H.R. 2862 – Reading Mode

110th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 2862

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 26, 2007

Mr. Castle (for himself and Mr. McKeon) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

A BILL

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish an accurate and reliable graduation rate for measuring student academic achievement.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Reliable and Accurate Graduation Rate Act.

Creating a reliable and accurate graduation rate to improve the academic achievement of high school students

Section 1111 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311) is amended—

(1)

in subsection (b)(2)—

(A)

in subparagraph (C)(vi) by striking as the percentage of students who graduate from secondary school with a regular diploma in the standard number of years and inserting in subparagraph (K);

(B)

by redesignating subparagraph (K) as subparagraph (M); and

(C)

by inserting after subparagraph (J) the following:

(K)

Graduation rate

(i)

In general

For the purpose of this section, a State shall calculate its graduation rate by dividing the number of students in the school or local educational agency who receive a regular diploma by the number of first time ninth-grade students who enrolled in the school or local educational agency four years earlier, taking into account—

(I)

the movement of students transferring into and out of the school or local educational agency, documented through such evidence as a transcript, over the four-year period; and

(II)

the limited one time identification of recently arrived limited English proficient students, students with documented enrollment in a fully articulated early college high school, and children with disabilities who require a fifth year to receive a regular high school diploma.

(ii)

Schools and local educational agencies

A State shall require local educational agencies and schools in the State to calculate its graduation rate consistent with clause (i).

(L)

Additional completion measures for high school students in alternative settings

A State may publish and report additional completion measures for those students who completed high school or some equivalent measure in more than four years. Such measures could include those students that dropped out of high school and passed a General Educational Development exam or transferred to an alternative school and successfully completed their education, or those children with disabilities who completed their educational program in more than five years.