§ 7243. Programs authorized

(a) Authorization The Secretary is authorized to support nationally significant programs to improve the quality of elementary and secondary education at the State and local levels and help all children meet challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards. The Secretary may carry out such programs directly, or through grants to, or contracts with—

(1) States or local educational agencies;

(2) institutions of higher education; and

(3) other public and private agencies, organizations, and institutions.

(b) Uses of funds Funds made available under section 7241 of this title to carry out this subpart may be used for any of the following programs:

(1) Activities to promote systemic education reform at the State and local levels, including scientifically based research, development, and evaluation designed to improve—

(A) student academic achievement at the State and local level; and

(B) strategies for effective parent and community involvement.

(2) Programs at the State and local levels that are designed to yield significant results, including programs to explore approaches to public school choice and school-based decisionmaking.

(3) Recognition programs, which may include financial awards to States, local educational agencies, and schools that have made the greatest progress, based on the Secretary’s determination or on a nomination by the State in which the school is located (or in the case of a Bureau funded school, by the Secretary of the Interior) in—

(A) improving the academic achievement of economically disadvantaged students and students from major racial and ethnic minority groups; and

(B) closing the academic achievement gap for those groups of students farthest away from the proficient level on the academic assessments administered by the State under section 6311 of this title.

(4) Scientifically based studies and evaluations of education reform strategies and innovations, and the dissemination of information on the effectiveness of such strategies and innovations.

(5) Identification and recognition of exemplary schools and programs, such as Blue Ribbon Schools, including programs to evaluate the effectiveness of using the best practices of exemplary or Blue Ribbon Schools to improve academic achievement.

(6) Activities to support Scholar-Athlete Games programs, including the World Scholar-Athlete Games and the U.S. Scholar-Athlete Games.

(7) Programs to promote voter participation in American elections through programs, such as the National Student/Parent Mock Election and Kids Voting USA.

(8) Demonstrations relating to the planning and evaluation of the effectiveness of programs under which local educational agencies or schools contract with private management organizations to reform a school or schools.

(9) Other programs that meet the purposes of this chapter.

(c) Basis of awards The Secretary is authorized to—

(1) make awards under this subpart on the basis of competitions announced by the Secretary; and

(2) support meritorious unsolicited proposals for awards under this subpart.

(d) Effectiveness of programs

The Secretary shall ensure that programs supported under this subpart are designed so that their effectiveness is readily ascertainable, and shall ensure that such effectiveness is assessed using rigorous, scientifically based research and evaluations.

(Pub. L. 89–10, title V, § 5411, as added Pub. L. 107–110, title V, § 501, Jan. 8, 2002, 115 Stat. 1811.)