I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8295 
To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to support 
educational programs in American civics and history, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 
Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. COLE, Ms. JACKSON LEE, and Mr. THOMP-
SON of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants 
to support educational programs in American civics and 
history, 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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Educating for Democ-
racy Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to support local educational agencies, ele-
mentary schools, and secondary schools in selecting 
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and making available to all students innovative, en-
gaging curricula and programs in American civics 
and history that prepare them to understand Amer-
ican Government and engage in American demo-
cratic practices as citizens and residents of the 
United States; 
(2) to provide resources to institutions of higher 
education for the purposes of offering effective pro-
fessional development opportunities to enable and 
encourage teachers to deliver instruction that en-
gages students in learning American civics and his-
tory; 
(3) to provide resources to nonprofit organiza-
tions that have developed, or are developing, pro-
grams in civic education that incorporate practices 
that are proven to be effective in engaging students, 
and to assist in making such curricula and programs 
more widely available to schools and students, par-
ticularly in rural and inner-city urban areas that 
have traditionally been underserved by civic learning 
programs; 
(4) to provide resources to continue and expand 
research into practices, methods, and approaches 
that are effective in instructing elementary and sec-
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ondary school students in American civics and his-
tory; and 
(5) to encourage participation in the National 
Assessment of Educational Progress assessments in 
American civics and history in grades 4, 8, and 12, 
using a methodology sufficient to provide accurate 
State-level data on student proficiency in American 
civics and history disaggregated so as to have statis-
tical significance for every State. 
SEC. 3. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available 
under section 9 the Secretary of Education is authorized 
to carry out the civics education grant programs described 
in sections 4 through 7. 
(b) APPLICATION.—To be considered for a grant 
under this Act, an eligible entity shall submit to the Sec-
retary of Education an application at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 
may require. 
(c) GRANT DURATION.—Each grant under this Act 
shall be awarded for a period of not less than three years. 
(d) PRIORITY.—Except as otherwise provided in this 
Act, the Secretary shall prioritize the award of grants to 
eligible entities that demonstrate the greatest potential 
to— 
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(1) improve knowledge and engagement among 
students traditionally underserved by comprehensive 
civic education and American history programs, in-
cluding rural and inner-city urban students, English 
language learners, students who have not completed 
high school, and other such students; 
(2) close gaps in civic knowledge and achieve-
ment among students of different income levels, ra-
cial and ethnic groups, and native languages; 
(3) improve performance on the National As-
sessment of Educational Progress assessments in 
American civics and history among students in 
grades 4, 8, and 12; 
(4) integrate evidence-based practices for pro-
moting student proficiency and engagement in civics; 
and 
(5) provide cost-effective, scalable delivery of 
programs and services. 
SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATES. 
(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu-
cation is authorized to make grants to States, on a com-
petitive basis, to support educational programs in Amer-
ican civics and history in accordance with this section. 
(b) GRANT AMOUNT.—The amount of each grant to 
a State under this section shall be proportional to the 
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amount received by all local educational agencies in the 
State under part A of title I of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) 
for the previous fiscal year relative to the total such 
amount received by all local educational agencies in every 
State that receives a grant under this section. 
(c) STATE RESERVATION.—A State that receives a 
grant under this section may reserve not more than five 
percent of the amount of the grant for— 
(1) administrative costs of carrying out the 
State’s responsibilities under this section; and 
(2) monitoring and evaluating programs and 
activities supported with the grant. 
(d) SUBGRANTS
TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN-
CIES.—A State that receives a grant under this section 
shall use not less than 95 percent of the amount of the 
grant to make subgrants, on a competitive or formula 
basis, to local educational agencies within the State to as-
sist such agencies in carrying out programs to improve 
the achievement of elementary and secondary school stu-
dents in the fields of American civics and history. 
(e) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—A State shall use 
a grant under this section only to supplement the level 
of Federal, State, and local public funds that would, in 
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absence of such grant, be made available for the activities 
supported by the grant, and not to supplant such funds. 
