I 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘STEM Education In5 novation Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, 

2 AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION WITHIN THE 

3 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. 

4 (a) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—Section 202 of the De5 partment of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3412) 

6 is amended in subsection (b)(1)— 

7 (1) in subparagraph (E) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

8 the end; 

9 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as (G); 

10 and 

11 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(F) an Assistant Secretary for Science, 

14 Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics 

15 Education (in this Act referred to as the ‘As16 sistant Secretary for STEM Education’); and’’. 

17 (b) OFFICE.—Title II of the Department of Edu18 cation Organization Act is amended by adding at the end 

19 the following: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 221. OFFICE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEER21 ING, AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be in the Depart23 ment of Education an Office of Science, Technology, Engi24 neering, and Mathematics Education (in this section re25 ferred to as the ‘Office of STEM Education’), to be adVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:14 Nov 10, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3373.IH H3373

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1 ministered by the Assistant Secretary for STEM Edu2 cation appointed under section 202(b). 

3 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Assistant Secretary of 

4 STEM Education, acting through the Office, shall serve 

5 as the principal advisor to the Secretary on matters affect6 ing science, technology, engineering, and math education, 

7 and shall administer such functions representing STEM 

8 education, including the coordination of STEM activities 

9 and programs across Federal agencies. 

10 ‘‘(c) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—The Assistant Sec11 retary for STEM Education shall conduct an independent 

12 evaluation, through grant or by contract, of the STEM 

13 education programs administered by the Department, at 

14 least every 5 years, which shall include— 

15 ‘‘(1) conducting an assessment of STEM edu16 cation activities within the Department by using the 

17 evaluations and reports of these programs to deter18 mine these programs’ impact on— 

19 ‘‘(A) the quantity of students taking ad20 vanced placement in STEM areas and seeking 

21 STEM degrees; 

22 ‘‘(B) student academic achievement in 

23 mathematics and science; and 

24 ‘‘(C) the increased number of highly quali25 fied STEM teachers; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) the preparation and submission of a report 

2 on the results of the evaluation described in para3 graph (1) to the Committee on Health, Education, 

4 Labor, and Pensions and the Committee on Science 

5 of the Senate, the Committee on Education and the 

6 Workforce and the Committee on Science and Tech7 nology of the House of Representatives, and the 

8 Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the 

9 House of Representatives. 

10 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated $1,500,000 to carry out 

12 this section for fiscal year 2013 and such sums as may 

13 be necessary for each fiscal year thereafter.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. EDUCATION INNOVATION PROJECT. 

15 Title II of the Department of Education Organization 

16 Act is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 221. EDUCATION INNOVATION PROJECT. 

18 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be in the De19 partment an Education Innovation Project (referred to in 

20 this section as ‘EIP’). 

21 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—EIP is established under this sec22 tion for the purposes of pursuing breakthrough research 

23 and development in educational technology and providing 

24 the effective use of the technology to improve achievement 

25 for all students, by— 


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1 ‘‘(1) identifying and promoting revolutionary 

2 advances in fundamental and applied sciences and 

3 engineering that could be translated into new learn4 ing technologies; 

5 ‘‘(2) developing novel learning technologies, and 

6 the enabling processes and contexts for effective use 

7 of those technologies; 

8 ‘‘(3) developing, testing, and evaluating the im9 pact and efficacy of those technologies; 

10 ‘‘(4) accelerating transformational technological 

11 advances in areas in which the private sector, by 

12 itself, is not likely to accelerate such advances be13 cause of difficulties in implementation or adoption, 

14 or technical and market uncertainty; 

15 ‘‘(5) coordinating activities with nongovern16 mental entities to demonstrate technologies and re17 search applications to facilitate technology transfer; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(6) encouraging educational research using 

20 new technologies and the data produced by the tech21 nologies. 

