Part H - School Dropout Prevention

subpart 1 - coordinated national strategy

20 USC 6555 - National activities

(a) In general
The Secretary is authorized

(1) to collect systematic data on the effectiveness of the programs assisted under this part in reducing school dropout rates and increasing school reentry and secondary school graduation rates;

(2) to establish a national clearinghouse of information on effective school dropout prevention and reentry programs that shall disseminate to State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and schools

(A) the results of research on school dropout prevention and reentry; and

(B) information on effective programs, best practices, and Federal resources to

(i) reduce annual school dropout rates;

(ii) increase school reentry; and

(iii) increase secondary school graduation rates;

(3) to provide technical assistance to State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and schools in designing and implementing programs and securing resources to implement effective school dropout prevention and reentry programs;

(4) to establish and consult with an interagency working group that shall

(A) address inter- and intra-agency program coordination issues at the Federal level with respect to school dropout prevention and reentry, and assess the targeting of existing Federal services to students who are most at risk of dropping out of school, and the cost-effectiveness of various programs and approaches used to address school dropout prevention and reentry;

(B) describe the ways in which State educational agencies and local educational agencies can implement effective school dropout prevention and reentry programs using funds from a variety of Federal programs, including the programs under this part; and

(5) to carry out a national recognition program in accordance with subsection (b) of this section that recognizes schools that have made extraordinary progress in lowering school dropout rates; and

(6) to use funds made available for this subpart to carry out the evaluation required under section 6561i (c) of this title.

(b) Recognition program

(1) Establishment
The Secretary shall

(A) establish a national recognition program; and

(B) develop uniform national guidelines for the recognition program that shall be used to recognize eligible schools from nominations submitted by State educational agencies.

(2) Recognition
The Secretary shall recognize, under the recognition program established under paragraph (1), eligible schools.

(3) Support
The Secretary may make monetary awards to an eligible school recognized under this subsection in amounts determined appropriate by the Secretary that shall be used for dissemination activities within the eligible school district or nationally.

(4) Definition of eligible school
In this subsection, the term eligible school means a public middle school or secondary school, including a school">charter school, that has implemented comprehensive reforms that have been effective in lowering school dropout rates for all students

(A) in that secondary school or school">charter school; or

(B) in the case of a middle school, in the secondary school that the middle school feeds students into.

(1) In general
The Secretary, through a contract with one or more non-Federal entities, may conduct a capacity building and design initiative in order to increase the types of proven strategies for school dropout prevention and reentry that address the needs of an entire school population rather than a subset of students.

(2) Number and duration

(A) Number
The Secretary may award not more than five contracts under this subsection.

(B) Duration
The Secretary may award a contract under this subsection for a period of not more than 5 years.

(d) Support for existing reform networks

(1) In general
The Secretary may provide appropriate support to eligible entities to enable the eligible entities to provide training, materials, development, and staff assistance to schools assisted under this part.

(2) Definition of eligible entity
In this subsection, the term eligible entity means an entity that, prior to January 8, 2002

(A) provided training, technical assistance, and materials related to school dropout prevention or reentry to 100 or more elementary schools or secondary schools; and

(B) developed and published a specific educational program or design related to school dropout prevention or reentry for use by the schools.

subpart 2 - school dropout prevention initiative

20 USC 6561 - Definitions

In this subpart:

(1) Low-income student
The term low-income student means a student who is determined by a local educational agency to be from a low-income family using the measures described in section 6313 (c) of this title.

(2) State
The term State means each of the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs for purposes of serving schools funded by the Bureau.

20 USC 6561a - Program authorized

(a) Grants to State educational agencies and local educational agencies

(1) Amount less than $75,000,000

(A) In general
If the amount appropriated under section 6553 of this title for a fiscal year equals or is less than $75,000,000, then the Secretary shall use such amount to award grants, on a competitive basis, to

(i) State educational agencies to support activities

(I) in schools that

(aa) serve students in grades 6 through 12; and

(bb) have annual school dropout rates that are above the State average annual school dropout rate; or

(II) in the middle schools that feed students into the schools described in subclause (I); or

(ii) local educational agencies that operate

(I) schools that

(aa) serve students in grades 6 through 12; and

(bb) have annual school dropout rates that are above the State average annual school dropout rate; or

(II) middle schools that feed students into the schools described in subclause (I).

(B) Use of grant funds
Grant funds awarded under this paragraph shall be used to fund effective, sustainable, and coordinated school dropout prevention and reentry programs that may include the activities described in subsection (b)(2) of this section, in

(i) schools serving students in grades 6 through 12 that have annual school dropout rates that are above the State average annual school dropout rate; or

(ii) the middle schools that feed students into the schools described in clause (i).

