Elementary Educator STEM Content Coach Act

Summary: Elementary Educator STEM Content Coach Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award grants to states and, through them, subgrants to partnerships between local educational agencies and public or nonprofit organizations to carry out professional development training programs for elementary school teachers that have at least three years of classroom teaching experience and exhibit content knowledge in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.  Refers to those teachers as STEM Coaches. Requires grant applicants to have adopted college- and career-ready standards in the STEM disciplines. Requires public or nonprofit subgrantees to have expertise in developing or implementing before school, after school, summer learning, or expanded learning time activities for students. Requires the professional development training programs to: (1) give STEM Coaches a deep understanding of the principles and concepts of the STEM disciplines; (2) create enthusiasm for the STEM disciplines; (3) provide opportunities for collaboration and teacher mentoring among STEM Coaches and between STEM Coaches and other teachers; and (4) allow STEM Coaches to connect student learning in the STEM disciplines to real-life applications, to out of school programs, and across the curriculum. Directs the Secretary to plan a national evaluation of the professional development training program for STEM Coaches.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Elementary Educator STEM Content 
Coach Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Numerous recent reports by national advisory groups, 
        including the President's Council of Advisors on Science and 
        Technology (PCAST) and committees of the National Academies, 
        have highlighted the need to raise student achievement in 
        science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields 
        to enable the United States to maintain its competitive edge in 
        the global economy.
            (2) The PCAST report entitled ``Prepare and Inspire: K-12 
        Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) 
        for America's Future'' states, ``The most important factor in 
        ensuring excellence is great STEM teachers, with both deep 
        content knowledge in STEM subjects and mastery of the 
        pedagogical skills required to teach these subjects well.''.
            (3) The PCAST report also recommends that the Federal 
        Government should support the professional development of all 
        teachers to help them achieve deep STEM content knowledge and 
        mastery of STEM pedagogy.
            (4) The National Academy of Sciences finds that school 
        districts need to enhance the capacity of kindergarten through 
        grade 12 teachers with content knowledge and expertise in 
        teaching in order to successfully promote effective STEM 
        education in those grades.
            (5) The Center for American Progress finds that improving 
        the elementary school teacher's knowledge of STEM-related 
        facts, concepts, and procedures is vital to our Nation's global 
        competitiveness in the 21st century.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to create a cohort of elementary 
educators with a deep content knowledge in STEM disciplines by 
providing professional development to elementary educators.

SEC. 4. ELEMENTARY EDUCATOR STEM CONTENT COACH GRANT PROGRAM.

    From amounts appropriated under section 9, the Secretary of 
Education shall award grants to State educational agencies to award 
subgrants to eligible entities to carry out professional development 
training programs for STEM Coaches.

SEC. 5. GRANTS TO STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.

    To be eligible to receive a grant under this Act, a State 
educational agency shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 
time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 
may require, which shall include--
            (1) a list of the eligible entities the State educational 
        agency has selected to receive a subgrant under this program; 
        and
            (2) assurances that the State educational agency has 
        adopted college- and career-ready standards in STEM 
        disciplines.

SEC. 6. SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.

    (a) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a subgrant under this 
Act, an eligible entity shall submit an application to the State 
educational agency at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
information as the State educational agency may require, which shall 
include--
            (1) an identification of the number of STEM Coaches and the 
        schools at which the STEM Coaches teach;
            (2) a description of the qualifications of the STEM 
        Coaches;
            (3) assurances that the eligible entity will make 
        reasonable efforts to place STEM Coaches that complete the 
        professional development training program described in this 
        section in positions at a school served by the local 
        educational agency that receives the subgrant; and
            (4) a description of the plan for offering a research-based 
        professional development training program to STEM Coaches, 
        which may include--
                    (A) training in STEM disciplines which may include 
                science, technology, computer science, engineering 
                design, mathematics, and computational thinking;
                    (B) methods to integrate such disciplines into the 
                curriculum;
                    (C) methods to increase skills and knowledge of 
                pedagogy for effective STEM teaching;
                    (D) techniques for engaging historically 
                underachieving or underrepresented groups in STEM 
                fields, such as girls, minorities, low-income students, 
                English language learners, and students with 
                disabilities;
                    (E) educational and instructional leadership 
                training; and
                    (F) opportunities for teacher mentoring and 
                collaboration.
    (b) Benefits of Professional Development.--The professional 
development training program described in subsection (a)(4) shall be 
designed to--
            (1) give STEM Coaches a deep understanding of the 
        principles and concepts of STEM disciplines;
            (2) create enthusiasm for the teaching and learning of STEM 
        disciplines;
            (3) provide opportunities for collaboration and teacher 
        mentoring among STEM Coaches and between STEM Coaches and other 
        teachers; and
            (4) allow STEM Coaches to connect student learning in STEM 
        disciplines--
                    (A) to real-life applications;
                    (B) to out of school programs; and
                    (C) across the curriculum.
    (c) Subgrant Period.--An eligible entity awarded a subgrant under 
this Act shall conduct the professional development training program 
described in this section for a period of not less than 3 successive 
school years.
    (d) Requirements for Additional Funding.--An eligible entity 
awarded a subgrant under this Act shall receive funds for the second 
half of the subgrant period described in subsection (c) upon 
demonstration to the Secretary that the eligible entity is making 
progress in implementing the professional development training program 
described in this section at a rate that the Secretary determines will 
result in full implementation of such program.

SEC. 7. EVALUATION AND REPORT.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall develop a plan for a national 
evaluation of the Elementary Educator STEM Content Coach program that 
evaluates--
            (1) the implementation of the program; and
            (2) the results achieved by eligible entities at the end of 
        the 3-year subgrant period.
    (b) Reports to Congress.--Not later than September 1 of the first 
year beginning after the end of the subgrant periods, the Secretary 
shall submit a report describing the results of the evaluation under 
subsection (a) to the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the 
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Committee 
on Appropriations of the Senate.

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) ESEA definitions.--The terms ``community-based 
        organization'' ``elementary school'', ``institution of higher 
        education'' ``local educational agency'', ``professional 
        development'', ``Secretary'', ``State educational agency'', and 
        ``teacher mentoring'' have the meanings given those terms in 
        section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
        1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
            (2) College- and career-ready standards.--The term 
        ``college- and career-ready standards'' has the meaning given 
        the term in the notice entitled ``Application for New Awards; 
        Race to the Top-District'' published by the Department of 
        Education on August 16, 2012 (77 Fed. Reg. 49654).
            (3) Elementary educator.--The term ``elementary educator'' 
        means a teacher who--
                    (A) teaches in a public elementary school in a 
                State;
                    (B) has at least 3 years of classroom teaching 
                experience;
                    (C) has obtained full certification as a teacher in 
                such State, or holds a license to teach in such State, 
                in 1 or more grades from prekindergarten through grade 
                6; and
                    (D) exhibits content knowledge in STEM fields.
            (4) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means a 
        partnership of--
                    (A) 1 or more local educational agencies; and
                    (B) 1 or more public or nonprofit organizations, 
                which may include institutions of higher education and 
                community-based organizations, with a demonstrated 
                record of success in designing and implementing before 
                school, after school, summer learning, or expanded 
                learning time activities for students.
            (5) State.--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) STEM.--The term ``STEM'' means science, technology, 
        engineering, and mathematics.
            (7) STEM coach.--The term ``STEM Coach'' means an 
        elementary educator who participates in or has participated in 
        the Elementary Educator STEM Content Coach program under this 
        Act.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 
Education such sums as are necessary for fiscal years 2014 through 2018 
to carry out this Act.