PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Mar 22, 2007
Striving Readers Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Education to provide peer-reviewed grants for literacy initiatives benefiting students in grades 4 through 12 to: (1) local educational agencies (LEAs) eligible for school improvement funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, if appropriations under this Act are less than $200 million; or (2) state educational agencies (SEAs), and through them, to LEAs, if appropriations equal or exceed such amount.
Allots funds to SEAs on the basis of their relative proportion of needy children aged 5 to 17 and eighth graders underachieving in reading. Requires SEAs, in addition to providing subgrants, to use grant funds to: (1) provide professional development assistance to LEAs; (2) enhance public higher education for students preparing to teach any of grades 4 through 12; (3) recommend improvements to state licensure and certification standards for reading instruction in such grades; and (4) report to the Secretary of Education on SEA and LEA progress in improving adolescent literacy.
Requires LEAs to use grant or subgrant funds on literacy initiatives that include: (1) student need and progress assessments and reports; (2) development of adolescent literacy plans for underperforming students that provide intensive, accelerated, and extended instruction for such students and professional development for teachers; and (3) initiative training for school leaders. Prohibits the use of subgrant funds on schools that do not meet specified need criteria.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Authorizes the withholding of grant or subgrants funds from SEAs and LEAs making insufficient progress in improving adolescent literacy.
Requires a national evaluation and the dissemination of information regarding the effectiveness of the grant and subgrant programs.
People & committees
Sen. Sessions, Jeff [R-AL] · R–AL
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3609-3610)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Feb 10, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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