I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 613
To provide a grant to develop initiatives and disseminate information about
character education, and a grant to research character education.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 14, 2001
Mr. SMITH of Texas (for himself and Mr. CLEMENT) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To provide a grant to develop initiatives and disseminate
information about character education, and a grant to
research character education.
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 ‘‘Character Learning
and Student Success Act of 2001’’ (CLASS Act of 2001).
SEC. 2. GRANT TO DEVELOP INITIATIVES AND DISSEMI-
NATE 
INFORMATION 
ABOUT 
CHARACTER
EDUCATION.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) The commitment of schools to the academic
achievement of students should be partnered with an
effort to address and improve the character of stu-
dents.
(2) Improving the character of students in-
cludes ensuring that students understand, care
about, and act upon ethical values and virtues.
(3) Improving the character of students pro-
motes a more compassionate and responsible society.
(4) Character education is an initiative in
schools that attends to the social, emotional, and
ethical development of students and is a means of
teaching, modeling, and practicing positive ethical
character traits as part of the regular school cur-
riculum and culture.
(5) Effective character education increases the
self-esteem of students and decreases the risk that
students will become isolated or do harm to others.
(6) Schools that integrate character education
into existing curriculum and daily activities foster
the development of core ethical values and virtues in
students, and provide for students a model of a com-
munity that is comprised of mature and responsible
individuals.
(7) An increasing number of States and local
educational agencies are promoting the implementa-
tion of character education initiatives.
(8) Successful character education requires that
States, local educational agencies, schools, and
teachers have access to effective methodologies, high-
quality initiatives, professional development opportu-
nities, criteria for assessing initiatives, and cost-ef-
fective opportunities to network nationally with each
other, especially through electronic means.
(9) As States and local educational agencies
continue to coordinate the implementation of char-
acter education in schools, a central and comprehen-
sive source of information regarding the activities of
States and local educational agencies becomes in-
creasingly necessary.
(10) Information about the effectiveness of
Federal, State, and local educational agency initia-
tives, the impact of those initiatives, and the ad-
vancement of character education in schools is essen-
tial to successfully educating students about char-
acter.
(b) GRANT AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is au-
thorized to make a single 5-year grant to the eligible orga-
nization that, in the judgment of the Secretary, best
demonstrates—
(1) an expertise on the national level in pro-
viding to schools comprehensive and objective infor-
mation regarding character education policies, orga-
nizations, initiatives, curricula, methods, research,
and assessment;
(2) a membership that is representative of the
various individuals and groups who provide char-
acter education initiatives, resources, and curricula
to schools; and
(3) a history of, and commitment to, promoting
and advocating quality character education initia-
tives.
(c) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.—
(1) INITIATIVE DEVELOPMENT.—The recipient
of the grant under subsection (b) (hereafter in this
section referred to as the ‘‘grantee’’) shall use the
grant funds to develop initiatives that—
(A) present methods of addressing core
ethical values in a comprehensive manner in
schools;
(B) emphasize student motivation and be-
havior;
(C) assist in the development of schools as
caring communities;
(D) give students the opportunity to put
character lessons into practice;
(E) provide for the inclusion of families
and communities in character education;
(F) emphasize leadership, service, and
teamwork as dimensions of character education;
and
(G) evaluate the effectiveness of character
education, including the effect of character edu-
cation initiatives on disciplinary referrals and
on teacher expectations.
(2) INFORMATION DISSEMINATION.—The grant-
ee shall use the grant funds to collect and make
available, in electronic form and through other
means, information concerning—
(A) quality character education initiatives
and methods;
(B) models of professional development in
character education;
(C) methods of assessing and evaluating
the effectiveness of character education initia-
tives;
(D) the integration of character education
into educational content, performance stand-
ards, and educational reform efforts; and
(E) any topic that would be helpful to
character educators in implementing character
education initiatives.
(3) PROVISION
OF
SERVICES.—The grantee
shall use the grant funds to provide—
(A) a searchable database that contains
background and contact information on the
leading character education groups, curricula,
books, initiatives, and videos;
(B) a checklist of criteria for schools to as-
sess the appropriateness of particular character
education curricula to the needs of such
schools;
(C) an index of websites regarding char-
acter education; and
(D) telephone assistance and a toll-free ac-
cess number.
(d) REPORT.—The grantee shall submit to the Sec-
retary an annual report that—
(1) describes the progress of the grantee in car-
rying out the requirements described in subsection
(c), including a listing of—