more subject areas;

20 (3) the terms ‘‘community’’, ‘‘public’’, and ‘‘ad21 vocacy group’’ are to be interpreted to include rep22 resentatives of organizations advocating for the edu23 cation of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Na24 tive Hawaiian children and Indian tribes;
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1 (4) the term ‘‘content standards’’ means broad

2 descriptions of the knowledge and skills students

3 should acquire in a particular subject area;

4 (5) the term ‘‘Governor’’ means the chief execu5 tive of the State;

6 (6) the terms ‘‘local educational agency’’ and

7 ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the meaning given

8 those terms in section 1471 of the Elementary and

9 Secondary Education Act of 1965;

10 (7) the term ‘‘opportunity-to-learn standards’’

11 means the criteria for, and the basis of, assessing the

12 sufficiency or quality of the resources, practices, and

13 conditions necessary at each level of the education

14 system (schools, local educational agencies, and

15 States) to provide all students with an opportunity to

16 learn the material in national or State content stand17 ards;

18 (8) the term ‘‘outlying areas’’ means Guam,

19 American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Common20 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau

21 (until the effective date of the Compact of Free Asso22 ciation with the Government of Palau);

23 (9) the term ‘‘performance standards’’ means

24 concrete examples and explicit definitions of what

25 students have to know and be able to do to dem-
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1 onstrate that they are proficient in the skills and

2 knowledge framed by content standards;

3 (10) the term ‘‘related services’’ has the same

4 meaning given such term under section 602(17) of the

5 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act;

6 (11) the term ‘‘school’’ means a school that is

7 under the authority of the State educational agency

8 and a local educational agency or, for the purpose of

9 carrying out section 164(b), a school that is operated

10 or funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs;

11 (12) the term ‘‘Secretary’’, except where used in

12 title IV, means the Secretary of Education; and

13 (13) except as otherwise provided, the term

14 ‘‘State’’ means each of the 50 States, the District of

15 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and

16 each of the outlying areas.

17 SEC. 182. LIMITATIONS.

18 (a) ASSESSMENTS.—No funds provided under titles II

19 or III of this Act shall be used to undertake assessments

20 that will be used to make decisions regarding the gradua21 tion, grade promotion, or retention of students for five years

22 after the date of enactment of this Act.

23 (b) PUBLIC SCHOOL.—Nothing in this Act shall be

24 construed to authorize the use of funds under title III (ex-
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1 cept as provided in section 160) to directly or indirectly

2 benefit any school other than a public school.

3 SEC. 183. ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS AC4 TIVITIES.

5 Section 421(h) of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and

6 Applied Technology Education Act (20 U.S.C. 2421(h)) is

7 amended—

8 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(h)’’; and

9 (2) by inserting at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(2)(A) Notwithstanding any provision of section 406

11 of the General Education Provisions Act, the Commissioner

12 of Education Statistics may authorize a State educational

13 agency or a consortium of such agencies to use items and

14 data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress

15 for the purpose of evaluating a course of study related to

16 vocational education, if the Commissioner has determined,

17 in writing, that such use will not—

18 ‘‘(i) result in the identification of characteristics

19 or performance of individual students or schools;

20 ‘‘(ii) result in the ranking or comparing of

21 schools or local educational agencies;

22 ‘‘(iii) be used to evaluate the performance of

23 teachers, principals, or other local educators for the

24 purpose of dispensing rewards or punishments; or
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1 ‘‘(iv) corrupt or harm the use and value of data

2 collected for the National Assessment of Educational

3 Progress.

4 ‘‘(B) Not later than 60 days after making an author5 ization under subsection (a), the Commissioner shall submit

6 to the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of

7 Representatives and to the Committee on Labor and

8 Human Resources of the Senate, a report which contains—

9 ‘‘(i) a copy of the request for such authorization;

10 ‘‘(ii) a copy of the written determination under

11 subsection (a); and

12 ‘‘(iii) a description of the details and duration

13 of such authorization.

14 ‘‘(C) The Commissioner may not grant more than one

15 such authorization in any fiscal year and shall ensure that

16 the authorized use of items or data from the National As17 sessment is evaluated for technical merit and for its affect

18 on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The

19 results of such evaluations shall be promptly reported to the

20 committees specified in subparagraph (B).’’.

21 SEC. 184. COMPLIANCE WITH BUY AMERICAN ACT.

22 No funds appropriated pursuant to this Act may be

23 expended by an entity unless the entity agrees that in ex24 pending the assistance the entity will comply with sections
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1 2 through 4 of the Act of March 3, 1993 (41 U.S.C. 10a–

2 10c, popularly known as the ‘‘Buy American Act’’).

3 SEC. 185. SENSE OF CONGRESS; REQUIREMENT REGARDING

4 NOTICE.

5 (a) PURCHASE OF AMERICAN-MADE EQUIPMENT AND

6 PRODUCTS.—In the case of any equipment or products that

7 may be authorized to be purchased with financial assistance

8 provided under this Act, it is the sense of the Congress that

9 entities receiving such assistance should, in expending the

10 assistance, purchase only American-made equipment and

11 products.

12 (b) NOTICE TO RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE.—In pro13 viding financial assistance under this Act, the head of each

14 Federal agency shall provide to each recipient of the assist15 ance a notice describing the statement made in subsection

16 (a) by the Congress.

17 SEC. 186. PROHIBITION OF CONTRACTS.

18 If it has been finally determined by a court or Federal

19 agency that any person intentionally affixed a label bearing

20 a ‘‘Made in America’’ inscription, or any inscription with

21 the same meaning to any product sold in or shipped to the

22 United States that is not made in the United States, such

23 person shall be ineligible to receive any contract or sub24 contract made with funds provided pursuant to this Act,

25 pursuant to the debarment, suspension, and ineligibility
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1 procedures described in section 9.400 through 9.409 of title

2 48, Code of Federal Regulations.

3 PART F—PARENTAL INFORMATION AND

4 RESOURCES

5 SEC. 191. PARENTAL INFORMATION AND RESOURCES

6 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of Education is

7 authorized to make grants each year to nonprofit organiza8 tions for the purpose of providing training and information

9 to parents of children, aged birth to 5 years, and children

10 enrolled in participating schools and to individuals who

11 work with such parents to encourage a more effective work12 ing relationship with professionals in meeting the edu13 cational needs of children, aged birth to 5 years, and chil14 dren enrolled in participating schools.

15 (b) GRANTS.—Such grants shall—

16 (1) be designed to meet the unique training and

17 information needs of parents of children, aged birth

18 to 5 years, and children enrolled in participating

19 schools, particularly parents who are severely dis20 advantaged educationally or economically;

21 (2) be distributed geographically to the greatest

22 extent possible throughout all the States and give pri23 ority to grants which serve areas with high concentra24 tions of low-income families;
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1 (3) be targeted to parents of children, aged birth

2 to 5 years, and children enrolled in participating

3 schools in rural, suburban, and urban areas;

4 (4) serve parents of low-income and minority

5 children, aged birth to 5 years, and children enrolled

6 in participating schools, including limited-English7 proficient children;

8 (5) be funded at a sufficient size, scope, and

9 quality to ensure that the program is adequate to

10 serve the parents in the area; and

11 (6) include funds to establish, expand, and oper12 ate Teachers as Parents programs.

13 SEC. 192. ELIGIBILITY.

14 (a) REPRESENTATION.—To receive a grant under sec15 tion 191, a nonprofit organization shall meet the following

16 requirements:

17 (1) Be governed by a board of directors in which

18 the membership includes, or be an organization that

19 represents the interests of, parents and establish a

20 special advisory committee in which the membership

21 includes—

22 (A) parents of children, aged birth to 5

23 years, and children enrolled in participating

24 schools; and
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1 (B) representation of education profes2 sionals with expertise in improving services for

3 disadvantaged children.

4 (2) Provide that the parent and professional

5 membership of the board or special advisory commit6 tee is broadly representative of minority, low-income,

7 and other individuals and groups that have an inter8 est in compensatory education and family literacy.

9 (3) Demonstrate the capacity and expertise to

10 conduct effective training and information activities

11 for which a grant may be made.

12 (4) Network with clearinghouses, other organiza13 tions and agencies, and with other established na14 tional, State, and local parent groups representing

15 the full range of parents of children, aged birth to 5

16 years, and children enrolled in participating schools,

17 especially parents of low-income and minority chil18 dren.

19 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Board of Directors or spe20 cial governing committee of an organization receiving a

21 grant under this title shall meet at least once each calendar

22 quarter to review the parent training and information ac23 tivities for which the grant is made.

24 (c) GRANT RENEWAL.—Whenever an organization re25 quests the renewal of a grant under section 191 for a fiscal
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1 year, the Board of Directors or the special advisory commit2 tee shall submit to the Secretary a written review of the

3 parent training and information program conducted by

4 such organization during the preceding fiscal year.

5 SEC. 193. USES OF FUNDS.

6 Grants received under this title may be used—

7 (1) for parent training and information pro8 grams that assist parents to—

9 (A) better understand their children’s edu10 cational needs;

11 (B) provide follow up support for their chil12 dren’s educational achievement;

13 (C) communicate more effectively with

14 teachers, counselors, administrators, and other

15 professional educators and support staff;

16 (D) participate in the design and provision

17 of assistance to students who are not making

18 adequate progress;

19 (E) obtain information about the range of

20 options, programs, services, and resources avail21 able at the national, State, and local levels to as22 sist parents of children, aged birth to 5 years,

23 and children enrolled in participating schools

24 and their parents;
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1 (F) seek technical assistance regarding com2 pliance with the requirements of this Act and of

3 other Federal programs relevant to achieving the

4 goals of this Act;

5 (G) participate in State and local decision6 making;

7 (H) train other parents; and

8 (I) plan, implement, and fund activities

9 that coordinate the education of their children

10 with other Federal programs that serve such chil11 dren or their families;

12 (2) to include State or local educational person13 nel where such participation would further an objec14 tive of the program assisted by the grant; and

15 (3) to establish a parent training and informa16 tion center to carry out the activities in paragraphs

17 (1) and (2) and to represent parent interests at the

18 State level, including participation in the design of

19 the public outreach process described in section

20 156(b)(6), submitting recommendations concerning

21 State standards and plans, and commenting on pro22 posed waivers under this Act.

23 SEC. 194. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

24 The Secretary shall provide technical assistance, by

25 grant or contract, for the establishment, development, and
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1 coordination of parent training and information programs

2 and centers.

3 SEC. 195. EXPERIMENTAL CENTERS.

4 After the establishment in each State of a parent train5 ing and information center, the Secretary shall provide for

6 the establishment of 5 additional experimental centers, 3

7 to be located in urban areas and 2 in rural areas where

8 there are large concentrations of poverty.

9 SEC. 196. REPORTS.

10 Not later than June 30, 1995, and not later than June

11 30 each succeeding year, the Secretary shall obtain data

12 concerning programs and centers assisted under this title,

13 including—

14 (1) the number of parents, including the number

15 of minority and limited-English-proficient parents,

16 who receive information and training;

17 (2) the types and modes of information or train18 ing provided; and

19 (3) the strategies used to reach and serve parents

20 of minority and limited-English-proficient children

21 and parents with limited literacy skills.

22 SEC. 197. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

23 There are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for

24 fiscal year 1994 and such sums as may be necessary for

25 each of the fiscal years 1995 through 1998.
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1 TITLE II—EDUCATIONAL RE2 SEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND

3 DISSEMINATION EXCELLENCE

4 ACT

5 SEC. 201. FINDINGS.

6 The Congress finds as follows with respect to improv7 ing education in the United States:

8 (1) A majority of public schools in the United

9 States are failing to adequately prepare their stu10 dents. To achieve the national education goals set

11 forth by the President and the governors of the States,

12 an overwhelming campaign for educational improve13 ment must be mounted in order to set in motion

14 many strategies and models designed to encourage

15 and support school restructuring. The Federal Gov16 ernment must support an extensive program of edu17 cational research, development, dissemination, rep18 lication and assistance to identify and support the

19 best responses for the challenges ahead. A significant

20 investment in attaining a deeper understanding of the

21 processes of learning and schooling and developing

22 new ideas holds the best hope of making a substantial

23 difference to the lives of every school and student in

24 the United States. The Office of Educational Research

25 and Improvement of the Department of Education
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1 should be at the center of this campaign in order to

2 coordinate such efforts.

3 (2) The Federal role in educational research has

4 been closely identified with youths who are

5 socioeconomically disadvantaged, belong to a language

6 minority, or are disabled. However, in 1988, the Fed7 eral commitment to education was sufficient to serve

8 not more than—

9 (A) 1 out of every 5 low-income children in

10 need of preschool education;

11 (B) 2 out of every 5 children in need of re12 mediation;

13 (C) 1 out of every 4 children in need of bi14 lingual education; and

15 (D) 1 out of every 20 youths in need of job

16 training.

17 (3) The failure of the Federal Government to

18 adequately invest in educational research and devel19 opment has denied the Nation a sound foundation on

20 which to design school improvements, leading to a

21 history of faddism and failed experimentation result22 ing in a dearth of research in the area of education23 ally at-risk students. This situation is of particular

24 concern because at least half of the public school stu25 dents in 25 of the largest cities of the United States
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1 are minority children, and demographers project that,

2 by 2005, almost all urban public school students will

3 be minority children or other children in poverty.

4 (4) The investment goal of the Federal research,

5 development, and dissemination function should be at

6 least 1 percent of the total amount of funds spent on

7 education nationally.

8 (5) Nationwide model programs and reliable

9 interventions should be demonstrated and replicated,

10 and for such purposes, programs should be established

11 to conduct research and evaluations, and to dissemi12 nate information.

13 (6) The Office of Educational Research and Im14 provement must develop a national dissemination

15 policy that will advance the goal of placing a na16 tional treasure chest of research results, models, and

17 materials at the disposal of the Nation’s education

18 decisionmakers.

19 (7) A National Educational Research Policy and

20 Priorities Board should be established to ensure that

21 an educational research and dissemination agenda is

22 developed and implemented without partisan political

23 interference.

24 (8) Existing research and development entities

25 should adopt expanded, proactive roles and new insti-
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1 tutions must be created to promote knowledge develop2 ment necessary to accelerate the application of re3 search knowledge to high priority areas.

4 (9) Greater use should be made of existing tech5 nologies in efforts to improve the Nation’s educational

6 system, including efforts to disseminate research find7 ings.

8 (10) Minority educational researchers are inad9 equately represented throughout the Department of

10 Education, but particularly in the Office of Edu11 cational Research and Improvement. The Office there12 fore must assume a leadership position in the recruit13 ment, retention, and promotion of qualified minority

14 educational researchers.

15 (11) The coordination of the mission of the Office

16 of Educational Research and Improvement with that

17 of other components of the Department of Education

18 is critical. It must improve the coordination of the

19 educational research, development, and dissemination

20 function with those of other Federal agencies.
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1 PART A—GENERAL PROVISIONS REGARDING OF2 FICE OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND IM3 PROVEMENT

4 SEC. 211. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

5 Section 405 of the General Education Provisions Act

6 (20 U.S.C. 1221e) is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘OFFICE OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT

8 ‘‘SEC. 405. (a) DECLARATION OF POLICY REGARDING

9 EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Congress declares it to

11 be the policy of the United States to provide to every

12 individual an equal opportunity to receive an edu13 cation of high quality regardless of race, color, reli14 gion, sex, age, disability, national origin, or social

15 class. Although the American educational system has

16 pursued this objective, it has not attained the objec17 tive. Inequalities of opportunity to receive high qual18 ity education remain pronounced. To achieve the goal

19 of quality education requires the continued pursuit of

20 knowledge about education through research, develop21 ment, improvement activities, data collection, syn22 thesis, technical assistance, and information dissemi23 nation. While the direction of American education re24 mains primarily the responsibility of State and local

25 governments, the Federal Government has a clear re26 sponsibility to provide leadership in the conduct and
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1 support of scientific inquiry into the educational

2 process.

3 ‘‘(2) MISSION OF OFFICE.—

4 ‘‘(A) The mission of the Office of Edu5 cational Research and Improvement shall be to

6 provide national leadership in—

7 ‘‘(i) expanding fundamental knowledge

8 and understanding of education;

9 ‘‘(ii) promoting excellence and equity

10 in education; and

11 ‘‘(iii) monitoring the state of edu12 cation.

13 ‘‘(B) The mission of the Office shall be ac14 complished in collaboration with researchers,

15 teachers, school administrators, parents, stu16 dents, employers, and policymakers.

17 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE AND STRUCTURE OF OFFICE.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting

19 through the Office of Educational Research and Im20 provement, shall carry out the policies set forth in

21 subsection (a). In carrying out such policies, the Sec22 retary shall be guided by the priorities established by

23 the Board of Governors established in section 405A.
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1 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE.—The Office

2 shall be administered by the Assistant Secretary and

3 shall include—

4 ‘‘(A) the National Educational Research

5 Policy and Priorities Board established by sec6 tion 405A;

7 ‘‘(B) the national research institutes estab8 lished by section 405B;

9 ‘‘(C) the national education dissemination

10 system established by section 405C;

11 ‘‘(D) the National Library of Education es12 tablished by section 405D;

13 ‘‘(E) the National Center for Education

14 Statistics established by section 406; and

15 ‘‘(F) such other units as the Secretary

16 deems appropriate to carry out the purposes of

17 the Office.

18 ‘‘(3) PRIORITIES IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOP19 MENT.—The Office shall, in accordance with the pro20 visions of this section, seek to improve education in

21 the United States through concentrating the resources

22 of the Office on the following priority research and

23 development needs:

24 ‘‘(A) The education of at-risk students.
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1 ‘‘(B) The education and development of

2 young children.

3 ‘‘(C) Student achievement in elementary

4 and secondary school.

5 ‘‘(D) Postsecondary education, libraries,

6 and lifelong learning for adults.

7 ‘‘(E) The improvement of schools through

8 the restructuring and reform of school govern9 ance, policymaking, finance and management at

10 the State, local, school building, and classroom

11 level.

12 ‘‘(c) APPOINTMENT OF EMPLOYEES.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary may

14 appoint, for terms not to exceed three years (without

15 regard to the provisions of title 5 of the United States

16 Code governing appointment in the competitive serv17 ice) and may compensate (without regard to the pro18 visions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53

19 of such title relating to classification and General

20 Schedule pay rates) such scientific or technical em21 ployees of the Office as the Assistant Secretary consid22 ers necessary to accomplish its functions, provided

23 that—

24 ‘‘(A) at least 60 days prior to the appoint25 ment of any such employee, public notice is
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1 given of the availability of such position and an

2 opportunity is provided for qualified individuals

3 to apply and compete for such position;

4 ‘‘(B) the rate of basic pay for such employ5 ees does not exceed the maximum rate of basic

6 pay payable for positions at GS–15, as deter7 mined in accordance with section 5376 of title 5,

8 United States Code;

9 ‘‘(C) the appointment of such employee is

10 necessary to provide the Office with scientific or

11 technical expertise which could not otherwise be

12 obtained by the Office through the competitive

13 service; and

14 ‘‘(D) the total number of such employees

15 does not exceed one-fifth of the number of full16 time, regular scientific or professional employees

17 of the Office.

18 ‘‘(2) REAPPOINTMENT OF EMPLOYEES.—The As19 sistant Secretary may reappoint employees described

20 in paragraph (1) upon presentation of a clear and

21 convincing justification of need, for one additional

22 term not to exceed 3 years. All such employees shall

23 work on activities of the Office and shall not be reas24 signed to other duties outside the Office during their

25 term.
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1 ‘‘(d) AUTHORITY TO PUBLISH.—

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary is

3 authorized to prepare and publish such information,

4 reports, and documents as may be of value in carry5 ing out the purposes of sections 405 through 405D

6 without further clearance or approval by the Sec7 retary or any other office of the Department.

