(4) the use of resources of the community, including contracting with public or private entities or community-based organizations of demonstrated performance, to provide services to the grant recipient or the target population;

(5) the evaluation and revision of program placement of students at risk;

(6) the evaluation of program effectiveness of dropout programs;

(7) the development and implementation of programs for traditionally underserved groups of students;

(8) the implementation of activities which will improve student motivation and the school learning environment;

(9) the provision of training for school personnel on strategies and techniques designed to

(A) identify children at risk of dropping out of school; (B) intervene in the instructional program for such children with support and remedial services;

(C) develop realistic expectations for student performance; and

(D) improve student-staff interactions;

(10) the study of the relationship between drugs and school dropouts and between youth gangs and school dropouts, and the coordination of dropout prevention and reentry programs with appropriate drug prevention and community organizations for the prevention of youth gangs;

(11) the study of the relationship between disabling conditions and student dropouts;

(12) the study of the relationship between the dropout rate for gifted and talented students compared to the dropout rate for the general student enrollment;

(13) the use of educational telecommunications and broadcasting technologies and educational materials designed to extend, motivate, and reinforce school, community, and home dropout prevention and reentry activities;

(14) the development and implementation of efforts to identify and address factors in a student's decision to drop out of school that are related to gender and family roles, including activities and services designed to meet the needs of pregnant and parenting teenagers;

(15) the provision of other educational, occupational and testing services and activities which directly relate to the purpose of this part;

(16) activities which offer jobs and college admissions for successful completion of the program for which assistance is sought;

(17) summer employment programs;

(18) occupational training programs;

(19) career opportunity and skills counseling;

(20) job placement services;

(21) the development of skill employment competency test

ing programs;

(22) special school staff training projects; and

(23) mentoring programs.

SEC. 5306. [20 U.S.C. 7266] DISTRIBUTION OF ASSISTANCE; LIMITATION ON COSTS.

(a) DISTRIBUTION OF ASSISTANCE.-The Secretary shall ensure that, to the extent practicable, in approving grant applications under this part

(1) grants are equitably distributed on a geographic basis within each category set forth in section 5303(a);

(2) the amount of a grant to a local educational agency or an educational partnership for a fiscal year is proportionate to the extent and severity of the local school dropout problem;

(3) not less than 30 percent of the amount available for grants in each fiscal year is used for activities relating to school dropout prevention; and

(4) not less than 30 percent of the amount available for grants in each fiscal year is used for activities relating to persuading school dropouts to return to school and assisting former school dropouts with specialized services once school dropouts return to school.

(b) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.-Not more than five percent of any grant made under this part may be used for administrative costs. SEC. 5307. [20 U.S.C. 7267] REPORTS.

(a) ANNUAL REPORTS.-The Secretary shall submit to the Congress a report by January 1 of each year, beginning on January 1, 1995, which sets forth the progress of the Commissioner of Education Statistics, established under section 403(b) of the National Education Statistics Act of 1994, to implement a definition and data collection process for school dropouts in elementary and secondary schools, including statistical information for the number and percentage of elementary and secondary school students by gender, race, and ethnic origin who drop out of school each year, including dropouts

(1) throughout the Nation by rural and urban location as defined by the Secretary; and

(2) in each of the individual States and the District of Columbia.

(b) RECOMMENDATIONS.-The report under subsection (a) shall also contain recommendations on ways in which the Federal Government, States and localities can further support the implementation of an effective methodology to accurately measure school dropout and retention rates on the national, State, and local levels. SEC. 5308. [20 U.S.C. 7268] AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There are authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 for fiscal year 1995, and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years, to carry out this part.

TITLE VI-INNOVATIVE EDUCATION

PROGRAM STRATEGIES

SEC. 6001. [20 U.S.C. 7301] FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. (a) FINDINGS.-The Congress finds that chapter 2 of title I of this Act (as such chapter was in effect on the day preceding the date of enactment of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994)

has been successful in achieving the goals of increasing local flexibility, reducing administrative burden, providing services for private school students, encouraging innovation, and contributing to the improvement of elementary and secondary educational programs.

(b) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.-It is the purpose of programs under this title

(1) to support local education reform efforts which are consistent with and support statewide reform efforts under Goals 2000: Educate America Act;

(2) to support State and local efforts to accomplish the National Education Goals;

(3) to provide funding to enable State and local educational agencies to implement promising educational reform programs;

(4) to provide a continuing source of innovation, and educational improvement, including support for library services and instructional and media materials; and

(5) to meet the special educational needs of at risk and high cost students.

(c) STATE AND LOCAL RESPONSIBILITY.-The basic responsibility for the administration of funds made available under this title is within the State educational agencies, but it is the intent of Congress that the responsibility be carried out with a minimum of paperwork and that the responsibility for the design and implementation of programs assisted under this title will be mainly that of local educational agencies, school superintendents and principals, and classroom teachers and supporting personnel, because such agencies and individuals have the most direct contact with students and are most likely to be able to design programs to meet the educational needs of students in their own school districts. SEC. 6002. [20 U.S.C. 7302] AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; DURATION OF ASSISTANCE.

