Success in the Middle Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-2227
Sponsor: Sen. Obama, Barack [D-IL]
Introduced: 2007-10-24 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance
Arts
Arts, Culture, Religion
Child development
Civics education
Class size
Colleges
Community and school
Compensatory education
Congressional reporting requirements
Continuing education
Curricula
Data banks
Disabled
Dropouts
Economics and Public Finance
Education of the disadvantaged
Educational accountability
Educational counseling
Educational innovations
Educational planning
Educational research
Educational tests
Electronic government information
Elementary and secondary education
Elementary education
English language
Families
Federal aid to education
Federal aid to research
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government publicity
Higher education
History
Indian education
Labor and Employment
Language arts
Literacy programs
Mathematics
Minorities
Native Americans
Nonprofit organizations
Parent-school relationships
Performance measurement
Rating of teachers
Reading
Recruiting of employees
Research and development
Research and development facilities
Research centers
Research grants
School discipline
School districts
Science, Technology, Communications
Scientific education
Secondary education
Social Welfare
Special education
Teacher education
Teacher supply and demand

Summary:
action_date: 2007-10-24
text: 
Success in the Middle Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Education to make matching grants to states, based on their proportion of poor children aged 5 to 17, to: (1) implement state middle school needs analyses and, on the basis of such analyses, improvement plans that describe what students must master to successfully complete the middle grades and succeed in academically rigorous high school coursework; and (2) award competitive matching subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to implement a comprehensive middle school improvement plan for each eligible school. Favors LEAs with high proportions of poor children and eligible schools.
 
Defines &quot;eligible schools&quot; as those where: (1) a majority of middle grade students matriculate to high schools with graduation rates below 60%; (2) more than 25% of the students who finish grade six, or the school's earliest middle grade level, exhibit key risk factors for failure; and (3) a majority of middle grade students are not rated proficient on required state assessments in mathematics, reading, or language arts.
 
Permits states to make subgrants to LEAs that did not receive a competitive subgrant to assist them in applying for competitive subgrants and developing comprehensive middle school improvement plans. 
 
Provides the Secretary with funding to: (1) contract for studies that identify promising practices for, and review existing research to identify factors that might lead to, the improvement of middle school education; (2) create a national clearinghouse in best middle grade educational practices and a national database identifying factors that facilitate or impede middle grade student achievement; (3) require certain educational field research designed to enhance the performance of middle grade schools and students; (4) create a research and development center that addresses topics pertinent to middle grade schools; and (5) provide grants to entities that partner with states and LEAs to develop, adapt, or replicate effective models for turning around low-performing middle grade schools.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-10-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2007-10-24
text: Introduced in Senate