I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2326 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish 

the National Education Innovation Network and the National Innovation 

Corps. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 23, 2011 

Mrs. DAVIS of California (for herself and Mr. HOLT) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to establish the National Education Innovation 

Network and the National Innovation Corps. 

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 ‘‘Innovation in Edu5 cation Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The United States could greatly benefit by 

9 investing in education research and development. In 


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1 fact, ample evidence shows that scientifically vali2 dated innovations in teaching and learning can re3 sult in significant improvements in student achieve4 ment and success. 

5 (2) When understood as systematic innovation, 

6 research and development can spur education im7 provement in scalable and sustainable ways. 

8 (3) Education research and development should 

9 be part of a strategy for innovation and ongoing im10 provement within individual classrooms, schools, and 

11 other learning environments, as well as within spe12 cialized research and development units. 

13 (4) The active involvement of teachers, prin14 cipals, local educational agency administrators, and 

15 State school officers in knowledge and innovation ac16 tivities is essential to the effective application of re17 search-based knowledge to policy and practice. 

18 (5) More instructional activities and practices 

19 supported by scientifically valid research need to be 

20 developed to meet the current and expected demands 

21 of educators in schools. 

22 (6) National leadership is needed to provide 

23 targeted initiatives, collaboration, and coordination 

24 of innovative best practices in teaching and learning 

25 to ensure that classroom educators have access to, 


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1 and effectively use practices supported by, scientif2 ically valid research. 

3 SEC. 3. NATIONAL EDUCATION INNOVATION NETWORK. 

4 The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

5 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

6 after section 2422, the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 2423. NATIONAL EDUCATION INNOVATION NETWORK. 

8 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to 

9 establish the National Education Innovation Network to 

10 support the dissemination of promising educational sys11 tems, practices, and products to teachers and administra12 tors, and identify the best available evidence for such sys13 tems, practices, and products. 

14 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL EDUCATION

15 INNOVATION NETWORK.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appro17 priated under subsection (e), the Secretary shall, in 

18 coordination with education research and assistance 

19 entities, establish and maintain a National Edu20 cation Innovation Network (in this section referred 

21 to as the ‘Network’). 

22 ‘‘(2) NETWORK REQUIREMENTS.—The Network 

23 shall be designed as an efficient system of profes24 sional exchange for educators and administrators 

25 to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) assist teachers and other individuals 

2 with the identification, transfer, and implemen3 tation of successful educational systems, prac4 tices, and products; 

5 ‘‘(B) incorporate Web 2.0 technologies to 

6 enhance creativity, information sharing, dis7 seminations, and collaboration among educators 

8 within Web-based communities; 

9 ‘‘(C) develop and maintain resource-rich, 

10 easily accessible databases, and a rigorous, on11 going vetting process for ensuring the quality 

12 and integrity of entries provided by the Net13 work; and 

14 ‘‘(D) develop a system to market the avail15 ability of the Network to teachers, educators, 

16 school administrators, State educational agen17 cies, local educational agencies, and other inter18 ested parties to ensure that the information is 

19 broadly and well disseminated. 

20 ‘‘(c) INFORMATION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) CATEGORIES OF INFORMATION.—The Net22 work shall provide 3 categories of vetted information 

23 with respect to the most promising practices and 

24 strategies that may provide solutions to the most 

25 persistent problems of practice in improving student 


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1 achievement on State assessments and academic 

2 progress, and turning around low-performing 

3 schools. Such categories of information are as fol4 lows: 

5 ‘‘(A) Unrestricted. 

6 ‘‘(B) Restricted. 

7 ‘‘(C) Special Topics. 

8 ‘‘(2) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—In es9 tablishing and maintaining the Network, the Sec10 retary shall carry out the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) MOST PROMISING PRACTICES AND

12 STRATEGIES.—The Secretary shall disseminate, 

13 through searchable databases or Internet Web 

14 sites (including the Internet Web site of the De15 partment of Education entitled ‘Doing What 

16 Works’) available under the Network, the re17 stricted and special topic information with re18 spect to the most promising practices and strat19 egies described paragraph (1). The databases or 

20 Internet Web sites shall include, with respect to 

21 each such practice or strategy— 

22 ‘‘(i) a detailed description of the ele23 ments of instruction or administration the 

24 practice or strategy is designed to improve, 

25 including a detailed description of the core 


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1 or essential elements of the practice or 

2 strategy in a manner comprehensible to, 

3 and by— 

4 ‘‘(I) educators in elementary 

5 schools or secondary schools; or 

6 ‘‘(II) local educational agencies; 

7 ‘‘(ii) information showing how the 

8 practice or strategy has been— 

9 ‘‘(I) developed from the results of 

10 educational research; and 

11 ‘‘(II) thoroughly assessed by a 

12 research-based evaluation processes; 

13 ‘‘(iii) the contact information of a 

14 knowledgeable individual whom an educa15 tor or administrator may contact for more 

16 information on the practice or strategy; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(iv) Internet links to similar or com19 plementary practices and strategies avail20 able in the database or Internet Web site 

21 that educators and administrators may 

22 wish to consider. 

