,,ii #aadth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #fje ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,february #bf1 #bjae,mr4 ,bennet 7for himself and ,mr4 ,schatz7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,health1 ,education1 ,labor1 and ,pensions ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,elementary and ,secondary ,education ,act of #aife to invest in innovation for education4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,investing in ,innovation for ,education ,act of #bjae4 #b4 ,investing in innovation 7a7 ,in ,general ,title ,,iv of the ,elementary and ,secondary ,education ,act of #aife 7#bj ,u4,s4,c4 #gaja et seq47 is amended by adding at the end the following3 ,d ,investing in innovation #ddja4 ,purposes ,the purposes of this part are to-- 7#a7 fund the identification1 development1 evaluation1 and expansion of innovative1 evidence-based practices1 programs1 and strategies in order to significantly-- 7,a7 increase student academic achievement and decrease achievement gaps2 7,b7 increase secondary school graduation rates2 7,c7 increase postsecondary education enrollment rates and persistence rates2 7,d7 improve teacher and school leader effectiveness2 and 7,e7 increase the identification of innovative educational strategies in rural areas2 and 7#b7 support the rapid development1 expansion1 and adoption of tools and resources that improve the efficiency1 effectiveness1 or pace of adoption of such educational practices1 programs1 and strategies4 #ddjb4 ,national activities ,the ,secretary may reserve not more than #aj percent of the funds appropriated under section #ddjh for each fiscal year to carry out activities of national significance1 which may include-- 7#a7 capacity building2 7#b7 technical assistance1 including assistance to applicants from rural areas2 7#c7 pre-application workshops and web-based seminars for potential applicants1 including applicants from rural areas2 7#d7 dissemination of best practices1 in consultation with the regional educational laboratories established under part ,d of the ,education ,sciences ,reform ,act of #bjjb 7#bj ,u4,s4,c4 #iefa et seq47 and comprehensive centers established under section #bjc of the ,educational ,technical ,assistance ,act of #bjjb 7#bj ,u4,s4,c4 #ifjb71 and developed with grant funds provided under this part1 including best practices developed with grant funds in rural areas2 7#e7 carrying out prize awards consistent with section #bd of the ,stevenson-,wydler ,technology ,innovation ,act of #aihj 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #cgai72 and 7#f7 entering into partnerships with other agencies1 nonprofit and for-profit organizations1 and institutions of higher education to carry out advanced research and development activities1 including research and activities in rural areas4 #ddjc4 ,program authorized2 length of grants2 priorities 7a7 ,program ,authorization ,the ,secretary shall use funds made available to carry out this part to award grants1 on a competitive basis1 to local educational agencies 7including educational service agencies7 and nonprofit organizations that propose to provide support to one or more public schools or local educational agencies1 consistent with section #ddje4 7b7 ,duration of ,grants 7#a7 ,in general ,a grant under this part shall be for a period of not more than #c years4 7#b7 ,extension ,the ,secretary may extend a grant awarded under this part for an additional #b-year period if the grantee demonstrates to the ,secretary that the grantee is making significant progress on the program performance measures identified in section #ddjf4 7c7 ,rural areas ,the ,secretary shall ensure that not less than #be percent of the funds awarded under subsection 7a7 for any fiscal year are for projects that meet both of the following requirements3 7#a7 ,the grantee is-- 7,a7 a local educational agency with an urban-centric district locale code of #cb1 #cc1 #da1 #db1 or #dc1 as determined by the ,secretary2 7,b7 a consortium of such local educational agencies2 or 7,c7 an educational service agency or a nonprofit organization with demonstrated expertise in serving students from rural areas4 7#b7 ,a majority of the schools to be served by the project are designated with a school locale code of #cb1 #cc1 #da1 #db1 or #dc1 or a combination of such codes1 as determined by the ,secretary4 7d7 ,priorities ,in awarding grants under this part1 the ,secretary may give priority to an eligible entity that includes1 in its application under section #ddjd1 a plan to-- 7#a7 improve early learning outcomes2 7#b7 support postsecondary education access and success2 7#c7 support family and community engagement2 7#d7 address the unique learning needs of students with disabilities or ,english language learners2 7#e7 support the effective use of education technology to improve teaching and learning2 7#f7 improve the teaching and learning of science1 technology1 engineering1 or