I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 858 
To establish a comprehensive literacy program, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 10, 2015 
Mr. YARMUTH (for himself, Mr. POLIS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 
MCGOVERN, Mr. RANGEL, and Mr. POCAN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To establish a comprehensive literacy program, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as— 
(1) the ‘‘Literacy Education for All, Results for 
the Nation Act’’; or 
(2) the ‘‘LEARN Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Purposes. 
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Sec. 4. Programs authorized. 
Sec. 5. State planning grants. 
Sec. 6. State implementation grants. 
Sec. 7. Subgrants to eligible entities in support of literacy for children from 
birth through kindergarten entry. 
Sec. 8. Subgrants to eligible entities in support of literacy for students in kin-
dergarten through grade 12. 
Sec. 9. Additional State activities. 
Sec. 10. National evaluation, information dissemination, and technical assist-
ance. 
Sec. 11. Consequences of insufficient progress, reporting requirements, and 
conflicts of interest. 
Sec. 12. Rules of construction. 
Sec. 13. Definitions. 
Sec. 14. Authorization of appropriations. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that in order for a comprehensive 
and effective literacy program to address the needs of chil-
dren it is critical to address the following: 
(1) Literacy development is an ongoing process 
that requires a sustained engagement and invest-
ment beginning in early childhood and continuing 
through secondary school. 
(2) Developing literacy skills begins at birth as 
infants and toddlers associate sounds, gestures, and 
marks on paper with consequences and meaning. 
Many teachers and staff in early learning programs 
are not provided with high-quality professional devel-
opment in how to support children’s language and 
literacy development. Such high-quality professional 
learning and preparation, that is job-embedded and 
ongoing, promotes strong early language and literacy 
for all children’s readiness for school. 
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(3) Research shows that writing leads to im-
proved reading achievement, reading leads to better 
writing performance, and combined instruction leads 
to improvements in both areas. Students in kinder-
garten through grade 12 need to be engaged in com-
bined reading and writing experiences that lead to a 
higher level of thinking than when either process is 
taught alone. 
(4) Teachers and early childhood educators 
need professional development to improve the read-
ing and writing abilities of children who are at risk 
for developmental delays or are reading and writing 
several years below grade level. Middle school and 
secondary school teachers in core academic subjects 
must have the tools and skills to teach reading and 
writing for subject area understanding and to dif-
ferentiate and provide instruction for students with 
varying literacy skills. 
(5) Approximately 65 percent of 4th graders 
and 8th graders read below the proficient level on 
the 2013 National Assessment of Educational 
Progress. 
(6) One in four students enter 9th grade read-
ing below grade level and struggle to graduate be-
cause their literacy achievement is alarmingly low. 
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Many of the more than 700,000 students who leave 
U.S. high schools each year without a diploma have 
low literacy skills. For those students who earn a di-
ploma, an increasing number must take remedial 
coursework upon entering college, without promising 
results: students who enroll in a remedial reading 
course are less likely to eventually earn a degree or 
certificate. 
(7) Fewer than 2 in 10 high school students 
who graduated in 2014 met all 4 ACT College Read-
iness Benchmarks (English, Mathematics, Reading, 
and Science), the minimum level of achievement that 
ACT indicates is necessary if students are to experi-
ence success in first-year college courses. 
(8) Roughly 40 percent of secondary school 
graduates lack the literacy skills employers seek. 
The 25 fastest growing professions have higher than 
average literacy demands while the fastest declining 
professions have lower than average literacy de-
mands. 
(9) The intellectual and linguistic skills nec-
essary for reading and writing must be developed 
through explicit, intentional, and systematic lan-
guage activities, to which many low-income and mi-
nority students do not have access. 
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(10) Meaningful engagement of families in their 
children’s early learning supports school readiness 
and later academic success. Parental literacy habits 
are positively associated with parental reading be-
liefs, parent-child literacy and language activities in 
the home, children’s print knowledge, and interest in 
reading and writing. 
(11) Research shows that low expectations for 
the reading and writing achievement of students in 
schools results in curricula that do not challenge stu-
dents or adequately support literacy education, while 
high academic expectations and quality instruction 
and supports can boost student learning and 
achievement. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to improve reading, writing, and academic 
achievement for children and students by providing 
Federal support to State educational agencies, in 
collaboration with State agencies that oversee child 
care programs, to develop, coordinate, and imple-
ment comprehensive State literacy plans that ensure 
high-quality instruction and effective practices in 
early language and literacy in early learning pro-
grams (serving children from birth through kinder-
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garten entry) and in reading and writing in kinder-
garten through grade 12; and 
(2) to assist State educational agencies and 
State agencies that oversee child care and other 
early childhood programs in achieving the purposes 
described in paragraph (1) by— 
(A) supporting the development and imple-
mentation of early learning through grade 12 
literacy programs that are based on scientif-
ically valid research, to ensure that every stu-
dent can read and write at grade level or above; 
(B) providing children attending early 
learning programs that serve children from 
birth through kindergarten entry, including pro-
grams, such as child care, Early Head Start, 
Head Start, State-funded preschool, public li-
brary programs, and other early childhood edu-
cation settings, with high-quality, language-rich, 
literature-rich, 
informational 
text-rich, 
cul-
turally relevant, developmentally appropriate 
environments, so that such children develop the 
fundamental knowledge and skills necessary for 
literacy engagement, development, and achieve-
ment in kindergarten and beyond; 
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