Community STEM Learning Act of 2015

Summary: Community STEM Learning Act of 2015 This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Department of Education to award grants to national and regional intermediaries and, through them, subgrants to their community-based affiliates to operate in-school, after school, summer, and weekend programs that focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. A &quot;national intermediary&quot; is a national private nonprofit organization that has: (1) a network comprising community-based affiliates in at least 50 urban communities, (2) expertise in overseeing programs to help middle and secondary school students succeed, and (3) operated in at least 25 states continuously for at least 20 years. A &quot;regional intermediary&quot; is a private nonprofit community-based organization that has: (1) a network comprising community-based affiliates in a prescribed region, and (2) expertise in extending educational services to middle and secondary school students. The STEM programs must primarily serve students who are traditionally underrepresented in STEM field careers and include project-based learning opportunities and individualized instruction. Each subgrantee must collaborate with an institution of higher education in providing such services. The bill requires grantees to direct at least: (1) 50% of their grant to community-based affiliates that are successfully operating STEM programs so that they can expand them to reach more students traditionally underrepresented in STEM field careers, and (2) 25% of their grant to the development of STEM programs by community-based affiliates not currently operating any.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Community STEM Learning Act of 
2015''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Employment projections forecast a 17-percent growth in 
        the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 
        (``STEM)'' fields over the next decade.
            (2) Ninety-two percent of STEM occupations will require at 
        least some post-secondary education.
            (3) While the number of degrees awarded in STEM fields has 
        increased steadily since the 1960s, the overall share of STEM 
        degrees awarded has actually shrunk in comparison to all 
        degrees conferred.
            (4) Internationally, a larger proportion of all degrees 
        awarded are in the STEM fields. While 16 percent of degrees 
        awarded in the United States are in STEM fields, nearly 50 
        percent of degrees awarded in China, 38 percent in South Korea, 
        and 28 percent in Germany are in STEM fields.
            (5) Minorities are seriously underrepresented in the 
        science and engineering workforce in the United States, with 
        just under 6 percent of Blacks and over 5 percent of Hispanics 
        participating in the STEM workforce.
            (6) Twenty-one percent of Black college students enter 
        college with STEM majors, but only 16 percent actually receive 
        a bachelor's degree in a STEM major.
            (7) Over \1/2\ of Black students that enroll in a 4-year 
        university are interested in STEM, but are not proficient in 
        math.
            (8) Since 1990, mathematic scores on the assessments 
        conducted by the National Assessment of Education Progress have 
        increased for all students, but White students have average 
        scores 27 points higher than Black and Hispanic students.
            (9) After school programs play an important role in 
        addressing the achievement gap in underserved communities. 
        Studies demonstrate that STEM learning during the school day is 
        necessary but not sufficient for life-long STEM literacy.
            (10) As many as 8,400,000 students are enrolled in after 
        school programs. Ethnic minority children are more likely than 
        non-minority children to participate in after school programs. 
        While 15 percent of all students are enrolled in after school 
        programs, 24 percent of Black students and 21 percent of 
        Hispanic students are enrolled in such programs.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to prepare middle school 
and secondary school students to be ready for opportunities in the STEM 
fields in college and in careers through strong after school, summer, 
and weekend programs that focus on STEM education.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO ESEA FOR STEM GRANTS.

    Part B of title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1964 (20 U.S.C. 6661 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in the part heading, by inserting ``and stem grants'' 
        after ``partnerships'';
            (2) by inserting after the part heading the following:

             ``Subpart 1--Math and Science Partnerships'';

        and
            (3) by inserting after section 2203 the following:

