A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

``PART A--IMPROVING BASIC PROGRAMS OPERATED BY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES

``Subpart 1--Basic Program Requirements

``SEC. 1111. STATE PLANS.

``(a) Plans Required.--

``(1) In general.--Any State desiring to receive a grant under this part shall submit to the Secretary a plan, developed in consultation with local educational agencies, teachers, pupil services personnel, administrators, other staff, and parents, that satisfies the requirements of this section and that is coordinated with other programs under this Act, the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, and other Acts, as appropriate, consistent with section 14306.

``(2) Consolidation plan.--A State plan submitted under paragraph (1) may be submitted as part of a consolidation plan under section 14302.

``(b) Standards and Assessments.--

``(1) Challenging standards.--

``(A) Each State plan shall demonstrate that the State has developed or adopted challenging content standards and challenging student performance standards that will be used by the State, its local educational agencies, and its schools to carry out this part, except that a State shall not be required to submit such standards to the Secretary.

``(B) If a State has State content standards or State student performance standards developed under title III of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act and an aligned set of assessments for all students developed under such title, or, if not developed under such title, adopted under another process, the State shall use such standards and assessments, modified, if necessary, to conform with the requirements of subparagraphs (A) and (D) of this paragraph, and paragraphs (2) and (3).

``(C) If a State has not adopted State content standards and State student performance standards for all students, the State plan shall include a strategy and schedule for developing State content standards and State student performance standards for elementary and secondary school children served under this part in subjects as determined by the State, but including at least mathematics and reading or language arts by the end of the one-year period described in paragraph (6), which standards shall include the same knowledge, skills, and levels of performance expected of all children.

``(D) Standards under this paragraph shall include--

``(i) challenging content standards in academic subjects that--

``(I) specify what children are expected to know and be able to do;

``(II) contain coherent and rigorous content; and

``(III) encourage the teaching of advanced skills;

``(ii) challenging student performance standards that--

``(I) are aligned with the State's content standards;

``(II) describe two levels of high performance, proficient and advanced, that determine how well children are mastering the material in the State content standards; and

``(III) describe a third level of performance, partially proficient, to provide complete information about the progress of the lower performing children toward achieving to the proficient and advanced levels of performance.

``(E) For the subjects in which students will be served under this part, but for which a State is not required by subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) to develop, and has not otherwise developed such standards, the State plan shall describe a strategy for ensuring that such students are taught the same knowledge and skills and held to the same expectations as are all children.

``(2) Yearly progress.--

``(A) Each State plan shall demonstrate, based on assessments described under paragraph (3), what constitutes adequate yearly progress of--

``(i) any school served under this part toward enabling children to meet the State's student performance standards; and

``(ii) any local educational agency that received funds under this part toward enabling children in schools receiving assistance under this part to meet the State's student performance standards.

``(B) Adequate yearly progress shall be defined in a manner--

``(i) that is consistent with guidelines established by the Secretary that result in continuous and substantial yearly improvement of each local educational agency and school sufficient to achieve the goal of all children served under this part meeting the State's proficient and advanced levels of performance, particularly economically disadvantaged and limited English proficient children; and

``(ii) that links progress primarily to performance on the assessments carried out under this section while permitting progress to be established in part through the use of other measures.

``(3) Assessments.--Each State plan shall demonstrate that the State has developed or adopted a set of high-quality, yearly student assessments, including assessments in at least mathematics and reading or language arts, that will be used as the primary means of determining the yearly performance of each local educational agency and school served under this part in enabling all children served under this part to meet the State's student performance standards. Such assessments shall--

``(A) be the same assessments used to measure the performance of all children, if the State measures the performance of all children;

``(B) be aligned with the State's challenging content and student performance standards and provide coherent information about student attainment of such standards;

``(C) be used for purposes for which such assessments are valid and reliable, and be consistent with relevant, nationally recognized professional and technical standards for such assessments;

``(D) measure the proficiency of students in the academic subjects in which a State has adopted challenging content and student performance standards and be administered at some time during--

``(i) grades 3 through 5;

``(ii) grades 6 through 9; and

``(iii) grades 10 through 12;

