I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4366 

To strengthen the Federal education research system to make research and 

evaluations more timely and relevant to State and local needs in order 

to increase student achievement. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 2, 2014 

Mr. ROKITA (for himself, Mr. KLINE, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, and 

Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To strengthen the Federal education research system to 

make research and evaluations more timely and relevant 

to State and local needs in order to increase student 

achievement. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Edu5 cation through Research Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 


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TITLE I—EDUCATION SCIENCES REFORM 

Sec. 101. References. 

Sec. 102. Definitions. 

PART A—THE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION SCIENCES

Sec. 111. Establishment. 

Sec. 112. Functions. 

Sec. 113. Delegation. 

Sec. 114. Office of the Director. 

Sec. 115. Priorities. 

Sec. 116. National Board for Education Sciences. 

Sec. 117. Commissioners of the National Education Centers. 

Sec. 118. Transparency. 

Sec. 119. Competitive awards. 

PART B—NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION RESEARCH

Sec. 131. Establishment. 

Sec. 132. Duties. 

Sec. 133. Standards for conduct and evaluation of research. 

PART C—NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS

Sec. 151. Establishment. 

Sec. 152. Duties. 

Sec. 153. Performance of duties. 

Sec. 154. Reports. 

Sec. 155. Dissemination. 

Sec. 156. Cooperative education statistics systems. 

PART D—NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION EVALUATION AND REGIONAL

ASSISTANCE

Sec. 171. Establishment. 

Sec. 172. Commissioner for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. 

Sec. 173. Evaluations. 

Sec. 174. Regional educational laboratories for research, development, dissemination, and evaluation. 

PART E—NATIONAL CENTER FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION RESEARCH

Sec. 175. Establishment. 

Sec. 176. Commissioner for Special Education Research. 

Sec. 177. Duties. 

PART F—GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 182. Prohibitions. 

Sec. 183. Confidentiality. 

Sec. 184. Availability of data. 

Sec. 185. Performance management. 

Sec. 186. Authority to publish. 

Sec. 187. Repeals. 

Sec. 188. Fellowships. 

Sec. 189. Authorization of appropriations. 


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TITLE II—EDUCATIONAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 

Sec. 201. References. 

Sec. 202. Definitions. 

Sec. 203. Comprehensive centers. 

Sec. 204. Evaluations. 

Sec. 205. Existing technical assistance providers. 

Sec. 206. Regional advisory committees. 

Sec. 207. Priorities. 

Sec. 208. Grant program for statewide longitudinal data systems. 

Sec. 209. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE III—NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS 

Sec. 301. References. 

Sec. 302. National assessment governing board. 

Sec. 303. National assessment of educational progress. 

Sec. 304. Definitions. 

Sec. 305. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE IV—EVALUATION PLAN 

Sec. 401. Research and evaluation. 

1 TITLE I—EDUCATION SCIENCES 

2 REFORM 

3 SEC. 101. REFERENCES. 

4 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

5 this title an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

6 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi7 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 

8 section or other provision of the Education Sciences Re9 form Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9501 et seq.). 

10 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS. 

11 Section 102 (20 U.S.C. 9501) is amended— 

12 (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘Affairs’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘Education’’; 

14 (2) in paragraph (10)— 


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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘or other information, in 

2 a timely manner and’’ after ‘‘evaluations,’’; and 

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘school leaders,’’ after 

4 ‘‘teachers,’’; 

5 (3) in paragraph (12), by inserting ‘‘, school 

6 leaders,’’ after ‘‘teachers’’; 

7 (4) by striking paragraph (13); 

8 (5) by redesignating paragraphs (14) and (15) 

9 as paragraphs (13) and (14), respectively; 

10 (6) by inserting after paragraph (14), as so re11 designated, the following: 

12 ‘‘(15) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 

13 term ‘minority-serving institution’ means an institu14 tion of higher education described in section 371(a) 

15 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

16 1067q(a)).’’; 

17 (7) by amending paragraph (18) to read as fol18 lows: 

19 ‘‘(18) PRINCIPLES OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH.— 

20 The term ‘principles of scientific research’ means 

21 principles of research that— 

22 ‘‘(A) apply rigorous, systematic, and objec23 tive methodology to obtain reliable and valid 

24 knowledge relevant to education activities and 

25 programs; 


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1 ‘‘(B) present findings and make claims 

2 that are appropriate to, and supported by, the 

3 methods that have been employed; and 

4 ‘‘(C) include, appropriate to the research 

5 being conducted— 

6 ‘‘(i) use of systematic, empirical meth7 ods that draw on observation or experi8 ment; 

9 ‘‘(ii) use of data analyses that are 

10 adequate to support the general findings; 

11 ‘‘(iii) reliance on measurements or ob12 servational methods that provide reliable 

13 and generalizable findings; 

14 ‘‘(iv) strong claims of causal relation15 ships, only with research designs that 

16 eliminate plausible competing explanations 

17 for observed results, such as, but not lim18 ited to, random-assignment experiments; 

19 ‘‘(v) presentation of studies and meth20 ods in sufficient detail and clarity to allow 

21 for replication or, at a minimum, to offer 

22 the opportunity to build systematically on 

23 the findings of the research; 

24 ‘‘(vi) acceptance by a peer-reviewed 

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1 pendent experts through a comparably rig2 orous, objective, and scientific review; and 

3 ‘‘(vii) consistency of findings across 

4 multiple studies or sites to support the 

5 generality of results and conclusions.’’; 

6 (8) in paragraph (20), by striking ‘‘scientifically 

7 based research standards’’ and inserting ‘‘the prin8 ciples of scientific research’’; and 

9 (9) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(24) SCHOOL LEADER.—The term ‘school 

11 leader’ means a principal, assistant principal, or 

12 other individual who is— 

13 ‘‘(A) an employee or officer of— 

14 ‘‘(i) an elementary school or sec15 ondary school; 

16 ‘‘(ii) a local educational agency serv17 ing an elementary school or secondary 

18 school; or 

19 ‘‘(iii) another entity operating the ele20 mentary school or secondary school; and 

21 ‘‘(B) responsible for the daily instructional 

22 leadership and managerial operations of the ele23 mentary school or secondary school.’’. 


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1 PART A—THE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION 

2 SCIENCES 

3 SEC. 111. ESTABLISHMENT. 

4 Section 111 (20 U.S.C. 9511) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (b)(2)— 

6 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

7 (A)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘and wide dissemina9 tion activities’’ and inserting ‘‘and, con10 sistent with section 114(j), wide dissemina11 tion and utilization activities’’; and 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘(including in tech13 nology areas)’’; and 

14 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 

15 ‘‘disability,’’ after ‘‘gender’’. 

16 SEC. 112. FUNCTIONS. 

17 Section 112 (20 U.S.C. 9512) is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

19 (A) by inserting ‘‘(including evaluations of 

20 impact and implementation)’’ after ‘‘education 

21 evaluation’’; and 

22 (B) by inserting before the semicolon the 

23 following ‘‘and utilization’’; and 

24 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

25 (A) by inserting ‘‘, consistent with section 

26 114(j),’’ after ‘‘disseminate’’; and 


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1 (B) by adding before the semicolon the fol2 lowing: ‘‘and scientifically valid education eval3 uations carried out under this title’’. 

4 SEC. 113. DELEGATION. 

5 Section 113 (20 U.S.C. 9513) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)— 

7 (A) by striking paragraph (1); 

8 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 

9 through (5) as paragraphs (1) through (4), re10 spectively; and 

11 (C) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, 

12 by striking ‘‘of the National Assessment of 

13 Educational Progress Authorization Act’’; 

14 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Secretary 

15 may assign the Institute responsibility for admin16 istering’’ and by inserting ‘‘Director may accept re17 quests from the Secretary for the Institute to admin18 ister’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(c) CONTRACT ACQUISITION.—With respect to any 

21 contract entered into under this title, the Director shall 

22 be consulted— 

23 ‘‘(1) during the procurement process; and 

24 ‘‘(2) in the management of such contract’s per25 formance, which shall be consistent with the requireVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:48 Apr 04, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4366.IH H4366

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1 ments of the performance management system de2 scribed in section 185.’’. 

3 SEC. 114. OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR. 

4 Section 114 (20 U.S.C. 9514) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Except as 

6 provided in subsection (b)(2), the’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘The’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (b)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting before 

10 the period the following: ‘‘, except that if a suc11 cessor to the Director has not been appointed 

12 as of the date of expiration of the Director’s 

13 term, the Director may serve for an additional 

14 1-year period, beginning on the day after the 

15 date of expiration of the Director’s term, or 

16 until a successor has been appointed under sub17 section (a), whichever occurs first’’; 

18 (B) by amending paragraph (2) to read as 

19 follows: 

20 ‘‘(2) REAPPOINTMENT.—A Director may be re21 appointed under subsection (a) for one additional 

22 term.’’; and 

23 (C) in paragraph (3)— 


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1 (i) in the heading, by striking ‘‘SUB2 SEQUENT DIRECTORS’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘RECOMMENDATIONS’’; and 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘, other than a Direc5 tor appointed under paragraph (2)’’; 

6 (3) in subsection (f)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (3), by inserting before 

8 the period the following: ‘‘, and, as appropriate, 

9 with such research and activities carried out by 

10 public and private entities, to avoid duplicative 

11 or overlapping efforts’’; 

12 (B) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘, and 

13 the use of evidence’’ after ‘‘statistics activities’’; 

14 (C) in paragraph (5)— 

15 (i) by inserting ‘‘and maintain’’ after 

16 ‘‘establish’’; and 

17 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and subsection (h)’’ 

18 after ‘‘section 116(b)(3)’’; 

19 (D) in paragraph (7), by inserting ‘‘dis20 ability,’’ after ‘‘gender’’; 

21 (E) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘histori22 cally Black colleges or universities’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘minority-serving institutions’’; 

24 (F) by amending paragraph (9) to read as 

25 follows: 


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1 ‘‘(9) To coordinate with the Secretary to ensure 

2 that the results of the Institute’s work are coordi3 nated with, and utilized by, the Department’s tech4 nical assistance providers and dissemination net5 works.’’; 

6 (G) by striking paragraphs (10) and (11); 

7 and 

8 (H) by redesignating paragraph (12) as 

9 paragraph (10); 

10 (4) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub11 section (i); 

12 (5) by inserting after subsection (g), the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(h) PEER-REVIEW SYSTEM.—The Director shall es15 tablish and maintain a peer-review system involving highly 

16 qualified individuals, including practitioners, as appro17 priate, with an in-depth knowledge of the subject to be 

18 investigated, for— 

19 ‘‘(1) reviewing and evaluating each application 

20 for a grant or cooperative agreement under this title 

21 that exceeds $100,000; and 

22 ‘‘(2) evaluating and assessing all reports and 

23 other products that exceed $100,000 to be published 

24 and publicly released by the Institute.’’; 

25 (6) in subsection (i), as so redesignated— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘the products and’’; and 

2 (B) by striking ‘‘certify that evidence3 based claims about those products and’’ and in4 serting ‘‘determine whether evidence-based 

5 claims in those’’; and 

6 (7) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(j) RELEVANCE, DISSEMINATION, AND UTILIZA8 TION.—To ensure all activities authorized under this title 

9 are rigorous, relevant, and useful for researchers, policy10 makers, practitioners, and the public, the Director shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) ensure such activities address significant 

12 challenges faced by practitioners, and increase 

13 knowledge in the field of education; 

14 ‘‘(2) ensure that the information, products, and 

15 publications of the Institute are— 

16 ‘‘(A) prepared and widely disseminated— 

17 ‘‘(i) in a timely fashion; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) in forms that are understand19 able, easily accessible, and usable, or 

20 adaptable for use in, the improvement of 

21 educational practice; and 

22 ‘‘(B) widely disseminated through elec23 tronic transfer, and other means, such as post24 ing to the Institute’s website or other relevant 

25 place; 


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1 ‘‘(3) promote the utilization of the information, 

2 products, and publications of the Institute, including 

3 through the use of dissemination networks and tech4 nical assistance providers, within the Institute and 

5 the Department; and 

6 ‘‘(4) monitor and manage the performance of 

7 all activities authorized under this title in accord8 ance with section 185.’’. 

9 SEC. 115. PRIORITIES. 

10 Section 115 (20 U.S.C. 9515) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (a)— 

12 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph 

13 (1)— 

14 (i) by striking ‘‘(taking into consider15 ation long term research and development 

16 on core issues conducted through the na17 tional research and development centers)’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘at least once every 6 

19 years’’; and 

20 (ii) by striking ‘‘such as’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘including’’; 

22 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

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1 ity education, particularly’’; before ‘‘clos2 ing’’; 

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘especially achieve4 ment gaps between’’; 

5 (iii) by striking ‘‘nonminority chil6 dren’’ and inserting ‘‘nonminority children, 

7 disabled and nondisabled children,’’; 

8 (iv) by striking ‘‘and between dis9 advantaged’’ and inserting ‘‘and disadvan10 taged’’; and 

11 (v) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

12 (C) by striking paragraph (2); and 

13 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(2) improving the quality of early childhood 

15 education; 

16 ‘‘(3) improving education in elementary and 

17 secondary schools, particularly among low per18 forming students and schools; and 

19 ‘‘(4) improving access to, opportunities for, and 

20 completion of postsecondary education.’’; and 

21 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘by means of 

22 the Internet’’ and inserting ‘‘by electronic means 

23 such as posting in an easily accessible manner on 

24 the Institute’s website’’. 


