jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-06-06 00:00:00

State and Local Flexibility Improvement Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to give states and local educational agencies (LEAs) greater flexibility in transferring federal funds among specified ESEA programs (relating to teachers, technology, safe and drug-free schools, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and innovative programs) and from such programs to their allotments under title I. Replaces the current State and Local Flexibility Demonstration under title VI of the ESEA with a program allowing states to enter five-year performance agreements with the Secretary of Education, and states to enter into performance agreements with LEAs, to: (1) waive statutory and regulatory requirements; (2) consolidate ESEA funds provided for improving student achievement and narrowing achievement gaps, for use in furthering any state educational purpose; and (3) use an alternative method of allocating school improvement funds under part A of title I to more effectively target LEAs and schools serving high proportions of needy students. Holds states, LEAs, and schools to the requirement that they make adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward challenging state academic performance standards; but allows states to use additional models and systems for measuring AYP, such as longitudinal growth models. Requires states to give performance agreement priority to LEAs that have failed to make AYP for the two preceding academic years and serve a high percentage of needy students. Allows the Secretary to terminate an agreement with a state that fails to meet its terms for three consecutive school years. Lowers the minimum percentage of needy children a school must serve before its LEA may implement a schoolwide program consolidating school improvement funds for use in upgrading the school's entire educational program.
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-06-07 00:00:00

Empowering Children with Autism through Education Act of 2007 - Requires the Secretary of Education to establish the Empowering Children with Autism through Education Task Force to identify and disseminate evidence-based educational strategies and promising best practices to improve the quality of learning for individuals with autism in grades K-12, including regarding: (1) learning models, interventions, and services that demonstrate improvements in reading, writing, and math proficiency; (2) the cost-effectiveness of these learning models, interventions, and services, and their applicability for local education agencies; (3) professional development needs of educators; (4) methods for incorporating state-, local- and community-based programs and services into the classroom to provide comprehensive support; (5) identification of barriers to successful implementation of programs and services and recommendations to address those barriers; and (6) dissemination of findings to Congress, all relevant agencies, and states and U.S. territories to improve the quality of learning for individuals with autism.
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-06-07 00:00:00

Mentoring America's Children Act of 2007 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to make miscellaneous changes to the Mentoring grant program under title IV that include: (1) improvement of school connectedness and character education among mentoring's purposes; (2) corporations, universities, and other entities among program providers; (3) a requirement that mentors help children become responsible and successful adults; (4) suburban children in high crime areas and children living in high gang involvement, drug use, or dropout areas among those most in need of mentoring; (5) limitation of each mentor to no more than three children; and (6) mandatory information on grant applicants about plans for monitoring mentor/mentee matches and the satisfaction of grant matching requirements that increase from 10% to 50% over the three-year grant term; Allows grantees to be considered for new grants if: (1) their prior performance was satisfactory; (2) they propose to use the new grant exclusively for expanded service to a new area or population; and (3) they are able to provide a 50% match to the new grant funds. Directs the Secretary of Education to: (1) provide training and technical assistance to, and track and evaluate the performance of, grantees; and (2) arrange for research on school-based mentoring, the results of which are to be provided to the mentoring community. Includes mentoring in ESEA programs for: (1) Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaskan Native education; (2) the transitioning of youth offenders into education; and (3) school violence and drug abuse prevention.
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-06-07 00:00:00

Early Childhood Investment Act of 2007 - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award a three-to-five-year grant to not more than one public-private partnership in each state to promote school readiness by improving the quality of, and access to, early childhood development opportunities for children throughout the state from birth to kindergarten. Requires each partnership to include the state and at least one tax-exempt organization and be led by a board of directors. Reduces the federal share of the cost of activities assisted under this Act from 50% in the first year of a grant to 30% in the third and any succeeding year of the grant.
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-06-11 00:00:00

Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a grants program to reduce class size through the use of fully-qualified teachers. Allots funds to states and local educational agencies to recruit, hire, and train additional teachers, in order to: (1) reduce class sizes nationally, in grades one through three, to an average of 18 students per classroom; and (2) improve teaching in those grades so that all students can learn to read independently and well by the end of the third grade.
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Social sciences and history
Date: 2007-06-13 00:00:00

Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants to one or more nonprofit educational organizations established to research, display, interpret, and collect artifacts relating to the history of the Underground Railroad. Requires each grant agreement to require the organization to: (1) establish a facility to house, display, and interpret the artifacts related to the history of the Underground Railroad; (2) demonstrate substantial private support for the facility through the implementation of a public-private partnership between a state or local public entity and a private entity providing certain matching funds; (3) create an endowment to fund shortfalls in the costs of ongoing facility operations; (4) establish a network of satellite centers throughout the United States to help disseminate information regarding the Underground Railroad; (5) establish the capability to link the facility electronically with other local and regional facilities with interpretive Underground Railroad collections and programs; and (6) report annually to the Secretary. Authorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2012.
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-06-26 00:00:00

