lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Education — Excellence
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-10-21 00:00:00

Charter School Accountability Act of 2015

This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to replace the charter school grant program, through which states receive formula-based grants, with a competitive grant program.

The Department of Education (ED) shall award grants to: (1) support the start up of charter schools that have been thoroughly vetted for quality and local impact, and (2) replicate or expand high-quality charter schools.

To be eligible to receive grant funding, a state must:

 have legally binding rules related to fiduciary duties and conflicts of interest of charter school officers, directors, managers, and employees; require all charter schools to annually conduct and publicly disclose independent audits; provide that charter schools are covered by the state's open meetings and open records laws to the same extent as public schools are covered by those laws; have policies in effect that hold charter school authorizers accountable for monitoring a charter school's educational performance and financial operations; and require a charter school to make certain public disclosures related to its operation and funding. The bill also revises the per-pupil facilities aid program, through which ED makes competitive matching grants to states to provide per-pupil financing to charter schools for facility acquisition, construction, and renovation. Specifically, a state may: (1) partner with one or more organizations to provide up to half of the state share of program funding, and (2) receive more than one program grant under specified circumstances.

ED must conduct specified national activities, including awarding competitive grants directly to charter school developers in states that have not applied for or received charter school grants.
Topic: Education — Excellence
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-11-16 00:00:00

Next Generation High Schools Act

This bill requires the Department of Education to award competitive, five-year grants to local educational agencies or charter schools that partner with specified institutions and intermediaries to provide high school students with challenging academic and career-related learning opportunities. Applicants must assure that school improvement funds will be allocated to eligible high schools in amounts that are proportionate to those schools' share of low-income students.

"Eligible high schools" are those that: (1) serve a population of students of which at least 65% are from low-income families; (2) have a graduation rate at or below 67%, excepting new high schools; (3) do not receive school improvement funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; and (4) are identified by their state as low-performing.

Grantees must use grant funds to:

 develop and implement partnerships to help schools prepare students to apply academic concepts to real world challenges; implement an early warning indicator system in eligible high schools and feeder middle schools to identify struggling students; offer support and credit recovery opportunities for struggling students at the grantee's secondary schools or in other appropriate settings; provide drop-out recovery or re-entry programs; offer evidence-based programs and supports related to the transition from middle school to high school; and provide high school leaders, staff, students, and families with information concerning graduation requirements, postsecondary admission requirements, the availability of financial assistance, labor markets, and other programs and services to improve the prospects of traditionally underserved students.
Topic: Education — Excellence
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-11-16 00:00:00

Enhancing Education Through Technology Act of 2015

This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to modify grant funding related to education technology and innovation.

The Department of Education shall award matching grants to states to strengthen state and local technological infrastructure and professional learning that supports digital learning.

Grant funds are allocated among states in proportion to each state's share of school improvement funds under the ESEA.

States must use at least 90% of their grant funds to award subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs), which shall use: (1) at least 40% of those funds to support the acquisition of technology that addresses their technology infrastructure and access needs; and (2) at least 40% of those funds to provide digital age professional learning opportunities for teachers, principals, school leaders, paraprofessionals, library and media personnel, specialized instructional support personnel, technology coordinators, and administrators.

To carry out grant and subgrant activities, including the purchase of technology, states may form purchasing consortia with other states, and LEAs may form purchasing consortia with other LEAs.
Topic: Education — Excellence
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-11-17 00:00:00

416d65726963612043616e20436f6465 Act of 2015 or the America Can Code Act of 2015

This bill amends the America COMPETES Act to include computer programming language that is critical to the national security and economic competitiveness of the United States as a "critical foreign language," the study of which is included in the teacher education programs and Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate programs funded under that Act.

The bill also amends the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 to provide for: (1) state plans to include coding and computer programming instruction within the career and technical programs of study for which states receive assistance under that Act, and (2) the inclusion of coding and computer programming instruction within the federally-assisted tech prep programs that prepare participants in a career field by providing them with at least two years of secondary education followed by at least two years of postsecondary education or participation in an apprenticeship program.