``(E) involve multiple up-to-date measures of student performance, including measures that assess higher order thinking skills and understanding;

``(F) provide for--

``(i) the participation in such assessments of all students;

``(ii) the reasonable adaptations and accommodations for students with diverse learning needs, necessary to measure the achievement of such students relative to State content standards; and

``(iii) the inclusion of limited English proficient students who shall be assessed, to the extent practicable, in the language and form most likely to yield accurate and reliable information on what such students know and can do, to determine such students' mastery of skills in subjects other than English;

``(G) include students who have attended schools in a local educational agency for a full academic year but have not attended a single school for a full academic year, however the performance of students who have attended more than one school in the local educational agency in any academic year shall be used only in determining the progress of the local educational agency;

``(H) provide individual student interpretive and descriptive reports, which shall include scores, or other information on the attainment of student performance standards; and

``(I) enable results to be disaggregated within each State, local educational agency, and school by gender, by each major racial and ethnic group, by English proficiency status, by migrant status, by students with disabilities as compared to nondisabled students, and by economically disadvantaged students as compared to students who are not economically disadvantaged.

``(4) Special rule.--Assessment measures that do not meet the requirements of paragraph (3)(C) may be included as one of the multiple measures, if a State includes in the State plan information regarding the State's efforts to validate such measures.

``(5) Language assessments.--Each State plan shall identify the languages other than English that are present in the participating student population and indicate the languages for which yearly student assessments are not available and are needed. The State shall make every effort to develop such assessments and may request assistance from the Secretary if linguistically accessible assessment measures are needed. Upon request, the Secretary shall assist with the identification of appropriate assessment measures in the needed languages through the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs.

``(6) Standard and assessment development.--

``(A) A State that does not have challenging State content standards and challenging State student performance standards, in at least mathematics and reading or language arts, shall develop such standards within one year of receiving funds under this part after the first fiscal year for which such State receives such funds after the date of enactment of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994.

``(B) A State that does not have assessments that meet the requirements of paragraph (3) in at least mathematics and reading or language arts shall develop and test such assessments within four years (one year of which shall be used for field testing such assessment), of receiving funds under this part after the first fiscal year for which such State receives such funds after the date of enactment of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 and shall develop benchmarks of progress toward the development of such assessments that meet the requirements of paragraph (3), including periodic updates.

``(C) The Secretary may extend for one additional year the time for testing new assessments under subparagraph (B) upon the request of the State and the submission of a strategy to correct problems identified in the field testing of such new assessments.

``(D) If, after the one-year period described in subparagraph (A), a State does not have challenging State content and challenging student performance standards in at least mathematics and reading or language arts, a State shall adopt a set of standards in these subjects such as the standards and assessments contained in other State plans the Secretary has approved.

``(E) If, after the four-year period described in subparagraph (B), a State does not have assessments, in at least mathematics and reading or language arts, that meet the requirement of paragraph (3), and is denied an extension under subparagraph (C), a State shall adopt an assessment that meets the requirement of paragraph (3) such as one contained in other State plans the Secretary has approved.

``(7) Transitional assessments.--

``(A) If a State does not have assessments that meet the requirements of paragraph (3) and proposes to develop such assessments under paragraph (6)(B), the State may propose to use a transitional set of yearly statewide assessments that will assess the performance of complex skills and challenging subject matter.

``(B) For any year in which a State uses transitional assessments, the State shall devise a procedure for identifying local educational agencies under paragraphs (3) and (7) of section 1116(d), and schools under paragraphs (1) and (7) of section 1116(c), that rely on accurate information about the academic progress of each such local educational agency and school.

``(8) Requirement.--Each State plan shall describe--

``(A) how the State educational agency will help each local educational agency and school affected by the State plan develop the capacity to comply with each of the requirements of sections 1112(c)(1)(D), 1114(b), and 1115(c) that is applicable to such agency or school; and

``(B) such other factors the State deems appropriate (which may include opportunity-to-learn standards or strategies developed under the Goals 2000: Educate America Act) to provide students an opportunity to achieve the knowledge and skills described in the challenging content standards adopted by the State.