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1 SEC. 116. NATIONAL BOARD FOR EDUCATION SCIENCES. 

2 Section 116 (20 U.S.C. 9516) is amended— 

3 (1) in subsection (b)— 

4 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘to guide 

5 the work of the Institute’’ and inserting ‘‘and 

6 to advise, and provide input to, the Director on 

7 the activities of the Institute on an ongoing 

8 basis’’; 

9 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘under 

10 section 114(h)’’ after ‘‘procedures’’; 

11 (C) in paragraph (8), by inserting ‘‘dis12 ability,’’ after ‘‘gender,’’; 

13 (D) in paragraph (9)— 

14 (i) by striking ‘‘To solicit’’ and insert15 ing ‘‘To ensure all activities of the Insti16 tute are relevant to education policy and 

17 practice by soliciting, on an ongoing 

18 basis,’’; and 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘consistent with’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘consistent with section 114(j) 

21 and’’; 

22 (E) in paragraph (11)— 

23 (i) by inserting ‘‘the Institute’s’’ after 

24 ‘‘enhance’’; and 

25 (ii) by striking ‘‘among other Federal 

26 and State research agencies’’ and inserting 


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1 ‘‘with public and private entities to im2 prove the work of the Institute’’; and 

3 (F) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(13) To conduct the evaluations required 

5 under subsection (d).’’; 

6 (2) in subsection (c)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (i) by inserting ‘‘Board,’’ before ‘‘Na9 tional Academy’’; and 

10 (ii) by striking ‘‘and the National 

11 Science Advisor’’ and inserting ‘‘the Na12 tional Science Advisor, and other entities 

13 and organizations that have knowledge of 

14 individuals who are highly qualified to ap15 praise education research, statistics, eval16 uations, or development.’’; 

17 (B) in paragraph (4)— 

18 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

19 (I) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘, 

20 which may include those researchers 

21 recommended by the National Acad22 emy of Sciences’’; 

23 (II) by redesignating clause (ii) 

24 as clause (iii); 


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1 (III) by inserting after clause (i), 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(ii) Not fewer than 2 practitioners 

4 who are knowledgeable about the education 

5 needs of the United States, who may in6 clude school based professional educators, 

7 teachers, school leaders, local educational 

8 agency superintendents, and members of 

9 local boards of education or Bureau-funded 

10 school boards.’’; and 

11 (IV) in clause (iii), as so redesig12 nated— 

13 (aa) by striking ‘‘school 

14 based professional educators,’’; 

15 (bb) by striking ‘‘local edu16 cational agency superintend17 ents,’’; 

18 (cc) by striking ‘‘prin19 cipals,’’; 

20 (dd) by striking ‘‘or local’’; 

21 and 

22 (ee) by striking ‘‘or Bureau23 funded school boards’’; 

24 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 


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1 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

2 (i), by inserting ‘‘beginning on the 

3 date of appointment of the member’’ 

4 after ‘‘4 years,’’; 

5 (II) by striking clause (i); 

6 (III) by redesignating clause (ii) 

7 as clause (i); 

8 (IV) in clause (i), as so redesig9 nated, by striking the period and in10 serting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (V) by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(ii) in a case in which a successor to 

14 a member has not been appointed as of the 

15 date of expiration of the member’s term, 

16 the member may serve for an additional 1- 

17 year period, beginning on the day after the 

18 date of expiration of the member’s term, or 

19 until a successor has been appointed under 

20 paragraph (1), whichever occurs first.’’; 

21 (iii) by striking subparagraph (C); 

22 and 

23 (iv) by redesignating subparagraph 

24 (D) as subparagraph (C); and 

25 (C) in paragraph (8)— 


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1 (i) by redesignating subparagraphs 

2 (A) through (E) as subparagraphs (B) 

3 through (F), respectively; 

4 (ii) by inserting before subparagraph 

5 (B), as so redesignated, the following: 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the exercise of its 

7 duties under section 116(b) and in accordance 

8 with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

9 U.S.C. App.), the Board shall be independent of 

10 the Director and the other offices and officers 

11 of the Institute.’’; 

12 (iii) in subparagraph (B), as so redes13 ignated, by inserting before the period at 

14 the end the following: ‘‘for a term of not 

15 more than 6 years, and who may be re16 appointed by the Board for 1 additional 

17 term of not more than 6 years’’; and 

18 (iv) by adding at the end the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(G) SUBCOMMITTEES.—The Board may 

21 establish standing or temporary subcommittees 

22 to make recommendations to the Board for car23 rying out activities authorized under this title.’’; 

24 (3) by striking subsection (d); 


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1 (4) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub2 section (d); 

3 (5) in subsection (d), as so redesignated— 

4 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

5 ‘‘ANNUAL’’ and inserting ‘‘EVALUATION’’; 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘The Board’’ and inserting 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board’’; 

9 (C) by striking ‘‘not later than July 1 of 

10 each year, a’’ and inserting ‘‘and make widely 

11 available to the public (including by electronic 

12 means such as posting in an easily accessible 

13 manner on the Institute’s website), a triennial’’; 

14 and 

15 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—An evaluation report 

17 described in paragraph (1) shall include— 

18 ‘‘(A) subject to paragraph (3), an evalua19 tion of the activities authorized for each of the 

20 National Education Centers, which— 

21 ‘‘(i) uses the performance manage22 ment system described in section 185; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) is conducted by an independent 

24 entity; 


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1 ‘‘(B) a review of the Institute to ensure its 

2 work, consistent with the requirements of sec3 tion 114(j), is timely, rigorous, and relevant; 

4 ‘‘(C) any recommendations regarding ac5 tions that may be taken to enhance the ability 

6 of the Institute and the National Education 

7 Centers to carry out their priorities and mis8 sions; and 

9 ‘‘(D) a summary of the major research 

10 findings of the Institute and the activities car11 ried out under section 113(b) during the 3 pre12 ceding fiscal years. 

13 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION EVAL14 UATION AND REGIONAL ASSISTANCE.—With respect 

15 to the National Center for Education Evaluation 

16 and Regional Assistance, an evaluation report de17 scribed in paragraph (1) shall contain— 

18 ‘‘(A) an evaluation described in paragraph 

19 (2)(A) of the activities authorized for such Cen20 ter, except for the regional educational labora21 tories established under section 174; and 

22 ‘‘(B) a summative or interim evaluation, 

23 whichever is most recent, for each such labora24 tory conducted under section 174(i) on or after 

25 the date of enactment of the Strengthening 


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1 Education through Research Act or, in a case 

2 in which such an evaluation is not available for 

3 a laboratory, the most recent evaluation for the 

4 laboratory conducted prior to the date of enact5 ment of the Strengthening Education through 

6 Research Act.’’; and 

7 (6) by striking subsection (f). 

8 SEC. 117. COMMISSIONERS OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION 

9 CENTERS. 

10 Section 117 (20 U.S.C. 9517) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (a)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Except 

13 as provided in subsection (b), each’’ and insert14 ing ‘‘Each’’; 

15 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

16 (i) by striking ‘‘Except as provided in 

17 subsection (b), each’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘Each’’; and 

19 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, statistics,’’ after 

20 ‘‘research’’; and 

21 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘Except 

22 as provided in subsection (b), each’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘Each’’; 

24 (2) by striking subsection (b); 


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1 (3) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

2 subsections (b) and (c), respectively; and 

3 (4) in subsection (c), as so redesignated, by 

4 striking ‘‘, except the Commissioner for Education 

5 Statistics,’’. 

6 SEC. 118. TRANSPARENCY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 119 (20 U.S.C. 9519) is 

8 amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 119. TRANSPARENCY. 

10 ‘‘Not later than 120 days after awarding a grant, 

11 contract, or cooperative agreement under this title in ex12 cess of $100,000, the Director shall make publicly avail13 able (including through electronic means such as posting 

14 in an easily accessible manner on the Institute’s website) 

15 a description of the grant, contract, or cooperative agree16 ment, including, at a minimum, the amount, duration, re17 cipient, and the purpose of the grant, contract, or coopera18 tive agreement.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con20 tents in section 1 of the Act of November 5, 2002 (Public 

21 Law 107–279; 116 Stat. 1940) is amended by striking 

22 the item relating to section 119 and inserting the fol23 lowing: 

‘‘Sec. 119. Transparency.’’. 


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1 SEC. 119. COMPETITIVE AWARDS. 

2 Section 120 (20 U.S.C. 9520) is amended by striking 

3 ‘‘when practicable’’ and inserting ‘‘consistent with section 

4 114(h)’’. 

5 PART B—NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION 

6 RESEARCH 

7 SEC. 131. ESTABLISHMENT. 

8 Section 131(b) (20 U.S.C. 9531(b)) is amended— 

9 (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol10 lows: 

11 ‘‘(1) to sponsor sustained research that will 

12 lead to the accumulation of knowledge and under13 standing of education, consistent with the priorities 

14 described in section 115;’’; 

15 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

16 (3); 

17 (3) in paragraph (4), by striking the period and 

18 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(5) consistent with section 114(j), to widely 

21 disseminate and promote utilization of the work of 

22 the Research Center.’’. 

23 SEC. 132. DUTIES. 

24 Section 133 (20 U.S.C. 9533) is amended— 

25 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘peer re2 view standards and’’; 

3 (B) by striking paragraph (2); 

4 (C) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

5 paragraph (2); 

6 (D) by striking paragraph (4); 

7 (E) by redesignating paragraphs (5) 

8 through (9) as paragraphs (3) through (7), re9 spectively; 

10 (F) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated, 

11 by inserting ‘‘in the implementation of pro12 grams carried out by the Department and other 

13 agencies’’ before ‘‘within the Federal Govern14 ment’’; 

15 (G) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated, 

16 by striking ‘‘disseminate, through the National 

17 Center for Education Evaluation and Regional 

18 Assistance,’’ and inserting ‘‘widely disseminate, 

19 consistent with section 114(j),’’; 

20 (H) in paragraph (6), as so redesignated— 

21 (i) by striking ‘‘Director’’ and insert22 ing ‘‘Board’’; and 

23 (ii) by striking ‘‘of a biennial report, 

24 as described in section 119’’ and inserting 


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1 ‘‘and dissemination of each evaluation re2 port under section 116(d)’’; 

3 (I) by redesignating paragraphs (10) and 

4 (11) as paragraphs (9) and (10), respectively; 

5 (J) by inserting after paragraph (7), as so 

6 redesignated, the following: 

7 ‘‘(8) to the extent time and resources allow, 

8 when findings from previous research under this 

9 part provoke relevant follow up questions, carry out 

10 research initiatives on such follow up questions;’’; 

11 (K) by amending paragraph (9), as so re12 designated, to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(9) carry out research initiatives, including 

14 rigorous, peer-reviewed, large-scale, long-term, and 

15 broadly applicable empirical research, regarding the 

16 impact of technology on education, including online 

17 education and hybrid learning;’’; 

18 (L) in paragraph (10), as so redesignated, 

19 by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

20 and 

21 (M) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(11) to the extent feasible, carry out research 

23 on the quality of implementation of practices and 

24 strategies determined to be effective through sci25 entifically valid research.’’; 


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1 (2) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(b) PLAN.—The Research Commissioner shall pro4 pose to the Director and, subject to the approval of the 

5 Director, implement a research plan for the activities of 

6 the Research Center that— 

7 ‘‘(1) is consistent with the priorities and mis8 sion of the Institute and the mission of the Research 

9 Center described in section 131(b), and includes the 

10 activities described in subsection (a); 

11 ‘‘(2) is carried out and, as appropriate, updated 

12 and modified, including through the use of the re13 sults of the Research Center’s most recent evalua14 tion report under section 116(d); 

15 ‘‘(3) describes how the Research Center will use 

16 the performance management system described in 

17 section 185 to assess and improve the activities of 

18 the Center; 

19 ‘‘(4) meets the procedures for peer review es20 tablished and maintained by the Director under sec21 tion 114(f)(5) and the standards of research de22 scribed in section 134; and 

23 ‘‘(5) includes both basic research and applied 

24 research, which shall include research conducted 


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1 through field-initiated research and ongoing research 

2 initiatives.’’; 

3 (3) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub4 section (d); 

5 (4) by inserting after subsection (b), as so 

6 amended, the following: 

7 ‘‘(c) GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE

8 AGREEMENTS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Research Commis10 sioner may award grants to, or enter into contracts 

11 or cooperative agreements, with eligible applicants to 

12 carry out research under subsection (a). 

13 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY.—For purposes of this sub14 section, the term ‘eligible applicant’ means an appli15 cant that has the ability and capacity to conduct sci16 entifically valid research. 

