1.This Act may be cited as
the Coaching Our Adolescents for
College Heights Act
or the COACH Act
.
2.The purpose of this Act is to recruit and
train recent graduates of 4-year institutions of higher education, and place
the graduates in high schools, to increase the number of low- and middle-income
high-achieving high school students who are entering and succeeding at a
college that is appropriate for their level of academic achievement, by—
(1)building a strong college-going culture for
all students in those high schools; and
(2)working with
cohorts of low- and middle-income high-achieving high school students
to—
(A)provide guidance
to ensure the students enroll and succeed in courses for college-bound
students; and
(B)provide intensive
support during the college search and application processes.
3.The National and Community Service Act of
1990 is amended by inserting after section 198D (42 U.S.C. 12653d) the
following:
198E.
(a)In
this section:
(1)The term graduation rate means the percentage
described in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(vi) of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(C)(ii)).
(2)High-achieving
high school studentThe term high-achieving high school
student means a high school student who scores in the top 50 percent of
students on a student academic assessment described in section 1111(b)(3) of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
6311(b)(3)).
(3)The term high school means a secondary school
in which the—
(A)entering grade of
the school is not lower than grade 9; and
(B)highest grade of
the school is—
(i)grade 12;
or
(ii)in the case of a
secondary school approved by a State to issue a regular diploma concurrently
with a postsecondary degree or with not more than 2 years worth of
postsecondary academic credit, grade 13.
(4)The term low-income student has the meaning
given the term in section 1821 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6561).
(5)The term middle-income student means a
student from a family with a household income that is not more than 100 percent
of the State median family income by family size, as measured by the Bureau of
the Census.
(b)
(1)The Corporation shall award a contract to a nonprofit
organization to plan and implement a 7-year pilot program. During the first
year of the program, the nonprofit organization shall plan for the successful
implementation of the program. In implementing the program, the organization
shall recruit recent graduates of 4-year institutions of higher education, who
commit to serving for 2 terms of service described in section 139(b)(1), as
coaches to high-achieving high school students who are low-income students or
middle-income students.
(2)Responsibilities
of nonprofit organizationsThe nonprofit organization
shall—
(A)recruit and
select a total of 100 coaches described in paragraph (1) through a highly
selective national process;
(B)provide
preservice training to the coaches through a rigorous summer training
session;
(C)place the coaches
in high schools—
(i)that have large
numbers of students described in paragraph (1);
(ii)where students
described in paragraph (1) have, historically, attended college at low rates;
and
(iii)that,
collectively, are within not more than 5 school districts;
(D)provide ongoing
support and professional development for the coaches; and
(E)provide the
coaches with the benefits described in section 140.
(3)The Corporation may not award a contract to an
organization under paragraph (1) unless that organization agrees that, with
respect of the costs to be incurred by the organization in carrying out the
program for which the contract was awarded, the organization will make
available (directly or through donations from public or private entities)
non-Federal contributions in an amount equal to not less than $3 for every $1
of Federal funds provided under the contract.
(4)Responsibilities
of coachesEach coach placed in a high school under this section
shall—
(A)work with all
personnel and staff at the school to build a strong college-going culture
within the school for all students in the school;
(B)work with a
cohort of not less than 25 and not more than 50 students described in paragraph
(1), beginning in their freshman year of high school, to—
(i)provide guidance
to ensure the students enroll and succeed in courses for college-bound
students;
(ii)assist the
students and their parents in understanding the college application and
admissions processes;
(iii)provide access
to information about, and assist the students and their parents in
understanding, the college financial aid process, including assistance in
completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and applying for
scholarships for which the students are eligible;
(iv)aid, and monitor
the efforts of, each such student in selecting, enrolling in, and persisting in
the institutions of higher education that best meet the student’s educational
and social needs and support the student’s intellectual and social
development;
(v)assist, and
monitor the efforts of, the students in completing multiple college
applications;
(vi)connect the
students with appropriate summer academic enrichment programs, including
tutoring and test preparation programs and other academic opportunities, to
develop academic skills appropriate for college-bound students and enrich the
academic experiences of the students in the cohort; and
(vii)connect the
students with summer internships and community service opportunities;
and
(C)(i)monitor the academic
performance and social adjustment of the students in the cohort once the
students enter their freshman year at an institution of higher education;
and
(ii)ensure those students are
connected to needed support services at the institution of higher
education.
