II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 810 

To establish a laboratory science pilot program at the National Science 

Foundation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2007 

Mr. MENENDEZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a laboratory science pilot program at the 

National Science Foundation. 

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) To remain competitive in science and tech6 nology in the global economy, the United States 

7 must increase the number of students graduating 

8 from high school prepared to pursue postsecondary 

9 education in science, technology, engineering, and 

10 mathematics. 


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1 (2) There is broad agreement in the scientific 

2 community that learning science requires direct in3 volvement by students in scientific inquiry and that 

4 laboratory experience is so integral to the nature of 

5 science that it must be included in every science pro6 gram for every science student. 

7 (3) In America’s Lab Report, the National Re8 search Council concluded that the current quality of 

9 laboratory experiences is poor for most students and 

10 that educators and researchers do not agree on how 

11 to define high school science laboratories or on their 

12 purpose, hampering the accumulation of research on 

13 how to improve labs. 

14 (4) The National Research Council found that 

15 schools with higher concentrations of non-Asian mi16 norities and schools with higher concentrations of 

17 poor students are less likely to have adequate labora18 tory facilities than other schools. 

19 (5) The Government Accountability Office re20 ported that 49.1 percent of schools where the minor21 ity student population is greater than 50.5 percent 

22 reported not meeting functional requirements for 

23 laboratory science well or at all. 

24 (6) 40 percent of those college students who left 

25 the science fields reported some problems related to 


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1 high school science preparation, including lack of 

2 laboratory experience and no introduction to theo3 retical or to analytical modes of thought. 

4 (7) It is the national interest for the Federal 

5 Government to invest in research and demonstration 

6 projects to improve the teaching of laboratory 

7 science in the Nation’s high schools. 

8 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM. 

9 Section 8(8) of the National Science Foundation Au10 thorization Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–368) is amend11 ed— 

12 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through 

13 (F) as clauses (i) through (vi), respectively, and in14 denting appropriately; 

15 (2) by moving the flush language at the end 2 

16 ems to the right; 

17 (3) in the flush language at the end, by striking 

18 ‘‘paragraph’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph’’; 

19 (4) by striking ‘‘INITIATIVE.—A program of’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘INITIATIVE.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A program of’’; and 

22 (5) by inserting at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(B) PILOT PROGRAM.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In accordance 

25 with subparagraph (A)(v), the Director 


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1 shall establish a pilot program designated 

2 as ‘Partnerships for Access to Laboratory 

3 Science’ to award grants to partnerships to 

4 improve laboratories and provide instru5 mentation as part of a comprehensive pro6 gram to enhance the quality of mathe7 matics, science, engineering, and tech8 nology instruction at the secondary school 

9 level. Grants under this subparagraph may 

10 be used for— 

11 ‘‘(I) purchase, rental, or leasing 

12 of equipment, instrumentation, and 

13 other scientific educational materials; 

14 ‘‘(II) maintenance, renovation, 

15 and improvement of laboratory facili16 ties; 

17 ‘‘(III) professional development 

18 and training for teachers; 

19 ‘‘(IV) development of instruc20 tional programs designed to integrate 

21 the laboratory experience with class22 room instruction and to be consistent 

23 with State mathematics and science 

24 academic achievement standards; 


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1 ‘‘(V) training in laboratory safety 

2 for school personnel; 

3 ‘‘(VI) design and implementation 

4 of hands-on laboratory experiences to 

5 encourage the interest of individuals 

6 identified in section 33 or 34 of the 

7 Science and Engineering Equal Op8 portunities Act (42 U.S.C. 1885a or 

9 1885b) in mathematics, science, engi10 neering, and technology and help pre11 pare such individuals to pursue post12 secondary studies in these fields; and 

13 ‘‘(VII) assessment of the activi14 ties funded under this subparagraph. 

15 ‘‘(ii) PARTNERSHIP.—Grants awarded 

16 under clause (i) shall be to a partnership 

17 that— 

18 ‘‘(I) includes an institution of 

19 higher education or a community col20 lege; 

21 ‘‘(II) includes a high-need local 

22 educational agency; 

23 ‘‘(III) includes a business or eli24 gible nonprofit organization; and 


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1 ‘‘(IV) may include a State edu2 cational agency, other public agency, 

3 National Laboratory, or community4 based organization. 

5 ‘‘(iii) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal 

6 share of the cost of activities carried out 

7 using amounts from a grant under clause 

8 (i) shall not exceed 50 percent.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. REPORT. 

10 The Director of the National Science Foundation 

11 shall evaluate the effectiveness of activities carried out 

12 under the pilot projects funded by the grant program es13 tablished pursuant to the amendment made by section 2 

14 in improving student performance in mathematics, 

15 science, engineering, and technology. A report docu16 menting the results of that evaluation shall be submitted 

17 to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor18 tation and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

19 and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Science 

20 and Technology of the House of Representatives not later 

21 than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act. The 

22 report shall identify best practices and materials developed 

23 and demonstrated by grant awardees. 


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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na3 tional Science Foundation to carry out this Act and the 

4 amendments made by this Act $5,000,000 for fiscal year 

5 2008, and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 

6 3 succeeding fiscal years. 

Æ 


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