I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6174 
To direct the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible entities 
to establish or expand linked learning pathways and a system of path-
ways, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 22, 2010 
Ms. CHU (for herself and Ms. LEE of California) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Education to award grants to 
eligible entities to establish or expand linked learning 
pathways and a system of pathways, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Linked Learning Path-
ways Affording College and Career Success Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Sixty-nine percent of students who drop out 
of high school say that they were not engaged in 
their high school curriculum or experience. 
(2) Too many high school graduates are not 
prepared for the rigor of post-secondary education or 
training and 40 percent of high school seniors who 
enrolled in post-secondary education in 2006 had to 
take remedial courses. 
(3) High schools need to transform to better 
serve the needs and interests of a diverse student 
population. 
(4) Linked learning is an educational reform 
model that operates in smaller learning communities, 
career academies, themed high schools, regional oc-
cupational partnerships, and other educational con-
texts. 
(5) Linked learning pathways have been used 
effectively to expose students, especially disadvan-
taged students, to opportunities in a variety of high 
pay, high growth, or high skill industries, including 
healthcare, science, technology, engineering, mathe-
matics, the arts, law, and government. 
(6) Research on career academies, one linked 
learning approach, demonstrates an 11 percent de-
crease in student drop out rates. 
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(7) Research demonstrates that students ex-
posed to a combination of academic and career re-
lated curriculum that connects classroom learning to 
relevant experiences earned 18 percent more over a 
4-year period after high school graduation. 
(8) Strong intermediaries help to create lasting 
partnerships between schools and external stake-
holders, and these partnerships are crucial to stu-
dent success in a linked learning approach. 
(9) Evidence on the effectiveness of career 
academies indicates that benefits occur— 
(A) when students are scheduled to take a 
set of classes together each year, including at 
least two core academic classes and a career 
and technical education class related to the 
academy theme; and 
(B) when teachers work as a team to inte-
grate instruction across subjects and share re-
sponsibility for students for at least two years. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are the following: 
(1) To provide high school students with engag-
ing, challenging, and meaningful secondary school 
pathways that integrate academic studies with prac-
tical career-focused opportunities. 
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(2) To increase the number of students who 
graduate from high school who are well prepared to 
pursue the full range of post-secondary education 
choices, including 4-year college, 2-year college, ap-
prenticeship, military, technical training, and mean-
ingful careers. 
(3) To provide students with high quality public 
education options aligned with expectations in high 
pay, high growth, or high skill industries through a 
system of linked learning pathways. 
(4) To turn low-performing schools around and 
provide students at these schools with a well round-
ed education. 
(5) To prepare students for life-long citizenship. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act: 
(a) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible entity’’ 
means a local educational agency partnered with a quali-
fied intermediary and at least one stakeholder from 3 of 
the following categories, and may include other stake-
holders: 
(1) A post-secondary education institution. 
(2) A business or industry group in a high pay, 
high growth, or high skill industry. 
(3) A community based organization. 
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(4) A union or trade association. 
(5) A parent organization. 
(b) HIGH PAY, HIGH GROWTH, OR HIGH SKILL IN-
DUSTRY.—The term ‘‘high pay, high growth, or high skill 
industry’’ means an industry identified by the eligible enti-
ty and approved by the Secretary in consultation with the 
Secretary of Labor that— 
(1) has a significant current or potential impact 
on the regional economy; 
(2) brings net dollars into a region or is critical 
to attracting and sustaining businesses within the 
region; 
(3) stimulates the growth of other supporting 
businesses, or the growth of other industries or eco-
nomic sectors within the region; 
(4) provides workers with competitive and fam-
ily-supporting wages and benefits that increase the 
strength and vitality of the entire regional economy; 
and 
(5) provides opportunities for career advance-
ment. 
(c) LINKED
LEARNING
PATHWAYS.—The term 
‘‘linked learning pathways’’ means comprehensive, multi- 
year high school programs of study that integrate— 
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(1) a rigorous academic core aligned with en-
trance requirements for public colleges and univer-
sities in the State; 
(2) a career and technical education component 
organized around themes in a high pay, high growth, 
or high skill industry or industry sector; 
(3) a work-based learning component; and 
(4) supplemental services. 
(d) SYSTEM OF PATHWAYS.—The term ‘‘system of 
pathways’’ means a district-wide strategy that provides 
students with a menu of options to participate in linked 
learning pathways. 
(e) QUALIFIED INTERMEDIARY.—The term ‘‘quali-
fied intermediary’’ means an entity that has demonstrated 
expertise to build, sustain, and measure partnerships with 
entities such as employers, schools, community-based or-
ganizations, post-secondary education institutions, social 
service organizations, economic development organiza-
tions, and workforce systems, to broker services, re-
sources, and supports to youth and the organizations and 
systems that are designed to serve them, including con-
necting employers to classrooms, designing and imple-
menting linked learning pathways, developing curricula, 
delivering professional development, and connecting stu-
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dents to internships and other work-based learning oppor-
tunities. 
(f) GRADUATION
RATE.—The term ‘‘graduation 
rate’’ has the meaning given the term in section 
1111(b)(2)(C)(vi) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(C)(vi)), as clari-
fied in section 200.19 of title 34, Code of Federal Regula-
tions. 
(g) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the 
Secretary of Education. 
SEC. 5. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 
with the Secretary of Labor, and if appropriate other Fed-
eral agencies, shall award competitive grants to eligible en-
tities to establish or expand linked learning pathways and 
a system of pathways. 
(b) DURATION.—Each grant awarded shall be for a 
minimum of a 3-year period and a maximum of a 5-year 
period and may be renewed based on performance and rel-
ative financial need as determined by the Secretary. 
(c) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give priority to 
applications from eligible entities with plans to accomplish 
at least 3 of the following: 
(1) Serve students who attend persistently low- 
performing secondary schools with graduation rates 
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below 60 percent and high concentrations of eco-
nomically disadvantaged students. 
(2) Offer multiple linked learning pathways. 
(3) Encourage students to seek careers in fields 
in which the student’s gender, race, or ethnicity is 
under-represented, including science, technology, en-
gineering, and mathematics fields. 
(4) Increase high school completion levels and 
post-secondary education enrollment levels for tradi-
tionally under-represented students. 
(5) Reduce the academic achievement gap. 
(6) Utilize research-based practices to imple-
ment linked learning pathways. 
(d) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall require 
each recipient of a grant under this Act to provide 
matching funds from non-Federal sources, including 
funding from the State, in an amount determined 
under paragraph (2). 
(2) DETERMINATION
OF
THE
AMOUNT
OF 
MATCH.— 
(A) SLIDING SCALE.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), the Secretary shall determine the 
amount of matching funds to require from a 
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