(3) ensures that such an assessment is not used
to label, stigmatize, or track any individual child but
to focus and improve policies and services to ensure
that all children do start school ready to learn.
SEC. 124. APPOINTMENT AND COMPOSITION.
(a) APPOINTMENTS.—Members of the Commission
shall be appointed by the National Education Goals Panel.
(b) NOMINATIONS.—The Panel shall appoint such
members to the Commission from among qualified individ-
uals nominated by the public.
(c) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Panel shall ensure that
the Commission is made up of individuals with the quali-
fications necessary to carry out the purposes of this
section.
(d) TERMS.—Members shall serve for 3-year terms
with no member serving more than 2 consecutive terms.
SEC. 125. FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMISSION.
The Commission shall—
(1) serve as a standing advisory group to the
Panel on the first national goal;
(2) establish a framework by which school read-
iness can be understood and assessed, taking into
account the many dimensions of early childhood de-
velopment;
(3) create clear guidelines as to the functions
and uses of such an assessment system;
(4) coordinate a program of research and devel-
opment to create the necessary knowledge and tech-
nology to make such an assessment possible;
(5) oversee the development of a national as-
sessment of young children based on our best think-
ing of what defines early learning and development
during this period and the best assessment tech-
nology available so as to provide the Nation with a
fair and valid indication of the status of these
children;
(6) monitor the field testing of such an assess-
ment and approve its national use; and
(7) carry out a sustained and intensive evalua-
tion of the assessments and their use so as to ensure
that they are achieving the intended results and
being used for the purposes for which they were
designed.
SEC. 126. REPORTS.
The Commission shall prepare and submit a report
regarding its work to the Panel and the Congress not later
than 1 year after the date of its first meeting and in each
succeeding year.
SEC. 127. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Coun-
cil $1,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 and such sums as may
be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1995 through
2000.
TITLE II—NATIONAL EDUCATION
REFORM AND EXCELLENCE
SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘National Education
Reform and Excellence Act’’.
SEC. 202. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) a national consenus has been reached that
every effort must be made to achieve the National
Education Goals;
(2) work at the national level to establish what
all students should know and be able to do must be
accompanied by State and local efforts to make sure
the education delivery system is up to the task of
delivering high quality instruction based on such
standards;
(3) strategies must be developed by States and
communities to support the revitalization of all local
schools by fundamentally changing the entire system
of education through comprehensive, coherent, and
coordinated improvement;
(4) parents, teachers and other local educators,
and community leaders must be involved in develop-
ing system-wide reform strategies that reflect the
needs of their individual communities;
(5) States and local educational agencies, work-
ing together, must immediately set about developing
and implementing such system-wide reform strate-
gies if the Nation is to educate all children to meet
their full potential and achieve national goals;
(6) in order to be successful, Federal funds di-
rected at school reform must leverage substantive
change in the education system as a whole; and
(7) more specifically, Federal education pro-
grams such as chapter 1 must be recast so as to be
a catalyst for improving the education of disadvan-
taged students so that they are included in the na-
tional effort to achieve the National Education
Goals.
SEC. 203. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this title is to raise the quality of edu-
cation for all students by supporting a long-term broad
based effort to promote coherent and coordinated changes
in the system of education throughout the Nation at the
State and local level.
SEC. 204. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.
The Secretary is authorized, in accordance with the
provisions of this title, to make grants to State educational
agencies to enable States and local educational agencies
to reform and improve the quality of education throughout
the Nation. Such grants shall be used to—
(1) develop innovative educational reform plans,
which—
(A) include State achievement goals, a
means for developing or adopting high quality,
challenging curricular frameworks and coordi-
nated curricular materials, professional develop-
ment strategies, and assessment instruments;
(B) describe how Federal and State cat-
egorical programs will be utilized in State and
local reform efforts;
(C) create a process for allowing local edu-
cational agencies greater flexibility in achieving
national and State goals and standards; and
(2) implement such reforms and plans to im-
prove the education system at the State and local
levels.
