or eligible entity, in designing a comprehensive 
schoolwide improvement plan and carrying out 
the activities under section 104. 
(2) FUNDS
FOR
SUBGRANTS.—A State edu-
cational agency that receives a grant under this title 
shall use not less than 80 percent of the grant funds 
to make subgrants to eligible local educational agen-
cies or eligible entities under section 104. 
(3) MIDDLE GRADES NEEDS ANALYSIS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—A State educational 
agency that receives a grant under this title 
shall enter into a contract, or similar formal 
agreement, to work with entities such as na-
tional and regional comprehensive centers (as 
described in section 203 of the Educational 
Technical Assistance Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 
9602)), institutions of higher education, or non-
profit organizations with demonstrated exper-
tise in high-quality middle grades reform, to 
prepare a plan that analyzes how to strengthen 
the programs, practices, and policies of the 
State in supporting students in the middle 
grades, including the factors, such as local im-
plementation, that influence variation in the ef-
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fectiveness of such programs, practices, and 
policies. 
(B) PREPARATION OF PLAN.—In preparing 
the plan under subparagraph (A), the State 
educational agency shall examine policies and 
practices of the State, and of local educational 
agencies within the State, affecting— 
(i) middle grades curriculum instruc-
tion and assessment; 
(ii) education accountability and data 
systems; 
(iii) teacher quality and equitable dis-
tribution; 
(iv) interventions that support learn-
ing in school; 
(v) family and community engagement 
in education; and 
(vi) student and academic support 
services, such as effective school library 
programs and school counseling on the 
transition to secondary school and plan-
ning for entry into postsecondary edu-
cation and the workforce. 
(4) MIDDLE GRADES IMPROVEMENT PLAN.— 
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(A) IN
GENERAL.—A State educational 
agency that receives a grant under this title 
shall develop a middle grades improvement plan 
that— 
(i) shall be a statewide plan to im-
prove student academic achievement in the 
middle grades, based on the needs analysis 
described in paragraph (3); and 
(ii) describes what students are re-
quired to know and do to successfully— 
(I) complete the middle grades; 
and 
(II) make the transition to suc-
ceed in academically rigorous sec-
ondary school coursework that pre-
pares students for postsecondary edu-
cation, independent living, and em-
ployment. 
(B) PLAN COMPONENTS.—A middle grades 
improvement plan described in subparagraph 
(A) shall also describe how the State edu-
cational agency will do each of the following: 
(i) Ensure— 
(I) that the curricula and assess-
ments for middle grades education are 
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aligned with secondary school cur-
ricula and assessments and prepare 
students to take challenging secondary 
school courses and successfully engage 
in postsecondary education; and 
(II) coordination, where applica-
ble, with the activities carried out 
through grants for P–16 education 
alignment under section 6201(c)(1) of 
the America COMPETES Act. 
(ii) Ensure that professional develop-
ment is provided to school leaders, teach-
ers, and other school personnel in— 
(I) addressing the needs of di-
verse learners, including students with 
disabilities 
and 
English 
language 
learners; 
(II) using challenging and rel-
evant research-based best practices 
and curricula; and 
(III) using data to inform in-
struction. 
(iii) Identify and disseminate informa-
tion on effective schools and instructional 
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strategies for middle grades students based 
on high-quality research. 
(iv) Include specific provisions for stu-
dents most at risk of not graduating from 
secondary school, including English lan-
guage learners and students with disabil-
ities. 
(v) Provide technical assistance to eli-
gible entities to develop and implement 
their early warning indicator and interven-
tion systems, as described in section 
104(d)(2)(D). 
(vi) Define a set of comprehensive 
school performance indicators that shall be 
used, in addition to the indicators used to 
determine adequate yearly progress, as de-
fined in section 1111(b)(2)(C) of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(C)), to evalu-
ate school performance, and guide the 
school improvement process, such as— 
(I) student attendance and ab-
senteeism; 
(II) earned on-time promotion 
rates from grade to grade; 
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(III) percentage of students fail-
ing a mathematics, reading or lan-
guage arts, or science course, or fail-
ing 2 or more of any courses; 
(IV) teacher quality and attend-
ance measures; 
(V) in-school and out-of-school 
suspension or other measurable evi-
dence of at-risk behavior; and 
(VI) additional indicators pro-
posed by the State educational agen-
cy, and approved by the Secretary 
pursuant to the peer-review process 
described in section 102(g). 
(vii) Ensure that such plan is coordi-
nated with State activities to turn around 
other schools in need of improvement, in-
cluding State activities to improve sec-
ondary schools and elementary schools. 