The Department of Education shall convene a task force to explore: (1) mechanisms for the development of draft curricula for elementary and secondary computer programming and coding education; (2) a mechanism to collect and share best elementary and secondary school computer programming and coding practices among educators; and (3) a national strategy to ensure competitiveness in emerging science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, such as computer programming and coding. The task force must establish an information portal that directs users to coordinated and systematic information on promoting coding and computer programming in elementary and secondary schools.
Topic: Education — Excellence
Subject: Civil rights and liberties, minority issues
Date: 2015-12-01 00:00:00

This bill authorizes the Department of Education to provide grants for public awareness education programs on the history of the treatment of Italian Americans during World War II.

In awarding such grants, priority shall be given to Italian American historical and cultural organizations.
Topic: Education — Excellence
Subject: Education
Date: 2016-02-04 00:00:00

Educator Preparation Reform Act

This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to add as purposes of teacher quality partnership grants: (1) recruiting profession ready individuals, including minorities and individuals from other occupations, as teachers, principals, and other educators; and (2) meeting the staffing needs of high-need local education agencies and high-need schools through close partnerships with educator preparation programs within institutions of higher education.

An eligible partnership that receives a partnership grant shall use grant funds to carry out a program for the pre-baccalaureate or post-baccalaureate preparation of teachers, a teaching residency program (as in current law) or a principal residency program, or a combination of such programs.

An eligible partnership carrying out a principal residency program must perform specified activities for high-need schools.

The bill revises requirements for teacher residency programs and prescribes requirements for the establishment of principal residency programs.

An eligible partnership that receives a partnership grant may carry out, instead of a leadership development program, effective educator development programs for other educators besides teachers and principals.

The bill revises requirements for state reporting on the quality of teacher preparation.

As a condition for receiving funds under this Act or under title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, a state must conduct an assessment to identify at-risk (as well as low-performing) teacher preparation programs.
Topic: Education — Excellence
Subject: Education
Date: 2016-05-26 00:00:00

Interstate Teaching Mobility Act

This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a voluntary interstate teaching application program for participating states. To participate in the program, a state must require sufficiently rigorous assessments in awarding a teaching license or certification.

In carrying out the program, the Department of Education shall:

 create an electronic application process for eligible teachers who are licensed or certified in a participating state to apply for teaching positions in another participating state; require a participating state to recognize the teaching licensure or certification of each such teacher without the teacher having to complete additional licensure or certification requirements; ensure that a participating state maintains specified eligibility requirements; and provide technical assistance. A teacher seeking to participate in the program must submit an application containing: (1) proof of active licensure or certification in a participating state, and (2) the teacher's results on specified assessments.
Topic: Education — Excellence
Subject: Education
Date: 2016-07-07 00:00:00

Pre-College Engineering Education Act

This bill establishes a grant program to encourage, through public-private partnerships, the development and implementation by states and local educational agencies of sustainable engineering education programs in elementary and secondary schools. The National Science Foundation (NSF) shall administer the program.

Grantees may use funds to:

 research, review, and analyze the effectiveness of existing research-based instructional materials; select or develop new research-based instructional materials; teach students the overall analytical approached used in engineering; prepare students who may pursue engineering studies in college or enter careers related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; increase participation of underrepresented student groups in the engineering pipeline; and provide professional development for teachers to teach pre-college engineering. The NSF shall study and report on program activities and results.
Topic: Education — Excellence
Subject: Education
Date: 2016-07-12 00:00:00

Stronger Together School Diversity Act of 2016

This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish the Stronger Together Program, through which the Department of Education (ED) shall award competitive grants for the development or implementation of plans to improve diversity or eliminate socioeconomic or racial isolation in public schools and publicly funded early education programs. The grants are available to local educational agencies, a consortium of such agencies, educational service agencies, or other regional educational authorities that have significant achievement gaps and socioeconomic or racial segregation within or across the school districts served by the entity.

