I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4464 
To improve the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 20, 2004 
Mr. SIMMONS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To improve the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 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 ‘‘No Child Left Behind 
Reform Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS. 
(a) 
DEFINITION
OF
ADEQUATE
YEARLY 
PROGRESS.—Section 1111(b)(2) of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)) 
is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (C)(vii)—
(A) by striking ‘‘such as’’; 
(B) by inserting ‘‘such as measures of indi-
vidual or cohort growth over time based on the 
academic assessments implemented in accord-
ance with paragraph (3),’’ after ‘‘described in 
clause (v),’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘attendance rates,’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (D)— 
(A) by striking clause (ii); 
(B) by striking ‘‘the State’’ and all that 
follows through ‘‘ensure’’ and inserting ‘‘the 
State shall ensure’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a pe-
riod. 
(b) ACADEMIC
ASSESSMENT
AND
LOCAL
EDU-
CATIONAL AGENCY AND SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT.—Sec-
tion 1116(a)(1)(B) of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(a)(1)(B)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘, except that’’ and all that follows 
through ‘‘action or restructuring’’. 
SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR INCREASING DATA CAPACITY FOR 
PURPOSES OF AYP. 
Part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following:
‘‘SEC. 1120C. GRANTS FOR INCREASING DATA CAPACITY 
FOR PURPOSES OF AYP. 
‘‘(a) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may award 
grants, on a competitive basis, to State educational agen-
cies to enable the State educational agencies to develop 
or increase the capacity of data systems for accountability 
purposes and award subgrants to increase the capacity of 
local educational agencies to upgrade, create, or manage 
information databases for the purpose of measuring ade-
quate yearly progress. 
‘‘(b) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall give priority to State educational 
agencies that have created, or are in the process of cre-
ating, a growth model or proficiency index as part of their 
adequate yearly progress determination. 
‘‘(c) STATE USE OF FUNDS.—Each State that re-
ceives a grant under this section shall use— 
‘‘(1) not more than 20 percent of the grant 
funds for the purpose of increasing the capacity of, 
or creating, State databases to collect information 
related to adequate yearly progress; and 
‘‘(2) not less than 80 percent of the grant 
funds to award subgrants to local educational agen-
cies within the State to enable the local educational 
agencies to carry out the authorized activities de-
scribed in subsection (d).
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Each local edu-
cational agency that receives a subgrant under this section 
shall use the subgrant funds to increase the capacity of 
the local educational agency to upgrade databases or cre-
ate unique student identifiers for the purpose of meas-
uring adequate yearly progress, by— 
‘‘(1) purchasing database software or hardware; 
‘‘(2) hiring additional staff for the purpose of 
managing such data; 
‘‘(3) providing professional development or ad-
ditional training for such staff; and 
‘‘(4) providing professional development or 
training for principals and teachers on how to effec-
tively use such data to implement instructional strat-
egies to improve student achievement. 
‘‘(e) STATE APPLICATION.—Each State educational 
agency desiring a grant under this section shall submit 
an application to the Secretary at such time, in such man-
ner, and containing such information as the Secretary may 
require. 
‘‘(f) LEA APPLICATION.—Each local educational 
agency desiring a subgrant under this section shall submit 
an application to the State educational agency at such 
time, in such manner, and containing such information as 
the State educational agency may require. Each such ap-
plication shall include, at a minimum, a demonstration of 
the local educational agency’s ability to put such a data-
base in place. 
‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$80,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005, 2006, and 
2007.’’. 
SEC. 4. TARGETING TRANSFER OPTIONS AND SUPPLE-
MENTAL SERVICES. 
(a) TARGETING TRANSFER OPTIONS AND SUPPLE-
MENTAL SERVICES.—Section 1116 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraphs (1)(E)(i), (5)(A), (7)(C)(i), 
and (8)(A)(i) of subsection (b), by striking the term 
‘‘all students enrolled in the school’’ each place such 
term appears and inserting ‘‘all students enrolled in 
the school, who are members of a group described in 
section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v) that fails to make adequate 
yearly progress as defined in the State’s plan under 
section 1111(b)(2),’’; 
(2) in subsection (b)(1), by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(G) MAINTENANCE OF LEAST RESTRIC-
TIVE ENVIRONMENT.—A student who is eligible
to receive services under the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act and who uses the op-
tion to transfer under subparagraph (E), para-
graph (5)(A), (7)(C)(i), or (8)(A)(i), or sub-
section (c)(10)(C)(vii), shall be placed and 
served in the least restrictive environment ap-
propriate, in accordance with the Individuals 
with Disabilities Education Act.’’; 
(3) in clause (vii) of subsection (c)(10)(C), by 
inserting ‘‘, who are members of a group described 
in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v) that fails to make ade-
quate yearly progress as defined in the State’s plan 
under section 1111(b)(2),’’ after ‘‘Authorizing stu-
dents’’; and 
(4) in subparagraph (A) of subsection (e)(12), 
by inserting ‘‘, who is a member of a group de-
scribed in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v) that fails to 
make adequate yearly progress as defined in the 
State’s plan under section 1111(b)(2)’’ after ‘‘under 
section 1113(c)(1)’’. 
(b) STUDENT ALREADY TRANSFERRED.—A student 
who transfers to another public school pursuant to section 
1116(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)) before the effective date of 
this section and the amendments made by this section,
may continue enrollment in such public school after the 
effective date of this section and the amendments made 
by this section. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend-
ments made by this section shall be effective for each fiscal 
year for which the amount appropriated to carry out title 
I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
for the fiscal year, is less than the amount authorized to 
be appropriated to carry out such title for the fiscal year. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITION OF HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS. 
Section 9101(23)(B)(ii) of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(23)(B)(ii)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘or’’ after the 
semicolon; 
(2) in subclause (II), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 
the semicolon; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(III) in the case of a middle 
school teacher, passing a State ap-
proved middle school generalist exam 
when the teacher receives the teach-
er’s license to teach middle school in 
the State;
‘‘(IV) obtaining a State social 
studies certificate that qualifies the 
teacher to teach history, geography, 
economics, and civics in middle or sec-
ondary schools, respectively, in the 
State; or 
‘‘(V) obtaining a State science 
certificate that qualifies the teacher to 
teach earth science, biology, chem-
istry, and physics in middle or sec-
ondary schools, respectively, in the 
State; and’’. 
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