(b) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—A State educational 
agency that receives a grant under this title may use the 
grant funds to— 
(1) develop and encourage collaborations among 
researchers at institutions of higher education, State 
educational agencies, educational service agencies 
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(as defined in section 9101 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
7801)), local educational agencies, and nonprofit or-
ganizations with demonstrated expertise in high 
quality middle grades interventions, to expand the 
use of effective practices in the middle grades and 
to improve middle grades education; 
(2) support local educational agencies in imple-
menting effective middle grades practices, models, 
and programs that— 
(A) are evidence-based or, when available, 
scientifically valid; and 
(B) lead to improved student academic 
achievement; 
(3) support collaborative communities of middle 
grades teachers, administrators, school librarians, 
and researchers in creating and sustaining informa-
tional databases to disseminate results from rigorous 
research on effective practices and programs for 
middle grades education; and 
(4) increase middle grades student and aca-
demic support services, such as effective school li-
brary programs and school counseling on the transi-
tion to secondary school and planning for entry into 
postsecondary education and the workforce. 
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SEC. 104. COMPETITIVE SUBGRANTS TO IMPROVE LOW- 
PERFORMING MIDDLE GRADES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency that 
receives a grant under this title shall make competitive 
subgrants to eligible local educational agencies and eligible 
entities to enable the eligible local educational agencies 
and eligible entities to improve low-performing middle 
grades in schools served by the agencies or entities. 
(b) PRIORITIES.—In making subgrants under sub-
section (a), a State educational agency shall give priority 
to eligible local educational agencies or eligible entities 
based on— 
(1) the respective populations of children de-
scribed in section 102(c)(1) served by the eligible 
local educational agencies participating in the 
subgrant application process; and 
(2) the respective populations of children served 
by the participating eligible local educational agen-
cies who attend eligible schools. 
(c) APPLICATION.—An eligible local educational 
agency or eligible entity that desires to receive a subgrant 
under subsection (a) shall submit an application to the 
State educational agency at such time, in such manner, 
and accompanied by such information as the State edu-
cational agency may reasonably require, including— 
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(1) a comprehensive schoolwide improvement 
plan described in subsection (d); 
(2) a description of how activities described in 
such plan will be coordinated with activities specified 
in plans for schoolwide programs under section 1114 
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6314) and school improvement 
plans required under section 1116(b)(3) of such Act 
(20 U.S.C. 6316(b)(3)); and 
(3) a description of how activities described in 
such plan will be complementary to, and coordinated 
with, school improvement activities for elementary 
schools and secondary schools in need of improve-
ment that serve the same students within the par-
ticipating local educational agency. 
(d) COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLWIDE IMPROVEMENT 
PLAN.—An eligible local educational agency or eligible en-
tity that desires to receive a subgrant under subsection 
(a) shall develop a comprehensive schoolwide improvement 
plan for the middle grades that shall— 
(1) include the information described in sub-
section (c)(2); 
(2) describe how the eligible local educational 
agency or eligible entity will— 
(A) identify eligible schools; 
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(B) ensure that funds go to the highest 
priority eligible schools first, based on the eligi-
ble schools’ populations of children described in 
section 102(c)(1); 
(C) use funds to improve the academic 
achievement of all students, including English 
language learners and students with disabilities, 
in eligible schools; 
(D) implement an early warning indicator 
and intervention system to alert schools when 
students begin to exhibit outcomes or behaviors 
that indicate the student is at increased risk for 
low academic achievement or is unlikely to 
progress to secondary school graduation, and to 
create a system of evidence-based interventions 
to be used by schools to effectively intervene, 
by— 
(i) identifying and analyzing, such as 
through the use of longitudinal data of 
past cohorts of students, the academic and 
behavioral indicators in the middle grades 
that most reliably predict dropping out of 
secondary school, such as attendance, be-
havior measures (including suspensions, of-
ficer referrals, or conduct marks), aca-
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demic performance in core courses, and 
earned on-time promotion from grade-to- 
grade; 
(ii) analyzing student progress and 
performance on the indicators identified 
under clause (i) to guide decisionmaking; 
(iii) analyzing academic indicators to 
determine whether students are on track to 
graduate on time, and developing appro-
priate evidence-based intervention; and 
(iv) identifying or developing a mecha-
nism for regularly collecting and report-
ing— 
(I) student-level data on the indi-
cators identified under clause (i); 
(II) student-level progress and 
performance, as described in clause 
(ii); 
(III) student-level data on the in-
dicators described in clause (iii); and 
(IV) information about the im-
pact of interventions on student out-
comes and progress; 
(E) increase academic rigor and foster stu-
dent engagement to ensure students are enter-
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ing secondary school prepared for success in a 
rigorous college- and career-ready curriculum, 
including a description of how such readiness 
will be measured; 
(F) implement a systemic transition plan 
for all students and encourage collaboration 
among elementary grades, middle grades, and 
secondary school grades; 
(G) increase community and family en-
gagement in education in the middle school 
grades to support student success; and 
(H) provide evidence that the strategies, 
programs, supports, and instructional practices 
proposed under the schoolwide improvement 
plan are new and have not been implemented 
before by the eligible local educational agency 
or eligible entity; and 
(3) provide evidence of an ongoing commitment 
to sustain the plan for a period of not less than 4 
years. 
(e) REVIEW AND SELECTION OF SUBGRANTS.—In 
making subgrants under subsection (a), the State edu-
cational agency shall— 
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