[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 853 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 853

To assist local educational agencies to help all students achieve State 
achievement standards, to end the practice of social promotion, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 21, 1999

Mrs. Feinstein introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To assist local educational agencies to help all students achieve State 
achievement standards, to end the practice of social promotion, 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 ``Student Achievement Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. REMEDIAL EDUCATION.

    (a) Grants Authorized.--The Secretary is authorized to award grants 
to high need, low-performing local educational agencies to enable the 
local educational agencies to carry out remedial education programs 
that enable kindergarten through grade 12 students who are failing or 
are at risk of failing to meet State achievement standards in the core 
academic curriculum.
    (b) Use of Funds.--Grant funds awarded under this section may be 
used to provide prevention and intervention services and academic 
instruction, that enable the students described in subsection (a) to 
meet State achievement standards in the core academic curriculum, such 
as--
            (1) implementing early intervention strategies that 
        identify and support those students who need additional help or 
        alternative instructional strategies;
            (2) strengthening instruction and learning by hiring 
        certified teachers to reduce class sizes, providing high 
        quality professional development, and using proven 
        instructional practices and curriculum aligned to State 
        achievement standards;
            (3) providing extended learning time, such as before 
        school, after school, and summer school; and
            (4) developing intensive instructional intervention 
        strategies for students who fail to meet the State achievement 
        standards.
    (c) Applications.--Each local educational agency desiring to 
receive a grant under this section shall submit an application to the 
Secretary. Each application shall contain--
            (1) an assurance that the grant funds will be used in 
        accordance with subsection (b); and
            (2) a detailed description of how the local educational 
        agency will use the grant funds to help students meet State 
        achievement standards in the core academic curriculum by 
        providing prevention and intervention services and academic 
        instruction to students who are most at risk of failing to meet 
        the State achievement standards.
    (d) Conditions for Receiving Funds.--A local educational agency 
shall be eligible to receive a grant under this section if the local 
educational agency or the State educational agency--
            (1) adopts a policy prohibiting the practice of social 
        promotion;
            (2) adopts a policy requiring that all kindergarten through 
        grade 12 students be subject to State achievement standards in 
        the core academic curriculum at key transition points (to be 
        determined by the State), such as 4th, 8th, and 12th grades, 
        before promotion to the next grade level;
            (3) uses tests and other indicators, such as grades and 
        teacher evaluations, to assess student performance in meeting 
        the State achievement standards at key transition points (to be 
        determined by the State), which tests shall be valid for the 
        purpose of such assessment;
            (4) provides remedial education to all students not meeting 
        the State achievement standards; and
            (5) has substantial numbers of students who are low-
        performing students.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Core academic curriculum.--The term ``core academic 
        curriculum'' means curriculum in subjects such as reading and 
        writing, language arts, mathematics, social sciences (including 
        history), and science.
            (2) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational 
        agency'' has the meaning given the term in section 14101 of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        8801).
            (3) Practice of social promotion.--The term ``practice of 
        social promotion'' means a formal or informal practice of 
        promoting a student from the grade for which the determination 
        is made to the next grade when the student fails to meet the 
        State achievement standards in the core academic curriculum, 
        unless the practice is consistent with the student's 
        individualized education program under section 614(d) of the 
        Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1414(d).
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Education.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $500,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2000 through 2004.
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