Reliable and Accurate Graduation Rate Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require states that receive school improvement funds under part A of title I to calculate graduation rates by dividing the number of students in schools or local educational agencies who receive a regular diploma by the number of first time ninth-grade students who enrolled four years earlier, taking into account student transfers, recently arrived limited English proficient students, students who enroll in an early college high school, and disabled students who require an extra year to receive a diploma. Allows states to publish and report additional completion measures for those students who completed high school or some equivalent measure in more than four years.
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-06-26 00:00:00

Strengthening Kids' Interest in Learning and Libraries Act or the SKILLs Act - Amends title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for the Improving Literacy through School Libraries grant program. Requires states and local educational agencies (LEAs) that receive school improvement funds to ensure that by the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year there is at least one highly qualified school library media specialist in every school that receives such funds. Requires Improving Literacy through School Libraries funds to be: (1) proportionally distributed to serve students in elementary, middle, and high schools; (2) used for media resources appropriate for all grades; and (3) used for professional development in information literacy instruction that is appropriate for all grades. Expands the program of grants to states and subgrants to LEAs for the recruitment, retention, and professional development of teachers to require that highly qualified school library media specialists be included in the focus of such efforts.
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-06-28 00:00:00

Teachers at the Table Act - Amends title I (Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to establish the Volunteer Teacher Advisory Committee to monitor the effects of such title (amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001) in classrooms, with a focus on children and families. Requires that committee membership consist of a diverse group of public school classroom teachers appointed from within the National State Teachers of the Year organization.
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-06-28 00:00:00

Keep Teachers Teaching Act of 2007 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to make competitive grants to local educational agencies (LEAs), states, and partnerships of LEAs, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education for the development and implementation of innovative teacher retention programs that include: (1) professional development; (2) teacher mentoring; (3) advanced certification or credentialing; (4) research, travel, or fellowship opportunities; and (5) pairing of teachers with research or industry professionals. Requires the Secretary to identify, and inform states and LEAs of, the most promising teacher retention strategies.
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-06-28 00:00:00

Charter School Program Enhancement Act of 2007 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to authorized public chartering agencies, in addition to state educational agencies, for the provision of subgrants to charter school developers or nonprofit charter support organizations assisting such developers. Raises the maximum term of such grants. Extends grant priority to states that: (1) provide public charter schools with funding commensurate with that provided to other public schools; (2) focus on creating such schools in areas that have many schools designated as needing improvement; and (3) demonstrate that a high percentage of its charter school students are meeting, exceeding, or making sufficient progress toward state academic performance standards. Eliminates from grant consideration states that have certain restrictive charter school laws. Alters Charter School Per-Pupil Facilities Aid programs by changing from mandatory to discretionary the authority of the Secretary to provide states with program grants and requiring state grantees to make charter school per-pupil spending commensurate with such spending on other public schools. Establishes a competitive grant program for the dissemination of successful charter school programs. Requires charter schools to have independent governing boards that enter into performance-based agreements with authorized public chartering agencies. Prohibits such schools from giving admissions priority to students on the basis of prior academic achievement. Amends the Charter School Credit Enhancement program by making predevelopment costs an object of credit enhancement and authorizing the use of program grants for limited loans to such schools. Reauthorizes appropriations through FY2013 for the programs amended by this Act.
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-06-28 00:00:00

10th Congressional District of Illinois School Conservation Corps Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to create a pilot program in Illinois' 10th Congressional District by providing grants to public high school chapters, each consisting of at least 10 students and one adult advisor, to establish and support a school conservation corps. Requires grants to be used for environmental protection projects in the district, including specified priority projects involving water pollution control, greenhouse gas reduction, recycling, and the dissemination of information on the dangers of mercury pollution.
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-06-28 00:00:00

Graduation Promise Act of 2007 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants to states and, through them, subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) for differentiated high school improvement systems targeting support to schools with low student achievement and graduation rates after the school fails for two consecutive years to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) pursuant to state academic performance standards. Requires LEAs also to use funds to: (1) improve feeder middle schools; and (2) identify and support struggling students before they reach high school. Requires state grantees to establish comprehensive school performance indicators and minimum annual improvement benchmarks for use, in addition to current AYP measures, in analyzing school performance and determining the improvement category into which a school is placed. Directs LEA subgrantees to convene a local school improvement team for each school placed in an improvement category that will use performance indicators to conduct a school needs assessment and develop a multiyear school improvement plan tailored to the school's need categorization. Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive grants to: (1) LEAs, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education to develop and implement, or replicate, effective school models for struggling students and dropouts; and (2) states to adjust their policies to allow for educational innovations that improve high school graduation rates while ensuring rigorous education content standards and assessments, if such states implement differentiated high school improvement systems and statewide longitudinal student data systems.
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-06-28 00:00:00

