School choice Legislation - Federal Government

A bill to improve the amendments made by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. 1/22/2007--Introduced. Improving No Child Left Behind Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to alter requirements for adequate yearly progress (AYP) assessments of student groups by: (1) lowering, from 95% to 90%, the minimum percentage of students in each group in a school that must take such assessments; (2) allowing the fractional counting of students who are in more than one group, for each such group; (3) allowing states to treat as proficient or advanced specified scores on alternate assessments for disabled students and those not proficient in English; and (4) allowing states to use alternative methods of defining AYP. Revises criteria for local educational agency identification of schools needing improvement. Declares that only those meet such criteria that fail AYP standards, for two consecutive school years (as under current law), in the same subject for [...]

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To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, and for other purposes. 1/23/2007--Introduced. No Child Left Behind Improvements Act of 2007 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to alter requirements for adequate yearly progress (AYP) assessments of student groups by: (1) allowing states to vary the number of students sufficient for such an assessment from local educational agency (LEA) to LEA and from school to school; (2) lowering the percentage of students in a failing group who must show improvement from the preceding year for a school to avoid corrective action; (3) changing the method of counting students in more than one group; (4) allowing states to use alternative methods of defining AYP; (5) exempting a higher percentage of students from such assessments; (6) giving states greater flexibility in the use of alternative assessments for disabled students and those not proficient in English; and (7) allowing multiple assessments [...]

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A bill to provide a waiver from sanctions under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for certain States, local educational agencies, and schools. 3/21/2007--Introduced. Holds a state, and its local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools, harmless from sanctions under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 relating to academic assessments for the 2006-2007 school year if they meet certain criteria. Specifies such criteria as follows: (1) the state had at least one approved academic assessment plan for the 2005-2006 school year; (2) the state had at least one such plan subsequently held invalid by the Department of Education for the 2006-2007 school year; and (3) the state's Governor certifies, in writing, that the state cannot effectively train its educators on a new or alternative assessment before its administration, and that the administration of a new or alternative assessment is not in the best interest of the public school system and [...]

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A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide parental choice for those students that attend schools that are in need of improvement and have been identified for restructuring. 3/28/2007--Introduced. Empowering Parents Through Choice Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require local educational agencies (LEAs) to provide students with Promise Scholarships, covering the cost of attending private elementary or secondary schools chosen by their parents, if their schools are subject to restructuring for failing to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) pursuant to state academic performance standards. Requires: (1) each scholarship to remain in effect until the student completes the grade that is the last grade taught at the school from which the student transfers; and (2) such students to be assessed in reading, language arts, mathematics, and science at the same grade levels as public school students to determine [...]

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A bill to improve the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and for other purposes. 4/24/2007--Introduced. No Child Left Behind Reform Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to allow states to include measures of individual or cohort growth over time in determining whether students are making adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward state academic performance standards. Eliminates the consideration of student attendance rates. Allows schools to be given credit for performing well on measures other than test scores when calculating student achievement. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award competitive: (1) grants to state educational agencies to develop or increase the capacity of data systems for accountability purposes; and (2) subgrants to increase the capacity of local educational agencies to upgrade, create, or manage information databases for the purpose of measuring AYP. Allows schools to target school choice and [...]

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A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 regarding highly qualified teachers, growth models, adequate yearly progress, Native American language programs, and parental involvement, and for other purposes. 4/26/2007--Introduced. School Accountability Improvements Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to exempt teachers who teach multiple subjects in certain small middle or secondary schools from being required to be highly qualified in each of their subjects if they: (1) are highly qualified in at least one; and (2) demonstrate highly effective teaching skills on a state performance assessment. Allows states to use a growth model in calculating whether students are making adequately yearly progress (AYP) toward state academic performance standards if the state plan ensures their attainment of proficiency within certain periods of time. Gives schools which are identified as needing improvement an extra year to [...]