17 ‘‘(3) APPLICATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible applicant 

19 that wishes to receive a grant, or enter into a 

20 contract or cooperative agreement, under this 

21 section shall submit an application to the Re22 search Commissioner at such time, in such 

23 manner, and containing such information as the 

24 Research Commissioner may require. 


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1 ‘‘(B) CONTENT.—An application submitted 

2 under subparagraph (A) shall describe how the 

3 eligible applicant will address and demonstrate 

4 progress on the requirements of the perform5 ance management system described in section 

6 185, with respect to the activities that will be 

7 carried out under the grant, contract, or coop8 erative agreement.’’; and 

9 (5) in subsection (d), as redesignated by para10 graph (3)— 

11 (A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 

12 follows: 

13 ‘‘(1) SUPPORT.—In carrying out activities 

14 under subsection (a)(2), the Research Commissioner 

15 shall support national research and development cen16 ters that address topics of importance and relevance 

17 in the field of education across the country and are 

18 consistent with the Institute’s priorities under sec19 tion 115.’’; 

20 (B) by striking paragraphs (2), (3), and 

21 (5); 

22 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (4), (6), 

23 and (7) as paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), respec24 tively; 


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1 (D) by amending paragraph (2), as so re2 designated— 

3 (i) in the matter preceding subpara4 graph (A), by striking ‘‘5 additional’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘2 additional’’; 

6 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

7 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (iii) by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(C) demonstrates progress on the require11 ments of the performance management system de12 scribed in section 185.’’; 

13 (E) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated, 

14 by striking ‘‘paragraphs (4) and (5)’’ and in15 serting ‘‘paragraph (2)’’; and 

16 (F) by amending paragraph (4), as so re17 designated, to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(4) DISAGGREGATION.—To the extent feasible 

19 and when relevant to the research being conducted, 

20 research conducted under this subsection shall be 

21 disaggregated and cross-tabulated by age, race, gen22 der, disability status, English learner status, and so23 cioeconomic background.’’. 


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1 SEC. 133. STANDARDS FOR CONDUCT AND EVALUATION OF 

2 RESEARCH. 

3 Section 134 (20 U.S.C. 9534) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘based’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘valid’’; and 

7 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and 

8 wide dissemination activities’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘and, consistent with section 114(j), wide dis10 semination and utilization activities’’; 

11 (2) by striking subsection (b); and 

12 (3) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub13 section (b). 

14 PART C—NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION 

15 STATISTICS 

16 SEC. 151. ESTABLISHMENT. 

17 Section 151(b) (20 U.S.C. 9541(b)) is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and con19 sistent with the privacy protections under section 

20 183’’ after ‘‘manner’’; and 

21 (2) in paragraph (3)— 

22 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘dis23 ability,’’ after ‘‘cultural,’’; and 

24 (B) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 

25 as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(B) consistent with section 114(j), is rel2 evant, timely, and widely disseminated.’’. 

3 SEC. 152. DUTIES. 

4 Section 153 (20 U.S.C. 9543) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

7 by inserting ‘‘, consistent with the privacy pro8 tections under section 183,’’ after ‘‘Center 

9 shall’’; 

10 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

11 (i) by amending subparagraph (D) to 

12 read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(D) secondary school graduation and 

14 completion rates, including the four-year ad15 justed cohort graduation rate (as defined in sec16 tion 200.19(b)(1)(i)(A) of title 34, Code of Fed17 eral Regulations, as such section was in effect 

18 on November 28, 2008) and the extended-year 

19 adjusted cohort graduation rate (as defined in 

20 section 200.19(b)(1)(v)(A) of title 34, Code of 

21 Federal Regulations, as such section was in ef22 fect on November 28, 2008), and school drop23 out rates, and adult literacy;’’; 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

2 ‘‘and opportunity for,’’ and inserting ‘‘op3 portunity for, and completion of’’; 

4 (iii) by amending subparagraph (F) to 

5 read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(F) teaching, including information on 

7 pre-service preparation, professional develop8 ment, teacher distribution, and teacher and 

9 school leader evaluation;’’; 

10 (iv) in subparagraph (G), by inserting 

11 ‘‘and school leaders’’ before the semicolon; 

12 (v) in subparagraph (H), by inserting 

13 ‘‘, climate, and in- and out-of-school sus14 pensions and expulsions’’ before ‘‘, includ15 ing information regarding’’; 

16 (vi) by amending subparagraph (K) to 

17 read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(K) the access to, and use of, technology 

19 to improve elementary schools and secondary 

20 schools;’’; 

21 (vii) in subparagraph (L), by striking 

22 ‘‘and opportunity for,’’ and inserting ‘‘op23 portunity for, and quality of’’; 


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1 (viii) in subparagraph (M), by striking 

2 ‘‘such programs during school recesses’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘summer school’’; and 

4 (ix) in subparagraph (N), by striking 

5 ‘‘vocational’’ and inserting ‘‘career’’; 

6 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘when 

7 such disaggregated information will facilitate 

8 educational and policy decisionmaking’’ and in9 serting ‘‘so long as any reported information 

10 does not reveal individually identifiable informa11 tion’’; 

12 (D) in paragraph (4), by inserting before 

13 the semicolon the following: ‘‘, and the imple14 mentation (with the assistance of the Depart15 ment and other Federal officials who have stat16 utory authority to provide assistance on appli17 cable privacy laws, regulations, and policies) of 

18 appropriate privacy protections’’; 

19 (E) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘promote 

20 linkages across States,’’; 

21 (F) in paragraph (6)— 

22 (i) by striking ‘‘Third’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘Trends in’’; and 


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1 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and the Program for 

2 International Student Assessment’’ after 

3 ‘‘Science Study’’; 

4 (G) in paragraph (7), by inserting before 

5 the semicolon the following: ‘‘, ensuring such 

6 collections protect student privacy consistent 

7 with section 183’’; 

8 (H) by amending paragraph (8) to read as 

9 follows: 

10 ‘‘(8) assisting the Board in the preparation and 

11 dissemination of each evaluation report under sec12 tion 116(d); and’’; and 

13 (I) by striking paragraph (9); 

14 (2) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub15 section (c); and 

16 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(b) PLAN.—The Statistics Commissioner shall pro19 pose to the Director and, subject to the approval of the 

20 Director, implement a plan for activities of the Statistics 

21 Center that— 

22 ‘‘(1) is consistent with the priorities and mis23 sion of the Institute and the mission of the Statistics 

24 Center described in section 151(b); 


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1 ‘‘(2) is carried out and, as appropriate, updated 

2 and modified, including through the use of the re3 sults of the Statistic Center’s most recent evaluation 

4 report under section 116(d); and 

5 ‘‘(3) describes how the Statistics Center will use 

6 the performance management system described in 

7 section 185 to assess and improve the activities of 

8 the Center.’’. 

9 SEC. 153. PERFORMANCE OF DUTIES. 

10 Section 154 (20 U.S.C. 9544) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (a)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘In carrying’’ and inserting 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying’’; and 

15 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An entity that wishes 

18 to receive a grant, or enter into a contract or 

19 cooperative agreement, under this section shall 

20 submit an application to the Statistics Commis21 sioner at such time, in such manner, and con22 taining such information as the Statistics Com23 missioner may require. 

24 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—An application sub25 mitted under subparagraph (A) shall describe 


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1 how the entity will address and demonstrate 

2 progress on the requirements of the perform3 ance management system described in section 

4 185, with respect to the activities that will be 

5 carried out under the grant, contract, or coop6 erative agreement.’’; 

7 (2) in subsection (b)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘voca8 tional and’’ and inserting ‘‘career and technical edu9 cation programs,’’; and 

10 (3) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘5 years’’ the 

11 second place it appears and inserting ‘‘2 years if the 

12 recipient demonstrates progress on the requirements 

13 of the performance management system described in 

14 section 185, with respect to the activities carried out 

15 under the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement 

16 received under this section’’. 

17 SEC. 154. REPORTS. 

18 Section 155 (20 U.S.C. 9545) is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘(consistent 

20 with section 114(h))’’ after ‘‘review’’; and 

21 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘2003’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘2015’’. 

23 SEC. 155. DISSEMINATION. 

24 Section 156 (20 U.S.C. 9546) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 

2 following: ‘‘Such projects shall adhere to student pri3 vacy requirements under section 183.’’; and 

4 (2) in subsection (e)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end 

6 the following: ‘‘Before receiving access to edu7 cational data under this paragraph, a Federal 

8 agency shall describe to the Statistics Center 

9 the specific research intent for use of the data, 

10 how access to the data may meet such research 

11 intent, and how the Federal agency will protect 

12 the confidentiality of the data consistent with 

13 the requirements of section 183.’’; 

14 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

15 (i) by inserting ‘‘and consistent with 

16 section 183,’’ after ‘‘may prescribe’’; and 

17 (ii) by adding at the end the fol18 lowing: ‘‘Before receiving access to data 

19 under this paragraph, an interested party 

20 shall describe to the Statistics Center the 

21 specific research intent for use of the data, 

22 how access to the data may meet such re23 search intent, and how the party will pro24 tect the confidentiality of the data conVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:48 Apr 04, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4366.IH H4366

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1 sistent with the requirements of section 

2 183.’’; and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(3) DENIAL AUTHORITY.—The Statistics Cen5 ter shall have the authority to deny any requests for 

6 access to data under paragraph (1) or (2) for any 

7 scientific deficiencies in the proposed research design 

8 or research intent for use of the data, or if the re9 quest would introduce risk of a privacy violation or 

10 misuse of data.’’. 

11 SEC. 156. COOPERATIVE EDUCATION STATISTICS SYSTEMS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 157 (20 U.S.C. 9547) is 

13 amended— 

14 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘SYSTEMS’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘PARTNERSHIPS’’; 

16 (2) by striking ‘‘national cooperative education 

17 statistics systems’’ and inserting ‘‘cooperative edu18 cation statistics partnerships’’; 

19 (3) by striking ‘‘producing and maintaining, 

20 with the cooperation’’ and by inserting ‘‘reviewing 

21 and improving, with the voluntary participation’’; 

22 (4) by striking ‘‘comparable and uniform’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘data quality standards, which may include 

24 establishing voluntary guidelines to standardize’’; 


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1 (5) by striking ‘‘adult education, and libraries,’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘and adult education’’; and 

3 (6) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘No stu4 dent data shall be collected by the partnerships es5 tablished under this section, nor shall such partner6 ships establish a national student data system.’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con8 tents in section 1 of the Act of November 5, 2002 (Public 

9 Law 107–279; 116 Stat. 1940) is amended by striking 

10 the item relating to section 157 and inserting the fol11 lowing: 

‘‘Sec. 157. Cooperative education statistics partnerships.’’. 

12 PART D—NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION 

13 EVALUATION AND REGIONAL ASSISTANCE 

14 SEC. 171. ESTABLISHMENT. 

15 Section 171 (20 U.S.C. 9561) is amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (b)— 

17 (A) by striking paragraph (1); 

18 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), 

19 and (4) as paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), respec20 tively; 

21 (C) in paragraph (1), as so redesignated, 

22 by striking ‘‘of such programs’’ and all that fol23 lows through ‘‘science)’’ and inserting ‘‘and to 

24 evaluate the implementation of such programs’’; 

25 and 


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1 (D) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, 

2 by striking ‘‘and wide dissemination of results 

3 of’’ and inserting ‘‘and, consistent with section 

4 114(j), the wide dissemination and utilization of 

5 results of all’’; and 

6 (2) by striking subsection (c). 

7 SEC. 172. COMMISSIONER FOR EDUCATION EVALUATION 

8 AND REGIONAL ASSISTANCE. 

9 Section 172 (20 U.S.C. 9562) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)— 

11 (A) by amending paragraph (2) to read as 

12 follows: 

13 ‘‘(2) widely disseminate, consistent with section 

14 114(j), all information on scientifically valid research 

15 and statistics supported by the Institute and all sci16 entifically valid education evaluations supported by 

17 the Institute, particularly to State educational agen18 cies and local educational agencies, to institutions of 

19 higher education, to the public, the media, voluntary 

20 organizations, professional associations, and other 

21 constituencies, especially with respect to the prior22 ities described in section 115;’’; 

23 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘, con24 sistent with section 114(j)’’ after ‘‘timely, and 

25 efficient manner’’; 


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1 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

2 (i) by striking ‘‘development and dis3 semination’’ and inserting ‘‘development, 

4 dissemination, and utilization’’; and 

5 (ii) by striking ‘‘the provision of tech6 nical assistance,’’; 

7 (D) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘and’’ 

8 after the semicolon; 

9 (E) in paragraph (6)— 

10 (i) by striking ‘‘Director’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘Board’’; 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘preparation of a bien13 nial report’’ and inserting ‘‘preparation 

14 and dissemination of each evaluation re15 port’’; and 

16 (iii) by striking ‘‘119; and’’ and in17 serting ‘‘116(d).’’; and 

18 (F) by striking paragraph (7); 

19 (2) in subsection (b)(1)— 

20 (A) by inserting ‘‘all’’ before ‘‘information 

21 disseminated’’; and 

22 (B) by striking ‘‘, which may include’’ and 

23 all that follows through ‘‘of this Act)’’; 

24 (3) by striking subsection (c) and redesignating 

25 subsection (d) as subsection (e); 


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1 (4) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(c) PLAN.—The Evaluation and Regional Assistance 

4 Commissioner shall propose to the Director and, subject 

5 to the approval of the Director, implement a plan for the 

6 activities of the National Center for Education Evaluation 

7 and Regional Assistance that— 

8 ‘‘(1) is consistent with the priorities and mis9 sion of the Institute and the mission of the Center 

10 described in section 171(b); 

11 ‘‘(2) is carried out and, as appropriate, updated 

12 and modified, including through the use of the re13 sults of the Center’s most recent evaluation report 

14 under section 116(d); and 

15 ‘‘(3) describes how the Center will use the per16 formance management system described in section 

17 185 to assess and improve the activities of the Cen18 ter. 

