To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize a national elementary and secondary service-learning program that promotes student academic achievement, and for other purposes.

Summary: Engaging Students Through Service Learning Act - Amends title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish an Enhancing the Effectiveness of K-12 Education through Service Learning grant program.

Directs the Secretary of Education to reserve a portion of program funds to: (1) establish a National Center for K-12 Service Learning; and (2) conduct research and evaluation activities, including a study on the effects of academic service-learning on instructional quality and the success of students in low-performing schools; and (3) assist states in developing exemplary service-learning programs.

Requires the Secretary to award grants to states to: (1) support a service-learning specialist who acts as a conduit of information between the state and local level, (2) implement a statewide cascade professional development model and support local service-learning efforts, and (3) award competitive subgrants to local educational agencies.

Requires subgrantees to use: (1) the service-learning model to strengthen the content area disciplines and implement key educational innovations in areas with a high percentage of underperforming youth, and (2) a cascade professional development model to bring practice to scale.

Describes the cascade professional development model as one that trains high-quality professional development specialists who then train educators who are then responsible for training, mentoring, and supporting their peers.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Engaging Students Through Service 
Learning Act''.

SEC. 2. K-12 SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:

``PART E--ENHANCING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF K-12 EDUCATION THROUGH SERVICE 
                                LEARNING

``SEC. 2501. FINDINGS.

    ``The Congress finds as follows:
            ``(1) Students learn best when they are actively engaged in 
        meaningful and challenging learning experiences that encourage 
        higher order skills development, critical thinking, and problem 
        solving.
            ``(2) Service learning is a pedagogy that encompasses key 
        elements of effective teaching and learning, including active 
        learning, authentic experiences, opportunities for peer 
        collaboration, problem solving, student leadership and 
        empowerment, and cognitively challenging academic activities.
            ``(3) Students invest themselves in learning when their 
        educational experiences have personal meaning to them and are 
        connected to authentic, real issues in their everyday lives.
            ``(4) In service learning, students apply their knowledge 
        and skills to solve actual community problems and experience 
        the real-world value of what they are learning in school. 
        Service learning can therefore have a powerful effect on 
        students, increasing their academic engagement, their civic 
        engagement and their social and emotional development.
            ``(5) Service learning can have a powerful effect on 
        students, helping them to increase their academic engagement 
        and performance, their civic engagement and desire to help 
        others, and their social-emotional learning in areas related to 
        21st century skill acquisition, such as task persistence, 
        intellectual curiosity, and ability to work in teams.
            ``(6) In service learning, students connect to the 
        community and to their classmates in ways that are far more 
        powerful than simple cooperative learning.
            ``(7) Service learning has been found to promote behavioral 
        and dispositional factors that mediate students' educational 
        success such as greater motivation for school, engagement in 
        learning tasks, building of self-efficacy and self-esteem, and 
        propensity to engage in pro-social behaviors.
            ``(8) Research has demonstrated that test scores of 
        students who participated in service learning are higher in 
        reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, and science than 
        those of non-participants.
            ``(9) High-quality service learning will improve student 
        achievement and our schools because it employs effective, 
        experiential learning strategies associated with student 
        engagement in academic work and preparation for success in 
        college and the workplace, engages students in solving complex 
        problems, probes for deeper learning, and seeks opportunities 
        for students to transfer knowledge from one context to another.
            ``(10) Principals report that service learning has a 
        positive impact on teacher satisfaction, school climate, 
        academic achievement, and school engagement.
            ``(11) Teachers who use service learning in the classroom 
        as a type of positive teaching strategy achieve better results 
        in a variety of academic and behavioral categories than those 
        who don't, are more effective, challenged, and energized, and 
        are more likely to remain within their chosen profession.
            ``(12) Only an estimated 24 percent of the approximately 
        53,300,000 K-12 youth in the United States are given the 
        opportunity to engage in any kind of service-learning 
        experience, a decline from 32 percent in 1999.
            ``(13) Schools in high poverty areas are less likely to 
        employ service learning as a teaching strategy, yet research 
        has shown this is a particularly effective pedagogy for use in 
        such schools. Service learning can significantly reduce the 
        achievement gap between affluent and low-income students. Low-
        income students who participated in service opportunities have 
        better school attendance and grades than low-income students 
        who do not participate.
            ``(14) There is a need for a rigorous and focused 
        initiative to demonstrate and broadly promote high-quality 
        service learning that enhances teacher effectiveness, improves 
        student learning and educational success, and positively 
        affects school climate.
            ``(15) State educational agencies are the only entities 
        with comprehensive, statewide responsibility for the quality of 
        learning within a State.

