‘‘(9) a wide array of persons interested in and 
involved with early care and early education issues in 
the State, such as representatives of—
‘‘(A) health care professionals; 
‘‘(B) the State agency with responsibility 
for the special supplemental nutrition program 
for women, infants, and children established by 
section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966; 
‘‘(C) institutions of higher education; 
‘‘(D) community-based and faith-based or-
ganizations; 
‘‘(E) the business community; 
‘‘(F) State legislators and local officials; 
‘‘(G) museums and libraries; 
‘‘(H) other relevant entities in the State; 
and 
‘‘(I) other agencies that provide resources 
for young children. 
‘‘(l) STATE PLAN SUBMISSION.—An application shall 
be submitted by a State pursuant to this section to the Sec-
retary, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, 
and shall be deemed to be approved by the Secretary unless 
the Secretary makes a written determination, prior to the 
expiration of a reasonable time beginning on the date on
which the Secretary received the application, that the appli-
cation is not in compliance with this section. 
‘‘(m) TREATMENT OF FUNDS.—If a State or local gov-
ernment contributes its own funds to supplement activities 
carried out under the applicable programs, the State or 
local government has the option to separate out the Federal 
funds or commingle them. If the funds are commingled, the 
provisions of this subchapter shall apply to all of the com-
mingled funds in the same manner, and to the same extent, 
as the provisions apply to the Federal funds. 
‘‘(n) FEDERAL OVERSIGHT AUTHORITY; CORRECTIVE 
ACTION; WITHDRAWAL OF APPROVAL.—
‘‘(1) FEDERAL OVERSIGHT.—The Secretary shall 
retain the authority to oversee the operation of the 
State program under this section, including through 
review of records and reports, audits, and onsite in-
spection of records and facilities and monitoring of 
program activities and operations. 
‘‘(2) CORRECTION OF DEFICIENCIES.—If the Sec-
retary determines that a State program under this 
section substantially fails to meet the requirements of 
this section, the Secretary shall notify the State of the 
deficiencies identified and require corrective action as 
follows:
‘‘(A) DEFICIENCIES
CAUSING
IMMEDIATE 
JEOPARDY.—The Secretary shall require imme-
diate corrective action to eliminate a deficiency 
that the Secretary finds threatens the health or 
safety of staff or program participants or poses 
a threat to the integrity of Federal funds. 
‘‘(B) 
OTHER
DEFICIENCIES.—The 
Sec-
retary, taking into consideration the nature and 
magnitude of a deficiency not described in sub-
paragraph (A), and the time reasonably required 
for correction, may—
‘‘(i) require the State to correct the de-
ficiency within 90 days after notification 
under this paragraph; or 
‘‘(ii) require the State to implement a 
quality improvement plan designed to cor-
rect the deficiency within one year from 
identification of the deficiency. 
‘‘(3) WITHDRAWAL OF APPROVAL.—If the defi-
ciencies identified under paragraph (2) are not cor-
rected by the deadlines established by the Secretary, 
the Secretary shall initiate proceedings to withdraw 
approval of the State program under this section. 
‘‘(4) PROCEDURAL RIGHTS.—A State subject to 
adverse action under this subsection shall have the
same procedural rights as a Head Start agency sub-
ject to adverse action under section 641A. 
‘‘(o) INDEPENDENT EVALUATION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall contract 
with an independent organization outside of the De-
partment to design and conduct a multi-year, rig-
orous, scientifically valid, quantitative evaluation of 
the State demonstration program. 
‘‘(2) PROCESS.—The Secretary shall award a 
contract within 180 days of the date of enactment of 
the School Readiness Act of 2003, to an organization 
that is capable of designing and carrying out an 
independent evaluation described in this subsection. 
‘‘(3) ANALYSIS.—The evaluation shall include an 
analysis of each State participating in the State dem-
onstration program, including—
‘‘(A) A quantitative description of the State 
prekindergarten program and Head Start pro-
grams within such State, as such programs ex-
isted prior to participation in the State dem-
onstration program, including—
‘‘(i) data on the characteristics of the 
children served, including the overall num-
ber and percentages of children served
disaggregated by socioeconomic status, race 
and ethnicity of those served; 
‘‘(ii) the quality and characteristics of 
the services provided to such children; and 
‘‘(iii) the education attainment of in-
structional staff. 
‘‘(B) A quantitative and qualitative de-
scription of the State program after each year of 
participation in the State demonstration, which 
shall include each of the following: 
‘‘(i) A description of changes in the ad-
ministration of the State program, includ-
ing the Head Start program, within such 
State. 
‘‘(ii) The rate of progress of the State 
in improving the school readiness of dis-
advantaged children in the key domains of 
development. 
‘‘(iii) Data as described in subpara-
graph (A), as updated annually. 
‘‘(iv) The extent to which each State 
has met the goals established by such State 
with respect to annual goals as described 
under section 643(h)(10).
‘‘(4) REPORT.—(A) The Secretary shall provide 
an interim report on the progress of such evaluation 
and of the progress of States participating in the 
State demonstration in increasing the availability of 
high-quality prekindergarten services for low-income 
children not later than October 1, 2006, to the Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce in the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions in the Senate. 
‘‘(B) The Secretary shall provide a final report 
to the Committee on Education and the Workforce in 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in the Sen-
ate, not later than October 1, 2007, which shall in-
clude an overall evaluation of the State demonstration 
program, including an assessment of its success in in-
creasing the overall availability of high-quality pre-
kindergarten services for low-income children in each 
of the participating States as compared to a rep-
resentative sample of non-participating States. 
‘‘(p) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 
term ‘base year’ means the fiscal year 2003.’’.
Union Calendar No. 92
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 2210
[Report No. 108–184] 
A BILL 
To reauthorize the Head Start Act to improve the 
school readiness of disadvantaged children, and 
for other purposes. 
JUNE 26, 2003
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed