H. R. 1804—130
reflects the need for assistance, taking into account such
factors as the proportion of economically disadvantaged
students, the increased cost burden of service delivery in
areas of sparse populations, and any special initiatives
being undertaken by State, intermediate, local educational
agencies, or Bureau-funded schools, as appropriate, which
may require special assistance from the laboratory.
(7) EVALUATIONS.—The Assistant Secretary shall provide
for independent evaluations of each of the regional educational
laboratories in carrying out the duties described in paragraph
(1) in the third year that such laboratory receives assistance
under this subsection in accordance with the standards devel-
oped by the Assistant Secretary and approved by the Board
and shall transmit the results of such evaluations to the rel-
evant committees of the Congress, the Board, and the appro-
priate regional educational laboratory board.
(8) INVITATION REGARDING COMPETITION FOR AWARDS OF
ASSISTANCE.—Prior to awarding a grant or entering into a
contract under this section, the Secretary shall invite
applicants, including the regional educational laboratories in
existence on the day preceding the date of enactment of this
Act, to compete for such award through notice in the Federal
Register and in the publication of the Department of Commerce
known as the Commerce Business Daily.
(9) APPLICATION
FOR
ASSISTANCE.—Each application for
assistance under this subsection shall—
(A) cover not less than a 5-year period;
(B) describe how the applicant would carry out the
activities required by this subsection; and
(C) contain such additional information as the Sec-
retary may reasonably require.
(10) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—No regional educational lab-
oratory receiving assistance under this subsection shall, by
reason of the receipt of that assistance, be ineligible to receive
any other assistance from the Department of Education as
authorized by law or be prohibited from engaging in activities
involving international projects or endeavors.
(11) ADVANCE
PAYMENT
SYSTEM.—Each regional edu-
cational laboratory shall participate in the advance payment
system at the Department of Education.
(12) ADDITIONAL
PROJECTS.—In addition to activities
described in paragraph (3), the Assistant Secretary, from
amounts appropriated pursuant to subsection (h), is authorized
to enter into agreements with a regional educational laboratory
for the purpose of carrying out additional projects to enable
such regional educational laboratory to assist in efforts to
achieve the National Education Goals and for other purposes.
(13) PLAN.—Not later than July 1 of each year, each
regional educational laboratory shall submit to the Assistant
Secretary a plan covering the succeeding fiscal year, in which
such laboratory’s mission, activities, and scope of work are
described, including a general description of—
(A) the plans such laboratory expects to submit in
the remaining years of such laboratory’s contract; and
(B) an assessment of how well such laboratory is meet-
ing the needs of the region.
H. R. 1804—131
(14) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this subsection shall be
construed to require any modifications in the regional edu-
cational laboratory contracts in effect on the day preceding
the date of enactment of this title.
(i) GOALS 2000 COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM.—
(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Goals 2000 Community
Partnerships program is to improve the quality of learning
and teaching in the most impoverished urban and rural commu-
nities of the United States by supporting sustained collabora-
tions between universities, schools, businesses, and commu-
nities which apply and utilize the results of educational
research and development.
(2) GRANTS FOR GOALS 2000 COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS.—
The Assistant Secretary is authorized to make grants to eligible
entities to support the establishment of Learning Grant Institu-
tions and District Education Agents and the activities author-
ized under this subsection within eligible communities.
(3) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY AND ELIGIBLE COMMU-
NITY.—For the purposes of this subsection:
(A) The term ‘‘eligible entity’’ includes any institution
of higher education, regional educational laboratory,
National Diffusion Network project, national research and
development center, public or private nonprofit corporation,
or any consortium thereof, that—
(i) has demonstrated experience, expertise and
commitment in serving the educational needs of at-
risk students; and
(ii) is, by virtue of its previous activities,
knowledgeable about the unique needs and characteris-
tics of the community to be served.
(B) The term ‘‘eligible community’’ means a unit of
general purpose local government (such as a city, township,
or village), a nonmetropolitan county, tribal village, or a
geographically distinct area (such as a school district, school
attendance area, ward, precinct or neighborhood), or any
group of such entities that—
(i) has a population of not less than 200,000 and
not more than 300,000; and
(ii) in which not less than one-half of the school-
age children have family incomes which are below
the poverty line, as determined by the 1990 United
States Census, participation in the National School
Lunch program, or other current, reliable data concern-
ing family income.
