1.This Act may be cited as the
Schools of the Future
Act
.
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)Digital learning
technology holds the promise of transforming rural education by removing
barriers of distance and increasing school capacity.
(2)While many large
urban local educational agencies are at the forefront of implementing new
digital learning innovations, it is often harder for smaller and more rural
local educational agencies to access these tools. Smaller local educational
agencies with less capacity may also find it more difficult to provide the
training needed to effectively implement new digital learning
technologies.
(3)Despite the potential of digital learning
in rural areas, these advancements risk passing rural areas by without support
for their implementation. Rather than having schools and local educational
agencies apply digital learning innovations designed for urban environments to
rural areas, it is important that digital learning technologies be developed
and implemented in ways that reflect the unique needs of rural areas.
(4)Digital learning is rapidly expanding, and
new tools for improving teaching and learning are being developed every day. A
growing demand for digital learning tools and products has made rigorous
evaluation of their effectiveness increasingly important, as this information
would allow school and local educational agency leaders to make informed
choices about how best to use these tools to improve student achievement and
educational outcomes.
3.
(a)Grants to
eligible partnershipsFrom the amounts appropriated to carry out
this Act, the Secretary of Education is authorized to award grants, on a
competitive basis, to eligible partnerships to carry out the activities
described in
section 6.
(b)A grant under
subsection (a) shall be awarded for not less than a 3-year and not longer than
a 5-year period.
(c)If an eligible
partnership receives a grant under this Act, a school partner in the
partnership shall serve as the fiscal agent for the partnership.
4.An eligible partnership desiring a grant
under this Act shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in
such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require,
which shall include the following:
(1)A
description of the eligible partnership, including the name of each of the
partners and their respective roles and responsibilities.
(2)A
description of the technology-based learning practice, tool, strategy, or
course that the eligible partnership proposes to develop or implement using the
grant funds.
(3)Information relevant to the selection
criteria under
section 5(c).
(4)A
description of the evaluation to be undertaken by the eligible partnership,
including—
(A)how the school partner and the evaluation
partner will work together to implement the practice, tool, strategy, or course
in such a way that permits the use of a rigorous evaluation design that meets
the standards of the What Works Clearinghouse of the Institute of Education
Sciences; and
(B)a description of the evaluation design that
meets such standards, which will be used to measure any significant effects on
the outcomes described in paragraphs (1) through (3) of section 7(a).
(5)An estimate of the number of students to be
reached through the grant and evidence of its capacity to reach the proposed
number of students during the course of the grant.
(6)An assurance that the school partner in the
eligible partnership will ensure that each school to be served by the grant
under this Act is designated with a school locale code of Fringe Rural, Distant
Rural, or Remote Rural, as determined by the Secretary.
(7)Any other
information the Secretary may require.
5.Application review and
award basis
(a)The Secretary shall
use a peer review process to review applications for grants under this Act. The
Secretary shall appoint individuals to the peer review process who have
relevant expertise in digital learning, research and evaluation, and rural
education.
(b)In awarding grants under this Act, the Secretary shall
ensure, to the extent practicable diversity in the type of activities funded
under the grants.
(c)In evaluating an eligible partnership’s application for
a grant under this Act, the Secretary shall consider—
(1)the need for the
proposed technology-based learning practice, tool, strategy, or course;
(2)the quality of the
design of the proposed practice, tool, strategy, or course;
(3)the strength of the existing research
evidence with respect to such practice, tool, strategy, or course;
(4)the experience of
the eligible partnership; and
(5)the quality of the
evaluation proposed by the eligible partnership.
6.
(a)
(1)An eligible partnership receiving a grant under this Act
shall use such funds to implement and evaluate the results of technology-based
learning practices, strategies, tools, or courses, including the practices,
strategies, tools, or courses identified under paragraphs (2) through
(6).
(2)Tools and
courses designed to personalize the learning experienceTechnology-based tools and courses
identified under this paragraph include the following types of tools and
courses designed to personalize the learning experience:
(A)Technology-based
personalized instructional systems.
(B)Adaptive software,
games, or tools, that can be used to personalize learning.
(C)Computer-based
tutoring courses to help struggling students.
(D)Games, digital
tools, and smartphone or tablet applications to improve students’ engagement,
focus, and time on task.
(E)Other tools and courses designed to
personalize the learning experience.
(3)Practices and
strategies designed to aid and inform instructionTechnology-based practices and strategies
identified under this paragraph include the following types of practices and
strategies designed to aid and inform instruction:
(A)Adaptive software,
games, or tools that can be used for the purpose of formative
assessment.
(B)Web resources that provide teachers and
their students access to instructional and curricular materials that
are—
(i)aligned with
high-quality standards; and
(ii)designed to
prepare students for college and a career, such as a repository of primary
historical sources for use in history and civics courses or examples of
developmentally appropriate science experiments.