``SEC. 2502. PURPOSE.

    ``The purpose of this part is to authorize a national elementary 
and secondary school service-learning program that will expand 
opportunities for students to engage in high-quality service learning 
that--
            ``(1) promotes student achievement in academic subjects, 
        including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics;
            ``(2) incorporates 21st century skills, such as critical 
        thinking, problem solving and collaboration;
            ``(3) integrates content knowledge and use of technology;
            ``(4) enhances school climate and civic engagement; and
            ``(5) improves post-school outcomes.

``SEC. 2503. NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.

    ``The Secretary shall reserve funds for national activities as 
follows:
            ``(1) The Secretary shall reserve not more than 10 percent 
        to establish a National Center for K-12 Service Learning--
                    ``(A) to provide resources to State educational 
                agencies to develop and expand the capacity of local 
                educational agencies to improve teacher quality, school 
                climate, and educational outcomes by providing an 
                infrastructure for sustainable service-learning efforts 
                through vision and leadership, professional 
                development, curriculum and assessment, school-
                community collaborations, and continuous improvement; 
                and
                    ``(B) to provide oversight, establish linkages with 
                key Federal education initiatives, foster 
                sustainability, provide evidence for the strengths and 
                limitations of service-learning practices, and 
                disseminate study findings.
            ``(2) The Secretary shall reserve not more than 10 percent 
        for research and evaluation activities, including a study, 
        conducted by the Institute of Education Sciences and connecting 
        with State longitudinal data systems, on the effects of 
        academic service learning on instructional quality and the 
        academic success of students in low-performing schools. The 
        study shall include the following elements:
                    ``(A) A comprehensive, rigorous research design 
                that builds on prior studies on effective pedagogies, 
                service learning, and student success.
                    ``(B) Gathering qualitative and quantitative data 
                to comprehensively assess the impact service learning 
                has on students' academic, civic, and behavioral 
                performance, including student engagement.
                    ``(C) Tracking and measuring the success of 
                systemic district-level change based on exemplary 
                service-learning policies and practices.
                    ``(D) Measuring the effectiveness of a quality 
                professional development leadership system, including 
                the effect the professional development provided under 
                this section has on teaching and pedagogy, including 
                the impact on teachers likelihood of providing students 
                with real-world problem-solving opportunities, 
                opportunities for deeper learning and tying academic 
                concepts to real-world contexts, opportunities for 
                leadership, and opportunities for peer collaboration.
                    ``(E) Systematically measuring the influence of 
                service-learning participation on students' academic 
                achievement within and across States.
                    ``(F) Reporting annually to the public and the 
                Congress.
            ``(3) The Secretary shall reserve not more than 5 percent 
        for training and technical assistance for State-level program 
        development. The Secretary shall contract with an entity, or 
        entities, with a demonstrated record of achievement in 
        promoting and disseminating best practices in service 
        learning--
                    ``(A) to continually scan the field and build an 
                ever-expanding knowledge base of exemplary service-
                learning models;
                    ``(B) to ensure the dissemination, adoption, and 
                continuous improvement of these exemplary practices at 
                the State and local level; and
                    ``(C) to conduct specific activities, including--
                            ``(i) developing and disseminating 
                        exemplary program models that demonstrate how 
                        high-quality service-learning programs can be 
                        replicated and can become sustainable at the 
                        State and local level by advancing the use of 
                        service learning as a high-quality 
                        instructional pedagogy;
                            ``(ii) providing resources to support 
                        effective policy development at the State and 
                        local level to advance efforts with respect to 
                        high-quality teachers and equitable 
                        distribution of quality teachers; and
                            ``(iii) providing exemplary professional 
                        development models and technical assistance 
                        materials that are available to any interested 
                        party.

