I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2289 
To establish an adolescent literacy program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 14, 2007 
Mr. YARMUTH (for himself, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. BOYD of Florida, Mr. CHAN-
DLER, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. 
ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. BONNER, Mr. REGULA, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 
ALTMIRE, and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To establish an adolescent literacy program. 
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 ‘‘Striving Readers Act 
of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Only 68 percent of high school students 
graduate on time with a diploma, meaning that 
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every year 1,300,000 students fail to graduate from 
high school. 
(2) In 2004 alone, these 1,300,000 nongrad-
uates cost the Nation more than $325,000,000,000 
in lost wages, taxes, and productivity over their life-
times. 
(3) High school graduation rates for low-income 
students and students of color hover around 50 per-
cent, as do graduation rates for students in urban 
school districts. Graduation rates for English lan-
guage learners are particularly low. 
(4) Only 34 percent of high school students 
graduate with the skills the students need to succeed 
in college or the workplace. 
(5) 
Community 
colleges 
alone 
pay 
$1,400,000,000 a year to provide remedial education 
to students under 25 who should have learned these 
basic skills in secondary school. 
(6) Seventy-one percent of 8th graders read 
below the proficient level on the 2005 National As-
sessment of Educational Progress, indicating that 
students in middle schools and high schools struggle 
to graduate because their literacy achievement is 
alarmingly low. 
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(7) Between 1971 and 2004, the reading levels 
of America’s 17-year-olds showed no improvement at 
all. 
(8) In a typical high-poverty urban school, ap-
proximately half of incoming 9th grade students 
read at a 6th or 7th grade level, and among low-in-
come 8th graders, just 15 percent read at a pro-
ficient level. 
(9) On average, African-American and Hispanic 
12th grade students read at the same level as White 
8th grade students. 
(10) Secondary school students’ ability to read 
complex texts is strongly predictive of the students’ 
performance in college mathematics and science 
courses. 
(11) The 25 fastest-growing professions have 
far greater than average literacy demands, while the 
fastest-declining professions have lower than average 
literacy demands. 
(12) About 40 percent of secondary school 
graduates lack the literacy skills employers seek. 
(13) Students need literacy instruction at all 
grade levels and in every subject in order to improve 
their achievement and school completion. 
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(14) Researchers are in strong consensus as to 
a number of specific steps that can be taken to im-
prove literacy instruction in grades 4 through 12. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to improve student achievement in grades 4 
through 12 by establishing adolescent literacy initia-
tives with measurable goals and explicit action steps 
to achieve those goals; 
(2) to improve secondary school graduation and 
college readiness rates by improving adolescent lit-
eracy achievement; 
(3) to provide support for selecting, admin-
istering, and interpreting diagnostic assessments, 
formative assessments, and summative assessments 
for adolescent literacy achievement; 
(4) to develop curricular materials, instructional 
tools, and teaching strategies that boost adolescent 
literacy achievement; 
(5) to provide intensive high-quality profes-
sional development for teachers of core academic 
subjects to integrate adolescent literacy instructional 
strategies and assessments that support the learning 
of content; 
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(6) to provide training for literacy coaches to 
guide and support all teachers regarding schoolwide 
literacy implementation; 
(7) to provide high-quality professional develop-
ment for school leaders in developing and admin-
istering adolescent literacy initiatives at the school 
level; and 
(8) to improve the coordination of standards, 
curricula, interventions, and assessments for adoles-
cent literacy skills within and among schools, local 
educational agencies, and States. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the terms 
‘‘core academic subjects’’, ‘‘limited English proficient’’, 
‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘poverty line’’, ‘‘secondary 
school’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the mean-
ings given the terms in section 9101 of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 
(b) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 
(1) ADOLESCENT LITERACY.—The term ‘‘ado-
lescent literacy’’ means the possession of the grade 
level appropriate reading and writing skills required 
for students in grades 4 through 12 to construct and 
communicate meaning from text and to become ac-
tively engaged in the learning process. 
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(2) ADOLESCENT LITERACY INITIATIVE.—The 
term ‘‘adolescent literacy initiative’’ means a com-
prehensive approach to improving adolescent literacy 
achievement in grades 4 through 12. 
