A bill to provide for Project GRAD programs, and for other purposes.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Graduation Really Achieves Dreams 
Act'' or the ``GRAD Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The national secondary school graduation rate is only 
        70 percent. For the class of 2001, the national graduation rate 
        was only 51 percent for African-American students and 52 
        percent for Latino students.
            (2) In our Nation's high poverty urban districts, as few as 
        \1/3\ of students graduate from secondary school. In these 
        places, completion rates among certain disadvantaged groups of 
        students are often lower still.
            (3) In rural areas, where \1/3\ of American students attend 
        school, only 58.8 percent of students attend institutions of 
        higher education, compared with 68.2 percent of American 
        students from urban and suburban areas.
            (4) Each school day, approximately 3,000 secondary school 
        students drop out of school.
            (5) Alaska Natives have a substantially higher dropout rate 
        than all other students in Alaska as a group. The dropout rate 
        is 8.8 percent for Alaska Natives compared to 4.7 percent for 
        the 2001-2002 school year for other students in Alaska.
            (6) The 6,000,000 secondary students who make up the lowest 
        25 percent in terms of achievement scores are 3.5 times more 
        likely to drop out of secondary school than students in the 
        next highest quarter of academic achievement, and are 20 times 
        more likely to drop out than high achieving students.
            (7) Approximately 25 percent of secondary school students 
        are reading at below basic levels. The problem is even more 
        severe for poor students of color. The average minority or low-
        income 9th grader performs at only the 5th or 6th grade level 
        in reading.
            (8) During the 2002-2003 school year Alaska Benchmark 
        Examinations, significantly lower percentages of Alaska Natives 
        were proficient in reading, writing, and mathematics at each of 
        the 3 tested grade levels when compared to all other students. 
        These achievement gaps persist into secondary school, where 
        significantly lower percentages of Alaska Natives were 
        proficient in the subjects tested on the Alaska High School 
        Graduation Qualifying Examination in all grade levels where 
        that test was administered in 2002-2003 school year.
            (9) Achievement gaps persist across racial and 
        socioeconomic lines in rural schools. There are 2,500,000 poor 
        children in rural areas and the child poverty rate in some 
        rural areas is 2 to 3 times the national average.
            (10) Recruiting and retaining good teachers is an enormous 
        challenge in rural areas. The average salary in rural districts 
        is 13.4 percent lower than in nonrural areas, and teachers 
        often teach more than 1 subject, teach in poor working 
        conditions, live far from colleges, have little access to 
        training, and face geographic and social isolation.
            (11) Low graduation rates and college attendance rates are 
        evidence that, in the earlier grades, schools are not meeting 
        the fundamental achievement needs of low-income, minority, and 
        rural students.
            (12) Even those students who do graduate from secondary 
        schools and go on to college are struggling because they lack 
        the basic skills to succeed. Approximately 40 percent of all 4-
        year college students take a remedial course and 63 percent of 
        all community college students are assigned to at least 1 
        remedial course.
            (13) A small percentage of low-income students who manage 
        to enter college are able to complete a degree. Of students 
        from families in the bottom 20 percent in terms of income who 
        enter college, only 27 percent go on to complete a 2- or 4-year 
        college degree within 8 years.
            (14) Graduation rates impact early drop-out rates in the 
        military. The attrition rates in the military of both 
        individuals who are not secondary school graduates and GED 
        recipients are 8 percentage points higher than the attrition 
        rate of secondary school graduates. As a result, the Armed 
        Forces no longer accept secondary school dropouts and put less 
        value on alternative certificates.
            (15) Students who fail to graduate from secondary school 
        are more likely to engage in criminal activity than students 
        who graduate. A 1-percent increase in secondary school 
        graduation rates would save approximately $1,400,000,000 in 
        costs associated with incarceration, or about $2,100 for each 
        male secondary school graduate.
            (16) In today's workplace, nearly 8 in 10 adults with 
        baccalaureate degrees are employed, but for those who completed 
        secondary school only, the number falls to about 6 in 10. And 
        for students who dropped out of secondary school, the number 
        drops further to 4 in 10.
            (17) Employment projections indicate that jobs requiring 
        only a secondary school degree will grow by just 9 percent by 
        the year 2008, while those jobs requiring a bachelor's degree 
        will grow by 25 percent and those jobs requiring an associate's 
        degree will grow by 31 percent.
