STEM Education Innovation Act of 2011, H.R. 3373
To stimulate collaboration with respect to, and provide for coordination and coherence of, the Nation's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education initiatives, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep. Michael Honda [D-CA15] Status: This bill is in the first step in the legislative process. Explanation: Introduced bills and resolutions first go to committees that deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills and resolutions never make it out of committee. 112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3373
To stimulate collaboration with respect to, and provide for coordination and coherence of, the Nation’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education initiatives, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 4, 2011
Mr. HONDA (for himself, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. MEEKS, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. POLIS, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Ms. RICHARDSON, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mr. SIRES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To stimulate collaboration with respect to, and provide for coordination and coherence of, the Nation’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education initiatives, 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 ‘STEM Education Innovation Act of 2011’.
SEC. 2. OFFICE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.
(a) Assistant Secretary- Section 202 of the Department of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3412) is amended in subsection (b)(1)--
(1) in subparagraph (E) by striking ‘and’ at the end;
(2) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as (G); and
(3) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following:
‘(F) an Assistant Secretary for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education (in this Act referred to as the ‘Assistant Secretary for STEM Education’); and’.
(b) Office- Title II of the Department of Education Organization Act is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘SEC. 221. OFFICE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION.
‘(a) In General- There shall be in the Department of Education an Office of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education (in this section referred to as the ‘Office of STEM Education’), to be administered by the Assistant Secretary for STEM Education appointed under section 202(b).
‘(b) Responsibilities- The Assistant Secretary of STEM Education, acting through the Office, shall serve as the principal advisor to the Secretary on matters affecting science, technology, engineering, and math education, and shall administer such functions representing STEM education, including the coordination of STEM activities and programs across Federal agencies.
‘(c) Evaluation and Report- The Assistant Secretary for STEM Education shall conduct an independent evaluation, through grant or by contract, of the STEM education programs administered by the Department, at least every 5 years, which shall include--
‘(1) conducting an assessment of STEM education activities within the Department by using the evaluations and reports of these programs to determine these programs’ impact on--
‘(A) the quantity of students taking advanced placement in STEM areas and seeking STEM degrees;
‘(B) student academic achievement in mathematics and science; and
‘(C) the increased number of highly qualified STEM teachers; and
‘(2) the preparation and submission of a report on the results of the evaluation described in paragraph (1) to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Committee on Science of the Senate, the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Science and Technology of the House of Representatives, and the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
‘(d) Authorization of Appropriations- There are authorized to be appropriated $1,500,000 to carry out this section for fiscal year 2013 and such sums as may be necessary for each fiscal year thereafter.’.
SEC. 3. EDUCATION INNOVATION PROJECT.
Title II of the Department of Education Organization Act is further amended by adding at the end the following:
‘SEC. 221. EDUCATION INNOVATION PROJECT.
‘(a) Establishment- There shall be in the Department an Education Innovation Project (referred to in this section as ‘EIP’).
‘(b) Purposes- EIP is established under this section for the purposes of pursuing breakthrough research and development in educational technology and providing the effective use of the technology to improve achievement for all students, by--
‘(1) identifying and promoting revolutionary advances in fundamental and applied sciences and engineering that could be translated into new learning technologies;
‘(2) developing novel learning technologies, and the enabling processes and contexts for effective use of those technologies;
‘(3) developing, testing, and evaluating the impact and efficacy of those technologies;
‘(4) accelerating transformational technological advances in areas in which the private sector, by itself, is not likely to accelerate such advances because of difficulties in implementation or adoption, or technical and market uncertainty;
‘(5) coordinating activities with nongovernmental entities to demonstrate technologies and research applications to facilitate technology transfer; and
‘(6) encouraging educational research using new technologies and the data produced by the technologies.
‘(c) Authorities of Secretary- The Secretary is authorized to--
‘(1) appoint a Director, who shall be responsible for carrying out the purposes of EIP, as described in subsection (b), and such additional functions as the Secretary may prescribe;
‘(2) establish processes for the development and execution of projects and the solicitation of entities to carry out the projects in a manner that is--
‘(A) tailored to the purposes of EIP and not constrained by other Department-wide administrative requirements that could detract from achieving program results; and
‘(B) designed to heighten transparency, and public- and private-sector involvement, to ensure that investments are made in the most promising areas;
‘(3) award grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and cash prizes, and enter into other transactions (in accordance with such regulations as the Secretary may establish regarding other transactions);
‘(4) make appointments of up to 20 scientific, engineering, professional, and other mission-related employees, for periods of up to 4 years (which appointments may not be renewed) without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service;
‘(5)(A) prescribe the rates of basic pay for the personnel described in paragraph (4) at rates not in excess of the maximum rate of basic pay authorized for senior-level positions under section 5376 of title 5, United States Code, notwithstanding any provision of that title governing the rates of basic pay or classification of employees in the executive branch, but those personnel shall not receive any payment for service (such as an award, premium payment, incentive payment or bonus, allowance, or other similar payment) under any other provision of that title; and
‘(B) pay any employee appointed pursuant to paragraph (4) payments in addition to that basic pay, except that the total amount of those payments for any calendar year shall not exceed the lesser of--
‘(i) $25,000; or
‘(ii) the difference between the employee’s annual rate of basic pay under paragraph (4) and the annual rate for level I of the Executive Schedule under section 5312 of title 5, United States Code, based on the rates in effect at the end of the applicable calendar year (or, if the employee separated during that year, on the date of separation);
‘(6) obtain independent, periodic, rigorous evaluations, as appropriate, of--
‘(A) the effectiveness of the processes EIP is using to achieve its purposes; and
‘(B) the effectiveness of individual projects assisted by EIP, using evidence standards developed in consultation with the Institute of Education Sciences, and the suitability of ongoing projects assisted by EIP for further investment or increased scale; and
‘(7) disseminate, through the comprehensive centers established under section 203 of the Educational Technical Assistance Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9602), the regional educational laboratories system established under section 174 of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9564), or such other means as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, information on effective practices and technologies developed with EIP support.