(2) Amount less than $250,000,000 but more than $75,000,000
If the amount appropriated under section 6553 of this title for a fiscal year is less than $250,000,000 but more than $75,000,000, then the Secretary shall use such amount to award grants, on a competitive basis, to State educational agencies to enable the State educational agencies to award subgrants under subsection (b) of this section.

(3) Amount equal to or exceeds $250,000,000
If the amount appropriated under section 6553 of this title for a fiscal year equals or exceeds $250,000,000, then the Secretary shall use such amount to award a grant to each State educational agency in an amount that bears the same relation to such appropriated amount as the amount the State educational agency received under part A of this subchapter for the preceding fiscal year bears to the amount received by all State educational agencies under such part for the preceding fiscal year, to enable the State educational agency to award subgrants under subsection (b) of this section.

(b) Subgrants to local educational agencies

(1) In general
From amounts made available to a State educational agency under paragraph (2) or (3) of subsection (a) of this section, the State educational agency shall award subgrants, on a competitive basis, to local educational agencies that operate public schools that serve students in grades 6 through 12 and that have annual school dropout rates that are above the State average annual school dropout rate, to enable those schools, or the middle schools that feed students into those schools, to implement effective, sustainable, and coordinated school dropout prevention and reentry programs that involve activities such as

(A) professional development;

(B) obtaining curricular materials;

(D) planning and research;

(E) remedial education;

(F) reduction in pupil-to-teacher ratios;

(G) efforts to meet State student academic achievement standards;

(H) counseling and mentoring for at-risk students;

(I) implementing comprehensive school reform models, such as creating smaller learning communities; and

(J) school reentry activities.

(2) Amount
Subject to paragraph (3), a subgrant under this subpart shall be awarded

(A) in the first year that a local educational agency receives a subgrant payment under this subpart, in an amount that is based on factors such as

(i) the size of schools operated by the local educational agency;

(ii) costs of the model or set of prevention and reentry strategies being implemented; and

(iii) local cost factors such as poverty rates;

(B) in the second year, in an amount that is not less than 75 percent of the amount the local educational agency received under this subpart in the first such year;

(C) in the third year, in an amount that is not less than 50 percent of the amount the local educational agency received under this subpart in the first such year; and

(D) in each succeeding year, in an amount that is not less than 30 percent of the amount the local educational agency received under this subpart in the first year.

(3) Duration
A subgrant under this subpart shall be awarded for a period of 3 years, and may be continued for a period of 2 additional years if the State educational agency determines, based on the annual reports described in section 6561i (a) of this title, that significant progress has been made in lowering the annual school dropout rate for secondary schools participating in the program assisted under this subpart.

20 USC 6561b - Applications

(a) In general
To receive

(1) a grant under this subpart, a State educational agency or local educational agency shall submit an application and plan to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the Secretary may reasonably require; and

(2) a subgrant under this subpart, a local educational agency shall submit an application and plan to the State educational agency at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the State educational agency may reasonably require.

(b) Contents

(1) State educational agency and local educational agency
Each application and plan submitted under subsection (a) of this section shall

(A) include an outline

(i) of the State educational agencys or local educational agencys strategy for reducing the State educational agency or local educational agencys annual school dropout rate;

(ii) for targeting secondary schools, and the middle schools that feed students into those secondary schools, that have the highest annual school dropout rates; and

(iii) for assessing the effectiveness of the efforts described in the plan;

(B) contain an identification of the schools in the State or operated by the local educational agency that have annual school dropout rates that are greater than the average annual school dropout rate for the State;

(C) describe the instructional strategies to be implemented, how the strategies will serve all students, and the effectiveness of the strategies;

(D) describe a budget and timeline for implementing the strategies;

(E) contain evidence of coordination with existing resources;

(F) provide an assurance that funds provided under this subpart will supplement, and not supplant, other State and local funds available for school dropout prevention and reentry programs; and

(G) describe how the activities to be assisted conform with research knowledge about school dropout prevention and reentry.

(2) Local educational agency
Each application and plan submitted under subsection (a) of this section by a local educational agency shall contain, in addition to the requirements of paragraph (1)

(A) an assurance that the local educational agency is committed to providing ongoing operational support for such schools to address the problem of school dropouts for a period of 5 years; and

(B) an assurance that the local educational agency will support the plan, including

(i) provision of release time for teacher training;

(ii) efforts to coordinate activities for secondary schools and the middle schools that feed students into those secondary schools; and

(iii) encouraging other schools served by the local educational agency to participate in the plan.

