Engaging Students Through Service Learning Act - Amends title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish an Enhancing the Effectiveness of K-12 Education through Service Learning grant program.
Directs the Secretary of Education to reserve a portion of program funds to: (1) establish a National Center for K-12 Service Learning; and (2) conduct research and evaluation activities, including a study on the effects of academic service-learning on instructional quality and the success of students in low-performing schools; and (3) assist states in developing exemplary service-learning programs.
Requires the Secretary to award grants to states to: (1) support a service-learning specialist who acts as a conduit of information between the state and local level, (2) implement a statewide cascade professional development model and support local service-learning efforts, and (3) award competitive subgrants to local educational agencies.
Requires subgrantees to use: (1) the service-learning model to strengthen the content area disciplines and implement key educational innovations in schools with a high percentage of underperforming youth, and (2) a cascade professional development model to bring practice to scale.
Describes the cascade professional development model as one that trains high-quality professional development specialists who then train educators who are then responsible for training, mentoring, and supporting their peers.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2268 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2268
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to
authorize a national elementary and secondary service-learning program
that promotes student academic achievement, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 5, 2013
Mr. Loebsack (for himself and Mr. Polis) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to
authorize a national elementary and secondary service-learning program
that promotes student academic achievement, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Engaging Students Through Service
Learning Act''.
SEC. 2. K-12 SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``PART E--ENHANCING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF K-12 EDUCATION THROUGH SERVICE
LEARNING
``SEC. 2501. FINDINGS.
``The Congress finds as follows:
``(1) Students learn best when they are actively engaged in
meaningful and challenging learning experiences that encourage
higher order skills development, critical thinking, and problem
solving.
``(2) Service learning is a pedagogy that encompasses key
elements of effective teaching and learning, including active
learning, authentic experiences, opportunities for peer
collaboration, problem solving, student leadership and
empowerment, and cognitively challenging academic activities.
``(3) Students invest themselves in learning when their
educational experiences have personal meaning to them and are
connected to authentic, real issues in their everyday lives.
``(4) In service learning, students apply their knowledge
and skills to solve actual community problems and experience
the real-world value of what they are learning in school.
Service learning can therefore have a powerful effect on
students, increasing their academic engagement, their civic
engagement and their social and emotional development.
``(5) Service learning can have a powerful effect on
students, helping them to increase their academic engagement
and performance, their civic engagement and desire to help
others, and their social-emotional learning in areas related to
21st century skill acquisition, such as task persistence,
intellectual curiosity, and ability to work in teams.
``(6) In service learning, students connect to the
community and to their classmates in ways that are far more
powerful than simple cooperative learning.
``(7) Service learning has been found to promote behavioral
and dispositional factors that mediate students' educational
success such as greater motivation for school, engagement in
learning tasks, building of self-efficacy and self-esteem, and
propensity to engage in pro-social behaviors.
``(8) Research has demonstrated that test scores of
students who participated in service learning are higher in
reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, and science than
those of non-participants.
``(9) High-quality service learning will improve student
achievement and our schools because it employs effective,
experiential learning strategies associated with student
engagement in academic work and preparation for success in
college and the workplace, engages students in solving complex
problems, probes for deeper learning, and seeks opportunities
for students to transfer knowledge from one context to another.
``(10) Principals report that service learning has a
positive impact on teacher satisfaction, school climate,
academic achievement, and school engagement.
``(11) Teachers who use service learning in the classroom
as a type of positive teaching strategy achieve better results
in a variety of academic and behavioral categories than those
who don't, are more effective, challenged, and energized, and
are more likely to remain within their chosen profession.
``(12) Only an estimated 24 percent of the approximately
53,300,000 K-12 youth in the United States are given the
opportunity to engage in any kind of service-learning
experience, a decline from 32 percent in 1999.
``(13) Schools in high-poverty areas are less likely to
employ service learning as a teaching strategy, yet research
has shown this is a particularly effective pedagogy for use in
such schools. Service learning can significantly reduce the
achievement gap between affluent and low-income students. Low-
income students who participated in service opportunities have
better school attendance and grades than low-income students
who do not participate.
