H. R. 6—343
‘‘(4) American businesses and corporations are concerned
about the limited writing skills of entry-level workers, and
a growing number of executives are reporting that advancement
was denied to them due to inadequate writing abilities;
‘‘(5) the writing problem has been magnified by the rapidly
changing student populations in the Nation’s schools and the
growing number of students who are at risk because of limited
English proficiency;
‘‘(6) writing and reading are both fundamental to learning,
yet writing has been historically neglected in the schools and
colleges, and most teachers in the United States elementary
schools, secondary schools, and colleges have not been trained
to teach writing;
‘‘(7) since 1973, the only national program to address the
writing problem in the Nation’s schools has been the National
Writing Project, a network of collaborative university-school
programs whose goal is to improve the quality of student writ-
ing and the teaching of writing at all grade levels and to
extend the uses of writing as a learning process through all
disciplines;
‘‘(8) the National Writing Project offers summer and school
year inservice teacher training programs and a dissemination
network to inform and teach teachers of developments in the
field of writing;
‘‘(9) the National Writing Project is a nationally recognized
and honored nonprofit organization that recognizes that there
are teachers in every region of the country who have developed
successful methods for teaching writing and that such teachers
can be trained and encouraged to train other teachers;
‘‘(10) the National Writing Project has become a model
for programs to improve teaching in such other fields as mathe-
matics, science, history, literature, performing arts, and foreign
languages;
‘‘(11) the National Writing Project teacher-teaching-teach-
ers program identifies and promotes what is working in the
classrooms of the Nation’s best teachers;
‘‘(12) the National Writing Project teacher-teaching-teach-
ers project is a positive program that celebrates good teaching
practices and good teachers and through its work with schools
increases the Nation’s corps of successful classroom teachers;
‘‘(13) evaluations of the National Writing Project document
the positive impact the project has had on improving the teach-
ing of writing, student performance, and student thinking and
learning ability;
‘‘(14) the National Writing Project programs offer career-
long education to teachers, and teachers participating in the
National Writing Project receive graduate academic credit;
‘‘(15) each year over 100,000 teachers voluntarily seek
training in National Writing Project intensive summer
institutes and workshops and school year in-service programs
through one of the 154 regional sites located in 45 States,
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and in 4 sites that serve
United States teachers in United States dependent and
independent schools;
‘‘(16) 250 National Writing Project sites are needed to estab-
lish regional sites to serve all teachers;
H. R. 6—344
‘‘(17) private foundation resources, although generous in
the past, are inadequate to fund all of the National Writing
Project sites needed and the future of the program is in jeopardy
without secure financial support;
‘‘(18) independent evaluation studies have found the
National Writing Project to be highly cost effective compared
to other professional development programs for teachers; and
‘‘(19) during 1991, the first year of Federal support for
the National Writing Project, the National Writing Project
matched the $1,951,975 in Federal support with $9,485,504
in matching funds from State, local, and other sources.
‘‘SEC. 10992. NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT.
‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is authorized to make a
grant to the National Writing Project (hereafter in this section
referred to as the ‘grantee’), a nonprofit educational organization
which has as its primary purpose the improvement of the quality
of student writing and learning, and the teaching of writing as
a learning process in the Nation’s classrooms—
‘‘(1) to support and promote the establishment of teacher
training programs, including the dissemination of effective prac-
tices and research findings regarding the teaching of writing
and administrative activities;
‘‘(2) to support classroom research on effective teaching
practice and to document student performance;
‘‘(3) to coordinate activities assisted under this section with
activities assisted under title II; and
‘‘(4) to pay the Federal share of the cost of such programs.
‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS OF GRANT.—The grant shall provide that—
‘‘(1) the grantee will enter into contracts with institutions
of higher education or other nonprofit educational providers
(hereafter in this section referred to as ‘contractors’) under
which the contractors will agree to establish, operate, and pro-
vide the non-Federal share of the cost of teacher training pro-
grams in effective approaches and processes for the teaching
of writing;
‘‘(2) funds made available by the Secretary to the grantee
pursuant to any contract entered into under this section will
be used to pay the Federal share of the cost of establishing
and operating teacher training programs as provided in para-
graph (1); and
‘‘(3) the grantee will meet such other conditions and stand-
ards as the Secretary determines to be necessary to assure
compliance with the provisions of this section and will provide
such technical assistance as may be necessary to carry out
the provisions of this section.
‘‘(c) TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMS.—The teacher training pro-
grams authorized in subsection (a) shall—
‘‘(1) be conducted during the school year and during the
summer months;
‘‘(2) train teachers who teach grades kindergarten through
college;
‘‘(3) select teachers to become members of a National Writ-
ing Project teacher network whose members will conduct writ-
ing workshops for other teachers in the area served by each
National Writing Project site; and
H. R. 6—345
‘‘(4) encourage teachers from all disciplines to participate
in such teacher training programs.
