HR 1192 IH

To improve the National Writing Project.

March 22, 2001

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California (for himself, Mr. WICKER, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. CALLAHAN, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr. KINGSTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

To improve the National Writing Project.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. AMENDMENTS TO THE NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT.

(a) FINDINGS AND PURPOSES- Section 10991 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8331) is amended to read as follows:

`SEC. 10991. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

`(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds that--

`(1) the United States faces a continuing crisis in writing in schools and in the workplace;

`(2) the writing problem has been magnified by the rapidly changing student population, the growing number of at-risk students due to limited English proficiency, the shortage of adequately trained teachers, and the specialized knowledge required of teachers to teach students with special needs who are now part of mainstream classrooms;

`(3) nationwide reports from universities and colleges show that entering students are unable to meet the demands of college level writing, almost all 2-year institutions of higher education offer remedial writing courses, and three-quarters of public 4-year institutions of higher education and half of all private 4-year institutions of higher education must provide remedial courses in writing;

`(4) American businesses and corporations are concerned about the limited writing skills of both entry-level workers and executives whose promotions are denied due to inadequate writing abilities;

`(5) writing is fundamental to learning, including learning to read, yet writing has been neglected historically in schools and in teacher training institutions;

`(6) writing is a central feature in State and school district education standards in all disciplines;

`(7) since 1973, the only national program to address the writing problem in the Nation's schools has been the National Writing Project, a network of collaborative university-school programs the goals of which are to improve student achievement in writing and student learning through improving the teaching and uses of writing at all grade levels and in all disciplines;

`(8) the National Writing Project is a nationally recognized and honored nonprofit organization that improves the quality of teaching and teachers through developing teacher leaders who teach other teachers in summer and school year programs;

`(9) evaluations of the National Writing Project document the positive impact the project has had on improving the teaching of writing, student performance in writing, and student learning;

`(10) the National Writing Project has become a model for programs to improve teaching in such other fields as mathematics, science, history, reading and literature, performing arts and foreign languages;

`(11) each year over 150,000 participants benefit from National Writing Project programs in 1 of 156 United States sites located in 46 States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and

`(12) the National Writing Project is a cost-effective program and leverages over 6 dollars for every 1 Federal dollar.

`(b) PURPOSE- It is the purpose of this part--

`(1) to support and promote the expansion of the National Writing Project network of sites so that teachers in every region of the United States will have access to a National Writing Project program;

`(2) to ensure the consistent high quality of the sites through ongoing review, evaluation and technical assistance;

`(3) to support and promote the establishment of programs to disseminate effective practices and research findings about the teaching of writing; and

`(4) to coordinate activities assisted under this part with activities assisted under this Act.'.

(b) AUTHORIZATION- Subsection (a) of section 10992 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 8332(a)) is amended to read as follows:

`(a) AUTHORIZATION- The Secretary is authorized to make a grant to the National Writing Project (hereafter in this section referred to as the `grantee'), a nonprofit educational organization that has as its primary purpose the improvement of the quality of student writing and learning, to improve the teaching and uses of writing to learn in our Nation's classrooms.'.

(c) FEDERAL SHARE- Paragraph (3) of section 10992(d) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 8332(d)) is amended to read as follows:

`(3) MAXIMUM- The Federal share of the costs of teacher training programs conducted pursuant to subsection (a) may not exceed $100,000 for any one contractor, or $200,000 for a statewide program administered by any one contractor in at least five sites throughout the State.'.

(d) REPEAL OF CLASSROOM TEACHER GRANTS- Section 10992 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 8332) is amended--

(1) by repealing subsection (e);

(2) by redesignating subsections (f), (g), (h), and (i) as subsections (e), (f), (g), and (h), respectively; and

(3) in subsection (d)(2), by striking `(f)' and inserting `(e)'; and

(4) in subsection (f)(2) (as redesignated by paragraph (2)), by striking `(i)' and inserting `(h)'.

(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- Subsection (h) of section 10992 of such Act (as redesignated by subsection (d)(2)) (20 U.S.C. 8332) is amended by striking `$4,000,000 for fiscal year 1995' and inserting `$15,000,000 for fiscal year 2002'.

END