                        ``Subpart 2--STEM Grants

``SEC. 2211. INFORMAL STEM LEARNING PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Authorization.--The Secretary is authorized to award grants, 
to be known as `informal STEM learning program' grants, to national and 
regional intermediaries to establish informal STEM learning in-school, 
after school, summer, and weekend programs that focus on science, 
technology, engineering, and math (referred to in this section as 
`STEM') education.
    ``(b) Application.--A national or regional intermediary seeking a 
grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary 
at such time, in such form, and containing such information as the 
Secretary may reasonably require, including the following:
            ``(1) The amount requested and the proposed use of the 
        funds.
            ``(2) A description of how the national or regional 
        intermediary will require a community-based affiliate operating 
        an informal STEM learning program to provide the following:
                    ``(A) A program description, including a 
                description of--
                            ``(i) the project-based learning that the 
                        program will use and the applicability of such 
                        projects to students' lives after graduation 
                        from secondary school;
                            ``(ii) the academic instruction, research 
                        model, or curriculum that the program will use; 
                        and
                            ``(iii) any service-learning opportunities 
                        that will be available to students.
                    ``(B) Evidence that the informal STEM learning 
                program will primarily serve students who are 
                traditionally underrepresented in STEM field careers.
                    ``(C) A description of the student recruitment 
                plan, student retention plan, and parental engagement 
                plan.
                    ``(D) A description of the professional development 
                and training that the community-based affiliate will 
                provide to its informal STEM learning program staff.
                    ``(E) A description of the community-based 
                affiliate's collaboration with an institution of higher 
                education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher 
                Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 10001)).
                    ``(F) A description of how the community-based 
                affiliate will enable students who participate in the 
                program to achieve the goals in subsection (c).
    ``(c) Goals.--The goals of the Informal STEM learning program 
grants are the following:
            ``(1) To increase awareness of and exposure to current 
        science content, scientific processes, and tools for students 
        who are traditionally underrepresented in STEM field careers.
            ``(2) To provide STEM learning that is connected to 
        workforce skills that are essential in the 21st century.
            ``(3) To increase on time grade promotion, the number of 
        students who graduate high school, and the number of students 
        who pursue opportunities in STEM fields.
            ``(4) To increase enrollment in and completion of more STEM 
        related coursework in school for students who are traditionally 
        underrepresented in STEM field careers.
            ``(5) To increase awareness of students who are 
        traditionally underrepresented in STEM field careers of the 
        opportunities after graduation from secondary school in STEM 
        fields, including college majors in STEM and careers in STEM.
            ``(6) For students to have the experience of interacting 
        with staff who demonstrate a positive attitude toward STEM 
        fields.
            ``(7) To facilitate project-based learning and service-
        learning.
    ``(d) Allocation.--A national or regional intermediary that 
receives a grant under this section shall reserve--
            ``(1) not more than 25 percent to provide technical and 
        administrative assistance to and collect data from its 
        community-based affiliates to which it makes subgrants;
            ``(2) not less than 50 percent for subgrants to community-
        based affiliates that have demonstrated effectiveness in 
        operating STEM programs in order for such affiliates to expand 
        such STEM programs to reach more students who are traditionally 
        underrepresented in STEM field careers; and
            ``(3) not less than 25 percent for subgrants to community-
        based affiliates that do not operate STEM programs in order for 
        such affiliates that seek to develop new STEM programs that are 
        consistent with the goals of this section to develop and 
        establish such new STEM programs.
    ``(e) Subgrants to Community-Based Affiliates.--
            ``(1) Application.--A community-based affiliate seeking a 
        subgrant shall submit an application to its national or 
        regional intermediary at such time, in such form, and 
        containing such information as the national or regional 
        intermediary may reasonably require.
            ``(2) Uses of funds.--A community-based affiliate that 
        receives a subgrant under this section to operate an informal 
        STEM learning program shall operate an in-school, after school, 
        summer, or weekend program that focuses on STEM education and 
        primarily serves students who are traditionally 
        underrepresented in STEM field careers. Such program shall 
        include the following:
                    ``(A) Educational services that include--
                            ``(i) an initial assessment of students' 
                        progress in math, science, and reading;
                            ``(ii) remediation and educational 
                        enrichment services; and
                            ``(iii) helping students to improve their 
                        study skills.
                    ``(B) Project-based learning opportunities.
                    ``(C) Individualized instruction and tracking of 
                student progress that is aligned with in-school 
                performance.
            ``(3) Collaboration.--A community-based affiliate that 
        receives a subgrant under this section shall collaborate with 
        an institution of higher education to provide the services 
        described in paragraph (2).
    ``(f) Reports.--
            ``(1) Secretary report to congress.--The Secretary shall 
        submit a report annually to the Committee on Education and the 
        Workforce in the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
        Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in the Senate on the 
        progress that national and regional intermediaries and their 
        community-based affiliates operating informal STEM learning 
        programs have made toward achieving the goals in subsection 
        (c).
            ``(2) National or regional intermediary report to the 
        secretary.--A national or regional intermediary receiving a 
        grant under this section shall submit a report annually to the 
        Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
        information as the Secretary may require, including the 
        progress that its community-based affiliates operating informal 
        STEM learning programs have made toward achieving the goals in 
        subsection (c).
            ``(3) Community-based affiliate report to its national or 
        regional intermediary.--A community-based affiliate that 
        receives a subgrant under this section shall submit a report 
        annually to the national or regional intermediary that awarded 
        such subgrant at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
        information as the intermediary may require, including the 
        progress its informal STEM learning program has made toward 
        achieving the goals in subsection (c).
    ``(g) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Community-based affiliate.--The term `community-based 
        affiliate' means a community-based organization (as defined in 
        section 9101) that is an affiliate of a national or regional 
        intermediary.
            ``(2) Informal stem learning education.--The term `informal 
        STEM learning education' is education related to science that 
        occurs in informal, out-of-school contexts, such as 
        participating in structured afterschool programs and visiting 
        science centers and engaging with the exhibits and programs 
        offered at such centers.
            ``(3) National intermediary.--The term `national 
        intermediary' means a national private nonprofit organization 
        that--
                    ``(A) has a network comprised of community-based 
                affiliates in not less than 50 regional communities;
                    ``(B) has demonstrated expertise and effectiveness 
                in overseeing programs to help middle school and 
                secondary school students succeed, including programs 
                to help such students become college-ready and career-
                ready; and
                    ``(C) has operated in not less than 25 States 
                continuously for not less than 20 years.
            ``(4) Project-based learning.--The term `project-based 
        learning' means learning through a broad project that includes 
        instruction, substantive content, and reflection, with the goal 
        that students who participate in the project will achieve a 
        concrete goal or complete a project.
            ``(5) Regional intermediary.--The term `regional 
        intermediary' means a private nonprofit community-based 
        organization that--
                    ``(A) has a network comprised of community-based 
                affiliates in a prescribed region; and
                    ``(B) has demonstrated expertise and effectiveness 
                in conducting outreach and providing education 
                activities to middle school and secondary school 
                students.
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section--
            ``(1) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2016;
            ``(2) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2017;
            ``(3) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2018; and
            ``(4) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2019.''.