SEC. 205. APPLICATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—If a State desires to receive assist-
ance under this title, the State educational agency shall
submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in
such manner, and accompanied by such additional infor-
mation as the Secretary may reasonably require. Such
application shall cover a 5-year period.
(b) CONSIDERATION OF APPLICATIONS.—Each such
application shall—
(1) contain satisfactory evidence that the State
educational agency has or will have authority, by
legislation if necessary, to implement the plan re-
quired under section 206;
(2) describe how a State will ensure broad par-
ticipation in the planning process to establish the
goals and to refine them in the future, as well as
participate in the development of all other compo-
nents of the plan;
(3) provide an assurance that the State will no-
tify the public (including individuals with limited
English proficiency), and local educational agen-
cies—
(A) that the State has made application
for funds under this title; and
(B) that the State is developing a plan
under section 206;
(4) provide an assurance that the State has the
goal of providing all students with equal access to
(B) demonstrates that it has made substantial
progress in carrying out its plan.
(2) The Secretary shall not finally disapprove an ap-
plication or an amendment to such application except after
giving reasonable notice, technical assistance, and an
opportunity for a hearing.
SEC. 206. DEVELOPMENT AND APPROVAL OF STATE PLAN.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PANEL.—Each State pro-
gram assisted under this title shall establish a panel to
develop a statewide reform plan. Such panel shall consist
of—
(1) the chief executive of the State (or des-
ignee);
(2) the presiding officers and the minority lead-
ers of the State legislature (or designees);
(3) the chief State school officer;
(4) the head of the office that coordinates high-
er education programs in the State or, if there is no
such office, the head of the office designated under
section 2008 of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Mathe-
matics and Science Education Act (20 U.S.C. 2988)
(or designee); and
(5) individuals representing each of the follow-
ing:
(A) Teachers.
(B) School administrators.
(C) Local school boards.
(D) Parents.
(E) Businesses.
(F) State board of education.
(b) ADDITIONAL MEMBERS.—(1) The first meeting
of such panel shall be convened by the chief executive of
the State. At such meeting, the panel members designated
and nominated in subsection (a) shall select additional
panel members.
(2) The membership of the panel shall be geographi-
cally representative of all areas of the State.
(3) Following the selection of additional members, the
chief executive of the State shall convene a meeting of the
full panel to establish procedures regarding the operation
of subsequent meetings, including the designation of a
panel chairperson, consistent with applicable State law.
(c) DEVELOPMENT OF STATE PLAN.—(1) The panel
shall develop a plan that will result in—
(A) the establishment of State goals to maxi-
mize achievement for all children in conjunction with
national educational goals;
(B) the establishment of curricular frameworks
in specific subject matter areas that incorporate the
goals established under subparagraph (A);
(C) the development or adoption of instruc-
tional materials to assist the implementation of the
curricular frameworks;
(D) the allocation of resources to implement
such a system-wide reform plan;
(E) the establishment or adoption of a valid, re-
liable, and fair assessment system based upon the
curricular frameworks that is capable of accurately
measuring the skills and knowledge required to meet
State goals;
(F) professional development strategies nec-
essary for achieving the State goals;
(G) the establishment of a process for reviewing
Federal, State, and local laws and regulations and
for seeking waivers to Federal education laws and
regulations as set forth in title III of this Act;
(H) provides a process for selecting local edu-
cational agencies for participation in local system-
wide reform efforts;
(I) provides for the ongoing evaluation of the
effectiveness of the State plan in closing the gap be-
tween high and low achieving students to be as-
sessed using achievement and other measures such
as attendance, grade retention, and dropout rates;
(J) provides for the availability of curricular
frameworks, curricular materials, and professional
development in a manner ensuring equal access by
all local educational agencies in the State;
(K) describes the steps the State educational
agency shall take to ensure that successful programs
and practices supported by subgrants awarded to
local educational agencies under this title shall be
disseminated to other local educational agencies in
the State; and
(L) describes methods, such as interagency co-
operative agreements, of coordinating health and so-
cial services with education.
