S.3578 - Elementary and Secondary Education Reauthorization Act of 2011112th Congress (2011-2012)

Summary: S.3578 — 112th Congress (2011-2012)All Information (Except Text)

Shown Here:
Reported to Senate without amendment (09/20/2012)

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Elementary and Secondary Education Reauthorization Act of 2011 - Revises and reauthorizes programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA).

Title I: Ensuring College and Career Readiness for All Students - Part A: Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged - (Sec. 1111) Revises the school improvement program under part A of title I of the ESEA.

Maintains the requirement conditioning a state's receipt of funds under part A on its developing and implementing academic content and achievement standards and assessments that are applicable to all public elementary and secondary schools and school students in the state.

Requires states to adopt college and career ready academic: (1) content standards in reading or language arts and mathematics by the end of 2013; and (2) achievement standards in those disciplines by the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year.

Requires college and career ready standards to be aligned with: (1) academic coursework at public institutions of higher education (IHEs) in the state, (2) relevant state career and technical education standards, and (3) appropriate career skills.

Requires the achievement standards to establish basic, on-track, and advanced levels of student performance.

Allows states to meet these requirements individually or through a consortium with other states.

Requires states to adopt academic content and achievement standards in science by the end of 2013 that are aligned with the knowledge and skills needed to be college and career ready.

Requires states to adopt, by the close of 2014, high-quality English language proficiency standards that are aligned with their academic content standards in reading or language arts so that students can be reliably measured in those disciplines. Requires English learners (currently referred to as limited English proficient students) to be tested against those proficiency standards on an annual basis.

Allows states to adopt alternate academic achievement standards and assessments for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Requires the decision about which students should be measured against these standards to be made separately for each student in each subject assessed.

Requires states, by the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year, to adopt and implement statewide assessments that measure student achievement against: (1) the reading or language arts and mathematics standards annually in grades 3-8 and at least once during grades 10-12; and (2) the science standards at least once in grades 3-6, 6-9, and 10-12; (3) the English language proficiency standards; and (4) any alternate academic achievement standards for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.

Allows the assessments in reading or language arts and mathematics to be administered through a single annual summative assessment or through multiple assessments during an academic year, provided the multiple assessments yield a summative score that reliably measures college and career readiness.

Allows states to use student growth as a measure of academic progress.

Allows states to develop and administer computer adaptive assessments that measure whether each student is meeting or exceeding the on-track performance level for the student's grade level. Allows those assessments to measure student growth above or below grade level.

Requires states to reduce duplicative assessments.

Requires each state receiving part A funds to prepare and disseminate an annual report card on the performance of each public elementary and secondary school in the state, each local educational agency (LEA) in the state, and the state as a whole. Requires the report cards to include specified student information in the aggregate and disaggregated and cross-tabulated by student subgroup.

(Sec. 1113) Alters the formula LEAs are to use to: (1) rank the poverty of school attendance areas if school improvement funds are insufficient to serve all areas, and (2) calculate the number of low-income students in secondary schools.

Requires LEAs to reserve part A funds to serve foster care children. Allows reserved funds to be used to provide homeless children and youth with services not ordinarily provided to other children under part A.

(Sec. 1116) Eliminates the requirement that LEAs and their elementary and secondary schools make adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward state performance standards or be subject to specified improvements, corrective action, or restructuring.

Requires, instead, that each state accountability system: (1) use the assessments and high school graduation rates to annually measure and report on the performance of their elementary and secondary schools and LEAs; and (2) require the improvement, through supports and interventions that address student needs, of all of their public schools that are low-performing or have low-performing subgroups of poor, minority, disabled, and English learner students.

Requires state accountability systems to include student performance in reading or language arts and mathematics. Allows states to include other subjects, such as science, for which they have adopted academic content and achievement standards.

Requires that system to identify the schools that are achievement gap schools and persistently low-achieving schools and the school improvement strategies to be used for such schools.

Identifies as achievement gap schools the 5% of public high schools in a state and 5% of public elementary and secondary schools in a state that are not high schools and that are not identified as persistently low-achieving, but that have the largest achievement gap among any of the ethnic, poor, disabled, and English learner student subgroups or the lowest performance by students in such subgroups in the state.

Requires each LEA that serves an achievement gap school to develop and implement a measurable and data-driven correction plan to improve the performance of the school's low-achieving subgroups. Makes LEAs that have an achievement gap school that has been identified as such for more than three consecutive years ineligible for any preference under ESEA-funded programs.

Requires states to identify their lowest-achieving schools each year, which include: (1) the lowest-achieving 5% of public high schools in the state and the lowest-achieving 5% of public elementary and secondary schools in the state that are not high schools; and (2) the public high schools in the state that have less than a 60% graduation rate. Requires each state to notify the parents of students attending such schools of a school's status as one of its lowest-achieving schools.

Requires states to compile a list of its schools identified as lowest-achieving that: (1) receive assistance under part A of title I of the ESEA, (2) are public high schools at least 50% of whose students are low-income students, or (3) are public high schools that have less than a 60% graduation rate. Requires the list to be made publicly available, including through the Internet.

Identifies as persistently low-achieving schools those schools that have been on that list for two consecutive school years (though for the 2013-2014 school year, a school on the list the preceding school year shall be so identified). Continues their characterization as such for the five years following their identification, unless the state determines that they have improved and no longer deserve that characterization.

Allows states to apply to the Secretary of Education for a waiver from the requirement to identify schools as persistently low-achieving if they determine that all of their schools are performing at a satisfactory level.

Requires LEAs receiving part A funds to conduct a data-driven needs analysis of each of their persistently low-achieving schools and use it to select and implement the most appropriate school improvement strategy to improve student performance at each school. Requires all of the school improvement strategies to provide: (1) school staff with ongoing training and performance evaluations, and (2) students with instruction and instructional supports that meet their individual needs. Identifies the school improvement strategies as: (1) the transformation strategy, (2) the strategic staffing strategy, (3) the turnaround strategy, (4) the whole school reform strategy, (5) the restart strategy, and (6) the school closure strategy.

Includes as part of the transformation strategy: (1) replacing the principal, if the principal has served in that role at the school for more than two years, with a principal that has had more training, experience, or success; (2) requiring instructional and leadership personnel to reapply for their positions; and (3) requiring hiring at the school to be done through mutual consent.

Includes as part of the strategic staffing strategy: (1) replacing the principal, if the principal has served in that role at the school for more than two years, with a principal that has had more training, experience, or success; (2) allowing the new principal to staff the school with a school turnaround team of the principal's choosing; and (3) providing incentives to the principal and teachers to participate in the initiative.

Includes as part of the turnaround strategy: (1) replacing the principal, if the principal has served in that role at the school for more than two years, with a principal that has had more training, experience, or success; and (2) screening all teachers in the school and retaining not more than 65% of them.

Identifies the whole school reform strategy as one undertaken in partnership with a strategy developer offering a school reform program that is based on at least a moderate level of evidence that it will have a statistically significant effect on student outcomes.

Includes as part of the restart strategy: (1) converting the school into a public charter, magnet, or innovative school; (2) allowing students of the former school to enroll in the new school; and (3) using a random lottery system to admit additional students if the new school has more applicants than it can accommodate.

Requires LEAs implementing the school closure strategy to enroll students who attended the closed school in higher-performing schools that are within reasonable proximity to the closed school. Allows school improvement funds to be used to support the costs the higher-performing schools incur in meeting the needs of these new students.

Allows states, with the Secretary's approval, to establish an alternative state-determined school improvement strategy to be used by their LEAs.

Requires LEAs to: (1) implement the restart or school closure strategy for schools that continue to be classified as persistently low-achieving after the completion of their initial five-year improvement strategy; and (2) allow students at persistently low-achieving schools to transfer to another public school that has not been identified as persistently low-achieving, unless that option is prohibited by state law.

(Sec. 1117) Replaces the School Support and Recognition program with the Blue Ribbon Schools program that allows each state to annually identify the top 5% of its schools as blue ribbon schools based on: (1) the percentage of their students who are on track to college and career readiness for English or language arts and mathematics; (2) in the case of high schools, their graduation rates; (3) the performance of their student subgroups; (4) the percentage of their students attaining growth, if the state measures growth; and (5) school gains.