``(c) Other Provisions To Support Teaching and Learning.--Each State plan shall contain assurances that--

``(1)

``(A) the State educational agency will implement a system of school support teams under section 1117(c), including provision of necessary professional development for those teams;

``(B) the State educational agency will work with other agencies, including educational service agencies or other local consortia, and institutions to provide technical assistance to local educational agencies and schools to carry out the State educational agency's responsibilities under this part, including technical assistance in providing professional development under section 1119 and technical assistance under section 1117; and

``(C)

``(i) where educational service agencies exist, the State educational agency will consider providing professional development and technical assistance through such agencies; and

``(ii) where educational service agencies do not exist, the State educational agency will consider providing professional development and technical assistance through other cooperative agreements such as through a consortium of local educational agencies;

``(2) the State educational agency will notify local educational agencies and the public of the standards and assessments developed under this section, and of the authority to operate schoolwide programs, and will fulfill the State educational agency's responsibilities regarding local educational agency improvement and school improvement under section 1116, including such corrective actions as are necessary;

``(3) the State educational agency will provide the least restrictive and burdensome regulations for local educational agencies and individual schools participating in a program assisted under this part;

``(4) the State educational agency will encourage the use of funds from other Federal, State, and local sources for schoolwide reform in schoolwide programs under section 1114;

``(5) the Committee of Practitioners established under section 1603(b) will be substantially involved in the development of the plan and will continue to be involved in monitoring the plan's implementation by the State; and

``(6) the State will coordinate activities funded under this part with school-to-work, vocational education, cooperative education and mentoring programs, and apprenticeship programs involving business, labor, and industry, as appropriate.

``(d) Peer Review and Secretarial Approval.--

``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall--

``(A) establish a peer review process to assist in the review and recommendations for revision of State plans;

``(B) appoint individuals to the peer review process who are representative of State educational agencies, local educational agencies, teachers, and parents;

``(C) following an initial peer review, approve a State plan the Secretary determines meets the requirements of subsections (a), (b), and (c);

``(D) if the Secretary determines that the State plan does not meet the requirements of subsection (a), (b), or (c), immediately notify the State of such determination and the reasons for such determination;

``(E) not decline to approve a State's plan before--

``(i) offering the State an opportunity to revise its plan;

``(ii) providing technical assistance in order to assist the State to meet the requirements under subsections (a), (b), and (c); and

``(iii) providing a hearing; and

``(F) have the authority to disapprove a State plan for not meeting the requirements of this part, but shall not have the authority to require a State, as a condition of approval of the State plan, to include in, or delete from, such plan one or more specific elements of the State's content standards or to use specific assessment instruments or items.

``(2) Withholding.--The Secretary may withhold funds for State administration and activities under section 1117 until the Secretary determines that the State plan meets the requirements of this section.

``(e) Duration of the Plan.--

``(1) In general.--Each State plan shall--

``(A) remain in effect for the duration of the State's participation under this part; and

``(B) be periodically reviewed and revised by the State, as necessary, to reflect changes in the State's strategies and programs under this part.

``(2) Additional information.--If the State makes significant changes in its plan, such as the adoption of new State content standards and State student performance standards, new assessments, or a new definition of adequate progress, the State shall submit such information to the Secretary.

``(f) Limitation on Conditions.--Nothing in this part shall be construed to authorize an officer or employee of the Federal Government to mandate, direct, or control a State, local educational agency, or school's specific instructional content or student performance standards and assessments, opportunity-to- learn standards or strategies, curriculum, or program of instruction, as a condition of eligibility to receive funds under this part.

``(g) Prohibition.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require any State educational agency, local educational agency, or school, to implement opportunity-to-learn standards or strategies developed by such State under the Goals 2000: Educate America Act.

``(h) Special Rule.--If the aggregate State expenditure by a State educational agency for the operation of elementary and secondary education programs in the State is less than such agency's aggregate Federal expenditure for the State operation of all Federal elementary and secondary education programs, then the State plan shall include assurances and specific provisions that such State will provide State expenditures for the operation of elementary and secondary education programs equal to or exceeding the level of Federal expenditures for such operation by October 1, 1998.

SEC. 1003. RESERVATION AND ALLOCATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT.

SEC. 1112. LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY PLANS.