[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 605 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 605

 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to invest 
                      in innovation for education.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 26, 2015

Mr. Bennet (for himself and Mr. Schatz) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to invest 
                      in innovation for education.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Investing in Innovation for 
Education Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. INVESTING IN INNOVATION.

    (a) In General.--Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:

                   ``PART D--INVESTING IN INNOVATION

``SEC. 4401. PURPOSES.

    ``The purposes of this part are to--
            ``(1) fund the identification, development, evaluation, and 
        expansion of innovative, evidence-based practices, programs, 
        and strategies in order to significantly--
                    ``(A) increase student academic achievement and 
                decrease achievement gaps;
                    ``(B) increase secondary school graduation rates;
                    ``(C) increase postsecondary education enrollment 
                rates and persistence rates;
                    ``(D) improve teacher and school leader 
                effectiveness; and
                    ``(E) increase the identification of innovative 
                educational strategies in rural areas; and
            ``(2) support the rapid development, expansion, and 
        adoption of tools and resources that improve the efficiency, 
        effectiveness, or pace of adoption of such educational 
        practices, programs, and strategies.

``SEC. 4402. NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.

    ``The Secretary may reserve not more than 10 percent of the funds 
appropriated under section 4408 for each fiscal year to carry out 
activities of national significance, which may include--
            ``(1) capacity building;
            ``(2) technical assistance, including assistance to 
        applicants from rural areas;
            ``(3) pre-application workshops and web-based seminars for 
        potential applicants, including applicants from rural areas;
            ``(4) dissemination of best practices, in consultation with 
        the regional educational laboratories established under part D 
        of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9561 et 
        seq.) and comprehensive centers established under section 203 
        of the Educational Technical Assistance Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 
        9602), and developed with grant funds provided under this part, 
        including best practices developed with grant funds in rural 
        areas;
            ``(5) carrying out prize awards consistent with section 24 
        of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 
        U.S.C. 3719); and
            ``(6) entering into partnerships with other agencies, 
        nonprofit and for-profit organizations, and institutions of 
        higher education to carry out advanced research and development 
        activities, including research and activities in rural areas.

``SEC. 4403. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED; LENGTH OF GRANTS; PRIORITIES.

    ``(a) Program Authorization.--The Secretary shall use funds made 
available to carry out this part to award grants, on a competitive 
basis, to local educational agencies (including educational service 
agencies) and nonprofit organizations that propose to provide support 
to one or more public schools or local educational agencies, consistent 
with section 4405.
    ``(b) Duration of Grants.--
            ``(1) In general.--A grant under this part shall be for a 
        period of not more than 3 years.
            ``(2) Extension.--The Secretary may extend a grant awarded 
        under this part for an additional 2-year period if the grantee 
        demonstrates to the Secretary that the grantee is making 
        significant progress on the program performance measures 
        identified in section 4406.
    ``(c) Rural Areas.--The Secretary shall ensure that not less than 
25 percent of the funds awarded under subsection (a) for any fiscal 
year are for projects that meet both of the following requirements:
            ``(1) The grantee is--
                    ``(A) a local educational agency with an urban-
                centric district locale code of 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43, 
                as determined by the Secretary;
                    ``(B) a consortium of such local educational 
                agencies; or
                    ``(C) an educational service agency or a nonprofit 
                organization with demonstrated expertise in serving 
                students from rural areas.
            ``(2) A majority of the schools to be served by the project 
        are designated with a school locale code of 32, 33, 41, 42, or 
        43, or a combination of such codes, as determined by the 
        Secretary.
    ``(d) Priorities.--In awarding grants under this part, the 
Secretary may give priority to an eligible entity that includes, in its 
application under section 4404, a plan to--
            ``(1) improve early learning outcomes;
            ``(2) support postsecondary education access and success;
            ``(3) support family and community engagement;
            ``(4) address the unique learning needs of students with 
        disabilities or English language learners;
            ``(5) support the effective use of education technology to 
        improve teaching and learning;
            ``(6) improve the teaching and learning of science, 
        technology, engineering, or mathematics;
            ``(7) serve rural schools;
            ``(8) develop alternative career pathways or differentiated 
        school staffing models for effective teachers or principals to 
        expand their impact on student learning; or
            ``(9) train or support principals or teacher leaders, 
        including teacher leaders preparing for principal roles.
    ``(e) Standards of Evidence.--The Secretary, with advice from the 
Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, shall set standards 
for the quality of evidence that an applicant shall provide in order to 
demonstrate that the activities the applicant proposes to carry out 
with funds under this part are likely to succeed in improving student 
outcomes or outcomes on other performance measures. These standards may 
include any of the following:
            ``(1) Strong evidence, based on at least one effectiveness 
        study using a randomized design and an overlapping population, 
        that the activities proposed by the applicant will improve 
        student academic achievement, student academic growth, or 
        outcomes on other performance measures.
            ``(2) Moderate evidence, based on at least one 
        effectiveness study using a randomized or non-randomized design 
        with an overlapping population, that the activities proposed by 
        the applicant will improve student academic achievement, 
        student academic growth, or outcomes on other performance 
        measures.
            ``(3) Promising evidence, based on a correlational study, 
        that the activities proposed by the applicant will improve 
        student academic achievement, student academic growth, or 
        outcomes on other performance measures.
            ``(4) A rationale based on research findings or a 
        reasonable hypothesis that the activities proposed by the 
        applicant will improve student academic achievement, student 
        academic growth, or outcomes on other performance measures.