(2) In developing the plan, the panel shall—
(A) emphasize outcome measures rather than
prescribing how the State and local educational
agencies should achieve such outcomes;
(B) review recent innovations by other States
and by national professional subject matter organi-
zations in educational goals, curricula, and assess-
ment nationally;
(C) review existing Federal education programs
and how they can contribute to the State plan; and
(D) ensure broad-based participation through
regular notice and dissemination of information to
the public (including individuals with limited English
proficiency) using print and electronic media.
(3) Following the development of the plan, the panel
shall seek public comment and after providing the public
with an opportunity to comment on the plan, the panel
shall consider the public comments and make appropriate
changes.
(4) The plan shall be submitted to the State edu-
cational agency for review except that any changes to such
plan shall be made with the concurrence of the panel. Be-
fore any funds under this Act may be used to implement
the plan, the State educational agency shall submit such
plan to the Secretary for approval. In the event that the
State has previously accomplished any of the reform ac-
tivities required under this title in a specific subject area
or set of grade levels, the State is not required to include
them in the plan but shall include a request for a waiver,
including a description of such accomplishments.
(5)(A) The Secretary shall approve a State’s plan if
such plan—
(i) meets the requirements of this section;
(ii) is of sufficient quality to meet the objectives
of this title; and
(iii) provides evidence that the State has, or will
have, the resources necessary to carry it out.
(B) The Secretary shall not finally disapprove a plan
or an amendment to such plan except after giving reason-
able notice, technical assistance, and an opportunity for
a hearing.
(d) REVIEW OF STATE PLAN.—The panel and the
State educational agency shall review on an ongoing basis,
the implementation of the State plan for the period during
which the State receives funding under this title. The re-
sults of such review shall be prepared in writing by the
panel and included by the State in its annual report to
the Secretary under section 213(a).
SEC. 207. STATE USES OF FUNDS.
(a) USES OF FUNDS.—Funds allotted by the Sec-
retary under section 211(a) and State and private funds
contributed to make up the total cost of a State program
as provided in section 211(b) shall be used by a State with
an approved application for the following purposes—
‘‘(1) development and implementation of the
State plan, including the establishment of State
goals, curricular frameworks, and assessment sys-
tems;
‘‘(2) activities of the panel (including the travel
expenses of the members of such panel);
‘‘(3) subgrants to local educational agencies;
‘‘(4) technical assistance (including dissemina-
tion of information) to local educational agencies to
assist in developing and carrying out their plans;
and
‘‘(5) evaluation, reporting, and data collection.
‘‘(b) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—In the first
year that a State receives an allotment under this title,
the State educational agency may make subgrants for the
purpose of developing local plans as provided in section
208 consistent with section 206(c)(1)(H). In the second
year, and in each succeeding year, from not less than 75
percent of the total cost of a State’s program, the State
educational agency shall make subgrants to local edu-
cational agencies which shall include at least one local edu-
cational agency in each congressional district which shall
receive a subgrant.
(c) SPECIAL PROVISION.—Funds available under sec-
tion 211 shall be used to carry out the plan in a manner
which ensures that all children, especially those identified
through the assessment process (using achievement and
other measures) as not achieving satisfactorily, are af-
forded ample opportunity to reach local, State, and
national goals.
ditional members necessary to carry out the duties and
activities required by this section.
(3) Following the selection of the additional members,
the superintendent shall convene a meeting of the task
force to establish procedures regarding the operation of
subsequent meetings, including the designation of a task
force chairperson, consistent with applicable State and
local law.
(4) Each meeting of such task force shall be open
to the public.
(5) The task force shall develop the local plan
described in subsection (b).
(b) LOCAL PLAN.—As described in the State reform
plan, and consistent with the recommendations of the
panel established under section 206, the State shall make
subgrants to local educational agencies. Each subgrant
shall be of a sufficient amount to develop or implement
a locally developed plan which—
(1) is formally approved by the local edu-
cational agency;
(2) describes a process to ensure broad-based
community participation in the development of the
local plan;
(3) proposes district-wide reform which in-
cludes—
(A) the setting of local goals;
(B) the development or adoption of cur-
ricular and instructional materials which reflect
State goals, State curricular frameworks and
local goals;
(C) the development or adoption of an as-
sessment system which is curriculum based and
includes achievement and other indicators that
validly, fairly, and reliably measure progress of
all students (including students from non-Eng-
lish language backgrounds and students with
disabilities) toward meeting State and local
goals;
(D) the provision of teacher and adminis-
trator training relevant to the new curricular
and instructional materials; and
(E) a review and restructuring, if nec-
essary, of the administrative and staffing struc-
ture of the local educational agency and individ-
ual schools within such agency.