Allows states to provide each blue ribbon school with: (1) increased autonomy over its budget, staffing, and time; (2) flexibility in using funds provided to the school under the ESEA for any purpose allowed under the ESEA; and (3) a monetary award, through its LEA, if it agrees to use the reward to improve student achievement and provide technical assistance to the lowest-achieving schools in the state that have characteristics similar to it.

(Sec. 1118) Revises parental involvement provisions to require LEAs to develop and implement strategic, evidence-based plans to support the meaningful engagement of parents and other family members in children's education.

Allows LEAs to involve employers, business leaders, philanthropic and nonprofit organizations, and other community members in efforts to strengthen parent and family engagement in their children's education.

(Sec. 1119) Requires teachers to be highly-qualified if teaching a core academic subject in a program supported with school improvement funds, but makes this requirement applicable only to new teachers if the state has fully implemented a teacher and principal evaluation system.

Allows LEAs that are unable to provide a small, rural, or remote school with a highly-qualified on-site classroom teacher for a core academic subject to use distance education provided by a teacher highly qualified in the subject, but only if a teacher highly-qualified in another subject is present in the classroom to assist students during the distance education.

Excepts teachers of American Indian, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian language, culture, or history from the requirement that teachers be highly qualified. Allows states to require a local tribe or tribal organization to verify those teachers' competency.

Prohibits a state from requiring a school or LEA to spend a specific amount of funds for professional development activities under part A.

(Sec. 1121) Conditions an LEA's receipt of part A funds, beginning with the 2015-2016 school year, on the LEA showing its state that combined state and local per-pupil expenditures in each of its schools served under part A are not less than the average combined state and local per-pupil expenditures for each of its schools not served under that program.

Requires an LEA that serves all of its schools under part A to show its state that the average combined state and local per-pupil expenditures for its high-poverty schools were not less than those expenditures for its low-poverty schools.

Allows LEAs to meet these requirements on an LEA-wide or grade-span by grade-span basis.

Requires LEAs to exclude from these calculations state and local funds expended in any school for capital expenditures or the excess costs of providing services to English learners or disabled children.

(Sec. 1122) Requires LEAs to engage in specified activities with Head Start agencies, special education providers, and other federal early childhood care and education providers to ease the transition of children into elementary education.

(Sec. 1126) Directs the Secretary to award grants to states to develop, improve, or administer their college and career ready academic standards and assessments.

Directs the Secretary to award competitive grants to states to enhance such assessments by: (1) collaborating with IHEs or other entities, (2) using multiple measures of student achievement from multiple sources, (3) charting student progress over time, or (4) developing comprehensive assessment instruments.

Reauthorizes appropriations under part A of title I of the ESEA for FY2012-FY2016.

Part B: Pathways to College - (Sec. 1201) Replaces part B (Student Reading Skills Improvement Grants) of title I of the ESEA with a new Pathways to College program.

Establishes, under subpart 1 (Improving Secondary Schools) of part B, a program awarding competitive, matching, five-year grants to high-need LEAs that partner with public or private nonprofit organizations to assist schools in implementing innovative and effective secondary school reform strategies.

Requires grantees to use up to 25% of their grant funds to: (1) implement an early warning indicator system to identify and assist struggling students in their high schools and feeder middle schools; (2) provide support and credit recovery opportunities for struggling secondary school students; (3) establish secondary school dropout recovery or reentry programs; (4) establish grade and school transition programs and supports; and (5) keep school staff, students, and families apprised of certain education requirements, processes, and opportunities.

Requires grantees to use at least 75% of their grant funds on certain efforts to: (1) reform secondary schools that have a graduation rate below 75%, that have not received certain school improvement funds, and that they identify as low-performing; and (2) improve the academic performance of students who attend middle schools that feed a majority of their students to those secondary schools.

Requires those secondary school reforms to include: (1) personalized learning environments attuned to the needs of each student; (2) student engagement through service, experiential, and work-based learning; (3) flexible budget and staffing authority for school leaders; (4) training and collaborative opportunities for school staff; (5) improved curriculum and instruction; and (6) Graduation Promise Academies, Career Academies, or Early College Schools which represent specified strategies that have proven effective in preparing students for graduation, college, and a career.

(Sec. 1202) Establishes a program, under subpart 2 (Accelerated Learning) of part B, allotting grants to states, based on their share of low-income elementary and secondary school students, to cover part or all of the Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) examination fee low-income students incur.

Directs the Secretary to award competitive matching grants to states, high-need LEAs, or partnerships between a public or nonprofit organization and a state or high-need LEA for activities that increase: (1) the number of teachers at high-need schools who are qualified to teach AP or IB courses, and (2) the number of students at high-need schools who pass the examination for such courses.

Gives priority, in awarding the competitive grants, to applicants that: (1) have a statewide or district wide strategy for increasing the availability of AP or IB courses, and pre-AP or pre-IB courses, in high-need schools; (2) focus on increasing AP or IB courses in core academic subjects; and (3) target high-need schools.

Authorizes appropriations under part B's Pathways to College program for FY2012-FY2016.

Part C: Education of Migratory Children - (Sec. 1301) Amends the program, under part C (Education of Migratory Children) of title I of the ESEA, providing grants to states for the education of migratory children.

(Sec. 1302) Alters the formula for determining each state's grant by considering, in addition to other factors, the average number of migratory children residing in each state the preceding three years, rather than the number of migratory children who resided in each state the previous year.

Requires the Secretary to develop and implement a procedure for monitoring the accuracy of estimates of the number of migratory children residing in each state.

(Sec. 1304) Gives program priority to migratory children who have made a move within the year and are failing or at risk of failing or who have dropped out of school.

(Sec. 1306) Requires migratory children to be given the opportunity to meet the same college and career readiness standards as other children.

(Sec. 1308) Adds international coordination as an authorized use of the grants currently awarded to states, LEAs, IHEs, and other entities for improved intrastate and interstate coordination of migrant education.

Allows the Secretary to provide technical assistance to states to support their efforts to meet the needs of migratory children.

(Sec. 1309) Requires each state that receives a grant under part C to: (1) annually report to the Secretary and make public certain data regarding the academic achievement of migratory students, and (2) assist the Secretary in determining the number of migratory children in such state through such procedures as the Secretary may require.

Requires the Secretary: (1) to evaluate the implementation and impact of the activities supported under part C, and (2) conduct a pilot study on the feasibility of using the National Assessment of Educational Progress for assessing and reporting on the academic achievement of migratory children in grades four and eight in reading and mathematics.

Reauthorizes appropriations under part C of title I of the ESEA for FY2012-FY2016.

Part D: Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-Risk - (Sec. 1401) Amends part D (Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth Who are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-Risk) of title I of the ESEA.

(Sec. 1403) Requires states that desire grants under part D to establish: (1) procedures to ensure that students who have been placed in the juvenile justice system are promptly re-enrolled in secondary school or placed in re-entry programs that best meet their educational and social needs, (2) procedures for facilitating the transfer of credits that such students earned during placement, and (3) opportunities for those students to participate in higher education or career pathways.

(Sec. 1404) Allows states to use grant funds for the cost of testing children and youth for a recognized equivalent of a secondary school diploma.

(Sec. 1407) Requires the Secretary to evaluate the implementation and impact of the activities supported under part D.

(Sec. 1412) Requires correctional facilities that enter into an agreement with an LEA to provide services to children and youth under part D to: (1) work with the LEA and family members to develop an initial educational services and transition plan for children or youth upon their entry into the correctional facility, and (2) work with the LEA to facilitate the continued achievement of those children and youth upon their discharge from the correctional facility.

(Sec. 1413) Requires correctional facilities or institutions for delinquent children and youth to annually report: (1) the number of children and youth they have released who did or did not return to school, (2) the number who obtained a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent, and (3) the number who obtained employment.

(Sec. 1414) Requires each state and LEA evaluation of its part D program to assess the program's success in making children and youth college and career ready and able to graduate from high school in a timely manner.