(4) GOALS 2000 COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS.—Each learning
grant institution receiving assistance under this subsection
shall establish a Goals 2000 community partnership to carry
out the activities authorized under this subsection. Such
partnership—
(A) shall include the participation of one or more local
educational agencies, institutions of higher education,
community-based organizations, parents, teachers, and the
business community;
(B) may include the participation of human, social
service and health care agencies, Head Start and child
care agencies, libraries, museums, employment and train-
H. R. 1804—132
ing agencies, and the State educational agency or tribal
department of education; and
(C) shall be broadly representative of all segments
of the community in which the activities will be carried
out.
(5) COMPREHENSIVE GOALS 2000 PLAN.—Each Goals 2000
Community Partnership shall develop a comprehensive plan
for assuring educational success and high achievement for all
students in the community. Each such plan shall—
(A) adopt the National Education Goals;
(B) identify additional needs and goals for educational
improvement within the community;
(C) focus on helping all students reach challenging
content and student performance standards;
(D) be consistent with the State and local improvement
plans for system-wide education improvement developed
pursuant to title III;
(E) establish a comprehensive community-wide plan
for achieving such goals; and
(F) develop a means for measuring the progress of
the community in meeting such goals for improvement.
(6) IMPLEMENTATION
OF
COMMUNITY-WIDE
PLAN.—Each
Goals 2000 Community Partnership shall, utilizing the District
Education Agent, provide assistance in implementing the
community-wide plan for educational improvement by—
(A) supporting innovation, restructuring, and continu-
ous improvement in educational practice by—
(i) disseminating information throughout the
community about exemplary and promising educational
programs, practices, products, and policies;
(ii) evaluating the effectiveness of federally funded
educational programs within the community and
identifying changes in such programs which are likely
to improve student achievement;
(iii) identifying, selecting and replicating exem-
plary and promising educational programs, practices,
products, and policies in both in- and out-of-school
settings;
(iv) applying educational research to solve specific
problems in the classroom, home and community which
impede learning and student achievement; and
(v) supporting research and development by teach-
ers, school administrators, and other practitioners
which promise to improve teaching and learning and
the organization of schools;
(B) improving the capacity of educators, school
administrators, child care providers and other practitioners
to prepare all students to reach challenging standards and
to attain the goals set out in the comprehensive community-
wide plan through such means as—
(i) the training of prospective and novice teachers
(including preschool and early childhood educators) in
a school setting under the guidance of master teachers
and teacher educators;
(ii) training and other activities to promote the
continued learning and professional development of
experienced teachers, related services personnel, school
H. R. 1804—133
administrators to assure that such teachers develop
the subject matter and pedagogical expertise needed
to prepare all students to reach challenging standards;
(iii) training and other activities to increase the
ability of prospective, novice, and experienced teachers
to teach effectively at-risk students, students with
disabilities, students with limited-English proficiency,
and students from diverse cultural backgrounds; and
(iv) programs to enhance teaching and classroom
management skills, including school-based manage-
ment skills, of novice, prospective, and experienced
teachers;
(C) promoting the development of an integrated system
of service delivery to children from birth through age 18
and their families by facilitating linkages and cooperation
among—
(i) local educational agencies;
(ii) health and social services agencies and provid-
ers;
(iii) juvenile justice and criminal justice agencies;
(iv) providers of employment training; and
(v) child care, Head Start, and other early child-
hood agencies; and
(D) mobilizing the resources of the community in sup-
port of student learning and high achievement by facilitat-
ing effective partnerships and collaboration among—
(i) local educational agencies;
(ii) postsecondary educational institutions;
(iii) public libraries;
(iv) parents;
(v) community-based organizations, neighborhood
associations, and other civic and community organiza-
tions;
(vi) child care, Head Start, and other early child-
hood agencies;
(vii) churches, synagogues and other religious
institutions;
(viii) labor organizations; and
(ix) business and industry.
(7) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out its respon-
sibilities under this subsection, each partnership receiving
assistance under this subsection shall—
(A) appoint a District Education Agent who shall be
responsible, on a full-time basis, for directing the
implementation of the community-wide plan, who shall
have significant experience and expertise in the field of
education in—
(i) addressing the needs of at-risk students; and
(ii) conducting educational research and promoting
the application of the results of such research to edu-
cational practice;
(B) provide for such other professional and support
personnel as may be necessary to implement the commu-
nity-wide plan under the direction of the District Education
Agent; and
(C) coordinate the partnership’s activities and work
cooperatively with the National Diffusion Network State