Sec. 1125. Blue ribbon schools; centers for excellence in early childhood
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Part A of title I ( 20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following: It is the purpose of this section to assist States and local educational agencies in identifying and rewarding high-performing public schools. Each State receiving a grant under subpart 2 may— define the category of blue ribbon schools, consistent with paragraph (2), for the State as part of its State plan in section 1111(b); and identify, for each school year, the schools in the State that are blue ribbon schools for such year.
If a State elects to carry out this subsection, the State’s blue ribbon schools shall consist of the highest 5 percent of the State's public elementary schools and secondary schools, as designated by the State based on— the percentage of proficient or advanced students, as determined under section 1111(a)(3)(B)(ii), in English or language arts, and mathematics; in the case of high schools, the school’s graduation rates; the performance of each category of students described in section 1111(a)(3)(D); the percentage of students who are meeting or exceeding the State student academic achievement standards or are achieving sufficient academic growth as described in section 1111(a)(3)(B)(iii); and school gains.
A school identified under subsection
(c)or
(d)of section 1116 for a year shall not be eligible for blue ribbon school status for the same year. Each State that defines and identifies blue ribbon schools under subsection (b)(1) for a school year may— provide each blue ribbon school in the State with increased autonomy over the school’s budget, staffing, and time; allow each blue ribbon school to have flexibility in the use of any funds provided to the school under this Act for any purpose allowed under this Act (notwithstanding any other provision of this Act), as long as such use is consistent with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ( 42 U.S.C. 12101 ), and part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; and reserve not more than .5 percent of the funds allotted to the State under subpart 2 and use such reserved amounts to distribute rewards, on a competitive basis, to local educational agencies that serve 1 or more blue ribbon schools identified under subsection
(b)that receive funds under subpart 2 to enable the local educational agencies to provide awards to such blue ribbon schools that receive funds under such subpart. As a condition of receiving an award from a local educational agency under this subsection, a blue ribbon school shall agree to use the award funds to— improve student achievement; and provide technical assistance to the lowest-achieving schools in the closest geographic region of the State to the blue ribbon school, in accordance with the State plan under section 1111(b)(1)(F). In this section, the term eligible early childhood education program means an early childhood education program, as defined in section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, that— serves young children from households that would be eligible to receive a free or reduced price lunch under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); is nominated, by the Governor of the State in which the program is located and through a competitive selection process, to be a center of excellence in early childhood under this section. The Secretary of Education, acting jointly with the Secretary of Health and Human Services as provided in paragraph (2), shall, subject to the availability of funds under section 3(b)(4), establish a program under which the Secretary shall— designate exemplary eligible early childhood education programs as centers of excellence in early childhood for the purposes of sharing best practices among early childhood education programs and to support or recognize the centers of excellence to improve the quality of care in programs in their local region; and award bonus grants to each center of excellence in early childhood, to enable the center to carry out the activities described in subsection (e). With respect to this section, the Secretary shall bear responsibility for obligating and disbursing funds and ensuring compliance with applicable laws and administrative requirements, subject to subparagraph (B). The Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall jointly administer activities supported under this subsection on such terms as such secretaries shall set forth in an interagency agreement. In order to be eligible to be designated as a center of excellence in early childhood under subsection (b), an eligible early childhood education program shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require. At a minimum, the application shall include— evidence that the eligible early childhood education program has significantly improved the school readiness, as determined by the Secretaries, of young children who have participated in the program; evidence that the eligible early childhood education program demonstrates improved child outcomes across all the essential domains of school readiness; evidence that the eligible early childhood education program has high staff qualifications that are designed to promote the social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development of children; an assurance that the eligible early childhood education program will develop a collaborative partnership with other providers of early childhood education in the local community involved to conduct activities under subsection (e); a nomination letter, from the Governor of the State in which the eligible early childhood education program is located, demonstrating the eligible early childhood education program's ability to— provide the coordination, transition, and training services of the activities proposed to be carried out under the bonus grant, including the coordination of such activities with State and local agencies that provide early childhood education and development to young children and families in the community served by the eligible early childhood education program; and carry out the activities described in subsection (e)(1); and a description of how the early childhood program, in order to expand accessibility and continuity of quality early childhood education and development services and programs, will coordinate activities under subsection
(e)with— programs serving children assisted under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 ( 42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq. ); the temporary assistance for needy families program funded under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 601 et seq. ); the block grants to State for social services program funded under subtitle A of title XX of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1397 et seq. ); child care programs supported directly through the Community Services Block Grant; the Head Start and Early Head Start programs carried out under Head Start Act; programs supported by grants under part I of title IV; other preschool programs supported under this title; programs carried out under section 619 and part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; State prekindergarten programs; programs that support parent and family engagement, including programs funded under section 1118 or, if applicable, grantees supported through parent and family information and resource center grants under part H of title IV; and other programs of early childhood education and development; and a description of how the early childhood education program, if selected as a center for excellence in early childhood, will work with the local educational agency of the area in which the program is located, to— provide for effective transitions between the program and elementary schools; and to facilitate ongoing communication between the program and elementary school teachers concerning young children participating in the program to improve the teachers' ability to work effectively with low-income, at-risk young children and their families. For each 5-year term described in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall— select and designate, as centers of excellence in early childhood, not less than 1 early childhood education program from each of the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and each of the outlying areas from which the Secretary has received applications; and award each center of excellence in early childhood a bonus grant for the 5-year term, subject to paragraph (2)(B). Subject to subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall designate each early childhood education program as a center of excellence in early childhood under paragraph