            (18) Personalization of the school environment has been 
        proven to increase success rates for low-performing secondary 
        school students. Nearly 50 percent of middle school youth and 
        40 percent of secondary school youth report feelings of 
        disengagement from school. Rates are even higher for teens and 
        minorities in urban schools. These feelings result in failure 
        to work hard, to seek assistance, or to take appropriate 
        courses.
            (19) Effective research-based education programs that 
        improve secondary school graduation rates are comprehensive in 
        nature and include interventions that begin in kindergarten or 
        earlier and span all the grades through grade 12.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) At-risk.--The term ``at-risk'' has the same meaning 
        given such term in section 1432 of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6472).
            (2) Feeder pattern.--The term ``feeder pattern'' means a 
        secondary school and the elementary schools and middle schools 
        that channel students into that secondary school.
            (3) Elementary school; secondary school.--The terms 
        ``elementary school'' and ``secondary school'' have the 
        meanings given such terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Education.

SEC. 4. PROJECT GRAD.

    (a) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to provide support and assistance to programs 
        implementing integrated education reform services in order to 
        improve secondary school graduation, college attendance, and 
        college completion rates for at-risk students; and
            (2) to promote the establishment of new programs to 
        implement such integrated education reform services.
    (b) Grant Authorized.--The Secretary is authorized to award a grant 
to Project GRAD USA (referred to in this Act as the ``grantee''), a 
nonprofit educational organization that has as its primary purpose the 
improvement of secondary school graduation, college attendance, and 
college completion rates for at-risk students, to implement and sustain 
the integrated education reform services described in subsection (d)(3) 
at existing Project GRAD program sites and to promote the expansion of 
Project GRAD programs to new sites.
    (c) Requirements of Grant Agreement.--The Secretary shall enter 
into an agreement with the grantee that requires that the grantee 
shall--
            (1) enter into subcontracts with nonprofit educational 
        organizations that serve a substantial number or percentage of 
        at-risk students (referred to in this Act as 
        ``subcontractors''), under which the subcontractors agree to 
        implement the programs described in subsection (d) and provide 
        matching funds for such programs;
            (2) directly carry out--
                    (A) activities to implement and sustain the 
                reading, mathematics, classroom management, social 
                service, and college access programs described in 
                subsection (d)(3);
                    (B) activities to build the organizational and 
                management capacity of the subcontractors to 
                effectively implement and sustain the programs;
                    (C) activities for the purpose of improving and 
                expanding the programs, including activities to further 
                articulate a program for 1 or more grade levels and 
                across grade levels, to tailor a program for a 
                particular target audience, and to provide tighter 
                integration across programs;
                    (D) activities for the purpose of implementing new 
                Project GRAD program sites;
                    (E) activities for the purpose of promoting greater 
                public awareness of integrated education reform 
                services to improve secondary school graduation, 
                college attendance, and college completion rates for 
                at-risk students; and
                    (F) other activities directly related to improving 
                secondary school graduation, college attendance, and 
                college completion rates for at-risk students; and
            (3) use grant funds available under this Act to pay--
                    (A) to subcontractors the amount determined under 
                subsection (f); and
                    (B) the costs associated with carrying out the 
                activities described in paragraph (2).
    (d) Supported Programs.--
            (1) Designation.--The subcontractor programs referred to in 
        subsection (c)(1) shall be known as ``Project GRAD programs''.
            (2) Feeder patterns.--Each subcontractor shall implement a 
        Project GRAD program and shall, with the agreement of the 
        grantee--
                    (A) identify or establish not less than 1 feeder 
                pattern of public schools; and
                    (B) provide the integrated educational reform 
                services described in paragraph (3) at the identified 
                feeder pattern or feeder patterns.
            (3) Integrated education reform services.--The services 
        provided through a Project GRAD program shall include--
                    (A) research-based programs in reading, 
                mathematics, and classroom management;
                    (B) campus-based social services programs, 
                including a systematic approach to increase family and 
                community involvement in the schools served by the 
                Project GRAD program;
                    (C) a college access program that includes--
                            (i) providing college scholarships for 
                        students who meet established criteria;
                            (ii) proven approaches for increasing 
                        student and family college awareness; and
                            (iii) assistance for such students in 
                        applying for higher education financial aid; 
                        and
                    (D) such other services identified by the grantee 
                as necessary to increase secondary school graduation, 
                college attendance, and college completion rates.
