Sponsors (3)
The bill directs sizable federal investment to create a centralized education research Center and to modernize interoperable student data systems—improving evidence‑based instruction and policymaking but increasing federal spending, privacy risks, and the chance that centralized priorities and technical requirements leave smaller or nontraditional entities behind.
State education agencies, K–12 schools, and students gain competitively funded, interoperable student data systems that track outcomes from early childhood through postsecondary and the workforce, improving the ability of policymakers and researchers to evaluate programs and align education with labor-market needs.
Students, teachers, and school leaders could benefit from a new federally supported Center that synthesizes peer‑reviewed 'science of learning and development' research and produces evidence‑based tools, training, and guidance to improve instruction and school practices.
The grants program emphasizes privacy, security, governance, and training requirements—creating federal guidance and structures intended to protect individual education and workforce data.
Taxpayers face larger federal spending commitments—establishing and operating the new Center plus a sizable ongoing funding floor increases federal outlays and could divert funds from other priorities.
Collecting, linking, and storing extensive individual‑level education and workforce data raises meaningful privacy and security risks—breaches or misuse could harm students and families if protections fail.
Statutory definitions and a centralized federal Center could narrow research priorities and crowd out smaller, local, or nontraditional researchers and practitioners, reducing diversity of approaches and local control over what work is funded.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Creates a National Center for Advanced Development in Education, defines “science of learning and development,” and revises SLDS grants to fund system design, integration, and planning grants.
Introduced December 4, 2025 by Suzanne Bonamici · Last progress December 4, 2025
Creates a new National Center for Advanced Development in Education inside the Institute of Education Sciences, adds a statutory definition of the “science of learning and development,” and revises the federal grant program for statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDS). The SLDS changes authorize competitive grants (typically up to four years, with a possible two‑year renewal for demonstrated progress), permit the Secretary to reserve up to 10% of funds for shorter planning grants (up to 18 months) to support data integration and infrastructure upgrades, and require grant applications to describe plans for integrating student and workforce data across specified sources while maintaining privacy and security protections. These changes expand the Institute’s organizational structure, create a targeted research center, and reorganize and clarify grant procedures and allowable uses for SLDS awards and planning grants, including stakeholder engagement requirements for planning-grant applicants.