(3) CHILD
WITH
A
DISABILITY.—The term 
‘‘child with a disability’’ has the meaning given the 
term in section 602 of the Individuals with Disabil-
ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401). 
(4) DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT.—The term ‘‘di-
agnostic assessment’’ means an assessment that is— 
(A) valid, reliable, and based on literacy 
research; and 
(B) used for the purposes of— 
(i) identifying a student’s specific 
areas of strengths and weaknesses in lit-
eracy; 
(ii) determining any difficulties that 
the student may have in literacy and the 
potential cause of such difficulties; and 
(iii) helping to determine possible lit-
eracy intervention strategies for, and the 
related special needs of, the student. 
(5) 
FORMATIVE
ASSESSMENT.—The 
term 
‘‘formative assessment’’ means an assessment that— 
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(A) evaluates a student’s learning based on 
systematic observations by teachers of the stu-
dent performing academic tasks that are part of 
the student’s daily classroom experience; 
(B) is used to improve instruction in lit-
eracy, including classroom instruction; and 
(C) causes the student to reflect on the 
student’s strengths and needs, and helps the 
student to internalize strategies for improving 
the student’s literacy skills. 
(6) HIGH-QUALITY
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOP-
MENT.—The term ‘‘high-quality professional devel-
opment’’ means job-embedded, ongoing professional 
development that— 
(A) provides teachers, administrators, and 
school leaders with the research-based elements 
of an effective adolescent literacy initiative; and 
(B) supports adolescent literacy instruction 
in core academic subjects. 
(7) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 
(8) LITERACY
COACH.—The term ‘‘literacy 
coach’’ means a professional— 
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(A) who— 
(i) has previous teaching experience 
and a master’s degree with a concentration 
in reading and writing education; 
(ii) has obtained such experience and 
training not later than 3 years after as-
suming the role of literacy coach; or 
(iii) has demonstrated proficiency in 
teaching reading and/or writing in a con-
tent area such as math, science, or social 
studies; 
(B) whose primary role with teachers and 
school personnel is to— 
(i) provide high-quality professional 
development opportunities for teachers and 
school personnel; 
(ii) collaborate with paraprofessionals, 
teachers, administrators, and the commu-
nity served by the school in the areas of 
reading and writing; and 
(iii) work cooperatively and collabo-
ratively with other professionals in plan-
ning programs to meet the needs of diverse 
population learners, including children with 
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disabilities and students who are limited 
English proficient; and 
(C) who may provide students with— 
(i) reflective, inquiry-based reading or 
writing diagnosis, instruction, and assess-
ment; and 
(ii) reading and writing assessment, in 
cooperation with other professionals (such 
as special education teachers, speech and 
language teachers, and school psycholo-
gists). 
(9) LITERACY LEADERSHIP TEAM.—The term 
‘‘literacy leadership team’’ means a team of not less 
than 2 individuals in a school that assumes the re-
sponsibility to guide the development and implemen-
tation of an adolescent literacy initiative, which indi-
viduals— 
(A) shall include not less than 1 individual 
who has literacy training; and 
(B) may include a school leader, a literacy 
specialist serving the school (including a lit-
eracy coach or media specialist), a counselor, a 
teacher of a core academic subject, a special 
education teacher, or a teacher with expertise in 
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teaching the English language to children who 
are limited English proficient. 
(10) RESEARCH-BASED ELEMENTS OF AN EF-
FECTIVE ADOLESCENT LITERACY INITIATIVE.—The 
term ‘‘research-based elements of an effective adoles-
cent literacy initiative’’ means elements of a com-
prehensive approach to adolescent literacy that en-
tails— 
(A) explicit and systematic instruction in 
adolescent literacy strategies, including— 
(i) direct and explicit comprehension 
instruction; 
(ii) motivation and self-directed learn-
ing; 
(iii) text-based collaborative learning; 
(iv) strategic tutoring; 
(v) use of diverse texts; 
(vi) intensive writing; 
(vii) use of technology; and 
(viii) use of formative assessments; 
and 
(B) school-level structural efforts to im-
prove adolescent literacy instruction, includ-
ing— 
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(i) extended time for adolescent lit-
eracy instruction; 
(ii) high-quality professional develop-
ment for teachers; 
(iii) the use of summative assess-
ments; 
(iv) creating teacher teams to analyze 
student work and to plan instruction; 
(v) involving school leaders; and 
(vi) creating interdisciplinary and 
interdepartmental literacy teams to coordi-
nate literacy instruction in a school. 
