(2) rural boys and girls demonstrate lower edu-
cational aspirations than their urban and suburban 
peers; 
(3) fewer than 1 in 7 rural residents have ob-
tained a 4-year baccalaureate degree, compared with 
nearly 1 in 4 metropolitan area residents; 
(4) roughly half of rural secondary school stu-
dents live in counties that have no 4-year institu-
tions of higher education; 
(5) there are major gaps in substantive re-
search about effective rural education strategies; 
(6) rural economic development is a continuing 
effort supported by the Federal Government, and 
rural schools can be important engines for economic 
development and long-term community and regional 
growth; 
(7) one of the best ways to address the needs 
of students in rural communities is to help young 
people finish secondary school and attend college by 
providing programs that promote higher education 
throughout childhood and adolescence, and sup-
porting programs that expose young people to the 
world of careers; and 
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(8) effective rural policy requires an emphasis 
on the development of human capital through edu-
cation. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
The purpose of this Act is to conduct a demonstration 
project to improve the educational and career outcomes 
of rural, low-income students in grades 7 through 12 that 
will seek to— 
(1) improve the academic motivation and per-
formance of rural students; 
(2) improve student academic success in rural 
schools, including with respect to performance on 
statewide assessments; 
(3) improve secondary school graduation rates 
in rural schools; 
(4) increase the number of rural students en-
gaged in rigorous, college-preparatory coursework; 
(5) increase the number of rural students tak-
ing college entrance examinations, such as the SATs 
or ACTs; 
(6) increase the rates among rural students of 
application to institutions of higher education, en-
rollment in such institutions, and institution of high-
er education program completion; 
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(7) prepare rural students to become the next 
generation of leaders in their States and commu-
nities; 
(8) complement Federal and State efforts to 
build the State and local workforce and economy; 
and 
(9) increase the number of people within rural 
communities who are able to meet the workforce 
needs of the local community and enhance the State, 
local, and regional economies. 
SEC. 4. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS. 
(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From amounts appro-
priated under section 9, the Secretary shall award grants 
to not more than 2 non-profit entities to enable the enti-
ties to carry out the activities described in section 5 in 
rural schools and rural local educational agencies. 
(b) APPLICATION.—A non-profit entity desiring to re-
ceive a grant under this section shall submit an application 
to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con-
taining such information as the Secretary may require. 
(c) SELECTION BASIS.—In awarding grants under 
this Act, the Secretary shall give priority to a non-profit 
entity that has— 
(1) existing capacity to implement program ele-
ments with the rigor called for in this Act; 
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(2) history and experience in working with rural 
schools and supporting student achievement goals; 
(3) organizational capacity to successfully im-
plement the demonstration project; and 
(4) capacity and commitment to serve rural 
schools that have student populations with histori-
cally low rates of secondary school graduation, insti-
tution of higher education enrollment, or institution 
of higher education program completion. 
(d) AMOUNT AND DURATION OF GRANTS.— 
(1) AMOUNT; DURATION.—Each grant awarded 
by the Secretary under this Act shall be in an 
amount of not less than $2,500,000 for each fiscal 
year of the grant period, and shall be awarded for 
a period of 6 years, in order to enable cohorts of 
students in grade 7 to participate in the demonstra-
tion project under this Act for 6 consecutive years 
in the grant. 
(2) USE OF GRANT FUNDS FOR EVALUATION.— 
Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a non-profit entity 
receiving a grant under this Act may use remaining 
grant funds after the grant period has expired in 
order to carry out the evaluation required under sec-
tion 6 during the 3-year period immediately fol-
lowing the last year of the grant period. 
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SEC. 5. PROGRAM OPERATIONS. 
(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—A non-profit entity re-
ceiving a grant under this Act shall develop and carry out 
a rural school-based, institution of higher education prepa-
ration and career exploration demonstration project 
through which the non-profit entity shall— 
(1)(A) in the case of an entity receiving a grant 
of $5,000,000 or more per year— 
(i) serve a minimum of 40 rural schools 
and 7,500 students; and 
(ii) serve rural schools in not fewer than 3 
geographic regions of the United States (such 
as the Southwest, Midwest, Southeast, North-
east, or Northwest regions); or 
(B) in the case of an entity receiving a grant 
of less than $5,000,000 per year— 
(i) serve a minimum of 20 rural schools 
and 3,000 students; and 
(ii) serve rural schools in not fewer than 2 
such geographic regions; 
(2) in selecting rural schools to participate in 
the project— 
(A) collectively reach diverse racial and 
ethnic student populations; and 
(B) ensure a sufficient participation of stu-
dents in both grade 7 and grade 9 cohorts, as 
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described in paragraph (4), in order to allow for 
a full measure of the project’s impact as both 
a 6-year program and a 4-year program; 
(3) partner with rural local educational agencies 
and rural schools to carry out the activities under 
this subsection, and enter into a written agreement 
with each participating local educational agency or 
rural school in which— 
(A) the entity agrees to carry out the ac-
tivities described in paragraph (5) for the co-
horts described in paragraph (4) at the identi-
fied rural school; and 
(B) the rural local educational agency or 
rural school agrees— 
(i) to allow the entity access to stu-
dents in the cohorts during the school day 
for the purposes of administering the dem-
onstration project; and 
(ii) to cooperate in the project evalua-
tion, including the collection and sharing of 
data; and 
(4) for each rural school with which the entity 
enters into a written agreement— 
(A) identify the cohort of students who will 
be entering grade 7 in the first year of the 
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grant under this Act, and serves such students 
for 6 consecutive years; or 
(B) identify the cohort of students who will 
be entering grade 9 in the first year of the 
grant under this Act, and serves such students 
for 4 consecutive years; 
(5) provide participating students in a cohort at 
a partnering rural school with a program that— 
(A) includes approximately 25 hours per 
grade of program workshops during the school 
day over the course of grades 7 through 12 or, 
in the case of a grade 9 cohort, grades 9 
through 12, to provide services including— 
(i) providing education planning to 
the students; 
(ii) providing information for the stu-
dents about the opportunities for and the 
importance of higher education and post-
secondary training; 
(iii) developing career awareness in 
the students; 
(iv) building the students’ career, 
leadership, and life skills; 
(v) building awareness in the students 
of the State’s future labor needs and the 
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importance of young people to the State’s 
economy, and coordinating with the State’s 
efforts to develop the State’s workforce 
and economy; and 
(vi) creating awareness in the stu-
dents of local businesses and integrating 
expertise from local business and nonprofit 
providers into the program, as appropriate; 
(B) reaches all students in the cohort who 
are participating in the demonstration project; 
and 
(C) is implemented consistently across all 
participating rural school sites; and 
(6) evaluates the project, as described in section 
6. 