‘(d) Evaluation Funds- The Secretary may use funds made available for EIP to pay the cost of the evaluations under subsection (c)(6).
‘(e) Federal Advisory Committee Act- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any advisory committee convened by the Secretary to provide advice with respect to this section shall be exempt from the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) and the definition of ‘employee’ in section 2105 of title 5, United States Code, shall not be considered to include any appointee to such a committee.
‘(f) Nonduplication- To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall ensure that grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, cash prizes, or other assistance or arrangements awarded or entered into pursuant to this section that are designed to carry out the purposes of EIP do not duplicate activities under programs carried out under Federal law other than this section by the Department or other Federal agencies.’.
SEC. 4. STATE CONSORTIUM ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION.
(a) In General- From amounts made available to carry out this section, the Secretary of Education, acting through the Office of STEM Education, shall award competitive grants to eligible consortia to enable each such eligible consortium to establish a State Consortium on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education (which may be referred to in this section as a ‘State Consortium on STEM Education’).
(b) Eligible Consortium Defined- In this section, the term ‘eligible consortium’ means a State-based STEM council, network, group, or advisory board which includes the participation of State officials, educators, administrators, parents, business leaders, and representatives from the science and engineering communities who have formed to increase student achievement in the STEM areas in their State.
(c) Peer Review and Selection- The Secretary shall--
(1) establish a peer-review process to assist in the review and approval of the grant proposals submitted by eligible consortia under this section; and
(2) with the assistance of the peer-review process, approve grants from the grant proposals submitted under this section not later than 120 days after the deadline for submission of such proposals established by the Secretary, unless the Secretary determines that the grant proposals submitted do not meet the requirements of this section.
(d) Total Amount of Grants- The total amount of grants made under this section in any fiscal year may not exceed $20,000,000.
(e) Use of Grant Funds- Each eligible consortium receiving a grant under this section shall use the grant funds awarded under this section to establish a State consortium on STEM education to carry out the following:
(1) To support at least one full-time staff member for each State.
(2) To test, validate, share, and scale STEM education research, promising practices, and exemplary programs among members of the consortium and with other State consortia on STEM education established under this section.
(3) To identify points of weakness and strength among State STEM education efforts, prioritize strategies for addressing problem areas, and communicate State needs to the STEM Education Committee within the OSTP and the Assistant Secretary for STEM Education.
(4) To assist in the implementation of rigorous common content standards in mathematics and science education for grades prekindergarten through grade 12, which reflect common elements between such disciplines and take into consideration--
(A) established international standards and 21st century skills; and
(B) the needs of English language learners and special education students.
(5) To assist and support, the development and implementation of innovative STEM assessments based on common content standards in mathematics and science.
(6) To promote and develop curriculum tools and professional development for in-service STEM teachers that foster innovation and inventiveness.
(7) To develop STEM Career Awareness Programs in collaboration with school guidance counselors that reflect the projected STEM workforce needs of the 21st century that may include mentoring programs and STEM professional outreach.
(8) To develop STEM-related workforce education and training programs to enhance the skills of workers to meet the needs of business and industry.
(f) Matching Requirement- In order to receive a grant under this section, an eligible consortium shall agree to provide, either directly or through private contributions, non-Federal matching funds equal to not less than 30 percent of the amount of the grant.
(g) Evaluation and Report- Each State Consortium on STEM Education established under this section shall--
(1) conduct periodic independent evaluations, by grant or by contract, of the State Consortium on STEM Education’s effectiveness at accomplishing the activities described in subsection (e), which shall include an assessment of the impact of such activities on STEM teaching and learning; and
(2) prepare and submit a report on the results of each evaluation described in paragraph (1) to the Assistant Secretary of STEM Education.
(h) Prohibitions- In implementing this section, the Secretary may not--
(1) endorse, approve, or sanction any STEM curriculum designed for use in any elementary school or secondary school; or
(2) engage in oversight, technical assistance, or activities that will require the adoption of a specific STEM program or instructional materials by a State, local educational agency, or school.
(i) Definitions- In this section:
(1) The terms ‘elementary school’, ‘local educational agency’, and ‘secondary school’ have the meanings given such terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(2) The term ‘Office of STEM Education’ means the Office of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education of the Department of Education.
(3) The term ‘OSTP’ means the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President.
(4) The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Education.
(5) The term ‘State’ means each of the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and the United States Virgin Islands.
(6) The term ‘STEM’ means science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
