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United States Code (Last Updated: May 24, 2014) |
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Title 20. EDUCATION |
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Chapter 70. STRENGTHENING AND IMPROVEMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS |
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SubChapter IX. GENERAL PROVISIONS |
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Part A. Definitions |
§ 7801. Definitions
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Except as otherwise provided, in this chapter: (1) Average daily attendance (A) In general Except as provided otherwise by State law or this paragraph, the term “average daily attendance” means— (i) the aggregate number of days of attendance of all students during a school year; divided by (ii) the number of days school is in session during that year. (B) Conversion The Secretary shall permit the conversion of average daily membership (or other similar data) to average daily attendance for local educational agencies in States that provide State aid to local educational agencies on the basis of average daily membership (or other similar data).
(C) Special rule If the local educational agency in which a child resides makes a tuition or other payment for the free public education of the child in a school located in another school district, the Secretary shall, for the purpose of this chapter— (i) consider the child to be in attendance at a school of the agency making the payment; and (ii) not consider the child to be in attendance at a school of the agency receiving the payment. (D) Children with disabilities If a local educational agency makes a tuition payment to a private school or to a public school of another local educational agency for a child with a disability, as defined in section 1401 of this title, the Secretary shall, for the purpose of this chapter, consider the child to be in attendance at a school of the agency making the payment.
(2) Average per-pupil expenditure The term “average per-pupil expenditure” means, in the case of a State or of the United States— (A) without regard to the source of funds— (i) the aggregate current expenditures, during the third fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the determination is made (or, if satisfactory data for that year are not available, during the most recent preceding fiscal year for which satisfactory data are available) of all local educational agencies in the State or, in the case of the United States, for all States (which, for the purpose of this paragraph, means the 50 States and the District of Columbia); plus (ii) any direct current expenditures by the State for the operation of those agencies; divided by (B) the aggregate number of children in average daily attendance to whom those agencies provided free public education during that preceding year. (3) Beginning teacher The term “beginning teacher” means a teacher in a public school who has been teaching less than a total of three complete school years.
(4) Child The term “child” means any person within the age limits for which the State provides free public education.
(5) Child with a disability The term “child with a disability” has the same meaning given that term in section 1401 of this title.
(6) Community-based organization The term “community-based organization” means a public or private nonprofit organization of demonstrated effectiveness that— (A) is representative of a community or significant segments of a community; and (B) provides educational or related services to individuals in the community. (7) Consolidated local application The term “consolidated local application” means an application submitted by a local educational agency pursuant to section 7845 of this title.
(8) Consolidated local plan The term “consolidated local plan” means a plan submitted by a local educational agency pursuant to section 7845 of this title.
(9) Consolidated State application The term “consolidated State application” means an application submitted by a State educational agency pursuant to section 7842 of this title.
(10) Consolidated State plan The term “consolidated State plan” means a plan submitted by a State educational agency pursuant to section 7842 of this title.
(11) Core academic subjects The term “core academic subjects” means English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography.
(12) County The term “county” means one of the divisions of a State used by the Secretary of Commerce in compiling and reporting data regarding counties.
(13) Covered program The term “covered program” means each of the programs authorized by— (A) part A of subchapter I of this chapter; (B) subpart 3 of part B of subchapter I of this chapter; (C) part C of subchapter I of this chapter; (D) part D of subchapter I of this chapter; (E) part F of subchapter I of this chapter; (F) part A of subchapter II of this chapter; (G) part D of subchapter II of this chapter; (H) part A of subchapter III of this chapter; (I) part A of subchapter IV of this chapter; (J) part B of subchapter IV of this chapter; (K) part A of subchapter V of this chapter; and (L) subpart 2 of part B of subchapter VI of this chapter. (14) Current expenditures The term “current expenditures” means expenditures for free public education— (A) including expenditures for administration, instruction, attendance and health services, pupil transportation services, operation and maintenance of plant, fixed charges, and net expenditures to cover deficits for food services and student body activities; but (B) not including expenditures for community services, capital outlay, and debt service, or any expenditures made from funds received under subchapter I of this chapter and part A of subchapter V of this chapter. (15) Department The term “Department” means the Department of Education.
