20 USC 7981 - Evaluations

View all text of Part G [§ 7981 - § 7981]

§ 7981. Evaluations

(a) Reservation of fundsExcept as provided in subsection 1

1 So in original. Probably should be “subsections”.

(b) and (e), the Secretary, in consultation with the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, may reserve not more than 0.5 percent of the amount appropriated for each program authorized under this chapter to carry out activities under this section. If the Secretary elects to make a reservation under this subsection, the reserved amounts—

(1) shall first be used by the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, to—

(A) conduct comprehensive, high-quality evaluations of the programs that—

(i) are consistent with the evaluation plan under subsection (d); and

(ii) primarily include impact evaluations that use experimental or quasi-experimental designs, where practicable and appropriate, and other rigorous methodologies that permit the strongest possible causal inferences;

(B) conduct studies of the effectiveness of the programs and the administrative impact of the programs on schools and local educational agencies; and

(i) in a timely fashion;

(ii) in forms that are understandable, easily accessible, usable, and adaptable for use in the improvement of educational practice;

(iii) through electronic transfer and other means, such as posting, as available, to the websites of State educational agencies, local educational agencies, the Institute of Education Sciences, or the Department, or in another relevant place; and

(iv) in a manner that promotes the utilization of such findings; and

(2) may be used by the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences—

(A) to evaluate the aggregate short- and long-term effects and cost efficiencies across—

(i) Federal programs assisted or authorized under this chapter; and

(ii) related Federal early childhood education programs, preschool programs, elementary school programs, and secondary school programs, under any other Federal law;

(B) to increase the usefulness of the evaluations conducted under this section by improving the quality, timeliness, efficiency, and use of information relating to performance to promote continuous improvement of programs assisted or authorized under this chapter; and

(C) to assist recipients of grants under such programs in collecting and analyzing data and other activities related to conducting high-quality evaluations under paragraph (1).

(b) Subchapter I

(c) ConsolidationNotwithstanding any other provision of this section or section 6302(e) of this title, the Secretary, in consultation with the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences—

(1) may consolidate the funds reserved under subsections (a) and (b) for purposes of carrying out the activities under subsection (a)(1); and

(2) shall not be required to evaluate under subsection (a)(1) each program authorized under this chapter each year.

(d) Evaluation planThe Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, shall, on a biennial basis, develop, submit to Congress, and make publicly available an evaluation plan, that—

(1) describes the specific activities that will be carried out under subsection (a) for the 2-year period applicable to the plan, and the timelines of such activities;

(2) contains the results of the activities carried out under subsection (a) for the most recent 2-year period; and

(3) describes how programs authorized under this chapter will be regularly evaluated.

(e) Evaluation activities authorized elsewhere

(Pub. L. 89–10, title VIII, § 8601, formerly title IX, § 9601, as added Pub. L. 107–110, title IX, § 901, Jan. 8, 2002, 115 Stat. 1985; renumbered title VIII, § 8601, and amended Pub. L. 114–95, title VIII, §§ 8001(a)(10), 8042, Dec. 10, 2015, 129 Stat. 2088, 2089, 2122.)