8 ‘‘(2) QUALITY ASSURANCE.—In carrying out

9 such authority, the Assistant Secretary shall—

10 ‘‘(A) establish such procedures as may be

11 necessary to assure that all reports and publica12 tions issued by the Office are of the highest qual13 ity; and

14 ‘‘(B) provide other offices of the Department

15 with an opportunity to comment upon any re16 port or publication prior to its publication when

17 its contents relate to matters for which such of18 fice has responsibility.

19 ‘‘(e) BIENNIAL REPORT ON ACTIVITIES OF OFFICE.—

20 The Assistant Secretary shall transmit to the President and

21 the Congress by not later than December 30 of every other

22 year a biennial report which shall consist of—

23 ‘‘(1) a description of the activities carried out by

24 and through each research institute during the fiscal

25 years for which such report is prepared and any rec-
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1 ommendations and comments regarding such activi2 ties as the Assistant Secretary considers appropriate;

3 ‘‘(2) a description of the activities carried out by

4 and through the national education dissemination

5 system established by section 405C during the fiscal

6 years for which such report is prepared and any rec7 ommendations and comments regarding such activi8 ties as the Assistant Secretary considers appropriate;

9 ‘‘(3) such written comments and recommenda10 tions as may be submitted by the Board concerning

11 the activities carried out by and through each of the

12 institutes and the national education dissemination

13 system during the fiscal years for which such report

14 is prepared and how such activities relate to the Re15 search Policies and Priorities Plan developed by the

16 Board;

17 ‘‘(4) a description of the coordination activites

18 undertaken pursuant to section 405(f) during the fis19 cal years for which such report is prepared;

20 ‘‘(5) recommendations for legislative and admin21 istrative changes necessary to improve the coordina22 tion of all educational research, development, and dis23 semination activities carried out within the Federal

24 Government, particularly within the priority research
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1 and development needs identified in section 405(b)(3);

2 and

3 ‘‘(6) such additional comments, recommenda4 tions, and materials as the Assistant Secretary con5 siders appropriate.

6 ‘‘(f) COORDINATION.—With the advice and assistance

7 of the Board, the Assistant Secretary shall establish and

8 maintain an ongoing program of activities designed to im9 prove the coordination of education research, development,

10 and dissemination and activities within the Department

11 and within the Federal Government, particularly within

12 the priority research and development needs identified in

13 section 405(b)(3), in order to—

14 ‘‘(1) minimize duplication in education research,

15 development, and dissemination carried out by the

16 Federal Government;

17 ‘‘(2) maximize the value of the total Federal in18 vestment in education research, development, and dis19 semination; and

20 ‘‘(3) enable all entities engaged in education re21 search, development, and dissemination within the

22 Federal Government to interact effectively as partners

23 and take full advantage of the diverse resources and

24 proficiencies which each entity has available.
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1 ‘‘(g) ACTIVITIES REQUIRED WITH RESPECT TO CO2 ORDINATION.—In carrying out such program of coordina3 tion, the Assistant Secretary shall compile (and thereafter

4 regularly maintain) and make available a comprehensive

5 inventory of all education research, development, dissemi6 nation activities, and expenditures being carried out by the

7 Federal Government within the priority research and devel8 opment needs identified in section 405(b)(3).

9 ‘‘(h) STANDARDS FOR CONDUCT AND EVALUATION OF

10 RESEARCH.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In consultation with the

12 Board, the Assistant Secretary shall develop such

13 standards as may be necessary to govern the conduct

14 and evaluation of all research, development, and dis15 semination activities carried out by the Office to as16 sure that such activities meet the highest standards of

17 professional excellence. In developing such standards,

18 the Assistant Secetary shall review the procedures uti19 lized by the National Institutes of Health, the Na20 tional Science Foundation, and other Federal agen21 cies engaged in research and development and shall

22 also actively solicit recommendations from the the Na23 tional Academy of Sciences, the American Edu24 cational Research Association and members of the

25 general public.
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1 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF STANDARDS.—Such stand2 ards shall at a minimum—

3 ‘‘(A) require that a system of peer review be

4 utilized by the Office—

5 ‘‘(i) in reviewing and evaluating all

6 applications for grants and cooperative

7 agreements and bids for those contracts

8 which exceed $100,000;

9 ‘‘(ii) in evaluating and assessing the

10 performance of all recipients of grants from

11 and cooperative agreements and contracts

12 with the Office; and

13 ‘‘(iii) in reviewing and designating ex14 emplary and promising programs in ac15 cordance with section 405C(d);

16 ‘‘(B)(i) specify the composition of peer re17 view panels, the criteria for the selection of mem18 bers of such panels, and describe the means by

19 which potential members shall be identified so as

20 to assure that such panels are broadly represent21 ative of individuals with expertise in matters

22 relevant to the purposes of each such panel;

23 ‘‘(ii) prohibit the consideration of partisan

24 affiliation in the selection of any member of a

25 peer review panel;
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1 ‘‘(iii) describe the general procedures which

2 shall be used by each peer review panel in its op3 erations;

4 ‘‘(iv) prohibit the participation by a mem5 ber of a peer review panel in the review of any

6 application in which such member has any fi7 nancial interest; and

8 ‘‘(v) require that transcripts, minutes, and

9 other documents made available to or prepared

10 for or by a peer review panel will be available

11 for public inspection to the extent consistent with

12 the Freedom of Information Act, the Federal Ad13 visory Committee Act, the Privacy Act, and

14 other laws;

15 ‘‘(C)(i) describe the procedures which shall

16 be utilized in evaluating applications for grants,

17 proposed cooperative agreements, and contract

18 bids;

19 ‘‘(ii) specify the criteria and factors which

20 shall be considered in making such evaluations;

21 and

22 ‘‘(iii) provide that any decision to fund a

23 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement out of

24 its order of ranking by a peer review panel shall

25 be first fully justified in writing and that copies
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1 of such justification shall be transmitted to the

2 Board, unless such action is required by some

3 other provision of law;

4 ‘‘(D)(i) describe the procedures which shall

5 be utilized in reviewing educational programs

6 which have been identified by or submitted to the

7 Secretary for evaluation in accordance with sec8 tion 405C(d); and

9 ‘‘(ii) specify the criteria which shall be used

10 in recommending programs as exemplary and

11 promising; and

12 ‘‘(E)(i) require that the performance of all

13 recipients of grants from and contracts and co14 operative agreements with the Office shall be pe15 riodically evaluated, both during and at the con16 clusion of their receipt of assistance;

17 ‘‘(ii) describe the procedures and means by

18 which such evaluations shall be undertaken, in19 cluding—

20 ‘‘(I) the frequency of such evaluations;

21 ‘‘(II) the criteria, outcome measures,

22 and other factors which shall be taken into

23 account; and

24 ‘‘(III) measures to assure that on-site

25 evaluations of performance shall be utilized
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1 to the extent appropriate and whenever

2 practicable; and

3 ‘‘(iii) provide that the results of such eval4 uations shall be taken into account prior to any

5 decision to continue, renew, or provide new fund6 ing to the entity being reviewed.

7 ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION AND PROMULGATION OF

8 STANDARDS.—

9 ‘‘(A) The Assistant Secretary shall publish

10 proposed standards—

11 ‘‘(i) which meet the requirements of

12 subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of para13 graph (2) not later than 1 year after the

14 date of the enactment of the Educational

15 Research, Development, and Dissemination

16 Excellence Act;

17 ‘‘(ii) which meet the requirements of

18 paragraph (2)(D) not later than 2 years

19 after such date; and

20 ‘‘(iii) which meet the requirements of

21 subparagraph (E) of paragraph (2) not

22 later than 3 years after such date;

23 ‘‘(B) Following the publication of such pro24 posed standards, the Assistant Secretary shall so25 licit comments from interested members of the
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1 public with respect to such proposed standards

2 for a period of not more than 120 days. After

3 giving due consideration to any comments which

4 may have been received, the Assistant Secretary

5 shall transmit such standards to the Board for

6 its review and approval.

7 ‘‘(C) Upon the approval of the Board, the

8 Assistant Secretary shall transmit final stand9 ards to the Secretary which meet the require10 ments of the particular subparagraphs of para11 graph (2) for which they were developed. Such

12 standards shall be binding upon all activities

13 carried out with funds appropriated under sec14 tion 405.

15 ‘‘(i) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ASSIST16 ANT SECRETARY.—In carrying out the activities and pro17 grams of the Office, the Assistant Secretary shall—

18 ‘‘(1) be guided by the Research Priorities Plan

19 developed by the Board;

20 ‘‘(2) ensure that there is broad and regular pub21 lic and professional involvement from the educational

22 field in the planning and carrying out of the Office’s

23 activities, including establishing teacher advisory

24 boards for any program office, program or project of

25 the Office as the Assistant Secretary deems necessary;
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1 ‘‘(3) ensure that the selection of research topics

2 and the administration of the program are free from

3 undue partisan political influence; and

4 ‘‘(4) ensure that all statistics and other data col5 lected and reported by the Office shall be collected,

6 cross-tabulated, analyzed, and reported by sex within

7 race or ethnicity and socioeconomic status whenever

8 feasible (and when such data collection or analysis is

9 not feasible, ensure that the relevant report or docu10 ment includes an explanation as to why such data

11 collection or analysis is not feasible).

12 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section and

13 sections 405A through 405D:

14 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Assistant Secretary’ means the

15 Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and

16 Improvement established by section 202 of the Depart17 ment of Education Organization Act.

18 ‘‘(2) The term ‘at-risk student’ means a student

19 who, because of limited English proficiency, poverty,

20 geographic location, or educational or economic dis21 advantage, faces a greater risk of low educational

22 achievement and has greater potential for dropping

23 out of school.

24 ‘‘(3) The term ‘Board’ means the National Edu25 cational Research Policy and Priorities Board.
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1 ‘‘(4) The term ‘educational research’ includes

2 basic and applied research, development, planning,

3 surveys, assessments, evaluations, investigations, ex4 periments, and demonstrations in the field of edu5 cation and other fields relating to education.

6 ‘‘(5) The term ‘development’—

7 ‘‘(A) means the systematic use, adaptation,

8 and transformation of knowledge and under9 standing gained from research to create alter10 natives, policies, products, methods, practices, or

11 materials which can contribute to the improve12 ment of educational practice; and

13 ‘‘(B) includes the design and development of

14 prototypes and the testing of such prototypes for

15 the purposes of establishing their feasibility, reli16 ability, and cost-effectiveness.

17 ‘‘(6) The term ‘technical assistance’ means the

18 provision of external assistance to facilitate the adop19 tion or application of the knowledge gained from edu20 cational research and development and includes—

21 ‘‘(A) problem analysis and diagnosis;

22 ‘‘(B) assistance in finding, selecting, or de23 signing suitable solutions and approaches to

24 problems;
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1 ‘‘(C) training in the installation and imple2 mentation of products, programs, policies, prac3 tices, or technologies; and

4 ‘‘(D) such other assistance as may be nec5 essary to encourage the adoption or application

6 of such knowledge.

7 ‘‘(7) The term ‘dissemination’ means the transfer

8 of knowledge and products gained through research

9 and includes—

10 ‘‘(A) the use of communication techniques to

11 increase awareness of such knowledge and prod12 ucts;

13 ‘‘(B) the provision of comparative and eval14 uative information necessary to enable educators,

15 school administrators, and others to assess and

16 make informed judgments about the relevance

17 and usefulness of such knowledge and products

18 in specific settings; and

19 ‘‘(C) the provision of technical assistance

20 needed to adapt, apply, and utilize such knowl21 edge and products in specific educational set22 tings.

23 ‘‘(8) The term ‘national education dissemination

24 system’ means the activities carried out by the Office
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1 of Reform Assistance and Dissemination established

2 by section 405C.

3 ‘‘(9) The term ‘Office’ means the Office of Edu4 cational Research and Improvement established in

5 section 209 of the Department of Education Organi6 zation Act.

7 ‘‘(10) The term ‘national research institute’

8 means an institute established in section 405B.

9 ‘‘(11) The terms ‘United States’ and ‘State’ in10 clude the District of Columbia and the Common11 wealth of Puerto Rico.

12 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

13 ‘‘(1) NATIONAL INSTITUTES.—

14 ‘‘(A) For the purpose of carrying out section

15 405B, there is authorized to be appropriated

16 $37,000,000 for fiscal year 1994.

17 ‘‘(B) For the purpose of carrying out the

18 provisions of section 405B relating to the Na19 tional Institute for Student Achievement, there

20 are authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000

21 for fiscal year 1995, and such sums as are nec22 essary for each of fiscal years 1996 and 1997.

23 ‘‘(C) For the purpose of carrying out the

24 provisions of section 405B relating to the Na25 tional Institute for the Education of At-Risk
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1 Students, there are authorized to be appropriated

2 $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1995, and such sums

3 as are necessary for each of fiscal years 1996 and

4 1997.

5 ‘‘(D) For the purpose of carrying out the

6 provisions of section 405B relating to the Na7 tional Institute for Innovation in Educational

8 Governance, Finance, Policy-Making, and Man9 agement, there are authorized to be appropriated

10 $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1995, and such sums

11 as are necessary for each of fiscal years 1996 and

12 1997.

13 ‘‘(E) For the purpose of carrying out the

14 provisions of section 405B relating to the Na15 tional Institute for Early Childhood Develop16 ment and Education, there are authorized to be

17 appropriated $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1995,

18 and such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal

19 years 1996 and 1997.

20 ‘‘(F) For the purpose of carrying out the

21 provisions of section 405B relating to the Na22 tional Institute of Postsecondary Education, Li23 braries, and Lifelong Learning, there are author24 ized to be appropriated $20,000,000 for fiscal
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1 year 1995, and such sums as are necessary for

2 each of fiscal years 1996 and 1997.

3 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL EDUCATION DISSEMINATION SYS4 TEM.—

5 ‘‘(A)(i) For the purpose of carrying out sub6 sections (b)(2) through (g) of section 405C, there

7 are authorized to be appropriated $22,000,000

8 for fiscal year 1994, and such sums as are nec9 essary for each of the fiscal years 1995 through

10 1997.

11 ‘‘(ii) Of the amount appropriated under

12 clause (i) for any fiscal year, the Secretary shall

13 make available not less than $7,175,000 to carry

14 out subsection (f) of section 405C (relating to

15 clearinghouses).

16 ‘‘(B) For the purpose of carrying out sub17 section (h) of section 405C (relating to regional

18 educational laboratories), there are authorized to

19 be appropriated $37,000,000 for fiscal year 1994,

20 and such sums as are necessary for each of the

21 fiscal years 1995 through 1997. Of the amounts

22 appropriated under the preceding sentence for a

23 fiscal year, the Secretary shall obligate not less

24 than 25 percent to carry out such purpose with

25 respect to rural areas (including schools funded
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1 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs which are lo2 cated in rural areas).

3 ‘‘(C) For the purpose of carrying out sub4 section (j) of section 405C (relating to the teacher

5 research dissemination network) there are au6 thorized to be appropriated $30,000,000 for fis7 cal year 1994, and such sums as are necessary

8 for each of the fiscal years 1995 through 1997.

9 ‘‘(D) For the purpose of carrying out sub10 section (i) of section 405C (relating to the Goals

11 2000 Community Partnerships program), there

12 are authorized to be appropriated $30,000,000

13 for fiscal year 1994, $50,000,000 for fiscal year

14 1995, and such sums as are necessary for each

15 of the fiscal years 1996 and 1997.

16 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH POLICY

17 AND PRIORITIES BOARD.—Of the amounts appro18 priated under paragraphs (1) and (2) for any fiscal

19 year, the Secretary shall make available 2 percent of

20 such amounts, or $1,000,000, whichever is less, to the

21 Board for the purpose of carrying out section 405A.

22 ‘‘(4) ALLOCATIONS FOR GRANTS, COOPERATIVE

23 AGREEMENTS, AND CONTRACTS.—Of the amounts ap24 propriated under paragraph (1) or (2) for any fiscal

25 year, not less than 95 percent shall be expended to
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1 carry out the purposes described in such paragraphs

2 through grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts.

3 ‘‘(5) LIMITATIONS ON APPROPRIATIONS.—No

4 amounts are authorized to be appropriated under

5 paragraph (1) or (2) for fiscal year 1995 or any fis6 cal year thereafter unless the Board has been ap7 pointed in accordance with section 405A.

8 ‘‘(6) GRANT AUTHORIZED.—From the amounts

9 appropriated under paragraph (1) for fiscal year

10 1995, the Secretary is authorized, in accordance with

11 the provisions of this paragraph, to award a grant of

12 not more than $5,000,000 to a public or private insti13 tution, agency or organization for a period not to ex14 ceed five years for the purpose of conducting a State15 by-State poll to determine the perceptions of recent

16 graduates of secondary schools, their instructors in

17 institutions of higher education, parents of recent

18 such graduates, and employers of recent such grad19 uates on how well schools have prepared students for

20 further education or employment. The grant shall be

21 awarded on a competitive basis and shall be matched

22 on a two-to-one basis, with the Federal Government

23 contributing one-third of the total costs of the poll.’’.
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1 SEC. 212. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EDUCATIONAL RE2 SEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT.

3 Subsection (b) of section 202 of the Department of

4 Education Organization Act is amended—

5 (1) in paragraph (1)—

6 (A) by striking subparagraph (E); and

7 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (F)

8 and (G) as subparagraphs (E) and (F), respec9 tively; and

10 (2) by adding at the end the following new para11 graph:

12 ‘‘(3) There shall be in the Department an Assistant

13 Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement who

14 shall be—

15 ‘‘(A) appointed by the President, by and with

16 the consent of the Senate; and

17 ‘‘(B) selected in consultation with the National

18 Educational Research Policy and Priorities Board

19 from among individuals who—

20 ‘‘(i) are distinguished educational research21 ers;

22 ‘‘(ii) have proven management ability; and

23 ‘‘(iii) have substantial knowledge of edu24 cation within the United States.’’.
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1 SEC. 213. SAVINGS PROVISION.

2 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, contracts

3 for the regional educational laboratories, education re4 sources information clearinghouses and research and devel5 opment centers assisted under section 405 of the General

6 Education Provisions Act on the date of the enactment of

7 this Act shall remain in effect until the termination date

8 of such contracts.

9 SEC. 214. EXISTING GRANTS AND CONTRACTS.

10 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, grants

11 and contracts for the research and development centers as12 sisted under section 405 of the General Education Provi13 sions Act on the date of enactment of this Act shall remain

14 in effect until the termination date of such grants or con15 tracts, as the case may be, except that such grants and con16 tracts may be extended to implement the provisions of this

17 Act.

18 PART B—NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

19 POLICY AND PRIORITIES BOARD

20 SEC. 221. ESTABLISHMENT WITHIN OFFICE OF EDU21 CATIONAL RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT.

22 Part A of the General Education Provisions Act (20

23 U.S.C. 1221e et seq.) is amended by inserting after section

24 405 the following new section:
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1 ‘‘NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH POLICY AND

2 PRIORITIES BOARD

3 ‘‘SEC. 405A. (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established

4 within the Office a National Educational Research Policy

5 and Priorities Board (hereafter in this section referred to

6 as the ‘Board’).

7 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS.—It shall be the responsibility of the

8 Board, acting through the Assistant Secretary—

9 ‘‘(1) to determine priorities that should guide the

10 work of the Office and provide guidance to the Con11 gress in its oversight of the Office;

12 ‘‘(2) to review and approve standards for the

13 conduct and evaluation of all research, development,

14 and dissemination carried out under the auspices of

15 the Office pursuant to sections 405 through 405C; and

16 ‘‘(3) to regularly review, evaluate, and publicly

17 comment upon, the implementation of its rec18 ommended priorities and policies by the Department

19 and the Congress.

