I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 547
To improve graduation rates by authorizing the Secretary of Education to 
make grants to improve adolescent literacy, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 2, 2005
Mr. HINOJOSA (for himself, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 
VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. FILNER, Mrs. DAVIS of California, 
Mr. WEINER, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. OWENS, Ms. LEE, Mrs. 
MCCARTHY, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. ORTIZ, 
Mr. BECERRA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. LINDA 
T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. CARDOZA, 
Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. 
CLEAVER, Mr. REYES, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. WATSON, Mr. 
PALLONE, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. HONDA, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. 
NADLER, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. RUSH, Mr. 
DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. BACA, Mr. HOLT, Mr. RANGEL, 
Mr. STARK, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, 
Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. WU, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. SOLIS, 
Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. CASE, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. HOYER, Mr. 
CUELLAR, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Ms. ROYBAL-AL-
LARD, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. KIND, 
Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. ENGEL, and Mr. ED-
WARDS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To improve graduation rates by authorizing the Secretary 
of Education to make grants to improve adolescent lit-
eracy, 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 ‘‘Graduation for All 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) Failure to earn a high school diploma has 
serious economic and social consequences for individ-
uals and the Nation. 
(2) Recent studies show that less than 75 per-
cent of all eighth graders graduate from high school 
in 5 years, and in urban schools the rate falls below 
50 percent. 
(3) 40 percent of students attending high-mi-
nority-enrollment secondary schools enroll in reme-
dial coursework when entering higher education in 
an effort to gain the skills their secondary education 
failed to provide. 
(4) Students who receive concentrated, focused 
support in literacy graduate from high school and 
attend college in far greater numbers. 
(5) On the 2002 National Assessment of Edu-
cational Progress, one in four students in the eighth 
grade scored below basic in reading.
(6) Improving the literacy skills of adolescents 
is a key factor in improving high school graduation 
rates. 
TITLE I—IMPROVING 
ADOLESCENT LITERACY 
SEC. 101. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this title are—
(1) to provide assistance to State educational 
agencies and local educational agencies in estab-
lishing effective research-based reading programs for 
students attending secondary schools (including mid-
dle schools and high schools, as defined by the local 
education agency) including economically disadvan-
taged students, students from major racial and eth-
nic groups, students with disabilities, students with 
limited English proficiency, migrant children, and 
homeless children; 
(2) to provide adequate resources to schools to 
hire, and to provide in-service training for, at least 
one literacy coach per 600 students or 20 teachers, 
whichever requires the greater number of literacy 
coaches, who can assist all teachers to incorporate 
research-based reading and writing instruction or 
English as a second language instruction into their 
teaching of mathematics, science, history, civics, ge-
ography, literature, language arts, and other core 
academic subjects; 
(3) to provide assistance to State educational 
agencies and local educational agencies in strength-
ening reading and writing instruction and providing 
diagnostic reading assessments and comprehensive 
research-based programs and instructional materials 
that will improve overall reading and writing per-
formance among students attending secondary 
schools; and 
(4) to provide assistance to State educational 
agencies and local educational agencies to develop 
and implement individual graduation plans for stu-
dents who are most at risk of not graduating from 
high school so that such students graduate with a 
high school diploma before reaching 21 years of age 
or the maximum age for high school attendance in 
accordance with State law. 
SEC. 102. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 
The Secretary is authorized to establish a program, 
in accordance with the requirements of this title, that will 
provide funds to State educational agencies and local edu-
cational agencies to establish reading and writing pro-
grams to improve overall reading and writing performance 
among students attending secondary schools (including
middle and high schools, as defined by the local education 
agency). 
SEC. 103. GRANTS TO STATES. 
(a) ALLOCATION TO STATES.—The Secretary shall 
allocate funds to States—
(1) to establish a reading and writing partner-
ship to increase the literacy skills for all students, 
including strategies for economically disadvantaged 
students, students from major racial and ethnic 
groups, students with disabilities, students with lim-
ited English proficiency, migrant children, and 
homeless children; 
(2) to coordinate applications for subgrants 
under this title; and 
(3) to oversee and evaluate the State’s activities 
under this title. 
(b) LENGTH OF GRANT.—Grants made to States 
under this title shall be in effect for a period of 6 years. 
(c) APPLICATIONS.—In order to receive a grant 
under this title, a State shall submit to the Secretary an 
application in a form established by the Secretary, which 
satisfies the following conditions: 
(1) The application shall not be consolidated 
with an application made under the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 
et seq.). 
(2) The application shall include assurances 
that the State—
(A) has established a reading and writing 
partnership that—
(i) coordinated the application; and 
(ii) will assist in administering the 
program; and 
(B) will participate, if requested, in the ex-
ternal national evaluation of the program. 
(3) The application shall include a program 
plan that contains a description of the following: 
(A) How the State will assist local edu-
cational agencies in implementing grants, in-
cluding providing ongoing professional develop-
ment for literacy coaches, teachers, paraprofes-
sionals, and administrators. 
(B) How the State will help local edu-
cational agencies identify screening, diagnostic, 
and classroom-based instructional reading and 
writing assessments. 
(C) How the State will help local edu-
cational agencies identify scientifically based 
materials and programs.
(D) How the State will help local edu-
cational agencies identify materials, programs, 
and assessments for economically disadvantaged 
students, students from major racial and ethnic 
groups, students with disabilities, students with 
limited English proficiency, migrant children, 
and homeless children. 
(E) How the State will ensure that profes-
sional development is based on scientifically 
based reading research, will effectively improve 
instructional practices for reading and writing, 
and is coordinated with professional develop-
ment activities funded through other programs. 