(a) AUTHORIZATION.-To carry out the purposes of this title, there are authorized to be appropriated $370,000,000 for fiscal year 1995 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the four succeeding fiscal years.

(b) DURATION OF ASSISTANCE.-During the period beginning October 1, 1994, and ending September 30, 1999, the Secretary shall, in accordance with the provisions of this title, make payments to State educational agencies for the purpose of this title. SEC. 6003. [20 U.S.C. 7303] DEFINITION.

For the purposes of this title the term "effective schools programs" means school-based programs that may encompass preschool through secondary school levels and that have the objectives of (1) promoting school-level planning, instructional improvement, and staff development, (2) increasing the academic achievement levels of all children and particularly educationally disadvantaged children, and (3) achieving as ongoing conditions in the school the following factors identified through effective schools research as distinguishing effective from ineffective schools:

(A) Strong and effective administrative and instructional leadership that creates consensus on instructional goals and organizational capacity for instructional problem solving.

(B) Emphasis on the acquisition of basic and higher order skills.

(C) A safe and orderly school environment that allows teachers and pupils to focus their energies on academic achievement.

(D) A climate of expectation that virtually all children can learn under appropriate conditions.

(E) Continuous assessment of students and programs to evaluate the effects of instruction.

PART A-STATE AND LOCAL PROGRAMS

SEC. 6101. [20 U.S.C. 7311] ALLOTMENT TO STATES.

(a) RESERVATIONS.-From the sums appropriated to carry out this title in any fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve not to exceed one percent for payments to outlying areas to be allotted in accordance with their respective needs.

(b) ALLOTMENT.-From the remainder of such sums, the Secretary shall allot to each State an amount which bears the same ratio to the amount of such remainder as the school-age population of the State bears to the school-age population of all States, except that no State shall receive less than an amount equal to one-half of one percent of such remainder.

(c) DEFINITIONS.-For purposes of this part:

(1) The term "school-age population" means the population aged 5 through 17.

(2) The term "States" includes the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

SEC. 6102. [20 U.S.C. 7312] ALLOCATION TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.

(a) DISTRIBUTION RULE.-From the sums made available each year to carry out this title, the State educational agency shall distribute not less than 85 percent to local educational agencies within such State according to the relative enrollments in public and private, nonprofit schools within the school districts of such agencies, adjusted, in accordance with criteria approved by the Secretary, to provide higher per pupil allocations to local educational agencies which have the greatest numbers or percentages of children whose education imposes a higher than average cost per child, such as

(1) children living in areas with high concentrations of lowincome families;

(2) children from low-income families; and

(3) children living in sparsely populated areas.

(b) CALCULATION OF ENROLLMENTS.

(1) IN GENERAL.-The calculation of relative enrollments under subsection (a) shall be on the basis of the total of—

and

(A) the number of children enrolled in public schools;

(B) the number of children enrolled in private nonprofit schools that desire that their children participate in programs or projects assisted under this title, for the fiscal

year preceding the fiscal year for which the determination is made.

(2) CONSTRUCTION.-Nothing in this subsection shall diminish the responsibility of local educational agencies to contact, on an annual basis, appropriate officials from private nonprofit schools within the areas served by such agencies in order to determine whether such schools desire that their children participate in programs assisted under this part.

(3) ADJUSTMENTS.-(A) Relative enrollments under subsection (a) shall be adjusted, in accordance with criteria approved by the Secretary under subparagraph (B), to provide higher per pupil allocations only to local educational agencies which serve the greatest numbers or percentages of—

(i) children living in areas with high concentrations of low-income families;

(ii) children from low-income families; or

(iii) children living in sparsely populated areas.

(B) The Secretary shall review criteria submitted by a State educational agency for adjusting allocations under paragraph (1) and shall approve such criteria only if the Secretary determines that such criteria are reasonably calculated to produce an adjusted allocation that reflects the relative needs within the State's local educational agencies based on the factors set forth in subparagraph (A).

(c) PAYMENT OF ALLOCATIONS.—

(1) DISTRIBUTION.-From the funds paid to a State educational agency pursuant to section 6002 for a fiscal year, a State educational agency shall distribute to each eligible local educational agency which has submitted an application as required in section 6202 the amount of such local educational agency allocation as determined under subsection (a).

(2) ADDITIONAL FUNDS. (A) Additional funds resulting from higher per pupil allocations provided to a local educational agency on the basis of adjusted enrollments of children described in subsection (a), may, at the discretion of the local educational agency, be allocated for expenditures to provide services for children enrolled in public and private nonprofit schools in direct proportion to the number of children described in subsection (a) and enrolled in such schools within the local educational agency.

(B) In any fiscal year, any local educational agency that elects to allocate such additional funds in the manner described in subparagraph (A) shall allocate all additional funds to schools within the local educational agency in such manner.

(C) The provisions of subparagraphs (A) and (B) may not be construed to require any school to limit the use of such additional funds to the provision of services to specific students or categories of students.

PART B-STATE PROGRAMS

SEC. 6201. [20 U.S.C. 7331] STATE USES OF FUNDS.

(a) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.-A State educational agency may use funds made available for State use under this title only for