20 ‘‘(c) RESEARCH PRIORITIES PLAN.—In cooperation

21 with the Assistant Secretary, the Board shall—

22 ‘‘(1) survey and assess the state of knowledge in

23 education research, development and dissemination to

24 identify disciplines and areas of inquiry within the

25 priority research, development and dissemination
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1 needs identified in section 405(b)(3) in which the

2 state of knowledge is insufficient and which warrant

3 further investigation, taking into account the views of

4 both education researchers and practicing educators;

5 ‘‘(2) consult with the National Education Goals

6 Panel and other authorities on education to identify

7 national priorities for the improvement of education;

8 ‘‘(3) actively solicit recommendations from edu9 cation researchers, teachers, school administrators,

10 cultural leaders, parents, and others throughout the

11 Nation through such means as periodic regional fo12 rums;

13 ‘‘(4) provide recommendations for the develop14 ment, maintenance, and assurance of a strong infra15 structure for education, research, and development in

16 the United States; and

17 ‘‘(5) on the basis of such recommendations, de18 velop a research priorities program which shall rec19 ommend priorities for the investment of the resources

20 of the Office over the next 5-, 10-, and 15-year peri21 ods, including as priorities those areas of inquiry in

22 which further research, development and dissemina23 tion—
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1 ‘‘(A) is necessary to attain the goals for the

2 improvement of education identified in para3 graph (2);

4 ‘‘(B) promises to yield the greatest practical

5 benefits to teachers and other educators in terms

6 of improving education; and

7 ‘‘(C) will not be undertaken in sufficient

8 scope or intensity by the other Federal and non9 Federal entities engaged in education research

10 and development.

11 ‘‘(d) CONTENTS OF PLAN—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The research and priorities

13 plan described in subsection (c) shall, at a mini14 mum—

15 ‘‘(A) set forth specific objectives which can

16 be expected to be achieved as a result of a Fed17 eral investment in the priorities set forth in the

18 plan;

19 ‘‘(B) include recommendations with respect

20 to research and development on cross-cutting is21 sues which should be carried out jointly by 2 or

22 more of the research institutes; and

23 ‘‘(C) include an evaluative summary of the

24 educational research and development activities

25 undertaken by the Federal government during
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 the preceding 2 fiscal years which shall de2 scribe—

3 ‘‘(i) what has been learned as a result

4 of such activities;

5 ‘‘(ii) how such new knowledge or un6 derstanding extends or otherwise relates to

7 what had been previously known or under8 stood;

9 ‘‘(iii) the implications of such new

10 knowledge or understanding for educational

11 practice and school reform; and

12 ‘‘(iv) any development, reform, and

13 other assistance activities which have uti14 lized such knowledge or understanding and

15 the effects of such efforts.

16 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—

17 ‘‘(A) Not later than 6 months after the first

18 meeting of the Board and October 1 of every sec19 ond year thereafter, the Assistant Secretary shall

20 publish a report specifying the proposed research

21 priorities of the Office and allow a 60-day period

22 beginning on the date of the publication of the

23 report for public comment and suggestions.

24 ‘‘(B) Not later than 90 days after the expi25 ration of the 60-day period referred to in sub-
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1 paragraph (A), the Assistant Secretary shall sub2 mit to the President and the Congress a report

3 specifying the research priorities of the Office

4 and any public comment and suggestions ob5 tained under such subparagraph.

6 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE

7 BOARD.—It shall also be the responsibility of the Board

8 to—

9 ‘‘(1) provide advice and assistance to the Assist10 ant Secretary in carrying out the coordination activi11 ties described in section 405;

12 ‘‘(2) make recommendations to the Assistant Sec13 retary of persons qualified to fulfill the responsibil14 ities of the Director for each research institute estab15 lished by section 405B after making special efforts to

16 identify qualified women and minorities and solicit17 ing and giving due consideration to recommendations

18 from professional associations and interested members

19 of the public;

20 ‘‘(3) advise and make recommendations to the

21 President with respect to individuals who are quali22 fied to fulfill the responsibilities of the Assistant Sec23 retary for the Office of Educational Research and Im24 provement; and
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1 ‘‘(4) review and approve standards for the con2 duct and evaluation of research developed by the As3 sistant Secretary pursuant to subsection (h) of section

4 405.

5 ‘‘(f) STANDING SUBCOMMITTEES.—

6 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT; FUNCTIONS.—The Board

7 shall establish a standing subcommittee for each of the

8 Institutes established by subsection (a) of section

9 405B and for the Office of Reform Assistance and

10 Dissemination established by subsection (b) of section

11 405C which shall advise, assist, consult with and

12 make recommendations to the Assistant Secretary, the

13 Board, the Director of such entity and the Congress

14 on matters related to the activities carried out by and

15 through such entities.

16 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—

17 ‘‘(A) Each standing subcommittee shall con18 sist of 3 members of the Board and 6 additional

19 individuals appointed by the Board who have

20 significant experience in and knowledge of the

21 disciplines relevant to the purposes of the entity

22 for which the subcommittee is established.

23 ‘‘(B) The Board shall assure that the mem24 bership of each subcommittee includes both edu25 cational researchers and persons who are knowl-
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1 edgeable about the research, development and dis2 semination needs of practitioners, including

3 classroom teachers, school administrators, and

4 members of State or local boards of education.

5 ‘‘(g) POWERS OF THE BOARD.—In carrying out its

6 functions, powers, and responsibilities, the Board—

7 ‘‘(1) shall, without regard to the provisions of

8 title 5, United States Code, relating to the appoint9 ment and compensation of officers or employees of the

10 United States, appoint a director to be paid at a rate

11 not to exceed the rate of basic pay payable for level

12 V of the Executive Schedule who shall assist in carry13 ing out and managing the activities of the Board and

14 perform such other functions the Board determines to

15 be necessary and appropriate;

16 ‘‘(2) shall hire its own staff through routine gov17 ernment procedures;

18 ‘‘(3) may arrange for the detail of staff personnel

19 and utilize the services and facilities of any agency

20 of the Federal Government;

21 ‘‘(4) may enter into contracts, or make other ar22 rangements as may be necessary to carry out its func23 tions;

24 ‘‘(5) may review any grant, contract, or coopera25 tive agreement made or entered into by the Office;
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1 ‘‘(6) may, to the extent otherwise permitted by

2 law, obtain directly from any department or agency

3 of the United States such information as it deems

4 necessary to carry out its responsibilities;

5 ‘‘(7) may convene workshops and conferences,

6 collect data, and establish subcommittees which may

7 be composed of members of the Board and nonmember

8 consultants (including employees of the Department)

9 with expertise in the particular area addressed by

10 such subcommittees; and

11 ‘‘(8) shall establish such rules and procedures to

12 govern its operations as it considers appropriate, to

13 the extent otherwise permitted by law.

14 ‘‘(h) MEMBERSHIP IN GENERAL.—

15 ‘‘(1) QUALIFICATIONS.—The members of the

16 Board shall be eminent persons who, by virtue of

17 their training, experience, and background, are excep18 tionally qualified to appraise the educational research

19 and development effort of the Nation and to establish

20 policies and priorities to govern future Federal invest21 ment in educational research, development, and dis22 semination.

23 ‘‘(2) BROAD REPRESENTATION.—Due consider24 ation shall be given to the gender, race, and ethnicity
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1 of appointees to assure that the Board is broadly rep2 resentative of the diversity of the Nation.

3 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—A voting member of the

4 Board may not serve on any other governing or advi5 sory board within the Department of Education.

6 ‘‘(4) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—A voting member

7 of the Board shall be considered a special Government

8 employee for the purposes of the Ethics in Govern9 ment Act of 1978.

10 ‘‘(i) SECRETARIAL APPOINTMENTS.—The Board shall

11 consist of 18 members appointed by the Secretary. Of the

12 members of the Board—

13 ‘‘(1) seven shall be appointed from among re14 searchers in the field of education who have been nom15 inated by the National Academy of Sciences and the

16 National Academy of Education (giving due consider17 ation to recommendations made by the American

18 Educational Research Association), including persons

19 who are among the leading authorities on early child20 hood education and the education of at-risk students;

21 ‘‘(2) five shall be outstanding field-based profes22 sional educators;

23 ‘‘(3) one shall be a Chief State School Officer;

24 ‘‘(4) one shall be a local education agency school

25 superintendent or principal;
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1 ‘‘(5) one shall be a member of a State or local

2 board of education or Bureau of Indian Affairs-fund3 ed school board;

4 ‘‘(6) one shall be a professional librarian, school

5 library media specialist, library administrator, or li6 brary science educator;

7 ‘‘(7) one shall be a parent with extensive experi8 ence in promoting parental involvement in education;

9 and

10 ‘‘(8) one shall be an individual from business

11 and industry with significant experience in promot12 ing private sector involvement in education.

13 ‘‘(j) REQUIREMENTS FOR NOMINATIONS BY THE NA14 TIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AND THE NATIONAL ACAD15 EMY OF EDUCATION.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In making nominations for

17 the members of the Board described in subsection

18 (i)(1), the National Academy of Sciences and the Na19 tional Academy of Education—

20 ‘‘(A) may not nominate any individual who

21 is an elected officer or employee of such organi22 zations; and

23 ‘‘(B) shall each nominate not less than 5 in24 dividuals for each of the positions on the Board
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1 for which such organization has responsibility

2 for making nominations.

3 ‘‘(2) REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL NOMINATIONS.—

4 In the event that the Secretary determines that none

5 of the individuals nominated by the National Acad6 emy of Sciences or the National Academy of Edu7 cation meets the qualifications for membership on the

8 Board specified in subsection (i), the Secretary may

9 request that such organization make additional nomi10 nations.

11 ‘‘(k) NOMINATIONS FOR BOARD MEMBERSHIP.—Prior

12 to appointing any member of the Board, the Secretary shall

13 actively solicit and give due consideration to recommenda14 tions of persons qualified for membership on the board from

15 the National Education Association, the American Federa16 tion of Teachers, the National Parent-Teachers Association,

17 the American Library Association, the American Associa18 tion of School Administrators, the National Association of

19 State Boards of Education, the National Indian School

20 Board Association, the Association of Community Tribal

21 Schools, the National Indian Education Association, and

22 other education-related organizations and interested mem23 bers of the public.
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1 ‘‘(l) EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—The ex officio, nonvoting

2 members of the Board shall include the Assistant Secretary

3 and may also include—

4 ‘‘(1) the Director of Research for the Department

5 of Defense;

6 ‘‘(2) the Director of Research for the Department

7 of Labor;

8 ‘‘(3) the Director of the National Science Foun9 dation;

10 ‘‘(4) the Director of the National Institutes of

11 Health;

12 ‘‘(5) the chair of the National Endowment for the

13 Arts;

14 ‘‘(6) the chair of the National Endowment for the

15 Humanities;

16 ‘‘(7) the Librarian of Congress; and

17 ‘‘(8) the Director of the Office of Indian Edu18 cation Programs of the Department of the Interior.

19 ‘‘(m) CHAIR.—The Board shall select a Chair from

20 among its appointed members who shall serve for a renew21 able term of 2 years.

22 ‘‘(n) TERMS OF OFFICE.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para24 graphs (2) and (3), the term of office of each voting

25 member of the Board shall be 5 years.
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1 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—

2 ‘‘(A) Any individual appointed to fill a va3 cancy occurring on the Board prior to the expi4 ration of the term for which the predecessor of

5 the individual was appointed shall be appointed

6 for the remainder of the term. A vacancy shall

7 be filled in the same manner in which the origi8 nal appointment was made.

9 ‘‘(B) The terms of office of the members of

10 the Board who first take office after the date of

11 the enactment of the Educational Research, De12 velopment, and Dissemination Excellence Act

13 shall, as designated by a random selection proc14 ess at the time of appointment, be as follows:

15 ‘‘(i) 2 years for each of 6 members of

16 the Board.

17 ‘‘(ii) 3 years for each of 6 members of

18 the Board.

19 ‘‘(iii) 5 years for each of 6 members of

20 the Board.

21 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN CONSECUTIVE

22 TERMS.—An individual who has been a member of

23 the Board for 10 consecutive years shall thereafter be

24 ineligible for appointment during the 5-year period
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1 beginning on the date of the expiration of the 10th

2 year.

3 ‘‘(o) MEETINGS OF BOARD.—

4 ‘‘(1) INITIAL MEETING.—The Secretary shall en5 sure that the first meeting of the Board is held not

6 later than May 15, 1994.

7 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT MEETINGS.—The Board shall

8 meet quarterly, at the call of the Chair, and when at

9 least one-third of the members of the Board make a

10 written request to meet.

11 ‘‘(3) QUORUM.—A majority of the Board shall

12 constitute a quorum.

13 ‘‘(4) OPEN MEETINGS.—The Government in the

14 Sunshine Act (5 U.S.C. 552b) shall apply to meetings

15 of the Board.’’.

16 PART C—NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTES

17 SEC. 231. ESTABLISHMENT WITHIN OFFICE OF EDU18 CATIONAL RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT.

19 Part A of the General Education Provisions Act, as

20 amended by section 221 of this Act, is amended by inserting

21 after section 405A the following new section:

22 ‘‘NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTES

23 ‘‘SEC. 405B. (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF INSTITUTES.—

24 In order to fulfill the research and development purposes

25 of the Office, and to carry out, in accordance with the

26 standards established by the Board, a program of high-qual-
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1 ity and rigorously evaluated research and development that

2 is capable of improving Federal, State, Indian tribal, and

3 local education policies and practices, there are established

4 within the Office the following institutes:

5 ‘‘(1) The National Institute for the Education of

6 At-Risk Students.

7 ‘‘(2) The National Institute for Innovation in

8 Educational Governance, Finance, Policy-Making,

9 and Management.

10 ‘‘(3) The National Institute for Early Childhood

11 Development and Education.

12 ‘‘(4) The National Institute on Student Achieve13 ment.

14 ‘‘(5) The National Institute on Postsecondary

15 Education, Libraries, and Lifelong Education.

16 ‘‘(b) DIRECTORS.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each Institute established by

18 subsection (a) shall be headed by a Director who shall

19 be appointed by the Assistant Secretary from among

20 persons who have significant experience and expertise

21 in the disciplines relevant to the purposes of such In22 stitute. Prior to making such appointment, the Assist23 ant Secretary shall solicit and give due consideration

24 to recommendations made by the Board of persons

25 qualfied to fulfill the position.
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1 ‘‘(2) TERM OF OFFICE.—The Director of each In2 stitute shall serve for a renewable term of 3 years.

3 ‘‘(3) REPORTING.—Each Director shall report

4 directly to the Assistant Secretary regarding the ac5 tivities of the Institute and shall work with the other

6 directors to promote research syntheses across the In7 stitutes.

8 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary is

10 authorized to conduct research, development, dem11 onstration, and evaluation activities to carry out the

12 purposes for which such Institute was established—

13 ‘‘(A) directly;

14 ‘‘(B) through grants, contracts, and cooper15 ative agreements with institutions of higher edu16 cation, regional educational laboratories, public

17 and private organizations, institutions, agencies,

18 and individuals, which may include—

19 ‘‘(i) grants to support research and de20 velopment centers which are—

21 ‘‘(I) awarded competitively for a

22 period of not less than 6 and not more

23 than 10 years;

24 ‘‘(II) funded at not less than

25 $2,000,000 annually in order to sup-
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 port a full range of basic research, ap2 plied research and dissemination ac3 tivities, which may also include devel4 opment activities; and

5 ‘‘(III) established by institutions

6 of higher education, by institutions of

7 higher education in consortium with

8 public agencies or private nonprofit or9 ganizations, or by interstate agencies

10 established by compact which operate

11 subsidiary bodies established to conduct

12 postsecondary educational research and

13 development;

14 ‘‘(ii) public-private research partner15 ships established by a State or local edu16 cation agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs17 funded school, or tribal department of edu18 cation, in concert with a private organiza19 tion and a team of educational researchers,

20 for which the Federal share shall be limited

21 to not more than 50 percent of the total

22 costs of the project;

23 ‘‘(iii) meritorious unsolicited proposals

24 for educational research and related activi25 ties;
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1 ‘‘(iv) proposals that are specifically in2 vited or requested by the Assistant Sec3 retary, on a competitive basis; and

4 ‘‘(v) dissertation grants, awarded for a

5 period of not more than 2 years and in a

6 total amount not to exceed $20,000 to grad7 uate students in the sciences, humanities,

8 and the arts to support research by such

9 scholars in the field of education;

10 ‘‘(C) through the provision of technical as11 sistance; and

12 ‘‘(D) through the award of fellowships to

13 support graduate study in educational research

14 by qualified African-American, Hispanic, Amer15 ican Indian and Alaska Native, and other indi16 viduals from groups which have been tradition17 ally underrepresented in the field of educational

18 research which shall—

19 ‘‘(i) be awarded on the basis of merit

20 for a period of 3 years; and

21 ‘‘(ii) provide stipends to each fellow in

22 an amount which shall be set at a level of

23 support comparable to that provided by the

24 National Science Foundation Graduate Fel25 lowships, except that such amounts shall be
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1 adjusted as necessary so as not to exceed

2 each fellow’s demonstrated level of need.

3 ‘‘(2) SCOPE AND FOCUS OF ACTIVITIES.—In car4 rying out the purposes for which each Institute is es5 tablished, the Assistant Secretary shall—

6 ‘‘(A) maintain an appropriate balance be7 tween applied and basic research;

8 ‘‘(B) significantly expand the role of field9 initiated research in meeting the Nation’s edu10 cation research and development needs by reserv11 ing not less than 15 percent of the amounts

12 available to each Institute in any fiscal year to

13 support field-initiated research described in

14 clauses (iii) through (v) of paragraph (1);

15 ‘‘(C) provide for and maintain a stable

16 foundation of long-term research and develop17 ment on core issues and concerns conducted

18 through university-based research and develop19 ment centers by reserving not less than one-third

20 of the amounts available to each Institute in any

21 fiscal year to support such research and develop22 ment centers;

23 ‘‘(D) support and provide research informa24 tion that leads to policy formation for State leg25 islatures, State and local boards of education
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1 and other policy and governing bodies, to assist

2 such entities in identifying and developing effec3 tive policies to promote student achievement and

4 school improvement; and

5 ‘‘(E) coordinate the Institute’s activities

6 with the activities of the regional educational

7 laboratories and with other educational service

8 organizations in designing the Institute’s re9 search agenda and projects in order to increase

10 the responsiveness of such Institute to the needs

11 of teachers and the educational field and to bring

12 research findings directly into schools to ensure

13 greatest access at the local level to the latest re14 search developments.

15 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING FINANCIAL AS16 SISTANCE.—No grant, contract, or cooperative agree17 ment may be made under this section unless—

18 ‘‘(A) sufficient notice of the availability of,

19 and opportunity to compete for, assistance has

20 first been provided to potential applicants

21 through notice published in the Federal Register

22 or other appropriate means;

23 ‘‘(B) it has been evaluated through peer re24 view in accordance with the standards developed

25 pursuant to subsection (h) of section 405;
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1 ‘‘(C) it will be evaluated in accordance with

2 the standards developed pursuant to subsection

3 (h) of section 405;

4 ‘‘(D) in the case of a grant, contract, or co5 operative agreement which exceeds $500,000 for

6 a single fiscal year or $1,000,000 for more than

7 one fiscal year, the Secretary has complied with

8 the requirements of paragraph (4); and

9 ‘‘(E) in the case of a grant, contract, or co10 operative agreement to support a research and

11 development center, all applications for such as12 sistance have been evaluated by independent ex13 perts according to standards and criteria which

14 include—

15 ‘‘(i) whether applicants have assembled

16 a critical mass of high quality researchers

17 sufficient to achieve the mission of the cen18 ter;

19 ‘‘(ii) whether the proposed organiza20 tional structure and arrangements will fa21 cilitate achievement of the mission of the

22 center;

23 ‘‘(iii) whether there is a substantial

24 staff commitment to the work of the center;
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1 ‘‘(iv) whether the directors and staff

2 will devote adequate time to center activi3 ties; and

4 ‘‘(v) review of the contributions of pri5 mary researchers (other than researchers at

6 the proposed center) to evaluate the appro7 priateness of such primary researcher’s ex8 periences and expertise in the context of the

9 proposed center activities, and the adequacy

10 of such primary researcher’s time commit11 ment to achievement of the mission of the

12 center.