23 ‘‘(B) COMPLEMENTARY COMBINATIONS OF

24 BEST PRACTICES AND STRATEGIES.—The Sec25 retary shall disseminate through the searchable 


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1 databases or Internet Web sites described in 

2 subparagraph (A), complementary combinations 

3 of best practices and strategies, that shall in4 clude— 

5 ‘‘(i) the core elements of instruction 

6 or administration the best practices or 

7 strategies are designed to improve; 

8 ‘‘(ii) a detailed description of the best 

9 practices or strategies in a manner com10 prehensible to, and by— 

11 ‘‘(I) educators in elementary 

12 schools or secondary schools; or 

13 ‘‘(II) local educational agencies; 

14 ‘‘(iii) a list of the promising practices 

15 and strategies included in the databases or 

16 Internet Web site and how such practices 

17 and strategies interact and complement 

18 each other; and 

19 ‘‘(iv) Internet links to each of the in20 dividual practices and strategies included 

21 in the innovation collaborative in order to 

22 assist educators in learning learn more in23 formation about the component parts. 

24 ‘‘(C) SYSTEM OR FORUM.—The Secretary 

25 shall, under the searchable databases or InterVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:16 Jun 29, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2326.IH H2326

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1 net Web sites described in subparagraph (A), 

2 establish a system or forum through which edu3 cators and administrators may— 

4 ‘‘(i) nominate new practices and strat5 egies for inclusion in the databases or 

6 Internet Web sites; 

7 ‘‘(ii) recommend improvements and 

8 refinements to practices and strategies al9 ready included in the Network; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) freely exchange ideas for prac11 tices and strategies with fellow educators 

12 and administrators. 

13 ‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT.— 

14 The Secretary shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) notify educators and administrators in 

16 schools and local educational agencies of the Net17 work, and the databases and Internet Web sites 

18 available under the Network; and 

19 ‘‘(2) in collaboration with the regional edu20 cational laboratories established under section 174 

21 of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 

22 U.S.C. 9564), the Comprehensive Centers estab23 lished under section 203 of the Educational Tech24 nical Assistance Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9602), pro25 vide technical assistance to educators and adminisVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:16 Jun 29, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2326.IH H2326

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1 trators to assist the educators and administrators in 

2 accessing the Network and the databases and Inter3 net Web sites available under the Network. 

4 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

5 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

6 $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2012 and such sums as may 

7 be necessary for each of the succeeding fiscal years. 

8 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) EDUCATION RESEARCH AND ASSISTANCE

10 ENTITY.—The term ‘education research and assist11 ance entity’ means an entity knowledgeable about 

12 education research, including— 

13 ‘‘(A) a national education, research, and 

14 development center; 

15 ‘‘(B) a regional educational laboratory; and 

16 ‘‘(C) a comprehensive assistance center. 

17 ‘‘(2) LOW-PERFORMING SCHOOL.—The term 

18 ‘low performing school’ means a school that— 

19 ‘‘(A) is receiving funds under part A of 

20 title I and undergoing school improvement, cor21 rective action, or restructuring under section 

22 1116, and is among the lowest-achieving schools 

23 receiving funds under such part that is under24 going such school improvement, corrective ac25 tion, or restructuring; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) is eligible for, but does not receive, 

2 funds under part A of title I and is among the 

3 lowest-achieving schools in the State eligible for, 

4 but not receiving, funds under such part. 

5 ‘‘(3) UNRESTRICTED INFORMATION.—The term 

6 ‘unrestricted information’ means a category of infor7 mation that— 

8 ‘‘(A) covers information with respect to 

9 new, high potential, and relatively untested 

10 practices or strategies that have limited formal 

11 evidence of statistically significant improvement 

12 of student achievement; and 

13 ‘‘(B) is shared by teachers, administrators, 

14 officials of State educational agencies; relevant 

15 educational organizations; and existing edu16 cation databases. 

17 ‘‘(4) RESTRICTED INFORMATION.—The term 

18 ‘restricted information’ means a category of infor19 mation that— 

20 ‘‘(A) covers information with stronger evi21 dence of statistically significant improvement on 

22 student achievement than the unrestricted in23 formation category; and 

24 ‘‘(B) is shared by teachers, administrators, 

25 officials of State educational agencies, relevant 


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1 educational organizations, and existing edu2 cation databases. 

