U.S. and the World Education Act - Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to require the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International and Foreign Language Education to: (1) assist the Secretary of Education in administering this Act's grant program; and (2) develop an international education research repository and make it available to states and local educational agencies (LEAs).
Directs the Secretary, acting through the Deputy Assistant Secretary, to award competitive grants to LEAs, or partnerships between LEAs and private organizations or institutions of higher education that provide their LEA partners with funding, to promote international education in elementary and secondary schools.
Requires each grantee to use: (1) one-half of its grant on enhancing international education within core curricula, such as by increasing teacher competency; and (2) the other half on providing supplemental international education services outside of normal instruction hours.
Directs the Secretary to conduct a biennial independent evaluation of such international education programs.
[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.R. 7063 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7063
To raise achievement in international education in elementary schools
and secondary schools through grants to improve teacher competency and
to support programs in international education that supplement core
curricula in such schools, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 25, 2008
Ms. Loretta Sanchez of California introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To raise achievement in international education in elementary schools
and secondary schools through grants to improve teacher competency and
to support programs in international education that supplement core
curricula in such schools, 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 ``U.S. and the World Education Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) A host of growing challenges--international security,
global markets, immigration, world health, the environment, and
the emerging educational and material aspirations of the
world's poorest people--are fundamentally altering the
international landscape.
(2) Rapid technological advances and the information age
are shrinking the world, exponentially enlarging access of all
peoples to essential knowledge, concepts, and ideas, and
connecting Americans to their counterparts across the globe.
(3) The diversity of American workplaces, schools, and
communities increasingly parallels the world's diversity.
(4) Americans, in the performance of their citizenship
roles, are required to make informed judgments about the role
of the United States in the world, as well as the impact of
other nations and world regions on the United States.
(5) The place of the United States in the world will depend
on whether teachers, citizens, and policymakers of the United
States understand how international events shape the lives,
politics, economics, and security of the Nation.
(6) American-based multinational corporations, as well as
small businesses, increasingly need employees with knowledge of
foreign languages and cultures to market products to customers
domestically and around the globe, and to work effectively with
foreign employees and partners in other countries.
(7) It is the primary function of the Nation's schools to
prepare America's students to meet the requirements of the
workplace and to perform citizenship roles in dynamic and
rapidly changing domestic and global communities.
(8) Recent surveys consistently demonstrate the illiteracy
of young Americans in geography, economics, and world history,
as well as the low priority university students give to
learning about other countries and cultures.
(9) Only rarely do American high school or university
students elect to study geography, world history, international
relations, or global issues, or to obtain fluency in a foreign
language.
(10) School curricula and university programs of study are
not adequately aligned to new international and global
realities.
(11) State educational agencies and local educational
agencies must be encouraged to include international education
competency as part of teacher credentialing and licensing.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to raise student achievement in world history and
cultures, international and global studies, and foreign
languages by increasing the international education competence
and literacy of elementary school and secondary school
teachers; and
(2) to support programs that supplement student educational
achievement in world history, international and global studies,
and foreign languages.
SEC. 3. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL AND FOREIGN
LANGUAGE EDUCATION.
Section 205 of the Department of Education Organization Act (20
U.S.C. 3415) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)--
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by
inserting ``elementary, secondary,'' after
``affecting'';
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(C) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``, national nonprofit educational
organizations or consortiums of nonprofit educational
organizations, State educational agencies, local
educational agencies, and other nonprofit
organizations;'' after ``agencies''; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) assist the Secretary in administering the grant
program under section 4 of the U.S. and the World Education
Act; and
``(5) develop an international education research
repository and make available the information contained in such
repository to any State educational agency and local
educational agency.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(c) Definitions.--As used in this section--
``(1) the term `national nonprofit educational
organizations or consortiums of nonprofit educational
organizations' means national nonprofit educational
organizations or consortiums of nonprofit educational
organizations that have as their primary purpose the
improvement of student competency in international education,
including foreign language competency, through effective
international education instruction, including foreign language
instruction, in elementary schools, secondary schools, and
institutions of higher education;
``(2) the term `institution of higher education' has the
meaning given such term in section 101 of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001);
``(3) the term `international education research
repository' means a research repository containing
scientifically valid education research, promising and
exemplary practices related to international education,
including foreign language education, as well as any other
information related to international education that the Deputy
Assistant Secretary for International and Foreign Language
Education or Secretary determines would be beneficial for State
educational agencies and local educational agencies in--
``(A) the professional development of teachers of
international education, including foreign language
education;
``(B) the implementation of international education
programs, including foreign language programs; and
``(C) improving the international education
competency, including foreign language competency, of
elementary school and secondary school students; and
``(4) the terms `local educational agency', `elementary
school', `secondary school', and `State educational agency'
have the meanings given such terms in section 9101 of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
7801).''.
SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION GRANTS.
(a) Grants Authorized.--From the funds appropriated under section
6, the Secretary, acting through the Deputy Assistant Secretary, shall
award grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities to promote
international education instruction in elementary schools and secondary
schools in accordance with subsection (c) by--
(1) increasing teacher competency with respect to
international education subject matter; and
(2) implementing supplemental international education
services.
(b) Grant Eligibility.--
(1) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this section, an eligible entity shall submit an application to
the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the Secretary may require.
(2) Priority.--The Secretary shall give priority to
eligible entities that--
(A) are eligible for assistance under title I of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 6301 et seq.);
(B) offer international education instruction to
all teachers and encourage the inclusion of
international education in core elementary school and
secondary school curricula; and
(C) the Secretary determines are most in need of
receiving assistance in the area of international
education.
(c) Uses of Funds.--An eligible entity awarded a grant under this
section shall use--
(1) 50 percent of such grant funds to develop, to
implement, and to strengthen programs to teach international
education within core elementary school and secondary school
curricula, which shall include programs with respect to
international education subject matter that--
(A) improve the quality of instruction; and
(B) provide professional development and teacher
education activities; and
(2) 50 percent of such grant funds to supplement core
classroom subjects through supplemental international education
services outside of normal instruction hours, such as--
(A) Model United Nations;
(B) geography bees; and
(C) any other service or program deemed beneficial
to the development of student international education
competency by the Secretary.
SEC. 5. EVALUATION AND REPORT.
(a) Evaluation.--From the funds appropriated under section 6, the
Secretary shall conduct, through grant or by contract, a biennial
independent evaluation of the international education programs
administered by eligible entities under section 4 that--
(1) quantifies student academic achievement in
international education; and
(2) describes promising and exemplary practices of
preparing teachers to teach international education topics and
providing international education to students.
(b) Report.--From the funds appropriated under section 6, the
Secretary shall prepare, through grant or by contract, and submit to
each House of Congress, an annual independent report that includes--
(1) the total amount of grant funds awarded under section
4, and the geographic distribution of such awards;
(2) the results of the evaluation conducted under
subsection (a); and
(3) any other information deemed appropriate by the Deputy
Assistant Secretary or the Secretary.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated $200,000,000 to carry out
this Act for fiscal year 2009 and such sums as may be necessary for
each fiscal year thereafter.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
The following definitions apply to this Act:
(1) Deputy assistant secretary.--The term ``Deputy
Assistant Secretary'' means the Deputy Assistant Secretary for
International and Foreign Language Education in the Office of
Postsecondary Education of the Department of Education.
(2) Elementary school.--The term ``elementary school'' has
the meaning given such term in section 9101 of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(3) Eligible entities.--The term eligible entity means--
(A) a local educational agency; or
(B) a partnership consisting of--
(i) a local educational agency; and
(ii) a private organization or institution
of higher education that provides such local
educational agency with funding to carry out
the activities described in section 4(c).
(4) Institution of higher education.--The term
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given such
term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1001).
(5) International education.--The term ``international
education'' means educational subject matter related to world
history, regions, cultures, and geography, as well as foreign
languages, contemporary world issues, international relations,
international economics, international and non-governmental
organizations, and the technology and communication mediums
related to such subject matter.
(6) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational
agency'' has the meaning given such term in section 9101 of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
7801).
(7) Secondary school.--The term ``secondary school'' has
the meaning given such term in section 9101 of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(8) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Education.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E2043)
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