13 ‘‘(4) BOARD REVIEW OF CERTAIN PROPOSED

14 GRANT AND CONTRACT ACTIONS.—The Assistant Sec15 retary may not solicit any contract bid or issue a re16 quest for proposals or applications for any grant or

17 cooperative agreement the amount of which exceeds

18 $500,000 in any single fiscal year or which exceeds

19 an aggregate amount of $1,000,000 for more than one

20 fiscal year unless the Board has had an opportunity

21 to review such proposed grant, contract, or coopera22 tive agreement action and to provide written com23 ments to the Assistant Secretary with respect to

24 whether—
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1 ‘‘(A) the purposes and scope of the proposed

2 action are consistent with the Research Priorities

3 Plan; and

4 ‘‘(B) the methodology and approach of the

5 proposed action are sound and adequate to

6 achieve its stated objectives.

7 ‘‘(5) HISTORICALLY UNDERUTILIZED RESEARCH8 ERS AND INSTITUTIONS.—The Assistant Secretary

9 shall establish and maintain initiatives and pro10 grams to increase the participation in the activities

11 of each Institute of groups of researchers and institu12 tions that have been historically underutilized in Fed13 eral educational research activities, including—

14 ‘‘(A) researchers who are women, African15 American, Hispanic, American Indian and

16 Alaska Native, or other ethnic minorities;

17 ‘‘(B) promising young or new researchers in

18 the field, such as postdoctoral students and re19 cently appointed assistant or associate profes20 sors;

21 ‘‘(C) historically black colleges and univer22 sities, tribally controlled community colleges,

23 and other institutions of higher education with

24 large numbers of minority students;
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1 ‘‘(D) institutions of higher education located

2 in rural areas; and

3 ‘‘(E) institutions and researchers located in

4 States and regions of the Nation which have his5 torically received the least Federal support for

6 educational research and development.

7 ‘‘(6) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES.—The Assistant

8 Secretary—

9 ‘‘(A) may obtain (in accordance with sec10 tion 3109 of title 5 but without regard to the

11 limitation in such section on the period of serv12 ice) the services of experts or consultants with

13 scientific or professional qualifications in the

14 disciplines relevant to the purposes of such Insti15 tute;

16 ‘‘(B) may use, with their consent, the serv17 ices, equipment, personnel, information, and fa18 cilities of other Federal, State, or local public

19 agencies, with or without reimbursement there20 for;

21 ‘‘(C) may accept voluntary and uncompen22 sated services; and

23 ‘‘(D) may accept unconditional gifts made

24 to the Office to support its activities.
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1 ‘‘(d) NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE EDUCATION OF

2 AT-RISK STUDENTS.—

3 ‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows:

4 ‘‘(A) The rate of decline in our urban

5 schools is escalating at a rapid pace. Student

6 performance in most inner city schools grows

7 worse each year. At least half of all students en8 tering ninth grade fail to graduate 4 years later

9 and many more students from high-poverty back10 grounds leave school with skills that are inad11 equate for today’s workplace. In 1988 the average

12 National Assessment of Educational Progress

13 (NAEP) reading score of white 17 year-olds was

14 approximately 20 points higher than that of Af15 rican-American 17 year-olds and 25 points high16 er than that of Hispanic 17 year-olds. None of

17 the existing Federal educational research and de18 velopment programs are adequately addressing

19 this obvious emergency.

20 ‘‘(B) Rural schools enroll a disproportion21 ately large share of the Nation’s poor and at-risk

22 students and yet often lack the means to address

23 effectively the needs of these children. Intensive

24 efforts must be made to overcome the problems of

25 geographic isolation, declining population, inad-
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1 equate financial resources and other impedi2 ments to the educational success of children re3 siding in rural areas.

4 ‘‘(C) By the year 2000, an estimated 3.4

5 million school age children with limited English

6 language proficiency will be entering the school

7 system. The Federal Government must develop

8 effective policies and programs to address the

9 educational needs of this growing population of

10 children who are at increased risk for edu11 cational failure.

12 ‘‘(D) An educational emergency exists in

13 those urban and rural areas where there are

14 large concentrations of children who live in pov15 erty. The numbers of educationally disadvan16 taged children will substantially increase by the

17 year 2020, when the number of impoverished

18 children alone will be 16.5 million, a 33 percent

19 increase over the 12.4 million children in pov20 erty in 1987.

21 ‘‘(E) American Indian and Alaska Native

22 students are keenly at-risk of educational failure,

23 with demonstrated high dropout, illiteracy and

24 poverty rates, and cultural, linguistic, social and

25 geographic isolation. The estimated 400,000 In-
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1 dian and Alaska Native student population from

2 over 500 Indian and Alaska Native tribes, is

3 small and scattered throughout remote reserva4 tions and villages in 32 States, and in off-res5 ervation rural and urban communities where In6 dians constitute but a small percentage of public

7 school student bodies. To meaningfully address

8 the special educational needs of this historically

9 under-served population, the existing research

10 and development system must be opened to In11 dian and Alaska Native people to identify needs

12 and design ways to address such needs.

13 ‘‘(F) Minority scholars as well as institu14 tions and groups that have been historically com15 mitted to the improvement of the education of at16 risk students need to be more fully mobilized in

17 the effort to develop a new generation of pro18 grams, models, practices, and schools capable of

19 responding to the urgent needs of students who

20 are educationally at-risk.

21 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—It shall be the purpose of the

22 Institute for the Education of At-Risk Students to

23 carry out a coordinated and comprehensive program

24 of research and development to provide nonpartisan,

25 research-based leadership to the Nation as it seeks to
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1 improve educational opportunities for students who

2 are at-risk for educational failure, particularly chil3 dren who reside in inner city and rural areas, and

4 on Indian reservations, and children of limited Eng5 lish proficiency. Such program shall—

6 ‘‘(A) undertake research necessary to pro7 vide a sound basis from which to identify, de8 velop, evaluate, and assist others to replicate and

9 adapt interventions, programs, and models

10 which promote greater achievement and edu11 cational success by at-risk students, such as—

12 ‘‘(i) methods of instruction and edu13 cational practices (including community

14 services) which improve the achievement

15 and retention of at-risk students;

16 ‘‘(ii) means by which parents and com17 munity resources and institutions (includ18 ing cultural institutions) can be utilized to

19 support and improve the achievement of at20 risk students;

21 ‘‘(iii) the training of teachers and

22 other educational professionals and para23 professionals to work more effectively with

24 at-risk students;
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1 ‘‘(iv) the most effective uses of tech2 nology in the education of at-risk students;

3 ‘‘(v) programs designed to promote

4 gender equity in schools that serve at-risk

5 students; and

6 ‘‘(vi) methods of assessing the achieve7 ment of students which are sensitive to cul8 tural differences, provide multiple methods

9 of assessing student learning, support stu10 dent acquisition of higher order capabilities,

11 and enable identification of the effects of in12 equalities in the resources available to sup13 port the learning of children throughout the

14 Nation; and

15 ‘‘(B) maximize the participation of those

16 schools and institutions of higher education that

17 serve the greatest number of at-risk students in

18 inner city and rural areas, and on Indian res19 ervations, including model collaborative pro20 grams between schools and school systems, insti21 tutions of higher education, cultural institutions,

22 and community organizations.

23 ‘‘(3) COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM.—

24 The Institute shall support a diverse and comprehen-
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1 sive program of research and development which shall

2 include research related to the educational needs of—

3 ‘‘(A) at-risk students who reside in urban

4 areas;

5 ‘‘(B) at-risk students who reside in rural

6 areas;

7 ‘‘(C) children with limited English lan8 guage proficiency; and

9 ‘‘(D) Indian and Alaska Native students.

10 ‘‘(4) CONSULTATION WITH INDIAN AND ALASKA

11 NATIVE EDUCATORS.—All research and development

12 activities supported by the Institute which relate to

13 the education of Indian and Alaska Native students

14 shall be developed in close consultation with Indian

15 and Alaska Native researchers and educators, tribally

16 controlled community colleges, tribal departments of

17 education, and others with expertise in the needs of

18 Indian and Native Alaska students.

19 ‘‘(e) NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR INNOVATION IN EDU20 CATIONAL GOVERNANCE, FINANCE, POLICY-MAKING, AND

21 MANAGEMENT.—

22 ‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows:

23 ‘‘(A) Many elementary and secondary

24 schools in the United States—
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1 ‘‘(i) are structured according to models

2 that are ineffective and rely on notions of

3 management and governance that may be

4 outdated or insufficient for the challenges of

5 the next century; and

6 ‘‘(ii) are unsuccessful in equipping all

7 students with the knowledge and skills need8 ed to succeed as citizens and in the working

9 world.

10 ‘‘(B) New approaches are needed in the gov11 ernance and management of elementary and sec12 ondary education with the United States at the

13 State, local, school building and classroom level.

14 ‘‘(C) Not enough is known about the effects

15 of various systems of school governance and

16 management on student achievement to provide

17 sound guidance to policymakers as they pursue

18 school restructuring and reform.

19 ‘‘(D) A concentrated Federal effort is needed

20 to support research, development, demonstration,

21 and evaluation of approaches to school govern22 ance, finance and management which promise to

23 improve education equity and excellence through24 out the Nation.
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1 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—It shall be the purpose of the

2 National Institute on Innovation in Educational

3 Governance, Finance, Policy-Making, and Manage4 ment to carry out a coordinated and comprehensive

5 program of research and development to provide non6 partisan, research-based leadership to the Nation as it

7 seeks to improve student achievement through school

8 restructuring and reform. Such program shall—

9 ‘‘(A) undertake research necessary to pro10 vide a sound basis from which to identify, de11 velop and evaluate approaches in governance, fi12 nance, policy-making, and management at the

13 State, local, tribal, school building and classroom

14 level which promise to improve educational eq15 uity and excellence, such as—

16 ‘‘(i) open enrollment programs, magnet

17 schools and other systems through which

18 parents may select the public schools and

19 educational programs in which their chil20 dren are enrolled;

21 ‘‘(ii) innovative school design, includ22 ing lengthening the school day and the

23 school year, reducing class size and building

24 professional development into the weekly

25 school schedule;
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1 ‘‘(iii) effective approaches to organiz2 ing learning;

3 ‘‘(iv) effective ways of grouping stu4 dents for learning so that a student is not

5 labeled or stigmatized in ways that may

6 impede such student’s achievement;

7 ‘‘(v) effective approaches to organizing,

8 structuring, and financing vocational edu9 cation;

10 ‘‘(vi) the provision of financial and

11 other rewards and incentives based on per12 formance to improve student achievement;

13 ‘‘(vii) the use of regulatory flexibility

14 on the State or district level to promote in15 novation and school restructuring;

16 ‘‘(viii) school-based management;

17 ‘‘(ix) the restructuring of school finance

18 systems at the State and local level to pro19 mote greater equity in the distribution of

20 resources for education and to maximize the

21 allocation of such resources to support di22 rect learning;

23 ‘‘(x) expanding the role of teachers in

24 policymaking and administration at the

25 school and district-wide level;
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1 ‘‘(xi) programs designed to increase the

2 involvement of parents and families in the

3 management and governance of schools and

4 the education of their children;

5 ‘‘(xii) effective approaches to increas6 ing the representation of women and mi7 norities among leadership and management

8 positions in education;

9 ‘‘(xiii) approaches to systemic reforms

10 involving the coordination of multiple poli11 cies of each level of government to promote

12 higher levels of student achievement;

13 ‘‘(xiv) approaches to coordinated serv14 ices for children; and

15 ‘‘(xv) policies related to school to work

16 transitions and preparing noncollege-bound

17 students; and

18 ‘‘(B) undertake research and development

19 activities necessary to provide information on

20 the skills required for successful educational lead21 ership at the State, tribal, and local level and to

22 enhance the ability of school leaders and admin23 istrators to improve the educational environment

24 for all students.
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1 ‘‘(3) RESEARCH ON EDUCATIONAL CHOICE.—In

2 carrying out the duties of the Institute, the Assistant

3 Secretary shall conduct or support research on wheth4 er and to what extent the quality of education in the

5 United States would be improved by providing public

6 funds to parents for the costs of attendance of their

7 children at the elementary and secondary schools of

8 the parents’ choice.

9 ‘‘(f) NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD

10 DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION.—

11 ‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows:

12 ‘‘(A) The Nation has set as a goal that all

13 children should arrive at school ready to learn.

14 ‘‘(B) Despite efforts to expand and improve

15 preschool programs, many children still reach

16 school age unprepared to benefit from formal

17 education programs.

18 ‘‘(C) Early intervention for disadvantaged

19 children from conception to age five has been

20 shown to be a highly cost-effective strategy for re21 ducing later expenditures on a wide variety of

22 health, developmental, and educational problems

23 that often interfere with learning. Long-term

24 studies of the benefits of preschool education have

25 a demonstrated return on investment ranging
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1 from three to six dollars for every one dollar

2 spent.

3 ‘‘(D) The Federal government should play a

4 central role in providing research-based informa5 tion on early childhood education models which

6 enhance children’s development and ultimately

7 their success in school.

8 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the National In9 stitute for Early Childhood Development and Edu10 cation is to carry out a comprehensive program of re11 search and development to provide nonpartisan, re12 search-based leadership to the Nation as it seeks to

13 improve early childhood development and education.

14 Such program shall identify, develop, evaluate, and

15 assist others to replicate sound policies and practices

16 that may include—

17 ‘‘(A) social and educational development of

18 all infants, toddlers, and preschool children;

19 ‘‘(B) the role of parents and the community

20 in promoting the successful social and edu21 cational development of children from birth to

22 age five;

23 ‘‘(C) training and preparation of teachers

24 and other professional and paraprofessional pre25 school and child care workers;
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1 ‘‘(D) the structure and environment of early

2 childhood education and child care settings

3 which lead to improved social and educational

4 development;

5 ‘‘(E) practices and approaches which sus6 tain the benefits of effective preschool and child

7 care programs;

8 ‘‘(F) effective learning methods and curricu9 lum for early childhood learning, including ac10 cess to current materials in libraries;

11 ‘‘(G) the importance of family literacy and

12 parental involvement in student learning;

13 ‘‘(H) the impact that outside influences

14 have on learning, including television, and drug

15 and alcohol abuse; and

16 ‘‘(I) methods for integrating learning in set17 tings other than the classroom, such as within

18 families and communities, with a special empha19 sis on character development and the value of

20 hard work.

21 ‘‘(3) CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out

22 the activities of the Institute, the Assistant Secretary

23 shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) place special emphasis on the special

2 early childhood education needs of at-risk chil3 dren, children with disabilities, and girls; and

4 ‘‘(B) ensure that its research and develop5 ment program provides information that can be

6 utilized in improving the major Federal early

7 childhood education programs, including Head

8 Start, Even Start, chapter 1 preschool programs,

9 and part H of the Individuals with Disabilities

10 Education Act, and Bureau of Indian Affairs

11 early childhood development programs.

12 ‘‘(g) NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON STUDENT ACHIEVE13 MENT.—

14 ‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows:

15 ‘‘(A) The current achievement levels of stu16 dents in the Nation are far below those that

17 might indicate competency in challenging subject

18 matter in English, mathematics, science, history,

19 and geography and other areas, or across the

20 subject areas.

21 ‘‘(B) Very few students demonstrate that

22 they can use their minds well. In recent assess23 ments, more students are gaining basic skills, yet

24 fewer are demonstrating a grasp of higher-level

25 applications of those skills.
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1 ‘‘(C) During the past 20 years, relatively

2 little has changed in how students are taught.

3 Despite much research suggesting better alter4 natives, classrooms are still dominated by text5 books, teacher lectures, and short-answer activity

6 sheets and unequal patterns of student attention.

7 ‘‘(D) Despite progress in narrowing the

8 gaps, the differences in performance between

9 white students and their minority counterparts

10 remain unacceptably large. While progress has

11 been made in reducing the gender gap in mathe12 matics, it still remains at higher levels of prob13 lem solving. Too little progress has been made in

14 reducing gender performance gaps favoring

15 males in science and females in writing.

16 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the National In17 stitute on Student Achievement is to carry out a co18 ordinated and comprehensive program of research

19 and development to provide research-based leadership

20 to the Nation as it seeks to improve student achieve21 ment in English, mathematics, science, history, geog22 raphy, and other subject areas and across the bound23 aries of the subject areas. Such program shall—

24 ‘‘(A) identify, develop, and evaluate innova25 tive and exemplary methods to improve student
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1 knowledge at all levels in English, mathematics,

2 science, history, geography, civics and govern3 ment, foreign languages, arts and humanities,

4 economics, and other subject areas, such as—

5 ‘‘(i) student learning and assessment

6 in various subject matters;

7 ‘‘(ii) the effects of organizational pat8 terns on the delivery of instruction, includ9 ing issues of grouping and tracking,

10 ungraded classrooms, and on the effects of

11 various pedagogies, including the issues of

12 technology in education;

13 ‘‘(iii) the best methods of teacher prep14 aration;

15 ‘‘(iv) methods to improve the process of

16 reading, the craft of writing, the growth of

17 reasoning skills, and the development of in18 formation-finding skills;

19 ‘‘(v) enabling students to develop high20 er order thinking skills;

21 ‘‘(vi) methods to teach effectively all

22 students in mixed-ability classrooms;

23 ‘‘(vii) curriculum, instruction, and as24 sessment, in vocational education;
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1 ‘‘(viii) the impact and effectiveness of

2 Federal, State, and local efforts to provide

3 gender-fair educational opportunities to ele4 mentary and secondary students; and

5 ‘‘(ix) programs, policies, approaches

6 which promote gender equity in elementary

7 and secondary education;

8 ‘‘(B) conduct basic and applied research in

9 the areas of human learning, cognition, and per10 formance, including research and development on

11 the education contexts which promote excellence

12 in learning and instruction, and motivational

13 issues which provide a key to learning;

14 ‘‘(C) identify, develop, and evaluate pro15 grams designed to enhance academic achievement

16 and narrow racial and gender performance gaps

17 in a variety of subject areas, including research

18 and development on methods of involving parents

19 in their children’s education and ways to involve

20 business, industry and other community part21 ners in promoting excellence in schools; and

22 ‘‘(D) include a comprehensive, coordinated

23 program of research and development in the area

24 of assessment which—

25 ‘‘(i) addresses such issues as—
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1 ‘‘(I) the validity, reliability, gen2 eralizability, fairness, costs, relative

3 merits, and most appropriate uses of

4 various approaches and methods of as5 sessing student learning and achieve6 ment;

7 ‘‘(II) methods and approaches to

8 assessing student opportunities to learn

9 (including the quality of instruction

10 and the availability of resources nec11 essary to support learning) and evalu12 ating the quality of school environ13 ment;

14 ‘‘(III) the design, development,

15 evaluation, and validation of model

16 performance-based and other alter17 native or innovative formats or uses of

18 assessments;

19 ‘‘(IV) the impact of high-stakes

20 uses of assessment on student perform21 ance and motivation, narrowing of

22 curriculum, teaching practices, and

23 test integrity;

24 ‘‘(V) the fairness and impact of

25 various methods of assessment on chil-
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 dren of different races, ethnicities, gen2 der, socioeconomic status, English lan3 guage proficiencies, and children with

4 other special needs;

5 ‘‘(VI) standards of performance,

6 quality, and validity for various meth7 ods of assessment and the means by

8 which such standards should be devel9 oped;

10 ‘‘(VII) current and emerging test11 ing practices of State and local edu12 cation agencies within the United

13 States, as well as other nations;

14 ‘‘(VIII) the diverse effects, both in15 tended and unintended, of assessments

16 as actually used in the schools, includ17 ing effects on curriculum and instruc18 tion, effects on equity in the allocation

19 of resources and opportunities, effects

20 on equity of outcomes, effects on other

21 procedures and standards for judging

22 students and practitioners and possible

23 inflation of test scores;

24 ‘‘(IX) identifying and evaluating

25 how students with limited English lan-
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 guage proficiency and students with

2 disabilities are included and accommo3 dated in the various assessment pro4 grams of State and local education

5 agencies; and

6 ‘‘(X) the feasibility and validity

7 of comparing or equating the results of

8 different assessments;

9 ‘‘(ii) reflects recommendations made by

10 the National Education Goals Panel (pro11 vided such panel has been authorized by

12 law);

13 ‘‘(iii) complies with the ‘Standards for

14 Educational and Psychological Tests’ devel15 oped by the American Psychological Asso16 ciation, the National Council on Measure17 ment in Education, and the American Edu18 cational Research Association;

19 ‘‘(iv) is consistent with the ‘Criteria

20 for Evaluation of Student Assessment Sys21 tems’ developed by the National Forum on

22 Assessment; and

23 ‘‘(v) complies with the ‘Code of Fair

24 Testing Practices in Education’ developed
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1 by the Joint Committee on Testing Prac2 tices.

