I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 541 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to award 
grants to eligible entities to establish, expand, or support school-based 
mentoring programs to assist at-risk middle school students with the 
transition from middle school to high school. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 27, 2015 
Mr. CARSON of Indiana (for himself, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. LOEBSACK, 
and Mr. POLIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 to award grants to eligible entities to establish, 
expand, or support school-based mentoring programs to 
assist at-risk middle school students with the transition 
from middle school to high school. 
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 ‘‘Transition-to-Success 
Mentoring Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PROGRAM. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 
1803 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6553) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
part $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2016 and such sums as 
may be necessary for each succeeding fiscal year.’’. 
(b) TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS
MENTORING
PRO-
GRAM.—Part H of title I of such Act (20 U.S.C. 6551 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘Subpart 3—Transition-to-Success Mentoring 
Program 
‘‘SEC. 1831. TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PRO-
GRAM. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appropriated 
to carry out this section, the Secretary shall award grants 
to eligible entities to establish, expand, or support school- 
based mentoring programs to assist eligible students with 
the transition from middle school to high school. 
‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this 
section, an eligible entity shall submit an application to 
the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con-
taining such information as the Secretary may require. 
‘‘(c) USES OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible 
entity that receives a grant under this section shall 
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use the grant funds to establish a mentoring pro-
gram, or to expand or provide technical support to 
an existing mentoring program, in all middle schools 
served by the entity, under which each eligible stu-
dent is assigned to a success coach who— 
‘‘(A) creates a plan for success for the stu-
dent that— 
‘‘(i) is created with the student, teach-
ers, mentor, and parents of the student; 
‘‘(ii) includes, for each academic year, 
the student’s academic, personal, and ca-
reer exploration goals, and a strategy on 
how to accomplish such goals; and 
‘‘(iii) 
identifies 
the 
student’s 
strengths, 
weaknesses, 
and 
academic 
progress; 
‘‘(B) enters into a signed, written agree-
ment with the parents of the student that de-
scribes how the parents should assist the stu-
dent in carrying out the plan for success; 
‘‘(C) meets with the student at least once 
per month to— 
‘‘(i) assist the student in achieving the 
goals under the plan for success; 
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‘‘(ii) identify the student’s academic 
areas of weaknesses; 
‘‘(iii) provide the student with the 
tools necessary to improve the student’s 
potential for academic excellence, and en-
sure the student’s successful transition 
from middle school to high school by iden-
tifying 
improved 
attitude, 
behavior, 
coursework, and social involvement; and 
‘‘(iv) in the case of a student with be-
havioral issues, assist the student in behav-
ior management techniques; 
‘‘(D) at least monthly, meets with the stu-
dent and the parents, teachers, or counselors of 
the student to— 
‘‘(i) evaluate the student’s progress in 
achieving the goals under the plan for the 
current academic year; and 
‘‘(ii) revise or establish new goals for 
the next academic year; and 
‘‘(E) serves as the student’s advocate be-
tween the teachers and parents of the student 
to ensure that the teachers and parents under-
stand the student’s plan. 
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‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED USES OF FUNDS.—An eligi-
ble entity that receives a grant under this section 
may use such funds to— 
‘‘(A) develop and carry out a training pro-
gram for success coaches, including providing 
support to match success coaches with eligible 
students; 
‘‘(B) cover the cost of any materials used 
by success coaches under the mentoring pro-
gram; and 
‘‘(C) hire staff to perform or support the 
program objectives. 
‘‘(d) GRANT DURATION.—A grant under this section 
shall be awarded for a period of not more than 5 years. 
‘‘(e) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE
ENTITIES.—An eligible entity 
receiving a grant under this section shall submit to 
the Secretary, at the end of each academic year dur-
ing the grant period, a report that includes— 
‘‘(A) the number of students who partici-
pated in the school-based mentoring program 
that was funded in whole or in part with the 
grant funds under this section; 
‘‘(B) data on the academic achievement of 
such students; 
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‘‘(C) the number of contact hours between 
such students and their success coaches; and 
‘‘(D) any other information that the Sec-
retary may require to evaluate the success of 
the school-based mentoring program. 