‘‘(d) FEDERAL SHARE.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraph (2)
or (3) and for purposes of subsection (a), the term ‘Federal
share’ means, with respect to the costs of teacher training
programs authorized in subsection (a), 50 percent of such costs
to the contractor.
‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the provisions of
paragraph (1) on a case-by-case basis if the National Advisory
Board described in subsection (f) determines, on the basis of
financial need, that such waiver is necessary.
‘‘(3) MAXIMUM.—The Federal share of the costs of teacher
training programs conducted pursuant to subsection (a) may
not exceed $40,000 for any one contractor, or $200,000 for
a statewide program administered by any one contractor in
at least five sites throughout the State.
‘‘(e) CLASSROOM TEACHER GRANTS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The National Writing Project may
reserve an amount not to exceed 5 percent of the amount
appropriated pursuant to the authority of this section to make
grants, on a competitive basis, to elementary and secondary
school teachers to pay the Federal share of the cost of enabling
such teachers to—
‘‘(A) conduct classroom research;
‘‘(B) publish models of student writing;
‘‘(C) conduct research regarding effective practices to
improve the teaching of writing; and
‘‘(D) conduct other activities to improve the teaching
and uses of writing.
‘‘(2) SUPPLEMENT
AND
NOT
SUPPLANT.—Grants awarded
pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be used to supplement and
not supplant State and local funds available for the purposes
set forth in paragraph (1).
‘‘(3) MAXIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—Each grant awarded pursu-
ant to this subsection shall not exceed $2,000.
‘‘(4) FEDERAL SHARE.—For the purpose of this subsection
the term ‘Federal share’ means, with respect to the costs of
activities assisted under this subsection, 50 percent of such
costs to the elementary or secondary school teacher.
‘‘(f) NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD.—
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The National Writing Project shall
establish and operate a National Advisory Board.
‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—The National Advisory Board estab-
lished pursuant to paragraph (1) shall consist of—
‘‘(A) national educational leaders;
‘‘(B) leaders in the field of writing; and
‘‘(C) such other individuals as the National Writing
Project deems necessary.
‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The National Advisory Board established
pursuant to paragraph (1) shall—
‘‘(A) advise the National Writing Project on national
issues related to student writing and the teaching of
writing;
‘‘(B) review the activities and programs of the National
Writing Project; and
H. R. 6—346
‘‘(C) support the continued development of the National
Writing Project.
‘‘(g) EVALUATION.—
‘‘(1) 
IN
GENERAL.—The 
Secretary 
shall 
conduct 
an
independent evaluation by grant or contract of the teacher
training programs administered pursuant to this Act in accord-
ance with section 14701. Such evaluation shall specify the
amount of funds expended by the National Writing Project
and each contractor receiving assistance under this section
for administrative costs. The results of such evaluation shall
be made available to the appropriate committees of the
Congress.
‘‘(2) FUNDING LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall reserve not
more than $150,000 from the total amount appropriated pursu-
ant to the authority of subsection (i) for fiscal year 1994 and
the four succeeding fiscal years to conduct the evaluation
described in paragraph (1).
‘‘(h) APPLICATION REVIEW.—
‘‘(1) REVIEW BOARD.—The National Writing Project shall
establish and operate a National Review Board that shall con-
sist of—
‘‘(A) leaders in the field of research in writing; and
‘‘(B) such other individuals as the National Writing
Project deems necessary.
‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The National Review Board shall—
‘‘(A) review all applications for assistance under this
subsection; and
‘‘(B) recommend applications for assistance under this
subsection for funding by the National Writing Project.
‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized
to be appropriated for the grant to the National Writing Project,
$4,000,000 for fiscal year 1995, and such sums as may be necessary
for each of the four succeeding fiscal years, to carry out the provi-
sions of this section.
‘‘PART L—THE EXTENDED TIME FOR
LEARNING AND LONGER SCHOOL YEAR
‘‘SEC. 10993. THE EXTENDED TIME FOR LEARNING AND LONGER
SCHOOL YEAR.
‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
‘‘(1) the Commission on Time and Learning has found
that—
‘‘(A) realizing the third National Education Goal, that
states all students will leave grades four, eight and twelve
having demonstrated competency in challenging subject
matter, including English, mathematics, science, foreign
languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history,
and geography, will require considerably more common
core learning time than most students now receive;
‘‘(B) ensuring that all students learn to high standards
will require flexibility and innovation in the use of common
core learning time, as well as the rest of the time students
spend both during and beyond the school day;
‘‘(C) teachers need regular, sustained time for lesson
development, collegial collaboration and other professional
development;