19 ‘‘(d) GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE

20 AGREEMENTS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the duties 

22 under this part (except for section 174), the Evalua23 tion and Regional Assistance Commissioner may— 

24 ‘‘(A) award grants, contracts, or coopera25 tive agreements to eligible entities to carry out 


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1 the activities under this part (except for section 

2 174); and 

3 ‘‘(B) provide technical assistance. 

4 ‘‘(2) ENTITIES TO CONDUCT EVALUATIONS.—In 

5 awarding grants, contracts, or cooperative agree6 ments under paragraph (1) to carry out activities 

7 under section 173, the Evaluation and Regional As8 sistance Commissioner shall make such awards to el9 igible entities with the ability and capacity to con10 duct scientifically valid education evaluations. 

11 ‘‘(3) APPLICATIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that 

13 wishes to receive a grant, contract, or coopera14 tive agreement under paragraph (1) shall sub15 mit an application to the Evaluation and Re16 gional Assistance Commissioner at such time, in 

17 such manner, and containing such information 

18 as the Commissioner may require. 

19 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—An application sub20 mitted under subparagraph (A) shall describe 

21 how the eligible entity will address and dem22 onstrate progress on the requirements of the 

23 performance management system described in 

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1 ried out under such grant, contract, or coopera2 tive agreement. 

3 ‘‘(4) DURATION.—Notwithstanding any other 

4 provision of law, the grants, contracts, and coopera5 tive agreements under paragraph (1) may be award6 ed, on a competitive basis, for a period of not more 

7 than 5 years, and may be renewed at the discretion 

8 of the Evaluation and Regional Assistance Commis9 sioner for an additional period of not more than 2 

10 years if the recipient demonstrates progress on the 

11 requirements of the performance management sys12 tem described in section 185, with respect to the ac13 tivities carried out under the grant, contract, or co14 operative agreement.’’; and 

15 (5) in subsection (e), as so redesignated— 

16 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘There is 

17 established’’ and all that follows through ‘‘Re18 gional Assistance’’ and inserting ‘‘The Evalua19 tion and Regional Assistance Commissioner 

20 may establish’’; 

21 (B) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ‘‘all’’ 

22 before ‘‘products’’; and 

23 (C) in paragraph (2)(B)(ii), by striking 

24 ‘‘2002’’ and all that follows through the period 

25 and inserting ‘‘2002.’’. 


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1 SEC. 173. EVALUATIONS. 

2 Section 173 (20 U.S.C. 9563) is amended— 

3 (1) in subsection (a)— 

4 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

5 (i) in the matter preceding subpara6 graph (A), by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘shall’’; 

8 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

9 ‘‘evaluations’’ and inserting ‘‘high-quality 

10 evaluations, including impact evaluations 

11 that use rigorous methodologies that per12 mit the strongest possible causal infer13 ences,’’; 

14 (iii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 

15 before the semicolon at the end the fol16 lowing: ‘‘, including programs under part 

17 A of such title (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.)’’; 

18 (iv) by striking subparagraph (C) and 

19 redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub20 paragraph (C); 

21 (v) by striking subparagraph (E) and 

22 redesignating subparagraph (F) as sub23 paragraph (D); and 

24 (vi) by inserting after subparagraph 

25 (D), as so redesignated, the following: 


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1 ‘‘(E) provide evaluation findings in an un2 derstandable, easily accessible, and usable for3 mat to support program improvement; 

4 ‘‘(F) support the evaluation activities de5 scribed in section 401 of the Strengthening 

6 Education through Research Act that are car7 ried about by the Director; and 

8 ‘‘(G) to the extent feasible— 

9 ‘‘(i) examine evaluations conducted or 

10 supported by others to determine the qual11 ity and relevance of the evidence of effec12 tiveness generated by those evaluations, 

13 with the approval of the Director; 

14 ‘‘(ii) review and supplement Federal 

15 education program evaluations, particularly 

16 such evaluations by the Department, to de17 termine or enhance the quality and rel18 evance of the evidence generated by those 

19 evaluations; 

20 ‘‘(iii) conduct implementation evalua21 tions that promote continuous improve22 ment and inform policymaking; 

23 ‘‘(iv) evaluate the short- and long24 term effects and cost efficiencies across 

25 programs assisted or authorized under 


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1 Federal law and administrated by the De2 partment; and 

3 ‘‘(v) synthesize the results of evalua4 tion studies for and across Federal edu5 cation programs, policies, and practices.’’; 

6 and 

7 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

9 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

10 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

11 the period and inserting ‘‘under section 

12 114(h); and’’; and 

13 (iii) by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(C) be widely disseminated, consistent 

16 with section 114(j).’’; and 

17 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘contracts’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘grants, contracts, or cooperative 

19 agreements’’. 

20 SEC. 174. REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL LABORATORIES FOR 

21 RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, DISSEMINATION, 

22 AND EVALUATION. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 174 (20 U.S.C. 9564) is 

24 amended— 


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1 (1) in the section heading by striking ‘‘TECH2 NICAL ASSISTANCE’’ and inserting ‘‘EVALUA3 TION’’; 

4 (2) in subsection (a)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘contracts’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements’’; 

7 and 

8 (B) by inserting ‘‘not more than’’ before 

9 ‘‘10 regional’’; 

10 (3) in subsection (c)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘The Director’’ and insert12 ing the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director’’; 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘contracts under this sec15 tion with research organizations, institutions, 

16 agencies, institutions of higher education,’’ and 

17 inserting ‘‘grants, contracts, or cooperative 

18 agreements under this section with public or 

19 private, nonprofit or for-profit research organi20 zations, other organizations, or institutions of 

21 higher education,’’; 

22 (C) by striking ‘‘or individuals,’’; 

23 (D) by striking ‘‘, including regional enti24 ties’’ and all that follows through ‘‘107–110))’’; 

25 and 


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1 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sec3 tion, the term ‘eligible applicant’ means an entity 

4 described in paragraph (1).’’; 

5 (4) by striking subsections (d) through (j) and 

6 inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible appli10 cant desiring a contract grant, contract, or co11 operative agreement under this section shall 

12 submit an application at such time, in such 

13 manner, and containing such information as the 

14 Director may reasonably require. 

15 ‘‘(B) INPUT.—To ensure that applications 

16 submitted under this paragraph are reflective of 

17 the needs of the regions to be served, each eligi18 ble applicant submitting such an application 

19 shall seek input from State educational agencies 

20 and local educational agencies in the region 

21 that the award will serve, and other individuals 

22 with knowledge of the region’s needs. Such indi23 viduals may include members of the regional 

24 advisory committee for the region under section 

25 206(a). 


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1 ‘‘(2) PLAN.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each application sub3 mitted under paragraph (1) shall contain a plan 

4 for the activities of the regional educational lab5 oratory to be established under this section, 

6 which shall be updated, modified, and improved, 

7 as appropriate, on an ongoing basis, including 

8 by using the results of the laboratory’s interim 

9 evaluation under subsection (i)(3). 

10 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—A plan described in 

11 subparagraph (A) shall address— 

12 ‘‘(i) the priorities for applied research, 

13 development, evaluations, and wide dis14 semination established under section 207; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the needs of State educational 

16 agencies and local educational agencies, on 

17 an ongoing basis, using available State and 

18 local data, including the relevant results of 

19 the region’s assessment under section 

20 206(e); and 

21 ‘‘(iii) if available, demonstrated sup22 port from State educational agencies and 

23 local educational agencies in the region, 

24 such as letters of support or signed memo25 randa of understanding. 


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1 ‘‘(3) NON-FEDERAL SUPPORT.—In conducting a 

2 competition for grants, contracts, or cooperative 

3 agreements under subsection (a), the Director shall 

4 give priority to eligible applicants that will provide 

5 a portion of non-Federal funds to maximize support 

6 for activities of the regional educational laboratories 

7 to be established under this section. 

8 ‘‘(e) AWARDING GRANTS, CONTRACTS, OR COOPERA9 TIVE AGREEMENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) ASSURANCES.—In awarding grants, con11 tracts, or cooperative agreements under this section, 

12 the Director shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) make such an award for not more 

14 than a 5-year period; 

15 ‘‘(B) ensure that regional educational lab16 oratories established under this section have 

17 strong and effective governance, organization, 

18 management, and administration, and employ 

19 qualified staff; and 

20 ‘‘(C) ensure that each such laboratory has 

21 the flexibility to respond in a timely fashion to 

22 the needs of the laboratory’s region, includ23 ing— 

24 ‘‘(i) through using the results of the 

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1 section (i)(3) to improve and modify the 

2 activities of the laboratory before the end 

3 of the award period; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) through sharing preliminary re5 sults of the laboratory’s research, as ap6 propriate, to increase the relevance and 

7 usefulness of the research. 

8 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION.—To ensure coordination 

9 and prevent unnecessary duplication of activities 

10 among the regions, the Evaluation and Regional As11 sistance Commissioner shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) share information about the activities 

13 of each regional educational laboratory with 

14 each other regional educational laboratory, the 

15 Department, the Director, and the National 

16 Board for Education Sciences; 

17 ‘‘(B) ensure, where appropriate, that the 

18 activities of each regional educational laboratory 

19 established under this section also serve na20 tional interests; 

21 ‘‘(C) ensure each such regional educational 

22 laboratory establishes strong partnerships 

23 among practitioners, policymakers, researchers, 

24 and others, so that such partnerships are con25 tinued in the absence of Federal support; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) enable, where appropriate, for such a 

2 laboratory to work in a region being served by 

3 another laboratory or to carry out a project 

4 that extends beyond the region served by the 

5 laboratory. 

6 ‘‘(3) COLLABORATION WITH TECHNICAL ASSIST7 ANCE PROVIDERS.—Each regional educational lab8 oratory established under this section shall, on an 

9 ongoing basis, coordinate its activities, collaborate, 

10 and regularly exchange information with the com11 prehensive centers (established in section 203) in the 

12 region in which the center is located, and with com13 prehensive centers located outside of its region, as 

14 appropriate. 

15 ‘‘(4) OUTREACH.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In conducting com17 petitions for grants, contracts, or cooperative 

18 agreements under this section, the Director 

19 shall— 

20 ‘‘(i) by making information and tech21 nical assistance relating to the competition 

22 widely available, actively encourage eligible 

23 applicants to compete for such an award; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) seek input from the chief execu2 tive officers of States, chief State school 

3 officers, educators, parents, superintend4 ents, and other individuals with knowledge 

5 of the needs of the regions to be served by 

6 the awards, regarding— 

7 ‘‘(I) the needs in the regions for 

8 applied research, evaluation, develop9 ment, and wide-dissemination activi10 ties authorized by this title; and 

11 ‘‘(II) how such needs may be ad12 dressed most effectively. 

13 ‘‘(B) REGIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES.— 

14 The individuals described in subparagraph 

15 (A)(ii) may include members of the regional ad16 visory committees established under section 

17 206(a). 

18 ‘‘(5) PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT.—Before 

19 awarding a grant, contract, or cooperative agree20 ment under this section, the Director shall establish 

21 measurable performance indicators for assessing the 

22 ongoing progress and performance of the regional 

23 educational laboratories established with such 

24 awards that address— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the requirements of the performance 

2 management system described in section 185; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(B) the relevant results of the regional 

5 assessments under section 206(e). 

6 ‘‘(6) STANDARDS.—The Evaluation and Re7 gional Assistance Commissioner shall adhere to the 

8 Institute’s system for technical and peer review 

9 under section 114(h) in reviewing the applied re10 search activities and research-based reports of the 

11 regional educational laboratories. 

12 ‘‘(7) REQUIRED CONSIDERATION.—In deter13 mining whether to award a grant, contract, or coop14 erative agreement under this section to an eligible 

15 applicant that previously established a regional edu16 cational laboratory under this section, the Secretary 

17 shall consider the results of such laboratory’s 

18 summative evaluation under subsection (i)(2). 

19 ‘‘(f) MISSION.—Each regional educational laboratory 

20 established under this section shall— 

21 ‘‘(1) conduct applied research, development, 

22 and evaluation activities with State educational 

23 agencies, local educational agencies, and, as appro24 priate, schools funded by the Bureau; 


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1 ‘‘(2) widely disseminate such work, consistent 

2 with section 114(j); and 

3 ‘‘(3) develop the capacity of State educational 

4 agencies, local educational agencies, and, as appro5 priate, schools funded by the Bureau to carry out 

6 the activities described in paragraphs (1) and (2). 