(5)
(A)The Corporation shall award a contract to an independent
agency with expertise in evaluating trends in student achievement to study the
effects of the program carried out under this section on the achievement of
participating students, and students in high schools participating in the
program.
(B)The
evaluation described in subparagraph (A)—
(i)shall
compare—
(I)participating
high-achieving high school students who are low-income students or
middle-income students, to similar high school students not participating in
the program; and
(II)all students in
high schools participating in the program, to all students in similar high
schools not participating in the program; and
(ii)shall include
measurements of—
(I)academic
achievement on the student academic assessments described in section 1111(b)(3)
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
6311(b)(3));
(II)high school
graduation rates;
(III)student
attendance rates;
(IV)rates of
students taking Scholastic Aptitude Tests or ACT tests;
(V)rates of students
completing honors, Advanced Placement, or International Baccalaureate courses,
if available;
(VI)student rates of
enrollment, persistence, and attainment in institutions of higher education;
and
(VII)success with
respect to any other academic factor the Corporation determines is
necessary.
(6)Building on the
coach pilot programIf the evaluation under paragraph (5)
demonstrates that the program carried out under this section was effective in
improving student achievement, as measured by the indicators described in
paragraph (5)(B)(ii), the Corporation, in collaboration with the agency
described in paragraph (5)(A), shall develop a plan to include in the program
as many students described in paragraph (1) as
possible.
.
4.
(a)National
service position eligible for national service educational
awardSection 123 of the National and Community Service Act of
1990 (42 U.S.C. 12573) is amended—
(1)by redesignating
paragraph (7) as paragraph (8); and
(2)by inserting
before paragraph (8) the following:
(7)A position
involving service as a coach under section
198E.
.
(b)Reservation of
approved positionsSection 129 of the National and Community
Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12581) is amended—
(1)in subsection
(b)—
(A)by striking
The Corporation
and inserting the following:
(1)VISTA
volunteers and Civilian Community Corps participantsThe
Corporation
;
and
(B)by adding at the
end the following:
(2)The
Corporation shall ensure that each individual selected by a nonprofit
organization during a fiscal year as a coach under section 198E shall receive
the national service educational award described in subtitle D if the
individual satisfies the eligibility requirements for the award. Funds for
approved national service positions required by this paragraph for a fiscal
year shall be deducted from the funds appropriated under section
501(a)(2)(B)(ii).
;
and
(2)in subsection
(f)—
(A)by inserting
before The Corporation
the following:
(1)
;
and
(B)by striking the
second sentence and inserting the following:
(2)The
Corporation is authorized to make necessary and reasonable adjustments to the
program rules—
(A)relating to
coaches described in subsection (b)(2), if appropriations under section
501(a)(2)(B)(ii) are insufficient to provide the maximum allowable national
service educational awards under subtitle D for all those coaches who are
eligible for such an award; and
(B)relating to
participants (other than such coaches), if appropriations under section
501(a)(2)(A) are insufficient to provide the maximum allowable national service
educational awards under subtitle D for all those participants who are eligible
for such an
award.
.
(c)Section 139(b) of the National and Community Service Act
of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12593(b)) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
(4)Multiple terms
of serviceAn individual who serves as a coach under section 198E
for a period including 2 terms of service described in paragraph (1), and
satisfies the eligibility requirements described in paragraph (1) for each
term, shall—
(A)for purposes of
this subsection, be considered to have served for 2 terms of 1 year; and
(B)receive a
national service educational award under section 147(a) for each of the 2 terms
of
service.
.
5.Authorization of
appropriationsSection
501(a)(2) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
12681(a)(2)) is amended—
(1)in subparagraphs (A) and (B), by inserting
(other than assistance described in subparagraph (B)(i))
after
H of title I
;
(2)in subparagraph
(A), by inserting (other than awards described in subparagraph
(B)(ii))
after subtitle D of title I
;
(3)by redesignating
subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C); and
(4)by inserting
after subparagraph (A) the following:
(B)
(i)There are authorized to be appropriated to provide
financial assistance under section 198E, such sums as may be necessary for each
of fiscal years 2009 through 2014.
(ii)National
service positions for coachesThere are authorized to be
appropriated to provide national service educational awards under subtitle D of
title I for coaches under section 198E, such sums as may be necessary for each
of fiscal years 2009 through
2014.
.