place, new models of high school are clearly needed, 
especially for struggling students who are not on 
track to a high school diploma. 
(2) Researchers have identified leading indica-
tors that, taken together, are as much as 85 percent 
predictive of which 9th graders will not graduate 
from high school 4 years later. 
(3) In the 2000 high schools nationwide with 
estimated 4-year graduation rates of 60 percent or 
lower, 80 percent of the 9th graders are significantly 
behind in skills or credits. By a conservative esti-
mate, this adds up to not fewer than 500,000 stu-
dents who are not on track to graduation. 
(4) Poor outcomes for struggling students are 
endemic in cities, towns, and rural areas across the 
country. Graduation rates for students who are not 
on-track to an on-time graduation in ninth grade are 
as low as 20 percent. 
(5) Schools designed to accelerate students’ 
learning and get them on track to a college-ready di-
ploma make a difference. The Early College High 
School Initiative has started 130 schools serving ap-
proximately 16,000 students in 23 States. Early re-
sults indicate that in the first programs to graduate 
students, over 95 percent earned a high school di-
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ploma, over 57 percent earned an associate’s degree, 
and over 80 percent were accepted at a 4-year col-
lege. 
(6) Most States and districts have limited ca-
pacity to expand and spread proven practices and 
models for improving graduation rates within a high 
standards environment. 
(7) The Nation’s young people understand the 
value of education and will persist, often against 
considerable odds, to further their education. From 
1980 to 2002, a period of time with no discernible 
increase in the country’s graduation rates, the per-
centage of 10th graders aspiring to a bachelor’s de-
gree or higher increased from 40 percent to 80 per-
cent, with the largest increase among low-income 
youth. 
(8) Young people who fall behind and drop out 
of high school often report that they regret leaving 
and wish they had been encouraged and supported 
to work harder while they were in school. Many per-
severe despite a lack of school options or pathways 
designed to help them succeed. Close to 60 percent 
of dropouts eventually earn a high school creden-
tial—in most cases a GED certificate. Almost half 
of these students—44 percent—later enroll in 2-year 
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or 4-year colleges, but despite their efforts fewer 
than 10 percent earn a postsecondary degree. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are— 
(1) to facilitate the development and implemen-
tation of effective secondary school models for strug-
gling students and dropouts; and 
(2) to build the capacity of State educational 
agencies, local educational agencies, nonprofit orga-
nizations, and institutions of higher education to im-
plement effective secondary school models for strug-
gling students and dropouts. 
SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS. 
In this title: 
(1) DROPOUT.—The term ‘‘dropout’’ means an 
individual who— 
(A) is not older than 21; 
(B)(i) is not attending any school; or 
(ii) prior to attending a school based on an 
effective school model, was not attending any 
school; and 
(C) has not received a secondary school 
regular diploma or its recognized equivalent. 
(2) EFFECTIVE
SCHOOL
MODEL.—The term 
‘‘effective school model’’ means— 
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