IIA
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2614
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
NOVEMBER 9, 1997
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and Human
Resources
AN ACT
To improve the reading and literacy skills of children and
families by improving in-service instructional practices
for teachers who teach reading, to stimulate the develop-
ment of more high-quality family literacy programs, to
support extended learning-time opportunities for chil-
dren, to ensure that children can read well and independ-
ently not later than third grade, 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 ‘‘Reading Excellence
Act’’.
TITLE I—READING GRANTS
SEC. 101. AMENDMENT TO ESEA FOR READING GRANTS.
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
‘‘TITLE XV—READING GRANTS
‘‘SEC. 15101. PURPOSE.
‘‘The purposes of this title are as follows:
‘‘(1) To teach every child to read in their early
childhood years—
‘‘(A) as soon as they are ready to read; or
‘‘(B) as soon as possible once they enter
school, but not later than 3d grade.
‘‘(2) To improve the reading skills of students,
and the in-service instructional practices for teachers
who teach reading, through the use of findings from
reliable, replicable research on reading, including
phonics.
‘‘(3) To expand the number of high-quality
family literacy programs.
‘‘(4) To reduce the number of children who are
inappropriately referred to special education due to
reading difficulties.
‘‘SEC. 15102. DEFINITIONS.
‘‘For purposes of this title:
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
PROVIDER.—The term ‘eligible professional develop-
ment provider’ means a provider of professional de-
velopment in reading instruction to teachers that is
based on reliable, replicable research on reading.
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE RESEARCH INSTITUTION.—The
term ‘eligible research institution’ means an institu-
tion of higher education at which reliable, replicable
research on reading has been conducted.
‘‘(3) FAMILY LITERACY SERVICES.—The term
‘family literacy services’ means services provided to
participants on a voluntary basis that are of suffi-
cient intensity in terms of hours, and of sufficient
duration, to make sustainable changes in a family
(such as eliminating or reducing welfare depend-
ency) and that integrate all of the following activi-
ties:
‘‘(A) Interactive literacy activities between
parents and their children.
‘‘(B) Equipping parents to partner with
their children in learning.
‘‘(C) Parent literacy training, including
training that contributes to economic self-suffi-
ciency.
‘‘(D) Appropriate instruction for children
of parents receiving parent literacy services.
‘‘(4) READING.—The term ‘reading’ means the
process of comprehending the meaning of written
text by depending on—
‘‘(A) the ability to use phonics skills, that
is, knowledge of letters and sounds, to decode
printed words quickly and effortlessly, both si-
lently and aloud;
‘‘(B) the ability to use previously learned
strategies for reading comprehension; and
‘‘(C) the ability to think critically about
the meaning, message, and aesthetic value of
the text.
‘‘(5) READING READINESS.—The term ‘reading
readiness’ means activities that—
‘‘(A) provide experience and opportunity
for language development;
‘‘(B) create appreciation of the written
word;
‘‘(C) develop an awareness of printed lan-
guage, the alphabet, and phonemic awareness;
and
‘‘(D) develop an understanding that spo-
ken and written language is made up of pho-
nemes, syllables, and words.
‘‘(6) RELIABLE, REPLICABLE RESEARCH.—The
term ‘reliable, replicable research’ means objective,
valid, scientific studies that—
‘‘(A) include rigorously defined samples of
subjects that are sufficiently large and rep-
resentative to support the general conclusions
drawn;
‘‘(B) rely on measurements that meet es-
tablished standards of reliability and validity;
‘‘(C) test competing theories, where mul-
tiple theories exist;
‘‘(D) are subjected to peer review before
their results are published; and
‘‘(E) discover effective strategies for im-
proving reading skills.
‘‘SEC. 15103. GRANTS TO READING AND LITERACY PART-
NERSHIPS.
‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may
make grants on a competitive basis to reading and literacy
partnerships for the purpose of permitting such partner-
ships to make subgrants under sections 15104 and 15105.