3 ‘‘(5) SPECIAL TOPICS.—The term ‘special top4 ics’ means a category of information— 

5 ‘‘(A) that covers information that is con6 sistent with evidence validated under the Inter7 net Web site of the Department of Education 

8 entitled the What Works Clearinghouse; and 

9 ‘‘(B) includes online materials and support 

10 systems that teachers and others may use to 

11 improve educational practices available under 

12 the Internet Web site of the Department of 

13 Education entitled ‘Doing What Works’. 

14 ‘‘(6) WEB 2.0 TECHNOLOGIES.—The term ‘Web 

15 2.0 technologies’ means commonly used Web appli16 cations that facilitate interactive information shar17 ing, interoperability, user-centered design, and col18 laboration on the World Wide Web by allowing its 

19 users to interact with other users or to change site 

20 content, in contrast to non-interactive sites where 

21 users are limited to the passive viewing of informa22 tion that is provided to them. Such technologies in23 clude Web-based communities, hosted services, Web 

24 applications, social-networking sites, video-sharing 

25 sites, wikis, and blogs.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. NATIONAL EDUCATION INNOVATION CORPS. 

2 Part A of title VI of the Elementary and Secondary 

3 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7301 et seq.) is amend4 ed by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘Subpart 5—National Education Innovation Corps 

6 ‘‘SEC. 6171. NATIONAL EDUCATION INNOVATION CORPS. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appropriated 

8 under subsection (e), the Secretary shall, in coordination 

9 with education research and assistance entities, establish 

10 the National Education Innovation Corps. 

11 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the National Edu12 cation Innovation Corps (in this section referred to as the 

13 ‘Corps’) is to enable State educational agencies to work 

14 in collaboration with education research entities to address 

15 the critical problems of practice in chronically low-per16 forming schools. Under the Corps, a corps of knowledge 

17 brokers and practice experts will connect educators and 

18 administrators with high quality, evidence-based, relevant 

19 solutions for the most critical problems of practice in local 

20 educational agencies and chronically low-performing 

21 schools. 

22 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL EDU23 CATION INNOVATION CORPS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) ACTIVITIES OF THE SECRETARY.—From 

25 the amounts appropriated under subsection (e), the 


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1 Secretary shall, in coordination with education re2 search and assistance entities, where appropriate— 

3 ‘‘(A) coordinate with State educational 

4 agencies in participating States to establish the 

5 Corps in such States; and 

6 ‘‘(B) provide the necessary technical assist7 ance to such agencies. 

8 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES OF STATE EDUCATIONAL

9 AGENCIES.—A State educational agency in a partici10 pating State shall coordinate the activity of knowl11 edge brokers and practice experts within the State 

12 to accommodate and ensure alignment with the 

13 State educational agency’s reforms, standards, and 

14 assessment systems, in addition to Federal require15 ments, with respect to education. 

16 ‘‘(3) ACTIVITIES OF KNOWLEDGE BROKERS.— 

17 Under the Corps, a knowledge broker shall carry out 

18 activities that include— 

19 ‘‘(A) identifying local educational agency 

20 needs and research-based solutions relevant to 

21 such needs; 

22 ‘‘(B) developing effective induction and on23 going professional development experiences for 

24 teachers; 


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1 ‘‘(C) supporting innovations in elementary 

2 school and secondary school curricula; 

3 ‘‘(D) fostering the effective use of tech4 nology-based applications in classrooms; and 

5 ‘‘(E) building professional performance as6 sessment systems that— 

7 ‘‘(i) focus on the most important com8 petencies for student success; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) provide useful feedback to facili10 tate instructional improvements. 

11 ‘‘(4) ACTIVITIES OF PRACTICE EXPERTS.— 

12 Under the Corps, a practice expert shall carry out 

13 activities that include— 

14 ‘‘(A) helping teachers use multiple forms 

15 of assessment, including formative and 

16 summative tests, to guide instructional decision 

17 making; 

18 ‘‘(B) assisting teachers in efforts to im19 prove student achievement in, and across con20 tent areas, such as math, science, social studies, 

21 and English language arts; 

22 ‘‘(C) training teachers to use data that is 

23 based on scientifically valid research to improve 

24 instruction; 


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1 ‘‘(D) developing and implementing dif2 ferentiated instruction to serve the needs of the 

3 full range of learners; and 

4 ‘‘(E) employing best practices in engaging 

5 teachers and other education staff to change 

6 school cultures to serve all students across all 

7 core academic subjects; and 

8 ‘‘(F) support the support described in sub9 paragraphs (A) through (E) by phone, online, 

10 and in-person. 