(16) Distance learning The term “distance learning” means the transmission of educational or instructional programming to geographically dispersed individuals and groups via telecommunications.
(17) Educational service agency The term “educational service agency” means a regional public multiservice agency authorized by State statute to develop, manage, and provide services or programs to local educational agencies.
(18) Elementary school The term “elementary school” means a nonprofit institutional day or residential school, including a public elementary charter school, that provides elementary education, as determined under State law.
(19) Exemplary teacher The term “exemplary teacher” means a teacher who— (A) is a highly qualified teacher such as a master teacher; (B) has been teaching for at least 5 years in a public or private school or institution of higher education; (C) is recommended to be an exemplary teacher by administrators and other teachers who are knowledgeable about the individual’s performance; (D) is currently teaching and based in a public school; and (E) assists other teachers in improving instructional strategies, improves the skills of other teachers, performs teacher mentoring, develops curricula, and offers other professional development. (20) Family literacy services The term “family literacy services” means services provided to participants on a voluntary basis that are of sufficient intensity in terms of hours, and of sufficient duration, to make sustainable changes in a family, and that integrate all of the following activities: (A) Interactive literacy activities between parents and their children. (B) Training for parents regarding how to be the primary teacher for their children and full partners in the education of their children. (C) Parent literacy training that leads to economic self-sufficiency. (D) An age-appropriate education to prepare children for success in school and life experiences. (21) Free public education The term “free public education” means education that is provided— (A) at public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without tuition charge; and (B) as elementary school or secondary school education as determined under applicable State law, except that the term does not include any education provided beyond grade 12. (22) Gifted and talented The term “gifted and talented”, when used with respect to students, children, or youth, means students, children, or youth who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities.
(23) Highly qualified The term “highly qualified”— (A) when used with respect to any public elementary school or secondary school teacher teaching in a State, means that— (i) the teacher has obtained full State certification as a teacher (including certification obtained through alternative routes to certification) or passed the State teacher licensing examination, and holds a license to teach in such State, except that when used with respect to any teacher teaching in a public charter school, the term means that the teacher meets the requirements set forth in the State’s public charter school law; and (ii) the teacher has not had certification or licensure requirements waived on an emergency, temporary, or provisional basis; (B) when used with respect to— (i) an elementary school teacher who is new to the profession, means that the teacher— (I) holds at least a bachelor’s degree; and (II) has demonstrated, by passing a rigorous State test, subject knowledge and teaching skills in reading, writing, mathematics, and other areas of the basic elementary school curriculum (which may consist of passing a State-required certification or licensing test or tests in reading, writing, mathematics, and other areas of the basic elementary school curriculum); or (ii) a middle or secondary school teacher who is new to the profession, means that the teacher holds at least a bachelor’s degree and has demonstrated a high level of competency in each of the academic subjects in which the teacher teaches by— (I) passing a rigorous State academic subject test in each of the academic subjects in which the teacher teaches (which may consist of a passing level of performance on a State-required certification or licensing test or tests in each of the academic subjects in which the teacher teaches); or (II) successful completion, in each of the academic subjects in which the teacher teaches, of an academic major, a graduate degree, coursework equivalent to an undergraduate academic major, or advanced certification or credentialing; and (C) when used with respect to an elementary, middle, or secondary school teacher who is not new to the profession, means that the teacher holds at least a bachelor’s degree and— (i) has met the applicable standard in clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (B), which includes an option for a test; or (ii) demonstrates competence in all the academic subjects in which the teacher teaches based on a high objective uniform State standard of evaluation that— (I) is set by the State for both grade appropriate academic subject matter knowledge and teaching skills; (II) is aligned with challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards and developed in consultation with core content specialists, teachers, principals, and school administrators; (III) provides objective, coherent information about the teacher’s attainment of core content knowledge in the academic subjects in which a teacher teaches; (IV) is applied uniformly to all teachers in the same academic subject and the same grade level throughout the State; (V) takes into consideration, but not be based primarily on, the time the teacher has been teaching in the academic subject; (VI) is made available to the public upon request; and (VII) may involve multiple, objective measures of teacher competency. (24) Institution of higher education The term “institution of higher education” has the meaning given that term in section 1001(a) of this title.