7 ‘‘(g) ACTIVITIES.—To carry out the mission de8 scribed in subsection (f), each regional educational labora9 tory established under this section shall carry out the fol10 lowing activities: 

11 ‘‘(1) Conduct, widely disseminate, and promote 

12 utilization of applied research, development activi13 ties, evaluations, and other scientifically valid re14 search. 

15 ‘‘(2) Develop and improve the plan for the lab16 oratory under subsection (d)(2) for serving the re17 gion of the laboratory, and as appropriate, national 

18 needs, on an ongoing basis, which shall include seek19 ing input and incorporating feedback from the rep20 resentatives of State educational agencies and local 

21 educational agencies in the region, and other individ22 uals with knowledge of the region’s needs. Such rep23 resentatives and other individuals may include mem24 bers of the regional advisory committee for the re25 gion established under section 206(a). 


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1 ‘‘(3) Ensure research and related products are 

2 relevant and responsive to the needs of the region, 

3 including by using the relevant results of the re4 gion’s assessment under section 206(e). 

5 ‘‘(h) GOVERNING BOARD.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each regional educational 

7 laboratory established under this section may estab8 lish a governing board to improve the management 

9 of activities that the laboratory carries out under 

10 this section. 

11 ‘‘(2) BOARD DUTIES.—A Board established 

12 under paragraph (1) shall coordinate and align its 

13 work with the work of the regional advisory com14 mittee for the region established under section 206. 

15 ‘‘(i) EVALUATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Evaluation and Re17 gional Assistance Commissioner shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) provide for ongoing summative and 

19 interim evaluations described in paragraphs (2) 

20 and (3), respectively, of each of the regional 

21 educational laboratories established under this 

22 section in carrying out the full range of duties 

23 described in this section; and 

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1 priate congressional committees, the Director, 

2 and the public. 

3 ‘‘(2) SUMMATIVE EVALUATIONS.—The Evalua4 tion and Regional Assistance Commissioner shall en5 sure each regional educational laboratory established 

6 under this section is evaluated by an independent 

7 entity at the end of the period of the grant, contract, 

8 or cooperative agreement that established such lab9 oratory, which shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) be completed in a timely fashion; 

11 ‘‘(B) assess how well the laboratory is 

12 meeting the measurable performance indicators 

13 established under subsection (e)(5); and 

14 ‘‘(C) consider the extent to which the lab15 oratory ensures that the activities of such lab16 oratory are relevant and useful to the work of 

17 State and local practitioners and policymakers. 

18 ‘‘(3) INTERIM EVALUATIONS.—The Evaluation 

19 and Regional Assistance Commissioner shall ensure 

20 each regional educational laboratory established 

21 under this section is evaluated at the midpoint of the 

22 period of the grant, contract, or cooperative agree23 ment that established such laboratory, which shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) assess how well such laboratory is 

2 meeting the performance indicators described in 

3 subsection (e)(5); and 

4 ‘‘(B) be used to improve the effectiveness 

5 of such laboratory in carrying out its plan 

6 under subsection (d)(2). 

7 ‘‘(j) CONTINUATION OF AWARDS; RECOMPETITION.— 

8 ‘‘(1) CONTINUATION OF AWARDS.—The Direc9 tor shall continue awards made to each eligible ap10 plicant for the support of regional educational lab11 oratories established under this section prior to the 

12 date of enactment of the Strengthening Education 

13 through Research Act, as such awards were in effect 

14 on the day before the date of enactment of the 

15 Strengthening Education through Research Act, for 

16 the duration of those awards, in accordance with the 

17 terms and agreements of such awards. 

18 ‘‘(2) RECOMPETITION.—Not later than the end 

19 of the period of the awards described in paragraph 

20 (1), the Director shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) hold a competition to make grants, 

22 contracts, or cooperative agreements under this 

23 section to eligible applicants, which may include 

24 eligible applicants that held awards described in 

25 paragraph (1); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) in determining whether to select an 

2 eligible applicant that held an award described 

3 in paragraph (1) for an award under subpara4 graph (A) of this paragraph, consider the re5 sults of the summative evaluation under sub6 section (i)(2) of the laboratory established with 

7 the eligible applicant’s award described in para8 graph (1).’’; 

9 (5) by striking subsection (l); 

10 (6) by redesignating subsections (m), (n), and 

11 (o) as subsections (l), (m), and (n), respectively; 

12 (7) in subsection (l), as so redesignated, by in13 serting ‘‘and local’’ after ‘‘achieve State’’; 

14 (8) by amending subsection (m), as so redesig15 nated, to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(m) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each regional educational 

17 laboratory established under this section shall submit to 

18 the Evaluation and Regional Assistance Commissioner an 

19 annual report containing such information as the Commis20 sioner may require, but which shall include, at a minimum, 

21 the following: 

22 ‘‘(1) A summary of the laboratory’s activities 

23 and products developed during the previous year. 


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1 ‘‘(2) A listing of the State educational agencies, 

2 local educational agencies, and schools the labora3 tory assisted during the previous year. 

4 ‘‘(3) Using the measurable performance indica5 tors established under subsection (e)(5), a descrip6 tion of how well the laboratory is meeting edu7 cational needs of the region served by the laboratory. 

8 ‘‘(4) Any changes to the laboratory’s plan under 

9 subsection (d)(2) to improve its activities in the re10 maining years of the grant, contract, or cooperative 

11 agreement.’’; and 

12 (9) by adding at the end the following new sub13 section: 

14 ‘‘(o) APPROPRIATIONS RESERVATION.—Of the 

15 amounts appropriated under section 194(a), the Director 

16 shall reserve 16.13 percent of such funds to carry out this 

17 section, of which the Director shall use not less than 25 

18 percent to serve rural areas (including schools funded by 

19 the Bureau which are located in rural areas).’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con21 tents in section 1 of the Act of November 5, 2002 (Public 

22 Law 107–279; 116 Stat. 1940) is amended by striking 

23 the item relating to section 174 and inserting the fol24 lowing: 

‘‘Sec. 174. Regional educational laboratories for research, development, dissemination, and evaluation.’’. 


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1 PART E—NATIONAL CENTER FOR SPECIAL 

2 EDUCATION RESEARCH 

3 SEC. 175. ESTABLISHMENT. 

4 Section 175(b) (20 U.S.C. 9567(b)) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and chil6 dren’’ and inserting ‘‘children, and youth’’; 

7 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

8 end; 

9 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at 

10 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

11 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(4) to promote quality and integrity through 

13 the use of accepted practices of scientific inquiry to 

14 obtain knowledge and understanding of the validity 

15 of education theories, practices, or conditions with 

16 respect to special education research and evaluation 

17 described in paragraphs (1) through (3); and 

18 ‘‘(5) to promote scientifically valid research 

19 findings in special education that may provide the 

20 basis for improving academic instruction and lifelong 

21 learning.’’. 

22 SEC. 176. COMMISSIONER FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION RE23 SEARCH. 

24 Section 176 (20 U.S.C. 9567a) is amended by insert25 ing ‘‘and youth’’ after ‘‘children’’. 


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1 SEC. 177. DUTIES. 

2 Section 177 (20 U.S.C. 9567b) is amended— 

3 (1) in subsection (a)— 

4 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ‘‘and 

5 youth’’ after ‘‘children’’; 

6 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘scientif7 ically based educational practices’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘educational practices, including the use of 

9 technology based on scientifically valid re10 search,’’; 

11 (C) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘based’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘valid’’; 

13 (D) in paragraph (10), by inserting before 

14 the semicolon the following: ‘‘, including how 

15 secondary school credentials are related to post16 secondary and employment outcomes’’; 

17 (E) by redesignating paragraphs (11) 

18 through (15) and paragraphs (16) and (17) as 

19 paragraphs (12) through (16), respectively, and 

20 paragraphs (18) and (19), respectively; 

21 (F) by inserting after paragraph (10), the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(11) examine the participation and outcomes 

24 of students with disabilities in secondary and post25 secondary career and technical education pro26 grams;’’; 


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1 (G) in paragraph (14), as so redesignated, 

2 by inserting ‘‘and professional development’’ 

3 after ‘‘preparation’’; 

4 (H) in paragraph (16), as so redesignated, 

5 by striking ‘‘help parents’’ and inserting ‘‘exam6 ine the methods by which parents may’’; 

7 (I) by inserting after paragraph (16), as so 

8 redesignated, the following: 

9 ‘‘(17) assist the Board in the preparation and 

10 dissemination of each evaluation report under sec11 tion 116(d);’’; 

12 (J) in paragraph (18), as so redesignated, 

13 by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

14 (K) by amending paragraph (19) to read 

15 as follows: 

16 ‘‘(19) examine the needs of children with dis17 abilities who are English Learners, gifted and tal18 ented, or who have other unique learning needs; 

19 and’’; and 

20 (L) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(20) examine innovations in the field of special 

22 education, such as multi-tiered systems of support.’’; 

23 (2) in subsection (c)— 

24 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph 

25 (1)— 


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1 (i) by inserting ‘‘for the activities of 

2 the Special Education Research Center’’ 

3 after ‘‘research plan’’; and 

4 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and, subject to the 

5 approval of the Director, implement such 

6 plan’’ after ‘‘Services’’; 

7 (B) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘de8 scribed in section 175(b)’’ after ‘‘Center’’; 

9 (C) by amending paragraph (2) to read as 

10 follows: 

11 ‘‘(2) is carried out, and, as appropriate, up12 dated and modified, including by using the results of 

13 the Special Education Research Center’s most recent 

14 evaluation report under section 116(d);’’; 

15 (D) by striking paragraph (5); 

16 (E) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), 

17 and (6) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (7), respec18 tively; 

19 (F) by inserting after paragraph (2), as so 

20 amended, the following: 

21 ‘‘(3) provides for research that addresses sig22 nificant questions of practice where such research is 

23 lacking;’’; 

24 (G) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated, 

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1 serting ‘‘, student subgroups, and types of’’; 

2 and 

3 (H) by inserting after paragraph (5), as so 

4 redesignated and amended, the following: 

5 ‘‘(6) describes how the Special Education Re6 search Center will use the performance management 

7 system described in section 185 to assess and im8 prove the activities of the Center; and’’; 

9 (3) in subsection (d)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Direc11 tor’’ and inserting ‘‘Special Education Research 

12 Commissioner’’; 

13 (B) by amending paragraph (3) to read as 

14 follows: 

15 ‘‘(3) APPLICATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible applicant 

17 that wishes to receive a grant, or enter into a 

18 contract or cooperative agreement, under this 

19 section shall submit an application to the Spe20 cial Education Research Commissioner at such 

21 time, in such manner, and containing such in22 formation as the Special Education Research 

23 Commissioner may require. 

24 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—An application sub25 mitted under subparagraph (A) shall describe 


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1 how the eligible applicant will address and dem2 onstrate progress on the requirements of the 

3 performance management system described in 

4 section 185, with respect to the activities that 

5 will be carried out under such grant, contract, 

6 or cooperative agreement.’’; and 

7 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(4) DURATION.—Notwithstanding any other 

9 provision of law, the grants, contracts, and coopera10 tive agreements under this section may be awarded, 

11 on a competitive basis, for a period of not more than 

12 5 years, and may be renewed at the discretion of the 

13 Special Education Research Commissioner for an 

14 additional period of not more than 2 years if the re15 cipient demonstrates progress on the requirements 

16 of the performance management system described in 

17 section 185, with respect to the activities carried out 

18 under the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement 

19 received under this section.’’; 

20 (4) by amending subsection (e) to read as fol21 lows: 

22 ‘‘(e) DISSEMINATION.—The Special Education Re23 search Center shall synthesize and, consistent with section 

24 114(j), widely disseminate and promote utilization of the 

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1 ducted or supported by the Special Education Research 

2 Center.’’; and 

3 (5) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘part such 

4 sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

5 2005 through 2010’’ and inserting ‘‘part— 

6 ‘‘(1) for fiscal year 2015, $54,000,000; 

7 ‘‘(2) for fiscal year 2016, $54,108,000; 

8 ‘‘(3) for fiscal year 2017, $55,298,376; 

9 ‘‘(4) for fiscal year 2018, $56,625,537; 

10 ‘‘(5) for fiscal year 2019, $58,154,426; and 

11 ‘‘(6) for fiscal year 2020, $65,645,169.’’. 

12 PART F—GENERAL PROVISIONS 

13 SEC. 182. PROHIBITIONS. 

14 Section 182 (20 U.S.C. 9572) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (b)— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘or control’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘control, or coerce’’; and 

18 (B) by inserting ‘‘specific academic stand19 ards or assessments,’’ after ‘‘the curriculum,’’; 

20 and 

21 (2) in subsection (c)— 

22 (A) by inserting ‘‘coerce,’’ after ‘‘ap23 prove,’’; and 

24 (B) by striking ‘‘an elementary school or 

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1 cation, or in an elementary school, secondary 

2 school, or institution of higher education’’. 

