New Essential Education Discoveries Act of 2022

To amend the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 to establish a National Center for Advanced Development in Education at the Institute for Education Sciences, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the New Essential Education Discoveries Act of 2022 2. National Center for Advanced Development in Education (a) Organization Section 111(c)(3) of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 ( 20 U.S.C. 9511(c)(3) (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking and (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and (3) by adding at the end the following: (E) the National Center for Advanced Development in Education (as described in part G). . (b) Establishment Title I of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 ( 20 U.S.C. 9501 et seq. G National Center for Advanced Development in Education 195. Establishment (a) Establishment There is established in the Institute a National Center for Advanced Development in Education (in this part referred to as the Advanced Development Center (b) Mission The mission of the Advanced Development Center is to— (1) develop, identify, and promote advances in and new solutions for teaching and learning, including supporting the development of social and emotional skills of students and teachers, with an emphasis on breakthrough technologies, new pedagogical approaches, innovative learning models, and more efficient, reliable, and valid forms of assessments; (2) develop, identify, and promote transformative solutions to address gaps in achievement, opportunity, and equity for students; (3) identify and promote advances in teaching and learning that have the potential to transform education practices across— (A) early childhood education; (B) elementary and secondary education; (C) postsecondary education; and (D) adult education; (4) develop, test, and evaluate new learning technologies, pedagogical approaches, assessments, and related processes and emphasize the use of such technologies, approaches, assessments, and processes in education practices; (5) identify and test strategies and interventions to support the development of the social and emotional skills of students and teachers, including— (A) recognizing how emotions impact behavior; (B) acknowledging strengths and weaknesses to promote confidence; (C) taking control and ownership of thoughts, emotions, and actions in various situations; (D) building and maintaining healthy relationships with people of diverse backgrounds; and (E) acting or responding to a situation based on learned behaviors; (6) identify and provide recommended solutions that address additional factors that can improve student outcomes, including— (A) access to a diverse teaching workforce; and (B) institutional barriers, including disparate treatment of students from underrepresented communities; and (7) investigate transformative research opportunities, including— (A) technologies to analyze speech samples and identify speech disorders; (B) identifying tools to support skill acquisition outside of school (including tools for parents); and (C) developing tools to provide feedback directly to students on their competencies. 196. Commissioner for advanced education development The Advanced Development Center shall be headed by a Commissioner for Advanced Education Development (in this part referred to as the Advanced Development Commissioner 197. Duties (a) General duties The Advanced Development Center shall— (1) collect, report, analyze, and disseminate data related to transforming education in the United States; (2) approve and terminate projects; (3) set priorities that align with the mission of the Advanced Development Center, including by identifying areas that can be furthered by research and development, including— (A) interventions for learning loss that promote equity, including specific challenges due to the COVID–19 public health emergency declared pursuant to section 319 of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 247d (B) pedagogy; and (C) improve upon assessments administered to students; (4) carry out the evaluation and dissemination requirements under subsection (e); and (5) convene and engage an advisory panel under section 198. (b) Plan The Advanced Development Commissioner shall propose to the Director a research plan that— (1) is consistent with the priorities and mission of the Institute and the mission of the Advanced Development Center; and (2) describes how the Advanced Development Center will use the performance management system described in section 185 to assess and improve the activities of the Advanced Development Center. (c) Training program The Advanced Development Commissioner may establish a program to train employees of public and private educational agencies, organizations, and institutions and may establish a fellowship program to appoint such employees as temporary fellows at the Advanced Development Center in order to assist the Advanced Development Center in carrying out its duties. (d) Collaboration (1) In general In carrying out the duties under this section, the Advanced Development Commissioner may award grants and cash prizes, enter into contracts and cooperative agreements, and provide technical assistance. (2) Entities In awarding grants and cash prizes and entering into contracts and cooperative agreements under paragraph (1), the Advanced Development Commissioner shall— (A) solicit applications from public and private entities; and (B) build research collaborations between a variety of stakeholders— (i) from the private