I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2592 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants for the establishment 

of State Networks on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics 

Education. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 28, 2013 

Mr. HONDA (for himself, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. 

MCDERMOTT, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. POLIS, Mr. SIRES, and Mr. LANGEVIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants 

for the establishment of State Networks on Science, 

Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education. 

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 Innovation Net5 works Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STATE NETWORKS AND CONSORTIA ON SCIENCE, 

2 TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHE3 MATICS EDUCATION (STEM) INNOVATION 

4 NETWORKS. 

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

6 carry out this section, the Secretary of Education shall 

7 make grants to eligible networks to expand STEM edu8 cation and STEM educator development. 

9 (b) ELIGIBLE NETWORK DEFINED.—In this section, 

10 the term ‘‘eligible network’’ means a State-based STEM 

11 network or similar organization, which— 

12 (1) may include the participation of State offi13 cials, local educational agencies, educators, adminis14 trators, afterschool providers, out of school time edu15 cators, parents, industry leaders, philanthropists, 

16 and representatives from the STEM communities in 

17 partnership with institutions of higher education, 

18 nonprofit organizations, other public agencies, and 

19 businesses; 

20 (2) aims to increase the number of students 

21 who are effectively prepared for postsecondary edu22 cation and careers in STEM fields; 

23 (3) aims to increase student achievement and 

24 experiences in the STEM disciplines at the elemen25 tary schools and secondary schools in its State, and 

26 out of school programs and particularly for students 


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1 with a high concentration of historically underrep2 resented students and at rural schools (within the 

3 meaning of part B of title VI of the Elementary and 

4 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6201 

5 et seq.)); and 

6 (4) aims to increase the number of quality 

7 afterschool programs offering STEM learning oppor8 tunities, particularly for students from populations 

9 traditionally underrepresented in the STEM fields. 

10 (c) ELIGIBLE NETWORK APPLICATION.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible network seeking 

12 a grant under this section shall submit an applica13 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing 

14 such information as the Secretary may reasonably 

15 require. 

16 (2) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—In order to re17 ceive a grant under this section, an eligible network 

18 shall agree to provide, either directly or through pri19 vate contributions, non-Federal matching funds 

20 equal to not less than 30 percent of the amount of 

21 the grant. 

22 (d) USES OF FUNDS.—Each eligible network receiv23 ing a grant under this section shall use the funds to carry 

24 out one or more of the following: 


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1 (1) Testing, validating, sharing, and scaling up 

2 STEM education research, promising practices, and 

3 exemplary programs among members of the network 

4 and with other eligible networks receiving grants 

5 under this section. 

6 (2) Identifying points of weakness and strength 

7 among State STEM education efforts, prioritizing 

8 strategies for addressing problem areas, and commu9 nicating State needs to the Secretary. 

10 (3) Assisting in the implementation of rigorous 

11 career and college ready standards in STEM edu12 cation for grades prekindergarten through grade 12 

13 that reflect and take into consideration— 

14 (A) career and college ready standards in 

15 STEM disciplines; 

16 (B) established international standards 

17 and 21st century skills that include critical 

18 thinking, problem solving, communication, col19 laboration, creativity, and innovation; 

20 (C) the needs of English language learners 

21 and special education students; and 

22 (D) the need to increase STEM literacy of 

23 prekindergarten through grade 12 students. 


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1 (4) Assisting the development of innovative 

2 STEM assessments that measure interest, engage3 ment, and content proficiency. 

4 (5) Supporting the implementation of STEM 

5 assessments that measure career and college ready 

6 standards. 

7 (6) Promoting and developing rigorous under8 graduate pre-service teacher programs in institutions 

9 of higher education that emphasize STEM content 

10 with emphasis on the elementary educator. 

11 (7) Promoting and developing curriculum tools 

12 and professional development for STEM educators 

13 both in school and out of school. 

14 (8) Developing STEM career pathways that re15 flect the projected STEM workforce needs of the 

16 21st century that may include mentoring programs 

17 and STEM professional outreach. 

18 (9) Developing STEM-related education and 

19 workforce training programs in secondary schools 

20 and community colleges to reflect the needs of the 

21 local community. 

22 (10) Developing systems for the implementation 

23 of expanded learning opportunities on school sites to 

24 enhance STEM education inside and outside of the 

25 classroom. 


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1 (11) Promoting, supporting, and designing pro2 grams that develop STEM content coaches and mas3 ter educators in order to strengthen core com4 petencies of the classroom practitioner. 

5 (e) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—Not later than 2 

6 years after receiving a grant under this section, each eligi7 ble network receiving such a grant shall— 

8 (1) conduct periodic independent evaluations, 

9 by grant or by contract, of the eligible network’s ef10 fectiveness at accomplishing the activities described 

11 in this section, which shall include an assessment of 

12 the impact of such activities on STEM teaching and 

13 learning; and 

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

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

16 Secretary and make for dissemination to other 

17 STEM Networks. 

18 (f) PROHIBITIONS.—In implementing this section, 

19 the Secretary may not— 

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

21 curriculum designed for use in any elementary 

22 school, secondary school, or institution of higher 

23 education; or 

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

25 activities that will require the adoption of a specific 


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1 STEM program or instructional materials by a 

2 State, local educational agency, or school. 

3 (g) TOTAL AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—The total amount 

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

5 not exceed $20,000,000. 

6 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) The terms ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘local edu8 cational agency’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and ‘‘State 

9 educational agency’’ have the meanings given such 

10 terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec11 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

12 (2) The term ‘‘high concentration of low-income 

13 students’’ has the meaning given such term in sec14 tion 1707 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu15 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6537). 

16 (3) The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ 

17 has the meaning given such term in section 101 of 

18 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

19 1001). 

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

21 of Education. 

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

23 States of the United States, the District of Colum24 bia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the 

25 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 


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1 American Samoa, and the United States Virgin Is2 lands. 

3 (6) The term ‘‘STEM’’ means science, tech4 nology, engineering, and mathematics. 

5 (7) The term ‘‘STEM education’’ means the 

6 subjects of science, technology, engineering, and 

7 mathematics, including other academic subjects that 

8 build on these disciplines, such as computer science, 

9 and other academic subjects that a State identifies 

10 as important to the workforce of the State. 

11 (8) The term ‘‘21st century readiness initia12 tive’’ means any initiative that— 

13 (A) embeds core academic subjects with 

14 critical skills; and 

15 (B) is focused on ensuring that students 

16 are prepared for postsecondary education and 

17 careers, upon graduation from secondary 

18 school. 

Æ 


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