Native Language Immersion Student Achievement Act

Native Language Immersion Student Achievement Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to tribes, tribal colleges or universities, tribal education agencies, schools, and private or tribal nonprofit organizations to develop and maintain, or improve and expand, programs that support the use by schools, from prekindergarten through postsecondary education, of Native American languages as their primary language of instruction.

Requires grant applicants to present the Secretary with specified assurances and demonstrations that the schools they will support have the capacity to provide education primarily through a Native American language.

Requires grantees to:

• support Native American language education and development;
• develop or refine instructional curricula for the schools they support, including distinctive teaching materials and activities;
• fund training opportunities for school staff that strengthen the overall language and academic goals of their schools;
• develop a Native Language alignment plan to create or refine assessments of student proficiency; and
• engage in other activities that promote Native American language education and development.

[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1948 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1948

To promote the academic achievement of American Indian, Alaska Native, 
    and Native Hawaiian children with the establishment of a Native 
                    American language grant program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 16, 2014

 Mr. Tester (for himself, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Begich, Mr. Johnson of South 
 Dakota, and Mr. Baucus) introduced the following bill; which was read 
         twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To promote the academic achievement of American Indian, Alaska Native, 
    and Native Hawaiian children with the establishment of a Native 
                    American language grant program.

    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 ``Native Language Immersion Student 
Achievement Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Congress established the unique status of Native 
        American languages and distinctive policies supporting their 
        use as a medium of education in the Native American Languages 
        Act (Public Law 101-477).
            (2) Reports from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and tribal, 
        public, charter, and private schools and colleges that use 
        primarily Native American languages to deliver education, have 
        indicated that students from these schools have generally had 
        high school graduation and college attendance rates above the 
        norm for their peers.
            (3) The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) includes policy barriers to schools taught 
        through Native American languages and a lack of adequate 
        funding to support such opportunities.
            (4) There is a critical need that requires immediate action 
        to support education through Native American languages to 
        preserve these languages.

SEC. 3. NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE SCHOOLS.

    Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

               ``PART D--NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

``SEC. 7401. NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE SCHOOLS.

    ``(a) Purposes.--The purposes of this section are--
            ``(1) to establish a grant program to support schools using 
        Native American languages as the primary language of 
        instruction of all curriculum taught at the school that will 
        improve high school graduation rates, college attainment, and 
        career readiness; and
            ``(2) to further integrate into this Act, Federal policy 
        for such schools, as established in the Native American 
        Languages Act (Public Law 101-477).
    ``(b) Program Authorized.--
            ``(1) In general.--From the amounts made available to carry 
        out this section, the Secretary may award grants to eligible 
        entities to develop and maintain, or to improve and expand, 
        programs that support schools, including prekindergarten 
        through postsecondary education, using Native American 
        languages as the primary language of instruction of all 
        curriculum taught at the schools.
            ``(2) Eligible entities.--In this section, the term 
        `eligible entity' means a school or a private or tribal, 
        nonprofit organization that has a plan to develop and maintain, 
        or to improve and expand, programs that support schools using 
        Native American languages as the primary language of 
        instruction of all curriculum taught at the schools.
    ``(c) Application.--
            ``(1) In general.--An eligible entity that desires to 
        receive a grant under this section shall submit an application 
        to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 
        such information as the Secretary may require, including the 
        following:
                    ``(A) The name of the Native American language to 
                be used for instruction at the school supported by the 
                eligible entity.
                    ``(B) The number of students attending such school.
                    ``(C) The number of present hours of Native 
                American language instruction being provided to 
                students at such school, if any.
                    ``(D) The status of such school with regard to any 
                applicable tribal education department or agency, 
                public education system, indigenous language schooling 
                research and cooperative, or accrediting body.
                    ``(E) A statement that such school--
                            ``(i) is engaged in meeting targeted 
                        proficiency levels for students, as may be 
                        required by applicable Federal, State, or 
                        tribal law; and
                            ``(ii) provides assessments of student 
                        using the Native American language of 
                        instruction, where appropriate.
                    ``(F) A list of the instructors, staff, 
                administrators, contractors, or subcontractors at such 
                school and their qualifications to deliver high quality 
                education through the Native American language of the 
                school.
            ``(2) Additional application materials.--In addition to the 
        application described in paragraph (1), an eligible entity that 
        desires to receive a grant under this section shall submit to 
        the Secretary the following:
                    ``(A) A certification from a Federally recognized 
                Indian tribe, or a letter from any Native American 
                entity, on whose land the school supported by the 
                eligible entity is located, or which is served by such 
                school, indicating that the school has the capacity to 
                provide education primarily through a Native American 
                language and that there are sufficient speakers of such 
                Native American language at the school or available to 
                be hired by the school.
                    ``(B) A statement that such school will participate 
                in data collection conducted by the Secretary that will 
                determine best practices and further academic 
                evaluation of the school.
                    ``(C) A demonstration of the capacity to have 
                speakers of its Native American language provide the 
                basic education offered by such school on a full-time 
                basis.
    ``(d) Awarding of Grants.--In awarding grants under this section, 
the Secretary shall--
            ``(1) determine the amount and length of each grant;
            ``(2) ensure, to the maximum extent feasible, that 
        diversity in languages is represented; and
            ``(3) require the eligible entities to present a Native 
        language education plan to improve high school graduation 
        rates, college attainment, and career readiness.
    ``(e) Activities Authorized.--An eligible entity that receives a 
grant under this section shall carry out the following activities:
            ``(1) Support Native American language education and 
        development.
            ``(2) Develop or refine instructional curriculum for the 
        school supported by the eligible entity, including distinctive 
        teaching materials and activities, as appropriate.
            ``(3) Fund training opportunities for teachers and, as 
        appropriate, staff and administrators, that would strengthen 
        the overall language and academic goals of such school.
            ``(4) Other activities that promote Native American 
        language education and development, as appropriate.
    ``(f) Report to Secretary.--Each eligible entity that receives a 
grant under this section shall provide an annual report to the 
Secretary in such form and manner as the Secretary may require.
    ``(g) Authorization of Appropriation.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2015, 
and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal 
years.''.
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