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To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide parental choice for those students that attend schools that are in need of improvement and have been identified for restructuring. 3/13/2007--Introduced. Empowering Parents Through Choice Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require local educational agencies (LEAs) to provide students with Promise Scholarships, covering the cost of attending private elementary or secondary schools chosen by their parents, if their schools are subject to restructuring for failing to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) pursuant to state academic performance standards. Requires: (1) each scholarship to remain in effect until the student completes the grade that is the last grade taught at the school from which the student transfers; and (2) such students to be assessed in reading, language arts, mathematics, and science at the same grade levels as public school students to determine if [...]

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To provide a waiver from sanctions under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for certain States, local educational agencies, and schools. 3/21/2007--Introduced. Holds a state, and its local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools, harmless from sanctions under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 relating to academic assessments for the 2006-2007 school year if they meet certain criteria. Specifies such criteria as follows: (1) the state had at least one approved academic assessment plan for the 2005-2006 school year; (2) the state had at least one such plan subsequently held invalid by the Department of Education for the 2006-2007 school year; and (3) the state's Governor certifies, in writing, that the state cannot effectively train its educators on a new or alternative assessment before its administration, and that the administration of a new or alternative assessment is not in the best interest of the public school system and the children [...]

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A bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to ensure that no child is left behind. 7/12/2007--Introduced. No Child Left Behind Act of 2007 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to revise programs created or amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and reauthorize them through FY2013. Permits states to: (1) use alternate academic achievement standards for disabled students; (2) incorporate student academic growth into calculations of adequate yearly progress (AYP); and (3) determine AYP for limited English proficient (LEP) students by excluding new arrivals and including former LEP students. Increases funds available for teaching, and developing enhanced assessments for, disabled and LEP children. Sets forth the method of calculating high school graduation rates, which shall factor into AYP determinations. Requires placing schools on academic alert status if they fail to make AYP for one year. Requires [...]

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A bill to improve the amendments made by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. 8/1/2007--Introduced. No Child Left Behind Enhancement Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to alter requirements for adequate yearly progress (AYP) assessments of student groups by: (1) lowering, from 95% to 90%, the minimum percentage of students in each group in a school that must take such assessments; (2) allowing the fractional counting of students who are in more than one group, for each such group; (3) allowing states to treat as proficient or advanced specified scores on alternate assessments for disabled students and those not proficient in English; and (4) allowing states to use alternative methods of defining AYP. Revises criteria for local educational agency (LEA) identification of schools needing improvement. Declares that only those meet such criteria that fail AYP standards, for two consecutive school years (as under current law), in the same subject [...]

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A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, and for other purposes. 8/3/2007--Introduced. All Students Can Achieve Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to revise and augment programs created or amended under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Requires states to implement: (1) data systems capable of tracking individual student performance over time and linking such performance to teachers, programs, and services; and (2) highly effective teacher and principal rating systems based primarily on objective measures of student achievement. Allows states that meet these requirements to use a growth model in calculating students' adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward academic performance standards. Requires local educational agencies (LEAs) to: (1) provide professional development and support to teachers and principals not rated as highly effective; and (2) remove them if they fail to attain such rating over specified periods.[...]

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To modify certain amendments made by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. 8/3/2007--Introduced. Flexibility for Individual Excellence in Education Act of 2007 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to alter the requirement that teachers be highly qualified by: (1) applying it only to teachers of core subjects; (2) allowing new middle or secondary school teachers to teach subjects for which they earned a college minor; (3) allowing greater consideration to be given to the time experienced teachers have spent teaching a subject; and (4) extending the deadline for rural teachers to meet such requirements. Provides additional funding for rural teacher recruitment, retention, and professional development activities. Allows state determinations of students' adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward state academic performance standards to: (1) assess disabled students at the instructional level most closely corresponding to their individualized education [...]

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A bill to improve the amendments made by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. 8/1/2007--Introduced. No Child Left Behind Enhancement Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to alter requirements for adequate yearly progress (AYP) assessments of student groups by: (1) lowering, from 95% to 90%, the minimum percentage of students in each group in a school that must take such assessments; (2) allowing the fractional counting of students who are in more than one group, for each such group; (3) allowing states to treat as proficient or advanced specified scores on alternate assessments for disabled students and those not proficient in English; and (4) allowing states to use alternative methods of defining AYP. Revises criteria for local educational agency (LEA) identification of schools needing improvement. Declares that only those meet such criteria that fail AYP standards, for two consecutive school years (as under current law), in the same subject [...]

