‘‘(2) do not meet the evidence standard de-
scribed in paragraph (1) of subsection (f). 
‘‘(e) PRIORITIES.—In awarding grants under this 
section, the Secretary may give priority to an eligible enti-
ty that includes, in its application under section 4404, a 
plan to— 
‘‘(1) improve early learning outcomes and aca-
demic connections between early learning and ele-
mentary school; 
‘‘(2) support college access, persistence, and 
success; 
‘‘(3) support family and community engage-
ment; 
‘‘(4) address the unique learning needs of stu-
dents with disabilities or English language learners; 
‘‘(5) support the effective use of education tech-
nology to improve teaching and learning; 
‘‘(6) improve the teaching and learning of 
science, technology, engineering, computing, or 
mathematics; 
‘‘(7) serve schools in rural local educational 
agencies; 
‘‘(8) train teachers or principals to adopt and 
implement college and career ready standards; 
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‘‘(9) develop alternative career pathways or dif-
ferentiated school staffing models for effective teach-
ers or principals to expand their impact on student 
learning; 
‘‘(10) train or support principals or teacher 
leaders, including teacher leaders preparing for prin-
cipal roles; 
‘‘(11) support, improve, or develop any other 
area of school innovation, as determined by the Sec-
retary; and 
‘‘(12) address the learning needs of Indian, Na-
tive American, Alaska Native, or migrant children in 
school. 
‘‘(f) STANDARDS OF EVIDENCE.—The Secretary shall 
set standards for the quality of evidence that an eligible 
entity shall provide to demonstrate that the activities the 
eligible entity proposes to carry out with grant funds 
under this section are likely to succeed in improving stu-
dent outcomes or outcomes on other performance meas-
ures. These standards may include any of the following: 
‘‘(1) Strong evidence that the activities pro-
posed by the eligible entity will have a statistically 
significant effect on student academic achievement, 
student growth, graduation rates, or outcomes on 
other performance measures. 
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‘‘(2) Moderate evidence that the activities pro-
posed by the eligible entity will improve student aca-
demic achievement, student growth, graduation 
rates, or outcomes on other performance measures. 
‘‘(3) Evidence of promise or a strong theory 
that the activities proposed by the eligible entity will 
improve student academic achievement, student 
growth, graduation rates, or outcomes on other per-
formance measures. 
‘‘SEC. 4404. APPLICATIONS. 
‘‘(a) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity that desires 
to receive a grant under section 4403 shall submit an ap-
plication to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 
and containing such information as the Secretary may rea-
sonably require. 
‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted by an 
eligible entity under subsection (a) shall— 
‘‘(1) describe the project for which the eligible 
entity is seeking a grant and how the evidence sup-
porting that project meets the standards of evidence 
established by the Secretary under section 4403(f); 
‘‘(2) describe how the eligible entity will address 
at least one of the areas described in section 
4405(a)(1); 
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‘‘(3) provide an estimate of the number of stu-
dents that the eligible entity plans to serve under 
the proposed project, including the percentage of 
those students who are from low-income families, 
and the number of students to be served through ad-
ditional expansion after the grant ends; 
‘‘(4) demonstrate that the eligible entity has es-
tablished one or more partnerships with the private 
sector, which may include philanthropic organiza-
tions, and that the partner or partners will provide 
matching funds, except that the Secretary may 
waive, on a case-by-case basis, the matching funds 
requirement under this paragraph upon a showing of 
exceptional circumstances, such as the difficulty of 
raising matching funds for a project to serve a rural 
area; 
‘‘(5) describe the eligible entity’s plan for con-
tinuing the proposed project after the grant funding 
under section 4403 ends, including a plan for dis-
semination of best practices and collaboration with 
other local educational agencies; 
‘‘(6) demonstrate that the proposed project has 
incorporated input and feedback from educators 
working in the area to be served; 
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‘‘(7) if the eligible entity is a local educational 
agency— 
‘‘(A) document the local educational agen-
cy’s record in— 
‘‘(i) increasing student achievement, 
including achievement for each subgroup 
described in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v); or 
‘‘(ii) decreasing achievement gaps; 
and 
‘‘(B) demonstrate how the local edu-
cational agency has made significant improve-
ments in other outcomes, as applicable, on the 
performance measures described in section 
4406; 
‘‘(8) if the eligible entity is a nonprofit organi-
zation— 
‘‘(A) provide evidence that the nonprofit 
organization has helped at least one high-need 
school or high-need local educational agency 
significantly— 
‘‘(i) increase student achievement, in-
cluding achievement for each subgroup de-
scribed in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v); 
‘‘(ii) reduce achievement gaps; or 
‘‘(iii) increase graduation rates; and 
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‘‘(B) describe how the nonprofit organiza-
tion has helped at least 1 school or local edu-
cational agency make a significant improve-
ment, as applicable, in other outcomes on the 
performance measures described in section 
4406; 
‘‘(9) if the eligible entity is an educational serv-
ice agency— 
‘‘(A) provide evidence that the agency has 
helped at least one high-need school or high- 
need local educational agency significantly— 
‘‘(i) increase student achievement, in-
cluding achievement for each subgroup de-
scribed in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v); 
‘‘(ii) reduce achievement gaps; or 
‘‘(iii) increase graduation rates; and 
‘‘(B) describe how the agency has helped 
at least 1 school or local educational agency 
make a significant improvement, as applicable, 
in other outcomes on the performance measures 
described in section 4406; 
‘‘(10) provide a description of the eligible enti-
ty’s plan for independently evaluating the effective-
ness of activities carried out with funds under sec-
tion 4403; 
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