(25) Limited English proficient The term “limited English proficient”, when used with respect to an individual, means an individual— (A) who is aged 3 through 21; (B) who is enrolled or preparing to enroll in an elementary school or secondary school; (C) (i) who was not born in the United States or whose native language is a language other than English; (ii) (I) who is a Native American or Alaska Native, or a native resident of the outlying areas; and (II) who comes from an environment where a language other than English has had a significant impact on the individual’s level of English language proficiency; or (iii) who is migratory, whose native language is a language other than English, and who comes from an environment where a language other than English is dominant; and (D) whose difficulties in speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language may be sufficient to deny the individual— (i) the ability to meet the State’s proficient level of achievement on State assessments described in section 6311(b)(3) of this title; (ii) the ability to successfully achieve in classrooms where the language of instruction is English; or (iii) the opportunity to participate fully in society. (26) Local educational agency (A) In general The term “local educational agency” means a public board of education or other public authority legally constituted within a State for either administrative control or direction of, or to perform a service function for, public elementary schools or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district, or other political subdivision of a State, or of or for a combination of school districts or counties that is recognized in a State as an administrative agency for its public elementary schools or secondary schools.
(B) Administrative control and direction The term includes any other public institution or agency having administrative control and direction of a public elementary school or secondary school.
(C) BIA schools The term includes an elementary school or secondary school funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs but only to the extent that including the school makes the school eligible for programs for which specific eligibility is not provided to the school in another provision of law and the school does not have a student population that is smaller than the student population of the local educational agency receiving assistance under this chapter with the smallest student population, except that the school shall not be subject to the jurisdiction of any State educational agency other than the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
(D) Educational service agencies The term includes educational service agencies and consortia of those agencies.
(E) State educational agency The term includes the State educational agency in a State in which the State educational agency is the sole educational agency for all public schools.
(27) Mentoring The term “mentoring”, except when used to refer to teacher mentoring, means a process by which a responsible adult, postsecondary student, or secondary school student works with a child to provide a positive role model for the child, to establish a supportive relationship with the child, and to provide the child with academic assistance and exposure to new experiences and examples of opportunity that enhance the ability of the child to become a responsible adult.
(28) Native American and Native American language The terms “Native American” and “Native American language” have the same meaning given those terms in section 2902 of title 25. of an ongoing developmental induction process—
(I) involve the assistance of an exemplary teacher and other appropriate individuals from a school, local educational agency, or institution of higher education; and (II) may include coaching, classroom observation, team teaching, and reduced teaching loads; and (B) may include the establishment of a partnership by a local educational agency with an institution of higher education, another local educational agency, a teacher organization, or another organization. (43) Technology The term “technology” means state-of-the-art technology products and services.
References In Text
Section 2902 of title 25, referred to in par. (28), was in the original “section 103 of the Native American Languages Act of 1990”, which was translated as meaning section 103 of the Native American Languages Act, Pub. L. 101–477, to reflect the probable intent of Congress.
Miscellaneous
References to part A of subchapter III of this chapter are considered to be references to part B of subchapter III of this chapter in certain fiscal years. See section 6801(c) of this title.
Prior Provisions
A prior section 7801, Pub. L. 89–10, title IX, § 9101, as added Pub. L. 103–382, title I, § 101,
Miscellaneous
Pub. L. 111–242, § 163, as added by Pub. L. 111–322, title I, § 1(a)(2),