State and Local Education Flexibility Act of 2007 - Amends part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise requirements for determining whether states, local educational agencies (LEAs), and schools are making adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward state academic performance standards. Provides for state and local flexibility, under specified conditions, to: (1) exclude from AYP and academic assessments the performance of certain limited English proficient students; (2) include in favorable AYP graduation rates certain students who require extra time to graduate due to exceptional circumstances or disability; (3) modify academic content and achievement standards in the individual education plans of students with disabilities; (4) develop assessments locally and use multiple assessments; and (5) have alternative qualification requirements for special education teachers and rural teachers. Subjects social studies teachers to ESEA competence requirements. Treats teacher competence in general science or social sciences as competence in those subjects' subdisciplines. Directs the Comptroller General to study the adequacy of ESEA school improvement funds. Allows states, which meet certain requirements, to measure AYP using individual growth models measuring individual student progress from grade to grade. Requires that each school be given a grade based on the percentage of AYP factors it has attained. Gives grade A schools greater flexibility in the use of school improvement funds and states and LEAs greater flexibility in choosing the ESEA intervention they consider appropriate for lower-graded schools that fail to make AYP for two years. Requires schools to provide parents with student progress report cards showing the school's AYP grade. Requires states to include their performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress on schoolwide and statewide progress report cards.
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-07-10 00:00:00

English Language Instruction Improvement Act of 2007 - Amends title III (Language Instruction for Limited English Proficient and Immigrant Students) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to raise, from 6.5% to 9%, the amount of title III appropriations devoted to the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition and Language Instruction Educational Programs and a program providing competitive grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs) for teacher training to improve classroom instruction for limited English proficient children. Alters such grant program by allowing the provision of grants directly to states and local educational agencies (LEAs) and eliminating the requirement that IHE grantees be in consortia with states or LEAs. Adds to allowable grant uses: (1) the development and dissemination of best practices in teaching individuals with limited English proficiency to high levels of achievement pursuant to challenging state academic performance standards or to high levels of multiligual proficiency; (2) research and evaluation of the education provided to such individuals; and (3) technical assistance to states and LEAs in meeting the requirements of title III.
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-07-16 00:00:00

Families Conquering Literacy Together Act of 2007 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to change funding formulas under the Even Start Family Literacy program to reserve potentially larger amounts, depending on overall appropriations, for migrant, outlying area, Indian, and research programs. Eliminates the Even Start competitive grant program awarding reserved funds to states for statewide coordination of federal, state, and local literacy resources. Increases the minimum Even Start grant to states and state subgrant to Even Start entities, as well as the floor on the federal share of program costs. Allows states to use federal funds to provide subgrantees with technical assistance for professional development and collaborative activities. Requires all Even Start instructors to have at least an associate's degree related to early childhood education, elementary or secondary education, or adult education. Requires state, migrant, and tribal grantees to report annually to the Secretary of Education on their progress in achieving program quality. Revises required indicators of program quality to stress the quality of services provided and training received by program providers, rather than participant achievements. Requires the creation of an independent research panel to set the agenda for research into successful family literacy services. Directs the Secretary, after receiving design recommendations from an expert panel, to arrange for an independent longitudinal evaluation of the impact of Even Start programs that compares participants against nonparticipant control groups and addresses variations in the impact of such programs.
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-07-18 00:00:00

Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow states to adopt alternate and modified academic performance standards for disabled students who, consistent with their individualized education programs, should be given opportunities to achieve grade-level proficiency beyond a given school year. Requires such modified standards to reflect ambitious annual academic achievement goals.
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-07-23 00:00:00

Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2007 - Amends the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to require: (1) states to use grants for safe and drug-free schools to collect and report information on the incidence of bullying and harassment; and (2) local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools to use subgrants to prevent and respond to incidents of bullying and harassment. Requires such LEAs or schools to: (1) notify parents and students annually of conduct prohibited in their school discipline policies, that now must include bullying and harassment; and (2) establish grievance procedures for students and parents to register complaints regarding such conduct. Includes bullying and harassment within the the Act's definition of violence.
Topic: Education — Elementary & Secondary
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-07-31 00:00:00

Measuring and Evaluating Trends for Reliability, Integrity, and Continued Success Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require each state receiving school improvement funds to implement, within four years of this Act's enactment, a pre- through high-school longitudinal data system that includes: (1) a unique and consistent statewide student identifier; (2) the ability to track student participation and performance over time; (3) a unique and consistent statewide teacher identifier that matches student records to the appropriate teacher; and (4) the ability to link its data to data from higher education, workforce development, unemployment insurance, child welfare, juvenile justice, and military services information systems. Allots funds to states to operate, upgrade, and optimize the use of their data systems. Reserves funds for competitive grants to nonprofit entities to support a state education data center.