Success in the Middle Act (111th)
Date of Introduction: June 25, 2009
Sponsor(s): Reed (D-RI)
Co-Sponsor(s): Akaka (D-HI), Bingaman (D-NM), Brown (D-OH), Franken (D-MN), Gillibrand (D-NY), Klobuchar (D-MN), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Lincoln (D-AR), Stabenow (D-MI), Whitehouse (D-RI)
House Bill Number: H.R. 3006
Date of Introduction: June 23, 2009
Sponsor(s): Grijalva (D-AZ)
Co-Sponsor(s): Abercrombie (D-HI), Altmire (D-PA), Berman (D-CA), Blumenauer (D-OR), Boucher (D-VA), Clark (D-NY), Davis (D-IL), Fattah (D-PA), Green (D-TX), Hare (D-IL), Holt (D-NJ), Honda (D-CA), Kennedy (D-RI), Kildee (D-MI), Langevin (D-RI), Lewis (D-GA), Luján (D-NM), McCollum (D-MN), Napolitano (D-CA), Payne (D-NJ), Platts (R-PA), Polis (D-CO), Price (D-NC), Sestak (D-PA), Sutton (D-OH), Waters (D-CA), Wexler (D-FL), Yarmuth (D-KY)
The Success in the Middle Act is the first school improvement bill of its kind directed specifically at the middle grades. The bill targets the schools that have middle-level grades that feed into the nearly two thousand “dropout factories” that are spread throughout the country. Dropout factories are high schools in which 60 percent (or fewer) of freshmen will have become seniors three years after finishing their ninth-grade year.
The legislation would authorize $1 billion a year in formula grants for states to improve low-performing schools that contain middle grades. It would require states that receive grants to develop early-warning data systems to identify students who are most at risk of dropping out and intervene to help them succeed. Interventions could include extended learning time and personal graduation plans that enable all students to stay on the path to graduation. It would also authorize an additional $100 million to facilitate the generation, dissemination, and application of research needed to identify and implement effective practices that lead to continual student learning and high academic achievement at the middle level.
To learn more about the Success in the Middle Act, read the overview of the bill.
Support for the Success in the Middle Act: Since being introduced, the Success in the Middle Act has garnered support from members of the education community. Read the U.S. Senate letter of support and the U.S. House of Representatives letter of support.
U.S. House of Representatives June 25, 2009 Press Release
Senator Reed's June 25, 2009 Statement in the Congressional Record