(1)for a 5-year term. During the period of that designation, the program shall receive a bonus grant under subsection (b). The Secretary may revoke a program’s grant and designation under subparagraph
(A)if the Secretary determines that the program has not made substantial progress in meeting the goals and objectives of the grant. Subject to the availability of appropriations, each bonus grant awarded under this subsection shall be in an amount of not less than $200,000 per year. In determining the amount of the bonus grant for a center of excellence in early childhood under this section, and subject to the requirements of subparagraph (A), the Secretary— shall give priority to centers that, through their applications, demonstrate that their programs are of exceptional quality and would serve as exemplary models for programs in the same geographic region; and may give consideration to— the populations served by the centers, such as centers that serve large proportions of young children who are English learners, children who are infants or toddlers with disabilities, as defined in 632 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, children with disabilities who are eligible for services under section 619 of such Act, homeless children, foster children, or children who receive child protective services, or young children of other underserved populations; and centers that do an exceptional job meeting the needs of young children in such populations. A center of excellence in early childhood that receives a bonus grant under this subsection shall— use not less than 15 percent of the funds made available through the grant to disseminate to other early childhood education programs in the State involved (including to early childhood education programs who serve young children who live on tribal lands or come from families who engage in seasonal or migrant work), best practices for achieving early academic success, including— best practices for achieving school readiness, including developing early literacy and mathematics skills; best practices for achieving the acquisition of the English language for English learners, if appropriate to the population served; best practices for providing high-quality comprehensive services, if applicable, for participating young children and their families; and best practices for facilitating the social and emotional development of children and young children; and use the remainder of such funds for not less than 2 of the following activities: In the case of a center of excellence that is a Head Start program, providing Head Start services to additional eligible young children. Extending the services of the center of excellence to provide full-day, full-week, or full-year care to young children served by the program, if appropriate to better meet the needs of working families in the community served by the center. Further coordinating early childhood education programs and services and social services available in the community served by the center for at-risk young children, their families, and pregnant women. Providing professional development for program instructional and support staff, including joint training for with child care providers, public preschool and elementary school teachers and school leaders, and other providers of early childhood education and development programs. Developing or maintaining partnerships with institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations, including community-based organizations, that recruit, train, place, and support postsecondary education students to serve as mentors and reading partners to preschool children in centers that serve such children. Carrying out other activities determined by the center to improve the overall quality of the center's early childhood education program and for which there is evidence that the activities will lead to improved safety, development, well-being, or school readiness of the young children served by the program. Sharing best practices concerning the transition of children into elementary school. Each center of excellence in early childhood that receives bonus grant funds under this section shall submit an annual report to the Secretary, at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may require, that contains a description of the activities the center carried out with funds received under this section, including a description of how such funds improved services for young children and families. From the funds made available to carry out this section, the Secretary may reserve not more than 1 percent of such funds to carry out the following activities: Supporting a research collaborative among the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services, and, as appropriate, other Federal entities, to support research on early learning that can inform improved State and other standards and licensing requirements and improved outcomes for young children, which collaborative shall— biennially prepare and publish for public comment a detailed research plan; support early learning research activities that could include determining— the characteristics of early learning programs that produce positive developmental outcomes for young children; the effects of program quality standards on child outcomes; the relationships between specific interventions and types of child and family outcomes; the effectiveness of early learning provider training in raising program quality and improving child outcomes; the effectiveness of professional development strategies in raising program quality and improving child outcomes; and how to improve the school readiness outcomes of young children who are English learners, children with special needs, and homeless children, including evaluation of professional development programs for working with such children; and disseminate relevant research findings and best practices. Evaluating barriers to improving the quality of early learning programs serving low-income young children, including evaluating barriers to successful interagency collaboration and coordination, by conducting a review of the statewide strategic reports developed by State Advisory Councils on Early Childhood Education and Care and other relevant reports, reporting the findings of such review to Congress, and disseminating relevant research findings and best practices. The Secretary is authorized to identify and recognize exemplary schools, programs, and individuals. Such recognitions may include— a Green Ribbon Schools program, such as the Green Ribbons School program carried out by the Secretary under section 5411(b)(5) as of the day before the date of enactment of the Strengthening America's Schools Act of 2013 , that recognizes excellence in reducing environmental impact, increasing health and wellness, and providing sustainability education; and an award program recognizing excellence exhibited by classified school employees in the public school system. .
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Sec. 1125
Blue ribbon schools; centers for excellence in early childhood
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