improvement over the period of the grant is eligible 
to receive a second grant for a second period. If the 
school again demonstrates adequate improvement 
over that second period, the school is eligible to re-
ceive a third grant for a third period. The third 
grant shall provide amounts that decrease for each 
year of the third period and require the school to 
provide corresponding increases in non-Federal 
funds. 
‘‘(2) ADEQUATE IMPROVEMENT.—For purposes 
of paragraph (1), a school demonstrates adequate 
improvement over a grant period if the four-year ad-
justed cohort graduation rate increases (or is pro-
jected to increase) by 10 percent or more over that 
period. 
‘‘(g) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall carry out the 
demonstration project in at least 10 schools. The first five 
schools selected to participate shall each be from a dif-
ferent State. 
‘‘SEC. 1843. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘For purposes of this subpart: 
‘‘(1) FOUR-YEAR ADJUSTED COHORT GRADUA-
TION RATE.—The term ‘four-year adjusted cohort 
graduation rate’ means the number of students who 
earned a regular high school diploma at the conclu-
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sion of their fourth year, before their fourth year, or 
during a summer session immediately following their 
fourth year, divided by the number of students who 
formed the adjusted cohort for that graduating 
class. 
‘‘(2) ADJUSTED COHORT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the other 
subparagraphs of this paragraph, the term ‘ad-
justed cohort’ means the students who entered 
grade 9 together, and any students that trans-
ferred into the cohort in grade 9 through 12 
minus any students removed from the cohort. 
‘‘(B) TRANSFERS IN.—The term ‘transfers 
in’ means the students who enroll or re-enroll 
after the beginning of the entering cohort’s first 
year in high school, up to and including in 
grade 12. 
‘‘(C) COHORT REMOVAL.—To remove stu-
dents from the cohort, the school or local edu-
cational agency must confirm that the stu-
dent— 
‘‘(i) has transferred out; 
‘‘(ii) is in the custody of the juvenile 
justice system; or 
‘‘(iii) is deceased. 
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‘‘(D) TRANSFERS OUT.—The term ‘trans-
fers out’ means the students the school or local 
educational agency has confirmed have trans-
ferred to another school, local educational agen-
cy, or other educational program for which they 
are expected to receive a regular high school di-
ploma. Confirmation of a student’s transfer to 
another school, local educational agency, or pro-
gram requires formal documentation that the 
student enrolled in the receiving school. Stu-
dents enrolled in a GED or other alternative 
educational program that does not issue or pro-
vide credits toward the issuance of a regular 
high school diploma are not considered trans-
fers out. Students who were enrolled, but for 
whom there is no confirmation of transfer or 
completion, may not be labeled transfers or er-
rors, but must remain in the cohort as non- 
graduates for reporting and accountability pur-
poses. 
‘‘(E) TREATMENT
OF
OTHER
LEAVERS 
AND
WITHDRAWALS.—Students who were re-
tained in grade, enrolled in a GED program, or 
left school for any other reason may not be 
counted as transfers out for the purpose of cal-
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culating graduation rates and must remain in 
the adjusted cohort. 
‘‘(F) SPECIAL
RULE.—For those high 
schools that start after ninth grade, the cohort 
shall be calculated based on the earliest high 
school grade. 
‘‘(3) REGULAR HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘regular 
high school diploma’ means the standard high 
school diploma awarded to the preponderance of 
students in the State that is fully aligned with 
State standards, or a higher diploma, and does 
not include GEDs, certificates of attendance, or 
any lesser diploma award. 
‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.—For those students 
who have significant cognitive disabilities and 
are assessed using an alternate assessment 
aligned to alternate achievement standards, re-
ceipt of a regular high school diploma or State- 
defined alternate diploma aligned with comple-
tion of their entitlement under the Individuals 
with Disabilities Education Act shall be counted 
as graduates with a regular high school diploma 
for the purposes of this Act. No more than one 
percent of students can be counted as graduates 
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with a regular high school diploma under this 
subparagraph. 
‘‘SEC. 1844. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this subpart $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 
through 2011.’’. 
Æ 
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