Hatch, Rubio, and McMorris Rodgers Introduce 21st Century Classroom Innovation Act
Washington, D.C.—Senator Orrin Hatch, President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate and member of the Senate HELP Committee, along with House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), released the following statement today after introducing the 21st Century Classroom Innovation Act, which encourages the use of blended learning in the classroom.
“Our students deserve the best education available, and this bill would enable a truly personalized learning experience. We should give local schools greater flexibility to innovate with new technology and adopt the best ideas from fellow educators. I’m eager to help move our education efforts away from an outdated, bricks-and-mortar structure to keep pace with our kids in the 21st century," said Senator Hatch.
“As the mom of three young children, I’ve seen firsthand how technology in the classroom can transform education. In the past few years we’ve seen an increase in the number of schools integrating technology – and these personalized learning tools are empowering students to reach new heights,” said Chair McMorris Rodgers. “By fully incorporating technology into lesson plans, we will help our nation’s students reach their full potential and succeed in the 21st century.”
“By combining high-tech learning platforms with more traditional methods, blended learning programs have become a pillar of 21st-century education reform and should be encouraged,” said Senator Rubio. “This legislation will help make sure our students have access to the best learning tools modern education has to offer.”
The 21st Century Classroom Innovation Act will enable state education agencies to recognize blended learning pilot programs at the local level, allowing fully integrated technology instruction to better support personalized instruction for all students.
Participating schools will demonstrate improved students’ assessed outcomes by using actionable data from students’ work.