(Sec. 1414) Redefines "at-risk" children or youth as school-aged individuals who: (1) are at risk of academic failure; and (2) have a drug or alcohol problem, are pregnant or are parents, have come into contact with the juvenile justice system or have been determined to have been neglected in the past, are gang members, or have dropped out of school in the past.

Reauthorizes appropriations under part D of title I of the ESEA for FY2012-FY2016.

Part E: Educational Stability of Children in Foster Care - (Sec. 1501) Replaces part E (National Assessment of Subchapter I) of title I of the ESEA with a new part E (Educational Stability of Children in Foster Care) program.

Requires states to develop and implement a plan to ensure that children that move to a new school attendance area due to being placed in foster care, changing their foster care placement, or leaving foster care: (1) enroll or remain in their school of origin and receive transportation to and from that school, unless it is determined to be in their best interest to attend a different school; (2) are immediately enrolled in a school once it is determined to be in their best interest to attend the school, even if they are unable to produce the records normally required for enrollment; and (3) have their school records maintained and available for immediate transfer to their new school.

Gives a child who leaves foster care the right to remain in his or her school of origin only for the remainder of the school year.

Requires states to ensure that foster children are able to: (1) preserve the credits or partial credits they earned at schools they previously attended, and (2) receive a secondary school diploma from one of the schools at which they were enrolled or through a state-issued secondary school diploma system.

Requires LEAs and state educational agencies to each designate an individual to oversee implementation of their part E obligations and serve as a point of contact for the child welfare agencies responsible for foster children.

Part F: General Provisions - (Sec. 1601) Eliminates parts F (Comprehensive School Reform), G (Advanced Placement Programs), and H (School Dropout Prevention) of title I of the ESEA.

Title II: Supporting Excellent Teachers and Principals - (Sec. 2101) Replaces title II (Preparing, Training, and Recruiting High Quality Teachers and Principals) of the ESEA with a new title II (Supporting Excellent Teachers and Principals). Redesignates the Ready-to-Learn Television program (under subpart 3 of part D of title II) as the Ready-to-Learn program under part H of title IV of the ESEA. Redesignates subpart 5 (Teacher Liability Protection) of part C of title II as subpart 3 of part E of title IX (General Provisions) of the ESEA.

Transfers responsibility for the operation and administration of the Troops-to-Teachers program (currently under part C of title II of the ESEA) from the Department of Education to the Department of Defense (DOD) and amends the program. (The Troops-to-Teachers program provides military personnel with teacher certification stipends in exchange for three years of service in an elementary or secondary school.)

Makes military personnel who are separated or released from active duty after at least four (currently, six) years of continuous active duty eligible to participate in the program.

Requires military personnel to apply to participate in the program within two years after the date on which they are retired, separated, or released from active duty. (Currently, they must apply within four years of their retirement, separation, or release.)

Strikes parts A (Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund), B (Mathematics and Science Partnerships), C (Innovation for Teacher Quality) and D (Enhancing Education Through Technology) of title II.

Establishes a new part A (Continuous Improvement and Support for Teachers and Principals) program under title II. Directs the Secretary, under such program, to make formula grants to states, and through them, subgrants to LEAs to increase student achievement for all students by carrying out one or more of the following activities:

• professional development;
• class size reduction for prekindergarten through grade three;
• developing and implementing induction or mentoring programs;
• developing and implementing, or improving, a teacher and principal evaluation system;
• increasing the capacity of teachers to evaluate student work and use student achievement data;
• recruiting, preparing, placing, supporting, developing, rewarding, and retaining high-quality teachers and principals;
• improving the equitable distribution of teachers within school districts;
• enabling teachers to become certified as teachers in a high-need subject or field;
• creating career ladders that enable high-quality teachers or paraprofessionals to advance or take on additional roles and responsibilities; and
• reforming their teacher and principal compensation system to attract, retain, and reward high-quality teachers and principals.

Allocates part A grants to states and, through them, subgrants to LEAs pursuant to formulae that apportion: (1) 35% of the funding to states and 20% of the funding to LEAs based on their share of students aged 5-17 on the national and state level, respectively; and (2) 65% of the funding to states and 80% of the funding to LEAs based on their share of low-income students in that age group on the national and state level, respectively. Requires states to use 95% of their part A grant for subgrants to LEAs. Requires states to use 2% to 5% of their grant to improve the performance and distribution of high quality principals and, at their discretion, other school leaders.

Requires grantees and subgrantees to issue annual reports on: (1) the number of their teachers teaching under a provisional license, and (2) the performance of students taught by graduates of each teacher preparation program within the state.

Establishes a Principal Recruitment and Training Grant program awarding renewable, matching grants to states, LEAs, nonprofit organizations, IHEs, and partnerships of those entities to recruit, prepare, place, and support principals in eligible schools.

Defines "eligible schools" as high-need schools, persistently low-achieving schools, achievement gap schools, schools with middle grades that feed students to high schools with low graduation rates, and rural schools served by high-need LEAs.

Requires grantees to work with experts and stakeholders to develop, during the first year of a grant, a leadership training program for principals, mentors, and other school leaders that prepares and supports them in leading effective school reform efforts in persistently low-achieving schools.

Makes grant renewal decisions dependent on the Secretary's evaluation of the extent to which the principals recruited, prepared, placed, or supported by the grantee have improved school-level student outcomes in eligible schools.

Establishes a new part B (Teacher Pathways to the Classroom) program under title II of the ESEA. Directs the Secretary to award renewable, matching grants to eligible entities to: (1) recruit, select, prepare, place, retain, and support teachers for high-need schools and high-need subjects or fields; (2) prepare all teachers to teach students with disabilities and English language learners; (3) prepare teachers in classroom management, instructional planning and delivery, learning theory and cognitive development, literacy development, and student assessment; (4) provide school-based, clinical experience at a high-need school that includes the observation of and feedback on teacher candidates' teaching; and (5) provide ongoing mentoring and support, which may include coursework, for participants for at least one school year.

Defines an "eligible entity" as: (1) a partnership of at least one IHE or nonprofit organization and a high-need LEA and at least one other LEA or state educational agency; or (2) an IHE or nonprofit organization experienced in preparing successful teachers and placing them in high-need schools.

Requires grantees to track the placement rate, retention rate, and performance in improving student achievement of teachers recruited and prepared by their programs. Permits the Secretary to renew a grant only if that data indicates that the teachers are successful in improving student achievement.

Requires the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences to: (1) evaluate the implementation and impact of the part B program; (2) identify best practices for recruiting, selecting, preparing, placing, retaining, and supporting teachers in high-need subjects or fields for high-need schools; and (3) disseminate research on best practices.

Establishes a new part C (Teacher Incentive Fund) program under title II of the ESEA. Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive matching grants to states, LEAs, and nonprofit or for-profit organizations that partner with states or LEAs to develop, implement, improve, or expand: (1) comprehensive performance-based compensation systems that reward teachers and principals who raise student achievement, and (2) teacher and principal evaluation systems that are based in significant part on evidence of improved student achievement.

Gives grant priority to applicants that concentrate their proposed activities on teachers and principals serving high-need schools.

Requires grantees to provide, over the course of the grant period, an increasing share of matching funds. Allows the Secretary of Education to waive such matching requirement for high-need LEAs.

Establishes a new part D under title II of the ESEA, entitled the Achievement Through Technology and Innovation Act of 2011 or the ATTAIN Act.

Allots funds to states under subpart 1 (State and Local Grants) of part D on the basis of each state's share of funds under part A of title I of the ESEA. Requires states to use a portion of subpart 1 funds to: (1) develop college and career ready academic content and achievement standards in technological literacy, and (2) assess and track student performance in acquiring technological literacy.

Requires states to use the bulk of their allotment for two new subgrant programs for LEAs, devoting: (1) 60% for formula subgrants to improve teaching and learning through technology, and (2) 40% for competitive subgrants for systemic education transformation through technology integration.

Requires LEAs to: (1) include a new or updated local long-range strategic educational technology plan in their applications, (2) use a specified percentage of each subgrant for teacher training, and (3) use each subgrant to acquire and apply technology to identify individual student learning needs and support personalized learning. Allows LEAs that receive funds for both programs to use all the funds for systemic school redesign through technology integration program activities.