and public sectors; and (ii) with expertise in education practices. (e) Evaluation and dissemination (1) Evaluation (A) In general The Advanced Development Commissioner shall obtain independent, periodic, and rigorous evaluation of— (i) the effectiveness of the processes that the Advanced Development Center is using to achieve the mission described in section 195(b); (ii) the relevance, accessibility, and utility of the awards made and transactions entered into under subsection (d) to education practitioners; and (iii) the effectiveness of the projects carried out through such awards and transactions, using evidence standards developed in consultation with the Institute of Education Sciences, and the suitability of such projects for further investment or increased scale. (B) Best practices The Advanced Development Commissioner shall assess the information obtained from the evaluation and identify best practices for the Advanced Development Center. (2) Dissemination (A) In general The Advanced Development Center shall disseminate, through the entities listed in subparagraph (B), information obtained from the evaluation under paragraph (1) and any other information determined to be relevant by the Advanced Development Commissioner with respect to effective practices and technologies developed under the Advanced Development Center, as appropriate, to— (i) education professionals, including teachers, principals, and local and State superintendents; and (ii) parents. (B) Entities The Advanced Development Center shall distribute the information described in subparagraph (A) through— (i) the comprehensive centers established under 203 of the Educational Technical Assistance Act of 2002 ( 20 U.S.C. 9602 (ii) the regional laboratories system established under section 174 of the Education Sciences Reform Act ( 20 U.S.C. 9564 (iii) such other means as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. (3) Use and adoption The Advanced Development Commissioner shall support the use and adoption of the best practices identified in paragraph (1)(B) at all levels of education and training. (f) Hiring Notwithstanding section 188, the Advanced Development Commissioner, with the approval of and in collaboration with the Director, shall— (1) make appointments of scientific, engineering, and professional personnel subject to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service and fix the compensation of such personnel at a rate to be determined by the Director; and (2) use all existing authorities of the Director to hire administrative, financial, and clerical staff as necessary to carry out this subsection and pay such staff in accordance with the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 198. Advisory panel (a) Establishment Not later than 90 days after the date on which the Advanced Development Commissioner is appointed, the Commissioner shall establish an advisory panel to identify, evaluate, and make recommendations with respect to improving education research in order to promote the mission of the Advanced Development Center. (b) Duties (1) Report Not later than 2 years after the date on which the advisory panel is established, the advisory panel shall create and update on an annual basis a report that— (A) identifies, analyzes, and evaluates the state of education research; (B) identifies and promotes advances in teaching and learning; and (C) highlights factors that can have an impact on student learning outcomes, including the factors addressed in section 195(b)(6). (2) Submission and publication Not later than 1 month after the date on which the report described in paragraph (1) is created and not later than 1 month after each subsequent update of such report, the advisory panel shall— (A) submit such report to— (i) the Advanced Development Commissioner; (ii) the Director; (iii) the Secretary; (iv) the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives; and (v) the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and (B) make such report publicly available on the website of the Institute. (c) Membership The advisory panel shall be composed of at least 8, but not more than 12, members appointed by the Advanced Development Commissioner as follows: (1) At least 1 but not more than 2 members shall be parents. (2) At least 1 but not more than 2 members shall be education professionals. (3) At least 1 but not more than 2 members shall be experts in technology. (4) At least 1 but not more than 2 members shall be specialists in rapid gains in student achievement and school improvement. (5) At least 1 but not more than 2 members shall be specialists in personalized learning. (6) At least 1 but not more than 2 members shall be education and social science researchers. (7) At least 1 but not more than 2 members shall be representatives from the Department or National Science Foundation. (8) At least 1 but not more than 2 members shall be individuals with expertise in education issues not otherwise represented who will contribute to the overall rigor and quality of the Advanced Development Center. (d) Advisory nature The function of the advisory panel shall be advisory in nature. Nothing in this section shall be construed as giving the advisory panel authority over the activities authorized under this part. (e) Termination The advisory panel shall terminate 5 years after the date of establishment of such panel. 199. Authorization of appropriations (a) In general There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027. (b) Timing Amounts made available for a fiscal year under subsection (a) shall remain available until expended. (c) Reservation The Secretary may reserve not more than 5 percent of the funds appropriated for a fiscal year under subsection (a) for administrative expenses and technical assistance. . 