§ 6312. Local educational agency plans

(a) Plans required

(1) Subgrants

A local educational agency may receive a subgrant under this part for any fiscal year only if such agency has on file with the State educational agency a plan, approved by the State educational agency, that is coordinated with other programs under this chapter, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.], the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 [20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.], the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act [42 U.S.C. 11301 et seq.], and other Acts, as appropriate.

(2) Consolidated application

The plan may be submitted as part of a consolidated application under section 7845 of this title.

(b) Plan provisions

(1) In general

In order to help low-achieving children meet challenging achievement academic standards, each local educational agency plan shall include—

(A) a description of high-quality student academic assessments, if any, that are in addition to the academic assessments described in the State plan under section 6311 (b)(3) of this title, that the local educational agency and schools served under this part will use—

(i) to determine the success of children served under this part in meeting the State student academic achievement standards, and to provide information to teachers, parents, and students on the progress being made toward meeting the State student academic achievement standards described in section 6311 (b)(1)(D)(ii) of this title;

(ii) to assist in diagnosis, teaching, and learning in the classroom in ways that best enable low-achieving children served under this part to meet State student achievement academic standards and do well in the local curriculum;

(iii) to determine what revisions are needed to projects under this part so that such children meet the State student academic achievement standards; and

(iv) to identify effectively students who may be at risk for reading failure or who are having difficulty reading, through the use of screening, diagnostic, and classroom-based instructional reading assessments, as defined under section 6368 of this title;

(B) at the local educational agency’s discretion, a description of any other indicators that will be used in addition to the academic indicators described in section 6311 of this title for the uses described in such section;

(C) a description of how the local educational agency will provide additional educational assistance to individual students assessed as needing help in meeting the State’s challenging student academic achievement standards;

(D) a description of the strategy the local educational agency will use to coordinate programs under this part with programs under subchapter II of this chapter to provide professional development for teachers and principals, and, if appropriate, pupil services personnel, administrators, parents and other staff, including local educational agency level staff in accordance with sections 6318 and 6319 of this title;

(E) a description of how the local educational agency will coordinate and integrate services provided under this part with other educational services at the local educational agency or individual school level, such as—

(i) Even Start, Head Start, Reading First, Early Reading First, and other preschool programs, including plans for the transition of participants in such programs to local elementary school programs; and

(ii) services for children with limited English proficiency, children with disabilities, migratory children, neglected or delinquent youth, Indian children served under part A of subchapter VII of this chapter, homeless children, and immigrant children in order to increase program effectiveness, eliminate duplication, and reduce fragmentation of the instructional program;

(F) an assurance that the local educational agency will participate, if selected, in the State National Assessment of Educational Progress in 4th and 8th grade reading and mathematics carried out under section 9622 (b)(2) of this title;

(G) a description of the poverty criteria that will be used to select school attendance areas under section 6313 of this title;

(H) a description of how teachers, in consultation with parents, administrators, and pupil services personnel, in targeted assistance schools under section 6315 of this title, will identify the eligible children most in need of services under this part;

(I) a general description of the nature of the programs to be conducted by such agency’s schools under sections 6314 and 6315 of this title and, where appropriate, educational services outside such schools for children living in local institutions for neglected or delinquent children, and for neglected and delinquent children in community day school programs;

(J) a description of how the local educational agency will ensure that migratory children and formerly migratory children who are eligible to receive services under this part are selected to receive such services on the same basis as other children who are selected to receive services under this part;

(K) if appropriate, a description of how the local educational agency will use funds under this part to support preschool programs for children, particularly children participating in Early Reading First, or in a Head Start or Even Start program, which services may be provided directly by the local educational agency or through a subcontract with the local Head Start agency designated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 9836 of title 42, or an agency operating an Even Start program, an Early Reading First program, or another comparable public early childhood development program;

(L) a description of the actions the local educational agency will take to assist its low-achieving schools identified under section 6316 of this title as in need of improvement;

(M) a description of the actions the local educational agency will take to implement public school choice and supplemental services, consistent with the requirements of section 6316 of this title;

(N) a description of how the local educational agency will meet the requirements of section 6319 of this title;

(O) a description of the services the local educational agency will provide homeless children, including services provided with funds reserved under section 6313 (c)(3)(A) of this title;

(P) a description of the strategy the local educational agency will use to implement effective parental involvement under section 6318 of this title; and

(Q) where appropriate, a description of how the local educational agency will use funds under this part to support after school (including before school and summer school) and school-year extension programs.