(11) SCHOOL LEADER.—The term ‘‘school lead-
er’’ means an individual who— 
(A) is an employee or officer of a school; 
and 
(B) is responsible for— 
(i) the school’s performance; and 
(ii) the daily instructional and mana-
gerial operations of the school. 
(12) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of Education. 
(13) SPECIAL EDUCATION.—The term ‘‘special 
education’’ has the meaning given the term in sec-
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tion 602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu-
cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1401). 
(14) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 
the several States of the United States, the District 
of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 
(15) 
SUMMATIVE
ASSESSMENT.—The 
term 
‘‘summative assessment’’ means an assessment that 
evaluates a student’s learning based on a standard-
ized examination designed to measure literacy 
achievement. 
SEC. 5. STRIVING READERS PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 
(a) GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—For any fiscal year for 
which the funds appropriated under section 11 are 
less than $200,000,000, the Secretary shall— 
(A) reserve not more than a total of 1 per-
cent of such funds— 
(i) to award a contract under section 
9 for a national evaluation of the grant 
programs assisted under this subsection; 
and 
(ii) for the dissemination of informa-
tion, resulting from the grant programs as-
sisted under this subsection, in accordance 
with section 10; and 
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(B) use the funds not reserved under sub-
paragraph (A) to award grants, on a competi-
tive basis and in accordance with section 7(c), 
to local educational agencies (or consortia of 
local educational agencies) described in para-
graph (2) that apply under section 7(b), for the 
purpose of enabling the local educational agen-
cies or consortia to carry out the authorized ac-
tivities described in section 7(d). 
(2) ELIGIBILITY.—A local educational agency 
or consortium of local educational agencies shall only 
be eligible for a grant under this subsection if— 
(A) in the case of a single local educational 
agency, the local educational agency is eligible 
for assistance under part A of title I of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.); and 
(B) in the case of a consortium of local 
educational agencies, each local educational 
agency participating in the consortium is eligi-
ble for assistance under such part. 
(b) GRANTS TO STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—For any fiscal year for 
which the funds appropriated under section 11 equal 
or exceed $200,000,000, the Secretary shall— 
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(A) reserve not more than a total of 1 per-
cent of such funds or $3,000,000, whichever 
amount is less— 
(i) to award a contract under section 
9 for a national evaluation of the State 
grant and subgrant programs assisted 
under this Act; and 
(ii) for the dissemination of informa-
tion, resulting from the State grant and 
subgrant programs assisted under this Act, 
in accordance with section 10; 
(B) reserve 1⁄2 of 1 percent for allotments 
for the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, 
American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of 
the Northern Mariana Islands, to be distributed 
among such outlying areas on the basis of their 
relative need, as determined by the Secretary in 
accordance with the purposes of this Act; 
(C) reserve 1⁄2 of 1 percent for the Sec-
retary of the Interior for programs under this 
Act in schools operated or funded by the Bu-
reau of Indian Affairs; and 
(D) use the funds not reserved under sub-
paragraphs (A), (B), and (C) to award grants 
to State educational agencies, through allot-
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ments under paragraph (2), to enable the State 
educational agencies to award subgrants to 
local educational agencies or consortia of local 
educational agencies for the implementation of 
adolescent literacy initiatives in accordance with 
section 7. 
(2) ALLOTMENT
FORMULA.—From the funds 
made available under paragraph (1)(D) for a fiscal 
year and subject to paragraph (3), the Secretary 
shall allot to each State educational agency for the 
fiscal year an amount that bears the same ratio to 
such funds as the product of— 
(A) the number of children, aged 5 to 17, 
who reside within the State and are from fami-
lies below the poverty level, based on the most 
recent satisfactory data provided to the Sec-
retary by the Bureau of the Census for deter-
mining eligibility under section 1124(c)(1)(A) 
of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6333(c)(1)(A)); multi-
plied by 
(B) the percentage of students in grade 8 
in the State who received a score below the 
basic level of achievement on the most recent 
grade 8 reading assessment conducted as part 
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of the National Assessment of Educational 
Progress under section 303 of the National As-
sessment of Educational Progress Authorization 
Act (20 U.S.C. 9622) for which data are avail-
able, 
bears to the sum of all such products for all States. 