(C)Online
professional development opportunities, teacher mentoring opportunities, and
professional learning communities.
(D)Tools or web resources designed to
addresses specific instructional problems.
(E)Other practices and strategies designed to
personalize the learning experience.
(4)Tools, courses,
and strategies designed to improve the achievement of students with specific
educational needsTechnology-based tools, courses, and
strategies identified under this paragraph include the following types of
tools, courses, and strategies designed to meet the needs of students with
specific educational needs:
(A)Digital tools
specifically designed to meet the needs of students with a particular
disability.
(B)Online courses
that give students who are not on track to graduate or have already dropped out
of school the opportunity for accelerated credit recovery.
(C)Language
instruction courses, games, or software designed to meet the needs of English
language learners.
(D)Other tools, courses, and strategies
designed to personalize the learning experience.
(5)Tools, courses,
and strategies designed to help students develop 21st Century
skillsTechnology-based
tools, courses, and strategies identified under this paragraph include
peer-to-peer virtual learning opportunities to be used for the purposes of
project-based learning, deeper learning, and collaborative learning, and other
tools, courses, and strategies designed to help students develop 21st century
skills, such as the ability to think critically and solve problems, be
effective communicators, collaborate with others, and learn to create and
innovate.
(6)Technology-based
or online courses that allow students to take courses that they would not
otherwise have access toTechnology-based or online courses
identified under this paragraph include courses or collections of courses that
provide students access to courses that they would not otherwise have access
to, such as the following:
(A)An online
repository of elective courses.
(B)Online or
software-based courses in foreign languages, especially in languages identified
as critical or in schools where a teacher is not available to teach the
language or course level a student requires.
(C)Online advanced or
college-level courses that can be taken for credit.
(b)An eligible partnership receiving a grant under this Act
may use grant funds to—
(1)develop the technology for technology-based
learning strategies, practices, courses, or tools to be carried out under the
grant;
(2)purchase hardware or software needed to
carry out such strategies, practices, courses, or tools under the grant, except
that such purchases may not exceed 50 percent of total grant funds;
(3)address the
particular needs of student subgroups, including students with disabilities and
English-language learners;
(4)provide
technology-based professional development or professional development on how to
maximize the utility of technology; and
(5)address issues of
cost and capacity in rural areas and shortage subjects.
7.Data collection
and evaluation
(a)Each eligible
partnership receiving a grant under this Act shall require its evaluation
partner to complete a comprehensive, well-designed, and well-implemented
evaluation that meets the standards of the What Works Clearinghouse after the
third year of implementation of the grant to measure the effect of the
practice, tool, strategy, or course on—
(1)student achievement, as measured by high
quality assessments that provide objective, valid, reliable measures of student
academic growth and information on whether a student is on-track to graduate
ready for college and career;
(2)where applicable,
student achievement gaps, graduation and dropout rates, college enrollment,
college persistence, college completion, and teacher or principal effectiveness
as measured by student achievement and other applicable measures; and
(3)costs and savings
to the school partner.
(b)Implementation
evaluationAn evaluation partner may use funds under this Act to
carry out an implementation evaluation designed to provide information that may
be useful for schools, local educational agencies, States, consortia of
schools, and charter school networks seeking to implement similar practices,
tools, strategies, or courses in the future.
(c)Upon completion of an evaluation described in subsection
(a) or (b), the evaluation partner shall—
(1)submit a report of
the results of the evaluation to the Secretary; and
(2)make publicly
available such results.
8.In this Act:
(1)The term
eligible partnership means a partnership that includes a school
partner and not less than 1—
(A)digital learning
partner, except that in a case in which a school partner or evaluation partner
demonstrates expertise in digital learning to the Secretary; and
(B)evaluation
partner.
(2)The term school
partner means a—
(A)local educational
agency;
(B)a charter school
network;
(C)a consortium of
elementary schools or secondary schools;
(D)a regional
educational service agency or similar regional educational service provider;
or
(E)a consortium of
the entities described in subparagraphs (A) through (D).
(3)The term
digital learning partner means an organization with expertise in
the technology required to develop or implement the digital learning practices,
tools, strategies, or courses proposed by the school partner with which the
digital learning partner will partner or has partnered under this Act, such
as—
(A)an institution of higher education;
(B)a nonprofit
organization; or
(C)an organization with school development or
turnaround experience.
(4)The term
evaluation partner means a partner that has the expertise and
ability to carry out the evaluation of a grant received under this Act, such
as—
(A)an institution of higher education;
(B)a nonprofit organization with expertise in
evaluation; or
(C)an evaluation
firm.
(5)Institution of
higher educationThe term institution of higher
education has the meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002).
(6)The term local educational agency
has the meaning given the term in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(7)The term Secretary means the
Secretary of Education.