[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6232 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6232

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to improve 
   the method of determining adequate yearly progress, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 28, 2006

 Mr. Moran of Kansas introduced the following bill; which was referred 
            to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to improve 
   the method of determining adequate yearly progress, 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 ``Practicality in Education Act''.

SEC. 2. RESULTS OF LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENT STUDENTS, WHEN TESTED NOT 
              IN THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE, ARE NOT REQUIRED TO BE INCLUDED 
              IN MEASURING ACHIEVEMENT AND ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS.

    Section 1111(b)(3)(C) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(3)(C)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (ix), in subclause (III), by striking ``the 
        inclusion of limited English proficient students'' and 
        inserting ``the inclusion, subject to clause (xvi), of limited 
        English proficient students'';
            (2) in clause (xiv), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (3) in clause (xv), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(xvi) notwithstanding subclause (III) of 
                        clause (ix), the results for limited English 
                        proficient students are not required, for the 
                        first two school years in the United States, to 
                        be included in measuring achievement under the 
                        assessments or in measuring adequate yearly 
                        progress, when such students are assessed in 
                        reading or mathematics in a language other than 
                        the native language.''.

SEC. 3. EMPLOYMENT OF GROWTH MODEL TO DETERMINE ADEQUATE YEARLY 
              PROGRESS, MEASURING THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE SAME STUDENTS 
              AND SUBGROUPS FROM YEAR TO YEAR.

    Section 1111(b)(2)(C) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(C)) is 
amended--
            (1) in clause (vi) by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in clause (vii) by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(viii) employs a growth model, measuring 
                        the achievement of the same students and 
                        subgroups from year to year.''.

SEC. 4. STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES TO BE TESTED AT THE GRADE LEVEL 
              RECOMMENDED BY THEIR INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM.

    Section 1111(b)(3)(C)(ix)(II) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 
6311(b)(3)(C)(ix)(II)) is amended by inserting before the semicolon the 
following: ``, except that 4 percent of such students who take modified 
assessments shall be counted toward proficiency''.

SEC. 5. SCHOOL IDENTIFIED AS FAILING HAS ONE YEAR TO IMPROVE BEFORE 
              STUDENTS MUST BE GIVEN OPTION TO TRANSFER.

    Section 1116(b)(1)(E)(i) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(1)(E)(i)) 
is amended by striking ``the first day of the school year following 
such identification'' and inserting ``the first day of the second 
school year following such identification (unless, before such day, the 
school is no longer identified for school improvement)''.

SEC. 6. STUDENTS WHO ARE IN MORE THAN ONE GROUP COUNT ONLY ONCE.

    Section 1111(b)(2) of such Act (20 U.S.C. (b)(2)) is further 
amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(L) Students who are in more than one group.--For 
                the purpose of determining adequate yearly progress, a 
                student who belongs to more than one of the groups 
                described in subparagraph (C)(v) shall be counted 
                toward one such group only.''.

SEC. 7. ALTERNATIVE QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION 
              TEACHERS AND RURAL TEACHERS.

    Section 9101(23)(B)(ii)(I) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 
7801(23)(B)(ii)(I)) is amended by inserting before the semicolon the 
following: ``(except that, at the discretion of the State, a special 
education teacher or a teacher in a rural school may satisfy the 
requirements of this subclause by passing such a rigorous State 
academic subject test in any 1 subject in which the teacher teaches if, 
with respect to each other academic subject in which the teacher 
teaches, the teacher works in close consultation, either in-person or 
through high-quality distance education or consultation, with another 
teacher who is highly qualified in such other academic subject)''.
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