(2) Exception

The academic assessments and indicators described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) shall not be used—

(A) in lieu of the academic assessments required under section 6311 (b)(3) of this title and other State academic indicators under section 6311 (b)(2) of this title; or

(B) to reduce the number of, or change which, schools would otherwise be subject to school improvement, corrective action, or restructuring under section 6316 of this title, if such additional assessments or indicators described in such subparagraphs were not used, but such assessments and indicators may be used to identify additional schools for school improvement or in need of corrective action or restructuring.

(1) In general

Each local educational agency plan shall provide assurances that the local educational agency will—

(A) inform eligible schools and parents of schoolwide program authority and the ability of such schools to consolidate funds from Federal, State, and local sources;

(B) provide technical assistance and support to schoolwide programs;

(C) work in consultation with schools as the schools develop the schools’ plans pursuant to section 6314 of this title and assist schools as the schools implement such plans or undertake activities pursuant to section 6315 of this title so that each school can make adequate yearly progress toward meeting the State student academic achievement standards;

(D) fulfill such agency’s school improvement responsibilities under section 6316 of this title, including taking actions under paragraphs (7) and (8) of section 6316 (b) of this title;

(E) provide services to eligible children attending private elementary schools and secondary schools in accordance with section 6320 of this title, and timely and meaningful consultation with private school officials regarding such services;

(F) take into account the experience of model programs for the educationally disadvantaged, and the findings of relevant scientifically based research indicating that services may be most effective if focused on students in the earliest grades at schools that receive funds under this part;

(G) in the case of a local educational agency that chooses to use funds under this part to provide early childhood development services to low-income children below the age of compulsory school attendance, ensure that such services comply with the education performance standards in effect under section 9836a (a)(1)(B) of title 42;

(H) work in consultation with schools as the schools develop and implement their plans or activities under sections 6318 and 6319 of this title;

(I) comply with the requirements of section 6319 of this title regarding the qualifications of teachers and paraprofessionals and professional development;

(J) inform eligible schools of the local educational agency’s authority to obtain waivers on the school’s behalf under subchapter IX of this chapter and, if the State is an Ed-Flex Partnership State, to obtain waivers under the Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999;

(K) coordinate and collaborate, to the extent feasible and necessary as determined by the local educational agency, with the State educational agency and other agencies providing services to children, youth, and families with respect to a school in school improvement, corrective action, or restructuring under section 6316 of this title if such a school requests assistance from the local educational agency in addressing major factors that have significantly affected student achievement at the school;

(L) ensure, through incentives for voluntary transfers, the provision of professional development, recruitment programs, or other effective strategies, that low-income students and minority students are not taught at higher rates than other students by unqualified, out-of-field, or inexperienced teachers;

(M) use the results of the student academic assessments required under section 6311 (b)(3) of this title, and other measures or indicators available to the agency, to review annually the progress of each school served by the agency and receiving funds under this part to determine whether all of the schools are making the progress necessary to ensure that all students will meet the State’s proficient level of achievement on the State academic assessments described in section 6311 (b)(3) of this title within 12 years from the end of the 2001–2002 school year;

(N) ensure that the results from the academic assessments required under section 6311 (b)(3) of this title will be provided to parents and teachers as soon as is practicably possible after the test is taken, in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, provided in a language that the parents can understand; and

(O) assist each school served by the agency and assisted under this part in developing or identifying examples of high-quality, effective curricula consistent with section 6311 (b)(8)(D) of this title.

(2) Special rule

In carrying out subparagraph (G) of paragraph (1), the Secretary—

(A) shall consult with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and shall establish procedures (taking into consideration existing State and local laws, and local teacher contracts) to assist local educational agencies to comply with such subparagraph; and

(B) shall disseminate to local educational agencies the education performance standards in effect under section 9836a (a)(1)(B) of title 42, and such agencies affected by such subparagraph shall plan for the implementation of such subparagraph (taking into consideration existing State and local laws, and local teacher contracts), including pursuing the availability of other Federal, State, and local funding sources to assist in compliance with such subparagraph.

(3) Inapplicability

Paragraph (1)(G) of this subsection shall not apply to preschool programs using the Even Start model or to Even Start programs that are expanded through the use of funds under this part.