Creates a new subpart 2 (State Competitive Grants) program to which all funding is to be directed if part D appropriations fall below a specified amount; otherwise all funding is to be made available for subpart 1 programs.

Directs the Secretary to award competitive grants under subpart 2 to consortia of states to support LEAs' enhanced use of technology, including online and blended learning for systemic education transformation, curricula redesign, and new instructional strategies to personalize learning.

Prohibits the use of part D funds to pay for computers or internet access for schools that do not receive discounted telecommunication rates under the universal service program, unless the school has in place and enforces an Internet safety policy that includes the operation of a technology protection measure that blocks visual depictions that are obscene, child pornography, or harmful to minors.

Authorizes appropriations under title II of the ESEA for FY2012-FY2016.

Title III: Language and Academic Content Instruction for English Learners and Immigrant Students - (Sec. 3001) Amends part A (English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement Act) of title III (Language Instruction for Limited English Proficient and Immigrant Students) of the ESEA. (The part A program provides grants to states and, through them, subgrants to LEAs to improve the education of limited English proficient students.)

Refers to limited English proficient students as English learners.

(Sec. 3003) Directs the Secretary, for the purpose of determining each state's allotment, to determine the number of English learners in each state using: (1) data from the American Community Survey, conducted by the Department of Commerce; or (2) the number of students assessed as not having attained English language proficiency, based on the state's English language proficiency assessment. Requires the number of immigrant youth in each state to be determined using data from that survey.

(Sec. 3004) Authorizes Indian tribes or educational entities that receive grants under the part A program to use them for Native American immersion and Native American language restoration programs.

(Sec. 3009) Requires LEAs to include in the evaluation they submit to their states: (1) a description of the progress former English learners make in meeting state college and career readiness standards for each of the three years after they stop receiving part A services; and (2) the number and percentage of English learners who do not attain English language proficiency within five years of their enrollment in the LEA and classification as an English learner.

(Sec. 3012) Allows states to continue providing title III services to students who have reached the English language proficiency level if they are not yet on track to meet the state college and career readiness standards in other subjects.

(Sec. 3014) Revises the professional development grant program for English language instructors to allow IHEs or nonprofit organizations, in consortia with states or LEAs, to use the grants to support:

• individuals that are completing baccalaureate and masters programs and to improve services and programs for English learners;
• research on promising instructional strategies or programs;
• strategies that promote school readiness for English learners;
• strategies that promote high school graduation for English learners;
• strategies that strengthen and increase family and community member engagement in education;
• the development of curricula that are appropriate to the needs of the participating consortium; and
• the dissemination of information, best practices, and technical assistance.

Directs the Secretary to establish an independent commission on the assessment and advancement of English learners, comprised of experts capable of providing the Secretary with advice regarding the educational advancement and development of English learners and their inclusion in state assessment and accountability systems.

Eliminates the Improving Language Instruction Educational programs under part B of title III.

(Sec. 3016) Redesignates part C (General Provisions) of title III as part B.

Requires the notice that LEAs are required to provide to parents regarding their child's identification as an English learner to be provided: (1) in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parent understands; and (2) to parents within two weeks of the child being placed in a language instruction program, provided the child was not identified for participation in a language instruction program prior to the school year.

Reauthorizes appropriations under title III of the ESEA for FY2012-FY2016.

Title IV: Supporting Successful, Well-Rounded Students - (Sec. 4101) Replaces title IV (21st Century Schools) of the ESEA with a new title IV (Supporting Successful, Well-Rounded Students).

(Sec. 4102) Replaces part A (Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities) of title IV of the ESEA with new provisions entitled the Improving Literacy Instruction and Student Achievement Act.

Authorizes the Secretary to award planning grants to states to complete comprehensive planning to carry out activities that improve literacy for children from birth through grade 12.

Requires grantees to form or designate a state literacy leadership team, composed of individuals having certain literacy expertise, to guide the development and implementation of the comprehensive, statewide literacy plan.

Directs the Secretary to award grants to states to implement their comprehensive literacy plans and to award competitive subgrants to: (1) LEAs and early childhood education providers that serve high-need children to support certain early literacy initiatives for children from birth through kindergarten entry; (2) LEAs that serve a high number or proportion of low-income children, children reading or writing below grade level, or persistently low-achieving schools to implement certain literacy initiatives for children in kindergarten through grade 12.

Includes among the literacy initiatives: (1) the acquisition and implementation of literacy assessments, (2) efforts targeting students reading and writing below grade level, (3) professional development opportunities for educators, and (4) family literacy services.

Requires state grantees to: (1) provide technical assistance to subgrantees, (2) work with the state literacy leadership team and IHEs to include evidence-based literacy methods in preservice courses for students preparing to teach children from birth through grade 12, (3) review and update state licensure or certification standards in literacy instruction, and (4) make information on promising child literacy improvement practices available to the public.

Awards the implementation grants to states: (1) on a competitive basis if funds appropriated under part A fall below $500 million; and (2) otherwise on the basis of each state's share of low-income children under age 18.

Requires states to use at least: (1) 10% of the grant funds for state and local activities pertaining to children from birth through kindergarten entry, (2) 30% of the grant funds for state and local activities pertaining to children from kindergarten through grade 5, and (3) 30% of the grant funds for state and local activities pertaining to children from grades 6 through 12.

Directs the Secretary to arrange for an independent five-year evaluation of the Improving Literacy Instruction and Student Achievement program and make its findings and the results of additional research on literacy instruction available to literacy providers.

Requires states to report annually to the Secretary regarding their progress, pursuant to state performance standards and metrics, in improving student academic achievement in reading and writing from early education through grade 12.

Allows the Secretary to withhold part A payments to states, and states to withhold subgrants to LEAs and early childhood education providers, that are not making significant progress in improving student academic achievement in reading and writing from early education through grade 12.

Redesignates subpart 3 (Gun Possession) of part A of title IV as subpart 1 of a new part G (Miscellaneous Provisions) of title IX (General Provisions) of the ESEA.

(Sec. 4103) Moves part B (21st Century Community Learning Centers) to a new part E of title IV of the ESEA.

Creates a new part B (Improving Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Instruction and Student Achievement) program.

Directs the Secretary to allot formula grants to states and, through them, award competitive subgrants to high-need LEAs, educational service agencies serving such LEAs, or certain outside partners of those entities to improve preschool and elementary and secondary school science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Defines those "outside partners" as nonprofit or community based organizations, businesses, IHEs, or educational service agencies that have expertise and a demonstrated record of success in improving STEM learning and engagement.

Allots such grants to states pursuant to a formula that takes into account each state's share of elementary and secondary school students and each state's share of such students who are low-income students.

Awards the grants to states on a competitive basis if this part's funding falls below $500 million. Authorizes the Secretary to award capacity-building grants to states to help them qualify for competitive grants.

Requires the grants to be used to: (1) increase the access to STEM courses of students who belong to groups that are underrepresented in STEM fields, (2) implement evidence-based programs of instruction based on high-quality standards and assessments in the STEM subjects, (3) provide professional development and other support systems to STEM educators, and (4) provide technical assistance to subgrantees and other high-need schools and LEAs to improve students' STEM achievement and narrow achievement gaps.

Requires subgrants to be used for activities that include: (1) recruiting, supporting, evaluating, and training STEM teachers; (2) developing and improving high-quality STEM curricula and instructional supports to improve student achievement in those subjects; and (3) integrating STEM instruction with instruction in reading, English language arts, or other academic subjects.

Directs states to require subgrantees to obtain a commitment from one or more outside partners to match, from nonfederal funds, at least 15% of the subgrant funds.

Directs the Secretary to establish performance metrics and use those metrics to evaluate part B activities and identify best practices to improve STEM instruction.

(Sec. 4104) Redesignates part C (Environmental Tobacco Smoke) of title IV as subpart 2 of the new part G of title IX. Establishes a new part C (Increasing Access to a Well-Rounded Education) program.

