(II) earned on-time promotion 
rates from grade to grade; 
(III) percentage of students fail-
ing a mathematics, reading or lan-
guage arts, or science course, or fail-
ing 2 or more of any courses; 
(IV) teacher preparation, experi-
ence, effectiveness, and attendance 
measures; 
(V) in-school and out-of-school 
suspension or other measurable evi-
dence of at-risk behavior, including 
any disparities in rates among sub-
groups of students, as defined in sec-
tion 1111(c)(2)) of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 6311(c)(2)); 
(VI) data collected by the Civil 
Rights Data Collection survey con-
ducted by the Office of Civil Rights of 
the Department of Education; and 
(VII) additional indicators pro-
posed by the State educational agency 
and approved by the Secretary, based 
upon any peer-review evaluation of in-
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dicators 
conducted 
under 
section 
102(b)(2). 
(vii) Ensure that such plan is coordi-
nated with State activities to turn around 
schools identified for comprehensive sup-
port 
and 
improvement 
under 
section 
1111(c)(4)(D)(i) of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 6311(c)(4)(D)(i)), including State 
activities to improve secondary schools and 
elementary schools. 
(viii) Ensure that such plan includes 
specific provisions to improve family and 
community engagement in education in the 
middle grades. 
(b) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—A State educational 
agency that receives a grant under this title may use the 
grant funds to— 
(1) develop and encourage collaborations among 
researchers at institutions of higher education, State 
educational agencies, educational service agencies, 
local educational agencies, and nonprofit organiza-
tions with demonstrated expertise in high-quality 
middle grade interventions, to expand the use of ef-
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fective practices in the middle grades and to improve 
middle grade education; 
(2) develop and facilitate collaboration among 
institutions of higher education, nonprofit organiza-
tions, and other stakeholders involved in teacher and 
school leader preparation to improve the quality and 
delivery of preservice and in-service middle grades 
teacher and school leader preparation to ensure new 
and existing middle grade educators are prepared for 
the specific and unique needs of middle grades stu-
dents; 
(3) support local educational agencies in imple-
menting effective middle grades practices, models, 
and programs that— 
(A) are evidence-based; and 
(B) lead to improved student academic 
achievement; 
(4) support collaborative communities of middle 
grades teachers, administrators, school librarians, 
and researchers in creating and sustaining informa-
tional databases to disseminate results from rigorous 
research on effective practices and programs for 
middle grades education; and 
(5) increase middle grades student and aca-
demic support services, such as— 
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(A) effective school library programs; and 
(B) school counseling on the transition to 
secondary school, such as summer bridge pro-
grams and student mentors, and planning for 
entry into postsecondary education and the 
workforce. 
SEC. 104. COMPETITIVE SUBGRANTS TO IMPROVE LOW- 
PERFORMING MIDDLE GRADES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency that 
receives a grant under this title shall make competitive 
subgrants to eligible local educational agencies and eligible 
entities to enable the eligible local educational agencies 
and eligible entities to improve low-performing middle 
grades in schools served by the agencies or entities. 
(b) PRIORITIES.—In making subgrants under sub-
section (a), a State educational agency shall give priority 
to eligible local educational agencies or eligible entities 
based on— 
(1) the respective populations of children de-
scribed in section 102(c)(1) served by the eligible 
local educational agencies that are participating in 
the subgrant application process; and 
(2) the respective populations of children served 
by the participating eligible local educational agen-
cies who attend eligible schools. 
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(c) APPLICATION.—An eligible local educational 
agency or eligible entity that desires to receive a subgrant 
under subsection (a) shall submit an application to the 
State educational agency at such time, in such manner, 
and accompanied by such information as the State edu-
cational agency may reasonably require, including— 
(1) a middle grade improvement plan described 
in subsection (d); and 
(2) a description of how activities described in 
such plan will be complementary to, and coordinated 
with, school improvement activities for elementary 
schools and secondary schools that serve the same 
students within the participating local educational 
agency. 
(d) MIDDLE GRADES IMPROVEMENT PLAN.—An eli-
gible local educational agency or eligible entity that desires 
to receive a subgrant under subsection (a) shall develop 
a comprehensive middle grades improvement plan for the 
middle grades that shall— 
(1) describe how activities described in such 
plan will be coordinated with activities specified in 
schoolwide program plans under section 1114 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 6314); 
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(2) describe how the eligible local educational 
agency or eligible entity will— 
(A) identify eligible schools; 
(B) ensure that funds go to eligible schools 
with the highest percent of low-income students 
first, based on the eligible schools’ populations 
of children described in section 102(c)(1); 
(C) use funds to close achievement gaps 
and improve the academic achievement of all 
students, including English learners and stu-
dents with disabilities, in eligible schools; 
(D) implement an early warning indicator 
and intervention system to alert schools when 
students begin to exhibit outcomes or behaviors 
that indicate the student is at increased risk for 
low academic achievement or is unlikely to 
progress to secondary school graduation, and to 
create a system of evidence-based interventions 
to be used by schools to effectively intervene, 
by— 
(i) identifying and analyzing, such as 
through the use of longitudinal data of 
past cohorts of students, the academic and 
behavioral indicators in the middle grades 
that most reliably predict dropping out of 
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