(C) weeks per year of program operation of 
State-funded preschool programs. 
(10) To improve the State’s system for moni-
toring the quality of State-funded preschool pro-
grams. 
(11) To provide opportunities for intensive and 
on-going research- and evidence-based professional 
development in the domains described in section 
4(a)(1)(A) for staff of State-funded preschool pro-
grams. 
(12) To provide induction and support for pre-
school program directors, teachers, and staff during 
the first 3 years of employment in a new position, 
and to provide on-going mentoring to such individ-
uals by persons with education and expertise in sup-
porting teachers in effective teaching practices with 
young children and in supporting program directors 
in early childhood education and program manage-
ment. 
(13) To renovate existing facilities, except that 
such renovation must be limited to minor rehabilita-
tion or remodeling needed to ensure that State-fund-
ed preschool program facilities are age and develop-
mentally appropriate. 
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(14) To provide preschool classroom supplies or 
equipment. 
(c) SET-ASIDE.—A State that receives funds under 
this Act shall use 10 percent of such funds to improve 
the quality of early learning environments for children 
from birth to age 3 through research- and evidence-based 
methods. 
(d) SPECIAL RULE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 
(b), a qualified State that receives funds under this 
Act may use not more than 50 percent of the funds 
remaining after the set-aside described under sub-
section (c) for the purpose of expanding a State- 
funded preschool program, with priority for such ex-
pansion to communities with high concentrations of 
low-income children, that meets or exceeds the cri-
teria in section 4(a) if— 
(A) the amount appropriated under section 
13 is not less than $250,000,000; or 
(B) the State-funded preschool program 
meets or exceeds the following criteria: 
(i) The standards described in sub-
paragraphs (A) and (B) of section 4(a)(1). 
(ii) Each teacher holds a bacca-
laureate degree in early childhood edu-
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cation (or a related field if specialized 
training in early childhood education has 
also been completed). 
(iii) Each provider provides full-day 
services at all locations. 
(iv) Each provider provides com-
prehensive services to at-risk children par-
ticipating in the State-funded preschool 
program. 
(v) Each teacher participates in on- 
going professional development in child de-
velopment and learning. 
(vi) Each provider provides linguis-
tically and culturally appropriate standards 
for serving children with limited English 
proficiency participating in the State-fund-
ed preschool program. 
(2) STATE DEFINITION AND APPLICABILITY.— 
For the purpose of establishing a priority for expan-
sion under paragraph (1), the State shall define 
what constitutes a high concentration of low-income 
children. In any State described in paragraph (1) in 
which all communities with high concentrations of 
low-income children are served by a State-funded 
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preschool program, the priority for expansion de-
scribed in such paragraph shall not apply. 
(e) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Funds provided 
under this Act shall be used only to improve or enhance 
a State-funded preschool program. Nothing in this Act 
shall be construed such that a State may use these funds 
only for existing State-funded preschool program pro-
viders. 
SEC. 7. MATCHING REQUIREMENTS. 
The Secretary shall not make a grant to a State 
under this Act unless the State agrees to the following: 
(1) QUALIFIED STATE.—In the case of a quali-
fied State, the State will make available non-Federal 
contributions in an amount equal to not less than 30 
percent of that portion of the Federal funds pro-
vided under the grant that represent the base allot-
ment under section 3(b)(2). 
(2) SELECTED STATE.—In the case of a se-
lected State, the State will make available non-Fed-
eral contributions in an amount equal to not less 
than 50 percent of that portion of the Federal funds 
provided under the grant that represent the base al-
lotment under section 3(b)(2). 
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SEC. 8. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—For each year in which 
funding is provided under this Act, the Secretary shall 
submit an annual report to Congress on the activities car-
ried out under this Act, including, at a minimum, informa-
tion on the following: 
(1) The activities undertaken by qualified 
States and selected States that improved or en-
hanced State-funded preschool programs. 
(2) The progress of selected States in moving 
toward fulfilling criteria to become a qualified State. 
(3) The extent to which the State used funds 
to expand a State-funded preschool program, as al-
lowed under section 6(d). 
(4) The costs and barriers to expansion, includ-
ing building and renovating preschool facilities so 
that such facilities are high-quality and age and de-
velopmentally appropriate. 
(b) REPORT TO SECRETARY.—Each State that re-
ceives a grant under this Act shall submit to the Secretary 
an annual report on the following: 
(1) The activities carried out by the State 
under this Act, including— 
(A) how funds provided under this Act 
were used to enhance and improve the quality 
of State-funded preschool programs, including 
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enhancing and improving the quality of State- 
funded preschool programs serving children who 
live in a rural area; and 
(B) such other information as the Sec-
retary may reasonably require. 
(2) The activities carried out by the State-fund-
ed preschool program, including— 
(A) the number and ages of children 
served by the State-funded preschool program; 
and 
(B) the number and ages of children in 
such program with a disability, with limited 
English proficiency, from low-income families, 
and from rural areas. 
SEC. 9. SPECIAL RULE. 
Funds under this Act may not be used for the pur-
poses of assessments that provide rewards or sanctions for 
individual children or teachers. 
SEC. 10. APPLICATIONS FOR INDIAN TRIBES. 
The Secretary shall award competitive grants to In-
dian tribes and tribal organizations to carry out a program 
under this Act. An Indian tribe or tribal organization de-
siring to receive funds under this Act shall submit an ap-
plication to the Secretary at such time and in such manner 
as the Secretary may reasonably require. For purposes of 
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(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Education. 
(6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean-
ing given such term in section 9101 of the Elemen-
tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 7801). 
(7) STATE-FUNDED
PRESCHOOL
PROGRAM.— 
The term ‘‘State-funded preschool program’’ means 
a program that— 
(A) serves children who are ages 3 through 
5; 
(B) has a primary focus of supporting 
early childhood education, including supporting 
children’s cognitive, social, emotional, and phys-
ical development and approaches to learning; 
(C) helps prepare children for a successful 
transition to kindergarten; 
(D) is funded either in whole or in part by 
a State through a State agency with authority 
to promulgate regulations and monitor partici-
pating programs; and 
(E) may be a Head Start program. 
(8) LIMITED
ENGLISH
PROFICIENCY.—The 
term ‘‘limited English proficiency’’, when used with 
respect to a child, means a child— 
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(A)(i) who was not born in the United 
States or whose native language is a language 
other than English; 
(ii)(I) who is a Native American (as de-
fined in section 9101 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
7801)), an Alaska Native, or a native resident 
of an outlying area (as defined in such section 
9101); and 
(II) who comes from an environment where 
a language other than English has had a sig-
nificant impact on the child’s level of English 
language proficiency; or 
(iii) who is migratory, whose native lan-
guage is a language other than English, and 
who comes from an environment where a lan-
guage other than English is dominant; and 
(B) whose difficulties in speaking or un-
derstanding the English language may be suffi-
cient to deny the child— 
(i) the ability to successfully achieve 
in a classroom in which the language of in-
struction is English; or 
(ii) the opportunity to participate fully 
in society. 
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SEC. 12. CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require a 
child to attend a preschool program. 
SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION. 
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this Act such sums as may be necessary for each of the 
fiscal years 2016 through 2020. 
Æ 
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