Directs the Secretary to allot formula grants to states that enter into partnerships with nonprofit organizations, IHEs, LEAs, educational service agencies, or other states to increase the access of low-income students to high-quality courses in the arts, civics and government, economics, environmental education, financial literacy, foreign languages, geography, health education, history, physical education, or social studies.

Requires grantees to do this by: (1) improving the knowledge and skills of teachers through rigorous evaluation systems, professional development, and other instructional supports; (2) providing assistance to high-need LEAs to improve low-income student access to, and achievement in, such subjects; and/or (3) developing, implementing, or building local capacity to develop and implement, high-quality curricula, instructional supports, and assessments in those subjects.

Authorizes grantees to award competitive subgrants to high-need LEAs or educational service agencies to engage in these activities.

Allots the grants to states pursuant to a formula that takes into account each state's share of elementary and secondary school students and each state's share of such students who are low-income students.

Awards the grants on a competitive basis if this part's funding falls below $500 million.

Directs the Secretary to establish performance metrics and use those metrics to evaluate part C activities and identify best practices to improve instruction in the arts, civics and government, economics, environmental education, financial literacy, foreign languages, geography, health education, history, physical education, or social studies.

(Sec. 4105) Establishes a new part D (Successful, Safe, and Healthy Students) program. Directs the Secretary to allot formula grants to states to: (1) develop, improve, and implement state reporting and information systems that measure conditions for learning, based on surveys of school students and staff; and (2) award competitive subgrants to LEAs or nonprofit organizations in partnership with LEAs to use such measurement systems to make comprehensive improvements to school-level conditions for learning.

Identifies conditions conducive to learning as those that: (1) promote physical activity, education, fitness, and nutrition; (2) promote mental health; (3) prevent violence and harassment and reduce substance abuse among students; and (4) promote safe and supportive schools and communities.

Requires state grantees to: (1) establish a statewide physical education requirement that is consistent with widely recognized standards; and (2) require their LEAs to establish policies that prevent and prohibit harassment in schools, notify students and parents of prohibited conduct each year, and provide students and parents with grievance procedures that target such conduct.

Allots such grants to states pursuant to a formula that takes into account each state's share of school improvement funds under part A of title I of the ESEA. Awards the grants on a competitive basis if this part's funding falls below $500 million.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish performance metrics and use those metrics to evaluate part D activities; and (2) provide technical assistance to program applicants, grantees, and subgrantees.

(Sec. 4106) Revises the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, which this Act moves from part B of title IV to a new part E of title IV of the ESEA. (Currently, that program awards formula grants to states and, through them, competitive subgrants to LEAs, community-based organizations, and other public or private entities to carry out a broad array of before- and after-school activities that advance student academic achievement.)

Includes before- and after-school, summer learning, and expanded learning time activities in the program.

Requires the subgrants to be awarded to partnerships composed of high-need LEAs and nonprofit organizations experienced in designing and implementing before school, after school, summer learning, or expanded learning time activities.

Eliminates the requirement that the subgrants serve students who primarily attend schools that serve a high percentage of low-income students or schools eligible for participation in school wide programs under part A of title I of the ESEA. (School wide programs allow LEAs to consolidate school improvement funds to upgrade the entire educational program of schools that serve a high proportion of low-income families.)

Requires, instead, that the subgrants serve students who primarily attend high-need schools and schools identified as achievement gap or persistently low-achieving schools.

Allows the subgrant to be provided for a period of up to three years and, if the subgrantee meets certain performance standards established by the state, renewed for an additional two-year period.

Requires states to give priority to subgrant applications that: (1) are based on strong research evidence for improving student learning, (2) propose to serve the highest percentage of low-income students, (3) include specified partnership commitments, and (4) are submitted by entities that will provide matching funds.

(Sec. 4107) Establishes a new part F, entitled the Promise Neighborhoods Act of 2011. Directs the Secretary to award renewable, competitive, matching Promise Neighborhood Partnership grants to nonprofit organizations that partner with high-need LEAs to implement a comprehensive continuum of coordinated services and supports that engage community partners in improving the academic achievement, health and social development, and college and career readiness of children that live in distressed neighborhoods with persistently low-achieving or achievement gap schools.

Directs the Secretary to award renewable, competitive, matching Promise School grants to high-need LEAs that partner with nonprofit organizations or IHEs, and to Indian schools that partner with nonprofit organizations or IHEs, to implement school-centered strategies and integrated student supports that leverage community partnerships to improve student achievement and development in schools with high concentrations of low-income children.

Gives priority to Promise School grant applicants that propose to: (1) provide a continuum of high-quality education and student support services for children beginning in prekindergarten and extending through high school graduation, (2) include significant investments in high-quality early learning programs, and (3) give schools the operational flexibility to carry out grant activities.

Requires part F grantees to evaluate their programs continuously and improve them based on data and outcomes.

Directs the Secretary to establish performance metrics to evaluate part F's grant programs and determine their eligibility for continued funding.

Directs the Secretary to evaluate this Act's grant programs and disseminate research on best practices for improving the academic achievement of children living in our most distressed communities.

(Sec. 4108) Establishes a new part G (Parent and Family Information and Resource Centers) program. Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive, matching, five-year grants to nonprofit organizations or consortia consisting of a nonprofit organization and a state or LEA to operate state parent and family information and resource centers.

Requires those centers to: (1) assist the state in identifying, implementing, and replicating effective parent, family, and community engagement strategies; (2) provide technical assistance, training, information, and support to high-need schools and schools that are served by high-need LEAs; and (3) strengthen partnerships among parents, family members, community-based organizations, educational entities, employers, and other appropriate community members to improve student achievement and support positive child development.

Requires grantees to: (1) be governed by a board of directors at least 50% of which is composed of members who are community stakeholders or parents or family members of school-age children in the state, (2) use at least 75% of their grant funds to serve areas with a high concentration of low-income families, and (3) reserve at least 20% of their grant funds on parent education programs for parents whose children attend early childhood education and care programs.

Requires at least one grant to be awarded to an eligible entity in each state.

Requires each grantee to establish annual performance goals for its centers. Terminates a grantee's funding if its center fails to meet those performance goals for two consecutive years.

Prohibits: (1) any individual from being required to participate in any parent or family education program or any developmental screening program under part G, and (2) a program or center assisted under part G from infringing on a parent's right to direct his or her child's education.

Transfers the Ready-to-Learn Television program, currently under subpart 3 of part D of title II, to a new part H (Ready-to-Learn) of title IV of the ESEA.

Transfers subpart 1 (Fund for the Improvement of Education) of part D of title V of the ESEA to a new part I (Programs of National Significance) of title IV of the ESEA. Requires part I funds to support nationally significant programs that help all children meet the college and career ready academic content and achievement standards required by this Act. Directs program grants to states or LEAs, IHEs, and other public and nonprofit entities.

Allows nonprofit entities to use part I funds for:

• civic learning;
• a national principal and teacher certification process;
• a national corps of outstanding college graduates to teach in underserved communities;
• a national network of providers of effective professional development in writing instruction;
• certain efforts to encourage low-income children to read and caregivers to read to their children;
• programs that encourage the disabled, children, youth, and educators to become involved in the performing and visual arts;
• efforts to enhance the ability of educators to meet the special educational needs of gifted and talented students in high-poverty schools;
• the promotion of gender equity in education; and
• other high-quality, nationally significant programs that improve elementary and secondary education.

Authorizes appropriations under title IV of the ESEA for FY2012-FY2016.

Title V: Promoting Innovation - (Sec. 5001) Replaces title V (Promoting Informed Parental Choice and Innovative Programs) of the ESEA with a new title V (Promoting Innovation).

Part A: Race to the Top - (Sec. 5101) Creates a new part A (Race to the Top) program that awards grants to states and high-need LEAs to carry out one or more educational goals selected by the Secretary.

Lists those goals as:

• increasing the access of low-income children to highly-rated teachers and school leaders;
• enhancing the availability and use of high-quality, timely data to improve education;
• implementing academic standards that prepare students to be college and career ready and strategies that translate those standards into classroom practice;
• turning around achievement gap or persistently low-performing schools;
• creating successful conditions for the creation, expansion, and replication of high-performing public charter schools and the creation of new, innovative, and highly autonomous public schools that will enroll a large percentage of students from low-income families;
• providing more equitable state and local resources to high-poverty schools; and
• improving school readiness by increasing the enrollment of low-income children in high-quality early childhood education and care programs and strengthening the coordination of those programs and services on the federal, state, and local level.