3 SEC. 183. CONFIDENTIALITY. 

4 Section 183 (20 U.S.C. 9573) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (b)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘their families, and infor7 mation with respect to individual schools,’’ and 

8 inserting ‘‘and their families’’; and 

9 (B) by inserting before the period the fol10 lowing: ‘‘, and that any disclosed information 

11 with respect to individual schools not reveal 

12 such individually identifiable information’’; 

13 (2) in subsection (d)(2), by inserting ‘‘, includ14 ing voluntary and uncompensated services under sec15 tion 190’’ after ‘‘providing services’’; and 

16 (3) in subsection (e)(1), in the matter preceding 

17 subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘and Director’’ after 

18 ‘‘Secretary’’. 

19 SEC. 184. AVAILABILITY OF DATA. 

20 Section 184 (20 U.S.C. 9574) is amended by striking 

21 ‘‘use of the Internet’’ and inserting ‘‘electronic means, 

22 such as posting to the Institute’s website in an easily ac23 cessible manner’’. 


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1 SEC. 185. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT. 

2 Section 185 (20 U.S.C. 9575) is amended to read as 

3 follows: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 185. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT. 

5 ‘‘The Director shall establish a system for managing 

6 the performance of all activities authorized under this title 

7 to promote continuous improvement of the activities and 

8 to ensure the effective use of Federal funds by— 

9 ‘‘(1) developing and using measurable perform10 ance indicators, including timelines, to evaluate and 

11 improve the effectiveness of the activities; 

12 ‘‘(2) using the performance indicators described 

13 in paragraph (1) to inform funding decisions, includ14 ing the awarding and continuation of all grants, con15 tracts, and cooperative agreements under this title; 

16 ‘‘(3) establishing and improving formal feed17 back mechanisms to— 

18 ‘‘(A) anticipate and meet stakeholder 

19 needs; and 

20 ‘‘(B) incorporate, on an ongoing basis, the 

21 feedback of such stakeholders into the activities 

22 authorized under this title; and 

23 ‘‘(4) promoting the wide dissemination and uti24 lization, consistent with section 114(j), of all infor25 mation, products, and publications of the Institute.’’. 


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1 SEC. 186. AUTHORITY TO PUBLISH. 

2 Section 186(b) (20 U.S.C. 9576(b)) is amended by 

3 striking ‘‘any information to be published under this sec4 tion before publication’’ and inserting ‘‘publications under 

5 this section before the public release of such publications’’. 

6 SEC. 187. REPEALS. 

7 (a) REPEALS.—Sections 187 (20 U.S.C. 9577) and 

8 193 (20 U.S.C. 9583) are repealed. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The table of con10 tents in section 1 of the Act of November 5, 2002 (Public 

11 Law 107–279; 116 Stat. 1940) is amended by striking 

12 the items relating to sections 187 and 193. 

13 SEC. 188. FELLOWSHIPS. 

14 Section 189 (20 U.S.C. 9579) is amended— 

15 (1) by inserting ‘‘and the mission of each Na16 tional Education Center authorized under this title,’’ 

17 after ‘‘related to education’’; and 

18 (2) by striking ‘‘historically Black colleges and 

19 universities’’ and inserting ‘‘minority-serving institu20 tions’’. 

21 SEC. 189. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 Section 194 (20 U.S.C. 9584) is amended— 

23 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol24 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap2 propriated to administer and carry out this title (except 

3 part E)— 

4 ‘‘(1) for fiscal year 2015, $337,343,000; 

5 ‘‘(2) for fiscal year 2016, $338,017,686; 

6 ‘‘(3) for fiscal year 2017, $345,454,075; 

7 ‘‘(4) for fiscal year 2018, $353,744,974; 

8 ‘‘(5) for fiscal year 2019, $363,296,087; and 

9 ‘‘(6) for fiscal year 2020, $368,745,528.’’; and 

10 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(b) RESERVATIONS.—Of the amounts appropriated 

13 under subsection (a) for each fiscal year— 

14 ‘‘(1) not less than the amount provided to the 

15 National Center for Education Statistics (as such 

16 Center was in existence on the day before the date 

17 of enactment of the Strengthening Education 

18 through Research Act) for fiscal year 2014 shall be 

19 provided to the National Center for Education Sta20 tistics, as authorized under part C; and 

21 ‘‘(2) not more than the lesser of 2 percent of 

22 such funds or $2,000,000 shall be made available to 

23 carry out section 116 (relating to the National 

24 Board for Education Sciences).’’. 


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1 TITLE II—EDUCATIONAL 

2 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 

3 SEC. 201. REFERENCES. 

4 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

5 this title an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

6 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi7 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 

8 section or other provision of the Education Technical As9 sistance Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.). 

10 SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS. 

11 Section 202 (20 U.S.C. 9601) is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para13 graph (3); and 

14 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1), the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(2) SCHOOL LEADER.—The term ‘school lead17 er’ has the meaning given the term in section 102.’’. 

18 SEC. 203. COMPREHENSIVE CENTERS. 

19 Section 203 (20 U.S.C. 9602)— 

20 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol21 lows: 

22 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), 

24 the Secretary is authorized to award not more than 

25 17 grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to 


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1 eligible applicants to establish comprehensive cen2 ters. 

3 ‘‘(2) MISSION.—The mission of the comprehen4 sive centers is to provide State educational agencies 

5 and local educational agencies technical assistance, 

6 analysis, and training to build their capacity in im7 plementing the requirements of the Elementary and 

8 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 

9 et seq.) and other Federal education laws, and re10 search-based practices. 

11 ‘‘(3) REGIONS.—In awarding grants, contracts, 

12 or cooperative agreements under paragraph (1), the 

13 Secretary— 

14 ‘‘(A) shall establish at least one com15 prehensive center for each of the 10 geographic 

16 regions served by the regional educational lab17 oratories established under section 941(h) of 

18 the Educational Research, Development, Dis19 semination, and Improvement Act of 1994 (as 

20 such provision existed on the day before the 

21 date of enactment of this Act); and 

22 ‘‘(B) may establish additional comprehen23 sive centers— 

24 ‘‘(i) for one or more of the regions de25 scribed in subparagraph (A); or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) to serve the Nation as a whole by 

2 providing technical assistance on a par3 ticular content area of importance to the 

4 Nation, as determined by the Secretary 

5 with the advice of the regional advisory 

6 committees established under section 

7 206(a). 

8 ‘‘(4) NATION.—In the case of a comprehensive 

9 center established to serve the Nation as described 

10 in paragraph (3)(B)(ii), the Nation shall be consid11 ered to be a region served by such Center. 

12 ‘‘(5) AWARD PERIOD.—A grant, contract, or co13 operative agreement under this section may be 

14 awarded, on a competitive basis, for a period of not 

15 more than 5 years. 

16 ‘‘(6) RESPONSIVENESS.—The Secretary shall 

17 ensure that each comprehensive center established 

18 under this section has the ability to respond in a 

19 timely fashion to the needs of State educational 

20 agencies and local educational agencies, including 

21 through using the results of the center’s interim 

22 evaluation under section 204(c), to improve and 

23 modify the activities of the center before the end of 

24 the award period.’’; 

25 (2) in subsection (b)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

2 (i) by inserting ‘‘, contracts, or coop3 erative agreements’’ after ‘‘Grants’’; 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘research organiza5 tions, institutions, agencies, institutions of 

6 higher education,’’ and inserting ‘‘public or 

7 private, nonprofit or for-profit research or8 ganizations, other organizations, or institu9 tions of higher education,’’; 

10 (iii) by striking ‘‘, or individuals,’’; 

11 (iv) by striking ‘‘subsection (f)’’ and 

12 inserting ‘‘subsection (e)’’; and 

13 (v) by striking ‘‘, including regional’’ 

14 and all that follows through ‘‘107–110))’’; 

15 and 

16 (B) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3) and 

17 inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(2) OUTREACH.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In conducting com20 petitions for grants, contracts, or cooperative 

21 agreements under this section, the Secretary 

22 shall— 

23 ‘‘(i) by making widely available infor24 mation and technical assistance relating to 


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1 the competition, actively encourage eligible 

2 applicants to compete for such awards; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) seek input from chief executive 

4 officers of States, chief State school offi5 cers, educators, parents, superintendents, 

6 and other individuals with knowledge of 

7 the needs of the regions to be served by 

8 the awards, regarding— 

9 ‘‘(I) the needs in the regions for 

10 technical assistance authorized under 

11 this title; and 

12 ‘‘(II) how such needs may be ad13 dressed most effectively. 

14 ‘‘(B) REGIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES.— 

15 The individuals described in subparagraph 

16 (A)(ii) may include members of the regional ad17 visory committees established under section 

18 206(a). 

19 ‘‘(3) PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT.—Before 

20 awarding a grant, contract, or cooperative agree21 ment under this section, the Secretary shall establish 

22 measurable performance indicators to be used to as23 sess the ongoing progress and performance of the 

24 comprehensive centers to be established under this 

25 title that address— 


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1 ‘‘(A) paragraphs (1) through (3) of the 

2 performance management system described in 

3 section 185; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the relevant results of the regional 

5 assessments under section 206(e). 

6 ‘‘(4) REQUIRED CONSIDERATION.—In deter7 mining whether to award a grant, contract, or coop8 erative agreement under this section to an eligible 

9 applicant that previously established a comprehen10 sive center under this section, the Secretary shall 

11 consider the results of such center’s summative eval12 uation under section 204(b). 

13 ‘‘(5) CONTINUATION OF AWARDS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) CONTINUATION OF AWARDS.—The 

15 Secretary shall continue awards made to each 

16 eligible applicant for the support of comprehen17 sive centers established under this section prior 

18 to the date of enactment of the Strengthening 

19 Education through Research Act, as such 

20 awards were in effect on the day before the 

21 date of enactment of the Strengthening Edu22 cation through Research Act, for the duration 

23 of those awards, in accordance with the terms 

24 and agreements of such awards. 


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1 ‘‘(B) RECOMPETITION.—Not later than the 

2 end of the period of the awards described in 

3 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) hold a competition to make 

5 grants, contracts, or cooperative agree6 ments under this section to eligible appli7 cants, which may include eligible appli8 cants that held awards described in sub9 paragraph (A); and 

10 ‘‘(ii) in determining whether to select 

11 an eligible applicant that held an award 

12 described in subparagraph (A) for an 

13 award under clause (i) of this subpara14 graph, consider the results of the 

15 summative evaluation under section 204(b) 

16 of the center established with the eligible 

17 applicant’s award described in subpara18 graph (A). 

19 ‘‘(6) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT DEFINED.—For pur20 poses of this section, the term ‘eligible applicant’ 

21 means an entity described in paragraph (1).’’; 

22 (3) by amending subsection (c) to read as fol23 lows: 

24 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.— 

25 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible appli2 cant seeking a grant, contract, or cooperative 

3 agreement under this section shall submit an 

4 application at such time, in such manner, and 

5 containing such additional information as the 

6 Secretary may reasonably require. 

7 ‘‘(B) INPUT.—To ensure that applications 

8 submitted under this paragraph are reflective of 

9 the needs of the regions to be served, each eligi10 ble applicant submitting such an application 

11 shall seek input from State educational agencies 

12 and local educational agencies in the region 

13 that the award will serve, and other individuals 

14 with knowledge of the region’s needs. Such indi15 viduals may include members of the regional 

16 advisory committee for the region under section 

17 206(a). 

18 ‘‘(2) PLAN.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each application sub20 mitted under paragraph (1) shall contain a plan 

21 for the comprehensive center to be established 

22 under this section, which shall be updated, 

23 modified, and improved, as appropriate, on an 

24 ongoing basis, including by using the results of 


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1 the center’s interim evaluation under section 

2 204(c). 

3 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—A plan described in 

4 subparagraph (A) shall address— 

5 ‘‘(i) the priorities for technical assist6 ance established under section 207; 

7 ‘‘(ii) the needs of State educational 

8 agencies and local educational agencies, on 

9 an ongoing basis, using available State and 

10 local data, including the relevant results of 

11 the regional assessments under section 

12 206(e); and 

13 ‘‘(iii) if available, demonstrated sup14 port from State educational agencies and 

15 local educational agencies, such as letters 

16 of support or signed memoranda of under17 standing. 