``SEC. 4404. APPLICATIONS.

    ``(a) Applications.--
            ``(1) In general.--Each local educational agency (including 
        an educational service agency) or nonprofit organization that 
        desires to receive a grant under this part shall submit an 
        application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 
        containing such information as the Secretary may reasonably 
        require.
            ``(2) Reasonable period of time.--The Secretary shall 
        ensure that prospective applicants are provided a reasonable 
        period of time in which to prepare and submit their 
        applications.
    ``(b) Contents.--At a minimum, each application shall--
            ``(1) describe the project for which the applicant is 
        seeking a grant and how the evidence supporting that project 
        meets the standards of evidence established by the Secretary 
        under section 4403(e);
            ``(2) describe how the applicant will address at least one 
        of the areas described in section 4405(a)(1);
            ``(3) provide an estimate of the number of students that 
        the applicant plans to serve under the proposed project, 
        including the percentage of those students who are from low-
        income families, and the number of students to be served 
        through additional expansion after the grant ends;
            ``(4) demonstrate that--
                    ``(A) the applicant has established one or more 
                partnerships with nonprofit or for-profit 
                organizations, community-based organizations, Federal, 
                State, or local agencies, or regional service units; 
                and
                    ``(B) the partner or partners will provide matching 
                funds, except that the Secretary may waive the matching 
                funds requirement, on a case-by-case basis, upon a 
                showing of exceptional circumstances, such as the 
                difficulty of raising matching funds for a project to 
                serve a rural area;
            ``(5) describe the applicant's plan for continuing the 
        proposed project after funding under this part ends;
            ``(6) demonstrate that the proposed project has 
        incorporated input and feedback from educators working in the 
        area to be served;
            ``(7) if the applicant is a local educational agency (not 
        including an educational service agency)--
                    ``(A) document the local educational agency's 
                record during the previous 3 years in--
                            ``(i) increasing student academic 
                        achievement, including achievement for each 
                        group described in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v); 
                        and
                            ``(ii) decreasing achievement gaps; and
                    ``(B) demonstrate how the local educational agency 
                has made significant improvements in other outcomes, as 
                applicable, on the performance measures described in 
                section 4406;
            ``(8) if the applicant is a nonprofit organization--
                    ``(A) provide evidence that the nonprofit 
                organization has helped at least 1 school or local 
                educational agency, during the previous 3 years, 
                significantly--
                            ``(i) increase student academic 
                        achievement, including achievement for each 
                        group described in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v); 
                        and
                            ``(ii) reduce achievement gaps; and
                    ``(B) describe how the nonprofit organization has 
                helped at least 1 school or local educational agency 
                make a significant improvement, as applicable, in other 
                outcomes on the performance measures described in 
                section 4406;
            ``(9) if the applicant is an educational service agency--
                    ``(A) provide evidence that the agency has helped 
                at least 1 school or local educational agency, during 
                the previous 3 years, significantly--
                            ``(i) increase student academic 
                        achievement, including achievement for each 
                        subgroup described in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v); 
                        and
                            ``(ii) reduce achievement gaps; and
                    ``(B) describe how the agency has helped at least 1 
                school or local educational agency make a significant 
                improvement, as applicable, in other outcomes on the 
                performance measures described in section 4406;
            ``(10) provide a description of the applicant's plan for 
        independently evaluating the effectiveness of activities 
        carried out with funds under this part;
            ``(11) provide an assurance that the applicant will--
                    ``(A) cooperate with cross-cutting evaluations;
                    ``(B) make evaluation data available to third 
                parties for validation and further study, consistent 
                with protections established by applicable privacy 
                requirements and provisions on the protection of 
                personally identifiable information; and
                    ``(C) participate in communities of practice; and
            ``(12) if the applicant is a nonprofit organization that 
        intends to make subgrants, consistent with section 4405(b), 
        provide an assurance that the applicant will apply paragraphs 
        (1) through (10), as appropriate, in the applicant's selection 
        of subgrantees and in its oversight of those subgrants.
    ``(c) Criteria for Evaluating Applications.--The Secretary shall 
award grants under this part in accordance with subsections (c) and (d) 
of section 4403 and on a competitive basis, based on--
            ``(1) the quality of the applications submitted; and
            ``(2) consistent with the standards established under 
        section 4403(e), each applicant's likelihood of achieving 
        success in improving student outcomes for high-needs students 
        or outcomes for high-needs students on other performance 
        measures.

