I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4643 
To improve the literacy and English skills of limited English proficient 
individuals, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 26, 2016 
Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself and Mr. HONDA) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To improve the literacy and English skills of limited English 
proficient individuals, 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 ‘‘Families Learning and 
Understanding English Together Act of 2016’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Census Bureau reports that in 2011, 
20.8 percent of United States households speak a 
language other than English at home. 
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1 year and may be renewed for a total of 5 additional 
years. 
(b) APPLICATION.—Family literacy providers who de-
sire to receive a grant under this Act shall submit an ap-
plication at such time, containing such information, and 
in such manner as the Secretary may require. Such appli-
cation shall include the following: 
(1) An assurance that services provided with 
funds under this Act shall be provided to the hard-
est-to-reach populations, including populations with 
the greatest economic and social need. 
(2) A description of the services that will be 
provided with funds under this Act, including how 
the services will be based on research-based reading 
instruction for children who are English learners 
and parents who are limited English proficient. 
(3) A description of the outcome measures, con-
sistent with section 6, that are based on scientifically 
based research and will be employed by the family 
literacy provider to measure the effectiveness of 
services provided with funds under this Act. 
(4) An assurance that, in providing family lit-
eracy services through the grant, the family literacy 
provider will collaborate with one or more of the fol-
lowing: 
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(A) A local educational agency. 
(B) An elementary school. 
(C) A secondary school. 
(D) A nonprofit entity. 
(c) GRANT AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant under 
this Act for a fiscal year shall not be less than $150,000 
or more than $1,000,000. 
(d) SERVICES
REQUIREMENTS.—Family literacy 
services under this Act shall be provided in sufficient in-
tensity in terms of hours, and shall be of sufficient dura-
tion, to make sustainable changes in a family and shall 
integrate all of the following activities: 
(1) Interactive literacy activities between par-
ents and their children. 
(2) Training for parents regarding how to be 
the primary teacher for their children and full part-
ners in the education of their children. 
(3) Parent literacy training that leads to eco-
nomic self-sufficiency. 
(4) An age-appropriate education to prepare 
children for success in school and life experiences. 
(e) SPECIAL RULE.—Family literacy services under 
this Act may be provided to a family only if— 
(1) each parent in the family has attained 16 
years of age; and 
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(2) the family has at least one child from birth 
who has not yet attained 8 years of age. 
SEC. 5. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING. 
(a) ACTIVITIES BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary, act-
ing through the Assistant Secretary for Elementary and 
Secondary Education, shall, through grants or contracts 
as described in subsection (b), provide technical assistance 
and training to grantees under this Act for the purposes 
described in subsection (c). 
(b) ACTIVITIES BY NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make 
grants to, or enter into contracts with, at least 2 eli-
gible national organizations to provide technical as-
sistance and training to grantees under this Act for 
the purposes described in subsection (c). 
(2) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘el-
igible national organization’’ means a national orga-
nization with expertise in providing family literacy 
services to limited English proficient populations. 
(c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of technical assistance 
and training provided under this section are the following: 
(1) Assisting grantees under this Act to im-
prove the quality of their family literacy services. 
(2) Enabling such grantees that demonstrate 
the effective provision of family literacy services, 
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based on improved outcomes for children and their 
parents, to provide technical assistance and training 
to government agencies and to family literacy pro-
viders that work in collaboration with such agencies 
to improve the quality of their family literacy serv-
ices. 
(3) Assisting such grantees in the implementa-
tion of literacy curriculum and training activities, in-
cluding curriculum and training activities that sup-
port building on a child’s native language. 
(d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 days 
after the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall sub-
mit to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a 
report on the technical assistance and training provided 
pursuant to subsections (a) and (b). Each such report 
shall describe the actions taken by the Secretary to ensure 
that such technical assistance and training is of high-qual-
ity and is responsive to the needs of grantees under this 
Act. 
SEC. 6. OUTCOME MEASURES. 
The Secretary shall require each family literacy pro-
vider receiving a grant under this Act to meet culturally 
appropriate and competent outcome measures described in 
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the provider’s application under section 4, including out-
come measures with respect to— 
(1) acquisition of the English language, includ-
ing improved educational levels; 
(2) literacy skills and building of a home lan-
guage; 
(3) improved parenting and life skills; 
(4) the improved ability of parents with limited 
English proficiency to effectively interact with offi-
cials of the schools their children attend; 
(5) improved developmental skills and inde-
pendent learning of the children; and 
(6) increased parental participation in their 
children’s education and home environments that are 
supportive of educational endeavors. 
SEC. 7. EVALUATION. 
The Secretary shall conduct an annual evaluation of 
the grant program under this Act. Such evaluation shall 
be used by the Secretary— 
(1) for program improvement; 
(2) to further define the program’s goals and 
objectives; and 
(3) to determine program effectiveness. 
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act: 
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(1) APPLICATION OF ESEA TERMS.—The terms 
‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘English learner’’, ‘‘local edu-
cational agency’’, and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the 
meanings given such terms in section 8101 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 7801). 
(2) FAMILY
LITERACY
PROVIDER.—The term 
‘‘family literacy provider’’ means an entity that— 
(A) is located in a geographic area con-
taining at least one public elementary school or 
secondary school with a majority enrollment of 
children who are English learners; and 
(B) is one of the following: 
(i) A grantee under the Head Start 
Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), or any other 
Federal or State early childhood program. 
(ii) An adult education provider. 
(iii) A local educational agency. 
(iv) A public or private nonprofit 
agency. 
(v) Another entity that has the dem-
onstrated ability to provide family literacy 
services to limited English proficient adults 
and families. 
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(3) SCIENTIFICALLY
BASED
READING
RE-
SEARCH.—The term ‘‘scientifically based reading re-
search’’ means research that— 
(A) applies rigorous, systematic, and objec-
tive procedures to obtain valid knowledge rel-
evant to reading development, reading instruc-
tion, and reading difficulties; and 
(B) includes research that— 
(i) 
employs 
systematic, 
empirical 
methods that draw on observation or ex-
periment; 
(ii) involves rigorous data analyses 
that are adequate to test the stated 
hypotheses and justify the general conclu-
sions drawn; 
(iii) relies on measurements or obser-
vational methods that provide valid data 
across evaluators and observers and across 
multiple measurements and observations; 
and 
(iv) has been accepted by a peer-re-
viewed journal or approved by a panel of 
independent experts through a comparably 
rigorous, objective, and scientific review. 
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(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Education. 
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro-
priated to carry out this Act $50,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2017 through 2021. 
(b) RESERVATIONS.—From funds made available 
pursuant to subsection (a) for a fiscal year, the Secretary 
shall reserve— 
(1) not more than 2 percent of such funds for 
conducting the annual evaluation required by section 
7; and 
(2) $5,000,000 for technical assistance and 
training under section 5. 
Æ 
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