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A bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to ensure that no child is left behind. 7/12/2007--Introduced. No Child Left Behind Act of 2007 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to revise programs created or amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and reauthorize them through FY2013. Permits states to: (1) use alternate academic achievement standards for disabled students; (2) incorporate student academic growth into calculations of adequate yearly progress (AYP); and (3) determine AYP for limited English proficient (LEP) students by excluding new arrivals and including former LEP students. Increases funds available for teaching, and developing enhanced assessments for, disabled and LEP children. Sets forth the method of calculating high school graduation rates, which shall factor into AYP determinations. Requires placing schools on academic alert status if they fail to make AYP for one year. Requires [...]

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To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide additional flexibility to State and local educational agencies to raise the academic achievement of all students. 6/6/2007--Introduced. State and Local Flexibility Improvement Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to give states and local education agencies (LEAs) greater flexibility in transferring federal funds among specified ESEA programs (relating to teachers, technology, safe and drug-free schools, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and innovative programs) and from such programs to their allotments under title I. Replaces the current State and Local Flexibility Demonstration under title VI of the ESEA with a program allowing states to enter five-year performance agreements with the Secretary of Education, and states to enter into performance agreements with LEAs, to: (1) waive statutory and regulatory requirements; (2) consolidate ESEA funds provided [...]

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To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to increase student access and participation in supplemental educational services, and for other purposes. 5/8/2007--Introduced. Improving Supplemental Education by Improving Parental Awareness Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require local educational agencies (LEAs) to make supplemental educational services (SES) available to needy students at the beginning of the school year following a school's identification as needing improvement for failing for two consecutive years to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward state academic performance standards. (Currently, such services are provided after an additional year of failure.) Expands the availability of school improvement funds for SES. Requires LEAs to: (1) provide parents with information concerning SES instructors; (2) choose SES providers using a fair, open, and objective process to operate at school sites for,[...]

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To improve the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and for other purposes. 5/1/2007--Introduced. No Child Left Behind Reform Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to allow states to include measures of individual or cohort growth over time in determining whether students are making adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward state academic performance standards. Eliminates the consideration of student attendance rates. Allows schools to be given credit for performing well on measures other than test scores when calculating student achievement. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award competitive: (1) grants to state educational agencies to develop or increase the capacity of data systems for accountability purposes; and (2) subgrants to increase the capacity of local educational agencies to upgrade, create, or manage information databases for the purpose of measuring AYP. Allows schools to target school choice and supplemental [...]

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A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 regarding highly qualified teachers, growth models, adequate yearly progress, Native American language programs, and parental involvement, and for other purposes. 4/26/2007--Introduced. School Accountability Improvements Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to exempt teachers who teach multiple subjects in certain small middle or secondary schools from being required to be highly qualified in each of their subjects if they: (1) are highly qualified in at least one; and (2) demonstrate highly effective teaching skills on a state performance assessment. Allows states to use a growth model in calculating whether students are making adequately yearly progress (AYP) toward state academic performance standards if the state plan ensures their attainment of proficiency within certain periods of time. Gives schools which are identified as needing improvement an extra year to [...]

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To amend part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 regarding adequate yearly progress and assessments. 4/26/2007--Introduced. Comprehensive Learning Assessment for Students and Schools (CLASS) Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to revise requirements affecting adequate yearly progress (AYP) assessments of students against state academic performance standards. Allows AYP longitudinal growth calculations and the averaging of school data in a manner designed to stabilize school-building results from year to year. Identifies a school as needing improvement, corrective action, or restructuring only on the basis of the unsatisfactory AYP of a particular group of students in the same academic subject for the requisite period of time. Requires multiple measures of student academic achievement. Requires academic achievement standards to calculate AYP within a continuum of achievement by children [...]

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