``(14) There is a need for a rigorous and focused
initiative to demonstrate and broadly promote high-quality
service learning that enhances teacher effectiveness, improves
student learning and educational success, and positively
affects school climate.
``(15) State educational agencies are the only entities
with comprehensive, statewide responsibility for the quality of
learning within a State.
``SEC. 2502. PURPOSE.
``The purpose of this part is to authorize a national service-
learning program that will expand opportunities for students in
elementary and secondary schools to engage in high-quality service
learning that--
``(1) promotes student achievement in academic subjects,
including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics;
``(2) incorporates 21st century skills, such as critical
thinking, problem solving and collaboration;
``(3) integrates content knowledge and use of technology;
``(4) enhances school climate and civic engagement; and
``(5) prepares students for college or a career.
``SEC. 2503. NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.
``The Secretary shall reserve funds for national activities as
follows:
``(1) The Secretary shall reserve not more than 10 percent
of the appropriation for this program in any fiscal year to
establish a National Center for K-12 Service Learning--
``(A) to provide technical assistance to State
educational agencies to develop and expand the capacity
of local educational agencies to improve teacher
quality, school climate, and educational outcomes by
providing an infrastructure for sustainable service-
learning efforts through vision and leadership,
professional development, curriculum and assessment,
school-community collaborations, and continuous
improvement; and
``(B) to provide oversight, coordinate with key
Federal education initiatives, foster sustainability,
provide evidence for the strengths and limitations of
service-learning practices, and disseminate study
findings.
``(2) The Secretary shall reserve not more than 10 of the
appropriation for this program in any fiscal year percent for
research and evaluation activities, including a study,
conducted by the Institute of Education Sciences using data
culled from the State longitudinal data systems authorized
under title II of the Educational Technical Assistance Act of
2002, on the effects of academic service learning on
instructional quality and the academic success of students in
low-performing schools. The study shall include the following
elements:
``(A) A comprehensive, rigorous research design
that builds on prior studies on effective pedagogies,
service learning, and student success.
``(B) Gathering qualitative and quantitative data
to comprehensively assess the impact service learning
has on students' academic, civic, and behavioral
performance, including student engagement.
``(C) Identifying, tracking, and measuring the
success of systemic, district-level change based on
exemplary service-learning policies and practices.
``(D) Measuring the effectiveness of a high-quality
professional development leadership system, including
the effect the professional development provided under
this section has on teaching and pedagogy, including
the impact on teachers likelihood of providing students
with real-world problem-solving opportunities,
opportunities for deeper learning and tying academic
concepts to real-world contexts, opportunities for
leadership, and opportunities for peer collaboration.
``(E) Systematically measuring the influence of
service-learning participation on students' academic
achievement within and across States.
``(F) Reporting annually to the public and the
Congress.
``(3) The Secretary shall reserve not more than 5 percent
of the appropriation for this program in any fiscal year for
training and technical assistance for State-level program
development consistent with the purposes of this Act. The
Secretary shall contract with an entity, or entities, with a
demonstrated record of achievement in promoting and
disseminating best practices in service learning--
``(A) to continually scan the field and build an
ever-expanding knowledge base of exemplary service-
learning models;
``(B) to help ensure the dissemination, adoption,
and continuous improvement of these exemplary practices
at the State and local level; and
``(C) to conduct specific activities, including--
``(i) developing and disseminating
exemplary program models that demonstrate how
high-quality service-learning programs can be
replicated and can become sustainable at the
State and local level by advancing the use of
service learning as a high-quality
instructional pedagogy;
``(ii) providing resources to support
effective policy development at the State and
local level to advance efforts with respect to
high-quality teachers and the equitable
distribution of high-quality teachers; and
``(iii) providing exemplary professional
development models and technical assistance
materials to any interested party.
``SEC. 2504. STATE ACTIVITIES.
