I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5303 

To promote the use of blended learning in classrooms across America. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2014 

Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To promote the use of blended learning in classrooms across 

America. 

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 ‘‘21st Century Class5 room Innovation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 

7 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

8 this Act an amendment is expressed in terms of an amend9 ment to a section or other provision, the reference shall 

10 be considered to be made to a section or other provision 


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1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

2 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.). 

3 SEC. 3. ENCOURAGING STATE AND LOCAL BLENDED 

4 LEARNING PROJECTS. 

5 (a) STATE APPLICATIONS.—Section 2112(b) (20 

6 U.S.C. 6612(b)) is amended by inserting at the end the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(13) In the case of a State that will carry out 

9 a program to award grants under section 

10 2113(c)(3), a description of the program, which 

11 shall include— 

12 ‘‘(A) the criteria the State will use to 

13 award grants under such section to eligible enti14 ties to carry out blended learning projects; 

15 ‘‘(B) the State policies and procedures to 

16 be waived by the State, consistent with Federal 

17 law, for such eligible entities to carry out such 

18 projects, which may include waivers with re19 spect to— 

20 ‘‘(i) restrictions on class sizes; 

21 ‘‘(ii) restrictions on licensing or 

22 credentialing of personnel supervising stu23 dent work in such projects; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) restrictions on the use of State 

2 funding for instructional materials for the 

3 purchase of digital instructional resources; 

4 ‘‘(iv) restrictions on advancing stu5 dents based on demonstrated mastery of 

6 learning outcomes, rather than seat-time 

7 requirements; and 

8 ‘‘(v) restrictions on secondary school 

9 students in the State enrolling in online 

10 coursework; 

11 ‘‘(C) how the State will inform eligible en12 tities of the availability of the waivers described 

13 in subparagraph (B); and 

14 ‘‘(D) how the State will provide the non15 Federal match required under subparagraph 

16 (D) of section 2113(c)(3).’’. 

17 (b) STATE USE OF FUNDS.—Section 2113 (20 

18 U.S.C. 6613) is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘2.5’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘1.5’’; and 

21 (2) in subsection (c)— 

22 (A) by striking the matter preceding para23 graph (1) and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The State educational 

25 agency for a State that receives a grant under secVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:06 Aug 08, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5303.IH H5303

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1 tion 2111 shall use the funds described in subsection 

2 (a)(3) to carry out one or more of the activities de3 scribed in paragraph (2) or (3). 

4 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—The State educational agen5 cy may use the funds described in subsection (a)(3) 

6 to carry out one or more of the following, which may 

7 be carried out through a grant or contract with a 

8 for-profit or nonprofit entity:’’; 

9 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

10 through (18) as subparagraphs (A) through 

11 (R), respectively; 

12 (C) in subparagraph (A), as so redesig13 nated— 

14 (i) by redesignating subparagraph 

15 (A)(i) and clause (ii) as clause (i)(I) and 

16 subclause (II), respectively; and 

17 (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

18 (B) and (C) as clauses (ii) and (iii), re19 spectively; 

20 (D) in subparagraph (B), as so redesig21 nated, by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 

22 (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively; 

23 (E) in subparagraph (D), as so redesig24 nated, by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 

25 (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively; 


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1 (F) in subparagraph (R), as so redesig2 nated, by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 

3 (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively; and 

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

5 ‘‘(3) BLENDED LEARNING PROJECTS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The State educational 

7 agency may use the funds described in sub8 section (a)(3) to carry out a program to award 

9 grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities 

10 in the State to carry out blended learning 

11 projects described in this paragraph. 

12 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity de13 siring to receive a grant under this paragraph 

14 shall submit an application to the State edu15 cational agency at such time and in such man16 ner as the agency may require, and which de17 scribes— 

18 ‘‘(i) the blended learning project to be 

19 carried out by the eligible entity, including 

20 the design of the instructional model to be 

21 carried out by the eligible entity and how 

22 such eligible entity will use funds provided 

23 under this paragraph to carry out the 

24 project; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an eligible entity 

2 described in subclause (I) or (III) of sub3 paragraph (E)(ii), the schools that will 

4 participate in the project; 

5 ‘‘(iii) how the eligible entity will en6 sure sufficient information technology is 

7 available to carry out the project; 

8 ‘‘(iv) how the eligible entity will en9 sure sufficient digital instructional re10 sources are available to students partici11 pating in the project; 

12 ‘‘(v) the ongoing professional develop13 ment to be provided for teachers, school 

14 leaders, and other personnel carrying out 

15 the project; 

16 ‘‘(vi) the State policies and procedures 

17 for which the eligible entity requests waiv18 ers from the State to carry out the project, 

19 which may include requests for the waivers 

20 described in section 2112(b)(13)(B); 

21 ‘‘(vii) as appropriate, how the eligible 

22 entity will use the blended learning project 

23 to improve instruction and access to the 

24 curriculum for diverse groups of students, 

25 including students with disabilities and 


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1 students who are limited English pro2 ficient; 

3 ‘‘(viii) how the eligible entity will 

4 evaluate the project and publicly report the 

5 results of such evaluation; and 

6 ‘‘(ix) how the eligible entity will sus7 tain the project beyond the grant period. 

8 ‘‘(C) USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity 

9 receiving a grant under this paragraph shall use 

10 such grant to carry out a blended learning 

11 project, which shall include at least one of the 

12 following activities: 

13 ‘‘(i) Planning activities, which may in14 clude development of new instructional 

15 models (including blended learning tech16 nology software and platforms), the pur17 chase of digital instructional resources, ini18 tial professional development activities, and 

19 one-time information technology purchases, 

20 except that such expenditures may not in21 clude expenditures related to significant 

22 construction or renovation of facilities. 

23 ‘‘(ii) Ongoing professional develop24 ment for teachers, school leaders, or other 

25 personnel involved in the project. 


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1 ‘‘(D) NON-FEDERAL MATCH.—A State 

2 educational agency that carries out a grant pro3 gram under this paragraph shall provide non4 Federal matching funds equal to not less than 

5 10 percent of the grant funds awarded by the 

6 State educational agency to eligible entities 

7 under this paragraph. 

8 ‘‘(E) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

9 paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(i) BLENDED LEARNING PROJECT.— 

11 The term ‘blended learning project’ means 

12 a formal education program— 

13 ‘‘(I) that includes an element of 

14 online learning, and instructional time 

15 in a supervised location away from 

16 home; 

17 ‘‘(II) that includes an element of 

18 student control over time, place, path, 

19 or pace; and 

20 ‘‘(III) the modalities along each 

21 student’s learning path within a 

22 course or subject are connected to 

23 provide an integrated learning experi24 ence. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) CHARTER SCHOOL.—The term 

2 ‘charter school’ has the meaning given the 

3 term in section 5210. 

4 ‘‘(iii) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term 

5 ‘eligible entity’ means a— 

6 ‘‘(I) local educational agency; 

7 ‘‘(II) charter school; or 

8 ‘‘(III) consortium of the entities 

9 described in subclause (I) or (II), 

10 which may be in partnership with a 

11 for-profit or nonprofit entity.’’. 

Æ 


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