US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 20USC9253]

 
                           TITLE 20--EDUCATION
 
                CHAPTER 73--ADULT EDUCATION AND LITERACY
 
            SUBCHAPTER I--ADULT EDUCATION AND FAMILY LITERACY
 
              Part A--Adult Education and Literacy Programs
 
                      subpart 4--general provisions
 
Sec. 9253. National leadership activities

    The Secretary shall establish and carry out a program of national 
leadership activities to enhance the quality of adult education and 
literacy programs nationwide. Such activities may include the following:
        (1) Technical assistance, including--
            (A) assistance provided to eligible providers in developing 
        and using performance measures for the improvement of adult 
        education and literacy activities, including family literacy 
        services;
            (B) assistance related to professional development 
        activities, and assistance for the purposes of developing, 
        improving, identifying, and disseminating the most successful 
        methods and techniques for providing adult education and 
        literacy activities, including family literacy services, based 
        on scientific evidence where available; and
            (C) assistance in distance learning and promoting and 
        improving the use of technology in the classroom.

        (2) Funding national leadership activities that are not 
    described in paragraph (1), either directly or through grants, 
    contracts, or cooperative agreements awarded on a competitive basis 
    to or with postsecondary educational institutions, public or private 
    organizations or agencies, or consortia of such institutions, 
    organizations, or agencies, such as--
            (A) developing, improving, and identifying the most 
        successful methods and techniques for addressing the education 
        needs of adults, including instructional practices using 
        phonemic awareness, systematic phonics, fluency, and reading 
        comprehension, based on the work of the National Institute of 
        Child Health and Human Development;
            (B) increasing the effectiveness of, and improving the 
        quality of, adult education and literacy activities, including 
        family literacy services;
            (C) carrying out research, such as estimating the number of 
        adults functioning at the lowest levels of literacy proficiency;
            (D)(i) carrying out demonstration programs;
            (ii) developing and replicating model and innovative 
        programs, such as the development of models for basic skill 
        certificates, identification of effective strategies for working 
        with adults with learning disabilities and with individuals with 
        limited English proficiency who are adults, and workplace 
        literacy programs; and
            (iii) disseminating best practices information, including 
        information regarding promising practices resulting from 
        federally funded demonstration programs;
            (E) providing for the conduct of an independent evaluation 
        and assessment of adult education and literacy activities 
        through studies and analyses conducted independently through 
        grants and contracts awarded on a competitive basis, which 
        evaluation and assessment shall include descriptions of--
                (i) the effect of performance measures and other 
            measures of accountability on the delivery of adult 
            education and literacy activities, including family literacy 
            services;
                (ii) the extent to which the adult education and 
            literacy activities, including family literacy services, 
            increase the literacy skills of adults (and of children, in 
            the case of family literacy services), lead the participants 
            in such activities to involvement in further education and 
            training, enhance the employment and earnings of such 
            participants, and, if applicable, lead to other positive 
            outcomes, such as reductions in recidivism in the case of 
            prison-based adult education and literacy activities;
                (iii) the extent to which the provision of support 
            services to adults enrolled in adult education and family 
            literacy programs increase the rate of enrollment in, and 
            successful completion of, such programs; and
                (iv) the extent to which eligible agencies have 
            distributed funds under section 9241 of this title to meet 
            the needs of adults through community-based organizations;

            (F) supporting efforts aimed at capacity building at the 
        State and local levels, such as technical assistance in program 
        planning, assessment, evaluation, and monitoring of activities 
        carried out under this part;
            (G) collecting data, such as data regarding the improvement 
        of both local and State data systems, through technical 
        assistance and development of model performance data collection 
        systems; and
            (H) other activities designed to enhance the quality of 
        adult education and literacy activities nationwide.

(Pub. L. 105-220, title II, Sec. 243, Aug. 7, 1998, 112 Stat. 1078; Pub. 
L. 105-277, div. A, Sec. 101(f) [title VIII, Sec. 404(e)], Oct. 21, 
1998, 112 Stat. 2681-337, 2681-417.)


                               Amendments

    1998--Par. (2)(B). Pub. L. 105-277 substituted ``quality'' for 
``qualify''.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 9211 of this title.