(F) How funded activities will help teach-
ers and other instructional staff to implement 
scientifically based components of reading in-
struction. 
(G) The subgrant process, including how 
the State will ensure that eligible local edu-
cational agencies receiving subgrants will use 
practices based on scientifically based reading 
research. 
(H) How the State will build on, and pro-
mote coordination among, reading and writing 
programs in the State to increase overall effec-
tiveness in reading and writing instruction, in-
cluding effectiveness among economically dis-
advantaged students, students from major ra-
cial and ethnic groups, students with disabil-
ities, students with limited English proficiency, 
migrant children, and homeless children. 
(I) How the State will assist local edu-
cational agencies receiving subgrants under this 
title in providing one-on-one counseling to de-
velop graduation plans for students at risk of 
not graduating on time. 
(J) How the State will assess and evaluate 
the effectiveness of eligible local educational 
agency activities on a regular basis. 
(d) USE OF FUNDS.—
(1) SUBGRANTS.—Each State shall allocate 80 
percent of the funds the State receives under this 
title to local educational agencies, utilizing a com-
petitive priority based upon the graduation rate for 
students attending middle schools and high schools. 
(2) STATE-LEVEL ACTIVITIES.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational 
agency shall use 20 percent of the grant funds 
the State educational agency receives under this 
title—
(i) to carry out State-level activities 
described in subsection (c); 
(ii) to provide technical support to 
local educational agencies and high-quality 
professional development to teachers and 
literacy coaches; 
(iii) to provide grants to secondary 
schools that have low graduation rates but 
are not in a local education agency with 
low graduation rates; and 
(iv) for administrative costs. 
(B) LIMITATION.—Not more than 10 per-
cent of the grant funds distributed to a State 
under this title for any fiscal year may be used 
for planning, administration, and reporting. 
(e) NOTICE
TO LOCAL EDUCATION AGENCIES.—
Each State receiving a grant under this title shall provide 
notice to all eligible local educational agencies about the 
availability of subgrants under this title. 
(f) REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.—State applications 
shall be reviewed by the Secretary in the order in which 
they are received. 
SEC. 104. SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 
(a) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT.—To be eligible to 
receive a subgrant under this title, a local educational
agency shall be among the local educational agencies in 
the State with the lowest graduation rates for public sec-
ondary 
school 
students 
(as 
defined 
in 
section 
1111(b)(2)(C)(vi) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(C)(vi))). 
(b) APPLICATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Local educational agencies 
shall submit applications to the State in the form 
and according to the schedule established by the 
State. 
(2) CONTENTS.—In addition to any other infor-
mation required by the State, applications for sub-
grants under this title shall demonstrate how the 
local educational agency will carry out the following 
required activities: 
(A) Reading assessments. 
(B) Reading programs. 
(C) Reading and writing programs for eco-
nomically disadvantaged students, students 
from major racial and ethnic groups, students 
with disabilities, students with limited English 
proficiency, migrant children, and homeless 
children.
(D) One-on-one counseling to develop grad-
uation plans for students at risk of not grad-
uating on time. 
(E) Selection and implementation of in-
structional materials based on scientifically 
based reading research. 
(F) Professional development, including in-
struction on how to identify and work with eco-
nomically disadvantaged students, students 
from major racial and ethnic groups, students 
with disabilities, students with limited English 
proficiency, migrant children, and homeless 
children. 
(G) Evaluation strategies. 
(H) Reporting. 
(I) Providing access to reading material, 
including reading materials for economically 
disadvantaged students, students from major 
racial and ethnic groups, students with disabil-
ities, students with limited English proficiency, 
migrant children, and homeless children. 
(3) CONSORTIA.—Local educational agencies 
may apply to the State for a grant as a consortium, 
if each member of the consortium meets the eligi-
bility requirement described in subsection (a).
(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A local educational agency re-
ceiving a subgrant under this title shall use the funds to 
provide the following services at the middle school and 
high school levels (as defined by the agency): 
(1) Hiring and providing inservice training for 
literacy coaches who shall—
(A) work with classroom teachers to incor-
porate reading and writing instruction within 
all subject areas, during regular classroom peri-
ods and after school and summer school pro-
grams, for all students, including economically 
disadvantaged students, students from major 
racial and ethnic groups, students with disabil-
ities, students with limited English proficiency, 
migrant children, and homeless children; 
(B) work with classroom teachers to iden-
tify students with reading problems and provide 
remediation or referral for additional services; 
(C) in partnership with classroom teachers, 
diagnose and remediate reading difficulties of 
the lowest performing students (including low-
performing economically disadvantaged stu-
dents, students from major racial and ethnic 
groups, students with disabilities, students with 
limited English proficiency, migrant children,
and homeless children) by providing intensive, 
research-based instruction (including before- 
and after-school and summer sessions) focused 
on reading and writing skills and geared toward 
ensuring that such students can perform rig-
orous academic coursework in high school; and 
(D) assess and organize student data on 
literacy and communicate such data to school 
administrators. 
(2) Providing one-on-one counseling to all stu-
dents, beginning in grade 9, who are at risk of not 
graduating on time because of insufficient accumula-
tion of credits, failure to pass State graduation ex-
aminations, or low or failing grades, which coun-
seling shall include—
(A) developing individual graduation plans 
for such students so that they are able to grad-
uate from high school with a standard diploma 
before reaching 21 years of age or the max-
imum age for high school attendance in accord-
ance with State law; 
(B) working with students and their par-
ents or caregivers to develop an individual grad-
uation plan that will define each student’s ca-
reer and education goals, ensure enrollment in