Advanced Coursework Equity Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2765 To promote equity in advanced coursework and programs at elementary and secondary schools. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 22, 2021 Mr. CASTRO of Texas (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Mr. ESPAILLAT) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu- cation and Labor 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 23:07 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2765 IH (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 23:07 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2765 IH half as likely as White students to take Algebra I in 1 grade 8. 2 (4) A low-income student with reading and 3 math achievement levels equal to those of a high-in- 4 come student is half as likely to receive gifted serv- 5 ices as the high-income student. Black students are 6 approximately half as likely as White peers with the 7 same mathematics and reading achievement levels to 8 be referred to gifted services. 9 (5) A major barrier for Black and Latino stu- 10 dents and students with disabilities to access ad- 11 vanced courses and programs is the over-reliance on 12 subjective criteria, such as the recommendation of 13 teachers and counselors, in the advanced course ad- 14 mittance process. When Denver Public Schools im- 15 plemented universal screening for gifted and talented 16 programs, Latino students were identified for the 17 program at twice the rate as the year before. 18 (6) Just 1 in 12 students in the United States 19 scored in the top 2 proficiency levels on the 2018 20 PISA math assessment. This is below the 21 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Devel- 22 opment (OECD) average and less than half the rate 23 of South Korea, Japan, and Switzerland. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2765 IH (7) Public elementary schools and secondary 1 schools face a $305,000,000,000 budget shortfall 2 due to COVID-19 related tax revenue decreases and 3 new COVID-19 related expenses. As school districts 4 prepare to make drastic cuts to educational pro- 5 gramming, access to advanced coursework and pro- 6 grams is in jeopardy for millions of students, espe- 7 cially students from underrepresented groups and 8 students attending under-resourced schools. Addi- 9 tional funding and reforms are needed to maintain 10 and expand access to advanced coursework and pro- 11 grams, especially for marginalized students in com- 12 munities hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. 13 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 14 In this Act: 15 (1) TERMS FROM THE ELEMENTARY AND SEC- 16 ONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.—The terms 17 ‘‘early college high school’’, ‘‘elementary school’’, 18 ‘‘English learner’’, ‘‘gifted and talented’’, ‘‘institu- 19 tion of higher education’’, ‘‘parent’’, ‘‘school leader’’, 20 ‘‘secondary school’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ 21 have the meaning given those terms in section 8101 22 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 23 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2765 IH (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 1 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 2 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 3 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801), 4 and includes a public charter school that is a local 5 educational agency. 6 (3) OPEN ENROLLMENT.—The term ‘‘open en- 7 rollment’’ means an enrollment mechanism through 8 which any student that chooses to enroll in an ad- 9 vanced course or program is allowed to do so, with- 10 out regard to previous academic performance or test 11 scores. 12 (4) SUBGROUP OF STUDENTS.—The term ‘‘sub- 13 group of students’’ has the meaning given that term 14 in section 1111(c)(2) of the Elementary and Sec- 15 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 16 6311(c)(2)). 17 (5) UNIVERSAL ENROLLMENT.—The term ‘‘uni- 18 versal enrollment’’ means an enrollment mechanism 19 through which all students are automatically en- 20 rolled in an advanced course or program for a par- 21 ticular subject, without regard to previous academic 22 performance or test scores. A parent may choose to 23 opt out a student from enrolling in one or more ad- 24 vanced courses or programs. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2765 IH (6) UNIVERSAL SCREENING.—The term ‘‘uni- 1 versal screening’’ means an enrollment mechanism 2 through which all students in a grade are screened 3 for enrollment in advanced courses and programs. 4 Students that are determined to be qualified for ad- 5 vanced courses or programs are automatically en- 6 rolled in those courses or programs, unless a parent 7 chooses to opt out a student. The determination of 8 which students are qualified for advanced courses or 9 programs— 10 (A) shall be made after consideration of 11 not less than 2 objective assessments (except 12 that a student may qualify based on only 1 13 such assessment)— 14 (i) that are combined in a reasoned 15 way that is not biased against any par- 16 ticular subgroup of students; 17 (ii) that provide appropriate accom- 18 modations for students with disabilities; 19 (iii) that may be administered not ex- 20 plicitly for the primary purpose of deter- 21 mining enrollment in an advanced course 22 or program (such as through a statewide 23 exam that all students in a grade will 24 take), so long as students with disabilities 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2765 IH have equal access to the assessment and 1 are provided appropriate accommodations 2 in accordance with the Individuals with 3 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 4 1400 et seq.) and section 504 of the Reha- 5 bilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794); 6 and 7 (iv) that may include— 8 (I) a standardized assessment 9 that provides appropriate accommoda- 10 tions for students with disabilities in 11 accordance with the Individuals with 12 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 13 1400 et seq.) and section 504 of the 14 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 15 794); 16 (II) a statewide, districtwide, or 17 schoolwide assessment; or 18 (III) grades from relevant 19 courses, a portfolio of relevant work, 20 or class ranking; and 21 (B) may be partially based upon a subjec- 22 tive measure (such as a teacher’s recommenda- 23 tion) in addition to the required 2 objective 24 measures. