New Essential Education Discoveries Act of 2025

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).

Section 102 of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9501) is amended by adding at the end the following:

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.

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:

There is established in the Institute a National Center for Advanced Development in Education (in this part referred to as the Advanced Development Center).

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.

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.

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 acceleration, 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));

(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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

The Advanced Development Commissioner shall assess the information obtained from the evaluation and identify best practices for the Advanced Development Center.

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 and other caregivers.

The Advanced Development Center shall distribute the information described in subparagraph (A) through—

(i) the comprehensive centers established under 203 of the Educational Technical Assistance Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9602);

(ii) the regional laboratories system established under section 174 of the Education Sciences Reform Act (20 U.S.C. 9564); and

(iii) such other means as the Advanced Development Commissioner, in consultation with the Director and the Secretary, determines to be appropriate.

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.

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.

The Advanced Development Commissioner, with the approval of and in collaboration with the Director, shall designate staff appointed or hired under subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1), respectively, to serve as program managers for the Advanced Development Center.

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).

In this paragraph:

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.

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.

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.

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; and

(ii) education research priorities at the State and local levels;

(B) identifies and promotes advances in teaching and learning; and

(C) highlights factors that can have an impact on student learning outcomes, with particular attention to opportunity and achievement disparities for students, including the factors addressed in section 195(b)(6).

Not later than 1 month after the date on which the report described in paragraph (1) is created and not later than 1 month after each subsequent update of such report, the advisory panel shall—

(A) submit such report to—

(i) the Advanced Development Commissioner;

(ii) the Director;

(iii) the Secretary;

(iv) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives;

(v) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;

(vi) the Committee on Education and Workforce of the House of Representatives; and

(vii) the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and

(B) make such report publicly available on the website of the Institute.

The advisory panel shall be composed of at least 8, but not more than 12, members appointed by the Advanced Development Commissioner as follows:

(1) At least 1 but not more than 2 members shall be parents.

(2) At least 1 but not more than 2 members shall be education professionals.

(3) At least 1 but not more than 2 members shall be experts in technology.

(4) At least 1 but not more than 2 members shall be specialists in rapid gains in student achievement and school improvement.

(5) At least 1 but not more than 2 members shall be specialists in personalized learning.

(6) At least 1 but not more than 2 members shall be education and social science researchers.

(7) At least 1 but not more than 2 members shall be representatives from the Department or National Science Foundation.

(8) At least 1 but not more than 2 members shall be individuals with expertise in education issues not otherwise represented who will contribute to the overall rigor and quality of the Advanced Development Center.

The function of the advisory panel shall be advisory in nature. Nothing in this section shall be construed as giving the advisory panel authority over the activities authorized under this part.

The advisory panel shall terminate 5 years after the date of establishment of such panel.

In this part, the term community-informed means to be informed by input from State educational agencies, local educational agencies, parents, students, and education practitioners, including teachers, principals, and other school leaders within the community or regional area where activities planned and carried out by the Advanced Development Center will occur.

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.

Amounts made available for a fiscal year under subsection (a) shall remain available until expended.

The Secretary may reserve not more than 5 percent of the funds appropriated for a fiscal year under subsection (a) for administrative expenses and technical assistance.

The Secretary shall award, on a competitive basis, grants to eligible agencies to enable such agencies to design, develop, implement, and improve statewide longitudinal data systems.

Except as provided in clause (ii), a grant awarded under subparagraph (A) shall be for a period of not longer than 4 years.

Upon the conclusion of the grant period described in clause (i), the Secretary may renew a grant awarded under subparagraph (A) for 2 additional years if the eligible agency demonstrates significant progress in meeting its goals, as determined by the Secretary.

Of the amounts made available to carry out this section, the Secretary may reserve not more than 10 percent to award planning grants to eligible agencies to support planning related to the design, development, implementation, improvement, and sustainability of statewide longitudinal data systems, which may include planning to support—

(i) the integration or coordination of additional Federal, State, Tribal, or local data sources in the statewide longitudinal data system, which may include facilitating interoperability and linkages across such data sources, including from across other Federal, State, Tribal, or local agencies;

(ii) alignment with the voluntary standards and guidelines described in section 143(a)(6), which may include the use of linked, open, and interoperable data standards;

(iii) the development of products, tools, or interfaces that provide appropriate access to data insights produced by the statewide longitudinal data system; and

(iv) upgrading data infrastructure or reporting systems.

