§9854. Peer review of State applications
(a) Peer review of State applications
The Secretary shall establish peer review panels to review State educational agency applications submitted pursuant to sections 9851 and 9853 of this title and shall consider the recommendation of the peer review panels in deciding whether to approve the applications.
(b) Screening
(1) In general
The Secretary shall establish a process through which individuals on the peer review panels who review State applications under sections 9851 and 9853 of this title (referred to in this section as "reviewers") are screened for potential conflicts of interest.
(2) Screening requirements
The screening process described in paragraph (1) shall, subject to paragraph (3)-
(A) be reviewed and approved by the Office of the General Counsel of the Department;
(B) include, at a minimum, a review of each reviewer's-
(i) professional connection to any State's program under such sections, including a disclosure of any connection to publishers, entities, private individuals, or organizations related to such State's program;
(ii) potential financial interest in products, activities, or services that might be purchased by a State educational agency or local educational agency in the course of the agency's implementation of the programs under such sections; and
(iii) professional connections to teaching methodologies that might require the use of specific products, activities, or services; and
(C) ensure that reviewers do not maintain significant financial interests in products, activities, or services supported under such sections.
(3) Waiver
(A) In general
The Secretary may, in consultation with the Office of the General Counsel of the Department, waive the requirements of paragraph (2)(C).
(B) Report of waivers
The Secretary shall-
(i) establish criteria for the waivers permitted under subparagraph (A); and
(ii) report any waivers allowed under subparagraph (A), and the criteria under which such waivers are allowed, to the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate.
(c) Guidance
(1) In general
The Secretary shall develop procedures for, and issue guidance regarding, how reviewers will review applications submitted under sections 9851 and 9853 of this title and provide feedback to State educational agencies and recommendations to the Secretary. The Secretary shall also develop guidance for how the Secretary will review those recommendations and make final determinations of approval or disapproval of those applications.
(2) Requirements
Such procedures shall, at a minimum-
(A) create a transparent process through which review panels provide clear, consistent, and publicly available documentation and explanations in support of all recommendations, including the final reviews of the individual reviewers, except that a final review shall not reveal any personally identifiable information about the reviewer;
(B) ensure that a State educational agency has the opportunity for direct interaction with any review panel that reviewed the agency's application under section 9851 or 9853 of this title when revising that application as a result of feedback from the panel, including the disclosure of the identities of the reviewers;
(C) require that any review panel and the Secretary clearly and consistently document that all required elements of an application under section 9851 or 9853 of this title are included before the application is approved; and
(D) create a transparent process through which the Secretary clearly, consistently, and publicly documents decisions to approve or disapprove applications under such sections and the reasons for those decisions.
(