I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5709 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 28, 2006 
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘No Child Left Behind Improvements Act of 2006’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. References. 
TITLE I—MEASURING ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS 
Sec. 101. Measuring adequate yearly progress of groups. 
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Sec. 102. Intermediate goals need not increase in equal increments for all 
groups. 
Sec. 103. Alternative approaches to measuring adequate yearly progress. 
Sec. 104. Participation of students in assessments. 
Sec. 105. Students with disabilities requiring alternate assessments. 
Sec. 106. Assessments. 
Sec. 107. Regulations. 
TITLE II—STATE FLEXIBILITY 
Sec. 201. State flexibility. 
TITLE III—IMPLEMENTATION OF SANCTIONS 
Sec. 301. School improvement and public school choice. 
Sec. 302. School district improvement. 
Sec. 303. Supplemental services. 
Sec. 304. Full implementation. 
TITLE IV—NON-PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
Sec. 401. Participation of children enrolled in private schools. 
TITLE V—EFFECTIVE DATE AND REGULATIONS 
Sec. 501. Effective date. 
Sec. 202. Regulations. 
SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 
Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in 
this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 
of an amendment to, or a repeal of, a section or other 
provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to 
a section or other provision of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 6200 et seq.). 
TITLE I—MEASURING ADEQUATE 
YEARLY PROGRESS 
SEC. 101. MEASURING ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS OF 
GROUPS. 
(a) ‘‘N’’ SIZE MAY VARY BY SIZE OF SCHOOL OR 
LEA.—The following provisions are each amended by in-
serting after ‘‘reliable information’’ the following: ‘‘(the 
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‘number’ required to be ‘insufficient’ being greater, at the 
option of the State, for a local educational agency than 
for a school, and varying, at the option of the State, from 
agency to agency and school to school in proportion to 
total enrollment)’’: 
(1) In section 1111 (20 U.S.C. 6311)— 
(A) subsection (b)(2)(C)(v), in the matter 
after subclause (II)(dd); 
(B) subsection (b)(2)(I)(ii); 
(C) subsection (b)(3)(C)(xiii); and 
(D) subsection (h)(C)(i). 
(2) Section 1431(b) (20 U.S.C. 6471(b)). 
(b) PERMITTING FEWER STUDENTS IN GROUP TO 
DEMONSTRATE PROGRESS TO MEET AYP ‘‘SAFE HAR-
BOR’’ .—Section 1111 (20 U.S.C. 6311) is further amend-
ed in subsection (b)(2)(I)(i) by striking ‘‘10 percent’’ and 
inserting ‘‘5 percent’’. 
(c) COUNTING STUDENTS WHO ARE IN MORE THAN 
ONE GROUP.—Section 1111 (20 U.S.C. 6311) is further 
amended in subsection (b)(2) by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(L) COUNTING STUDENTS WHO ARE IN 
MORE THAN ONE GROUP.—For the purpose of 
determining adequate yearly progress, the State 
may establish a uniform procedure for counting 
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students under which a student who belongs to 
more than one of the groups described in sub-
paragraph (C)(v) is counted toward each such 
group to which the student belongs as a frac-
tion of 1 student, the numerator of the fraction 
being 1 and the denominator being the number 
of such groups to which the student belongs.’’. 
SEC. 102. INTERMEDIATE GOALS NEED NOT INCREASE IN 
EQUAL INCREMENTS FOR ALL GROUPS. 
Section 1111 (20 U.S.C. 6311) is further amended 
in subsection (b)(2)(H)(i)— 
(1) by striking ‘‘in equal increments’’; and 
(2) by inserting before the semicolon at the end 
the following: ‘‘in— 
‘‘(aa) increments defined by the 
State as appropriate for the group, 
for each of the groups of students de-
scribed in subparagraph (C)(v); and 
‘‘(bb) equal increments, for all 
other students.’’. 
SEC. 103. ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO MEASURING ADE-
QUATE YEARLY PROGRESS. 
(a) EXPANSION OF AYP TO INCLUDE GAIN SCORES 
AND PARTIAL CREDIT FOR MEETING BASIC TARGETS.— 
Section 1111 (20 U.S.C. 6311) is further amended in sub-
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section (b)(2)(C)(vii) by inserting after ‘‘such as’’ the fol-
lowing: ‘‘achievement under a ‘gain score’ approach (such 
as a value-added system), progress toward meeting basic 
proficiency targets,’’. 
(b) ALTERNATIVES TO AYP.—Such section is further 
amended in subsection (b)(2) by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(M) ALTERNATE METHODS OF DEFINING 
ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS.—In lieu of de-
fining adequate yearly progress under subpara-
graph (C), the State may define adequate year-
ly progress in any manner that— 
‘‘(i) uses the measures of performance 
and progress described in subparagraph 
(A); 
‘‘(ii) complies with the timeline re-
quired by subparagraph (F); and 
‘‘(iii) includes intermediate goals, as 
required by subparagraph (H).’’. 
SEC. 104. PARTICIPATION OF STUDENTS IN ASSESSMENTS. 
(a) PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS REQUIRED TO TAKE 
ASSESSMENTS.—Section 1111 (20 U.S.C. 6311) is fur-
ther amended in subsection (b)(2)(I)(ii)— 
(1) by striking ‘‘95 percent’’ the first place 
such term appears and inserting ‘‘a percentage 
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(from 90 to 95 percent, based on criteria established 
in the State plan)’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘95 percent’’ the second place 
such term appears and inserting ‘‘percentage’’. 