A grant awarded under subparagraph (A) shall be for a period of not longer than 18 months.

In carrying out planning activities under this paragraph, an eligible agency shall, to the greatest extent practicable, engage students, families, practitioners, education system leaders, policymakers, community organizations, and State, Tribal, and local public agencies.

An eligible agency desiring a grant under subsection (a)(1) shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the Secretary may reasonably require, including the following:

(1) A description of how the eligible agency will design, develop, implement, or improve a statewide longitudinal data system that will integrate data in accordance with the individual privacy and data security requirements specified in section 183, from the following data sources, to the greatest extent practicable:

(A) Early childhood education, in accordance with the guidance developed pursuant to subsection (g)(2).

(B) Elementary and secondary education, including data reported from local educational agencies and the State educational agency.

(C) Career and technical education.

(D) Postsecondary education, including data reported from public institutions of higher education and public systems of institutions of higher education.

(E) Adult education and workforce development programs.

(F) Unemployment insurance or other statewide data sources with access to labor market outcomes or wage record data and in accordance with privacy and data security requirements of the State.

(G) The Bureau of Indian Education, as applicable.

(2) A description of how the eligible agency will design, develop, implement, or improve a statewide longitudinal data system that may integrate data from other Federal, State, or local public or private agencies or organizations, in accordance with Federal and State privacy laws.

(3) A description of how the eligible agency will ensure that the statewide longitudinal data system will—

(A) be able to publicly disaggregate student data by each subgroup of students (as defined in section 1111(c)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(c)(2)));

(B) ensure technical quality, including validity and reliability, of the data managed by the statewide longitudinal data system;

(C) enable the development of tools, products, or interfaces that will provide publicly accessible and useful information to students, families, practitioners, education system leaders, policymakers, community organizations, State and local public agencies, and the public in a manner that protects and promotes individual privacy and data security; and

(D) enable researchers to conduct scientifically valid research in a manner that adheres to Federal or State privacy laws and protections.

(4) A description of how the statewide longitudinal data system will, to the extent practicable, promote standardized data definitions, open data formats, other widely recognized and adopted standards, and linkages utilized in multiple States, and be aligned with subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code.

(5) A description of how the eligible agency will protect and promote individual privacy and data security in implementing the State longitudinal data system, including by—

(A) defining policies, guidelines, or protocols as appropriate for data collection, storage, data sharing, use, data destruction, and disclosure avoidance to secure any personally identifiable information;

(B) reviewing how researchers, State agencies, local agencies, and other entities that will have access to the statewide longitudinal data systems under this section will adhere to Federal and State privacy laws and protections in the building, maintenance, and use of such data systems; and

(C) providing training or professional development to any employee or contractor of such system to ensure compliance with section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (commonly known as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974), section 445 of that Act (commonly known as the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment), the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–191), and any other relevant Federal or State privacy law as determined by the Secretary.

(6) A description of the data governance structure for the statewide longitudinal data system, which shall, to the greatest extent practicable, support the implementation of statewide data governance structures that involve all relevant State agencies, and which may include establishing a State chief privacy officer or a data governance coordinator.

(7) A description of how the eligible agency will promote long-term sustainability of the statewide longitudinal data system, including by identifying State and local funding that will be used to support the operation, maintenance, and upgrades of such system.

In awarding grants under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall use a peer review process that, with respect to the entities selected—

(A) ensures technical quality (including validity and reliability), promotes data linkages within the State, and ensures the protection of individual privacy consistent with section 183;

(B) promotes the generation and accurate and timely use of data that is needed—

(i) to support implementation of—

(I) the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965;

(II) the Higher Education Act of 1965;

(III) the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act;

(IV) the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006;

(V) the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.);

(VI) the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.);

(VII) the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.); and

(VIII) other relevant Federal laws as determined by the Secretary; and

(ii) to facilitate research to improve educational and employment opportunities and outcomes, including student academic achievement, postsecondary education access and completion, labor market outcomes, and the closing of opportunity and achievement gaps between subgroups of students (as defined in section 1111(c)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(c)(2))).

