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‘‘(9) a wide array of persons interested in and 
involved with early care and early education issues 
in the State, such as representatives of—
‘‘(A) health care professionals; 
‘‘(B) the State agency with responsibility 
for the special supplemental nutrition program 
for women, infants, and children established by 
section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966; 
‘‘(C) institutions of higher education; 
‘‘(D) community-based and faith-based or-
ganizations; 
‘‘(E) the business community; 
‘‘(F) State legislators and local officials; 
‘‘(G) museums and libraries; 
‘‘(H) other relevant entities in the State; 
and 
‘‘(I) other agencies that provide resources 
for young children. 
‘‘(l) STATE PLAN SUBMISSION.—An application shall 
be submitted by a State pursuant to this section to the 
Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Edu-
cation, and shall be deemed to be approved by the Sec-
retary unless the Secretary makes a written determina-
tion, prior to the expiration of a reasonable time beginning 
on the date on which the Secretary received the applica-
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tion, that the application is not in compliance with this 
section. 
‘‘(m) TREATMENT OF FUNDS.—If a State or local 
government contributes its own funds to supplement ac-
tivities carried out under the applicable programs, the 
State or local government has the option to separate out 
the Federal funds or commingle them. If the funds are 
commingled, the provisions of this subchapter shall apply 
to all of the commingled funds in the same manner, and 
to the same extent, as the provisions apply to the Federal 
funds. 
‘‘(n) FEDERAL OVERSIGHT AUTHORITY; CORREC-
TIVE ACTION; WITHDRAWAL OF APPROVAL.—
‘‘(1) FEDERAL
OVERSIGHT.—The Secretary 
shall retain the authority to oversee the operation of 
the State program under this section, including 
through review of records and reports, audits, and 
onsite inspection of records and facilities and moni-
toring of program activities and operations. 
‘‘(2) CORRECTION
OF
DEFICIENCIES.—If the 
Secretary determines that a State program under 
this section substantially fails to meet the require-
ments of this section, the Secretary shall notify the 
State of the deficiencies identified and require cor-
rective action as follows:
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‘‘(A) DEFICIENCIES
CAUSING
IMMEDIATE 
JEOPARDY.—The Secretary shall require imme-
diate corrective action to eliminate a deficiency 
that the Secretary finds threatens the health or 
safety of staff or program participants or poses 
a threat to the integrity of Federal funds. 
‘‘(B) OTHER
DEFICIENCIES.—The Sec-
retary, taking into consideration the nature and 
magnitude of a deficiency not described in sub-
paragraph (A), and the time reasonably re-
quired for correction, may—
‘‘(i) require the State to correct the 
deficiency within 90 days after notification 
under this paragraph; or 
‘‘(ii) require the State to implement a 
quality improvement plan designed to cor-
rect the deficiency within one year from 
identification of the deficiency. 
‘‘(3) WITHDRAWAL OF APPROVAL.—If the defi-
ciencies identified under paragraph (2) are not cor-
rected by the deadlines established by the Secretary, 
the Secretary shall initiate proceedings to withdraw 
approval of the State program under this section. 
‘‘(4) PROCEDURAL RIGHTS.—A State subject to 
adverse action under this subsection shall have the
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same procedural rights as a Head Start agency sub-
ject to adverse action under section 641A. 
‘‘(o) INDEPENDENT EVALUATION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall con-
tract with an independent organization outside of 
the Department to design and conduct a multi-year, 
rigorous, scientifically valid, quantitative evaluation 
of the State demonstration program. 
‘‘(2) PROCESS.—The Secretary shall award a 
contract within 180 days of the date of enactment 
of the School Readiness Act of 2003, to an organiza-
tion that is capable of designing and carrying out an 
independent evaluation described in this subsection. 
‘‘(3) ANALYSIS.—The evaluation shall include 
an analysis of each State participating in the State 
demonstration program, including—
‘‘(A) A quantitative description of the 
State prekindergarten program and Head Start 
programs within such State, as such programs 
existed prior to participation in the State dem-
onstration program, including: 
‘‘(i) data on the characteristics of the 
children served, including the overall num-
ber and percentages of children served
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disaggregated by socioeconomic status, 
race and ethnicity of those served; 
‘‘(ii) the quality and characteristics of 
the services provided to such children; and 
‘‘(iii) the education attainment of in-
structional staff. 
‘‘(B) A quantitative and qualitative de-
scription of the State program after each year 
of participation in the State demonstration, 
which shall include each of the following: 
‘‘(i) A description of changes in the 
administration of the State program, in-
cluding the Head Start program, within 
such State. 
‘‘(ii) The rate of progress of the State 
in improving the school readiness of dis-
advantaged children in the key domains of 
development. 
‘‘(iii) Data as described in subpara-
graph (A), as updated annually. 
‘‘(iv) The extent to which each State 
has met the goals established by such 
State with respect to annual goals as de-
scribed under section 643(h)(10).
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‘‘(4) REPORT.—(A) The Secretary shall provide 
an interim report on the progress of such evaluation 
and of the progress of States participating in the 
State demonstration in increasing the availability of 
high quality prekindergarten services for low-income 
children not later than October 1, 2006 to the Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce in the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in the Sen-
ate. 
‘‘(B) The Secretary shall provide a final report 
to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
in the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in the 
Senate, not later than October 1, 2007, which shall 
include an overall evaluation of the State demonstra-
tion program, including an assessment of its success 
in increasing the overall availability of high quality 
prekindergarten services for low income children in 
each of the participating States as compared to a 
representative sample of non-participating States.
‘‘(p) STATE
PARTICIPATION
AGREEMENT.—Fol-
lowing the submission of an application fulfilling all re-
quirements of this section, a State that meets all eligibility 
requirements set forth in section 643A(a)(2) and is se-
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lected by the Secretary to participate in the demonstration 
program under this section shall: 
‘‘(1) maintain or increase fiscal year 2003 State 
funding levels for early childhood education; 
‘‘(2) provide an additional contribution of non-
federal funds equal to 5 percent of the State’s Fed-
eral Head Start allotment; 
‘‘(3) use Head Start funding only for the pur-
poses of Head Start as described in section 636; 
‘‘(4) provide all comprehensive social services 
currently available to Head Start children, including 
health and nutrition; 
‘‘(5) develop a strategy to maximize parental in-
volvement to enable parents to become full partners 
in the education of their children; 
‘‘(6) demonstrate that the qualifications and 
credentials for early childhood teachers meet or ex-
ceed the standards in section 648A(a)(2)(A), (B), 
and (C); 
‘‘(7) enforce quality standards for school readi-
ness that are aligned with K–12 educational stand-
ards and generally meet or exceed the Federal Head 
Start performance standards;