18 ‘‘(3) NON-FEDERAL SUPPORT.—In conducting a 

19 competition for grants, contracts, or cooperative 

20 agreements under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

21 give priority to eligible applicants that will provide 

22 a portion of non-Federal funds to maximize support 

23 for activities of the comprehensive centers to be es24 tablished under this section.’’; 


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1 (4) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘the number 

2 of low-performing schools in the region,’’ after ‘‘eco3 nomically disadvantaged students,’’; 

4 (5) by striking subsection (e) and redesignating 

5 subsections (f), (g), and (h) as subsections (e), (f), 

6 and (g), respectively; 

7 (6) in subsection (e), as so redesignated— 

8 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

9 (i) by striking ‘‘support dissemination 

10 and technical assistance activities by’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘support State educational agen12 cies and local educational agencies, includ13 ing by—’’; 

14 (ii) in subparagraph (A)(i), by insert15 ing ‘‘and other Federal education laws’’ be16 fore the semicolon; 

17 (iii) in subparagraph (A)(ii)— 

18 (I) by striking ‘‘and assessment 

19 tools’’ and inserting ‘‘, assessment 

20 tools, and other educational strate21 gies’’; and 

22 (II) in subclause (III), by insert23 ing ‘‘, including innovative tools and 

24 methods’’ before the semicolon; 


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1 (iv) by striking subparagraph (A)(iii) 

2 and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(iii) the replication and adaptation of 

4 exemplary practices and innovative meth5 ods that have an evidence base of effective6 ness.’’; 

7 (v) in subparagraph (B)— 

8 (I) by inserting ‘‘, consistent with 

9 section 114(j),’’ after ‘‘dissemi10 nating’’; and 

11 (II) by striking ‘‘(as described’’ 

12 and all that follows through ‘‘is lo13 cated’’; and 

14 (vi) by amending subparagraph (C) to 

15 read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(C) ensuring activities carried out under 

17 this section are relevant and responsive to the 

18 needs of the region being served, including by 

19 using the relevant results of the regional assess20 ments under section 206(e).’’; and 

21 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

22 (i) by inserting ‘‘, on an ongoing 

23 basis,’’ after ‘‘this section shall’’; and 

24 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or other regional 

25 educational laboratories or comprehensive 


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1 centers, as appropriate,’’ after ‘‘center is 

2 located,’’; and 

3 (7) by amending subsections (f) and (g), as 

4 each so redesignated, to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(f) COMPREHENSIVE CENTER ADVISORY BOARD.— 

6 A comprehensive center established under this section may 

7 establish an advisory board to support and monitor the 

8 priorities and activities of such center. 

9 ‘‘(g) REPORT TO THE SECRETARY.—Each com10 prehensive center established under this section shall sub11 mit to the Secretary an annual report, at such time, in 

12 such manner, and containing such information as the Sec13 retary may require, which shall include the following: 

14 ‘‘(1) A summary of the center’s activities and 

15 products developed during the previous year. 

16 ‘‘(2) A listing of the State educational agencies, 

17 local educational agencies, and schools the center as18 sisted during the previous year. 

19 ‘‘(3) Using the measurable performance indica20 tors established under subsection (b)(3), a descrip21 tion of how well the center is meeting educational 

22 needs of the region served by the center. 

23 ‘‘(4) Any changes to the center’s plan under 

24 subsection (c)(2) to improve its activities in the reVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:48 Apr 04, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00085 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4366.IH H4366

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1 maining years of the grant, contract, or cooperative 

2 agreement.’’. 

3 SEC. 204. EVALUATIONS. 

4 Section 204 (20 U.S.C. 9603) is amended to read as 

5 follows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 204. EVALUATIONS. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 

8 ‘‘(1) provide for ongoing summative and interim 

9 evaluations described in subsections (b) and (c), re10 spectively, of each of the comprehensive centers es11 tablished under this title in carrying out the full 

12 range of duties of the center under this title; and 

13 ‘‘(2) transmit the results of such evaluations, 

14 through appropriate means, to the appropriate con15 gressional committees, the Director of the Institute 

16 of Education Sciences, and the public. 

17 ‘‘(b) SUMMATIVE EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall 

18 ensure each comprehensive center established under this 

19 title is evaluated by an independent entity at the end of 

20 the period of the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement 

21 that established such center, which shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) be completed in a timely fashion; 

23 ‘‘(2) assess how well the center is meeting the 

24 measurable performance indicators established under 

25 section 203(b)(3); and 


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1 ‘‘(3) consider the extent to which the center en2 sures that the technical assistance of such center is 

3 relevant and useful to the work of State and local 

4 practitioners and policymakers. 

5 ‘‘(c) INTERIM EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall en6 sure that each comprehensive center established under this 

7 title is evaluated at the midpoint of the period of the 

8 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement that established 

9 such center, which shall— 

10 ‘‘(1) assess how well such center is meeting the 

11 measurable performance indicators established under 

12 section 203(b)(3); and 

13 ‘‘(2) be used to improve the effectiveness of 

14 such center in carrying out its plan under section 

15 203(c)(2).’’. 

16 SEC. 205. EXISTING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROVIDERS. 

17 (a) REPEAL.—Section 205 (20 U.S.C. 9604) is re18 pealed. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con20 tents in section 1 of the Act of November 5, 2002 (Public 

21 Law 107–279; 116 Stat. 1940) is amended by striking 

22 the item relating to section 205. 

23 SEC. 206. REGIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES. 

24 Section 206 (20 U.S.C. 9605) is amended— 

25 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘Beginning in 2004, the’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘The’’; and 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘of the Education Sciences 

4 Reform Act of 2002’’; 

5 (2) by striking subsection (c) and redesignating 

6 subsections (b) and (d) as subsections (d) and (e), 

7 respectively; 

8 (3) by inserting the following after subsection 

9 (a): 

10 ‘‘(b) MISSION.—The mission of each regional advi11 sory committee established under subsection (a) shall be 

12 to— 

13 ‘‘(1) support, strengthen, and, as appropriate, 

14 align the work of the regional educational labora15 tories established under section 174 and the com16 prehensive centers established under this title; and 

17 ‘‘(2) ensure that the regional educational lab18 oratories and comprehensive centers are meeting the 

19 needs of their regions. 

20 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—Each advisory committee established 

21 under subsection (a) shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) conduct, on at least a biennial basis, a 

23 needs assessments of the region served by the com24 mittee, as described in subsection (e); 


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1 ‘‘(2) to ensure the activities of the regional edu2 cational laboratory and comprehensive centers serv3 ing the region of the committee are responsive to the 

4 needs of such region, provide ongoing input to the 

5 laboratory and centers on planning and carrying out 

6 their activities under section 174 and this title, re7 spectively; 

8 ‘‘(3) maintain a high standard of quality in the 

9 performance of the activities of the laboratory and 

10 centers, respectively; and 

11 ‘‘(4) support the continuous improvement of the 

12 laboratory and centers in the region served by the 

13 committee, especially in meeting the measurable per14 formance indicators established under sections 

15 174(e)(4) and 203(b)(3), respectively.’’; 

16 (4) by amending subsection (d), as so redesig17 nated, to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(d) MEMBERSHIP.— 

19 ‘‘(1) COMPOSITION.—The membership of each 

20 regional advisory committee shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) not exceed 25 members; 

22 ‘‘(B) include the chief State school officer, 

23 or such officer’s designee, or other State offi24 cial, of States within the region of the com25 mittee who have primary responsibility under 


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1 State law for elementary and secondary edu2 cation in the State; 

3 ‘‘(C) include representatives of local edu4 cational agencies, including rural and urban 

5 local educational agencies, that represent the 

6 geographic diversity of the region; and 

7 ‘‘(D) include researchers. 

8 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY.—The membership of each 

9 regional advisory committee may include the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(A) Representatives of institutions of 

12 higher education. 

13 ‘‘(B) Parents. 

14 ‘‘(C) Practicing educators, including class15 room teachers, school leaders, administrators, 

16 school board members, and other local school 

17 officials. 

18 ‘‘(D) Representatives of business. 

19 ‘‘(E) Policymakers. 

20 ‘‘(F) Representatives from the regional 

21 educational laboratory and comprehensive cen22 ters in the region. 

23 ‘‘(2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—In choosing individ24 uals for membership on a regional advisory com25 mittee, the Secretary shall consult with, and solicit 


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1 recommendations from, the chief executive officers of 

2 States, chief State school officers, local educational 

3 agencies, and other education stakeholders within 

4 the applicable region. 

5 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE.—The total number of 

6 members on each committee who are selected under 

7 subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (1), in the 

8 aggregate, shall exceed the total number of members 

9 who are selected under paragraph (2), collectively.’’; 

10 and 

11 (5) in subsection (e), as so redesignated— 

12 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

13 (i) by inserting ‘‘, at least on a bien14 nial basis,’’ after ‘‘assess’’; and 

15 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, strengths, and 

16 weaknesses’’ after ‘‘educational needs’’; 

17 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

18 (i) by striking ‘‘State school officers,’’ 

19 and all that follows through ‘‘within the re20 gion)’’ and inserting ‘‘State school officers, 

21 local educational agencies, representatives 

22 of public charter schools, educators, par23 ents, and others within the region’’; 

24 (ii) by striking ‘‘of the Education 

25 Sciences Reform Act of 2002 and section 


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1 203 of this title’’ and inserting ‘‘and sec2 tion 203’’; and 

3 (iii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

4 (C) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

5 paragraph (4); and 

6 (D) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

7 following new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(3) use available State and local data, con9 sistent with privacy protections under section 183, 

10 to determine regional educational needs; and’’. 

11 SEC. 207. PRIORITIES. 

12 Section 207 (20 U.S.C. 9606) is amended— 

13 (1) by inserting ‘‘Director and’’ before ‘‘Sec14 retary shall establish’’; 

15 (2) by striking ‘‘of the Education Sciences Re16 form Act of 2002’’; 

17 (3) by striking ‘‘of this title’’; 

18 (4) by striking ‘‘to address, taking onto ac19 count’’ and inserting ‘‘, respectively, using the re20 sults of’’; and 

21 (5) by striking ‘‘relevant regional’’ and all that 

22 follows through ‘‘Secretary deems appropriate’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘relevant regional and national surveys of 

24 educational needs’’. 


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1 SEC. 208. GRANT PROGRAM FOR STATEWIDE LONGITU2 DINAL DATA SYSTEMS. 

3 Section 208 (20 U.S.C. 9607) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)— 

5 (A) by inserting before the period the fol6 lowing: ‘‘, the Higher Education Act of 1965 

7 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), and the Individuals 

8 with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

9 1400 et seq.)’’; and 

10 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘State educational agencies receiving a grant 

12 under this section may provide subgrants to 

13 local educational agencies to improve the capac14 ity of local educational agencies to carry out the 

15 activities authorized under this section.’’; 

16 (2) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and 

17 (e) as subsections (d), (e), and (g), respectively; 

18 (3) by inserting after subsection (b), the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(c) PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT.—Before award21 ing a grant under this section, the Secretary shall estab22 lish measurable performance indicators— 

23 ‘‘(1) to be used to assess the ongoing progress 

24 and performance of State educational agencies re25 ceiving a grant under this section; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) that address paragraphs (1) through (3) of 

2 the performance management system described in 

3 section 185.’’; 

4 (4) in subsection (d), as so redesignated— 

5 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘, pro6 motes linkages across States,’’; 

7 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (i) in the matter preceding subpara9 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘supports school 

10 improvement and’’ after ‘‘data that’’; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

12 ‘‘and other reporting requirements and 

13 close achievement gaps; and’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘, other reporting requirements, close 

15 achievement gaps, and improve teaching;’’; 

16 (iii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

17 ‘‘and close achievement gaps’’ and by in18 serting ‘‘, close achievement gaps, and im19 prove teaching’’; and 

20 (iv) by inserting after subparagraph 

21 (B) the following: 

22 ‘‘(C) to align statewide longitudinal data 

23 systems from early education through postsec24 ondary education (including pre-service prepa25 ration programs), and the workforce, consistent 


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1 with privacy protections under section 183;’’; 

2 and 

3 (C) by striking paragraph (3) and insert4 ing the following: 

5 ‘‘(3) ensures the protection of student privacy, 

6 and includes a review of how State educational agen7 cies, local educational agencies, and others that will 

8 have access to the statewide data systems under this 

9 section will adhere to Federal privacy laws and pro10 tections, consistent with section 183, in the building, 

11 maintenance, and use of such data systems; 

12 ‘‘(4) ensures State educational agencies receiv13 ing a grant under this section support professional 

14 development that builds the capacity of teachers and 

15 school leaders to use data effectively; and 

16 ‘‘(5) gives priority to State educational agencies 

17 that leverage the use of longitudinal data systems to 

18 improve student achievement and growth, including 

19 such State educational agencies that— 

20 ‘‘(A) meet the voluntary standards and 

21 guidelines described in section 153(a)(5); 

22 ‘‘(B) define the roles of State educational 

23 agencies, local educational agencies, and others 

24 in providing timely access to data under the 


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1 statewide data systems, consistent with privacy 

2 protections in section 183; and 

3 ‘‘(C) demonstrate the capacity to share 

4 teacher and school leader performance data, in5 cluding student achievement and growth data, 

6 with local educational agencies and teacher and 

7 school leader preparation programs.’’; 

8 (5) by inserting after subsection (e), as so re9 designated, the following: 

10 ‘‘(f) RENEWAL OF AWARDS.—The Secretary may 

11 renew a grant awarded to a State educational agency 

12 under this section for a period not to exceed 3 years, if 

13 the State educational agency has demonstrated progress 

14 on the measurable performance indicators established 

15 under subsection (c).’’; and 

16 (6) by amending subsection (g), as so redesig17 nated, to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) FIRST REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

20 after the date of enactment of the Strengthening 

21 Education through Research Act, the Secretary shall 

22 prepare and make publicly available a report on the 

23 implementation and effectiveness of the activities 

24 carried out by State educational agencies receiving a 

25 grant under this section, including— 


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1 ‘‘(A) information on progress in the devel2 opment and use of statewide longitudinal data 

3 systems described in this section; 

4 ‘‘(B) information on best practices and 

5 areas for improvement in such development and 

6 use; and 

7 ‘‘(C) how the State educational agencies 

8 are adhering to Federal privacy laws and pro9 tections in the building, maintenance, and use 

10 of such data systems. 