(b) DETERMINING PARTICIPATION RATES.—Section 
1111 (20 U.S.C. 6311) is further amended in subsection 
(b)(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(N) STUDENTS EXEMPT FROM PARTICI-
PATING IN ASSESSMENTS.—For the purpose of 
determining compliance with the percentage re-
quired by subparagraph (I)(ii), the State may 
provide for a student to be excluded from the 
determination with respect to an assessment if 
any of the following apply: 
‘‘(i) EXCUSED
ABSENCE.—The stu-
dent did not take that assessment by rea-
son of— 
‘‘(I) a medical condition; 
‘‘(II) a parental decision to ex-
empt the student, if such a decision is 
available under, and exercised pursu-
ant to, State law; or 
‘‘(III) a circumstance out of the 
control of the student, school, or local 
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educational agency, such as a natural 
disaster. 
‘‘(ii) CHRONIC
NON-ATTENDANCE.— 
Each of the following is true: 
‘‘(I) The student did not take the 
assessment and has demonstrated an 
unusual and chronic pattern of non- 
attendance, as defined by the State. 
‘‘(II) The local educational agen-
cy in which the student is enrolled is 
implementing a plan to increase par-
ticipation in the assessments by stu-
dents demonstrating such a pattern of 
non-attendance. 
‘‘(O) STUDENTS ASSIGNED ‘BELOW BASIC’ 
SCORE BY DEFAULT.—For the purpose of de-
termining adequate yearly progress, and for the 
purpose of determining compliance with the 
percentage required by subparagraph (I)(ii), a 
student who does not take an assessment and 
who is not excluded under subparagraph (N) 
may, if the State plan so provides, be treated 
as having taken the assessment and having 
achieved a score below the level described in 
paragraph (1)(D)(ii)(III) (below basic).’’. 
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SEC. 105. STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES REQUIRING AL-
TERNATE ASSESSMENTS. 
Section 1111 (20 U.S.C. 6311) is further amended 
in subsection (b)(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(P) STUDENTS
WITH
DISABILITIES
RE-
QUIRING
ALTERNATE
ASSESSMENTS.—Con-
sistent with subsection (n)(3), a State may im-
plement the amendments made to part 200 of 
title 34, Code of Federal Regulations, on De-
cember 9, 2003 (68 Fed. Reg. 68698) (related 
to achievement of students with significant cog-
nitive disabilities) as if such amendments— 
‘‘(i) permitted 3 percent of such stu-
dents to be counted for the purposes of de-
termining adequate yearly progress, except 
that— 
‘‘(I) any assessment given to any 
such student for the purposes of de-
termining 
such 
adequate 
yearly 
progress must be required by the indi-
vidualized education plan of such stu-
dent; 
‘‘(II) the individualized education 
plan must reflect the need for any 
such alternate assessment based on 
the evaluation of such student and the 
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services provided such student under 
section 614 of the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act (42 U.S.C. 
1400 et seq.); and 
‘‘(III) the individualized edu-
cation plan must include written con-
sent from the parent of such student 
prior to such alternate assessment 
being administered; 
‘‘(ii) used the term ‘students requiring 
alternate assessments’ in lieu of the term 
‘students with the most significant cog-
nitive disabilities’; and 
‘‘(iii) permitted the eligibility of such 
students to be determined by the State 
educational agency, except that such eligi-
bility shall, at a minimum, include— 
‘‘(I) students who are receiving 
services pursuant to a plan required 
under section 504 of the Rehabilita-
tion Act of 1973 and part 104 of title 
34, Code of Federal Regulations; 
‘‘(II) students who are assessed 
at a grade level below the grade level 
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in which they are enrolled (out of level 
assessments); and 
‘‘(III) include students consid-
ered students with the most signifi-
cant cognitive disabilities, as defined 
by the state educational agency, prior 
to the enactment of the No Child Left 
Behind Improvements Act of 2006.’’. 
SEC. 106. ASSESSMENTS. 
Section 1111(b)(3)(C) (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(3)(C)) is 
amended— 
(1) in clause (ix) by striking subclause (III) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(III) the inclusion of limited 
English proficient students, who— 
‘‘(aa) may, consistent with 
paragraph (2)(P), be assessed, as 
determined by the local edu-
cational agency, through the use 
of an assessment which requires 
achievement of specific gains for 
up to three school years from the 
first year any such student is as-
sessed for the purposes of this 
subsection; 
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‘‘(bb) may, at the option of 
the State educational agency, be 
assessed in the first year any 
such student attended school in 
the United States (not including 
Puerto Rico); 
‘‘(cc) shall not be included 
in any calculation of adequate 
yearly progress when such stu-
dents are in the first year of at-
tending school in the United 
States 
(not 
including 
Puerto 
Rico); and 
‘‘(dd) shall be assessed in a 
valid and reliable manner and 
provided reasonable accommoda-
tions on assessments adminis-
tered to such students under this 
paragraph, including, to the ex-
tent practicable, assessments in 
the language and form most like-
ly to yield accurate data on what 
such students know and can do 
in academic content areas, until 
such 
students 
have 
achieved 
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English language proficiency as 
determined 
under 
paragraph 
(7);’’; 
(2) in clause (xiv) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(3) by redesignating clause (xv) as clause (xvii); 
and 
(4) by inserting after clause (xiv) the following: 
‘‘(xv) at the option of the local edu-
cational agency, be administered multiple 
times to any such student during the 
school year, provided that the local edu-
cational agency shall determine which 
score of any such administration be used 
for determining adequate yearly progress; 
‘‘(xvi) at the option of the school dis-
trict, measure the achievement of a stu-
dent as if such student were in the grade 
level proceeding the grade level of such 
student, provided that— 
‘‘(I) if such student meets the 
proficient level of achievement for 
such proceeding grade level, such 
score shall be used to determine ade-
quate yearly progress for such pro-
ceeding grade level; and 
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