    (e) Grantee Use of Funds.--Of the funds made available under this 
Act, not more than 8 percent, or $4,000,000, whichever is less, shall 
be used by the grantee to pay for administration of the grant, with the 
remainder of funds to be used for the purposes described in subsection 
(c) (1) and (2).
    (f) Grantee Contribution and Matching Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--The grantee shall provide to each 
        subcontractor an average of $200 for each pupil served by the 
        subcontractor in the Project GRAD program, adjusted to take 
        into consideration--
                    (A) the resources available in the area where the 
                subcontractor will implement the Project GRAD program; 
                and
                    (B) the need for Project GRAD programs in such area 
                to improve student outcomes, including reading and 
                mathematics achievement and, where applicable, 
                secondary school graduation, college attendance, and 
                college completion rates.
            (2) Matching requirement.--Each subcontractor shall provide 
        funds for the Project GRAD program in an amount that is equal 
        to the amount received by the subcontractor from the grantee. 
        Such matching funds may be provided in cash or in kind, fairly 
        evaluated.
            (3) Waiver authority.--The grantee may waive, in whole or 
        in part, the requirement of paragraph (2) for a subcontractor, 
        if the subcontractor--
                    (A) demonstrates that the subcontractor would not 
                otherwise be able to participate in the program; and
                    (B) enters into an agreement with the grantee with 
                respect to the amount to which the waiver will apply.
            (4) Decrease in grantee share.--Based on the funds or 
        resources available to a subcontractor, the grantee may elect 
        to provide the subcontractor with an amount that is less than 
        the amount determined under paragraph (1).
    (g) Evaluation.--
            (1) Evaluation by the secretary.--The Secretary shall 
        select an independent entity to evaluate, every 3 years, the 
        performance of students who participate in a Project GRAD 
        program under this Act. The evaluation shall--
                    (A) be conducted using the strongest possible 
                research design for determining the effectiveness of 
                the Project GRAD programs funded under this Act; and
                    (B) compare reading and mathematics achievement 
                and, where applicable, the secondary school graduation, 
                college attendance, and college completion rates of 
                students who participate in a Project GRAD program 
                funded under this Act with those indicators for 
                students of similar backgrounds who do not participate 
                in such programs.
            (2) Evaluation by grantee and subcontractors.--
                    (A) In general.--The grantee shall require each 
                subcontractor to prepare an in-depth report of the 
                results and the use of funds of each Project GRAD 
                program funded under this Act that includes--
                            (i) data on the reading and mathematics 
                        achievement of students involved in the Project 
                        GRAD program;
                            (ii) statistics on secondary school 
                        graduation, college attendance, and college 
                        completion rates; and
                            (iii) such financial reporting as required 
                        by the Secretary to review the effectiveness 
                        and efficiency of the program.
                    (B) Form of report.--The report shall be in a form 
                and include such content as shall be determined by the 
                grantee, in consultation with the Secretary or the 
                entity selected by the Secretary to evaluate the 
                Project GRAD programs in accordance with paragraph (1).
            (3) Availability of evaluations.--Copies of any evaluation 
        or report prepared under this subsection shall be made 
        available to--
                    (A) the Secretary;
                    (B) the chairperson and ranking member of the 
                Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 
                the Senate; and
                    (C) the chairperson and ranking member of the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House 
                of Representatives.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$27,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, and such sums as may be necessary for 
each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.

Summary: Graduation Really Achieves Dreams Act - GRAD Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award a grant to Project GRAD USA, a nonprofit educational organization for improving high school graduation and college attendance and completion rates for at-risk students, to provide technical assistance and support through subgrants to existing and new programs that implement a set of integrated education reform services.

Requires the grantee to select only subgrantees that serve a substantial number or percentage of at-risk students. Requires the programs to identify one or more groups of public schools at which services will be provided through a feeder pattern through which elementary and secondary schools channel students having participated in program services into an identified high school. Requires program services to include: (1) research-based programs in reading, mathematics, and classroom management; (2) campus-based social services programs, including increasing family and community involvement in schools; (3) a college access program, including providing college scholarships for students who meet established criteria, increasing student and family college awareness, and assisting students to apply for college financial aid; and (4) other services the grantee identifies as necessary.