20 U.S.C. § 1231c: Advice, counsel, and…

§1231c Advice, Counsel, and Technical Assistance

Title 20 › CHAPTER 31 — GENERAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING EDUCATION › SUBCHAPTER III — GENERAL REQUIREMENTS AND CONDITIONS CONCERNING OPERATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF EDUCATION PROGRAMS: GENERAL AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY › Part 1 — General Authority › § 1231c

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary may give advice and technical help, when asked, to state education agencies, colleges, and, if the state agency agrees, K–12 schools. That help can cover four things: finding what federal benefits they can get; preparing applications and meeting program rules; improving the quality, depth, or reach of program activities; and making applications, reports, and other paperwork simpler. Local school districts may use organized methods to decide and report costs if the Secretary finds those methods won’t weaken the programs, will allow proper evaluation, and follow audit rules the Comptroller General sets. A cost is charged to an objective based on the share of benefit it gets. For curriculum or instructional material grants and contracts, applicants should plan for how materials will be shared, may include reasonable planning fees, and awards must be made competitively to groups that promise to reach the intended audiences. The Secretary must report these activities each year.

Title 20, §1231c

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(a)State educational agencies, institutions of higher education

For the purpose of carrying out more effectively Federal education programs, the Secretary is authorized, upon request, to provide advice, counsel, and technical assistance to State educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and, with the approval of the appropriate State educational agency, elementary and secondary schools—

(1)in determining benefits available to them under Federal law;

(2)in preparing applications for, and meeting requirements of, applicable programs;

(3)in order to enhance the quality, increase the depth, or broaden the scope of activities under applicable programs; and

(4)in order to encourage simplification of applications, reports, evaluations, and other administrative procedures.

(b)Cost allocation, collection, etc., by local educational agencies

The Secretary shall permit local educational agencies to use organized and systematic approaches in determining cost allocation, collection, measurement, and reporting under any applicable program, if he determines (1) that the use of such approaches will not in any manner lessen the effectiveness and impact of such program in achieving purposes for which it is intended, (2) that the agency will use such procedures as will insure adequate evaluation of each of the programs involved, and (3) that such approaches are consistent with criteria prescribed by the Comptroller General of the United States for the purposes of audit. For the purpose of this subsection a cost is allocable to a particular cost objective to the extent of relative benefits received by such objective.

(c)Dissemination

In awarding contracts and grants for the development of curricula or instructional materials, the Secretary and the Director of the National Institute of Education shall—

(1)encourage applicants to assure that such curricula or instructional materials will be developed in a manner conducive to dissemination through continuing consultations with publishers, personnel of State and local educational agencies, teachers, administrators, community representatives, and other individuals experienced in such dissemination;

(2)permit applicants to include provision for reasonable consultation fees or planning costs; and

(3)insure that grants to public agencies and nonprofit private organizations and contracts with public agencies and private organizations for publication and dissemination of curricula or instructional materials, or both, are awarded competitively to such agencies and organizations which provide assurances that the curricula and instructional materials will reach the target populations for which they were developed.

(d)Annual report by Secretary

The Secretary’s annual report shall contain a statement of the Secretary’s activities under this section.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

A prior section 433 of Pub. L. 90–247 was renumbered section 439, and is classified to section 1232b of this title. Another prior section 433 of Pub. L. 90–247 was renumbered section 443, and was classified to section 1233b of this title prior to repeal by Pub. L. 103–382.

Amendments

1978—Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 95–561 added subsec. (c) and redesignated former subsec. (c) as (d).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1978 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 95–561 effective Oct. 1, 1978, see section 1530(a) of Pub. L. 95–561, set out as a note under section 1221e–3 of this title.

Transfer of Functions

“Secretary” and “Secretary’s”, meaning the Secretary of Education, substituted for “Commissioner” and “Commissioner’s”, respectively, in subsecs. (a) to (d) pursuant to section 301(a)(1) and 507 of Pub. L. 96–88, which are classified to section 3441(a)(1) and 3507 of this title and which transferred functions of Commissioner of Education to Secretary of Education. National Institute of Education The National Institute of Education consisting of a National Council on Educational Research and a Director of the Institute was established by section 1221e of this title which, as amended generally by Pub. L. 99–498, title XIV, § 1401(a), Oct. 17, 1986, 100 Stat. 1589, provided objectives and duties for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement and established the National Advisory Council on Educational Research and Improvement, and section 1401(b) of Pub. L. 99–498 transferred the property and records of the National Institute of Education to the Office of Educational Research and Improvement.