Families Learning and Understanding English Together Act of 2005 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants to providers of family literacy services to improve the literacy and English skills of limited English proficient individuals who are parents or children in families where each parent is at least 16 years old and where at least one child is under age eight.
Directs the Secretary to reserve certain funds to: (1) provide technical assistance and training to such grantees through an experienced entity; and (2) evaluate and improve such grant program.
Requires grantees to meet specified types of outcome measures.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2923 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2923
To improve the literacy and English skills of limited English
proficient individuals, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 15, 2005
Mr. Grijalva (for himself and Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve the literacy and English skills of limited English
proficient individuals, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Families Learning and Understanding
English Together Act of 2005''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The Census Bureau reports that 17.9 percent of United
States households speak a language other than English at home.
(2) Many parents in many recently-immigrated families speak
little to no English, possess low literacy skills in their
native language due to limited education, and frequently
struggle to assist their children's English language
development.
(3) The United States is a nation of immigrants, and even
today, according to the 2004 update of the Census, over
34,000,000 individuals who live in the United States were born
outside the country.
SEC. 3. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to improve the educational, social, and
economic advancement of families with limited English proficient
individuals in need of literacy skills by expanding and enhancing
family literacy services for such families.
SEC. 4. COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Program Authorized.--From funds made available pursuant to
section 8, and after reserving funds under section 5, the Secretary may
award grants to family literacy providers to provide, directly or
through a contract with another provider, family literacy services
designed for families with limited English proficient individuals. Each
grant under this Act shall be for a period of 1 year and may be renewed
for a total of 5 additional years.
(b) Application.--Family literacy providers who desire to receive a
grant under this Act shall submit an application at such time,
containing such information, and in such manner as the Secretary may
require. Such application shall include the following:
(1) An assurance that services provided with funds under
this Act shall be provided to the hardest-to-reach populations,
including populations with the greatest economic and social
need.
(2) A description of the services that will be provided
with funds under this Act, including how the services will be
based on scientifically based reading research.
(3) A description of the outcome measures, consistent with
section 6, that are based on scientifically based research and
will be employed by the family literacy provider to measure the
effectiveness of services provided with funds under this Act.
(4) An assurance that, in providing family literacy
services through the grant, the family literacy provider will
collaborate with one or more of the following:
(A) A local educational agency.
(B) An elementary school.
(C) A secondary school.
(D) A nonprofit entity.
(c) Grant Amount.--The amount of a grant under this Act for a
fiscal year shall not be less than $150,000 or more than $1,000,000.
(d) Matching Funds.--The Secretary may not award a grant under this
Act to an applicant unless the applicant agrees to provide, from funds
derived from non-Federal sources, matching funds in an amount that is
not less than 20 percent of the amount of the grant. Such matching
funds may be provided in the form of in-kind contributions.
(e) Services Requirements.--Family literacy services under this Act
shall be provided in sufficient intensity in terms of hours, and shall
be of sufficient duration, to make sustainable changes in a family and
shall integrate all of the following activities:
(1) Interactive literacy activities between parents and
their children.
(2) Training for parents regarding how to be the primary
teacher for their children and full partners in the education
of their children.
(3) Parent literacy training that leads to economic self-
sufficiency.
(4) An age-appropriate education to prepare children for
success in school and life experiences.
(f) Special Rule.--Family literacy services under this Act may be
provided to a family only if--
(1) each parent in the family has attained 16 years of age;
and
(2) the family has at least one child from birth who has
not yet attained 8 years of age.
SEC. 5. RESERVATIONS.
(a) Technical Assistance and Training.--From funds made available
pursuant to section 8 for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve
$3,000,000 to provide, directly or through a grant, contract, or
cooperative agreement with an entity that has experience in the
development and operation of successful family literacy services
programs, technical assistance and training for the purpose of--
(1) assisting grantees that provide family literacy
services to improve the quality of such services; and
(2) enabling grantees that demonstrate the effective
provision of family literacy services, based on improved
outcomes for children and their parents, to provide technical
assistance and training to other agencies and to service
providers that work in collaboration with such agencies to
provide family literacy services.
(b) Evaluation.--From funds made available pursuant to section 8
for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve not more than 2 percent
of such funds for the purpose of conducting an annual evaluation of the
grant program conducted under this Act. Such evaluation shall be used
by the Secretary--
(1) for program improvement;
(2) to further define the program's goals and objectives;
and
(3) to determine program effectiveness.
SEC. 6. OUTCOME MEASURES.
The Secretary shall require each family literacy provider receiving
a grant under this Act to meet culturally appropriate and competent
outcome measures described in the provider's application under section
4, including outcome measures with respect to--
(1) acquisition of the English language, including improved
educational levels;
(2) improved parenting and life skills;
(3) the improved ability of parents with limited English
proficiency to effectively interact with officials of the
schools their children attend;
(4) reduced dependency on welfare;
(5) increased employment opportunities or hours;
(6) improved developmental skills and independent learning
of the children; and
(7) increased parental participation in their children's
education and home environments that are supportive of
educational endeavors.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) Application of esea terms.--The terms ``elementary
school'', ``limited English proficient'', ``local educational
agency'', ``scientifically based research'', 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). The term ``scientifically based reading research'' has
the meaning given such term in section 1208 of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6368).
(2) Family literacy provider.--The term ``family literacy
provider'' means an entity that--
(A) is located in a geographic area containing at
least one public elementary school or secondary school
with a majority enrollment of children with limited
English proficiency; and
(B) is one of the following:
(i) A current grantee under subpart 3 of
part B of title I of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6381
et seq.) (commonly referred to as ``William F.
Goodling Even Start Family Literacy
Programs''), the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831
et seq.), or any other Federal or State early
childhood program.
(ii) An adult education provider.
(iii) A local educational agency.
(iv) A public or private nonprofit agency.
(v) Another entity that has the
demonstrated ability to provide family literacy
services to adults and families.
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Education.
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act
$50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2011.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Education Reform.
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