3 For purposes of this subparagraph, the term ‘develop4 ment’ means the development of prototypes for the

5 purposes of research and evaluation.

6 ‘‘(h) NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR POSTSECONDARY EDU7 CATION, LIBRARIES, AND LIFELONG LEARNING.—

8 ‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows:

9 ‘‘(A) The American system of postsecondary

10 education is foremost in the world in its achieve11 ment of both academic excellence and equity in

12 access, but maintaining that preeminence re13 quires renewed efforts to strengthen the quality of

14 postsecondary education. Disappointing student

15 performance on achievement tests and licensure

16 examinations, declining rates of persistence and

17 completion among minorities, and other trou18 bling trends in the quality of postsecondary edu19 cation must be addressed by the Nation as part

20 of its overall drive to improve American edu21 cation.

22 ‘‘(B) The need to improve our Nation’s eco23 nomic productivity to meet the competitive chal24 lenges of a new, international economy, coupled

25 with high levels of mobility in the United States
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 labor market and demographic changes in the

2 workforce, now demands more and higher quality

3 programs of learning and training in the Amer4 ican workplace.

5 ‘‘(C) The more than 1,000,000 men and

6 women incarcerated in the Nation’s prisons and

7 jails are among the most severely educationally

8 disadvantaged in the United States, with high

9 rates of functional illiteracy and extremely low

10 levels of educational attainment. Since an esti11 mated 90 percent of these individuals are ex12 pected to be released by the end of the decade, the

13 Nation must act to assure that our correctional

14 system has the means to equip these Americans

15 with the knowledge and skills they will need to

16 participate productively in our society.

17 ‘‘(D) The development of a ‘Nation of Stu18 dents’ capable of and committed to the pursuit

19 of formal and informal lifelong learning is essen20 tial to sustain both national and individual eco21 nomic success and to provide a nurturing envi22 ronment in which all children and youth can

23 learn and achieve. Historically the most effective

24 community resource for lifelong learning, the Na25 tion’s public library system must expand and re-
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 structure its delivery of services to take full ad2 vantage of the potential of new information tech3 nologies to meet the needs of learning commu4 nities.

5 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the National In6 stitute for Postsecondary Education, Libraries, and

7 Lifelong Learning is to promote greater coordination

8 of Federal research and development on issues related

9 to adult learning and to carry out a program of re10 search and development in adult learning to provide

11 nonpartisan, research-based leadership to the Nation

12 as it seeks to improve libraries, postsecondary edu13 cation, and lifelong learning throughout the United

14 States. Such program—

15 ‘‘(A) shall promote greater coordination, co16 operation, and interaction among entities within

17 the Federal Government which support research

18 and development related to postsecondary edu19 cation, libraries, and lifelong learning;

20 ‘‘(B) shall enable greater collaboration

21 among entities within the Federal Government

22 which support research and development related

23 to postsecondary education, libraries, and life24 long learning by supporting research and devel-
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1 opment projects which are carried out jointly by

2 such entities;

3 ‘‘(C) shall support research and develop4 ment in those areas of postsecondary education,

5 libraries, and lifelong learning which are not

6 being addressed sufficiently by other entities

7 within the Federal Government;

8 ‘‘(D) may include basic and applied re9 search, development, replication, and evaluation

10 activities in such areas as—

11 ‘‘(i) methods of assessing and evaluat12 ing individual, program, and institutional

13 performance;

14 ‘‘(ii) the uses and applications of new

15 technologies to improve program effective16 ness and enhance student learning;

17 ‘‘(iii) practices, policies, and programs

18 which address the unique needs of adult

19 learners, including—

20 ‘‘(I) institutional and classroom

21 policies and practices at the post22 secondary level necessary to improve

23 matriculation, persistence, achievement

24 and graduation by students who are

25 economically disadvantaged, ethnic
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1 and racial minorities, women, older,

2 working, and who have children;

3 ‘‘(II) instructional practices and

4 programs which are effective in correc5 tional settings;

6 ‘‘(III) new models of service deliv7 ery for public library systems which

8 expand opportunities for lifelong learn9 ing;

10 ‘‘(IV) effective programs and ap11 proaches which promote greater access

12 to and success by minorities in post13 secondary programs which prepare

14 them for scientific, technical, teaching,

15 and health career fields;

16 ‘‘(V) effective approaches to work17 based learning; and

18 ‘‘(VI) the most effective training

19 methods for adults to upgrade edu20 cation and vocational skills;

21 ‘‘(iv) the effectiveness of Historically

22 Black Colleges and Universities, Tribally23 Controlled Indian Community Colleges,

24 women’s colleges, and other special mission

25 institutions in fulfilling their mission of
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 providing access and equal opportunity in

2 higher education;

3 ‘‘(v) the quality of higher education at

4 all levels and the roles and responsibilities

5 of regional and national accrediting agen6 cies in assuring the quality and relevance of

7 academic goals and objectives established by

8 institutions of higher education;

9 ‘‘(vi) approaches to improving the pro10 ductivity of colleges, community colleges,

11 universities, and other postsecondary insti12 tutions;

13 ‘‘(vii) financial barriers to postsecond14 ary educational opportunity, including—

15 ‘‘(I) the role of Federal programs

16 authorized under title IV of the Higher

17 Education Act and State grant and

18 work programs in mitigating such bar19 riers;

20 ‘‘(II) the impact of the rising total

21 cost of postsecondary education on ac22 cess to higher education; and

23 ‘‘(III) the extent and impact of

24 student reliance on loans to meet the

25 costs of higher education;
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 ‘‘(viii) opportunities for adults to con2 tinue their education beyond higher edu3 cation and graduate school, in the context of

4 lifelong learning and information-finding

5 skills; and

6 ‘‘(ix) preparing students for a lifetime

7 of work, the ability to adapt through re8 training to the changing needs of the work

9 force and the ability to learn new tasks.

10 ‘‘(3) INVOLVEMENT OF CERTAIN AGENCIES AND

11 ORGANIZATIONS.—In promoting coordination and

12 collaboration on research and development on issues

13 related to postsecondary education, libraries, and life14 long learning, the Institute shall, as appropriate, seek

15 the involvement of—

16 ‘‘(A) within the Department of Education—

17 ‘‘(i) the Office of Library Programs;

18 ‘‘(ii) the Office of Correctional Edu19 cation;

20 ‘‘(iii) the Office of Vocational and

21 Adult Education;

22 ‘‘(iv) the National Institute on Disabil23 ity and Rehabilitation Research; and

24 ‘‘(v) the Office of Postsecondary Edu25 cation;
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 ‘‘(B) the National Institute for Literacy;

2 ‘‘(C) the National Board for Professional

3 Teaching Standards;

4 ‘‘(D) the Employment and Training Ad5 ministration of the Department of Labor;

6 ‘‘(E) the Administration for Children and

7 Families within the Department of Health and

8 Human Services;

9 ‘‘(F) the National Institutes of Health;

10 ‘‘(G) the National Endowment for Human11 ities;

12 ‘‘(H) the National Endowment for the Arts;

13 ‘‘(I) the Bureau of Prisons of the Depart14 ment of Justice;

15 ‘‘(J) the Department of Commerce;

16 ‘‘(K) the Department of Defense; and

17 ‘‘(L) the Office of Indian Education Pro18 grams of the Department of the Interior.

19 ‘‘(4) In addition to the responsibilities described

20 in paragraph (2), the Assistant Secretary shall ensure

21 that the activities of the existing National Center on

22 Literacy are fully coordinated with those of the Na23 tional Institute for Literacy.

24 ‘‘(i) COORDINATION OF RESEARCH ON CROSS-CUTTING

25 ISSUES.—The Assistant Secretary shall promote the coordi-
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 nation of research and development activities among the In2 stitutes established by subsection (a) to investigate those

3 cross-cutting disciplines and areas of inquiry, such as as4 sessment, the use of technology and the training of teachers

5 and school administrators, which are relevant to the mis6 sions of more than one of the Institutes. Such activities

7 shall—

8 ‘‘(1) address cross-cutting disciplines and areas

9 of inquiry which have been proposed by the Assistant

10 Secretary and are consistent with the research prior11 ities identified by the Board;

12 ‘‘(2) be carried out jointly (1) by any one of the

13 Institutes and—

14 ‘‘(A) one (or more) of the Institutes;

15 ‘‘(B) the National Center for Education

16 Statistics; or

17 ‘‘(C) any research and development entity

18 administered by other offices of the Department

19 of Education or by any other Federal agency or

20 Department; and

21 ‘‘(3) meet all the standards set by the Assistant

22 Secretary and the Board for other research and devel23 opment conducted by the Office.

24 ‘‘(j) PROGRAM ON TEACHING AND TEACHER EDU25 CATION.—
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary, in

2 accordance with the requirements of this subsection,

3 shall undertake a comprehensive, coordinated pro4 gram of research in the area of teaching, teacher edu5 cation, and professional development.

6 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN PURPOSES OF PROGRAM.—In car7 rying out the program established under paragraph

8 (1), the Assistant Secretary shall conduct, directly or

9 through grants and contracts, basic and applied re10 search and analytical activities to further knowledge

11 about, make recommendations, and improve—

12 ‘‘(A) the ability of classroom teachers and

13 schools to assist new and diverse populations of

14 students in successfully assimilating into the

15 classroom environment;

16 ‘‘(B) the working conditions of teachers and

17 other educational practitioners, which may in18 clude such topics as—

19 ‘‘(i) teacher isolation;

20 ‘‘(ii) professional resources available to

21 teachers;

22 ‘‘(iii) continuing educational and pro23 fessional opportunities available to teachers;

24 ‘‘(iv) physical facilities and equipment,

25 such as office space, telephone, computer ac-
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 cess, and fax machines and television cable

2 access available to teachers in the work en3 vironment;

4 ‘‘(v) opportunities for teachers to share

5 information and resources with other teach6 ers and education professionals;

7 ‘‘(vi) opportunities for advanced learn8 ing experience; and

9 ‘‘(vii) the reduction of stress in the

10 teaching profession;

11 ‘‘(C) institutional program renewal and in12 struction;

13 ‘‘(D) restructuring of State certification of

14 teachers and teacher education standards; and

15 ‘‘(E) assisting in the development of teacher

16 certification standards by Indian tribal depart17 ments of education.

18 ‘‘(3) CERTAIN ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the

19 program established under paragraph (1), the Assist20 ant Secretary—

21 ‘‘(A) shall work with institutions of higher

22 education engaged in the preparation of teachers

23 and professional organizations of teacher edu24 cators and practitioners to encourage institu25 tional program renewal and restructuring;
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 ‘‘(B) may conduct, directly or through

2 grants and contracts research on—

3 ‘‘(i) effective and reflective teaching for

4 the preparation and continuing education

5 of teachers;

6 ‘‘(ii) the use of computing and multi7 made technology to advance the understand8 ing and abilities of teacher educators and

9 classroom teachers;

10 ‘‘(iii) the development and appraisal of

11 curriculum and curriculum materials for

12 the initial and continuing education of

13 teachers and teacher educators; and

14 ‘‘(iv) strengthening the evaluation and

15 dissemination of information on programs

16 for continuing professional education and

17 renewal of those who educate teachers for

18 initial or advanced licensure or certifi19 cation; and

20 ‘‘(C) shall work with the national regional

21 education laboratories, the ERIC clearinghouses,

22 national education research library, and the Na23 tional Center for Education Statistics to maxi24 mize information available, to prevent unneces25 sary duplication of efforts and resources, and to
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 ensure the results of the centers work are widely

2 available.

3 ‘‘(k) RESEARCH ON EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY.—

4 The Assistant Secretary shall undertake a comprehensive,

5 coordinated program of research and development in the

6 area of the uses and applications of technology in education.

7 Such program—

8 ‘‘(1) may support basic and applied research

9 and development, analysis, evaluation in the area of

10 the uses and applications of technology to education,

11 including—

12 ‘‘(A) the capabilities of current and emerg13 ing technologies and their possible uses in edu14 cation;

15 ‘‘(B) the uses and applications of tech16 nology—

17 ‘‘(i) to improve instruction within all

18 content areas in the school curriculum;

19 ‘‘(ii) to educate more effectively at-risk

20 students and other students with special

21 needs;

22 ‘‘(iii) to improve education in rural

23 communities and other remote areas;

24 ‘‘(iv) to improve the assessment of stu25 dent learning and achievement;
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 ‘‘(v) to deliver preservice and inservice

2 training for teachers, librarians, and school

3 administrators; and

4 ‘‘(vi) to deliver and improve profes5 sional development and continuing edu6 cation programs;

7 ‘‘(C) the cost and educational effectiveness of

8 technologies used in education;

9 ‘‘(D) effective models and approaches for

10 providing the preservice and inservice training

11 and technical assistance necessary to enable

12 teachers, librarians, and school administrators,

13 cultural organizations, and others to use tech14 nology effectively in education;

15 ‘‘(E) the identification of barriers to greater

16 use of technologies in education and potential

17 approaches to eradicating or mitigating such

18 barriers;

19 ‘‘(F) methods and approaches which can be

20 utilized by teachers, school administrators, and

21 education policymakers, and educational pro22 grams in cultural institutions to evaluate the

23 quality and most appropriate uses of software

24 and other technologies designed for use in edu25 cation; and
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 ‘‘(G) approaches to organizing and manag2 ing schools and classrooms to make the most ef3 fective use of technology in education; and

4 ‘‘(2) shall be coordinated with related research

5 and development activities undertaken by the Office of

6 Special Education Programs, the National Science

7 Foundation, the Department of Defense, and other

8 Federal agencies.

9 ‘‘(l) TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS.—

10 ‘‘(1) TEMPORARY REORGANIZATIONS.—Upon the

11 enactment of the Educational Research, Development

12 and Dissemination Excellence Act, the Secretary shall

13 reorganize the research and development functions

14 and activities of the Office into administrative units

15 the purposes of which shall be the same as those for

16 each of the national research institutes established in

17 subsection (a). Such administrative units shall be re18 sponsible for planning and providing for the estab19 lishment of such institutes and shall cease to exist on

20 the dates upon which each of the relevant institutes

21 is established. The provisions of subsection (c) (relat22 ing to authorities and duties) shall apply to all ac23 tivities undertaken by each such administrative unit.

24 ‘‘(2) DATES FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF INSTI25 TUTES.—The National Institute for the Education of
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 At-Risk Students, the National Institute for Innova2 tion in Educational Governance, Finance, Policy3 Making, and Management, the National Institute for

4 Early Childhood Development and Education, the

5 National Institute on Student Achievement, and the

6 National Institute on Postsecondary Education, Li7 braries, and Lifelong Learning shall each be estab8 lished effective October 1, 1994.’’.

9 PART D—NATIONAL EDUCATION DISSEMINATION

10 SYSTEM

11 SEC. 241. ESTABLISHMENT WITHIN OFFICE OF EDU12 CATIONAL RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT.

13 Part A of the General Education Provisions Act, as

14 amended by section 231 of this Act, is amended by inserting

15 after section 405B the following new section:

16 ‘‘NATIONAL EDUCATION DISSEMINATION SYSTEM

17 ‘‘SEC. 405C. (a) IN GENERAL.—

18 ‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows:

19 ‘‘(A) In order to improve the American edu20 cational system for all students, achieve the na21 tional education goals, and provide for greater

22 educational equity, policymakers, administra23 tors, teachers, and parents must have ready ac24 cess to the best information and methods avail25 able as a result of educational research and de26 velopment.
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 ‘‘(B) The Office of Educational Research

2 and Improvement should have as one of its pri3 mary purposes the dissemination of such infor4 mation and methods in order to assist the na5 tional education reform effort.

6 ‘‘(C) All current resources within the Office,

7 the Department, and other agencies that can help

8 accomplish this goal should be coordinated by the

9 Assistant Secretary so as to form a systematic

10 process to accomplish these objectives.

11 ‘‘(D) Education research has the capacity to

12 improve teaching and learning in our Nation’s

13 schools, however, teachers need training in the

14 developmental skills necessary to translate re15 search into practice and to allow them to become

16 a cadre of knowledgeable practitioners and lead17 ers in educational improvement.

18 ‘‘(E) Adequate linkages between research

19 and development providers and practitioners are

20 essential to ensuring that research on effective

21 practice is useful, disseminated and supported

22 with technical assistance to all educators, and

23 that all educators are partners in the research

24 and development process.
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is

2 to—

3 ‘‘(A) create a national system of dissemina4 tion, development, and educational improvement

5 in order to create, adapt, identify, validate, and

6 disseminate to educators, parents, and policy7 makers those educational programs that have po8 tential or have been shown to improve edu9 cational opportunities for all students; and

10 ‘‘(B) empower and increase the capacity of

11 teachers to participate in the research and devel12 opment process.

13 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM.—

14 For the purposes of this section, the term ‘educational

15 program’ includes educational policies, research find16 ings, practices, and products.

17 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established within

19 the Office an Office of Reform Assistance and Dis20 semination (in this section referred to as the ‘Dis21 semination Office’) through which the Secretary shall

22 carry out all functions and activities described in this

23 section.

24 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN DUTIES.—The Dissemination Of25 fice shall—
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 ‘‘(A) identify educational programs that

2 may merit being designated as exemplary or

3 promising educational programs;

4 ‘‘(B) based solely on the educational merits

5 and promise of such programs, select those to be

6 designated as exemplary or promising;

7 ‘‘(C) provide technical and financial assist8 ance to individuals and organizations in the

9 process of developing promising educational pro10 grams in the priority areas identified in section

11 405(b)(3), but who might not, without such as12 sistance, be able to complete necessary develop13 ment and assessment activities;

14 ‘‘(D) nationally disseminate information re15 garding the exemplary and promising programs

16 to educators, parents, and policymakers through

17 a variety of means, including existing Depart18 ment activities, education associations and net19 works, and communication technologies;

20 ‘‘(E) provide training and technical assist21 ance regarding the implementation and adoption

22 of such exemplary and promising programs by

23 interested entities; and

24 ‘‘(F) carry out a program of research on

25 models for successful knowledge dissemination,
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 and utilization, and strategies for reaching edu2 cation policymakers, practitioners, and others

3 interested in education.