(3) SPECIAL RULES.— 
(A) MINIMUM ALLOTMENT.—No State re-
ceiving an allotment under paragraph (2) may 
receive less than one-fourth of 1 percent of the 
total amount allotted under such paragraph. 
(B) SPECIAL RULES FOR PUERTO RICO.— 
In determining the allotment under paragraph 
(2) for Puerto Rico, the Secretary shall comply 
with the following: 
(i) USE
OF
NATIONAL
PERCENT-
AGE.—If Puerto Rico did not participate in 
the most recent grade 8 reading assess-
ment of the National Assessment of Edu-
cational Progress for which data are avail-
able, the Secretary shall use the national 
percentage of students who received a 
score below the basic level of achievement 
on such assessment to calculate Puerto 
Rico’s allotment. 
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(ii) LIMITATION OF ALLOTMENT PER-
CENTAGE.—Notwithstanding clause (i) or 
paragraph (2), in no case shall the Sec-
retary allot to Puerto Rico under para-
graph (2) for a fiscal year a percentage of 
the total amount available for all allot-
ments under paragraph (1)(D) that ex-
ceeds the percentage allotted to Puerto 
Rico of the total funds allotted to all 
States under part A of title I of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) for the pre-
ceding fiscal year. 
(c) DURATION
OF GRANT
OR SUBGRANT.—Each 
grant or subgrant awarded under subsection (b) shall be 
for a period of not more than 5 years. 
(d) PEER REVIEW.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta-
tion with the Director of the National Institute for 
Literacy, shall convene a peer review panel to evalu-
ate applications for each grant awarded to a State 
educational agency under subsection (b)(1)(D), or to 
a 
local 
educational 
agency 
under 
subsection 
(a)(1)(B), using the evaluation criteria described in 
paragraph (2). 
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(2) 
DEVELOPMENT
OF
EVALUATION
CRI-
TERIA.—The Secretary shall promulgate regulations, 
subject to notice and comment, establishing the cri-
teria that the peer review panel shall use to evaluate 
the grant applications under this section. 
(3) MEMBERSHIP.— 
(A) COMPOSITION.—The peer review panel 
convened under paragraph (1) shall be com-
posed of not less than 12 members, of whom— 
(i) 3 shall be appointed by the Sec-
retary; 
(ii) 3 shall be appointed by the Sec-
retary from among persons recommended 
by the Director of the National Institute 
for Literacy and relevant education organi-
zations and professional associations with 
expertise in adolescent literacy; 
(iii) 3 shall be appointed by the Sec-
retary from among persons recommended 
by the Chairman of the National Research 
Council of the National Academy of 
Sciences; and 
(iv) 3 shall be appointed by the Sec-
retary from among persons recommended 
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by the Director of the National Institute of 
Child Health and Human Development. 
(B) COMPETENCY AND EXPERTISE.— 
(i) 
COMPETENCY.—The 
Secretary 
shall ensure that each member of the peer 
review panel appointed under subpara-
graph (A) is competent, by virtue of the 
training, expertise, or experience of the 
member, to evaluate grant applications 
under this section. 
(ii) EXPERTISE.—The Secretary shall 
ensure that the peer review panel ap-
pointed under subparagraph (A) includes, 
at a minimum— 
(I) classroom teachers or literacy 
coaches with expertise in literacy, in-
cluding special education teachers and 
teachers of students who are limited 
English proficient; 
(II) experts who provide high- 
quality professional development to in-
dividuals who teach literacy to chil-
dren and adults; 
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(III) experts who provide high- 
quality professional development to 
other instructional staff; and 
(IV) experts in screening, diag-
nostic, and classroom-based instruc-
tional reading assessments. 
(iii) CONFLICT
OF
INTEREST.—The 
Secretary shall ensure that members of the 
peer review panel do not stand to benefit 
financially from grants awarded under this 
Act. 