22 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITIES OF SECRETARY.—The Secretary 

23 is authorized to— 

24 ‘‘(1) appoint a Director, who shall be respon25 sible for carrying out the purposes of EIP, as deVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:14 Nov 10, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3373.IH H3373

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1 scribed in subsection (b), and such additional func2 tions as the Secretary may prescribe; 

3 ‘‘(2) establish processes for the development 

4 and execution of projects and the solicitation of enti5 ties to carry out the projects in a manner that is— 

6 ‘‘(A) tailored to the purposes of EIP and 

7 not constrained by other Department-wide ad8 ministrative requirements that could detract 

9 from achieving program results; and 

10 ‘‘(B) designed to heighten transparency, 

11 and public- and private-sector involvement, to 

12 ensure that investments are made in the most 

13 promising areas; 

14 ‘‘(3) award grants, contracts, cooperative agree15 ments, and cash prizes, and enter into other trans16 actions (in accordance with such regulations as the 

17 Secretary may establish regarding other trans18 actions); 

19 ‘‘(4) make appointments of up to 20 scientific, 

20 engineering, professional, and other mission-related 

21 employees, for periods of up to 4 years (which ap22 pointments may not be renewed) without regard to 

23 the provisions of title 5, United States Code, gov24 erning appointments in the competitive service; 


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1 ‘‘(5)(A) prescribe the rates of basic pay for the 

2 personnel described in paragraph (4) at rates not in 

3 excess of the maximum rate of basic pay authorized 

4 for senior-level positions under section 5376 of title 

5 5, United States Code, notwithstanding any provi6 sion of that title governing the rates of basic pay or 

7 classification of employees in the executive branch, 

8 but those personnel shall not receive any payment 

9 for service (such as an award, premium payment, in10 centive payment or bonus, allowance, or other simi11 lar payment) under any other provision of that title; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(B) pay any employee appointed pursuant to 

14 paragraph (4) payments in addition to that basic 

15 pay, except that the total amount of those payments 

16 for any calendar year shall not exceed the lesser 

17 of— 

18 ‘‘(i) $25,000; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) the difference between the employee’s 

20 annual rate of basic pay under paragraph (4) 

21 and the annual rate for level I of the Executive 

22 Schedule under section 5312 of title 5, United 

23 States Code, based on the rates in effect at the 

24 end of the applicable calendar year (or, if the 


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1 employee separated during that year, on the 

2 date of separation); 

3 ‘‘(6) obtain independent, periodic, rigorous eval4 uations, as appropriate, of— 

5 ‘‘(A) the effectiveness of the processes EIP 

6 is using to achieve its purposes; and 

7 ‘‘(B) the effectiveness of individual projects 

8 assisted by EIP, using evidence standards de9 veloped in consultation with the Institute of 

10 Education Sciences, and the suitability of ongo11 ing projects assisted by EIP for further invest12 ment or increased scale; and 

13 ‘‘(7) disseminate, through the comprehensive 

14 centers established under section 203 of the Edu15 cational Technical Assistance Act of 2002 (20 

16 U.S.C. 9602), the regional educational laboratories 

17 system established under section 174 of the Edu18 cation Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 

19 9564), or such other means as the Secretary deter20 mines to be appropriate, information on effective 

21 practices and technologies developed with EIP sup22 port. 

23 ‘‘(d) EVALUATION FUNDS.—The Secretary may use 

24 funds made available for EIP to pay the cost of the eval25 uations under subsection (c)(6). 


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1 ‘‘(e) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—Not2 withstanding any other provision of law, any advisory com3 mittee convened by the Secretary to provide advice with 

4 respect to this section shall be exempt from the require5 ments of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 

6 App.) and the definition of ‘employee’ in section 2105 of 

7 title 5, United States Code, shall not be considered to in8 clude any appointee to such a committee. 

9 ‘‘(f) NONDUPLICATION.—To the maximum extent 

10 practicable, the Secretary shall ensure that grants, con11 tracts, cooperative agreements, cash prizes, or other as12 sistance or arrangements awarded or entered into pursu13 ant to this section that are designed to carry out the pur14 poses of EIP do not duplicate activities under programs 

15 carried out under Federal law other than this section by 

16 the Department or other Federal agencies.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. STATE CONSORTIUM ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, 

18 ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS EDU19 CATION. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available to 

21 carry out this section, the Secretary of Education, acting 

22 through the Office of STEM Education, shall award com23 petitive grants to eligible consortia to enable each such 

24 eligible consortium to establish a State Consortium on 

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1 cation (which may be referred to in this section as a 

2 ‘‘State Consortium on STEM Education’’). 

3 (b) ELIGIBLE CONSORTIUM DEFINED.—In this sec4 tion, the term ‘‘eligible consortium’’ means a State-based 

5 STEM council, network, group, or advisory board which 

6 includes the participation of State officials, educators, ad7 ministrators, parents, business leaders, and representa8 tives from the science and engineering communities who 

9 have formed to increase student achievement in the STEM 

10 areas in their State. 

