1.This Act may be cited as
the Rural Students College, Career,
and Community Readiness Act of 2007
.
2.Congress finds that—
(1)roughly 1 in 4
public schools are located in rural America, accounting for 14.5 percent of
total public school enrollment;
(2)rural boys and
girls demonstrate lower educational aspirations than their urban and suburban
peers;
(3)fewer than 1 in 7
rural residents have obtained a 4-year baccalaureate degree, compared with
nearly 1 in 4 metropolitan area residents;
(4)roughly half of
rural secondary school students live in counties that have no 4-year
institutions of higher education;
(5)there are major
gaps in substantive research about effective rural education strategies;
(6)rural economic
development is a continuing effort supported by the Federal Government, and
rural schools can be important engines for economic development and long-term
community and regional growth;
(7)one of the best
ways to address the needs of students in rural communities is to help young
people finish secondary school and attend college by providing programs that
promote higher education throughout childhood and adolescence, and supporting
programs that expose young people to the world of careers; and
(8)effective rural
policy requires an emphasis on the development of human capital through
education.
3.The purpose of this Act is to conduct a
demonstration project to improve the educational and career outcomes of rural,
low-income students in grades 7 through 12 that will seek to—
(1)improve the
academic motivation and performance of rural students;
(2)improve student
academic success in rural schools, including with respect to performance on
statewide assessments;
(3)improve secondary
school graduation rates in rural schools;
(4)increase the
number of rural students engaged in rigorous, college-preparatory
coursework;
(5)increase the
number of rural students taking college entrance examinations, such as the SATs
or ACTs;
(6)increase the
rates among rural students of application to institutions of higher education,
enrollment in such institutions, and institution of higher education program
completion;
(7)prepare rural
students to become the next generation of leaders in their States and
communities;
(8)complement
Federal and State efforts to build the State and local workforce and economy;
and
(9)increase the
number of people within rural communities who are able to meet the workforce
needs of the local community and enhance the State, local, and regional
economies.
4.
(a)From amounts
appropriated under section 9, the Secretary shall award grants to not more than
2 non-profit entities to enable the entities to carry out the activities
described in section 5 in rural schools and rural local educational
agencies.
(b)A
non-profit entity desiring 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.
(c)In awarding grants
under this Act, the Secretary shall give priority to a non-profit entity that
has—
(1)existing capacity
to implement program elements with the rigor called for in this Act;
(2)history and
experience in working with rural schools and supporting student achievement
goals;
(3)organizational
capacity to successfully implement the demonstration project; and
(4)capacity and
commitment to serve rural schools that have student populations with
historically low rates of secondary school graduation, institution of higher
education enrollment, or institution of higher education program
completion.
(d)Amount and
duration of grants
(1)Each grant awarded by the Secretary under this Act shall
be in an amount of not less than $2,500,000 for each fiscal year of the grant
period, and shall be awarded for a period of 6 years, in order to enable
cohorts of students in grade 7 to participate in the demonstration project
under this Act for 6 consecutive years in the grant.
(2)Use of grant
funds for evaluationNotwithstanding paragraph (1), a non-profit
entity receiving a grant under this Act may use remaining grant funds after the
grant period has expired in order to carry out the evaluation required under
section 6 during the 3-year period immediately following the last year of the
grant period.
5.
(a)A non-profit
entity receiving a grant under this Act shall develop and carry out a rural
school-based, institution of higher education preparation and career
exploration demonstration project through which the non-profit entity
shall—
(1)(A)in the case of an
entity receiving a grant of $5,000,000 or more per year—
(i)serve a minimum of 40 rural schools
and 7,500 students; and
(ii)serve rural schools in not fewer
than 3 geographic regions of the United States (such as the Southwest, Midwest,
Southeast, Northeast, or Northwest regions); or
(B)in the case of an entity receiving a
grant of less than $5,000,000 per year—
(i)serve a minimum of 20 rural schools
and 3,000 students; and
(ii)serve rural schools in not fewer
than 2 such geographic regions;
(2)in selecting
rural schools to participate in the project—
(A)collectively
reach diverse racial and ethnic student populations; and
(B)ensure a
sufficient participation of students in both grade 7 and grade 9 cohorts, as
described in paragraph (4), in order to allow for a full measure of the
project’s impact as both a 6-year program and a 4-year program;
(3)partner with
rural local educational agencies and rural schools to carry out the activities
under this subsection, and enter into a written agreement with each
participating local educational agency or rural school in which—
(A)the entity agrees
to carry out the activities described in paragraph (5) for the cohorts
described in paragraph (4) at the identified rural school; and
(B)the rural local
educational agency or rural school agrees—
(i)to
allow the entity access to students in the cohorts during the school day for
the purposes of administering the demonstration project; and
(ii)to cooperate in
the project evaluation, including the collection and sharing of data;
and
(4)for each rural
school with which the entity enters into a written agreement—
(A)identify the
cohort of students who will be entering grade 7 in the first year of the grant
under this Act, and serves such students for 6 consecutive years; or
(B)identify the
cohort of students who will be entering grade 9 in the first year of the grant
under this Act, and serves such students for 4 consecutive years;
(5)provide
participating students in a cohort at a partnering rural school with a program
that—
(A)includes
approximately 25 hours per grade of program workshops during the school day
over the course of grades 7 through 12 or, in the case of a grade 9 cohort,
grades 9 through 12, to provide services including—
(i)providing
education planning to the students;
(ii)providing
information for the students about the opportunities for and the importance of
higher education and postsecondary training;
(iii)developing
career awareness in the students;
(iv)building the
students' career, leadership, and life skills;
(v)building
awareness in the students of the State's future labor needs and the importance
of young people to the State's economy, and coordinating with the State's
efforts to develop the State's workforce and economy; and
(vi)creating
awareness in the students of local businesses and integrating expertise from
local business and nonprofit providers into the program, as appropriate;
(B)reaches all
students in the cohort who are participating in the demonstration project;
and
(C)is implemented
consistently across all participating rural school sites; and
(6)evaluates the
project, as described in section 6.
