Goals 2000: Educate America Act

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: National Education Goals Title II: National Education Reform, Leadership, Standards and Assessments Title III: State and Local Education Systemic Improvement Title IV: National Skill Standards Board Title V: Miscellaneous Title VI: Parental Information and Resource Centers Goals 2000: Educate America Act - Title I: National Education Goals - (Sec. 102) Sets forth national goals for education, to be achieved by the year 2000, in the following categories: (1) school readiness; (2) school completion; (3) student achievement and citizenship; (4) teacher education and professional development; (5) mathematics and science; (6) adult literacy and lifelong learning; and (7) safe, disciplined, and drug-free schools. Sets forth specific objectives for each goal. Title II: National Education Reform, Leadership, Standards, and Assessments - Part A: National Education Goals Panel - (Sec. 202) Establishes the National Education Goals Panel in the executive branch. (Sec. 203) Requires the Panel to issue an annual national report card on progress toward achieving the national education goals and on actions that Federal, State, and local governments should take to enhance such progress. (Sec. 207) Directs the Panel to support the work of its Resource and Technical Planning Groups to improve the methods of assessing the readiness of children for school that would lead to alternatives to currently used norm-referenced early childhood assessments. Part B: National Education Standards and Improvement Council - (Sec. 212) Establishes the National Education Standards and Improvement Council in the executive branch. (Sec. 213) Requires the Council to develop and certify (subject to Panel review and approval) voluntary national standards for content areas, student performance, and fair opportunity-to-learn. Authorizes the Council to certify any such standards presented by a State, if these are consistent with the national standards. Directs the Council to certify a system of assessments voluntarily presented by a State if such system meets certain criteria, including coverage of all students, especially those with disabilities or limited English proficiency. Prohibits such a system from being used to make decisions regarding graduation, grade promotion, or retention of students for five years after enactment of this Act. (Sec. 218) Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make a competitive grant to a consortium of various individuals and organizations to develop voluntary national opportunity-to-learn standards. (Sec. 219) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to applicant States and local educational agencies (LEAs) to help defray costs of developing, field testing, and evaluating systems of assessments aligned to Council-certified State content standards. (Sec. 221) Directs the Secretary to make an annual grant to the Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education of the National Academy of Sciences or the National Academy of Education to evaluate the work of and process used by the Panel and Council and provide them information. Part C: Authorization of Appropriations - (Sec. 221) Authorizes appropriations for the Panel, the Council, the opportunity-to-learn development grant, and the assessment development and evaluation grants. Title III: State and Local Education Systemic Improvement - Establishes a five-year grant program for State and local education systemic improvement. (Sec. 303) Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 306) Sets forth requirements for State improvement plans, including strategies for: (1) improving teaching and learning (including standards for content, student performance, and opportunity-to-learn); (2) system governance and management; (3) parental and community support and involvement; (4) State system-wide improvement; and (5) promoting bottom-up reform. (Sec. 309) Requires State education agencies (SEAs) to make competitive subgrants for: (1) local reform, to LEAs; and (2) preservice teacher education and professional development activities, to consortia of LEAs, higher education institutions, private nonprofit organizations, or combinations of these, through a peer-review process. Requires that at least 50 percent of local reform subgrants be awarded to LEAs with a greater percentage or number of disadvantaged children than the statewide average. (Sec. 310) Provides for availability of systemic reform information and training to private elementary and secondary schools and teachers. (Sec. 311) Authorizes the Secretary to waive requirements and related regulations of specified Federal laws relating to education upon request of SEAs, LEAs, and schools if such requirements impede their ability to carry out the State or local education improvement plans, and if other conditions are met. (Sec. 313) Authorizes the Secretary to provide for national leadership activities, including technical assistance, data gathering, research, evaluation, and information dissemination. Reserves funds for grants to urban and rural LEAs with large numbers of concentrations of students economically disadvantaged or with limited English proficiency, to assist in school improvement plans development and implementation. (Sec. 314) Provides for assistance under this title for outlying areas, Bureau of Indian Affairs schools, and Department of Defense schools. Title IV: National Skill Standards Board - (Sec. 402) Establishes a National Skill Standards Board. (Sec. 403) Directs the Board to identify broad clusters of major occupations (except certain industry occupations or trades with recognized labor-management-developed apprenticeship standards) that involve one or more industries in the United States and, with respect to each cluster, promote and assist in voluntary development and adoption by specified representative groups of industries, employees, and educational institutions of: (1) skill standards; (2) assessment and certification systems; (3) evaluation systems; (4) information dissemination systems; and (5) revision and updating of systems. Provides for Board endorsement of standards. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to make grants and contracts to carry out purposes of this title. (Sec. 406) Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Miscellaneous - (Sec. 502) Prohibits the use of funds under titles II or III of this Act to undertake assessments that will be used to make decisions regarding the graduation, grade promotion, or retention of students for five years from the enactment of this Act. Title VI: Parental Information and Resource Centers - (Sec. 601) Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make annual grants to private, nonprofit organizations to provide training and information to parents of children enrolled in participating schools and individuals who work with such parents to encourage a more effective working relationship with professionals in meeting the educational needs of such children. (Sec. 605) Directs the Secretary, after the establishment of a parent training and information center in each State, to provide for establishment of additional experimental centers. (Sec. 607) Authorizes appropriations.