Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Assessing Children’s Academic Development and the Emotional and Mental health Implications of COVID–19 Act of 2023” or the “ACADEMIC Act of 2023” .
Assessing Children’s Academic Development and the Emotional and Mental health Implications of COVID–19 Act of 2023
A BILL
To authorize the Department of Education, in coordination with other relevant Federal agencies, to include a longitudinal component on the impact of the COVID–19 pandemic on student outcomes and well-being on an existing longitudinal educational study.
Sec. 2 Interagency longitudinal component on the impact of the COVID–19 pandemic on student outcomes and well-being
Authorization of component—
In general— Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education, in coordination with the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall include in a prekindergarten through grade 12 longitudinal educational study that was authorized before the date of enactment of this Act and that is active on such date of enactment, to the extent practicable and appropriate, a longitudinal component on the impact of the COVID–19 pandemic and the associated school closures, remote learning, and other factors, on student outcomes and well-being.
Impacts—
In general— The longitudinal component authorized under paragraph (1) shall include the impact on students’—
academic achievement, including any learning loss;
social and emotional well-being;
mental health;
behavioral health; and
physical health.
HIPAA compliance— The longitudinal component authorized under paragraph (1) shall comply with the regulations promulgated under section 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
Study on specific subgroups—
In general— The longitudinal component authorized under paragraph (1) shall examine the impact on specific subgroups of students (except as provided in subparagraph (B)), including on each of those subgroups described in section 1111(b)(2)(B)(xi) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(B)(xi)) and on each of the following:
Status as a student with a parent who is a member of the armed forces (as defined in section 101(a)(4) of title 10, United States Code) on active duty (as defined in section 101(d)(1) of title 10, United States Code) or serves on full-time National Guard duty (as defined in section 101(d)(5) of title 10, United States Code).
Status as a homeless child or youth, as defined in section 725(2) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a(2)).
Status as a child in foster care. In this clause, the term foster care means 24-hour substitute care for children placed away from their parents and for whom the agency under part E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 670 et seq.) has placement and care responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, placements in foster family homes, foster homes of relatives, group homes, emergency shelters, residential facilities, child care institutions, and preadoptive homes. A child is in foster care in accordance with this definition regardless of whether the foster care facility is licensed and payments are made by the State, Tribal, or local agency for the care of the child, whether adoption subsidy payments are being made prior to the finalization of an adoption, or whether there is Federal matching of any payments that are made.
Status as a neglected, delinquent, or at-risk student, as described in part D of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6421 et seq.).
Students from different grade levels.
Exception— The requirement under subparagraph (A) to examine the impact on a specific subgroup of students shall not be required in the case in which the number of students in a subgroup is insufficient to yield statistically reliable information or the results would reveal personally identifiable information about an individual student.
National representation— The longitudinal component authorized under paragraph (1) shall be nationally representative and include different geographic areas, including rural and urban localities.
Privacy laws— In carrying out this section, the Secretary of Education, in coordination with the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall act in accordance with section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g, commonly known as the “Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974”).
Release of summary of findings— Not later than 1 year after the end of the data collection under the longitudinal component authorized under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary of Education shall release a preliminary summary of findings from the longitudinal component to the public.