Sec. 2. Purposes; Rule of Construction
338 words·~2 min read·
/bill/117/hr/1814/ih/section-2A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The purposes of this Act are— to support local educational agencies, elementary schools, and secondary schools in selecting and making available to all students innovative, engaging curricula and programs in civics and history that prepare them to understand American Government and engage in American democratic practices as citizens and residents of the United States; to provide resources to institutions of higher education for the purposes of offering effective professional development opportunities to enable and encourage teachers to deliver instruction that engages students in learning civics and history; to provide resources to nonprofit organizations that have developed, or are developing, programs in civic education that incorporate practices that are proven to be effective in engaging students, and to assist in making such curricula and programs more widely available to schools and students, particularly in rural and inner-city urban areas that have traditionally been underserved by civic learning programs; to provide resources to continue and expand research into practices, methods, and approaches that are effective in instructing elementary and secondary school students in civics and history; and to diversify the civics, history, and government education workforce by offering targeted incentives and honoring those who commit to the profession; to encourage participation in the National Assessment of Educational Progress assessments in civics and history in grades 4, 8, and 12, using a methodology sufficient to provide accurate State-level data on student proficiency in civics and history disaggregated so as to have statistical significance for every State; to reauthorize and modernize the existing Federal civics education grant program for institutions of higher education, including by strengthening academic independence and supporting partnerships between academic centers and local educational agencies; and to strengthen and make independently sustainable the Harry S.
Truman Scholarship Foundation Trust Fund and the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Trust Fund, which respectively support exceptional Americans who aspire to careers in public service and as secondary school history, government, and civics educators. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize the Secretary of Education to prescribe a civics and history curriculum.