4 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL DUTIES.—The Dissemination

5 Office shall carry out and contain the following func6 tions and activities:

7 ‘‘(A) A process for the identification of edu8 cational programs that work.

9 ‘‘(B) The educational resources information

10 clearinghouses.

11 ‘‘(C) Dissemination through new tech12 nologies.

13 ‘‘(D) Smartline.

14 ‘‘(E) The regional educational laboratories.

15 ‘‘(F) Teacher Research Dissemination Net16 work.

17 ‘‘(G) The Goals 2000 Community Partner18 ships Program.

19 ‘‘(H) The existing National Diffusion Net20 work and its Developer-Demonstrator and State

21 Facilitator projects.

22 ‘‘(I) Such other programs or entities the

23 Secretary determines are consistent with the pur24 poses for which the Dissemination Office is es25 tablished.
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 ‘‘(c) IDENTIFICATION OF PROGRAMS.—

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary

3 shall establish a process through which successful edu4 cational programs are actively sought out for possible

5 dissemination through the national educational dis6 semination system. Such process shall, at a mini7 mum, have the capability to—

8 ‘‘(A) work closely with the research insti9 tutes, centers, regional educational laboratories,

10 the National Diffusion Network and its Devel11 oper-Demonstrator and State Facilitator

12 projects, learning grant institutions established

13 under the Goals 2000 Community Partnerships

14 Program, department-supported technical assist15 ance providers, and other entities to identify suc16 cessful educational programs at the regional,

17 State, local, or classroom level;

18 ‘‘(B) review successful educational programs

19 supported by the Department through all of its

20 programs, including Chapter 1, Even Start,

21 Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of

22 1986, the Individuals With Disabilities Edu23 cation Act, Bilingual Education, Indian Edu24 cation, the Women’s Educational Equity Act,

25 and Adult and Vocational Education;
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 ‘‘(C) through cooperative agreements, review

2 for possible inclusion in the system educational

3 programs administered by the Departments of

4 Health and Human Services (particularly the

5 Head Start program), Labor and Defense, the

6 National Science Foundation, the Department of

7 the Interior (particularly the Office of Indian

8 Education Programs), and any other appro9 priate Federal agency; and

10 ‘‘(D) provide for an active outreach effort to

11 identify successful educational programs through

12 cooperative arrangements with State and local

13 education agencies, teachers and teacher organi14 zations, curriculum associations, foundations,

15 private schools, institutions of higher education,

16 and other entities that could enhance the ability

17 of the Secretary to identify programs for possible

18 inclusion in the dissemination system.

19 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY PROGRAMS.—In carrying out this

20 subsection, the Secretary shall place a priority on

21 identifying programs, products, and practices related

22 to the priority research and development needs identi23 fied in section 405(b)(3).

24 ‘‘(d) DESIGNATION OF EXEMPLARY AND PROMISING

25 PROGRAMS.—
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary, in

2 consultation with the Board, shall establish 1 or more

3 panels of appropriately qualified experts and practi4 tioners to—

5 ‘‘(A) evaluate educational programs that

6 have been identified by the Secretary under sub7 section (c) or that have been submitted to the

8 Secretary for such evaluation by some other indi9 vidual or organization; and

10 ‘‘(B) recommend to the Secretary programs

11 that should be designated as exemplary or prom12 ising educational programs.

13 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS IN MAKING RECOMMENDA14 TIONS.—In determining whether an educational pro15 gram should receive a recommendation under para16 graph (1), a panel established under such paragraph

17 shall consider—

18 ‘‘(A) whether, based on empirical data,

19 which may include but shall not be limited to

20 test results, the program is effective and should

21 thus be designated as exemplary and dissemi22 nated through the national dissemination sys23 tem; or

24 ‘‘(B) whether there is sufficient evidence to

25 lead a panel of experts and practitioners to be-
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 lieve that the program shows promise for im2 proving student achievement and should thus be

3 designated as promising and disseminated

4 through the national dissemination system while

5 it continues to be evaluated.

6 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENT REGARDING APPROVAL OF

7 PROGRAMS.—In seeking out programs for approval

8 under paragraph (2), the Assistant Secretary shall

9 seek programs that may be implemented at the State,

10 local, and classroom level.

11 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING PANELS.—

12 ‘‘(A) A panel shall not eliminate a program

13 from consideration under this subsection based

14 solely on the fact that it does not have one spe15 cific type of supporting data, such as test scores.

16 ‘‘(B) The Assistant Secretary may not des17 ignate a program as exemplary or promising

18 unless a panel established under paragraph (1)

19 has recommended that the program be so des20 ignated.

21 ‘‘(C) The Secretary shall establish such pan22 els under paragraph (1) as may be necessary to

23 ensure that each program identified or submitted

24 for evaluation is evaluated.
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•HR 1804 EAH

‘‘(D) Not less than 2 1 ⁄3 of the membership of

2 a panel established under paragraph (1) shall

3 consist of individuals who are not officers or em4 ployees of the United States. Members of panels

5 under paragraph (1) who are not employees of

6 the United States shall receive compensation for

7 each day engaged in carrying out the duties of

8 the panel as well as compensation for their ex9 penses.

10 ‘‘(e) DISSEMINATION OF EXEMPLARY AND PROMISING

11 PROGRAMS.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to ensure that pro13 grams identified as exemplary or promising are

14 available for adoption by the greatest number of

15 teachers, schools, local and State education agencies,

16 and Bureau of Indian Affairs-funded schools, the As17 sistant Secretary shall utilize the capabilities of—

18 ‘‘(A) the education resources information

19 clearinghouses;

20 ‘‘(B) Smartline;

21 ‘‘(C) the regional educational laboratories;

22 ‘‘(D) the National Diffusion Network;

23 ‘‘(E) entities established under the Goals

24 2000 Community Partnerships Program;
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 ‘‘(F) department-supported technical assist2 ance providers;

3 ‘‘(G) the National Library of Education;

4 and

5 ‘‘(H) other public and private nonprofit en6 tities, including existing education associations

7 and networks, that have the capability to assist

8 educators in adopting exemplary and promising

9 programs.

10 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR ASSISTANT SEC11 RETARY.—In carrying out paragraph (1), the Assist12 ant Secretary shall ensure that all such entities are—

13 ‘‘(A) kept apprised of the availability of

14 specific programs for dissemination;

15 ‘‘(B) provided technical assistance, if nec16 essary, to carry out this dissemination function;

17 and

18 ‘‘(C) involved in the national education dis19 semination system as specified by law.

20 ‘‘(f) EDUCATION RESOURCES INFORMATION CLEAR21 INGHOUSES.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary

23 shall establish a system of 16 education resource in24 formation clearinghouses having, at a minimum, the

25 functions and scope of work as the clearinghouses had
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 on the date of the enactment of the Educational Re2 search, Development, and Dissemination Excellence

3 Act.

4 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS.—In addition to

5 those functions already being carried out by the clear6 inghouses, such clearinghouses may—

7 ‘‘(A) periodically produce interpretive sum8 maries, digests, and syntheses of the results and

9 findings of education-related research and devel10 opment; and

11 ‘‘(B) contain and make available to users

12 information concerning those programs des13 ignated as exemplary and promising under sub14 section (c).

15 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES.—The Assist16 ant Secretary shall assure that the functions and ac17 tivities of such clearinghouses are coordinated with

18 the activities of the research institutes, the regional

19 educational laboratories, learning grant institutions,

20 other clearinghouses supported by the Department, the

21 National Diffusion Network, and other appropriate

22 entities within the Office and the Department.

23 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SEC24 RETARY.—To assure that the information provided
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 through such clearinghouses is fully comprehensive,

2 the Secretary shall—

3 ‘‘(A) require that all reports, studies, and

4 other resources produced directly or by grant or

5 contract with the Department of Education are

6 made available to clearinghouses;

7 ‘‘(B) establish cooperative agreements with

8 the Departments of Defense, Health and Human

9 Services, Interior, and other Federal agencies to

10 assure that all education-related reports, studies,

11 and other resources produced directly or by grant

12 or contract with the Federal Government are

13 made available to such clearinghouses; and

14 ‘‘(C) devise an effective system for maximiz15 ing the identification, synthesis, and dissemina16 tion of information related to the needs of Indian

17 and Alaska Native children.

18 ‘‘(5) COPYRIGHT PROHIBITED.—

19 ‘‘(A) No clearinghouse or other entity re20 ceiving assistance under this subsection may

21 copyright or otherwise charge a royalty or other

22 fee that—

23 ‘‘(i) is for the use or redissemination of

24 any database, index, abstract, report, or
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 other information produced with assistance

2 under this subsection; and

3 ‘‘(ii) exceeds the incremental cost of

4 disseminating such information.

5 ‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the

6 incremental cost of dissemination does not in7 clude any portion of the cost of collecting, orga8 nizing, or processing the information which is

9 disseminated.

10 ‘‘(g) DISSEMINATION THROUGH NEW TECH11 NOLOGIES.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary is

13 authorized to award grants or contracts in accordance

14 with this subsection to support the development of

15 materials, programs, and resources which utilize new

16 technologies and techniques to synthesize and dissemi17 nate research and development findings and other in18 formation which can be used to support educational

19 improvement.

20 ‘‘(2) SOURCES OF MATERIALS AND RESEARCH

21 ABOUT TEACHING AND LEARNING FOR IMPROVING NA22 TIONWIDE EDUCATION (SMARTLINE).—

23 ‘‘(A) ELECTRONIC NETWORK.—The Assist24 ant Secretary, acting through the Office of Re25 form Assistance and Dissemination, shall estab-
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 lish and maintain an electronic network which

2 shall, at a minimum, link—

3 ‘‘(i) each office of the Department of

4 Education;

5 ‘‘(ii) the research institutes established

6 by section 405B;

7 ‘‘(iii) the National Center for Edu8 cation Statistics;

9 ‘‘(iv) the National Library of Edu10 cation; and

11 ‘‘(v) entities engaged in research, devel12 opment, dissemination, and technical assist13 ance under grant, contract, or cooperative

14 agreement with the Department of Edu15 cation.

16 ‘‘(B) CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS FOR NET17 WORK.—The network described in subparagraph

18 (A) shall—

19 ‘‘(i) to the extent feasible, build upon

20 existing national, regional, and State elec21 tronic networks and support video,

22 telecomputing, and interactive communica23 tions;
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 ‘‘(ii) at a minimum, have the capabil2 ity to support electronic mail and file

3 transfer services;

4 ‘‘(iii) be linked to and accessible to

5 other users, including State and local edu6 cation agencies, institutions of higher edu7 cation, museums, libraries, and others

8 through the Internet and the National Re9 search and Education Network; and

10 ‘‘(iv) be provided at no cost (excluding

11 the costs of necessary hardware) to the con12 tractors and grantees described in clause (v)

13 of subparagraph (A) and to educational in14 stitutions accessing such network through

15 the Internet and the National Research and

16 Education Network.

17 ‘‘(C) INFORMATION RESOURCES.—The As18 sistant Secretary, acting through the Office of

19 Reform Assistance and Dissemination, may

20 make available through the network described in

21 subparagraph (A)—

22 ‘‘(i) information about grant and con23 tract assistance available through the de24 partment;
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 ‘‘(ii) an annotated directory of current

2 research and development activities and

3 projects being undertaken with the assist4 ance of the Department;

5 ‘‘(iii) information about publications

6 published by the Department and, to the ex7 tent feasible, the full text of such publica8 tions;

9 ‘‘(iv) statistics and data published by

10 the National Center for Education Statis11 tics;

12 ‘‘(v) syntheses of research and develop13 ment findings;

14 ‘‘(vi) a directory of other education-re15 lated electronic networks and databases, in16 cluding information about the means by

17 which they may be accessed;

18 ‘‘(vii) a descriptive listing of materials

19 and courses of instruction provided by tele20 communications partnerships assisted under

21 the Star Schools program;

22 ‘‘(viii) resources developed by the

23 ERIC Clearinghouses;
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1 ‘‘(ix) education-related software (in2 cluding video) which is in the public do3 main;

4 ‘‘(x) a listing of instructional mate5 rials available through telecommunications

6 to local education agencies through the Pub7 lic Broadcasting Service and State edu8 cational television networks; and

9 ‘‘(xi) such other information and re10 sources the Assistant Secretary considers

11 useful and appropriate.

12 ‘‘(D) EVALUATIONS REGARDING OTHER

13 FUNCTIONS OF NETWORK.—The Assistant Sec14 retary shall also undertake projects to test and

15 evaluate the feasibility of using the network de16 scribed in subparagraph (A) for—

17 ‘‘(i) the submission of applications for

18 assistance to the Department; and

19 ‘‘(ii) the collection of data and other

20 statistics through the National Center for

21 Education Statistics.

22 ‘‘(E) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSIST23 ANCE.—The Assistant Secretary, acting through

24 the Office of Reform Assistance and Dissemina25 tion, shall—
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1 ‘‘(i) provide such training and tech2 nical assistance as may be necessary to en3 able the contractors and grantees described

4 in clause (v) of subparagraph (A) to par5 ticipate in the electronic network described

6 in such subparagraph; and

7 ‘‘(ii) work with the National Science

8 Foundation to provide, upon request, assist9 ance to State and local education agencies,

10 the Department of the Interior’s Office of

11 Indian Education Programs, tribal depart12 ments of education, State library agencies,

13 libraries, museums, and other educational

14 institutions in obtaining access to the

15 Internet and the National Research and

16 Education Network.

17 ‘‘(h) REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL LABORATORIES.—

18 ‘‘(1) REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL LABORATORIES.—

19 The Assistant Secretary shall enter into contracts

20 with public or private nonprofit entities to establish

21 a networked system of 10 regional educational labora22 tories which serve the needs of each region of the Na23 tion in accordance with the provisions of this sub24 section. For the purposes of this subsection, the term

25 ‘region’ means 1 of the 10 geographic regions set forth
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1 in section 2(a) of part 707 of title 34, Code of Federal

2 Regulations (34 CFR 707.2(a)), as published in num3 ber 157 of volume 53 of the Federal Register on Au4 gust 15, 1988.

5 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—Each regional educational lab6 oratory receiving assistance under this subsection

7 shall, with such assistance, assist State education

8 agencies, intermediate education agencies, local school

9 districts, and schools funded by the Bureau of Indian

10 Affairs in implementing broad-based, systemic school

11 improvement strategies through the use of applied re12 search and development activities. The regional edu13 cational laboratories shall support such system-wide

14 reform efforts through—

15 ‘‘(A) the development of a plan for identify16 ing needs and for serving the needs of the region

17 by conducting a continuing survey of the edu18 cational needs, strengths and weaknesses within

19 the region, including a process of open hearings

20 to solicit the views of schools, teachers, adminis21 trators, parents, local educational agencies, li22 brarians, and State educational agencies within

23 the region;

24 ‘‘(B) the dissemination of information about

25 programs designated as exemplary and promis-
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1 ing under subsection (c) and other appropriate

2 programs and practices;

3 ‘‘(C) the provision of support and technical

4 assistance in—

5 ‘‘(i) replicating and adapting such ex6 emplary and promising practices;

7 ‘‘(ii) the development of high-quality,

8 challenging curriculum frameworks;

9 ‘‘(iii) the development of valid, reliable,

10 fair systems of assessment which are based

11 upon State, local, or Bureau of Indian Af12 fairs-funded school curriculum frameworks

13 and reflect recent advances in the field of

14 educational assessment;

15 ‘‘(iv) the improvement of professional

16 development strategies to assure that all

17 teachers are prepared to teach a challenging

18 curriculum;

19 ‘‘(v) expanding and improving the use

20 of technology in education to improve teach21 ing and learning;

22 ‘‘(vi) the development of alternatives

23 for restructuring school finance systems to

24 promote greater equity in the distribution of

25 resources; and
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1 ‘‘(vii) the development of alternative

2 administrative structures which are more

3 conducive to planning, implementing, and

4 sustaining school reform and improved edu5 cational outcomes;

6 ‘‘(D) the development of educational pro7 grams and practices that address State, regional,

8 or Indian tribal needs in relating to their school

9 reform efforts;

10 ‘‘(E) facilitating communication between

11 educational experts, school officials, and teachers,

12 parents, and librarians, to enable such individ13 uals to assist schools to develop a plan to meet

14 the national education goals;

15 ‘‘(F) bringing teams of experts together to

16 develop and implement school improvement

17 plans and strategies;

18 ‘‘(G) the provision of training in—

19 ‘‘(i) the field of education research and

20 related areas;

21 ‘‘(ii) the use of new educational meth22 ods; and

23 ‘‘(iii) the use of information-finding

24 methods, practices, techniques, and products

25 developed in connection with such training
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1 for which the regional educational labora2 tory shall be authorized to support intern3 ships and fellowships and to provide sti4 pends; and

5 ‘‘(H) the provision of support and technical

6 assistance (upon their request) to State

7 facilitators funded through the National Diffu8 sion Network.

9 ‘‘(3) NETWORKING.—In order to improve the ef10 ficiency and effectiveness of the regional laboratories,

11 the governing boards of the ten regional laboratories

12 shall establish and maintain a network to—

13 ‘‘(A) share information about the activities

14 each is carrying out;

15 ‘‘(B) plan joint activities that would meet

16 the needs of multiple regions;

17 ‘‘(C) create a strategic plan for the develop18 ment of activities undertaken by the laboratories

19 to reduce redundancy and increase collaboration

20 and resource-sharing in such activities; and

21 ‘‘(D) otherwise devise means by which the

22 work of the individual laboratories could serve

23 national, as well as regional, needs.
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1 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL DUTIES.—Each regional edu2 cation laboratory receiving assistance under this sub3 section shall carry out the following activities:

4 ‘‘(A) Collaborate with the Institutes estab5 lished under section 405B in order to—

6 ‘‘(i) maximize the use of research con7 ducted through the Institutes in the work of

8 such laboratory;

9 ‘‘(ii) keep the Institutes apprised of the

10 work of the regional educational labora11 tories in the field; and

12 ‘‘(iii) inform the Institutes about addi13 tional research needs identified in the field.

14 ‘‘(B) Consult with the State educational

15 agencies and library agencies in the region in

16 developing the plan for serving the region.

17 ‘‘(C) Develop strategies to utilize schools as

18 critical components in reforming education and

19 revitalizing rural communities in the United

20 States.

21 ‘‘(D) Report and disseminate information

22 on overcoming the obstacles faced by rural edu23 cators and rural schools.

24 ‘‘(E) Identify successful educational pro25 grams that have either been developed by such
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1 laboratory in carrying out its functions or that

2 have been developed or used by others within the

3 region served by the laboratory and make such

4 information available to the Secretary and the

5 network of regional laboratories so that they may

6 be considered for inclusion in the national edu7 cation development and dissemination system.

8 ‘‘(5) CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out

9 its responsibilities, each regional educational labora10 tory shall—

11 ‘‘(A) establish a governing board that—

12 ‘‘(i) is the sole entity that—

13 ‘‘(I) guides and directs the labora14 tory in carrying out the provisions of

15 this subsection and satisfying the terms

16 and conditions of the contract award;

17 and

18 ‘‘(II) determines the regional

19 agenda of the laboratory, consistent

20 with the priority research and develop21 ment needs identified in section

22 405(b)(3); and

23 ‘‘(ii) reflects a balanced representation

24 of the States in the region, as well as the in-
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 terests and concerns of regional constitu2 encies;

3 ‘‘(B) comply with the standards established

4 by the Assistant Secretary and the Board under

5 section 405A;

6 ‘‘(C) coordinate its activities, collaborate,

7 and regularly exchange information with the in8 stitutes established under section 405C, the Na9 tional Diffusion Network, and its Developer

10 Demonstrator and State Facilitator projects,

11 learning grant institutions and district edu12 cation agents assisted under subsection (i), the

13 ERIC Clearinghouses, and other entities engages

14 in technical assistance and dissemination activi15 ties which are supported by other Offices of the

16 Department of Education; and

17 ‘‘(D) allocate its resources to and within

18 each State in a manner which reflects the need

19 for assistance, taking into account such factors

20 as the proportion of economically disadvantaged

21 students, the increased cost burden of service de22 livery in areas of sparse populations, and any

23 special initiatives being undertaken by State, in24 termediate, local education agencies, or Bureau
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1 of Indian Affairs-funded schools which may re2 quire special assistance from the laboratory.

