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

Summary: Investing in Innovation for Education Act of 2011 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to local educational agencies (LEAs), educational service agencies, and nonprofit organizations to support the school innovation efforts of public schools and LEAs.

Requires at least 25% of the grant funds to be awarded for projects in rural areas.

Requires each grant applicant to demonstrate that it has partnered with at least one private, nonprofit, or community-based organization that will provide matching funds. Allows the Secretary to waive the matching funds requirement upon a showing of exceptional circumstances.

Requires each grant to be used to address at least one of the following areas of school innovation: (1) improving the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders and promoting their equitable distribution, (2) strengthening the use of data to improve education, (3) providing high-quality instruction that is based on rigorous standards and measuring students' proficiency using high-quality assessments that are aligned to those standards, (4) turning around the lowest-performing schools, and (5) any other area of school innovation the Secretary chooses.

Directs the Secretary to establish performance measures for tracking each grantee's progress in: (1) improving the academic performance of public elementary and secondary school students, and specified subgroups of those students; and (2) implementing its project in rural schools, as applicable. Requires grantees to use grant funds to develop or expand strategies to improve high-need students' showing on those performance measures.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Investing in Innovation for 
Education Act of 2011''.

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 high school graduation rates;
                    ``(C) increase college enrollment rates and rates 
                of college persistence;
                    ``(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 activities may include--
            ``(1) capacity building;
            ``(2) technical assistance, including to applicants from 
        rural areas;
            ``(3) pre-application workshops and web-based seminars for 
        potential applicants, including applicants from rural areas;
            ``(4) the recruitment of peer-reviewers, including 
        individuals with a background in rural education, to 
        participate in the review of applications submitted under 
        section 4404;
            ``(5) dissemination of best practices developed with grant 
        funds provided under this part, including best practices 
        developed with grant funds in rural areas;
            ``(6) carrying out prize awards consistent with section 24 
        of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 
        U.S.C. 3719); and
            ``(7) entering into partnerships with other agencies, 
        nonprofits, and the private sector 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, educational service agencies, and 
nonprofit organizations that propose to provide support to 1 or more 
public schools or local educational agencies, or both, consistent with 
section 4405.
    ``(b) Duration of Grants.--The Secretary shall award grants under 
this part for a period of not more than 3 years, and may extend such 
grants for an additional 2-year period if the grantee demonstrates to 
the Secretary that it 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 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 college 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; or
            ``(7) serve schools in rural local educational agencies.
    ``(e) Standards of Evidence.--The Secretary 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 that the activities proposed by the 
        applicant will have a statistically significant effect on 
        student academic achievement, student growth, or outcomes on 
        other performance measures.
            ``(2) Moderate evidence that the activities proposed by the 
        applicant will improve student academic achievement, student 
        growth, or outcomes on other performance measures.
            ``(3) A rationale based on research findings or a 
        reasonable hypothesis that the activities proposed by the 
        applicant will improve student academic achievement, student 
        growth, or outcomes on other performance measures.

``SEC. 4404. APPLICATIONS.

    ``(a) Applications.--
            ``(1) In general.--Each local educational agency, 
        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 1 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 the applicant has established 1 or 
        more partnerships with private organizations, nonprofit 
        organizations, or community-based organizations, and that the 
        partner or partners will provide matching funds, except that 
        the Secretary may waive the matching funds requirement, on a 
        case-by-case, 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) if the applicant is a local educational agency--
                    ``(A) document the local educational agency's 
                record during the previous 3 years in--
                            ``(i) increasing student achievement, 
                        including achievement for each subgroup 
                        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;
            ``(7) 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 achievement, 
                        including achievement for each subgroup 
                        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;
            ``(8) 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 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;
            ``(9) provide a description of the applicant's plan for 
        independently evaluating the effectiveness of activities 
        carried out with funds under this part;
            ``(10) 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; and
                    ``(C) participate in communities of practice; and
            ``(11) 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 on a competitive basis, based on the 
quality of the applications submitted and, consistent with the 
standards established under section 4403(e), each applicant's 
likelihood of achieving success in improving student outcomes or 
outcomes on other performance measures.

``SEC. 4405. USES OF FUNDS.

    ``(a) Uses of Funds.--Each local educational agency, 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 following areas of school innovations:
                    ``(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 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.
                    ``(E) Any other area of school innovation, as 
                determined by the Secretary;
            ``(2) shall use those 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 1 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.

    ``The Secretary shall establish performance measures for the 
programs and activities carried out under this part. These measures, at 
a minimum, shall track the grantee's progress in--
            ``(1) improving outcomes for each subgroup described in 
        section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v) that is served by the grantee on 
        measures, including, as applicable, by--
                    ``(A) increasing student achievement and decreasing 
                achievement gaps;
                    ``(B) increasing high school graduation rates;
                    ``(C) increasing college enrollment rates and rates 
                of college persistence;
                    ``(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.

``SEC. 4407. REPORTING; ANNUAL REPORT.

    ``A local educational agency, 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, among other 
things, information on the applicant's progress on the performance 
measures established under section 4406, and the data supporting that 
progress.

``SEC. 4408. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part 
$500,000,000 for fiscal year 2012 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.''.