‘‘(b) READING AND LITERACY PARTNERSHIPS.—
‘‘(B) OPTIONAL
PARTICIPANTS.—A read-
ing and literacy partnership may include addi-
tional participants, who shall be selected jointly
by the Governor and the chief State school offi-
cer, which may include—
‘‘(i) State directors of appropriate
Federal or State programs with a strong
reading component;
‘‘(ii) a parent of a public or private
school student or a parent who educates
their child or children in their home;
‘‘(iii) a teacher who teaches reading;
or
‘‘(iv) a representative of (I) an insti-
tution of higher education operating a pro-
gram of teacher preparation in the State;
(II) a local educational agency; (III) an eli-
gible research institution; (IV) a private
nonprofit or for-profit eligible professional
development provider providing instruction
based on reliable, replicable research on
reading; (V) a family literacy service pro-
vider; (VI) an adult education provider;
(VII) a volunteer organization that is in-
volved in reading programs; or (VIII) a
school or a public library that offers read-
ing or literacy programs for children or
families.
‘‘(2) AGREEMENT.—The contractual agreement
that establishes a reading and literacy partnership—
‘‘(A) shall specify—
‘‘(i) the nature and extent of the asso-
ciation among the participants referred to
in paragraph (1); and
‘‘(ii) the roles and duties of each such
participant; and
‘‘(B) shall remain in effect during the en-
tire grant period proposed in the partnership’s
grant application under subsection (e).
‘‘(3) FUNCTIONS.—Each reading and literacy
partnership for a State shall prepare and submit an
application under subsection (e) and, if the partner-
ship receives a grant under this section—
‘‘(A) shall solicit applications for, and
award, subgrants under sections 15104 and
15105;
‘‘(B) shall oversee the performance of the
subgrants and submit performance reports in
accordance with subsection (h);
‘‘(C) if sufficient grant funds are available
under this title—
‘‘(i) work to enhance the capacity of
agencies in the State to disseminate reli-
able, replicable research on reading to
schools, classrooms, and providers of early
education and child care;
‘‘(ii) facilitate the provision of tech-
nical assistance to subgrantees under sec-
tions 15104 and 15105 by providing them
information about technical assistance pro-
viders; and
‘‘(iii) build on, and promote coordina-
tion among, literacy programs in the State,
in order to increase their effectiveness and
to avoid duplication of their efforts; and
‘‘(D) shall ensure that each local edu-
cational agency to which the partnership makes
a subgrant under section 15104 makes avail-
able, upon request and in an understandable
and uniform format, to any parent of a student
attending any school selected under section
15104(a)(2) in the geographic area served by
the agency, information regarding the qualifica-
tions of the student’s classroom teacher to pro-
vide instruction in reading.
‘‘(4) FISCAL
AGENT.—The State educational
agency shall act as the fiscal agent for the reading
and literacy partnership for the purposes of receipt
of funds from the Secretary, disbursement of funds
to subgrantees under sections 15104 and 15105,
and accounting for such funds.
‘‘(c) PRE-EXISTING PARTNERSHIP.—If, before the
date of the enactment of the Reading Excellence Act, a
State established a consortium, partnership, or any other
similar body, that includes the Governor and the chief
State school officer and has, as a central part of its mis-
sion, the promotion of literacy for children in their early
childhood years through the 3d grade, but that does not
satisfy the requirements of subsection (b)(1), the State
may elect to treat that consortium, partnership, or body
as the reading and literacy partnership for the State not-
withstanding such subsection, and it shall be considered
a reading and literacy partnership for purposes of the
other provisions of this title.
‘‘(d) 
MULTI-STATE
PARTNERSHIP
ARRANGE-
MENTS.—A reading and literacy partnership that satisfies
the requirements of subsection (b) may join with other
such partnerships in other States to develop a single appli-
cation that satisfies the requirements of subsection (e) and
identifies which State educational agency, from among the
States joining, shall act as the fiscal agent for the multi-
State arrangement. For purposes of the other provisions
of this title, any such multi-State arrangement shall be
considered to be a reading and literacy partnership.
