I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3464 
To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to promote civic 
learning and engagement, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 17, 2011 
Mr. HONDA (for himself and Mr. COLE) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants 
to promote civic learning and engagement, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sandra Day O’Connor 
Civic Learning Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that the Commissioner 
for Education Statistics, in administering the National As-
sessment of Educational Progress, should increase the 
sample size of students tested to improve disaggregation 
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and analysis of data regarding progress in history and 
civics. 
SEC. 3. CIVIC LEARNING GRANTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart 3 of part C of title II 
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 6711 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by repealing sections 2341 through 2344 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘SEC. 2341. CIVIC LEARNING GRANTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award com-
petitive grants to eligible entities for the development and 
implementation of programs to promote civic learning and 
engagement. 
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity shall use a 
grant received under this section to develop and implement 
a program to promote civic learning and engagement 
through instruction, professional development, and evalua-
tion activities that promote any of the following: 
‘‘(1) Equity through access to funding and pro-
gram benefits, including— 
‘‘(A) programs that meet the needs of stu-
dents with divergent learning styles, students of 
varying ethnic, racial, and socio-economic back-
grounds, and students who are English lan-
guage learners; and 
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‘‘(B) resources that serve student popu-
lations that have not traditionally received op-
portunities for high quality, engaging civic 
learning, with a special emphasis on inner-city 
and rural underserved students. 
‘‘(2) Innovation through design, settings, and 
delivery, including service learning, interactive on- 
line programming, and other approaches to engaging 
students in active learning and civic participation. 
‘‘(3) Scalability through broad, cost-effective 
implementation and institutionalization, including— 
‘‘(A) use of the latest technological devel-
opments; 
‘‘(B) an emphasis on programs designed to 
address relevant State and National educational 
standards; and 
‘‘(C) utilization of low per-participant cost 
models of expanding the number of active stu-
dents and teachers. 
‘‘(4) Accountability through assessment and 
identification of best practice models, including— 
‘‘(A) independent research and evaluation 
to help assess the effects of civic education pro-
grams on students’ knowledge, skills, and traits 
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