(4) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The panel shall rec-
ommend grant applications under this section to the 
Secretary for funding or for disapproval. 
(5) DISTRIBUTION
OF
RECOMMENDATIONS.— 
Not later than 120 days after the panel submits the 
panel’s recommendation regarding an application by 
a State educational agency or a local educational 
agency for a grant under this section to the Sec-
retary, the Secretary shall notify the State edu-
cational agency or local educational agency that the 
application has been approved or disapproved and 
shall provide to such State educational agency or 
local educational agency a copy of the panel’s rec-
ommendation. 
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(e) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds 
awarded under this section shall supplement, and not sup-
plant, non-Federal funds that would, in the absence of 
such grant funds, be made available for the literacy in-
struction of pupils participating in programs assisted 
under this Act. 
(f) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Each State edu-
cational agency that receives a grant under this section, 
and each local educational agency that receives a grant 
or subgrant under this section, shall maintain the expendi-
tures of the State educational agency or local educational 
agency, respectively, for literacy instruction in grades 4 
through 12 at a level not less than the level of such ex-
penditures maintained by the State educational agency or 
local educational agency, respectively, for the fiscal year 
preceding the fiscal year for which the grant or subgrant 
is received. 
SEC. 6. STATE GRANTS. 
(a) STATE
APPLICATIONS.—A State educational 
agency desiring to receive an allotment under section 
5(b)(1)(D) shall submit an application to the Secretary 
at such time, in such manner, and containing such infor-
mation as the Secretary may require. Each such applica-
tion shall include— 
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(1) an assurance from the State educational 
agency that the State educational agency will form 
an adolescent literacy team that— 
(A) builds public support for a statewide 
focus on adolescent literacy; 
(B) strengthens and aligns State literacy 
standards with curricula, assessments, and 
high-quality professional development require-
ments; 
(C) guides local educational agencies and 
schools in the creation of adolescent literacy ini-
tiatives; 
(D) builds educators’ capacity to provide 
adolescent literacy instruction; 
(E) measures and assesses progress in ad-
olescent literacy at the school, local educational 
agency, and State levels, using existing data if 
such data are valid, appropriate, and approved 
by the Secretary; and 
(F) disseminates information on promising 
practices and progress in student literacy 
achievement; 
(2) an assurance that the State educational 
agency, and any local educational agency receiving a 
subgrant from the State educational agency under 
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section 7, will, if requested, participate in the na-
tional evaluation under section 9; and 
(3) an implementation plan that includes— 
(A) a description of how the State edu-
cational agency will assist local educational 
agencies with developing and using the forma-
tive 
assessments, 
summative 
assessments, 
teaching strategies, curricular materials, in-
structional tools, high-quality professional devel-
opment, and research-based elements of an ef-
fective adolescent literacy initiative; 
(B) evidence that local educational agen-
cies in the State are committed to instructional 
changes and can implement adolescent literacy 
initiatives effectively; 
(C) a description of how the State edu-
cational agency will coordinate and align the 
State grant program assisted under this Act 
with— 
(i) other State and local programs 
that promote adolescent literacy instruc-
tion; and 
(ii) overall literacy instruction in the 
State in kindergarten through grade 12; 
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(D) a description of how the State edu-
cational agency will, to the extent practicable, 
award grants to— 
(i) local educational agencies that 
serve rural areas; and 
(ii) local educational agencies that 
serve urban areas; and 
(E) a description of how local educational 
agencies in the State will address the literacy 
needs of children with disabilities, and students 
who are limited English proficient, in grades 4 
through 12 and how local educational agencies 
in the State will provide professional develop-
ment in adolescent literacy instruction to spe-
cial education teachers or teachers of students 
who are limited English proficient. 
(b) STATE
DISTRIBUTION
OF
FUNDS.—Of the 
amount allotted to a State educational agency under sec-
tion 5(b)(1)(D), the State educational agency shall use— 
(1) not less than 80 percent of such amount to 
award subgrants under section 7; 
(2) not more than 15 percent of such amount 
to administer the subgrant program; and 
(3) not more than 5 percent of such amount to 
carry out the activities described in subsection (c). 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
04:23 May 15, 2007
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