(f) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—As part of the ap-
plication required under section 3(b), a State shall include 
a plan describing how the State intends to use the grant 
under this section. Each State plan shall include, at a min-
imum, the following: 
(1) An explanation of how the State will use the 
grant to supplement, and not supplant, other public 
funds provided for educational programs in Amer-
ican civics and history. 
(2) Plans to address civics and history achieve-
ment gaps among students of different income lev-
els, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and native lan-
guages. 
(3) Plans to improve civics and history achieve-
ment among traditionally underserved students, in-
cluding rural and urban students and English learn-
ers. 
(4) Plans for making subgrants to local edu-
cational agencies as required under subsection (d), 
including— 
(A) details of how the State intends to dis-
tribute funding to local educational agencies, 
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whether by competition or through a formula- 
based system; 
(B) how the State’s approach to distrib-
uting funds to local educational agencies will 
take into account requirements of paragraphs 
(1) through (3); 
(C) criteria by which local education agen-
cies’ applications for funding will be evaluated, 
including how such applications will take into 
account the requirements of paragraphs (1) 
through (3); 
(D) how the State will ensure that local 
educational agencies will use grant funds to 
supplement, and not supplant, other public 
funding for educational programs in American 
civics and history; and 
(E) how the State will evaluate and hold 
local educational agencies accountable for im-
proved student knowledge and achievement in 
American civics and history. 
(5) An assurance that the State will participate 
in the National Assessment of Educational Progress 
assessments in American civics and history in grades 
4, 8, and 12. 
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(6) In the case of a State applying to renew a 
grant previously received under this section, an eval-
uation of the effectiveness of the activities carried 
out using the previous grant, which shall be based 
on the results of the most recent National Assess-
ment of Educational Progress assessment in Amer-
ican civics and history, to the extent the results of 
such assessment are available at the time of the 
State’s application. 
SEC. 5. GRANTS TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS. 
(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu-
cation is authorized to make grants to qualified nonprofit 
organizations, on a competitive basis, to assist such orga-
nizations in developing or expanding access to evidence- 
based curricula, instructional models, and other edu-
cational programs to enhance student knowledge and 
achievement in American civics and history in elementary 
schools and secondary schools. 
(b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—As part of the ap-
plication required under section 3(b), a qualified nonprofit 
organization shall include a proposal that demonstrates 
how the activities proposed to be carried out with the 
grant under this section will enhance student knowledge 
and achievement in American civics and history in elemen-
tary schools and secondary schools. 
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(c) PRIORITY
OF AWARDS.—In awarding grants 
under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to 
qualified nonprofit organizations that propose to use the 
grant to develop or expand access to curricula, instruc-
tional models, and other educational programs that— 
(1) address the learning needs of traditionally 
underserved students, including rural and inner-city 
urban students and English learners; and 
(2) incorporate evidence-based practices to en-
hance student learning and engagement in civics and 
history. 
SEC. 6. GRANTS TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 
(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu-
cation is authorized to make grants to institutions of high-
er education, on a competitive basis, to assist such institu-
tions in developing and implementing programs to train 
elementary and secondary school teachers in methods for 
instructing and engaging students in American civics and 
history. 
(b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—As part of the ap-
plication required under section 3(b), an institution of 
higher education shall include a proposal demonstrating 
that the institution— 
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(1) has the ability to train elementary and sec-
ondary school teachers to provide comprehensive 
civics education; 
(2) is familiar with research on practices that 
are proven to contribute to effective instruction in 
civics and history and will incorporate such research 
into the training provided to teachers using the 
grant; and 
(3) will use the grant to make training in civics 
education available to elementary and secondary 
school teachers in the State or geographic region 
served by the institution. 