11 ‘‘(d) ALLOCATIONS TO PARTICIPATING STATE EDU12 CATIONAL AGENCIES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appro14 priated under subsection (e), the Secretary shall 

15 award grants to State educational agencies to estab16 lish the Corps in the States of such agencies. 

17 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATIONS.—For each fiscal year, the 

18 Secretary shall allocate such grants among State 

19 educational agencies in proportion to the funds re20 ceived by the State educational agencies under part 

21 A of title I for the fiscal year. 

22 ‘‘(3) REALLOCATIONS.—If a State educational 

23 agency chooses not to apply to receive the amount 

24 allocated to such agency under paragraph (2), or if 

25 such agency’s application under paragraph (5) is 


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1 disapproved by the Secretary, the Secretary shall re2 allocate such amount to other State educational 

3 agencies in the same proportion funds are allocated 

4 under paragraph (2). 

5 ‘‘(4) GRANT DURATION.—A grant under this 

6 subsection may be awarded for a period of 3 years. 

7 ‘‘(5) APPLICATION.—A State educational agen8 cy desiring to receive a grant under this subsection 

9 shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 

10 time, in such manner, and containing the informa11 tion the Secretary may require, which shall in12 clude— 

13 ‘‘(A) a list of the lowest-performing schools 

14 targeted for support under the Corps to be es15 tablished in such State; 

16 ‘‘(B) a description of how knowledge bro17 kers and practice experts will be recruited, se18 lected, and trained under the Corps; 

19 ‘‘(C) a description of the nature of services 

20 to be provided in the schools designated for 

21 support under the Corps (such as through the 

22 combining of resources into school support 

23 teams or by providing on-line ‘ask the expert’ 

24 advice); and 


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1 ‘‘(D) how the State educational agency will 

2 evaluate the effectiveness of the services pro3 vided. 

4 ‘‘(6) REPORTING.—A State educational agency 

5 receiving a grant under this subsection shall submit 

6 to the Secretary a report on the use of such funds, 

7 at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

8 information as the Secretary may require. 

9 ‘‘(7) BIA AS SEA.—For purposes of this section 

10 the Bureau of Indian Affairs shall be treated as a 

11 State educational agency. 

12 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

13 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

14 $80,000,000 for fiscal year 2012 and such sums as may 

15 be necessary for each of the succeeding fiscal years. 

16 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) CHRONICALLY LOW-PERFORMING

18 SCHOOL.—The term ‘chronically low-performing 

19 school’ has the meaning given the term ‘low-per20 forming school’ in section 2423(f). 

21 ‘‘(2) EDUCATION RESEARCH AND ASSISTANCE

22 ENTITY.—The term ‘education research and assist23 ance entity’ has the meaning given such term in sec24 tion 2423(f). 


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1 ‘‘(3) KNOWLEDGE BROKER.—The term ‘knowl2 edge broker’ means a professional who has— 

3 ‘‘(A) prior experience in a school, local 

4 educational agency, or State educational agency 

5 setting; 

6 ‘‘(B) research experience and an advanced 

7 degree with a concentration in research analysis 

8 or research design; 

9 ‘‘(C) a strong background in quantitative 

10 analysis; 

11 ‘‘(D) expertise and experience in the proc12 ess of implementation of innovations; and 

13 ‘‘(E) extensive experience in managing ac14 tivities similar to the activities carried out 

15 under this section. 

16 ‘‘(4) PARTICIPATING STATE.—The term ‘par17 ticipating State’ means a State that elects to estab18 lish the Corps in such State. 

19 ‘‘(5) PRACTICE EXPERT.—The term ‘practice 

20 expert’ means a professional who has— 

21 ‘‘(A) previous teaching experience with a 

22 proven track record of success in raising stu23 dent achievement in core academic subjects 

24 where there is a need to improve student 

25 achievement or student growth; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) previous teaching experience and has 

2 demonstrated proficiency in at least one core 

3 academic subject.’’. 

4 SEC. 5. CLERICAL AMENDMENTS. 

5 The table of contents in section 2 of the Elementary 

6 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended— 

7 (1) by inserting after the item related to section 

8 2422, the following: 

‘‘Sec. 2423. National Education Innovation Network.’’; 

9 and 

10 (2) by inserting after the item related to section 

11 6164, the following: 

‘‘SUBPART 5—NATIONAL EDUCATION INNOVATION CORPS

‘‘Sec. 6171. National Education Innovation Corps.’’. 

Æ 


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