(b)A
non-profit entity receiving a grant under this Act shall hire, train, and
employ personnel to administer and deliver the demonstration project. These
individuals shall function as employees of the nonprofit entity but shall
coordinate with the partnering rural schools and rural local educational
agencies in the delivery of the program, consistent with the applicable
agreements described in subsection (a)(3).
6.
(a)A non-profit entity receiving a grant under this Act
shall use a portion of grant funds to award a contract, on a competitive basis,
to a third-party evaluator to enable the evaluator—
(1)to rigorously
evaluate the impact of the entity's demonstration project under this Act in
accordance with subsection (d); and
(2)to submit the
annual evaluation required under subsection (e).
(b)Competitive
basis and preferenceThe non-profit entity shall select the
evaluator for a contract under this section by a competitive process, with a
preference given to evaluators using evaluation models that utilize
experimental design methodology.
(c)Approval by the
SecretaryThe Secretary or the Secretary's designee shall approve
the evaluator selected by the non-profit entity before the entity enters into a
contract with the evaluator.
(d)An evaluator receiving a contract for a demonstration
project under this Act shall perform an evaluation of the project that—
(1)follows rigorous
standards of third-party evaluation in determining the effects of the
demonstration project under this Act on—
(A)the rigor of
secondary school course-taking the rigor of secondary school courses taken by
participating students;
(B)the performance
of participating students on statewide assessments;
(C)the engagement of
participating students in school, including attendance rates, discipline data,
and grades;
(D)the rates of
participating students taking college entrance examinations, such as the SAT or
ACT;
(E)the career
aspirations of participating students;
(F)the rates of
participating students enrolling in career and technical education courses,
dual enrollment courses, advanced placement courses, or other related
programs;
(G)the secondary
school graduation rates of participating students;
(H)the rates among
participating students of institution of higher education application,
enrollment, and program completion; and
(I)the participating
students' awareness of State economic indicators and workforce needs;
and
(2)follows a
rigorous model so that findings regarding the program outcomes meet standards
of scientifically-based research, as defined in section 9101 of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801); and
(3)addresses the
scalability and replicability of the program model with respect to other rural
areas, including—
(A)the
identification of elements that are integral to program effectiveness;
(B)efficacy in use
of Federal funds; and
(C)the impact of
coordination with State workforce development efforts.
(e)An evaluator receiving a contract under this
section shall submit an annual evaluation on the progress of the program to the
Secretary.
7.
(a)A non-profit entity receiving a grant under this Act
shall submit an annual report on the progress of the demonstration project to
the Secretary for each year of the grant period.
(b)
(1)Not later than 18 months after amounts are appropriated
under this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress an interim report on the
progress of the demonstration projects funded under this Act that includes the
outcome measures described in section 6(d)(1).
(2)Not later than 90 days after the last day of the grant
period for all grants under this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a
final report on the results of the program, which report shall include—
(A)the outcome
measures described in section 6(d)(1); and
(B)recommendations
for such legislative or administrative action as the Secretary determines
appropriate.
8.In this Act:
(1)Institution of
higher educationThe term institution of higher
education has the meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).
(2)Rural local
educational agencyThe term rural local educational
agency means a local educational agency that meets—
(A)the eligibility
requirements under section 6211(b) (20 U.S.C. 7345(b)) for participation in the
program described in subpart 1 of part B of title VI of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7345 et seq.); or
(B)the eligibility
requirements under section 6221(b) (20 U.S.C. 7351(b)) for participation in the
program described in subpart 2 of part B of such title VI (20 U.S.C. 7351 et
seq.).
(3)The term rural school means a school served
by a rural local educational agency.
(4)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of Education.
9.Authorization of
appropriationsThere is
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $10,000,000 for each of the
fiscal years 2008 through 2013.