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2765 IH SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 2 (1) conduct 3 separate grant programs, by— 3 (A) awarding not less than 80 percent of 4 the amounts authorized to be appropriated 5 under section 9 to State educational agencies to 6 allow those State educational agencies to award 7 subgrants to participating local educational 8 agencies, including public charter schools, to en- 9 able those local educational agencies to carry 10 out the activities described in section 7; 11 (B) awarding not less than 15 percent of 12 the amounts authorized to be appropriated 13 under section 9 to participating local edu- 14 cational agencies to allow those local edu- 15 cational agencies to carry out the activities de- 16 scribed in section 7; and 17 (C) awarding not more than 4 percent of 18 the amounts authorized to be appropriated 19 under section 9 to a nonprofit institution of 20 higher education or other nonprofit entity that 21 has a demonstrated record of effectiveness in 22 delivering or designing advanced coursework or 23 programs (such as by previously executing a 24 successful project that was part of the Jacob K. 25 Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2765 IH Program under section 4644 of the Elementary 1 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 2 U.S.C. 7294)), to enable that institution or en- 3 tity to provide services to students in rural 4 areas and students who otherwise lack access to 5 advanced courses or programs; and 6 (2) reserve not more than 1 percent of the 7 amounts authorized to be appropriated under section 8 9 for the Department of Education to administer the 9 program under this Act, provide technical assistance 10 to grantees, evaluate grantees’ performance (as re- 11 quired by this Act), and disseminate information 12 about findings and best practices related to the ac- 13 tivities authorized under this Act. 14 (b) APPLICATION.— 15 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—A State 16 educational agency desiring to receive a grant under 17 subsection (a)(1)(A) shall submit an application to 18 the Secretary during the first year of the 3-year 19 grant cycle, and at such time and in such manner 20 as the Secretary may require. The application shall 21 include the following: 22 (A) An assurance that memoranda of un- 23 derstanding, as described in section 6(b), have 24 been executed between the State educational 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2765 IH agency and not less than 50 percent of the local 1 educational agencies in the State, representing 2 not less than 50 percent of all students in the 3 State, to participate in the grant program and 4 fulfill the program obligations. 5 (B) A list of the participating local edu- 6 cational agencies that have executed such 7 memoranda, and the percentage of the State’s 8 public school students who are served by those 9 local educational agencies. 10 (C) A plan for supporting participating 11 local educational agencies with implementing 12 open enrollment, universal enrollment, or uni- 13 versal screening for all advanced courses or pro- 14 grams offered by the local educational agency. 15 (D) A plan to assemble a statewide advi- 16 sory council of students from underrepresented 17 subgroups of students, and parents or guard- 18 ians of students from those subgroups, with at 19 least 2 members of each subgroup of students. 20 The plan shall explain how the council will be 21 involved in the State educational agency’s im- 22 plementation of the grant, as well as oversight 23 and evaluation of the grant. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2765 IH (E) A plan for supporting participating 1 local educational agencies in collecting and re- 2 porting data about advanced coursework enroll- 3 ment and student performance data, including 4 data disaggregated and cross-tabulated by race 5 and ethnicity, sex, disability status, socio- 6 economic status, and status as an English 7 learner. 8 (F) A description of ambitious 3-year en- 9 rollment and performance goals for each sub- 10 group of students, and intermediate annual tar- 11 gets for each subgroup of students, to bridge 12 statewide inequities (according to race and eth- 13 nicity, sex, disability status, socioeconomic sta- 14 tus, and status as an English learner) in ad- 15 vanced coursework or program participation 16 and performance. 17 (G) A proposed budget for how the State 18 educational agency will spend funding awarded 19 through the grant. 20 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—A local 21 educational agency desiring to receive a grant under 22 subsection (a)(1)(B) shall be eligible to apply for a 23 grant if the local educational agency is not also seek- 24 ing a subgrant from a State educational agency that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2765.IH H2765 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2765 IH receives a grant under this Act. A local educational 1 agency shall submit an application to the Secretary 2 at such time and in such manner as the Secretary 3 may require. The application shall include the fol- 4 lowing: 5 (A) An assurance that— 6 (i) the local educational agency is not 7 also seeking a subgrant from a State edu- 8 cational agency that receives a grant under 9 this Act during the applicable grant cycle; 10 and 11 (ii) the local educational agency has a 12 high student poverty ratio (as measured by 13 comparing the number of students meeting 14 at least one measure of poverty described 15 in section 1113(a)(5) of the Elementary 16 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 17 U.S.C. 6313(a)(5)) to the total number of 18 students in the school). 19 (B) A description of the enrollment mecha- 20 nism [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]