11 (c) PEER REVIEW AND SELECTION.—The Secretary 

12 shall— 

13 (1) establish a peer-review process to assist in 

14 the review and approval of the grant proposals sub15 mitted by eligible consortia under this section; and 

16 (2) with the assistance of the peer-review proc17 ess, approve grants from the grant proposals sub18 mitted under this section not later than 120 days 

19 after the deadline for submission of such proposals 

20 established by the Secretary, unless the Secretary 

21 determines that the grant proposals submitted do 

22 not meet the requirements of this section. 

23 (d) TOTAL AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—The total amount 

24 of grants made under this section in any fiscal year may 

25 not exceed $20,000,000. 


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1 (e) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—Each eligible consor2 tium receiving a grant under this section shall use the 

3 grant funds awarded under this section to establish a 

4 State consortium on STEM education to carry out the fol5 lowing: 

6 (1) To support at least one full-time staff mem7 ber for each State. 

8 (2) To test, validate, share, and scale STEM 

9 education research, promising practices, and exem10 plary programs among members of the consortium 

11 and with other State consortia on STEM education 

12 established under this section. 

13 (3) To identify points of weakness and strength 

14 among State STEM education efforts, prioritize 

15 strategies for addressing problem areas, and commu16 nicate State needs to the STEM Education Com17 mittee within the OSTP and the Assistant Secretary 

18 for STEM Education. 

19 (4) To assist in the implementation of rigorous 

20 common content standards in mathematics and 

21 science education for grades prekindergarten 

22 through grade 12, which reflect common elements 

23 between such disciplines and take into consider24 ation— 


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1 (A) established international standards and 

2 21st century skills; and 

3 (B) the needs of English language learners 

4 and special education students. 

5 (5) To assist and support, the development and 

6 implementation of innovative STEM assessments 

7 based on common content standards in mathematics 

8 and science. 

9 (6) To promote and develop curriculum tools 

10 and professional development for in-service STEM 

11 teachers that foster innovation and inventiveness. 

12 (7) To develop STEM Career Awareness Pro13 grams in collaboration with school guidance coun14 selors that reflect the projected STEM workforce 

15 needs of the 21st century that may include men16 toring programs and STEM professional outreach. 

17 (8) To develop STEM-related workforce edu18 cation and training programs to enhance the skills 

19 of workers to meet the needs of business and indus20 try. 

21 (f) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—In order to receive 

22 a grant under this section, an eligible consortium shall 

23 agree to provide, either directly or through private con24 tributions, non-Federal matching funds equal to not less 

25 than 30 percent of the amount of the grant. 


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1 (g) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—Each State Consor2 tium on STEM Education established under this section 

3 shall— 

4 (1) conduct periodic independent evaluations, 

5 by grant or by contract, of the State Consortium on 

6 STEM Education’s effectiveness at accomplishing 

7 the activities described in subsection (e), which shall 

8 include an assessment of the impact of such activi9 ties on STEM teaching and learning; and 

10 (2) prepare and submit a report on the results 

11 of each evaluation described in paragraph (1) to the 

12 Assistant Secretary of STEM Education. 

13 (h) PROHIBITIONS.—In implementing this section, 

14 the Secretary may not— 

15 (1) endorse, approve, or sanction any STEM 

16 curriculum designed for use in any elementary 

17 school or secondary school; or 

18 (2) engage in oversight, technical assistance, or 

19 activities that will require the adoption of a specific 

20 STEM program or instructional materials by a 

21 State, local educational agency, or school. 

22 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) The terms ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘local edu24 cational agency’’, and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the 

25 meanings given such terms in section 9101 of the 


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1 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

2 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

3 (2) The term ‘‘Office of STEM Education’’ 

4 means the Office of Science, Technology, Engineer5 ing, and Mathematics Education of the Department 

6 of Education. 

7 (3) The term ‘‘OSTP’’ means the Office of 

8 Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Of9 fice of the President. 

10 (4) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

11 of Education. 

12 (5) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 

13 States of the United States, the District of Colum14 bia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the 

15 Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Amer16 ican Samoa, and the United States Virgin Islands. 

17 (6) The term ‘‘STEM’’ means science, tech18 nology, engineering, and mathematics. 

Æ 


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