‘‘(2) SECRETARY.— 
‘‘(A) INTERIM REPORT.—At the end of the 
third fiscal year for which funds are made 
available to carry out this section, the Secretary 
shall submit to Congress an interim report on 
the success of the school-based mentoring pro-
grams funded under this section that includes 
the information received under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(B) FINAL REPORT.—At the end of the 
fifth fiscal year for which funds are made avail-
able to carry out this section, the Secretary 
shall submit to Congress a final report on the 
success of the school-based mentoring programs 
funded under this section that includes the in-
formation received under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) AT-RISK STUDENT.—The term ‘at-risk stu-
dent’ means a student who has been identified as a 
student who has below a 2.0 grade point average or 
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the equivalent or who has been determined by par-
ents, teachers, or other school officials to— 
‘‘(A) be at-risk of academic failure; 
‘‘(B) have expressed interest in dropping 
out of school; 
‘‘(C) show signs of a drug or alcohol prob-
lem; 
‘‘(D) be pregnant or a parent; 
‘‘(E) have come into contact with the juve-
nile justice system in the past; 
‘‘(F) have limited English proficiency; 
‘‘(G) be a gang member; or 
‘‘(H) have a high absenteeism rate at 
school. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en-
tity’ means— 
‘‘(A) a local educational agency that— 
‘‘(i) receives, or is eligible to receive, 
funds under part A of title I; or 
‘‘(ii) is a high-need local educational 
agency; or 
‘‘(B) a partnership between a local edu-
cational agency described in subparagraph (A) 
and a nonprofit, community-based organization. 
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‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘eligible 
student’ means a student who— 
‘‘(A) is enrolled in a middle school served 
by an eligible entity; and 
‘‘(B) is an at-risk student. 
‘‘(4) HIGH-NEED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN-
CY.—The term ‘high-need local educational agency’ 
has the meaning given to the term in section 
2102(3)(A). 
‘‘(5) MIDDLE
SCHOOL.—The term ‘middle 
school’ means a nonprofit institutional day or resi-
dential school, including a public charter school, that 
provides middle school education, as determined 
under State law, except that the term does not in-
clude any education below grade 6 or beyond grade 
9. 
‘‘(6) SCHOOL-BASED
MENTORING.—The term 
‘school-based mentoring’ refers to mentoring activi-
ties that— 
‘‘(A) are closely coordinated with a school 
by involving teachers, counselors, and other 
school staff who may identify and refer stu-
dents for mentoring services; and 
‘‘(B) assist at-risk students in improving 
academic achievement, reducing disciplinary re-
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ferrals, and increasing positive regard for 
school. 
‘‘(7) SUCCESS
COACH.—The term ‘success 
coach’ means an individual who— 
‘‘(A) is— 
‘‘(i) an employee or volunteer of a 
local educational agency in which a men-
toring program receiving support under 
this section is being carried out; or 
‘‘(ii) a volunteer or employee from a 
nonprofit, community-based organization 
that provides volunteers for mentoring pro-
grams in secondary schools; and 
‘‘(B) prior to becoming a success coach— 
‘‘(i) received training and support in 
mentoring from an eligible entity, which, at 
a minimum, was 2 hours in length and 
covered the roles and responsibilities of a 
success coach; and 
‘‘(ii) underwent a screening by an eli-
gible entity that included— 
‘‘(I) appropriate job reference 
checks; 
‘‘(II) child and domestic abuse 
record checks; and 
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‘‘(III) 
criminal 
background 
checks.’’. 
SEC. 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
The table of contents in section 2 of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 
et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating 
to section 1830 the following: 
‘‘SUBPART 3—TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING PROGRAM 
‘‘Sec. 1831. Transition to success mentoring program.’’. 
Æ 
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