(b) STAFF.—A non-profit entity receiving a grant 
under this Act shall hire, train, and employ personnel to 
administer and deliver the demonstration project. These 
individuals shall function as employees of the nonprofit en-
tity but shall coordinate with the partnering rural schools 
and rural local educational agencies in the delivery of the 
program, consistent with the applicable agreements de-
scribed in subsection (a)(3). 
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SEC. 6. EVALUATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—A non-profit entity receiving a 
grant under this Act shall use a portion of grant funds 
to award a contract, on a competitive basis, to a third- 
party evaluator to enable the evaluator— 
(1) to rigorously evaluate the impact of the en-
tity’s demonstration project under this Act in ac-
cordance with subsection (d); and 
(2) to submit the annual evaluation required 
under subsection (e). 
(b) COMPETITIVE BASIS AND PREFERENCE.—The 
non-profit entity shall select the evaluator for a contract 
under this section by a competitive process, with a pref-
erence given to evaluators using evaluation models that 
utilize experimental design methodology. 
(c) APPROVAL BY THE SECRETARY.—The Secretary 
or the Secretary’s designee shall approve the evaluator se-
lected by the non-profit entity before the entity enters into 
a contract with the evaluator. 
(d) CONTENT OF EVALUATION.—An evaluator receiv-
ing a contract for a demonstration project under this Act 
shall perform an evaluation of the project that— 
(1) follows rigorous standards of third-party 
evaluation in determining the effects of the dem-
onstration project under this Act on— 
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(A) the rigor of secondary school course- 
taking the rigor of secondary school courses 
taken by participating students; 
(B) the performance of participating stu-
dents on statewide assessments; 
(C) the engagement of participating stu-
dents in school, including attendance rates, dis-
cipline data, and grades; 
(D) the rates of participating students tak-
ing college entrance examinations, such as the 
SAT or ACT; 
(E) the career aspirations of participating 
students; 
(F) the rates of participating students en-
rolling in career and technical education 
courses, dual enrollment courses, advanced 
placement courses, or other related programs; 
(G) the secondary school graduation rates 
of participating students; 
(H) the rates among participating students 
of institution of higher education application, 
enrollment, and program completion; and 
(I) the participating students’ awareness of 
State economic indicators and workforce needs; 
and 
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(2) follows a rigorous model so that findings re-
garding the program outcomes meet standards of 
scientifically-based research, as defined in section 
9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801); and 
(3) addresses the scalability and replicability of 
the program model with respect to other rural areas, 
including— 
(A) the identification of elements that are 
integral to program effectiveness; 
(B) efficacy in use of Federal funds; and 
(C) the impact of coordination with State 
workforce development efforts. 
(e) ANNUAL EVALUATION REPORT.—An evaluator 
receiving a contract under this section shall submit an an-
nual evaluation on the progress of the program to the Sec-
retary. 
SEC. 7. REPORTS. 
(a) ANNUAL REPORTS.—A non-profit entity receiving 
a grant under this Act shall submit an annual report on 
the progress of the demonstration project to the Secretary 
for each year of the grant period. 
(b) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 
(1) INTERIM
REPORT.—Not later than 18 
months after amounts are appropriated under this 
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Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress an in-
terim report on the progress of the demonstration 
projects funded under this Act that includes the out-
come measures described in section 6(d)(1). 
(2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 
after the last day of the grant period for all grants 
under this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Con-
gress a final report on the results of the program, 
which report shall include— 
(A) the outcome measures described in sec-
tion 6(d)(1); and 
(B) recommendations for such legislative 
or administrative action as the Secretary deter-
mines appropriate. 
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 
(2) RURAL
LOCAL
EDUCATIONAL
AGENCY.— 
The term ‘‘rural local educational agency’’ means a 
local educational agency that meets— 
(A) the eligibility requirements under sec-
tion 6211(b) (20 U.S.C. 7345(b)) for participa-
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