‘‘(e) APPLICATIONS.—A reading and literacy partner-
ship that desires to receive a grant under this section shall
submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in
such manner, and including such information as the Sec-
retary may require. The application—
‘‘(1) shall describe how the partnership will en-
sure that 95 percent of the grant funds are used to
make subgrants under sections 15104 and 15105;
‘‘(2) shall be integrated, to the maximum extent
possible, with State plans and programs under this
Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,
and, to the extent appropriate, the Adult Education
Act;
‘‘(3) shall describe how the partnership will en-
sure that professional development funds available at
the State and local levels are used effectively to im-
prove instructional practices for reading and are
based on reliable, replicable research on reading;
‘‘(4) shall describe—
‘‘(A) the contractual agreement that estab-
lishes the partnership, including at least the ele-
ments of the agreement referred to in sub-
section (b)(2);
‘‘(B) how the partnership will assess, on a
regular basis, the extent to which the activities
undertaken by the partnership and the partner-
ship’s subgrantees under this title have been ef-
fective in achieving the purposes of this title;
‘‘(C) what evaluation instruments the part-
nership will use to determine the success of
local educational agencies to whom subgrants
under sections 15104 and 15105 are made in
achieving the purposes of this title;
‘‘(D) how subgrants made by the partner-
ship under such sections will meet the require-
ments of this title, including how the partner-
ship will ensure that subgrantees will use prac-
tices based on reliable, replicable research on
reading; and
‘‘(E) how the partnership will, to the ex-
tent practicable, make grants to subgrantees in
both rural and urban areas;
‘‘(5) shall include an assurance that each local
educational agency to whom the partnership makes
a subgrant under section 15104—
‘‘(A) will carry out family literacy pro-
grams based on the Even Start family literacy
model authorized under part B of title I to en-
able parents to be their child’s first and most
important teacher, and will make payments for
the receipt of technical assistance for the devel-
opment of such programs;
‘‘(B) will carry out programs to assist
those kindergarten students who are not ready
for the transition to 1st grade, particularly stu-
dents experiencing difficulty with reading skills;
‘‘(C) will use supervised individuals (in-
cluding tutors), who have been appropriately
trained using reliable, replicable research on
reading, to provide additional support, before
school, after school, on weekends, during non-
instructional periods of the school day, or dur-
ing the summer, for students in grades 1
through 3 who are experiencing difficulty read-
ing; and
‘‘(D) will carry out professional develop-
ment for the classroom teacher and other ap-
propriate teaching staff on the teaching of read-
ing based on reliable, replicable research on
reading; and
‘‘(6) shall describe how the partnership—
‘‘(A) will ensure that a portion of the
grant funds that the partnership receives in
each fiscal year will be used to make subgrants
under section 15105; and
‘‘(B) will make local educational agencies
described in section 15105(a)(1) aware of the
availability of such subgrants.
‘‘(f) PEER REVIEW PANEL.—
‘‘(1) COMPOSITION OF PEER REVIEW PANEL.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The National Insti-
tute for Literacy, in consultation with the Na-
tional Research Council of the National Acad-
emy of Sciences, the National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development, and the Sec-
retary, shall convene a panel to evaluate appli-
cations under this section. At a minimum the
panel shall include representatives of the Na-
tional Institute for Literacy, the National Re-
search Council of the National Academy of
Sciences, the National Institute of Child Health
and Human Development, and the Secretary.
‘‘(B) EXPERTS.—The panel shall include
experts who are competent, by virtue of their
training, expertise, or experience, to evaluate
applications under this section, and experts who
provide professional development to teachers of
reading to children and adults, based on reli-
able, replicable research on reading.
‘‘(C) LIMITATION.—Not more than 1⁄3 of
the panel may be composed of individuals who
are employees of the Federal Government.