``SEC. 2504. STATE ACTIVITIES.

    ``(a) Grants.--A State educational agency desiring a grant under 
this part shall submit an application to the Secretary that includes 
the following assurances:
            ``(1) All local educational agencies in the State shall 
        have access to high-quality professional development and peer 
        mentoring through a cascade model, including resources and 
        ongoing support to transform instructional practices.
            ``(2) The State educational agency shall generate 
        strategies for improvement in the lowest performing areas 
        utilizing service-learning policies and practices, National 
        School Climate Standards, and exemplary practices for enhancing 
        teacher quality.
            ``(3) The State educational agency shall establish State 
        policies and support systems that result in effective programs.
            ``(4) The State educational agency shall establish 
        effective partnerships to develop systemic implementation of 
        service learning in teacher preparation and professional 
        development.
    ``(b) Service-Learning Specialist.--Of the funds made available to 
a State educational agency under this part, the agency shall reserve 10 
percent to support a service-learning specialist who acts as a conduit 
of information between the State and local level, provides training and 
technical assistance, program improvement, and progress monitoring
    ``(c) State-Level Activities.--Of the funds made available to a 
State educational agency under this part, the agency shall reserve 30 
percent to support the following:
            ``(1) Collaboration and mentoring to increase consistency 
        in implementation across States to ensure high-quality practice 
        and sustainability.
            ``(2) Implementation of a statewide cascade professional 
        development model.
            ``(3) Onsite support and mentoring of local educational 
        agencies.
            ``(4) Dissemination of resources to support quality 
        implementation, capacity building, and sustainability of local 
        efforts, including through grants or contracts with qualified 
        national intermediaries or community-based organizations.

``SEC. 2505. SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.

    ``(a) In General.--A State educational agency that receives funds 
under this part shall use the funds remaining after the application of 
section 2504 to make subgrants to local educational agencies that use--
            ``(1) the service-learning model to strengthen the content 
        area disciplines and implementation of key educational 
        innovations in areas with a high percentage of underperforming 
        youth; and
            ``(2) a cascade professional model to bring practice to 
        scale.
    ``(b) Competitive Subgrants.--Subgrants shall be made on a 
competitive basis with consideration for geographic diversity, 
including an equitable distribution between urban and rural local 
educational agencies. Priority shall go to local education agencies 
with high proportions of students living in poverty or performing below 
grade level.
    ``(c) Application.--A local educational agency applying for a 
subgrant under this section shall submit an application to the State 
educational agency that includes information on how--
            ``(1) funds will be used to participate in the cascade 
        professional development model, ensure sustainability, and 
        replicate the service-learning model to increase academic 
        engagement and performance in content area courses, increase 
        civic skills and engagement, and enable students in low 
        performing schools to help their own communities by giving them 
        the knowledge, skills, and opportunities necessary to 
        participate in high-quality service-learning experiences;
            ``(2) educators will--
                    ``(A) receive support in using instructional 
                practices that incorporate the application of academic 
                knowledge and skills to address relevant needs in their 
                community; and
                    ``(B) identify current data, set measurable goals 
                for their instructional activities, and measure impact 
                on both students and the community; and
            ``(3) partnerships will be established to create a 
        community-wide expectation that service learning is an 
        essential part of a high-quality education.

``SEC. 2506. DEFINITION OF CASCADE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MODEL.

    ``In this part, the term `cascade professional development model' 
means a professional development model in which specialists are trained 
in high-quality practice and delivery of professional development. 
These experts then train educators, who are responsible for training, 
mentoring, and supporting their peers. This model allows for 
replication of effective practice and increased consistency in quality 
among all States.

``SEC. 2507. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part 
such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2013 and succeeding 
fiscal years.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents for the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 2441 the following:

``Part E--Enhancing the Effectiveness of K-12 Education Through Service 
                                Learning

``Sec. 2501. Findings.
``Sec. 2502. Purposes.
``Sec. 2503. National activities.
``Sec. 2504. State activities.
``Sec. 2505. Subgrants to local educational agencies.
``Sec. 2506. Definition of cascade professional development model.
``Sec. 2507. Authorization of appropriations.''.