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.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 676 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 676
To provide for Project GRAD programs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 17, 2005
Mr. Stevens (for himself, Mr. Frist, Mr. Specter, Mr. Alexander, Mr.
DeWine, Mrs. Clinton, and Mrs. Hutchison) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for Project GRAD programs, 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 ``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.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3056-3057)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
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