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evaluate, and improve such programs within the State.
Such indicators shall include the following:
‘‘(1) With respect to eligible participants in a
program who are adults—
‘‘(A) achievement in the areas of reading,
writing, English language acquisition, problem
solving, and numeracy;
‘‘(B) receipt of a secondary school diploma
or its recognized equivalent;
‘‘(C) entry into a postsecondary school, a
job retraining program, or employment or career
advancement, including the military; and
‘‘(D) such other indicators as the State may
develop.
‘‘(2) With respect to eligible participants in a
program who are children—
‘‘(A) improvement in ability to read on
grade level or reading readiness;
‘‘(B) school attendance;
‘‘(C) grade retention and promotion; and
‘‘(D) such other indicators as the State may
develop.’’.
(b) STATE LEVEL ACTIVITIES.—Section 1203(a) of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 6363(a)) is amended—
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(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the
end;
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(3) carrying out section 1210.’’.
(c) AWARD OF SUBGRANTS.—Paragraphs (3) and (4)
of section 1208(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6368) are amended to read
as follows:
‘‘(3) CONTINUING
ELIGIBILITY.—In awarding
subgrant funds to continue a program under this part
for the second, third, or fourth year, the State edu-
cational agency shall evaluate the program based on
the indicators of program quality developed by the
State under section 1210. Such evaluation shall take
place after the conclusion of the startup period, if
any.
‘‘(4) INSUFFICIENT PROGRESS.—The State edu-
cational agency may refuse to award subgrant funds
if such agency finds that the eligible entity has not
sufficiently improved the performance of the program,
as evaluated based on the indicators of program qual-
ity developed by the State under section 1210, after—
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‘‘(A) providing technical assistance to the
eligible entity; and
‘‘(B) affording the eligible entity notice and
an opportunity for a hearing.’’.
SEC. 725. RESEARCH.
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), as amended by section 524 of this
Act, is further amended by inserting after section 1210 the
following:
‘‘SEC. 1211. RESEARCH.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out,
through grant or contract, research into the components of
successful family literacy services. The purpose of the re-
search shall be—
‘‘(1) to improve the quality of existing programs
assisted under this part or other family literacy pro-
grams carried out under this Act or the Adult Edu-
cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.); and
‘‘(2) to develop models for new programs to be
carried out under this Act or the Adult Education
Act.
‘‘(b) DISSEMINATION.—The National Institute for Lit-
eracy shall disseminate, pursuant to section 2357, the re-
sults of the research described in subsection (a) to States
and recipients of subgrants under this part.’’.
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TITLE VIII—DROPOUT PREVEN-
TION AND STATE RESPON-
SIBILITIES
SEC. 801. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘National Dropout Pre-
vention Act of 1998’’.
Subtitle A—Dropout Prevention
SEC. 811. DROPOUT PREVENTION.
Part C of title V of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7261 et seq.) is amended
to read as follows:
‘‘PART C—ASSISTANCE TO ADDRESS SCHOOL
DROPOUT PROBLEMS
‘‘Subpart 1—Coordinated National Strategy
‘‘SEC. 5311. NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.
‘‘(a) NATIONAL PRIORITY.—It shall be a national pri-
ority, for the 5-year period beginning on the date of enact-
ment of the National Dropout Prevention Act of 1998, to
lower the school dropout rate, and increase school comple-
tion, for middle school and secondary school students in ac-
cordance with Federal law. As part of this priority, all Fed-
eral agencies that carry out activities that serve students
at risk of dropping out of school or that are intended to
help address the school dropout problem shall make school
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dropout prevention a top priority in the agencies’ funding
priorities during the 5-year period.
‘‘(b) ENHANCED DATA COLLECTION.—The Secretary
shall collect systematic data on the participation of dif-
ferent racial and ethnic groups (including migrant and
limited English proficient students) in all Federal pro-
grams.
‘‘SEC. 5312. NATIONAL SCHOOL DROPOUT PREVENTION
STRATEGY.
‘‘(a) PLAN.—The Director shall develop, implement,
and monitor an interagency plan (in this section referred
to as the ‘‘plan’’) to assess the coordination, use of resources,
and availability of funding under Federal law that can be
used to address school dropout prevention, or middle school
or secondary school reentry. The plan shall be completed
and transmitted to the Secretary and Congress not later
than 180 days after the first Director is appointed.
‘‘(b) COORDINATION.—The plan shall address inter-
and intra-agency program coordination issues at the Fed-
eral level with respect to school dropout prevention and
middle school and secondary school reentry, assess the tar-
geting of existing Federal services to students who are most
at risk of dropping out of school, and the cost-effectiveness
of various programs and approaches used to address school
dropout prevention.
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‘‘(c) AVAILABLE RESOURCES.—The plan shall also de-
scribe the ways in which State and local agencies can im-
plement effective school dropout prevention programs using
funds from a variety of Federal programs, including the
programs under title I of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) and the
School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 6101
et seq.).
‘‘(d) SCOPE.—The plan will address all Federal pro-
grams with school dropout prevention or school reentry ele-
ments or objectives, programs under chapter 1 of subpart
2 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 1070a–11 et seq.), title I of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.),
the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C.
6101 et seq.), and part B of title IV of the Job Training
Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1691 et seq.), and other pro-
grams.
‘‘SEC. 5313. NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE.
‘‘Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment
of the National Dropout Prevention Act of 1998, the Direc-
tor shall establish a national clearinghouse on effective
school dropout prevention, intervention and reentry pro-
grams. The clearinghouse shall be established through a
competitive grant or contract awarded to an organization