[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3681 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3681

                To improve character education programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 16, 2000

 Mr. Etheridge (for himself and Ms. Stabenow) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 
                               Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
                To improve character education programs.

    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 ``Character Counts for the 21st 
Century Act''.

SEC. 2. CHARACTER EDUCATION PROGRAM.

    Sections 10102 and 10103 of part A of title X of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 are amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 10102. STATE AND LOCAL CHARACTER EDUCATION PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Program Authorized.--(1) The Secretary may make grants to 
State educational agencies, local educational agencies, or consortia of 
such educational agencies for the design and implementation of 
character education programs.
    ``(2) Each grant under this section shall be awarded for a period 
not to exceed five years, of which the recipient shall use not more 
than one year for planning and program design.
    ``(b) Applications.--(1) Each applicant desiring a grant under this 
section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time and 
in such manner as the Secretary may require.
    ``(2) Each application under this section shall include--
            ``(A) a description of any partnerships and other 
        collaborative efforts between the applicant and other 
        educational agencies;
            ``(B) a description of the program's goals and objectives;
            ``(C) a description of the activities the applicant will 
        carry out, and how these activities are designed to meet the 
        program's goals and objectives under subparagraph (B), 
        including--
                    ``(i) how parents, students, and other members of 
                the community, including members of private and 
                nonprofit organizations, will be involved in the design 
                and implementation of the program;
                    ``(ii) the curriculum and instructional practices 
                that will be used or developed; and
                    ``(iii) the methods of teacher training and parent 
                education that will be used or developed;
            ``(D) a description of how the program will be linked to 
        other efforts to improve educational outcomes, including--
                    ``(i) broader educational reforms that are being 
                instituted by the applicant or its partners; and
                    ``(ii) applicable State and local standards for 
                student performance;
            ``(E) a description of how the applicant will evaluate the 
        progress of its program in meeting the goals and objectives 
        under subparagraph (B), including the performance indicators 
        that will be used to measure progress; and
            ``(F) such other information as the Secretary may require.
    ``(c) Diversity of Projects.--The Secretary shall make awards under 
this section that, to the extent practicable, support programs that 
serve different geographic areas of the Nation, including urban, 
suburban, and rural areas.'';

``SEC. 10103. CHARACTER EDUCATION RESEARCH, DISSEMINATION, AND 
              EVALUATION.

    ``(a) Program Authorized.--The Secretary is authorized to make 
grants, or enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with, State 
educational agencies, local educational agencies, institutions of 
higher education, tribal organizations, and other public or private 
agencies or organizations to carry out research, development, 
dissemination, technical assistance, and evaluation activities that 
support or inform character education programs under section 10102.
    ``(b) Use of Funds.--Consistent with subsection (a), funds under 
this section may be used--
            ``(1) to conduct research and development activities that 
        focus on such matters as--
                    ``(A) the effectiveness of instructional models;
                    ``(B) materials and curricula that can be used by 
                programs in character education;
                    ``(C) models of professional development in 
                character education; and
                    ``(D) the development of outcome measures for 
                character education programs;
            ``(2) to provide technical assistance to the agencies 
        receiving awards under section 10102, particularly on matters 
        of program evaluation;
            ``(3) to conduct a national evaluation of programs under 
        section 10102; and
            ``(4) to compile and disseminate, through various 
        approaches, such as a national clearinghouse--
                    ``(A) information on model character education 
                programs;
                    ``(B) character education materials and curricula;
                    ``(C) research findings in the area of character 
                education and character development; and
                    ``(D) any other information that will be useful to 
                character education program participants and other 
                educators and administrators, nationwide.''.
                                 <all>