Gives grant priority to: (1) high-need LEAs that serve schools in remote towns or rural areas; and (2) high-need LEAs and states that provide a full-day kindergarten program to all kindergarten students or all low-income kindergarten students, if the grant goal is to improve childhood education and care.

Requires each grantee to: (1) have a comprehensive and coherent plan for achieving the goals selected by the Secretary; and (2) establish annual performance measures and targets, approved by the Secretary, to track its progress in implementing the plan and determine its eligibility for continued grant funding.

Requires each state grantee, other than those using the grant to improve childhood education and care, to use at least 50% of its grant for subgrants to LEAs that participate in its plan.

Part B: Investing in Innovation - (Sec. 5201) Creates a new part B (Investing in Innovation) program. Allows the Secretary to reserve up to 30%, but no more than $100 million, of the funds appropriated each fiscal year for the Programs of National Significance, under part I of title IV of the ESEA, to carry out the activities of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Education (ARPA-ED) under the Department of Education Organization Act. (ARPA-ED is established under section 11021 of this Act.)

Direct the Secretary to award renewable, competitive grants to LEAs or partnerships between nonprofit organizations or educational service agencies and LEAs or consortia of public schools to support the school innovation efforts of public schools and LEAs.

Requires at least 22% of the grant funds to be awarded for projects in rural areas.

Gives priority to applicants that propose to address the needs of high-need LEAs, improve school readiness, or address the unique needs of students who are disabled or English learners.

Requires each grant applicant to demonstrate that it has partnered with at least one public or private organization that will provide matching funds. Allows the Secretary to waive the matching funds requirement upon a showing of exceptional circumstances.

Requires each grant to be used to carry out at least one of the following activities:

• improving the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders and increasing their equitable distribution;
• strengthening the use of data to improve education;
• providing high-quality instruction that is based on college and career ready standards and measuring students' mastery of standards using high-quality assessments that are aligned to those standards;
• turning around the lowest-performing schools;
• improving the school readiness of students who are low-income students, English learners, or disabled; and
• any other area of school improvement the Secretary determines to be consistent with this part's purposes.

Directs the Secretary to establish performance measures for part B programs and activities that, at a minimum, track each grantee's progress in improving outcomes for specified student subgroups served by the grantee.

Requires grantees to use grant funds to develop or expand strategies to improve high-need students' showing on those performance measures.

Part C: Magnet Schools Assistance - (Sec. 5301) Revises the Magnet Schools Assistance program, under part C of title V of the ESEA, which provides grants to LEAs to establish and operate magnet schools under a court-ordered desegregation plan or voluntary desegregation plan approved by the Secretary.

(Sec. 5302) Requires such grants to be competitive grants.

(Sec. 5304) Gives grant priority to applicants that: (1) have the highest quality applications or demonstrate the greatest need for assistance; (2) propose to carry out new magnet school programs or substantially revise or expand existing programs; (3) select, or propose to select, students solely or primarily by lottery; and (4) propose to serve the entire population of a school.

(Sec. 5305) Adds as authorized uses of the grant funds: (1) compensating highly-rated school teachers, leaders, and other instructional staff; and (2) forming partnerships with public or nonprofit organizations to enhance a program or promote parent and family decision making and engagement; and (3) covering operational costs that cannot be met with state or local funds.

(Sec. 5306) Allows a grant to be renewed for an additional two years (after the initial period of up to three years) if the Secretary finds that the grantee is improving student academic achievement and reducing minority group isolation.

Part D: Public Charter Schools - (Sec. 5401) Replaces the existing Public Charter Schools program under part B of title V with a new Public Charter Schools program under part D of title V of the ESEA. Establishes under part D: (1) a subpart 1 (Successful Charter Schools Program), to which 85% of this part's funding is devoted; and (2) a subpart 2 (Charter School Facility Acquisition, Construction, and Renovation), to which 15% of this part's funding is devoted.

Requires each public charter school to be governed by a separate and independent board that exercises authority over at least one school, including significant autonomy in the areas of governance, personnel, budget, schedule, and instructional program.

Directs the Secretary, under subpart 1, to award competitive grants to states, LEAs, charter school authorizers, or charter management organizations to award subgrants to developers to create, expand, or replicate high-performing charter schools.

Defines "high-performing charter schools" as those that have for the student body and each specified student subgroup: (1) academic achievement and growth results that are significantly higher than the average results in demographically similar schools in the state; (2) student retention rates that are similar to or higher than the average rates in demographically similar schools in the state; and (3) for high schools, higher rates of graduation and student enrollment and persistence at IHEs than such average rates in demographically similar schools in the state.

Requires charter schools that are not yet open to have a written performance contract with a charter school authorizer that includes such goals.

Directs the Secretary to award at least 65% of the grant funds to states, and favors states that: (1) do not prohibit or inhibit the number of high-performing charter schools in their state; (2) support at least two charter school authorizers, at least one of which is a statewide authorizer; and (3) ensure that charter schools are reauthorized or have their charter renewed at least once every five years.

Sets the initial term of a grant at no more than three years, but allows the Secretary to renew a grant for an additional two years if the grantee is achieving grant objectives and performance targets.

Permits the Secretary to waive certain statutory or regulatory requirements if the waiver is requested by a grant applicant and promotes the purpose of the grant program without affecting what is definitionally required of charter schools.

Requires grantees to provide equitable access to, and effectively serve the needs of, all students, including disabled children and English learners.

Gives grant priority to applicants, and subgrant priority to developers, that propose to create, expand, or replicate high-performing charter schools that enroll a large percentage of students from low-income families.

Requires each grantee to establish performance measures and annual targets, approved by the Secretary, for the charter schools created, expanded, or replicated with funds under subpart 1.

Authorizes the Secretary to reserve up to 2.5% of subpart 1 funding to carry out national research, development, data collection, technical assistance, outreach, and dissemination activities regarding charter schools.

Directs the Secretary to use 65% of subpart 2 (Charter School Facility Acquisition, Construction, and Renovation) funds for competitive grants to states, LEAs, nonprofit organizations, and state financing authorities to demonstrate innovative credit enhancement methods that give high-performing charter schools access to private sector capital to acquire, construct, and renovate their facilities. (The current program awards all subpart 2 funds to public and private nonprofit entities to demonstrate innovative means of enhancing credit to finance the acquisition, construction, or renovation of charter schools.)

Requires the Secretary to use the remainder of the subpart 2 funds to award competitive grants to: (1) those entities to improve access to facilities and facilities financing for high-performing charter schools, through such methods as leveraging state and local facilities funds or implementing open-facilities-access programs; and (2) states to establish, enhance, and administer per-pupil facilities aid programs (which provide annual state funding to charter schools on a per-pupil basis) through federal payments that are scaled down after each year of assistance.

Allows state grantees to partner with another entity or entities that cover up to 50% of the state share of the per-pupil facilities aid program.

Part E: Voluntary Public School Choice - (Sec. 5501) Revises subpart 3 (Voluntary Public School Choice Programs) of part B of title V and moves it to part E of title V of the ESEA. Directs the Secretary to award competitive grants to high-need LEAs that partner with other LEAs and states that partner with high-need LEAs to establish or expand inter- or intra-district public school choice programs that enable students attending achievement gap or persistently low-achieving schools to attend high-quality public schools, including charter schools.

Sets the initial term of a grant at no more than three years, but allows the Secretary to renew a grant for an additional two years if the grantee is achieving grant objectives.

Gives priority to grant applicants that propose to establish or expand: (1) an inter-district choice program that serves a large percentage of students from low-income families, and (2) a program that will increase diversity.

Requires grantees to: (1) disseminate timely and accurate information about their school choice program to the parents of students attending achievement gap or persistently low-achieving schools; (2) select students to participate in the program on the basis of a lottery, if more students apply to participate in the program than can be accommodated; and (3) establish performance measures and targets that are approved by the Secretary.