``SEC. 4405. USES OF FUNDS.

    ``(a) Uses of Funds.--Each local educational agency (including an 
educational service agency) or nonprofit organization that receives a 
grant under this part--
            ``(1) shall use the grant funds to address, at a minimum, 1 
        of the areas of school innovation, which are--
                    ``(A) improving the effectiveness of teachers and 
                school leaders and promoting equity in the distribution 
                of effective teachers and school leaders;
                    ``(B) strengthening the use of data to improve 
                teaching and learning;
                    ``(C) providing high-quality instruction based on 
                rigorous academic content standards that build toward 
                college and career readiness and measuring students' 
                mastery using high-quality assessments aligned to those 
                standards;
                    ``(D) turning around the lowest-performing schools; 
                and
                    ``(E) any other area of school innovation, as 
                determined by the Secretary;
            ``(2) shall use the grant funds to develop or expand 
        strategies to improve the performance of high-need students on 
        the performance measures described in section 4406; and
            ``(3) may use the grant funds for an independent 
        evaluation, as required by section 4404(b)(9), of the 
        innovative practices carried out with the grant.
    ``(b) Authority To Subgrant.--A nonprofit organization that 
receives a grant under this part may use the grant funds to make 
subgrants to other entities to provide support to one or more schools 
or local educational agencies. Any such entity shall comply with the 
requirements of this part relating to grantees, as appropriate.

``SEC. 4406. PERFORMANCE MEASURES.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish performance 
measures for the programs and activities carried out through a grant 
under this part. These measures, at a minimum, shall track the 
grantee's progress in--
            ``(1) improving outcomes for each group described in 
        section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v) that is served by the grantee on 
        measures, including, as applicable, by--
                    ``(A) increasing student academic achievement and 
                decreasing achievement gaps;
                    ``(B) increasing secondary school graduation rates;
                    ``(C) increasing postsecondary education enrollment 
                rates and persistence rates;
                    ``(D) improving teacher and school leader 
                effectiveness;
                    ``(E) improving school readiness; and
                    ``(F) any other indicator as the Secretary or 
                grantee may determine; and
            ``(2) implementing its project in rural schools, as 
        applicable.
    ``(b) Data Collection Period.--From the amounts appropriated under 
section 4408 for a fiscal year, the Secretary may--
            ``(1) approve, for an entity receiving a grant under 
        section 4403, a data collection period of not more than 72 
        months beginning after the end of the entity's grant period; 
        and
            ``(2) provide the entity with funding during such period 
        for the sole purpose of collecting, analyzing, and reporting 
        performance information under this subsection on the project 
        carried out during the grant period.

``SEC. 4407. REPORTING; ANNUAL REPORT.

    ``A local educational agency (including an educational service 
agency) or nonprofit organization that receives a grant under this part 
shall submit to the Secretary, at such time and in such manner as the 
Secretary may require, an annual report that includes, information on 
the applicant's progress on the performance measures established under 
section 4406, and the data supporting that progress, and other 
information.

``SEC. 4408. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part 
$300,000,000 for fiscal year 2016 and such sums as may be necessary for 
each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents in section 2 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 4304 the following:

                   ``Part D--Investing in Innovation

``Sec. 4401. Purposes.
``Sec. 4402. National activities.
``Sec. 4403. Program authorized; length of grants; priorities.
``Sec. 4404. Applications.
``Sec. 4405. Uses of funds.
``Sec. 4406. Performance measures.
``Sec. 4407. Reporting; annual report.
``Sec. 4408. Authorization of appropriations.''.
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