mathematics2 7#g7 serve rural schools2 7#h7 develop alternative career pathways or differentiated school staffing models for effective teachers or principals to expand their impact on student learning2 or 7#i7 train or support principals or teacher leaders1 including teacher leaders preparing for principal roles4 7e7 ,standards of evidence ,the ,secretary1 with advice from the ,director of the ,institute of ,education ,sciences1 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 measures4 ,these standards may include any of the following3 7#a7 ,strong evidence1 based on at least one effectiveness study using a randomized design and an overlapping population1 that the activities proposed by the applicant will improve student academic achievement1 student academic growth1 or outcomes on other performance measures4 7#b7 ,moderate evidence1 based on at least one effectiveness study using a randomized or non-randomized design with an overlapping population1 that the activities proposed by the applicant will improve student academic achievement1 student academic growth1 or outcomes on other performance measures4 7#c7 ,promising evidence1 based on a correlational study1 that the activities proposed by the applicant will improve student academic achievement1 student academic growth1 or outcomes on other performance measures4 7#d7 ,a rationale based on research findings or a reasonable hypothesis that the activities proposed by the applicant will improve student academic achievement1 student academic growth1 or outcomes on other performance measures4 #ddjd4 ,applications 7a7 ,applications 7#a7 ,in general ,each local educational agency 7including an educational service agency7 or nonprofit organization that desires to receive a grant under this part shall submit an application to the ,secretary at such time1 in such manner1 and containing such information as the ,secretary may reasonably require4 7#b7 ,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 applications4 7b7 ,contents ,at a minimum1 each application shall-- 7#a7 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 #ddjc7;e72 7#b7 describe how the applicant will address at least one of the areas described in section #ddje7;a77#a72 7#c7 provide an estimate of the number of students that the applicant plans to serve under the proposed project1 including the percentage of those students who are from low-income families1 and the number of students to be served through additional expansion after the grant ends2 7#d7 demonstrate that-- 7,a7 the applicant has established one or more partnerships with nonprofit or for-profit organizations1 community-based organizations1 ,federal1 ,state1 or local agencies1 or regional service units2 and 7,b7 the partner or partners will provide matching funds1 except that the ,secretary may waive the matching funds requirement1 on a case-by-case basis1 upon a showing of exceptional circumstances1 such as the difficulty of raising matching funds for a project to serve a rural area2 7#e7 describe the applicant's plan for continuing the proposed project after funding under this part ends2 7#f7 demonstrate that the proposed project has incorporated input and feedback from educators working in the area to be served2 7#g7 if the applicant is a local educational agency 7not including an educational service agency7-- 7,a7 document the local educational agency's record during the previous #c years in-- 7i7 increasing student academic achievement1 including achievement for each group described in section #aaaa7;b77#b77;,c77v72 and 7ii7 decreasing achievement gaps2 and 7,b7 demonstrate how the local educational agency has made significant improvements in other outcomes1 as applicable1 on the performance measures described in section #ddjf2 7#h7 if the applicant is a nonprofit organization-- 7,a7 provide evidence that the nonprofit organization has helped at least #a school or local educational agency1 during the previous #c years1 significantly-- 7i7 increase student academic achievement1 including achievement for each group described in section #aaaa7;b77#b77;,c77v72 and 7ii7 reduce achievement gaps2 and 7,b7 describe how the nonprofit organization has helped at least #a school or local educational agency make a significant improvement1 as applicable1 in other outcomes on the performance measures described in section #ddjf2 7#i7 if the applicant is an educational service agency-- 7,a7 provide evidence that the agency has helped at least #a school or local educational agency1 during the previous #c years1 significantly-- 7i7 increase student academic achievement1 including achievement for each subgroup described in section #aaaa7;b77#b77;,c77v72 and 7ii7 reduce achievement gaps2 and 7,b7 describe how the agency has helped at least #a school or local educational agency make a significant improvement1 as applicable1 in other outcomes on the performance measures described in section #ddjf2 7#aj7 provide a description of the