In awarding grants under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall give priority to eligible agencies that—

(A) received a planning grant under subsection (a)(2) and propose to carry out activities informed by such planning;

(B) propose the development of products, tools, or interfaces that provide appropriate access to data insights produced by the statewide longitudinal data system; or

(C) require the use of the voluntary standards and guidelines described in section 153(a)(5).

An eligible agency receiving an award under subsection (a)(1)—

(1) shall use funds—

(A) to enhance or modernize data infrastructure and analytics capacity to integrate data across early childhood education through postsecondary study and labor market outcomes into the statewide longitudinal data system; and

(B) to carry out the activities described in paragraphs (1) through (7) of subsection (b); and

(2) may carry out 1 or more of the following activities:

(A) Award subgrants to public agencies or institutions of higher education to improve the capacity of such agencies or institutions to participate in statewide longitudinal data systems.

(B) Integrate additional Federal, State, or local data sources in the statewide longitudinal data system or facilitate interoperability between such data sources.

(C) Develop or increase the access of the public to products, tools, or interfaces that provide appropriate access to data insights produced by the statewide longitudinal data system.

(D) Implement policies to protect and promote student privacy and data security.

(E) Provide professional development to individuals, practitioners, and education system leaders to better understand, use, and analyze data from the statewide longitudinal data system.

Funds made available under this section shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, other State or local funds used for developing State data systems.

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the New Essential Education Discoveries Act of 2025, and again 3 years after such date of enactment, the Secretary, in consultation with the National Academies Committee on National Statistics shall make publicly available a report on the implementation and effectiveness of Federal, State, and local efforts related to the activities carried out by eligible entities that receive a grant under subsection (a)(1), including—

(1) identifying and analyzing State practices regarding the development and use of statewide longitudinal data systems;

(2) evaluating the ability of such systems to manage individual student data, promote linkages across States, and protect student privacy consistent with section 183; and

(3) identifying best practices and areas for improvement.

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the New Essential Education Discoveries Act of 2025, and on an ongoing basis thereafter, the Secretary shall issue guidance and provide technical assistance on—

(A) protecting and promoting individual privacy and data security in implementing statewide longitudinal data systems in accordance with applicable Federal, State, and local privacy laws;

(B) developing or increasing the public’s access to products, tools, or interfaces that provide appropriate access to data insights produced by statewide longitudinal data systems, which may support the public, researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and States in efficiently and accurately accessing, managing, analyzing, and using data to inform decision making and improve educational opportunities and outcomes, including academic achievement, postsecondary education access and completion, and labor market outcomes; and

(C) supporting data linkages between a statewide longitudinal data system and data from postsecondary education, workforce programs, unemployment insurance, or other statewide data sources with access to wage record data, which shall include the use of different unique identifiers and may include the use of Social Security numbers, in accordance with applicable Federal, State, and local privacy laws.

The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in coordination with the Statistics Commissioner, shall develop guidance for eligible agencies with respect to integrating data voluntarily reported under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.) and other early childhood education data in the statewide longitudinal data system.

The Statistics Commissioner shall provide technical assistance to eligible agencies to collect and report data related to enrollment, retention, transfer, and completion rates in early college high school or dual or concurrent enrollment programs.

In this section:

The term eligible agency means—

(A) a State educational agency;

(B) the office of the Governor of a State;

(C) a State agency, data governance body, or public sector organization, as determined and designated by the Governor;

(D) an outlying area; and

(E) a consortium of entities described in subparagraphs (A) through (C) located in a single State or a consortium of such entities located in 2 or more States.

The term statewide longitudinal data system means a data system operated by an eligible agency at the State level that connects individual-level data from early childhood education, elementary and secondary education, postsecondary education, adult education, workforce development, labor market outcomes, and other data sources, as determined by the State, in a manner that—

(A) protects and promotes individual privacy and data security, in accordance with applicable Federal, State, and local privacy laws, increases data transparency, and minimizes reporting burden; and

(B) enhances the ability of the public, researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and States to efficiently and accurately access, manage, disaggregate, analyze, and use data to inform decision making and improve educational opportunities and outcomes, including academic achievement, postsecondary education access and completion, and labor market outcomes.

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section—

(1) $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2026; and

(2) for each fiscal year thereafter, not less than the amount appropriated for fiscal year 2026.