‘‘(2) PAYMENT
OF
FEES
AND
EXPENSES
OF
CERTAIN MEMBERS.—The Secretary shall use funds
reserved under section 15109(b)(2) to pay the ex-
penses and fees of panel members who are not em-
ployees of the Federal Government.
‘‘(3) DUTIES OF PANEL.—
‘‘(A) MODEL
APPLICATION
FORMS.—The
peer review panel shall develop a model applica-
tion form for reading and literacy partnerships
desiring to apply for a grant under this section.
The peer review panel shall submit the model
application form to the Secretary for final ap-
proval.
‘‘(B) SELECTION OF APPLICATIONS.—
‘‘(i) RECOMMENDATIONS OF PANEL.—
‘‘(I) IN
GENERAL.—The Sec-
retary shall receive grant applications
from reading and literacy partnerships
under this section and shall provide
the applications to the peer review
panel for evaluation. With respect to
each application, the peer review panel
shall initially recommend the applica-
tion for funding or for disapproval.
‘‘(II) PRIORITY.—In recommend-
ing applications to the Secretary, the
panel shall give priority to applica-
tions from States that have modified,
are modifying, or provide an assur-
ance that not later than 1 year after
receiving a grant under this section
the State will modify, State teacher
certification in the area of reading to
reflect reliable, replicable research, ex-
cept that nothing in this Act shall be
construed to establish a national sys-
tem of teacher certification.
‘‘(III) RANKING
OF
APPLICA-
TIONS.—With respect to each applica-
tion recommended for funding, the
panel shall assign the application a
rank, relative to other recommended
applications, based on the priority de-
scribed in subclause (II), the extent to
which the application furthers the
purposes of this part, and the overall
quality of the application.
‘‘(IV) 
RECOMMENDATION
OF
AMOUNT.—With respect to each appli-
cation recommended for funding, the
panel shall make a recommendation to
the Secretary with respect to the
amount of the grant that should be
made.
‘‘(ii) SECRETARIAL SELECTION.—
‘‘(I) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to
clause (iii), the Secretary shall deter-
mine, based on the peer review panel’s
recommendations, which applications
from reading and literacy partnerships
shall receive funding and the amounts
of such grants. In determining grant
amounts, the Secretary shall take into
account the total amount of funds
available for all grants under this sec-
tion and the types of activities pro-
posed to be carried out by the part-
nership.
‘‘(II) EFFECT
OF
RANKING
BY
PANEL.—In making grants under this
section, the Secretary shall select ap-
plications according to the ranking of
the applications by the peer review
panel, except in cases where the Sec-
retary determines, for good cause,
that a variation from that order is ap-
propriate.
‘‘(iii) MINIMUM
GRANT
AMOUNTS.—
Each reading and literacy partnership se-
lected to receive a grant under this section
shall receive an amount for each fiscal year
that is not less than $100,000.
‘‘(g) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—
A reading and literacy partnership that receives a grant
under this section may use not more than 3 percent of
the grant funds for administrative costs.
‘‘(h) REPORTING.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—A reading and literacy
partnership that receives a grant under this section
shall submit performance reports to the Secretary
pursuant to a schedule to be determined by the Sec-
retary, but not more frequently than annually. Such
reports shall include—
‘‘(A) the results of use of the evaluation in-
struments referred to in subsection (e)(4)(C);
‘‘(B) the process used to select sub-
grantees;
‘‘(C) a description of the subgrantees re-
ceiving funds under this title; and
‘‘(D) with respect to subgrants under sec-
tion 15104, the model or models of reading in-
struction, based on reliable, replicable research
on reading, selected by subgrantees.
‘‘(2) PROVISION TO PEER REVIEW PANEL.—The
Secretary shall provide the reports submitted under
paragraph (1) to the peer review panel convened
under subsection (f). The panel shall use such re-
ports in recommending applications for funding
under this section.