(c) PRIORITY
OF AWARDS.—In awarding grants 
under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to in-
stitutions of higher education that propose to use the 
grant to carry out training programs for teachers that— 
(1) address the specific needs of teachers work-
ing with traditionally underserved students, includ-
ing rural and inner-city urban students and English 
learners; and 
(2) incorporate evidence-based practices for im-
proving the ability of teachers to provide effective in-
struction in civics and history. 
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SEC. 7. RESEARCH GRANTS. 
(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu-
cation is authorized to make grants, on a competitive 
basis, to qualified researchers to research and evaluate— 
(1) elementary and secondary school students’ 
knowledge of American civics and history; and 
(2) effective instructional practices and educa-
tor professional development in the fields of Amer-
ican civics and history. 
(b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—As part of the ap-
plication required under section 3(b), a qualified re-
searcher shall include a description of the project to be 
funded with the grant under this section. The description 
of the project shall include a separate section that de-
scribes how the project may directly or indirectly affect 
civics education generally, which may include effects such 
as— 
(1) achieving the full participation of women, 
persons with disabilities, and underrepresented mi-
norities in American civics and history education; 
(2) increasing public civic literacy and civic en-
gagement; 
(3) developing a diverse educator workforce; or 
(4) other such effects. 
(c) PRIORITY
OF AWARDS.—In awarding grants 
under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to 
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qualified researchers who propose to carry out activities 
that will benefit historically underserved communities, in-
cluding rural and inner-city urban communities and com-
munities of English learners. 
SEC. 
8. 
NATIONAL 
ASSESSMENT 
OF 
EDUCATIONAL 
PROGRESS. 
Section 303(b) of the Education Sciences Reform Act 
of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9622(b)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) 
through (H) as subparagraphs (E) through (I) 
respectively; 
(B) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 
the following: 
‘‘(D) conduct a national assessment, using 
a methodology sufficient to provide accurate, 
disaggregated, statistically significant State- 
level data on student proficiency for every 
State, on student academic achievement in pub-
lic and private elementary schools and sec-
ondary schools at least once every 2 years, in 
grades 4, 8, and 12 in civics and history;’’; and 
(C) in subparagraph (E), as so redesig-
nated, by striking ‘‘history, geography, civics’’ 
and inserting ‘‘geography’’; and 
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(2) in paragraph (3)(A)— 
(A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘(2)(E)’’ and 
inserting ‘‘(2)(F)’’; 
(B) by redesignating clauses (iii) and (iv) 
as clauses (iv) and (v), respectively; 
(C) by inserting after clause (ii) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(iii) shall conduct biennial State aca-
demic assessments of student achievement 
in civics and history in grades 4, 8, and 
12, as described in paragraph (2)(D)’’; and 
(D) in clause (iv), as so redesignated, by 
striking ‘‘(2)(D)’’ and inserting ‘‘(2)(E)’’. 
SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) The term ‘‘civics’’, when used with respect 
to an educational program, means a program that 
addresses the following: 
(A) Acquisition of civic knowledge, includ-
ing an understanding of the history, heritage, 
civic life, and civic institutions of the United 
States. 
(B) Acquisition of civic skills, such as the 
ability to analyze text and determine the reli-
ability of sources and an understanding of the 
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ways in which civic institutions operate and how 
individuals may be involved in civic life. 
(C) Acquisition of civic dispositions, values 
such as appreciation for free speech, civil dis-
course, and understanding perspectives that dif-
fer from one’s own as well as a disposition to 
be civically engaged. 
(D) Development of civic behaviors, includ-
ing civic habits and practices such as voting, 
serving on juries, engagement in deliberative 
discussions, 
volunteering, 
attending 
public 
meetings, and other activities related to civic 
life. 
(2) The term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means— 
(A) with respect to grant program under 
section 4, a State; 
(B) with respect to the grant program 
under section 5, a qualified nonprofit organiza-
tion; 
(C) with respect to the grant program 
under section 6, an institution of higher edu-
cation; and 
(D) with respect to the grant program 
under section 7, a qualified researcher. 
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