H.R. 3661

Rural Students College, Career, and Community Readiness Act of 2007

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I

110th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 3661

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 25, 2007

Mrs. McCarthy of New York (for herself and Mr. Kuhl of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

A BILL

To conduct 1 or more higher education and career readiness demonstration projects for rural, low-income students.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Rural Students College, Career, and Community Readiness Act of 2007.

2.

Findings

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.

Purposes

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.

Demonstration projects

(a)

Grants authorized

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)

Application

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)

Selection basis

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)

Amount; duration

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 evaluation

Notwithstanding 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.

Program operations

(a)

Program authorized

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)

Staff

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.

Evaluation

(a)

In general

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 preference

The 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 Secretary

The 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)

Content of evaluation

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)

Annual evaluation report

An evaluator receiving a contract under this section shall submit an annual evaluation on the progress of the program to the Secretary.

7.

Reports

(a)

Annual reports

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)

Reports to Congress

(1)

Interim report

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)

Final report

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.

Definitions

In this Act:

(1)

Institution of higher education

The 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 agency

The 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)

Rural school

The term rural school means a school served by a rural local educational agency.

(4)

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Education.

9.

Authorization of appropriations

There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2013.