I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 228
To improve character education programs.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 6, 2001
Mr. ETHERIDGE (for himself, and Mr. WAMP) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To improve character education programs.
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 ‘‘Character Counts for
the 21st Century Act’’.
SEC. 2. CHARACTER EDUCATION PROGRAM.
Sections 10102 and 10103 of part A of title X of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 are
amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 10102. STATE AND LOCAL CHARACTER EDUCATION
PROGRAM.
‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—(1) The Secretary
may make grants to State educational agencies, local edu-
cational agencies, or consortia of such educational agen-
cies for the design and implementation of character edu-
cation programs.
‘‘(2) Each grant under this section shall be awarded
for a period not to exceed five years, of which the recipient
shall use not more than one year for planning and pro-
gram design.
‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.—(1) Each applicant desiring a
grant under this section shall submit an application to the
Secretary at such time and in such manner as the Sec-
retary may require.
‘‘(2) Each application under this section shall
include—
‘‘(A) a description of any partnerships and
other collaborative efforts between the applicant and
other educational agencies;
‘‘(B) a description of the program’s goals and
objectives;
‘‘(C) a description of the activities the applicant
will carry out, and how these activities are designed
to meet the program’s goals and objectives under
subparagraph (B), including—
‘‘(i) how parents, students, and other
members of the community, including members
of private and nonprofit organizations, will be
involved in the design and implementation of
the program;
‘‘(ii) the curriculum and instructional prac-
tices that will be used or developed; and
‘‘(iii) the methods of teacher training and
parent education that will be used or developed;
‘‘(D) a description of how the program will be
linked to other efforts to improve educational out-
comes, including—
‘‘(i) broader educational reforms that are
being instituted by the applicant or its partners;
and
‘‘(ii) applicable State and local standards
for student performance;
‘‘(E) a description of how the applicant will
evaluate the progress of its program in meeting the
goals and objectives under subparagraph (B), includ-
ing the performance indicators that will be used to
measure progress; and
‘‘(F) such other information as the Secretary
may require.
‘‘(c) DIVERSITY OF PROJECTS.—The Secretary shall
make awards under this section that, to the extent prac-
ticable, support programs that serve different geographic
areas of the Nation, including urban, suburban, and rural
areas.’’;
‘‘SEC. 10103. CHARACTER EDUCATION RESEARCH, DISSEMI-
NATION, AND EVALUATION.
‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary is au-
thorized to make grants, or enter into contracts or cooper-
ative agreements with, State educational agencies, local
educational agencies, institutions of higher education, trib-
al organizations, and other public or private agencies or
organizations to carry out research, development, dissemi-
nation, technical assistance, and evaluation activities that
support or inform character education programs under
section 10102.
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Consistent with subsection
(a), funds under this section may be used—
‘‘(1) to conduct research and development ac-
tivities that focus on such matters as—
‘‘(A) the effectiveness of instructional mod-
els;
‘‘(B) materials and curricula that can be
used by programs in character education;
‘‘(C) models of professional development in
character education; and
‘‘(D) the development of outcome measures
for character education programs;
‘‘(2) to provide technical assistance to the agen-
cies receiving awards under section 10102, particu-
larly on matters of program evaluation;
‘‘(3) to conduct a national evaluation of pro-
grams under section 10102; and
‘‘(4) to compile and disseminate, through var-
ious approaches, such as a national clearinghouse—
‘‘(A) information on model character edu-
cation programs;
‘‘(B) character education materials and
curricula;
‘‘(C) research findings in the area of char-
acter education and character development; and
‘‘(D) any other information that will be
useful to character education program partici-
pants and other educators and administrators,
nationwide.’’.
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