Advanced Coursework Equity Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1305 To promote equity in advanced coursework and programs at elementary and secondary schools. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 22, 2021 Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. BROWN, Ms. SMITH, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To promote equity in advanced coursework and programs at elementary and secondary schools. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Advanced Coursework 4 Equity Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 6 The purposes of this Act are— 7 (1) to expand access to advanced courses and 8 programs at under-resourced elementary and sec- 9 ondary schools; 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1305.IS S1305 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1305 IS (2) to advance equitable enrollment practices, 1 so that all students who are ready to engage in more 2 rigorous coursework can benefit from advanced 3 courses and programs; and 4 (3) to equip dramatically more students, espe- 5 cially students from historically underrepresented 6 groups, with the twenty-first century skills needed to 7 succeed in college and a competitive global work- 8 force. 9 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 10 Congress finds the following: 11 (1) Black, Latino, and Native American stu- 12 dents, students with disabilities, and students from 13 low-income families are underrepresented in ad- 14 vanced programs and courses. 15 (2) While 1 in 10 students in schools in the 16 United States participate in the Advanced Place- 17 ment (AP) program, just over 1 in 20 low-income, 18 Black, and Native American students participate in 19 Advanced Placement, and fewer than 1 in 50 stu- 20 dents with disabilities participate. 21 (3) Taking the mathematics course Algebra I in 22 grade 8 is necessary for most students to be on 23 track for enrolling in advanced courses, such as Cal- 24 culus, in high school, however, Black students are 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1305.IS S1305 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1305 IS half as likely as white students to take Algebra I in 1 grade 8. If Black and Latino students had a fair op- 2 portunity to participate in eighth grade Algebra I 3 across the country, schools would enroll an addi- 4 tional 43,019 Black students and 59,452 Latino stu- 5 dents in eighth grade Algebra I courses. The De- 6 partment of Education reported that in the 2015– 7 2016 school year, only 48 percent of schools with 8 high concentrations of English learners offered Alge- 9 bra I compared with 70 percent of schools with low 10 concentrations of English learner students. In the 11 same year, just 2 percent of English learner stu- 12 dents nationwide were enrolled in Algebra I in grade 13 8. 14 (4) A low-income student with reading and 15 math achievement levels equal to those of a high-in- 16 come student is half as likely to receive gifted serv- 17 ices as the high-income student. Black students are 18 approximately half as likely as white peers with the 19 same mathematics and reading achievement levels to 20 be referred to gifted services. 21 (5) A major barrier for Black and Latino stu- 22 dents and students with disabilities to access ad- 23 vanced courses and programs is the over-reliance on 24 subjective criteria, such as the recommendation of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1305.IS S1305 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1305 IS teachers and counselors, in the advanced course ad- 1 mittance process. When Denver Public Schools im- 2 plemented universal screening for gifted and talented 3 programs, Latino students were identified for the 4 program at twice the rate as the year before. 5 (6) Just 1 in 12 students in the United States 6 scored in the top 2 proficiency levels on the 2018 7 PISA math assessment. This is below the 8 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Devel- 9 opment (OECD) average and less than half the rate 10 of South Korea, Japan, and Switzerland. 11 (7) Public elementary schools and secondary 12 schools face a $305,000,000,000 budget shortfall 13 due to COVID–19 related tax revenue decreases and 14 new COVID–19 related expenses. As school districts 15 prepare to make drastic cuts to educational pro- 16 gramming, access to advanced coursework and pro- 17 grams is in jeopardy for millions of students, espe- 18 cially students from underrepresented groups and 19 students attending under-resourced schools. Addi- 20 tional funding and reforms are needed to maintain 21 and expand access to advanced coursework and pro- 22 grams, especially for marginalized students in com- 23 munities hit hardest by the COVID–19 pandemic. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1305.IS S1305 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1305 IS SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) TERMS FROM THE ELEMENTARY AND SEC- 3 ONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.—The terms 4 ‘‘early college high school’’, ‘‘elementary school’’, 5 ‘‘English learner’’, ‘‘gifted and talented’’, ‘‘institu- 6 tion of higher education’’, ‘‘parent’’, ‘‘school leader’’, 7 ‘‘secondary school’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ 8 have the meaning given those terms in section 8101 9 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 10 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 11 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 12 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 13 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 14 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801), 15 and includes a public charter school that is a local 16 educational agency. 17 (3) OPEN ENROLLMENT.—The term ‘‘open en- 18 rollment’’ means an enrollment mechanism through 19 which any student that chooses to enroll in an ad- 20 vanced course or program is allowed to do so, with- 21 out regard to previous academic performance or test 22 scores. 23 (4) SUBGROUP OF STUDENTS.—The term ‘‘sub- 24 group of students’’ has the meaning given that term 25 in section 1111(c)(2) of the Elementary and Sec- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1305.IS S1305 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1305 IS ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1 6311(c)(2)). 2 (5) UNIVERSAL ENROLLMENT.—The term ‘‘uni- 3 versal enrollment’’ means an enrollment mechanism 4 through which all students are automatically en- 5 rolled in an advanced course or program for a par- 6 ticular subject, without regard to previous academic 7 performance or test scores. A parent may choose to 8 opt out a student from enrolling in one or more ad- 9 vanced courses or programs. 10 (6) UNIVERSAL SCREENING.—The term ‘‘uni- 11 versal screening’’ means an enrollment mechanism 12 through which all students in a grade are screened 13 for enrollment in advanced courses and programs. 