(d) Plan development and duration

(1) Consultation

Each local educational agency plan shall be developed in consultation with teachers, principals, administrators (including administrators of programs described in other parts of this subchapter), and other appropriate school personnel, and with parents of children in schools served under this part.

(2) Duration

Each such plan shall be submitted for the first year for which this part is in effect following January 8, 2002, and shall remain in effect for the duration of the agency’s participation under this part.

(3) Review

Each local educational agency shall periodically review and, as necessary, revise its plan.

(e) State approval

(1) In general

Each local educational agency plan shall be filed according to a schedule established by the State educational agency.

(2) Approval

The State educational agency shall approve a local educational agency’s plan only if the State educational agency determines that the local educational agency’s plan—

(A) enables schools served under this part to substantially help children served under this part meet the academic standards expected of all children described in section 6311 (b)(1) of this title; and

(B) meets the requirements of this section.

(3) Review

The State educational agency shall review the local educational agency’s plan to determine if such agencies activities are in accordance with sections 6318 and 6319 of this title.

(f) Program responsibility

The local educational agency plan shall reflect the shared responsibility of schools, teachers, and the local educational agency in making decisions regarding activities under sections 6314 and 6315 of this title.

(g) Parental notification

(1) In general

(A) Notice

Each local educational agency using funds under this part to provide a language instruction educational program as determined in part C of subchapter III of this chapter shall, not later than 30 days after the beginning of the school year, inform a parent or parents of a limited English proficient child identified for participation or participating in, such a program of—

(i) the reasons for the identification of their child as limited English proficient and in need of placement in a language instruction educational program;

(ii) the child’s level of English proficiency, how such level was assessed, and the status of the child’s academic achievement;

(iii) the methods of instruction used in the program in which their child is, or will be participating, and the methods of instruction used in other available programs, including how such programs differ in content, instructional goals, and the use of English and a native language in instruction;

(iv) how the program in which their child is, or will be participating, will meet the educational strengths and needs of their child;

(v) how such program will specifically help their child learn English, and meet age-appropriate academic achievement standards for grade promotion and graduation;

(vi) the specific exit requirements for the program, including the expected rate of transition from such program into classrooms that are not tailored for limited English proficient children, and the expected rate of graduation from secondary school for such program if funds under this part are used for children in secondary schools;

(vii) in the case of a child with a disability, how such program meets the objectives of the individualized education program of the child;

(viii) information pertaining to parental rights that includes written guidance—

(I) detailing—

(aa) the right that parents have to have their child immediately removed from such program upon their request; and

(bb) the options that parents have to decline to enroll their child in such program or to choose another program or method of instruction, if available; and

(II) assisting parents in selecting among various programs and methods of instruction, if more than one program or method is offered by the eligible entity.

(B) Separate notification

In addition to providing the information required to be provided under paragraph (1), each eligible entity that is using funds provided under this part to provide a language instruction educational program, and that has failed to make progress on the annual measurable achievement objectives described in section 6842 of this title for any fiscal year for which part A^[1] is in effect, shall separately inform a parent or the parents of a child identified for participation in such program, or participating in such program, of such failure not later than 30 days after such failure occurs.

(2) Notice

The notice and information provided in paragraph (1) to a parent or parents of a child identified for participation in a language instruction educational program for limited English proficient children shall be in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, provided in a language that the parents can understand.

(3) Special rule applicable during the school year

For those children who have not been identified as limited English proficient prior to the beginning of the school year the local educational agency shall notify parents within the first 2 weeks of the child being placed in a language instruction educational program consistent with paragraphs (1) and (2).

(4) Parental participation

Each local educational agency receiving funds under this part shall implement an effective means of outreach to parents of limited English proficient students to inform the parents regarding how the parents can be involved in the education of their children, and be active participants in assisting their children to attain English proficiency, achieve at high levels in core academic subjects, and meet challenging State academic achievement standards and State academic content standards expected of all students, including holding, and sending notice of opportunities for, regular meetings for the purpose of formulating and responding to recommendations from parents of students assisted under this part.

(5) Basis for admission or exclusion

A student shall not be admitted to, or excluded from, any federally assisted education program on the basis of a surname or language-minority status.

[1] So in original. Probably should be followed by “of subchapter III of this chapter”.

U.S. Code

§ 6312. Local educational agency plans