``(a) Grants.--A State educational agency desiring a grant under
this part shall submit an application to the Secretary that includes an
assurance that, not later than 90 days after receiving a grant--
``(1) all local educational agencies in the State will have
access to high-quality professional development and peer
mentoring through a cascade model, including resources and
ongoing support to transform instructional practices;
``(2) the State educational agency will implement
strategies for improvement in the lowest performing geographic
areas utilizing service-learning policies and practices,
National School Climate Standards, and exemplary practices for
enhancing teacher quality;
``(3) the State educational agency will establish State
policies and support systems that are designed to result in
effective programs; and
``(4) the State educational agency will establish
partnerships with entities, such as institutions of higher
education, institutions of teacher training, and nonprofit
organizations with a demonstrated record of experience in
school-based service learning, to develop systemic
implementation of service learning in teacher preparation and
professional development.
``(b) Service-Learning Specialist.--Of the funds made available to
a State educational agency under this part, the agency shall reserve a
portion of those funds appropriated to support a service-learning
specialist who acts as a conduit of information between the State and
local level, provides training and technical assistance, program
improvement, and progress monitoring.
``(c) State-Level Activities.--Of the funds made available to a
State educational agency under this part, the agency shall reserve 30
percent to support the following:
``(1) Collaboration and mentoring to increase consistency
in implementation across States to ensure high-quality practice
and sustainability.
``(2) Implementation of a statewide cascade professional
development model.
``(3) On-site support and mentoring of local educational
agencies.
``(4) Dissemination of resources to support implementation,
capacity building, and sustainability of local efforts,
including through grants or contracts with qualified national
intermediaries or community-based organizations.
``SEC. 2505. SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.
``(a) In General.--A State educational agency that receives funds
under this part shall use the funds remaining after the application of
section 2504 to make subgrants to local educational agencies that use--
``(1) the service-learning model to strengthen the content
area disciplines and implementation of key educational
innovations in schools with a high percentage of
underperforming youth; and
``(2) a cascade professional development model to bring
practice to scale.
``(b) Competitive Subgrants.--Subgrants under subsection (a) shall
be made on a competitive basis with consideration for geographic
diversity, including distribution between urban and rural local
educational agencies. In making awards, the State educational agency
must give priority to local educational agencies with high proportions
of students living in poverty or performing below grade level.
``(c) Application.--A local educational agency applying for a
subgrant under this section shall submit an application to the State
educational agency that includes information on how--
``(1) funds will be used to participate in the cascade
professional development model, ensure sustainability, and
replicate the service-learning model to increase academic
engagement and performance in content area courses, increase
civic skills and engagement, and enable students in low-
performing schools to help their own communities by giving them
the knowledge, skills, and opportunities necessary to
participate in high-quality service-learning experiences;
``(2) educators will--
``(A) receive support in using instructional
practices that incorporate the application of academic
knowledge and skills to address relevant needs in their
community; and
``(B) identify current data, set measurable goals
for their instructional activities, and measure impact
on both students and the community; and
``(3) partnerships will be established to create a
community-wide expectation that service learning is an
essential part of a high-quality education.
``SEC. 2506. DEFINITION OF CASCADE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MODEL.
``In this part, the term `cascade professional development model'
means a professional development model in which specialists are trained
in high-quality practice and delivery of professional development.
These experts then train educators, who are responsible for training,
mentoring, and supporting their peers. This model allows for
replication of effective practice and increased consistency in quality
among all States.
``SEC. 2507. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part
such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2014 and for each of the
5 succeeding fiscal years.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents for the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after the
item relating to section 2441 the following:
``Part E--Enhancing the Effectiveness of K-12 Education Through Service
Learning
``Sec. 2501. Findings.
``Sec. 2502. Purposes.
``Sec. 2503. National activities.
``Sec. 2504. State activities.
``Sec. 2505. Subgrants to local educational agencies.
``Sec. 2506. Definition of cascade professional development model.
``Sec. 2507. Authorization of appropriations.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
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