3 ‘‘(6) EVALUATIONS.—The Assistant Secretary

4 shall provide for periodic, independent evaluations of

5 each of the laboratories in carrying out the duties de6 scribed in paragraph (1) in accordance with the

7 standards developed by the Assistant Secretary and

8 the Board and transmit the results of such evalua9 tions to the relevant committees of the Congress, the

10 Board, and the appropriate regional educational lab11 oratory board.

12 ‘‘(7) INVITATION REGARDING COMPETITION FOR

13 AWARDS OF ASSISTANCE.—Prior to awarding a grant

14 or entering into a contract under this section, the Sec15 retary shall invite applicants, including the existing

16 regional educational laboratories, to compete for such

17 award through notice in the Federal Register and in

18 the publication of the Department of Commerce

19 known as the Commerce Business Daily.

20 ‘‘(8) APPLICATION FOR ASSISTANCE.—Each ap21 plication for assistance under this subsection shall—

22 ‘‘(A) cover not less than a 5-year period;

23 ‘‘(B) describe how the applicant would

24 carry out the activities required by this sub25 section; and
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1 ‘‘(C) contain such additional information

2 as the Secretary may reasonably require.

3 ‘‘(9) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—No regional edu4 cational laboratory receiving assistance under this

5 subsection shall, by reason of the receipt of that assist6 ance, be ineligible to receive any other assistance from

7 the Department as authorized by law.

8 ‘‘(10) ADVANCE PAYMENT SYSTEM.—Each re9 gional educational laboratory shall participate in the

10 advance payment system at the Department of Edu11 cation.

12 ‘‘(i) GOALS 2000 COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS PRO13 GRAM.—

14 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Goals 2000

15 Community Partnerships program is to improve the

16 quality of learning and teaching in the Nation’s most

17 impoverished urban and rural communities by sup18 porting sustained collaborations between universities,

19 schools, businesses, and communities which apply and

20 utilize the results of educational research and develop21 ment.

22 ‘‘(2) GRANTS FOR GOALS 2000 COMMUNITY PART23 NERSHIPS.—The Assistant Secretary is authorized to

24 make grants to eligible entities to support the estab25 lishment of Learning Grant Institutions and District
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 Education Agents and the activities authorized under

2 this subsection within eligible communities.

3 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY AND ELI4 GIBLE COMMUNITY.—For the purposes of this sub5 section:

6 ‘‘(A) The term ‘eligible entity’ includes any

7 institution of higher education, regional edu8 cation laboratory, National Diffusion Network

9 project, national research and development cen10 ter, public or private nonprofit corporation, or

11 any consortium thereof that—

12 ‘‘(i) has demonstrated experience, ex13 pertise and commitment in serving the edu14 cational needs of at-risk students; and

15 ‘‘(ii) is, by virtue of its previous ac16 tivities, knowledgeable about the unique

17 needs and characteristics of the community

18 to be served.

19 ‘‘(B) The term ‘eligible community’ means a

20 unit of general purpose local government (such

21 as a city, township, or village), a

22 nonmetropolitan county, tribal village, or a geo23 graphically distinct area (such as a school dis24 trict, school attendance area, ward, precinct or
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1 neighborhood), or any group of such entities

2 that—

3 ‘‘(i) has a population of not less than

4 200,000 and not more than 300,000; and

5 ‘‘(ii) in which not less than one-half of

6 the school-age children have family incomes

7 which are below the poverty line, as deter8 mined by the 1990 United States Census,

9 participation in the National School Lunch

10 program, or other current, reliable data

11 concerning family income.

12 ‘‘(4) GOALS 2000 COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS.—

13 Each learning grant institution receiving assistance

14 under this subsection shall establish a Goals 2000

15 community partnership to carry out the activities au16 thorized under this subsection. Such partnership—

17 ‘‘(A) shall include the participation of one

18 or more local educational agencies, institutions

19 of higher education, community-based organiza20 tions, parents, teachers, and the business commu21 nity;

22 ‘‘(B) may include the participation of

23 human, social service and health care agencies,

24 Head Start and child care agencies, libraries,

25 museums, employment and training agencies,
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1 and the State educational agency or tribal de2 partment of education; and

3 ‘‘(C) shall be broadly representative of all

4 segments of the community in which the activi5 ties will be carried out.

6 ‘‘(5) COMPREHENSIVE GOALS 2000 PLAN.—Each

7 Goals 2000 Community Partnership shall develop a

8 comprehensive plan for assuring educational success

9 and high achievement for all students in the commu10 nity. Each such plan shall—

11 ‘‘(A) adopt the 6 national educational goals;

12 ‘‘(B) identify additional needs and goals for

13 educational improvement within the community;

14 ‘‘(C) focus on helping all students reach

15 challenging content and student performance

16 standards;

17 ‘‘(D) be consistent with the State and local

18 plan for system-wide education improvement de19 veloped pursuant to the Goals 2000: Educate

20 America Act;

21 ‘‘(E) establish a comprehensive community22 wide plan for achieving such goals; and

23 ‘‘(F) develop a means for measuring the

24 progress of the community in meeting such goals

25 for improvement.
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1 ‘‘(6) IMPLEMENTATION OF COMMUNITY-WIDE

2 PLAN.—Each Goals 2000 Community Partnership

3 shall, utilizing the District Education Agent, provide

4 assistance in implementing the community-wide plan

5 for educational improvement by—

6 ‘‘(A) supporting innovation, restructuring,

7 and continuous improvement in educational

8 practice by—

9 ‘‘(i) disseminating information

10 throughout the community about exemplary

11 and promising educational programs, prac12 tices, products, and policies;

13 ‘‘(ii) evaluating the effectiveness of fed14 erally funded educational programs within

15 the community and identifying changes in

16 such programs which are likely to improve

17 student achievement;

18 ‘‘(iii) identifying, selecting and rep19 licating exemplary and promising edu20 cational programs, practices, products, and

21 policies in both in and out-of-school set22 tings;

23 ‘‘(iv) applying educational research to

24 solve specific problems in the classroom,
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 home and community which impede learn2 ing and student achievement; and

3 ‘‘(v) supporting research and develop4 ment by teachers, school administrators,

5 and other practitioners which promise to

6 improve teaching and learning and the

7 organization of schools;

8 ‘‘(B) improving the capacity of educators,

9 school administrators, child care providers and

10 other practitioners to prepare all students to

11 reach challenging standards and to attain the

12 goals set out in the comprehensive community13 wide plan through such means as—

14 ‘‘(i) the training of prospective and

15 novice teachers (including preschool and

16 early childhood educators) in a school set17 ting under the guidance of master teachers

18 and teacher educators;

19 ‘‘(ii) training and other activities to

20 promote the continued learning and profes21 sional development of experienced teachers,

22 related services personnel, school adminis23 trators to assure that they develop the

24 subject matter and pedagogical expertise
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1 needed to prepare all students to reach chal2 lenging standards;

3 ‘‘(iii) training and other activities to

4 increase the ability of prospective, novice,

5 and experienced teachers to teach effectively

6 at-risk students, students with disabilities,

7 students with limited English language pro8 ficiency, and students from diverse cultural

9 backgrounds; and

10 ‘‘(iv) programs to enhance teaching

11 and classroom management skills, including

12 school-based management skills, of novice,

13 prospective, and experienced teachers;

14 ‘‘(C) promoting the development of an inte15 grated system of service delivery to children from

16 birth through age 18 and their families by facili17 tating linkages and cooperation among—

18 ‘‘(i) local education agencies;

19 ‘‘(ii) health and social services agencies

20 and providers;

21 ‘‘(iii) juvenile justice and criminal jus22 tice agencies;

23 ‘‘(iv) providers of employment train24 ing; and
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1 ‘‘(v) child care, Head Start, and other

2 early childhood agencies; and

3 ‘‘(D) mobilizing the resources of the commu4 nity in support of student learning and high

5 achievement by facilitating effective partnerships

6 and collaboration among—

7 ‘‘(i) local education agencies;

8 ‘‘(ii) postsecondary educational insti9 tutions;

10 ‘‘(iii) public libraries;

11 ‘‘(iv) parents;

12 ‘‘(v) community-based organizations,

13 neighborhood associations, and other civic

14 and community organizations;

15 ‘‘(vi) child care, Head Start, and other

16 early childhood agencies;

17 ‘‘(vii) churches, synagogues and other

18 religious institutions;

19 ‘‘(viii) labor organizations; and

20 ‘‘(ix) business and industry.

21 ‘‘(7) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying

22 out its responsibilities under this subsection, each

23 partnership receiving assistance under this subsection

24 shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) appoint a District Education Agent

2 who shall be responsible, on a full-time basis, for

3 directing the implementation of the community4 wide plan. Such individual shall have signifi5 cant experience and expertise in the field of edu6 cation in—

7 ‘‘(i) addressing the needs of at-risk stu8 dents; and

9 ‘‘(ii) conducting educational research

10 and promoting the application of the results

11 of such research to educational practice;

12 ‘‘(B) provide for such other professional and

13 support personnel as may be necessary to imple14 ment the community-wide plan under the direc15 tion of the District Education Agent; and

16 ‘‘(C) coordinate its activities and work co17 operatively with the National Diffusion Network

18 State facilitators, regional laboratories, and

19 other components of the Office to utilize most ef20 fectively Federal research, development, and dis21 semination resources in implementing the com22 munity-wide plan.

23 ‘‘(8) APPLICATION FOR GRANTS.—Any eligible

24 entity desiring a grant under this subsection shall

25 submit an application to the Assistant Secretary at
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1 such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such

2 information as the Assistant Secretary may reason3 ably require. Each such application shall—

4 ‘‘(A) include a comprehensive plan for meet5 ing the objectives and requirements of this sub6 section; and

7 ‘‘(B) provide evidence of support for the ap8 plication from local elected officials, the State

9 education agency, the local education agency,

10 parents, local community leaders, businesses, and

11 other appropriate organizations.

12 ‘‘(9) PRIORITY IN MAKING GRANTS; DURATION

13 AND AMOUNT OF GRANT.—Each grant made under

14 this subsection shall be—

15 ‘‘(A) awarded on a competitive basis, with

16 first priority given to those applications from

17 communities with the greatest percentage of

18 school-age children in families with poverty-level

19 incomes;

20 ‘‘(B) made for a 5-year period, with fund21 ing for the second and each successive year in

22 this period conditioned upon a determination by

23 the Assistant Secretary that the grant recipient

24 has complied with the conditions of the grants

25 during the previous year; and
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1 ‘‘(C) an amount equal to not less than

2 $1,000,000 per year.

3 ‘‘(10) LIMITATION OF ONE GRANT PER CONGRES4 SIONAL DISTRICT.—Not more than one grant shall be

5 awarded within a single congressional district.

6 ‘‘(11) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE; EVALUATIONS.—

7 In administering the program authorized under this

8 subsection, the Assistant Secretary shall, either di9 rectly or through grant or contract with an eligible

10 nonprofit agency—

11 ‘‘(A) upon request, provide technical assist12 ance to eligible entities to assist in the develop13 ment of a comprehensive plan to meet the re14 quirements of this subsection and in the prepara15 tion of applications for assistance;

16 ‘‘(B) regularly provide technical assistance

17 to learning grant institutions receiving assist18 ance under this subsection to assist with the de19 velopment and implementation of the commu20 nity-wide plan for educational improvement;

21 ‘‘(C) provide for an independent evaluation

22 of the activities assisted under this subsection,

23 including—

24 ‘‘(i) the impact of the Goals 2000 Com25 munity Partnerships program on children
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 and families within each community, in2 cluding (but not limited to) effects on the

3 extent of educational achievement, rates of

4 school retention and completion, and enroll5 ment in program postsecondary educational

6 programs; and

7 ‘‘(ii) whether an intensified effort to

8 apply and utilize educational research with9 in a limited geographic area significantly

10 improves student learning and achievement;

11 and

12 ‘‘(D) plan for the expansion of the Goals

13 2000 Community Partnerships program

14 throughout the remainder of the Nation begin15 ning in fiscal year 1998.

16 ‘‘(j) TEACHER RESEARCH DISSEMINATION NET17 WORK.—

18 ‘‘(1) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

19 ‘‘(A) education research, including research

20 funded by the Office, is not having the impact on

21 the Nation’s schools that such research should;

22 ‘‘(B) relevant education research and result23 ing solutions are not being adequately dissemi24 nated to the teachers that need such research and

25 solutions;
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1 ‘‘(C) there are not enough linkages between

2 the research and development centers assisted

3 under this section, the regional educational lab4 oratories described in subsection (k), the Na5 tional Diffusion Network State facilitators, the

6 Education Resources Information Clearing7 houses, and the public schools, to ensure that re8 search on effective practice is disseminated and

9 technical assistance provided to all teachers;

10 ‘‘(D) the average teacher has almost no time

11 to plan or engage in a professional dialogue with

12 such teacher’s peers about strategies for improv13 ing learning;

14 ‘‘(E) teachers do not have direct access to

15 information systems or networks;

16 ‘‘(F) teachers have little control over what

17 in-service education teachers will be offered; and

18 ‘‘(G) individual teachers are not encouraged

19 to move beyond the walls of their classrooms to

20 identify and use outside resources.

21 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—

22 ‘‘(A) The Assistant Secretary shall enter

23 into contracts with regional educational labora24 tories, in partnership with 1 or more institu25 tions of higher education in each State of its re-
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1 gion, the National Diffusion Network, and other

2 entities with demonstrated experience, expertise,

3 and commitment in the areas of teacher research

4 or teacher professional development, such as the

5 national research and development centers, pro6 fessional teacher organizations, and other quali7 fied organizations and associations, in the region

8 to carry out activities described in paragraph

9 (3).

10 ‘‘(B) The Assistant Secretary shall enter

11 into contracts under this subsection in an equi12 table manner and shall provide assistance on the

13 basis of the number of schools, teachers, and stu14 dents in each regional educational laboratory re15 gion with attention given to populations with

16 special needs and the increased cost burden of

17 service delivery in regions of sparse population.

18 ‘‘(C) Contracts under this subsection shall

19 be awarded for a period of not less than 3 years.

20 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—

21 ‘‘(A) Each regional partnership described in

22 paragraph (2)(A) entering into a contract under

23 this subsection shall carry out programs of pro24 viding training to teachers relevant to the needs

25 and problems of the schools and school districts
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1 where teachers, who participate in the programs,

2 serve. The purpose of such programs shall be

3 to—

4 ‘‘(i) educate teachers on how to acquire

5 information about education research find6 ings and best practices;

7 ‘‘(ii) provide teachers with current

8 education research and development theory,

9 skills, and practice as shall enable them to

10 modify, design, develop, and adapt such

11 findings and practices to effect local district

12 and classroom outcomes that improve edu13 cation;

14 ‘‘(iii) enable teachers to become ac15 tively involved in the applied research and

16 development process;

17 ‘‘(iv) provide teachers the ability to be18 come leaders in the utilization of applied

19 research and to become active participants

20 in the Federal research and development

21 partnership;

22 ‘‘(v) enhance the ability of teachers to

23 evaluate and choose effective education pro24 grams and curricula; and
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 ‘‘(vi) facilitate collaboration between

2 the teacher change agent and the National

3 Diffusion Network State facilitator.

4 ‘‘(B) Teachers that participate in training

5 assisted under this subsection shall be known as

6 ‘teacher change agents’.

7 ‘‘(C) The program described in subpara8 graph (A) shall provide teacher change agents

9 with training during the summer and at such

10 other times as agreed to by the district, which

11 shall—

12 ‘‘(i) give teacher change agents knowl13 edge and guidance in using the existing

14 educational improvement services and re15 sources funded by the United States Depart16 ment of Education and other major research

17 organizations, including the products and

18 work of the regional educational labora19 tories, professional teacher organizations,

20 the National Diffusion Network, institutions

21 of higher education, the Educational Re22 search Information Centers, National Re23 search Centers, National Research Insti24 tutes, State Departments of Education, local

25 education agencies, and other nonprofit or-
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1 ganizations participating in the improve2 ment of education;

3 ‘‘(ii) provide teacher change agents

4 with indepth knowledge about a number of

5 products, programs, and processes developed

6 by entities described in clause (i) that the

7 teacher change agents judge most relevant to

8 the needs of the district or districts they will

9 serve;

10 ‘‘(iii) inform teacher change agents

11 about government programs, including, but

12 not limited to, programs in government

13 agencies other than the Department of Edu14 cation, which offer research opportunities,

15 fellowships, and funding; and

16 ‘‘(iv) provide teacher change agents

17 with instruction in technical assistance

18 skills in order to increase their capacity to

19 aid district and school site teacher teams re20 sponsible for leading school improvement

21 activities at the district and school site

22 level.

23 ‘‘(D) The school year activities described in

24 subparagraph (A) shall provide teacher change
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•HR 1804 EAH

1 agents participating in such program during the

2 school year with—

3 ‘‘(i) opportunities to meet with other

4 teacher change agents to exchange experi5 ences;

6 ‘‘(ii) additional training or assistance

7 as needed or requested;

8 ‘‘(iii) updates in education research,

9 application, and findings; and

10 ‘‘(iv) opportunities to provide feedback

11 into the educational research infrastructure

12 regarding needed research and ways to im13 prove the development and dissemination of

14 information.

15 ‘‘(E) The regional partnership program

16 may support educational improvement and re17 form activities such as—

18 ‘‘(i) training in applied research meth19 odologies;

20 ‘‘(ii) assistance in conducting applied

21 research;

22 ‘‘(iii) teacher research sabbaticals;

23 ‘‘(iv) video conferencing for additional

24 training in order to reduce travel time and

25 expenses;
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1 ‘‘(v) training in developing and imple2 menting effective teacher in-service training;

3 ‘‘(vi) training in change management,

4 including strategies for restructuring

5 schools, building local capacity, and gen6 erally strengthening the culture of schools so

7 that schools are conducive and supportive of

8 change, including training in interpersonal

9 and leadership skills; and

10 ‘‘(vii) training in the appropriate use

11 of technology to assist classroom teachers.

12 ‘‘(F) TEACHER RESPONSIBILITIES.—Teach13 er change agents shall, during the school year—

14 ‘‘(i) meet with other teachers and dis15 trict or school site teacher teams to provide

16 other teachers with knowledge about how to

17 acquire information regarding education re18 search findings and best practices, includ19 ing what resources are available from the

20 Department of Education and how to ob21 tain products and technical services from

22 the Department;

23 ‘‘(ii) meet with the National Diffusion

24 Network State Facilitator to coordinate and
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1 not duplicate efforts in the dissemination of

2 exemplary educational programs;

3 ‘‘(iii) help interested schools identify

4 resources needed to address the school’s

5 needs and act as liaison between the school

6 and the appropriate resource entities, such

7 as regional educational laboratories, centers,

8 national institutes, institutions of higher

9 education, professional teacher organiza10 tions, scholars, consultants, and other

11 schools and school districts that may be of

12 assistance;

13 ‘‘(iv) teach other teachers how to use

14 the products, programs, and processes in

15 which the teacher was trained pursuant to

16 paragraph (2)(C)(II);

17 ‘‘(v) work with other teachers and

18 teacher teams to adapt identified exemplary

19 practices, programs, and research results to

20 implement school site or classroom improve21 ments as desired, and provide follow-up ac22 tivities throughout a 2-year period to ensure

23 the successful adaptation and implementa24 tion of such programs in local schools; and
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1 ‘‘(vi) inform teachers about how they

2 can obtain Federal research funding, fellow3 ships, and sabbaticals.