14 Students that are determined to be qualified for ad- 15 vanced courses or programs are automatically en- 16 rolled in those courses or programs, unless a parent 17 chooses to opt out a student. The determination of 18 which students are qualified for advanced courses or 19 programs— 20 (A) shall be made after consideration of 21 not less than 2 objective assessments (except 22 that a student may qualify based on only 1 23 such assessment)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1305.IS S1305 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1305 IS (i) that are combined in a reasoned 1 way that is not biased against any par- 2 ticular subgroup of students; 3 (ii) that provide appropriate accom- 4 modations for students with disabilities; 5 (iii) that may be administered not ex- 6 plicitly for the primary purpose of deter- 7 mining enrollment in an advanced course 8 or program (such as through a statewide 9 exam that all students in a grade will 10 take), so long as students with disabilities 11 have equal access to the assessment and 12 are provided appropriate accommodations 13 in accordance with the Individuals with 14 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 15 1400 et seq.) and section 504 of the Reha- 16 bilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794); 17 and 18 (iv) that may include— 19 (I) a standardized assessment 20 that provides appropriate accommoda- 21 tions for students with disabilities in 22 accordance with the Individuals with 23 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 24 1400 et seq.) and section 504 of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1305.IS S1305 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1305 IS Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 1 794); 2 (II) a statewide, districtwide, or 3 schoolwide assessment; or 4 (III) grades from relevant 5 courses, a portfolio of relevant work, 6 or class ranking; and 7 (B) may be partially based upon a subjec- 8 tive measure (such as a teacher’s recommenda- 9 tion) in addition to the required 2 objective 10 measures. 11 SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 13 (1) conduct 3 separate grant programs, by— 14 (A) awarding not less than 80 percent of 15 the amounts authorized to be appropriated 16 under section 9 to State educational agencies to 17 allow those State educational agencies to award 18 subgrants to participating local educational 19 agencies, including public charter schools, to en- 20 able those local educational agencies to carry 21 out the activities described in section 7; 22 (B) awarding not less than 15 percent of 23 the amounts authorized to be appropriated 24 under section 9 to participating local edu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1305.IS S1305 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1305 IS cational agencies to allow those local edu- 1 cational agencies to carry out the activities de- 2 scribed in section 7; and 3 (C) awarding not more than 4 percent of 4 the amounts authorized to be appropriated 5 under section 9 to a nonprofit institution of 6 higher education or other nonprofit entity that 7 has a demonstrated record of effectiveness in 8 delivering or designing advanced coursework or 9 programs (such as by previously executing a 10 successful project that was part of the Jacob K. 11 Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education 12 Program under section 4644 of the Elementary 13 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 14 U.S.C. 7294)), to enable that institution or en- 15 tity to provide services to students in rural 16 areas and students who otherwise lack access to 17 advanced courses or programs; and 18 (2) reserve not more than 1 percent of the 19 amounts authorized to be appropriated under section 20 9 for the Department of Education to administer the 21 program under this Act, provide technical assistance 22 to grantees, evaluate grantees’ performance (as re- 23 quired by this Act), and disseminate information 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1305.IS S1305 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1305 IS about findings and best practices related to the ac- 1 tivities authorized under this Act. 2 (b) APPLICATION.— 3 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—A State 4 educational agency desiring to receive a grant under 5 subsection (a)(1)(A) shall submit an application to 6 the Secretary during the first year of the 3-year 7 grant cycle, and at such time and in such manner 8 as the Secretary may require. The application shall 9 include the following: 10 (A) An assurance that memoranda of un- 11 derstanding, as described in section 6(c), have 12 been executed between the State educational 13 agency and not less than 50 percent of the local 14 educational agencies in the State, representing 15 not less than 50 percent of all students in the 16 State, to participate in the grant program and 17 fulfill the program obligations. 18 (B) A list of the participating local edu- 19 cational agencies that have executed such 20 memoranda, and the percentage of the State’s 21 public school students who are served by those 22 local educational agencies. 23 (C) A plan for supporting participating 24 local educational agencies with implementing 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1305.IS S1305 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1305 IS open enrollment, universal enrollment, or uni- 1 versal screening for all advanced courses or pro- 2 grams offered by the local educational agency. 3 (D) A plan to assemble a statewide advi- 4 sory council of students from underrepresented 5 subgroups of students, and parents or guard- 6 ians of students from those subgroups, with at 7 least 2 members of each subgroup of students. 8 The plan shall explain how the council will be 9 involved in the State educational agency’s im- 10 plementation of the grant, as well as oversight 11 and evaluation of the grant. 12 (E) A plan for supporting participating 13 local educational agencies in collecting and re- 14 porting data about advanced coursework enroll- 15 ment and student performance data, including 16 data disaggregated and cross-tabulated by race 17 and ethnicity, sex, disability status, socio- 18 economic status, and status as an English 19 learner. 20 (F) A description of ambitious 3-year en- 21 rollment and performance goals for each sub- 22 group of students, and intermediate annual tar- 23 gets for each subgroup of students, to bridge 24 statewide inequities (according to race and eth- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1305.IS S1305 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1305 IS nicity, sex, disability status, socioeconomic sta- 1 tus, and status as an English learner) in ad- 2 vanced coursework or program participation 3 and performance. 4 (G) A proposed budget for how the State 5 educational agency will spend funding awarded 6 through the grant. 7 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—A local 8 educational agency desiring to receive a grant under 9 subsection (a)(1)(B) shall be eligible to apply for a 10 grant if the local educational agency is not also seek- 11 ing a subgrant from a State educational agency that 12 receives a grant under this Act. A local educational 13 agency shall submit an application to the Secretary 14 at such time and in such manner as the Secretary 15 may require. The application shal [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]