3. Improving State longitudinal data systems (a) In general The Secretary of Education (in this section referred to as the Secretary SLDS (b) Application An eligible entity seeking a grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary an application in such form, at such time, and containing such information as the Secretary determines appropriate. (c) Use of funds An eligible entity shall use a grant awarded under this section to— (1) modernize data infrastructure and analytics capacity to integrate data across education, workforce, nutrition, and other social service systems into SLDS, including— (A) early childhood education; (B) elementary and secondary education; (C) career and technical education; (D) postsecondary education; and (E) workforce development programs supported by the— (i) Department of Education; (ii) Department of Labor; (iii) Department of Health and Human Services; (iv) Department of Agriculture; (v) Department of Defense; and (vi) Department of Commerce; (2) ensure the technical quality, including validity and reliability, of the data described in paragraph (1); (3) promote linkages across States and systems, including— (A) early childhood education; (B) elementary and secondary education; (C) postsecondary education; and (D) workforce, including— (i) employment; (ii) healthcare; and (iii) social services, including nutrition; (4) meet Federal law requirements with respect to protecting the privacy of individuals, including student privacy; (5) provide, prior to beginning employment and on a regular basis thereafter, training to local and State school leaders and teachers with respect to utilizing data from SLDS for improving education practice and policy; (6) promote the creation and management of accurate data that are needed— (A) for State and local educational agencies to comply with Federal and State laws and reporting requirements; (B) to better understand and address achievement, opportunity, and equity gaps; and (C) to enable, facilitate, and participate in research within a State and across States to improve student academic achievement, close gaps in learning, and improve student outcomes; and (7) support continual improvement of education and workforce programs and systems, including by better understanding whether such programs and systems are— (A) equitably serving students and workers, with a focus on underserved students; (B) supporting the attainment of key education, employment, and other relevant outcomes, including sustained increases in wages; (C) making data available (in a way that protects student information) to researchers and encouraging partnerships to make information actionable; and (D) engaging with diverse stakeholders to receive input and share information. (d) Funds (1) Supplement, not supplant Funds made available under this section shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, other Federal, State, or local funds used for developing State longitudinal data systems. (2) Technical assistance The Secretary may reserve not more than 5 percent of the funds made available under this section for program administration and technical assistance. (e) Definitions In this section: (1) Eligible entity The term eligible entity (A) a State educational agency; (B) a pre-school through workforce council; and (C) other data governance bodies as determined and designated by the Governor of a State. (2) Underserved student The term underserved student (A) A student who is living in poverty or is served by elementary or secondary schools with high concentrations of students living in poverty. (B) A student of color. (C) A student who is a member of a federally recognized Indian Tribe. (D) An English learner. (E) A child or student with a disability. (F) A disconnected youth. (G) A migrant student. (H) A student experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. (I) A lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex student. (J) A student who is in foster care. (K) A student without documentation of immigration status. (L) A pregnant, parenting, or caregiving student. (M) A student impacted by the justice system, including a formerly incarcerated student. (N) A student who is the first in their family to attend postsecondary education. (O) A student enrolling in or seeking to enroll in postsecondary education for the first time at the age of 20 or older. (P) A student who is working full-time while enrolled in postsecondary education. (Q) A student who is enrolled in or is seeking to enroll in postsecondary education who is eligible for a Pell Grant. (R) An adult student in need of improving their basic skills or an adult student with limited English proficiency. (S) A student performing significantly below grade level. (f) Authorization of appropriations There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2023.

Summary: New Essential Education Discoveries Act of 2022 This bill establishes the National Center for Advanced Development in Education within the Institute of Education Sciences. The center must, among other duties, collect and disseminate data related to transforming education in the United States, identify interventions for learning loss that promote equity, and convene and engage an advisory panel. Additionally, the bill directs the Department of Education to award grants to state educational agencies and other data governance bodies to improve state longitudinal data systems.