4 ‘‘(G) APPLICATION.—

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each regional

6 partnership desiring a contract under this

7 subsection shall submit to the Secretary an

8 application at such time, in such manner,

9 and accompanied by such information as

10 the Assistant Secretary may reasonably re11 quire.

12 ‘‘(ii) CONTENTS.—Each application

13 described in clause (i) shall—

14 ‘‘(I) contain a plan acceptable to

15 affected States and local education

16 agencies for conducting the program to

17 be assisted under this section;

18 ‘‘(II) contain assurances that the

19 partnership requirements are fulfilled;

20 ‘‘(III) contain assurances that

21 both district and school site teacher

22 teams will be established to work in

23 conjunction with the teacher change

24 agent;
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1 ‘‘(IV) contain a plan for the selec2 tion of district and school site teacher

3 team participants and others as

4 deemed appropriate by the teacher

5 change agent and the regional partner6 ship;

7 ‘‘(V) contain assurances that the

8 regional partnership, in conjunction

9 with the participating school districts,

10 shall provide each teacher change agent

11 with a stipend for the entire calendar

12 year commensurate with such teacher’s

13 salary and travel expenses, to permit a

14 teacher to participate in such program

15 without incurring loss of income;

16 ‘‘(VI) contain assurances that

17 each teacher change agent participat18 ing in the program shall receive an

19 award of not more than $10,000 to be

20 used by such teacher during the school

21 year of such teacher’s participation to

22 purchase materials, support, and co23 ordinate with other teachers or site

24 teacher teams in the school district;
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1 ‘‘(VII) contain assurances that

2 such regional partnerships shall pro3 vide not more than $5,000 to each

4 school district or group of school dis5 tricts having an individual from such

6 district or districts participating in

7 the program assisted under this section

8 for each of the 2 years following such

9 participation to enable such school dis10 trict or districts to continue efforts to

11 improve dissemination of effective

12 practices and programs within the dis13 trict or districts;

14 ‘‘(VIII) contain assurances that

15 representatives of State educational

16 agencies, intermediate educational

17 agencies, teacher centers, teacher edu18 cators at institutions of higher edu19 cation, and school district in-service or

20 curriculum specialists will be eligible

21 to participate in the program assisted

22 under this section if such individuals

23 pay the cost of their participation; and

24 ‘‘(IX) contain an assurance that

25 such regional partnership shall permit
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1 a teacher to participate in the program

2 only after such partnership determines

3 that the teacher will be afforded a full

4 opportunity by the district to perform

5 such teacher’s responsibilities described

6 in paragraph (3)(F).

7 ‘‘(4) TEACHER SELECTION AND ELIGIBILITY.—

8 ‘‘(A) NOMINATION.—Teacher participants

9 in the program assisted under this subsection

10 shall be nominated by their peers at the school

11 district level.

12 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY.—Each school district or

13 group of school districts desiring to have teachers

14 from such district or districts participate in the

15 program assisted under this subsection shall pro16 vide the regional partnership with the names of

17 such teachers, and an indication of the type of

18 issues or problems on which each such teacher

19 would like to receive information and training.

20 ‘‘(C) SELECTION.—

21 ‘‘(i) Teacher participants shall be se22 lected by the regional partnerships in con23 sultation with the State educational agen24 cies in the region. Teacher participants

25 shall be selected in such a manner so as to
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1 ensure an equitable representation of such

2 teachers by State and school enrollment

3 within the region.

4 ‘‘(ii) The number of teachers selected

5 each year shall be determined in accordance

6 with the amount of funding received by the

7 regional partnership.

8 ‘‘(5) INDEPENDENT EVALUATION.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary

10 shall provide for an independent evaluation of

11 the program assisted under this subsection to de12 termine the net impact and cost effectiveness of

13 the program and the reactions of teachers and

14 school districts participating in such program,

15 including any career plan changes of participat16 ing teachers.

17 ‘‘(B) DATE.—The evaluation described in

18 subparagraph (A) shall be submitted to the Con19 gress within 6 months after the completion of the

20 third year of the program.

21 ‘‘(C) FUNDING.—The Assistant Secretary

22 may reserve not more than $250,000 of the

23 amount appropriated under section 405(i)(2)(E)

24 to carry out the evaluation described in this

25 paragraph.’’.
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1 PART E—NATIONAL LIBRARY OF EDUCATION

2 SEC. 251. ESTABLISHMENT WITHIN OFFICE OF EDU3 CATIONAL RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT.

4 Part A of the General Education Provisions Act, as

5 amended by section 241 of this Act, is amended by inserting

6 after section 405C the following new section:

7 ‘‘NATIONAL LIBRARY OF EDUCATION

8 ‘‘SEC. 405D. (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established

9 within the Office a National Library of Education (here10 after in this section referred to as the ‘Library’), which shall

11 be maintained as a governmental activity.

12 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS OF LIBRARY.—The functions of the

13 Library are—

14 ‘‘(1) to provide a central location within the

15 Federal Government for information about education;

16 ‘‘(2) to provide comprehensive reference services

17 on matters related to education to employees of the

18 Department of Education and its contractors and

19 grantees, other Federal employees, and members of the

20 public; and

21 ‘‘(3) to promote greater cooperation and resource

22 sharing among providers and repositories of edu23 cation information in the United States.

24 ‘‘(c) ONE-STOP INFORMATION AND REFERRAL SERV25 ICE.—The Library shall establish and maintain a central

26 information and referral service to respond to telephonic,
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1 mail and electronic and other inquiries from the public con2 cerning—

3 ‘‘(1) programs and activities of the Department

4 of Education;

5 ‘‘(2) publications produced by the Department of

6 Education and, to the extent feasible, education relat7 ed publications produced by the Departments of

8 Labor, Health and Human Services, and other Fed9 eral agencies;

10 ‘‘(3) services and resources available to the pub11 lic through the Office, including the ERIC Clearing12 houses, the research institutes, and the national edu13 cation dissemination system;

14 ‘‘(4) statistics and other information produced

15 by the National Center for Education Statistics; and

16 ‘‘(5) referrals to additional sources of informa17 tion and expertise about educational issues which

18 may be available through educational associations

19 and foundations, the private sector, colleges and uni20 versities, libraries and bibliographic databases.

21 The Library shall maintain and actively publicize a toll22 free telephone number through which public inquiries to the

23 Library may be made.

24 ‘‘(d) COMPREHENSIVE REFERENCE SERVICES.—The

25 Library shall, to the extent feasible, provide for the delivery
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1 of a full range of reference services on subjects related to

2 education to employees of the Department and its contrac3 tors and grantees, other Federal employees, and members

4 of the general public. Such services may include—

5 ‘‘(1) specialized subject searches;

6 ‘‘(2) search and retrieval of electronic databases;

7 ‘‘(3) document delivery by mail and facsimile

8 transmission;

9 ‘‘(4) research counseling, bibliographic instruc10 tion, and other training services;

11 ‘‘(5) interlibrary loan services; and

12 ‘‘(6) selective dissemination of information serv13 ices.

14 The Library shall first give priority in the provision of ref15 erence services to requests made by employees of the Depart16 ment.

17 ‘‘(e) COOPERATION AND RESOURCE SHARING.—The

18 Library shall promote greater cooperation and resource

19 sharing among libraries and archives with significant col20 lections in the area of education through such means as—

21 ‘‘(1) the establishment of information and re22 source sharing networks among such entities;

23 ‘‘(2) the development of a national union list of

24 education journals held by education libraries

25 throughout the United States;
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1 ‘‘(3) the development of directories and indexes

2 to textbook and other specialized collections held by

3 education libraries throughout the United States; and

4 ‘‘(4) cooperative efforts to preserve, maintain

5 and promote access to items of special historical value

6 or interest.

7 ‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATION.—The Library shall be adminis8 tered by an Executive Director who shall—

9 ‘‘(1) be appointed by the Assistant Secretary

10 from among persons with significant training or ex11 perience in library and information science;

12 ‘‘(2) serve for a renewable term of 5 years; and

13 ‘‘(3) be paid at not less than the minimum rate

14 of basic pay payable for GS–15 of the General Sched15 ule.

16 ‘‘(g) TASK FORCE.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary

18 shall appoint a task force of librarians, scholars,

19 teachers, parents, and school leaders (hereafter in this

20 paragraph referred to as the ‘Task Force’) to provide

21 advice on the establishment of the Library.

22 ‘‘(2) PREPARATION OF PLAN.—The Task Force

23 shall prepare a workable plan to establish the Library

24 and to implement the requirements of this section.
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1 ‘‘(3) CERTAIN AUTHORITIES.—The Task Force

2 may identify other activities and functions for the Li3 brary to carry out, except that such functions shall

4 not be carried out until the Library is established and

5 has implemented the requirements of this section.

6 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—The Task Force shall prepare

7 and submit to the Assistant Secretary not later than

8 6 months after the first meeting of the Task Force a

9 report on the activities of the Library.

10 ‘‘(h) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—There are hereby

11 transferred to the Library all functions of—

12 ‘‘(1) the Department of Education Research Li13 brary;

14 ‘‘(2) the Department of Education Reference Sec15 tion; and

16 ‘‘(3) the Department of Education Information

17 Branch.

18 ‘‘(i) COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY.—Not later

19 than 180 days after the enactment of the Educational Re20 search, Development, and Dissemination Excellence Act, the

21 Assistant Secretary shall promulgate a comprehensive col22 lection development policy to govern the Library’s oper23 ations, acquisitions, and services to users. Such collection

24 development policy shall—
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1 ‘‘(1) be consistent with the functions of the Li2 brary set out in subsection (b);

3 ‘‘(2) emphasize the acquisition and maintenance

4 of a comprehensive collection of reference materials;

5 and

6 ‘‘(3) avoid unnecessary duplication by putting a

7 priority on meeting the information needs of the Li8 brary’s users through cooperation and resource-shar9 ing with other entities with significant collections in

10 the field of education.

11 ‘‘(j) ARREARAGE AND PRESERVATION.—On the basis

12 of the collection development policy promulgated under sub13 section (h), the Executive Director shall develop a multiyear

14 plan which shall set forth goals and priorities for actions

15 needed to—

16 ‘‘(1) eliminate within 3 years the arrearage of

17 uncataloged books and other materials in the Li18 brary’s collections; and

19 ‘‘(2) respond effectively and systematically to the

20 preservation needs of the Library’s collections, rely21 ing, whenever possible, upon cooperative efforts with

22 other institutions to preserve and maintain the

23 usability of books and materials in the Library’s col24 lections.’’.
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1 TITLE III—SAFE SCHOOLS ACT

2 OF 1994

3 SEC. 301. SAFE SCHOOLS PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—With funds appropriated under

5 subsection (c)(1), the Secretary of Education shall make

6 competitive grants to eligible local educational agencies to

7 carry out projects designed to achieve Goal Six of the Na8 tional Education Goals, which provides that by the year

9 2000, every school in America will be free of drugs and vio10 lence and will offer a disciplined environment conducive to

11 learning, by helping to ensure that all schools are safe and

12 free of violence.

13 (b) MODEL PROJECT.—The Secretary of Education,

14 shall develop a written safe schools model so all schools can

15 develop models that enable all students to participate re16 gardless of any language barriers.

17 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS AND RES18 ERVATION.—

19 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be

20 appropriated to carry out this Act $50,000,000 for

21 fiscal year 1994.

22 (2) RESERVATION.—From the sums appro23 priated to carry out this Act for any fiscal year, the

24 Secretary may reserve not more than 5 percent to
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1 carry out national leadership activities under section

2 305.

3 SEC. 302. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.

4 To be eligible to receive a grant under this Act, a local

5 educational agency shall demonstrate in its application

6 under section 303(a) that it—

7 (1) serves an area in which there is a high rate

8 of—

9 (A) homicides committed by persons be10 tween the ages 5 to 18, inclusive;

11 (B) referrals of youth to juvenile court;

12 (C) youth under the supervision of the

13 courts;

14 (D) expulsions and suspensions of students

15 from school;

16 (E) referrals of youth, for disciplinary rea17 sons, to alternative schools; or

18 (F) victimization of youth by violence,

19 crime, or other forms of abuse; and

20 (2) has serious school crime, violence, and dis21 cipline problems, as indicated by other appropriate

22 data.
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1 SEC. 303. APPLICATIONS AND PLANS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to receive a grant under

3 this Act, an eligible local educational agency shall submit

4 to the Secretary an application that includes—

5 (1) an assessment of the current violence and

6 crime problems in the schools to be served by the

7 grant and in the community to be served by the ap8 plicant;

9 (2) an assurance that the applicant has written

10 policies regarding school safety, student discipline,

11 and the appropriate handling of violent or disruptive

12 acts;

13 (3) a description of the schools and communities

14 to be served by the grant, the activities and projects

15 to be carried out with grant funds, and how these ac16 tivities and projects will help to reduce the current vi17 olence and crime problems in the schools and commu18 nities served;

19 (4) a description of educational materials to be

20 developed in the second most predominate language of

21 the schools and communities to be served by the grant,

22 if applicable;

23 (5) if the local educational agency receives Fed24 eral education funds, an explanation of how activities

25 assisted under this Act will be coordinated with and
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1 support any systemic education improvement plan

2 prepared with such funds;

3 (6) the applicant’s plan to establish school-level

4 advisory committees, which include faculty, parents,

5 staff, and students, for each school to be served by the

6 grant and a description of how each committee will

7 assist in assessing that school’s violence and discipline

8 problems as well as in designing appropriate pro9 grams, policies, and practices to combat those prob10 lems;

11 (7) the applicant’s plan for collecting baseline

12 and future data, by individual schools, to monitor vi13 olence and discipline problems and to measure its

14 progress in achieving the purpose of this Act;

15 (8) a description of how, in subsequent fiscal

16 years, the grantee will integrate the violence preven17 tion activities it carries out with funds under this Act

18 with activities carried out under its comprehensive

19 plan for drug and violence prevention adopted under

20 the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act

21 of 1986;

22 (9) a description of how the grantee will coordi23 nate its school crime and violence prevention efforts

24 with education, law enforcement, judicial, health, so25 cial service, programs supported under the Juvenile
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1 Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, and

2 other appropriate agencies and organizations serving

3 the community;

4 (10) a description of how the grantee will inform

5 parents about the extent of crime and violence in

6 their children’s schools and maximize the participa7 tion of parents in its violence prevention activities;

8 (11) an assurance that grant funds under this

9 Act will be used to supplement and not supplant

10 State and local funds that would, in the absence of

11 funds under this Act, be made available by the appli12 cant for the purposes of the grant;

13 (12) an assurance that the applicant will cooper14 ate with, and provide assistance to, the Secretary in

15 gathering statistics and other data the Secretary de16 termines are necessary to determine the effectiveness

17 of projects and activities under this Act or the extent

18 of school violence and discipline problems throughout

19 the Nation; and

20 (13) such other information as the Secretary

21 may require.

22 (b) PRIORITIES.—In awarding grants under this Act,

23 the Secretary shall take into account the special needs of

24 local educational agencies located in both rural and urban

25 communities.
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1 SEC. 304. GRANTS AND USE OF FUNDS.

2 (a) DURATION AND AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—Grants

3 under this Act may not exceed—

4 (1) 1 year in duration; and

5 (2) $3,000,000.

6 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—

7 (1) ACTIVITIES.—A local educational agency

8 may use funds awarded under section 301(a) for 1 or

9 more of the following activities:

10 (A) Identifying and assessing school vio11 lence and discipline problems, including coordi12 nating needs assessment activities with edu13 cation, law-enforcement, judicial, health, social

14 service, juvenile justice programs, gang preven15 tion activities, and other appropriate agencies

16 and organizations.

17 (B) Conducting school safety reviews or vio18 lence prevention reviews of programs, policies,

19 practices, and facilities to determine what

20 changes are needed to reduce or prevent violence

21 and promote safety and discipline.

22 (C) Planning for comprehensive, long-term

23 strategies for combating and preventing school

24 violence and discipline problems through the in25 volvement and coordination of school programs

26 with other education, law-enforcement, judicial,
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1 health, social service, and other appropriate

2 agencies and organizations.

3 (D) Activities which involve parents in ef4 forts to promote school safety and prevent school

5 violence;

6 (E) Community education programs involv7 ing parents, businesses, local government, the

8 medical, and other appropriate entities about the

9 local educational agency’s plan to promote school

10 safety and reduce and prevent school violence

11 and discipline problems and the need for com12 munity support.

13 (F) Coordination of school-based activities

14 designed to promote school safety and reduce or

15 prevent school violence and discipline problems

16 with related efforts of education, law-enforce17 ment, judicial, health, social service, juvenile jus18 tice programs, and other appropriate agencies

19 and organizations.

20 (G) Developing and implementing violence

21 prevention activities and materials, including—

22 (i) conflict resolution and social skills

23 development for students, teachers, aides,

24 other school personnel, and parents;
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1 (ii) disciplinary alternatives to expul2 sion and suspension of students who exhibit

3 violent or anti-social behavior;

4 (iii) student-led activities such as peer

5 mediation, peer counseling, and student

6 courts; or

7 (iv) alternative after-school programs

8 that provide safe havens for students, which

9 may include cultural, recreational, edu10 cational and instructional activities, and

11 mentoring and community service pro12 grams.

13 (H) Educating students and parents about

14 the dangers of guns and other weapons and the

15 consequences of their use.

16 (I) Developing and implementing innova17 tive curricula to prevent violence in schools and

18 training staff how to stop disruptive or violent

19 behavior if it occurs.

20 (J) Supporting ‘‘safe zones of passage’’ for

21 students between home and school through such

22 measures as Drug- and Weapon-Free School

23 Zones, enhanced law enforcement, and neighbor24 hood patrols.
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1 (K) Counseling programs for victims and

2 witnesses of school violence and crime.

3 (L) Evaluating its project under this Act.

4 (M) The cost of administering the project of

5 the local educational agency under this Act.

6 (N) Other activities that meet the purposes

7 of this Act.

8 (2) OTHER LIMITATIONS.—A local educational

9 agency may use not more than 5 percent of its grant

10 for activities described in paragraph (1)(M).

11 (3) CONSTRUCTION.—A local educational agency

12 may not use funds under this Act for construction.

13 SEC. 305. NATIONAL LEADERSHIP.

14 To carry out the purpose of this Act, the Secretary may

15 use funds reserved under section 301(c)(2) to conduct na16 tional leadership activities such as research, program devel17 opment and evaluation, data collection, public awareness

18 activities, training and technical assistance, to provide

19 grants to noncommercial telecommunications entities for

20 the production and distribution of national video-based

21 projects that provide young people with models for conflict

22 resolution and responsible decisionmaking, and to conduct

23 peer review of applications under this Act. The Secretary

24 may carry out such activities directly, through interagency
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1 agreements, or through grants, contracts, or cooperative

2 agreements.

3 SEC. 306. REPORTS.

4 (a) REPORT TO SECRETARY.—Local educational agen5 cies that receive funds under this part shall submit to the

6 Secretary a report not later than March 1, 1995, that de7 scribes progress achieved in carrying out the plan required

8 under section 303.

9 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall sub10 mit to the Committee on Education and Labor of the House

11 of Representatives a report not later than October 1, 1995,

12 which contains a detailed statement regarding grant

13 awards, activities of grant recipients, a compilation of sta14 tistical information submitted by applicants under section

15 303, and an evaluation of programs established under this

16 part.

17 SEC. 307. DEFINITIONS.

18 For purposes of this Act:

19 (1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term

20 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given

21 such term in section 1471(12) of the Elementary and

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

23 2891(12)).
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1 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

2 the Secretary of Education.

Attest:

Clerk.

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