Directs the Secretary to evaluate the implementation and impact of the activities supported under part E.

Authorizes appropriations under title V of the ESEA for FY2012-FY2016.

Title VI: Promoting Flexibility; Rural Education - (Sec. 6101) Redesignates title VI (Flexibility and Accountability) as title VI (Promoting Flexibility; Rural Education) of the ESEA. Replaces part A (Improving Academic Achievement) of title VI with a new part A (Transferability) program that allows states to transfer up to 100% of the funds they are allotted for state-level activities by an ESEA formula grant to other state formula grant programs under the ESEA.

Allows LEAs to transfer up to 100% of the funds they are allotted for local-level activities by an ESEA formula grant to other LEA formula grant programs under the ESEA.

Allows rural LEAs to transfer up to 100% of the funds they are allotted for local-level activities by an ESEA formula grant to: (1) other LEA formula grant programs under the ESEA, or (2) carry out activities under formula grant program for states.

Prohibits states and LEAs from transferring any funds that originate in titles I, III, VII, or VIII out of each respective title.

(Sec. 6102) Amends part B (Rural Education Initiatives) of title VI of the ESEA. Amends the small, rural school achievement (SRSA) program, under subpart 1 of part B, to strike LEA funding flexibility provisions that are superseded by those in part A of title VI.

Increases the minimum and maximum amount of SRSA program funds a rural LEA may receive if appropriations under part B exceed a specified amount.

Updates the locale codes used in determining LEA eligibility for SRSA program funds and funds under the Rural and Low-Income School (RLIS) program, under subpart 2 of part B, as rural LEAs.

Allows LEAs to use RLIS program funds on local-level activities.

Gives LEAs that qualify for funding under both the SRSA and RLIS programs the option to choose the program for which they would prefer to receive funding.

Authorizes appropriations under title VI of the ESEA for FY2012-FY2016.

Title VII: Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education - Part A: Indian Education - Subpart 1: Formula Grants to Local Educational Agencies - (Sec. 7101) Amends title VII (Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education) of the ESEA. Amends subpart 1 (Formula Grants to Local Educational Agencies) of part A (Indian Education) of title VII to provide for greater inclusion of Indian tribes and tribal organizations in the process of applying for formula grants under subpart 1 and planning their use.

(Sec. 7115) Adds to the list of grant uses: (1) support for Native American language immersion and restoration programs, which may be taught by traditional leaders; (2) the promotion of parent, family, and tribal engagement to meet the unique needs of Indian and Alaska Native children; (3) education to prevent violence, suicide, and substance abuse; (4) the incorporation of culturally and linguistically relevant curriculum content into classroom instruction that is responsive to the unique learning styles of Indian and Alaska Native children; and (5) dropout prevention strategies and strategies that meet the needs of at-risk Indian students in correctional facilities and those transitioning out of those facilities into schools.

Prohibits the use of the grant funds for long-distance travel for training that is available locally or regionally.

(Sec. 7116) Directs the Secretary, when reporting to Congress on demonstration projects that allow subpart 1 grantees to integrate education and related services to Indians, to identify those integrative practices that are best at improving academic outcomes for Indian and Alaska Native students.

(Sec. 7117) Requires the Secretary to provide technical assistance, upon request, to LEAs to support subpart 1 services and activities.

Subpart 2: Special Programs and Projects to Improve Educational Opportunities for Indian Children and Youth - (Sec. 7121) Amends subpart 2 (Special Programs and Projects to Improve Educational Opportunities for Indian Children and Youth) of part A of title VII to revise the program awarding grants to states, LEAs, and Indian entities and schools for the improvement of educational opportunities for Indian children and youth.

(Sec. 7122) Allows the Secretary to award such grants for up to three years and renew them for two additional years. (Currently, they may be awarded for up to five years, but must be shown to be effective within one year to be continued.)

Allows the use of program grants for high-quality early childhood education and care programs that are effective in preparing young children to be on track for college and career readiness by the end of grade three.

(Sec. 7123) Amends the program awarding grants to IHEs, states or LEAs in consortia with IHEs, and Indian entities and schools for the professional development of teachers and education professionals to require grant applicants to describe how they will: (1) recruit qualified Indians to become teachers and principals; (2) use the grants funds to support the recruitment, preparation, and training of Indian teachers or principals in LEAs that serve a high proportion of Indian students; and (3) assist program participants in meeting their service obligations.

Allows the Secretary to award such grants for up to three years and renew them for two additional years. (Currently, they may be awarded for up to five years.)

Subpart 3: National Activities - (Sec. 7131) Preserves the national research activities under subpart 3 (National Activities) of part A of title VII, but strikes: (1) the in-service training for teachers of Indian children program, (2) the fellowships for Indian students program, (3) the gifted and talented Indian students program, (4) the grants to tribes for education administrative planning and development program, and (5) the improvement of educational opportunities for adult Indians program.

Establishes a new program requiring the Secretary to award grants to states, LEAs, and Indian entities for: (1) Native American language programs, and (2) Native American language restoration programs.

Directs the Secretary to conduct a study to improve the collaboration between states and LEAs, other relevant state and local agencies, and Indian tribes in the provision of services to Indian students.

Subpart 4: Federal Administration - (Sec. 7141) Directs the National Advisory Council on Indian Education to advise the Secretary and the Secretary of the Interior concerning the funding and administration of any program under their jurisdiction that includes as participants, or may benefit, Indian children or adults. (Currently, the Council is only required to advise the Secretary of Education.)

Subpart 5: Definitions; Authorization of Appropriations - (Sec. 7151) Defines "traditional leaders" as Native Americans who have special expertise in Native American culture and languages. Requires their incorporation in activities that support the unique cultural and educational needs of Indian children under subparts 1 and 2.

Part B: Native Hawaiian Education; Alaska Native Education - (Sec. 7201) Places the Native Hawaiian Education program in a subpart 1 of part B of title VII of the ESEA. Moves the Alaska Native Education program from part C of title VII to a subpart 2 of part B of title VII.

Subpart 1: Native Hawaiian Education - (Sec. 7202) Revises the Native Hawaiian Education program.

(Sec. 7204) Requires the Native Hawaiian Education Council to be composed of 15 members from certain educational, governmental, Trust, and grant-making entities. (The Council coordinates educational and related services and programs available to Native Hawaiian students.)

Requires the Council to hold at least one community consultation each year on each of the islands of Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Oahu, and Kauai regarding subpart 1 grants and other Native Hawaiian education issues.

Eliminates the requirement that the Council meet at least four times each year with an island council composed of parents, students, and other Native Hawaiian education stakeholders.

(Sec. 7205) Gives Native Hawaiian grant priority to programs that: (1) meet the educational priorities established by the Council; (2) meet the unique cultural and language needs of Native Hawaiian students in order to help them meet the college and career ready state academic content and achievement standards; and (3) involve states, LEAs, or IHEs in partnerships or consortia with Native Hawaiian organizations.

Includes workforce preparation and training for Native Hawaiian youth among the approved uses of grant funds.

Requires the Secretary to use subpart 1 funds to support: (1) the development of a body of Native Hawaiian law; (2) the repair and renovation of public schools that serve high concentrations of Native Hawaiian students; and (3) informal education programs that present traditional Hawaiian knowledge, science, astronomy, and the environment through state museums or learning centers.

Subpart 2: Alaska Native Education - (Sec. 7301) Revises the Alaska Native Education program, including by setting forth provisions entitled the Alaska Native Educational Equity, Support, and Assistance Act.

Adds maximizing Alaska Native participation in the planning and management of Native Alaskan programs to the purposes of Alaska Native Education grants. (The program provides grants to Alaska Native organizations and educational, cultural, and community-based entities experienced in developing or operating Alaska Native programs.)

Revises the list of activities for which Alaska Native Education grants may be used to: (1) eliminate the designation of specific organizations to conduct the cultural education and exchange programs; (2) include both students and teachers in that exchange program, which is designed to facilitate cultural relationships between urban and rural Alaskans; (3) include education programs for at-risk urban Alaska Native students in kindergarten through grade 12 that are operated by tribes or tribal organizations; (4) include statewide programs providing technical assistance and support to schools and communities to engage adults in promoting the education and well-being of young people; and (5) include regional leadership academies to promote Alaska Native students' efforts to pursue and successfully complete higher education or career training.