20 USC 6561c - State reservation

A State educational agency that receives a grant under paragraph (2) or (3) of section 6561a (a) of this title may reserve not more than 5 percent of the grant funds for administrative costs and State activities related to school dropout prevention and reentry activities, of which not more than 2 percent of the grant funds may be used for administrative costs.

20 USC 6561d - Strategies and capacity building

Each local educational agency receiving a grant or subgrant under this subpart and each State educational agency receiving a grant under this subpart shall implement scientifically based, sustainable, and widely replicated strategies for school dropout prevention and reentry. The strategies may include

(1) specific strategies for targeted purposes, such as

(A) effective early intervention programs designed to identify at-risk students;

(B) effective programs serving at-risk students, including racial and ethnic minorities and pregnant and parenting teenagers, designed to prevent such students from dropping out of school; and

(C) effective programs to identify and encourage youth who have already dropped out of school to reenter school and complete their secondary education; and

(2) approaches such as breaking larger schools down into smaller learning communities and other comprehensive reform approaches, creating alternative school programs, and developing clear linkages to career skills and employment.

20 USC 6561e - Selection of local educational agencies for subgrants

(a) State educational agency review and award
The State educational agency shall review applications submitted under section 6561b (a)(2) of this title and award subgrants to local educational agencies with the assistance and advice of a panel of experts on school dropout prevention and reentry.

(b) Eligibility
A local educational agency is eligible to receive a subgrant under this subpart if the local educational agency operates a school">public school (including a public alternative school)

(1) that is eligible to receive assistance under part A of this subchapter; and

(2)

(A) that serves students 50 percent or more of whom are low-income students; or

(B) in which a majority of the students come from feeder schools that serve students 50 percent or more of whom are low-income students.

20 USC 6561f - Community based organizations

A local educational agency that receives a grant or subgrant under this subpart and a State educational agency that receives a grant under this subpart may use the funds to secure necessary services from a community-based organization or other government agency if the funds are used to provide school dropout prevention and reentry activities related to schoolwide efforts.

20 USC 6561g - Technical assistance

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each local educational agency that receives funds under this subpart shall use the funds to provide technical assistance to secondary schools served by the agency that have not made progress toward lowering annual school dropout rates after receiving assistance under this subpart for 2 fiscal years.

20 USC 6561h - School dropout rate calculation

For purposes of calculating an annual school dropout rate under this subpart, a school shall use the annual event school dropout rate for students leaving a school in a single year determined in accordance with the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data.

20 USC 6561i - Reporting and accountability

(a) Local educational agency reports

(1) In general
To receive funds under this subpart for a fiscal year after the first fiscal year that a local educational agency receives funds under this subpart, the local educational agency shall provide, on an annual basis, a report regarding the status of the implementation of activities funded under this subpart, and the dropout data for students at schools assisted under this subpart, disaggregated by race and ethnicity, to the

(A) Secretary, if the local educational agency receives a grant under section 6561a (a)(1) of this title; or

(B) State educational agency, if the local educational agency receives a subgrant under paragraph (2) or (3) of section 6561a (a) of this title.

(2) Dropout data
The dropout data under paragraph (1) shall include annual school dropout rates for each fiscal year, starting with the 2 fiscal years before the local educational agency received funds under this subpart.

(b) State report on program activities
Each State educational agency receiving funds under this subpart shall provide to the Secretary, at such time and in such format as the Secretary may require, information on the status of the implementation of activities funded under this subpart and outcome data for students in schools assisted under this subpart.

(c) Accountability
The Secretary shall evaluate the effect of the activities assisted under this subpart on school dropout prevention compared, if feasible, to a control group using control procedures. The Secretary may use funds appropriated for subpart 1 of this part to carry out this evaluation.

20 USC 6551 - Short title

This part may be cited as the Dropout Prevention Act.

20 USC 6552 - Purpose

The purpose of this part is to provide for school dropout prevention and reentry and to raise academic achievement levels by providing grants that

(1) challenge all children to attain their highest academic potential; and

(2) ensure that all students have substantial and ongoing opportunities to attain their highest academic potential through schoolwide programs proven effective in school dropout prevention and reentry.

20 USC 6553 - Authorization of appropriations

For the purpose of carrying out this part, there are authorized to be appropriated $125,000,000 for fiscal year 2002 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years, of which

(1) 10 percent shall be available to carry out subpart 1 of this part for each fiscal year; and

(2) 90 percent shall be available to carry out subpart 2 of this part for each fiscal year.