applicant's plan for independently evaluating the effectiveness of activities carried out with funds under this part2 7#aa7 provide an assurance that the applicant will-- 7,a7 cooperate with cross-cutting evaluations2 7,b7 make evaluation data available to third parties for validation and further study1 consistent with protections established by applicable privacy requirements and provisions on the protection of personally identifiable information2 and 7,c7 participate in communities of practice2 and 7#ab7 if the applicant is a nonprofit organization that intends to make subgrants1 consistent with section #ddje7;b71 provide an assurance that the applicant will apply paragraphs 7#a7 through 7#aj71 as appropriate1 in the applicant's selection of subgrantees and in its oversight of those subgrants4 7c7 ,criteria for evaluating applications ,the ,secretary shall award grants under this part in accordance with subsections 7c7 and 7d7 of section #ddjc and on a competitive basis1 based on-- 7#a7 the quality of the applications submitted2 and 7#b7 consistent with the standards established under section #ddjc7;e71 each applicant's likelihood of achieving success in improving student outcomes for high-needs students or outcomes for high-needs students on other performance measures4 #ddje4 ,uses of funds 7a7 ,uses of funds ,each local educational agency 7including an educational service agency7 or nonprofit organization that receives a grant under this part-- 7#a7 shall use the grant funds to address1 at a minimum1 #a of the areas of school innovation1 which are-- 7,a7 improving the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders and promoting equity in the distribution of effective teachers and school leaders2 7,b7 strengthening the use of data to improve teaching and learning2 7,c7 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 standards2 7,d7 turning around the lowest-performing schools2 and 7,e7 any other area of school innovation1 as determined by the ,secretary2 7#b7 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 #ddjf2 and 7#c7 may use the grant funds for an independent evaluation1 as required by section #ddjd7;b77#i71 of the innovative practices carried out with the grant4 7b7 ,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 agencies4 ,any such entity shall comply with the requirements of this part relating to grantees1 as appropriate4 #ddjf4 ,performance measures 7a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary shall establish performance measures for the programs and activities carried out through a grant under this part4 ,these measures1 at a minimum1 shall track the grantee's progress in-- 7#a7 improving outcomes for each group described in section #aaaa7;b77#b77;,c77v7 that is served by the grantee on measures1 including1 as applicable1 by-- 7,a7 increasing student academic achievement and decreasing achievement gaps2 7,b7 increasing secondary school graduation rates2 7,c7 increasing postsecondary education enrollment rates and persistence rates2 7,d7 improving teacher and school leader effectiveness2 7,e7 improving school readiness2 and 7,f7 any other indicator as the ,secretary or grantee may determine2 and 7#b7 implementing its project in rural schools1 as applicable4 7b7 ,data collection period ,from the amounts appropriated under section #ddjh for a fiscal year1 the ,secretary may-- 7#a7 approve1 for an entity receiving a grant under section #ddjc1 a data collection period of not more than #gb months beginning after the end of the entity's grant period2 and 7#b7 provide the entity with funding during such period for the sole purpose of collecting1 analyzing1 and reporting performance information under this subsection on the project carried out during the grant period4 #ddjg4 ,reporting2 annual report ,a local educational agency 7including an educational service agency7 or nonprofit organization that receives a grant under this part shall submit to the ,secretary1 at such time and in such manner as the ,secretary may require1 an annual report that includes1 information on the applicant's progress on the performance measures established under section #ddjf1 and the data supporting that progress1 and other information4 #ddjh4 ,authorization of appropriations ,there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part #cjj1jjj1jjj for fiscal year #bjaf and such sums as may be necessary for each of the #e succeeding fiscal years4 4 7b7 ,table of contents ,the table of contents in section #b of the ,elementary and ,secondary ,education ,act of #aife is amended by inserting after the item relating to section #dcjd the following3 ,part ,d--,investing in ,innovation,sec4 #ddja4 ,purposes4,sec4 #ddjb4 ,national activities4,sec4 #ddjc4 ,program authorized2 length of grants2 priorities4,sec4 #ddjd4 ,applications4,sec4 #ddje4 ,uses of funds4,sec4 #ddjf4 ,performance measures4,sec4 #ddjg4 ,reporting2 annual report4,sec4 #ddjh4 ,authorization of appropriations4 4