Authorizes appropriations under title VII of the ESEA for FY2012-FY2016.

Title VIII: Impact Aid - (Sec. 8002) Amends title VIII (Impact Aid) of the ESEA to alter the formula for determining the payments due LEAs for federal ownership of property in their areas. (The Impact Aid program compensates LEAs for the financial burden of federal activities affecting their school districts.)

Calculates the value of the federal property located within the boundaries of an LEA by calculating the valuation, for property tax purposes, of all property within the LEA's boundaries and then multiplying that value by the proportion of that property that is federal property.

Alters the formula for determining the foundation payments due LEAs for federal ownership of property when appropriations for a fiscal year are insufficient to provide them with full compensation.

Differentiates LEAs that were eligible for Impact Aid payments due to federal ownership of property in FY2007 and those determined eligible for such payments after FY2007 in the calculation of foundation payments due LEAs.

(Sec. 8003) Alters the formula for determining the payments due LEAs for eligible federally-connected children.

Includes in average daily attendance not only children but also those enrolled pursuant to a state open enrollment policy.

Continues a heavily impacted LEA's eligibility for such payments while activities associated with military base closures and realignments or force structure changes or relocations are ongoing.

Allows the calculation of such payments using current student counts instead of prior fiscal year data when LEAs experience a specified influx of new federally-connected students due to federal activities or the closure of an LEA that was receiving Impact Aid due to federally-connected children.

(Sec. 8004) Provides Impact Aid construction payment eligibility to heavily impacted LEAs that are receiving basic support payments for federally-connected students, but not the support payments available to heavily impacted LEAs.

(Sec. 8006) Directs the Secretary to complete Impact Aid payments to eligible LEAs within three fiscal years of their appropriation.

(Sec. 8007) Includes the Coast Guard in the definition of "Armed Forces" for purposes of the Impact Aid program.

(Sec. 8009) Considers: (1) five specified Illinois school districts to be LEAs for purposes of the Impact Aid program; and (2) federally connected students in such districts to be attending schools in one such district, North Chicago Community Unit School District 187, for the purpose of making that district eligible for Impact Aid. Conditions such treatment on the agreement of the five school districts to apportion such assistance equitably among all five of them, and to use it only for direct educational services.

Authorizes appropriations for the Impact Aid program for FY2012-FY2016.

Title IX: General Provisions - (Sec. 9101) Amends title IX (General Provisions) of the ESEA to establish additional definitions for terms that are applicable throughout the ESEA.

Defines an "advanced placement or international baccalaureate course" as: (1) postsecondary-level instruction provided to secondary school students that terminates in an AP or IB examination; or (2) another highly-rigorous, evidence-based, postsecondary preparatory program terminating in an examination administered by a nationally recognized educational organization or another such examination approved by the Secretary.

Defines "high-need LEAs" as LEAs: (1) that serve at least 10,000 children from families below the poverty line; (2) at least 20% of whose children are from from families with incomes below the poverty line; or (3) that are in the highest quartile of LEAs in the state, based on student poverty.

Defines "high-need schools" as: (1) elementary or middle schools in which at least 50% of the enrolled students are children from low-income families; or (2) high schools in which at least 40% of the enrolled students are children from low-income families, which percentage may calculated using comparable data from feeder schools.

Renames "pupil services personnel" and "pupil services" as "specialized instructional support personnel" and "specialized instructional support services," respectively. Includes school nurses as specialized instructional support personnel.

(Sec. 9102) Allows students who are threatened by, or the victim of, a criminal offense at their public school to attend a safe public school within the LEA's jurisdiction. (Currently, this unsafe school choice option is available only to students attending schools identified as persistently dangerous or those who become victims of a criminal offense at their public school.)

(Sec. 9103) Authorizes the Secretary to reserve for evaluation activities up to 3% of the amount appropriated to carry out each categorical program and demonstration project authorized by the ESEA, but prohibits the Secretary from reserving more than 1% of the funds appropriated to carry out title I for such activities.

Title X: Commission on Effective Regulation and Assessment Systems for Public Schools - Commission on Effective Regulation and Assessment Systems for Public Schools Act - (Sec. 10013) Establishes, under a new title X of the ESEA, a Commission on Effective Regulation and Assessment Systems for Public Schools to: (1) examine federal, state, and local regulatory requirements for elementary and secondary education; (2) make recommendations on how to align and improve those regulations; (3) examine the quality and purpose of current federal, state, and local assessment requirements; and (4) make recommendations to improve and align assessment systems to provide meaningful information and improve student achievement, teacher performance, and innovation. Requires the Commission to be composed of specified governmental and educational occupations.

Title XI: Amendments to Other Laws; Miscellaneous Provisions - Part A: Amendments to Other Laws - Subpart 1: Mckinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act - McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Reauthorization Act of 2011 - (Sec. 11012) Amends the program, under subtitle B (Education for Homeless Children and Youth) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, awarding grants to states and, through them, subgrants to LEAs for the education of homeless youth. Includes amendments that:

• alter the formulae used in determining the minimum allotment to each state and the amount of grant funds they may retain for state-level activities;
• focus on the identification of homeless youth;
• require homeless youth to be given the opportunity to meet the same college and career ready achievement standards to which other students are held;
• ensure that homeless youth receive credit for full or partial coursework satisfactorily completed while attending prior schools or while attending a new school;
• require states and LEAs to provide homeless youth the same access to academic and extracurricular activities that is available to non-homeless students;
• require public preschool programs to identify and prioritize homeless children for enrollment, and comply with subtitle B requirements;
• require LEAs to consider student-centered factors before placing a homeless youth in a school;
• require schools to enroll homeless youth immediately despite unpaid fines or fees, or missed application or enrollment deadlines;
• protect the privacy of information about a homeless youth's living situation; and
• require LEAs to coordinate services provided to homeless and disabled youth.

Requires the LEA liaisons for homeless children and youth to ensure that: (1) school personnel providing services to homeless youth receive professional development and other support; and (2) unaccompanied youth are enrolled in school, have opportunities to meet the same state academic standards to which other students are held, and are informed of their status as independent students for financial aid purposes.

Adds youth and families who become homeless due to a major disaster as beneficiaries of the emergency assistance provided to states for the provision of services to youth and their families who have become homeless due to foreclosure.

Allows LEAs to use subgrants to defray the costs of the LEA liaisons for homeless children and youth.

Authorizes the Secretary to designate an individual to coordinate services and activities for the education of homeless children and youth.

Includes in the Secretary's duties under the program: (1) the provision of support and technical assistance to states in areas in which barriers to a free appropriate public education persist, and (2) the public dissemination of information regarding the academic progress being made by homeless children and youth.

Reauthorizes appropriations for the Education for Homeless Children and Youth program through FY2018.

Subpart 2: Advanced Research Projects Agency-Education - (Sec. 11021) Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to establish in the Department of Education an Advanced Research Projects Agency-Education (ARPA-ED).

Requires the ARPA-ED to pursue breakthrough research and development in educational technology and provide for its effective use by:

• identifying and promoting revolutionary advances in fundamental and applied sciences and engineering that could be translated into new learning technologies;
• developing such technologies and facilitating their effective use;
• developing, testing, and evaluating the impact and efficacy of those technologies;
• accelerating transformational technological advances in areas in which the private sector, by itself, is unlikely to do so;
• coordinating activities with nongovernmental entities to demonstrate technologies and research applications to facilitate technology transfer; and
• encouraging educational research using new technologies and the data produced by those technologies.

Authorizes the Secretary to award grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and cash prizes, and enter into other transactions in pursuit of these objectives.

Allows the Secretary to reserve up to 30%, but no more than $100 million, of the funds appropriated each fiscal year for the Programs of National Significance, under part I of title IV of the ESEA, to carry out ARPA-ED activities.

Part B: Miscellaneous Provisions - (Sec. 11211) Makes technical and conforming amendments to other Acts.