ED may give priority to an eligible entity that proposes to use funds to support a program that extends beyond one local educational agency.

Each recipient of an implementation grant shall implement a high-quality plan that includes:

 a comprehensive set of strategies designed to improve academic outcomes by increasing diversity, evidence of strong family and community support for these strategies, ambitious but achievable goals to increase diversity over the grant period, collection and analysis of data to provide transparency and support continuous improvement throughout the grant period, and a rigorous evaluation of the proposed project's effectiveness. ED shall establish performance measures to track the progress of each grant recipient.
Topic: Education — Excellence
Subject: Labor and employment
Date: 2016-09-15 00:00:00

Partnerships for the Future Act of 2016

This bill directs the Department of Labor to establish a competitive grant pilot program to award grants to eligible entities for developing, offering, improving, or providing science, technology, education, and mathematics (STEM) education or career training programs for workers.

"Eligible entity" means one of the following in partnership with employers or an association of employers:

 a junior or community college; a postsecondary vocational institution; a four-year public institution of higher education that offers two-year degrees, will use provided funds for activities at the certificate and associate degree levels, and is not reasonably close to a community college; a tribal college or university; at Labor's discretion, a private, not-for-profit, two-year institution of higher education in a specified U.S. territory or possession; or a consortium of any such entities. An eligible entity may partner with an adult education provider or institution of higher education, an entity with a demonstrated record of successfully meeting student and family needs, or a joint labor-management partnership.

The bill sets forth criteria and priorities for awarding grants.

Grants shall be used for:

 the development, offering, improvement, or provision of STEM academic programs or training programs that provide relevant job training for skilled occupations that will meet the needs of employers in in-demand industry sectors; the development and implementation of policies and programs to expand opportunities for students to earn a recognized postsecondary STEM credential or degree in such sectors and in-demand occupations; the creation of workforce programs that provide a sequence of education and occupational training that leads to a recognized postsecondary STEM credential or degree; and/or the support of regional or national in-demand industry sectors to develop skills consortia that will identify pressing workforce needs and develop solutions.
Topic: Education — Excellence
Subject: Education
Date: 2016-09-21 00:00:00

Computer Science for All Act of 2016

This bill establishes a program through which the Department of Education (ED) shall award grants to states, local educational agencies, and eligible tribal schools to serve as models for national replication of computer education expansion efforts. A grant application shall include specified plans that demonstrate the applicant's ability to carry out an ambitious expansion effort for all students, including traditionally underrepresented students.

A grant recipient shall use the grant funds to:

 train teachers to teach computer science; expand access to high-quality learning materials and online learning options; create plans for expanding overall access to science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) classes; utilize computer science as a catalyst for increased interest in STEAM more broadly; reduce course equity gaps for all students; and ensure additional support and resources. A grantee may also use grant funds to:

 build effective regional collaborations, recruit and hire instructional personnel, prepare for effectively sustaining project activities after the grant period ends, and disseminate information about effective practices. At least semi-annually, a grantee must report to ED on specified data related to the number of students served through program activities.
Topic: Education — Excellence
Subject: Education
Date: 2016-09-27 00:00:00

Early STEM Achievement Act

This bill requires the Department of Education to award competitive grants to eligible entities for the purpose of assisting early childhood education programs in carrying out science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs and activities.

A grant recipient must use the grant for necessary materials and equipment or for specified activities related to professional development in early childhood STEM activities.
Topic: Education — Excellence
Subject: Education
Date: 2016-09-28 00:00:00

Partnerships for Progress and Prosperity Act or the P3 Act

This bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to award grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) and institutions of higher education for the improvement of students' education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Each grantee shall partner with an employer in a STEM field to:

 assist students in obtaining internships or apprenticeships, develop STEM coursework curricula and metrics, carry out dual-credit courses, provide tutoring and mentoring, enable students and teachers to attend STEM events outside of the classroom, provide after-school and summer STEM programs, and purchase educational materials or equipment to facilitate STEM instruction. In awarding grants under the program, ED shall give special consideration to applicants that:

 promote in-classroom engagement between STEM professionals and students; use technology-based materials and content; pair mentors and tutors with students struggling to meet curriculum benchmarks; in the case of LEA applicants, serve schools in which most students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch; and propose to use grant funds to target interventions for populations that are traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields. Each grantee shall provide matching funds equal to 50% of the grant amount.
Topic: Education — Excellence
Subject: Education
Date: 2016-09-28 00:00:00

