[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4841 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4841
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 30, 2024
Mr. Bennet (for himself and Mr. Cornyn) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``New Essential Education Discoveries
Act of 2024''.
SEC. 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)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(E) the National Center for Advanced Development
in Education (as described in part G).''.
(b) Definitions.--Section 102 of the Education Sciences Reform Act
of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9501) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (18) through (23) as
paragraphs (19) through (24), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (17) the following:
``(18) Science of learning and development.--The term
`science of learning and development' means the body of peer-
reviewed knowledge from a variety of academic fields and
disciplines that demonstrates how students best learn and
develop.''.
(c) Establishment.--Title I of the Education Sciences Reform Act of
2002 (20 U.S.C. 9501 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``PART G--NATIONAL CENTER FOR ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATION
``SEC. 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) identify, develop, and promote advances in and new
solutions for teaching and learning, with an emphasis on
breakthrough technologies, new pedagogical approaches,
innovative learning models, and more efficient, reliable, and
valid forms of assessments;
``(2) identify, develop, and promote transformative,
community-informed solutions to address disparities in
achievement and opportunity for students;
``(3) identify, develop, and promote community-informed
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;
``(D) adult education;
``(E) special education and services for students
with disabilities; and
``(F) services for English learners;
``(4) identify, develop, test, and promote strategies and
interventions that support student relationships and skill-
building consistent with the science of learning and
development;
``(5) identify and provide community-informed
recommendations and solutions that address additional factors
that can improve student outcomes, including--
``(A) access to a diverse teaching workforce; and
``(B) institutional barriers, including with
respect to students from underrepresented communities;
and
``(6) investigate transformative research opportunities,
including--
``(A) technologies to analyze speech samples and
identify speech and reading 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.
``SEC. 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') who shall be highly qualified and
have substantial knowledge of the methodologies used and activities
undertaken by the Advanced Development Center.
``SEC. 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 in accordance with
subsection (f)(2)(B);
``(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 recovery, with a
particular focus on students who score below proficient
on the academic assessments in mathematics or reading
or language arts described in section 1111(b)(2) of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)), 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) and other disruptions to
instruction;
``(B) pedagogy; and
``(C) assessments administered to students,
including such assessments that are summative,
formative, competency-based, performance-based,
administered throughout the school year to produce a
single summative assessment score, or incorporated into
an instructional sequence or lesson;
``(4) support the use of scientific discoveries and
inventions to improve teaching and learning;
``(5) carry out the evaluation and dissemination
requirements under subsection (e); and
``(6) convene and engage an advisory panel under section
198.
``(b) Plan.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the
enactment of this part, and every 3 years thereafter, the Advanced
Development Commissioner shall submit 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, including teachers, principals and
other school leaders, and local and State
educational agency leaders.
``(3) Applicable programs.--For purposes of carrying out an
applicable program under subsection (f)(2), a program manager
may enter into contracts and cooperative agreements in the
manner described in paragraph (2).
``(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 section 203 of the Educational Technical
Assistance Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9602);
``(ii) the regional laboratories system
established under section 174; and
``(iii) such other means as the Advanced
Development Commissioner, in consultation with
the Director and 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.--
``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 188, the
Advanced Development Commissioner, with the approval of and in
collaboration with the Director, shall--
``(A) make appointments of scientific, engineering,
and professional personnel, which may include temporary
or time-limited appointments as determined by the
Director to be necessary to carry out the mission
described in section 195(b), without regard to the
provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing
appointment in the competitive service and fix the
compensation of such personnel at a rate to be
determined by the Director;
``(B) hire staff with sufficient qualifications and
expertise (as determined by the Commissioner in
consultation with the Director) to enable the Advanced
Development Center to carry out the duties described in
subsection (a) in conjunction with other operations of
the Institute, without regard to the provisions of
title 5, United States Code, governing appointment in
the competitive service and fix the compensation of
such staff at a rate to be determined by the Director;
and
``(C) 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 of title 5, United
States Code, relating to classification and General
Schedule pay rates.
``(2) Program managers.--
``(A) In general.--The Advanced Development
Commissioner, with the approval of and in collaboration
with the Director, shall designate staff appointed or
hired under subparagraphs (A) or (B) of paragraph (1),
respectively, to serve as program managers for the
Advanced Development Center.
``(B) Duties.--A program manager shall be
responsible for--
``(i) establishing research and development
goals for an applicable program, including by
developing and hosting workshops and consulting
with outside experts;
``(ii) publicizing such goals;
``(iii) soliciting applications from
eligible entities for projects that advance
such goals and contribute to making rapid
advances in teaching and learning, to be
submitted by such entities at such time, in
such manner, and containing such information as
the program manager, in conjunction with the
Advanced Development Commissioner, may require;
``(iv) selecting, on a competitive basis,
such projects to be supported under an
applicable program, taking into consideration--
``(I) the novelty and scientific
and technical merit of a proposed
project;
``(II) the demonstrated
capabilities of the eligible entity to
successfully carry out such proposed
project;
``(III) the extent to which the
eligible entity considered, as part of
the application submitted under clause
(iii), future commercial applications
of a proposed project to increase the
likelihood of scalability of such
project; and
``(IV) such other criteria as the
program manager, in conjunction with
the Advanced Development Commissioner,
may require;
``(v) terminating such projects, as
applicable; and
``(vi) establishing the research
collaborations described in subsection (d)(3).
``(C) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
``(i) Applicable program.--The term
`applicable program' means a program--
``(I) for which a project manager
establishes research and development
goals;
``(II) that supports projects
aligned with such goals; and
``(III) that receives funds from
the Advanced Development Center.
``(ii) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible
entity' means--
``(I) a State educational agency;
``(II) a local educational agency;
``(III) a public or private
nonprofit institution of higher
education;
``(IV) a nonprofit educational
organization; and
``(V) a federally funded research
and development center.
``SEC. 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--
``(i) education research and development;