I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3006 
To provide grants to States to ensure that all students in the middle grades 
are taught an academically rigorous curriculum with effective supports 
so that students complete the middle grades prepared for success in 
high school and postsecondary endeavors, to improve State and district 
policies and programs relating to the academic achievement of students 
in the middle grades, to develop and implement effective middle grades 
models for struggling students, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 23, 2009 
Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. HARE, Mr. DAVIS 
of Illinois, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. LANGEVIN, and 
Mr. SESTAK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To provide grants to States to ensure that all students in 
the middle grades are taught an academically rigorous 
curriculum with effective supports so that students com-
plete the middle grades prepared for success in high 
school and postsecondary endeavors, to improve State 
and district policies and programs relating to the aca-
demic achievement of students in the middle grades, 
to develop and implement effective middle grades models 
for struggling students, and for other purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Success in the Middle 
Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
In this Act: 
(1) International comparisons indicate that stu-
dents in the United States do not start out behind 
students of other nations in mathematics and 
science, but that they fall behind by the end of the 
middle grades. 
(2) Only 1⁄3 of eighth grade students in the 
United States, and only 4 percent of such students 
who are English language learners, can read with 
proficiency, according to the 2007 National Assess-
ment on Educational Progress (NAEP). The per-
centage of eighth grade students proficient at read-
ing has not increased since 1998, and the NAEP av-
erage reading score for eighth grade students has re-
mained static. In contrast, NAEP reading scores 
and achievement levels for fourth grade students 
have increased significantly. 
(3) In mathematics, less than 1⁄3 of students in 
eighth grade show skills at the NAEP proficient 
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level, and nearly 30 percent score below the basic 
level. The percentage of eighth grade students scor-
ing above the basic level was 8 points higher in 2007 
than in 2000, but for fourth grade students, the per-
centage increased 17 points, more than double the 
increase for middle grades students. In eighth grade, 
the gaps between the average mathematics scores of 
White and Black students and between White and 
Hispanic students were as wide in 2007 as in 1990. 
(4) Fewer than 2 in 10 of the students who 
graduated from high school in 2005 or 2006 met, as 
eighth graders, all 4 of ACT’s EXPLORE College 
Readiness Benchmarks, the minimum level of 
achievement that ACT has shown is necessary if stu-
dents are to be college- and career-ready upon their 
high school graduation. 
(5) Lack of basic skills at the end of middle 
grades has serious implications for students. Stu-
dents who enter high school 2 or more years behind 
grade level in mathematics and literacy have only a 
50 percent chance of progressing on time to the 
tenth grade; those not progressing are at significant 
risk of dropping out of high school. 
(6) Middle grades students are hopeful about 
their future, with 93 percent believing that they will 
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complete high school and 92 percent anticipating 
that they will attend college. 
(7) Sixth grade students who do not attend 
school regularly, who are subjected to frequent dis-
ciplinary actions, or who fail mathematics or English 
have less than a 15 percent chance of graduating 
high school on time and a 20 percent chance of 
graduating 1 year late. Without effective interven-
tions and proper supports, these students are at risk 
of subsequent failure in high school, or of dropping 
out. 
(8) Student transitions from elementary school 
to the middle grades and to high school are often 
complicated by poor curriculum alignment, inad-
equate counseling services, and unsatisfactory shar-
ing of student performance and academic achieve-
ment data between grades. 
(9) According to ACT, the level of academic 
achievement that students attain by eighth grade 
has a larger impact on the students’ college and ca-
reer readiness upon graduation from high school 
than anything that happens academically in high 
school. 
(10) Middle schools are almost twice as likely 
as elementary schools to be identified for improve-
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ment, corrective action, or restructuring (22 percent 
as compared to 13 percent) under section 1116 of 
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 63116). 
(11) Middle grades improvement strategies 
should be tailored based on a variety of performance 
indicators and data, so that educators can create 
and implement successful school improvement strate-
gies to address the needs of the middle grades, and 
so that teachers can provide effective instruction and 
adequate assistance to meet the needs of at-risk stu-
dents. 
(12) To stem a dropout rate nearly twice that 
of students without disabilities, students with dis-
abilities in the critical middle grades must receive 
appropriate academic accommodations and access to 
assistive technology, high-risk behaviors such as ab-
senteeism and course failure must be monitored, and 
problem-solving skills with broad application must be 
taught. 
(13) Local educational agencies and State edu-
cational agencies often do not have the capacity to 
provide support for school improvement strategies. 
Successful models do exist for turning around low- 
performing middle grades, and Federal support 
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should be provided to increase the capacity to apply 
promising practices based on evidence from success-
ful schools. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘elemen-
tary school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘secondary 
school’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the 
meanings given the terms in section 9101 of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 7801). 
(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-
ty’’ means a partnership that includes— 
(A) not less than 1 eligible local edu-
cational agency; and 
(B)(i) an institution of higher education; 
(ii) an educational service agency (as de-
fined in section 9101 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
7801)); or 
(iii) a nonprofit organization with dem-
onstrated expertise in high quality middle 
grades intervention. 
(3) ELIGIBLE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 
The term ‘‘eligible local educational agency’’ means 
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a local educational agency that serves not less than 
1 eligible school. 
(4) ELIGIBLE
SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘eligible 
school’’ means an elementary or secondary school 
that contains not less than 2 or more successive 
grades beginning with grade 5 and ending with 
grade 8 and for which— 
(A) a high proportion of the middle grades 
students attending such school go on to attend 
a high school with a graduation rate of less 
than 65 percent; 
(B) more than 25 percent of the students 
who finish grade 6 at such school, or the ear-
liest middle grade level at the school, exhibit 1 
or more of the key risk factors and early risk 
identification signs, including— 
(i) student attendance below 90 per-
cent; 
(ii) a failing grade in a mathematics 
or reading or language arts course; 
(iii) 2 failing grades in any courses; 
and 
(iv) out-of-school suspension or other 
evidence of at-risk behavior; or 
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