Raising Accountability to Improve School Excellence Act

This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to: (1) require a charter school grant application to include additional information and assurances related to oversight of authorizing activity by a public chartering agency; and (2) expand grant selection criteria and priorities to include consideration of the number of times a state entity has applied for, and been denied, such a grant.
Topic: Education — Excellence
Subject: Education
Date: 2016-12-07 00:00:00

Teach to Lead Act of 2016

This bill authorizes the Department of Education to award competitive grants to nonprofit organizations for the development and implementation of teacher-led projects to improve outcomes in elementary and secondary schools. Grantee organizations shall use grant funds to make competitive subgrants to teachers and school leaders in partnership with the organization or a local educational agency.
Topic: Education — Excellence
Subject: Education
Date: 2016-12-07 00:00:00

Teachers and Parents at the Table Act

This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to establish: (1) a Volunteer Teacher Advisory Committee to monitor the effects of the ESEA in classrooms, and (2) a Volunteer Parents and Families Advisory Committee to monitor the effects of the ESEA on children and families and to review and analyze the implementation of various family engagement activities.
Topic: Education — Excellence
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-01-29 00:00:00

After School for America's Children Act

Amends the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program under part B of title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). (21st Century Community Learning Centers provide students with before and after school programs to improve their academic performance.)

Requires the Centers to provide: (1) students with activities that are targeted to their academic needs and aligned with the instruction they receive during the school day, and (2) students' families with opportunities for active and meaningful engagement in their children's education.

Includes Indian tribes or organizations among the local public or private entities that are eligible for grants from states to establish the Centers.

Requires states to use at least 93% (currently 95%) of their allotment from the Secretary of Education to provide grants to those entities.

Allows states to use up to 5% (currently, 3%) of their allotment for certain state activities.

Requires states to: (1) award grants to local entities that serve students who primarily attend schools that are eligible for schoolwide programs under part A of title I of the ESEA, and (2) favor applicants that propose to serve students that have not achieved proficiency in accordance with state academic achievement standards.

Requires states to use a rigorous peer review process in reviewing grant applications.

Allows states to renew a grant under part B based on the grantee's performance during the original grant period.

Prohibits the Secretary or states from giving funding priority to applicants that propose to use the funds to extend the regular school day.

Includes among the activities grants may fund: (1) core academic subject education activities, including those that allow students to recover or attain credits; (2) literacy education programs; (3) programs that support a healthy, active lifestyle; (4) services for the disabled; (5) cultural programs; and (6) programs that build science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills and support innovative STEM teaching methods.

Reauthorizes the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program through FY2021.
Topic: Education — Excellence
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-01-29 00:00:00

Strengthening Kids' Interest in Learning and Libraries Act or the SKILLS Act

Amends part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to require the inclusion of effective school library programs in school improvement programs.

Defines an "effective school library program" as one that: (1) is staffed by a state sanctioned school librarian; (2) has up-to-date materials and technology, including broadband; (3) includes regular collaboration between teachers and school librarians concerning school reform efforts; and (4) supports the development of digital literacy skills.

Replaces the existing program under subpart 4 (Improving Literacy Through School Libraries) of part B of title I of the ESEA with a new program (Improving Literacy and College and Career Readiness Through Effective School Library Programs) awarding competitive three-year grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to develop and enhance effective school library programs. Makes LEAs eligible for such grants only if at least 20% of their students are impoverished.

Amends part A (Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund) of title II of the ESEA to rename part A the Teacher, School Librarian, and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund. Requires states and LEAs to use funds under the program to train school librarians, and recruit and retain highly effective school librarians.