11 ‘‘(2) SUCCEEDING REPORTS.—Every succeeding 

12 3 years after the report is made publicly available 

13 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall prepare 

14 and make publicly available a report on the imple15 mentation and effectiveness of the activities carried 

16 out by State educational agencies receiving a grant 

17 under this section, including— 

18 ‘‘(A) information on the requirements of 

19 subparagraphs (A) through (C) of paragraph 

20 (1); and 

21 ‘‘(B) the progress, in the aggregate, State 

22 educational agencies are making on the measur23 able performance indicators established under 

24 subsection (c).’’. 


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1 SEC. 209. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 Section 209 (20 U.S.C. 9608) is amended to read as 

3 follows: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 209. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

6 this title— 

7 ‘‘(1) for fiscal year 2015, $82,984,000; 

8 ‘‘(2) for fiscal year 2016, $83,149,968; 

9 ‘‘(3) for fiscal year 2017, $84,979,268; 

10 ‘‘(4) for fiscal year 2018, $87,018,769; 

11 ‘‘(5) for fiscal year 2019, $89,368,277; and 

12 ‘‘(6) for fiscal year 2020, $90,708,801.’’. 

13 TITLE III—NATIONAL ASSESS14 MENT OF EDUCATIONAL 

15 PROGRESS 

16 SEC. 301. REFERENCES. 

17 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

18 this title an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

19 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi20 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 

21 section or other provision of the National Assessment of 

22 Educational Progress Authorization Act (20 U.S.C. 9621 

23 et seq.). 

24 SEC. 302. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT GOVERNING BOARD. 

25 Section 302 (20 U.S.C. 9621) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘shall formu2 late policy guidelines’’ and inserting ‘‘shall oversee 

3 and set policies, in a manner consistent with sub4 section (e) and accepted professional standards,’’; 

5 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(L)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘principals’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘leaders’’; and 

8 (B) by striking ‘‘principal’’ both places it 

9 appears and inserting ‘‘leader’’; 

10 (3) in subsection (c), by striking paragraph (4); 

11 (4) in subsection (d)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

13 (i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

14 ‘‘the Assessment Board after consultation 

15 with’’ before ‘‘organizations’’; and 

16 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

17 (I) by striking ‘‘Each organiza18 tion submitting nominations to the 

19 Secretary with’’ and inserting ‘‘With’’; 

20 and 

21 (II) by inserting ‘‘, the Assess22 ment Board’’ after ‘‘particular va23 cancy’’; and 

24 (B) in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘that each organization 

2 described in paragraph (1)(A) submit addi3 tional nominations’’ and inserting ‘‘addi4 tional nominations from the Assessment 

5 Board or each organization described in 

6 paragraph (1)(A)’’; and 

7 (ii) by striking ‘‘such organization’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘the Assessment Board’’; 

9 and 

10 (5) in subsection (e)(1)— 

11 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

12 (i) by inserting ‘‘in consultation with 

13 the Commissioner for Education Statis14 tics,’’ before ‘‘select’’; 

15 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and grades or ages’’ 

16 before ‘‘to be’’; and 

17 (iii) by inserting ‘‘and determine the 

18 year in which such assessments will be 

19 conducted’’ after ‘‘assessed’’; 

20 (B) in subparagraph (D), by inserting 

21 ‘‘school leaders,’’ after ‘‘teachers,’’; 

22 (C) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘de23 sign’’ and inserting ‘‘provide input on’’; 

24 (D) by redesignating subparagraph (J) as 

25 subparagraph (K); 


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1 (E) by inserting after subparagraph (I), 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(J) provide input to the Director on an4 nual budget requests for the National Assess5 ment of Educational Progress; and’’; 

6 (F) in subparagraph (K), as so redesig7 nated— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘plan and execute the 

9 initial public release of’’; and 

10 (ii) by inserting ‘‘release the initial’’ 

11 before ‘‘National’’; and 

12 (G) in the matter following subparagraph 

13 (K), as so amended and redesignated, by strik14 ing ‘‘subparagraph (J)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub15 paragraph (K)’’. 

16 SEC. 303. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL 

17 PROGRESS. 

18 Section 303 (20 U.S.C. 9622) is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘with the ad20 vice of the Assessment Board established under sec21 tion 302’’ and inserting ‘‘in a manner consistent 

22 with accepted professional standards and the policies 

23 set forth by the Assessment Board under section 

24 302(a)’’; 

25 (2) in subsection (b)(2)— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (D), by inserting 

2 ‘‘and consistent with section 302(e)(1)(A)’’ 

3 after ‘‘resources allow’’; 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub5 paragraph (G); 

6 (C) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; 

7 and’’ at the end of subparagraph (H); and 

8 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

9 subparagraph: 

10 ‘‘(I) determine, after taking into account 

11 section 302(e)(1)(I), the content of initial and 

12 subsequent reports of all assessments author13 ized under this section and ensure that such re14 ports are valid and reliable.’’; 

15 (3) in subsection (c)(2)— 

16 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘of 

17 Education’’ after ‘‘Secretary’’; and 

18 (B) in subparagraph (D)— 

19 (i) by striking ‘‘Chairman of the 

20 House’’ before ‘‘Committee on Education’’; 

21 (ii) by inserting ‘‘of the House of Rep22 resentatives’’ after ‘‘Workforce’’; 

23 (iii) by striking ‘‘Chairman of the 

24 Senate’’ before ‘‘Committee on Health’’; 

25 and 


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1 (iv) by inserting ‘‘of the Senate’’ after 

2 ‘‘Pensions’’; 

3 (4) in subsection (d)(1), by inserting before the 

4 period, the following: ‘‘, except as required under 

5 section 1112(b)(1)(F) of the Elementary and Sec6 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

7 6312(b)(1)(F))’’; 

8 (5) in subsection (e)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or age’’; 

10 and 

11 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

12 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

13 (I) by striking ‘‘shall’’ and all 

14 that follows through ‘‘be’’ and insert 

15 ‘‘shall be’’; 

16 (II) by redesignating subclauses 

17 (I) and (II) as clauses (i) and (ii), re18 spectively; and 

19 (III) in clause (ii) (as so redesig20 nated), by striking ‘‘, or the age of 

21 the students, as the case may be’’; 

22 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

23 (I) by striking ‘‘After the deter24 minations described in subparagraph 

25 (A), devising’’ and inserting ‘‘The AsVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:48 Apr 04, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00103 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4366.IH H4366

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1 sessment Board shall, in making the 

2 determination described in subpara3 graph (A), use’’; and 

4 (II) by inserting after ‘‘ap5 proach’’ the following: ‘‘, providing for 

6 the active participation of teachers, 

7 school leaders, curriculum specialists, 

8 local school administrators, parents, 

9 and concerned members of the general 

10 public’’; and 

11 (iii) in subparagraph (D), by inserting 

12 ‘‘Assessment’’ before ‘‘Board’’; and 

13 (6) in subsection (g)(2)— 

14 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘AFFAIRS’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘EDUCATION’’; and 

16 (B) by striking ‘‘Affairs’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘Education’’. 

18 SEC. 304. DEFINITIONS. 

19 Section 304 (20 U.S.C. 9623) is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(1)’’ and in21 serting ‘‘(1) DIRECTOR.—’’; 

22 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘(2)’’ and in23 serting ‘‘(2) STATE.—’’; 

24 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) (as 

25 so amended) as paragraphs (2) and (5), respectively; 


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1 (4) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so re2 designated) the following new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The terms ‘elementary 

4 school’, ‘local educational agency’, and ‘secondary 

5 school’ have the meanings given those terms in sec6 tion 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu7 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).’’; and 

8 (5) by inserting after paragraph (2) (as so re9 designated), the following new paragraphs: 

10 ‘‘(3) SCHOOL LEADER.—The term ‘school lead11 er’ has the meaning given the term in section 102. 

12 ‘‘(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

13 the Secretary of Education.’’. 

14 SEC. 305. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 Section 305(a) (20 U.S.C. 9624(a)) is amended to 

16 read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap18 propriated— 

19 ‘‘(1) for fiscal year 2015— 

20 ‘‘(A) $8,235,000 to carry out section 302 

21 (relating to the National Assessment Governing 

22 Board); and 

23 ‘‘(B) $132,000,000 to carry out section 

24 303 (relating to the National Assessment of 

25 Educational Progress); 


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1 ‘‘(2) for fiscal year 2016— 

2 ‘‘(A) $8,251,470 to carry out section 302 

3 (relating to the National Assessment Governing 

4 Board); and 

5 ‘‘(B) $132,264,000 to carry out section 

6 303 (relating to the National Assessment of 

7 Educational Progress); 

8 ‘‘(3) for fiscal year 2017— 

9 ‘‘(A) $8,433,002 to carry out section 302 

10 (relating to the National Assessment Governing 

11 Board); and 

12 ‘‘(B) $135,173,808 to carry out section 

13 303 (relating to the National Assessment of 

14 Educational Progress); 

15 ‘‘(4) for fiscal year 2018— 

16 ‘‘(A) $8,635,395 to carry out section 302 

17 (relating to the National Assessment Governing 

18 Board); and 

19 ‘‘(B) $138,417,979 to carry out section 

20 303 (relating to the National Assessment of 

21 Educational Progress); 

22 ‘‘(5) for fiscal year 2019— 

23 ‘‘(A) $8,868,550 to carry out section 302 

24 (relating to the National Assessment Governing 

25 Board); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) $142,155,266 to carry out section 

2 303 (relating to the National Assessment of 

3 Educational Progress); and 

4 ‘‘(6) for fiscal year 2020— 

5 ‘‘(A) $9,001,578 to carry out section 302 

6 (relating to the National Assessment Governing 

7 Board); and 

8 ‘‘(B) $144,287,595 to carry out section 

9 303 (relating to the National Assessment of 

10 Educational Progress).’’. 

11 TITLE IV—EVALUATION PLAN 

12 SEC. 401. RESEARCH AND EVALUATION. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Institute of Education 

14 Sciences shall be the primary entity for conducting re15 search on and evaluations of Federal education programs 

16 within the Department of Education to ensure the rigor 

17 and independence of such research and evaluation. 

18 (b) FLEXIBLE AUTHORITY.— 

19 (1) RESERVATION.—Notwithstanding any other 

20 provision of law, the Secretary of Education, in con21 sultation with the Director of the Institute of Edu22 cation Sciences, may, for purposes of carrying out 

23 the activities described in paragraph (2)— 

24 (A) reserve not more than 0.5 percent of 

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1 thorized under the Elementary and Secondary 

2 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et 

3 seq.), other than part A of title I of such Act 

4 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.); and 

5 (B) reserve not more than 0.25 percent of 

6 the amount appropriated for part A of title I of 

7 such Act (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.). 

8 (2) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Subject to sub9 section (d), the Secretary of Education, in consulta10 tion with the Director of the Institute of Education 

11 Sciences, may use the amounts reserved under para12 graph (1) to— 

13 (A) carry out high-quality evaluations 

14 (consistent with the requirements of section 

15 173(a) of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 

16 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9563(a)), as amended by this 

17 Act, and the evaluation plan described in sub18 section (c) of this section) of programs author19 ized under the Elementary and Secondary Edu20 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.); 

21 (B) increase the usefulness of such evalua22 tions to promote continuous improvement of 

23 programs under such Act (20 U.S.C. 6301 et 

24 seq.); and 


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1 (C) assist grantees of such programs in 

2 collecting and analyzing data and other activi3 ties related to conducting high-quality evalua4 tions under subparagraph (A). 

5 (3) DISSEMINATION.—The Secretary of Edu6 cation shall disseminate evaluation findings, con7 sistent with section 114(j) of the Education Sciences 

8 Reform Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9514(j)), as amend9 ed by this Act, of evaluations carried out under 

10 paragraph (2)(A). 

11 (4) CONSOLIDATION.—The Secretary of Edu12 cation— 

13 (A) may consolidate the funds reserved 

14 under paragraph (1) for purposes of carrying 

15 out the activities under paragraph (2); and 

16 (B) shall not be required to evaluate under 

17 paragraph (2)(A) each program authorized 

18 under the Elementary and Secondary Education 

19 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) each year. 

20 (c) EVALUATION PLAN.—The Director of the Insti21 tute of Education Sciences, in consultation with the Sec22 retary of Education, shall, on a biennial basis, develop, 

23 submit to Congress, and make publicly available an eval24 uation plan, that— 


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1 (1) describes the specific activities that will be 

2 carried out under subsection (b)(2) for the 2-year 

3 period applicable to the plan, and the timelines of 

4 such activities; and 

5 (2) contains the results of the activities carried 

6 out under subsection (b)(2) for the most recent 2- 

7 year period. 

8 (d) EVALUATIONS UNDER TITLE I OF THE ESEA.— 

9 Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect part 

10 E of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

11 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6491 et seq.) or section 173(b) 

12 of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 

13 9563(b)), as amended by this Act. 

Æ 


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