(4) describes how parents are involved in the
development, operation, and evaluation of programs
and activities assisted under this title;
(5) provides for the ongoing evaluation of the
effectiveness of the local plan in meeting State and
local goals and in closing the gap between high and
low achieving students;
(6) reviews existing Federal education pro-
grams, including early childhood education pro-
grams, and describes how such programs will be uti-
lized as part of the district reform plan;
(7) based on the recommendations of teachers,
principals and the task force, identifies provisions of
Federal, State, and local laws and regulations that
may impede the implementation of the plan and
seeks a waiver of such provisions as set forth in title
III of this Act;
(8) describes the process that will be used to
ensure that the funds received will be used to the
maximum extent at the local school level; and
(9) describes the steps the local educational
agency shall take to ensure that successful practices
supported by assistance provided to schools under
this title shall be disseminated to other schools in
the local educational agency.
(c) ASSISTANCE FOR LOCAL PLAN DEVELOPMENT.—
The State shall, upon the request of the task force of a
local educational agency, provide technical assistance in
the development of a local plan.
(d) SUBMISSION OF LOCAL PLAN.—(1) Prior to sub-
mitting the local plan to the State Panel for possible fund-
ing, the task force and the local education agency shall
hold public meetings to explain the plan to the public, seek
input on possible changes to the plan, and solicit input
from persons not involved in the development of the initial
plan.
(2) After making any changes in the plan as a result
of the public meetings, the local education agency and the
task force shall jointly submit the plan to the State Panel
for review and possible funding.
(3) Such plan shall be accompanied by any written
comments from individuals and groups in the community
that either support or oppose parts of the plan.
(e) ADDITIONAL SUBGRANT.—A local educational
agency may not receive an additional subgrant in a suc-
ceeding year unless such local educational agency dem-
onstrates substantial progress in the implementation of its
local plan and, after its third year of funding under this
title, provides evidence of improved student achievement
and progress toward State and local national goals.
(f) REVIEW OF LOCAL PLAN.—(1) The task force
and the local educational agency shall review, on an ongo-
ing basis, the progress of the local educational agency in
implementing the local plan for the period during which
such agency receives funding under this title.
(2) The local education agency and the task force
shall annually submit a joint written progress report to
the State panel established under section 206, and the
State educational agency.
SEC. 209. LOCAL USES OF FUNDS.
A local educational agency which receives a subgrant
under this title shall use the funds for the purpose of dis-
trict-wide reform, consistent with the State and local
plans. Activities authorized under this section are—
(1) the development and implementation of the
local plan;
(2) schools which reflect the best available
knowledge regarding teaching and learning for all
students in public schools, which use the highest
quality instructional materials and technologies, and
which are designed to meet national, State, and local
educational goals as well as the particular needs of
their students and communities;
(3) public school choice programs, including
charter schools, which permit parents to select the
public school their children will attend;
(4) systems such as performance schools and
performance pay which reward public schools and
teachers with students who, as a group, demonstrate
improved performance on curriculum related out-
come measures;
(5) activities that supplement early childhood
education programs and increase the readiness of
young children to learn;
(6) site-based management which places maxi-
mum decisionmaking authority at the individual
school level and that, at a minimum, involves teach-
ers and other professional staff;
(7) activities which maximize parental involve-
ment in improving the education of their children;
(8) coordination of health and social services
with education;
(9) planning to improve the use of technology
in schools;
(10) development or adoption, with substantial
involvement of principals, teachers, and other admin-
istrators, of curricula, instructional materials, and
assessment instruments which are consistent with
State frameworks and local goals; and
(11) other school reform activities which will
bring about comprehensive school improvement
through systemic change in the local educational
agency.