‘‘SEC. 15104. LOCAL READING IMPROVEMENT SUBGRANTS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—
‘‘(1) SUBGRANTS.—A reading and literacy part-
nership that receives a grant under section 15103
shall make subgrants, on a competitive basis, to
local educational agencies that have at least 1 school
that is identified for school improvement under sec-
tion 1116(c) in the geographic area served by the
agency.
‘‘(2) ROLE
OF
LOCAL
EDUCATIONAL
AGEN-
CIES.—A local educational agency that receives a
subgrant under this section shall use the subgrant in
a manner consistent with this section to advance re-
form of reading instruction in any school selected by
the agency that—
‘‘(A) is identified for school improvement
under section 1116(c) at the time the agency
receives the subgrant; and
‘‘(B) has a contractual association with 1
or more community-based organizations that
have established a record of effectiveness with
respect to reading readiness, reading instruction
for children in kindergarten through 3d grade,
and early childhood literacy.
‘‘(b) GRANT PERIOD.—A subgrant under this section
shall be for a period of 3 years and may not be revoked
or terminated on the ground that a school ceases, during
the grant period, to be identified for school improvement
under section 1116(c).
‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—A local educational agency that
desires to receive a subgrant under this section shall sub-
mit an application to the reading and literacy partnership
at such time, in such manner, and including such informa-
tion as the partnership may require. The application—
‘‘(1) shall describe how the local educational
agency will work with schools selected by the agency
under subsection (a)(2) to select 1 or more models
of reading instruction, developed using reliable,
replicable research on reading, as a model for imple-
menting and improving reading instruction by all
teachers and for all children in each of the schools
selected by the agency under such subsection and,
where appropriate, their parents;
‘‘(2) shall select 1 or more models described in
paragraph (1), for the purpose described in such
paragraph, and shall describe each such selected
model;
‘‘(3) shall demonstrate that a person respon-
sible for the development of each such model, or a
person with experience or expertise about such
model and its implementation, has agreed to work
with the applicant in connection with such imple-
mentation and improvement efforts;
‘‘(4) shall describe—
‘‘(A) how the applicant will ensure that
funds available under this title, and funds avail-
able for reading for grades kindergarten
through grade 6 from other appropriate
sources, are effectively coordinated and, where
appropriate, integrated, with funds under this
Act in order to improve existing activities in the
areas of reading instruction, professional devel-
opment, program improvement, parental in-
volvement, technical assistance, and other ac-
tivities that can help meet the purposes of this
title; and
‘‘(B) the amount of funds available for
reading for grades kindergarten through grade
6 from appropriate sources other than this title,
including title I of this Act (except that such
description shall not be required to include
funds made available under part B of title I of
this Act unless the applicant has established a
contractual association in accordance with sub-
section (d)(2) with an eligible entity under such
part B), the Individuals with Disabilities Edu-
cation Act, and any other law providing Federal
financial assistance for professional develop-
ment for teachers of such grades who teach
reading, which will be used to help achieve the
purposes of this title;
‘‘(5) shall describe the amount and nature of
funds from any other public or private sources, in-
cluding funds received under this Act and the Indi-
viduals with Disabilities Education Act, that will be
combined with funds received under the subgrant;
‘‘(6) shall include an assurance that the appli-
cant—
‘‘(A) will carry out family literacy pro-
grams based on the Even Start family literacy
model authorized under part B of title I to en-
able parents to be their child’s first and most
important teacher, will make payments for the
receipt of technical assistance for the develop-
ment of such programs;
‘‘(B) will carry out programs to assist
those kindergarten students who are not ready
for the transition to 1st grade, particularly stu-
dents experiencing difficulty with reading skills;
‘‘(C) will use supervised individuals (in-
cluding tutors), who have been appropriately
trained using reliable, replicable research on
reading, to provide additional support, before
school, after school, on weekends, during non-
instructional periods of the school day, or dur-
ing the summer, for students in grades 1