II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4972 

To direct the Director of the National Science Foundation to support STEM 

education and workforce development research focused on rural areas, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 8, 2020 

Mr. WICKER (for himself and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

A BILL 

To direct the Director of the National Science Foundation 

to support STEM education and workforce development 

research focused on rural areas, 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 ‘‘Rural STEM Edu5 cation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The supply of STEM workers is not keeping 

9 pace with the rapidly evolving needs of the public 


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1 and private sector, resulting in a deficit often re2 ferred to as a STEM skills shortage. 

3 (2) According to the Bureau of Labor Statis4 tics, the United States will need 1,000,000 more 

5 STEM professionals than the United States is on 

6 track to produce in the coming decade. 

7 (3) Many STEM occupations offer higher 

8 wages, more opportunities for advancement, and a 

9 higher degree of job security than non-STEM jobs. 

10 (4) The 60,000,000 individuals in the United 

11 States who live in rural settings are significantly 

12 under-represented in STEM. 

13 (5) According to the National Center for Edu14 cation Statistics, 9,000,000 students in the United 

15 States, an amount equal to nearly 20 percent of the 

16 total population of students in kindergarten through 

17 grade 12, attend rural schools, and for reasons rang18 ing from teacher quality to shortages of resources, 

19 these students often have fewer opportunities for 

20 high-quality STEM learning than their peers in the 

21 Nation’s urban and suburban schools. 

22 (6) Rural areas represent one of the most 

23 promising, yet underutilized, opportunities for 

24 STEM education to impact workforce development 

25 and regional innovation, including agriculture. 


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1 (7) The study of agriculture, food, and natural 

2 resources involves biology, engineering, physics, 

3 chemistry, mathematics, geology, computer science, 

4 and other scientific fields. 

5 (8) It is estimated that by 2020 that there will 

6 be a projected 1,000,000 more computing jobs than 

7 applicants who can fill them. To meet this demand, 

8 rural students must acquire computing skills 

9 through exposure to computer science learning in 

10 prekindergarten through grade 12 and in informal 

11 learning settings. 

12 (9) More than 293,000,000 individuals in the 

13 United States use high-speed broadband to work, 

14 learn, access healthcare, and operate their busi15 nesses, while 19,000,000 individuals in the United 

16 States still lack access to high-speed broadband. 

17 Rural areas are hardest hit, with over 26 percent of 

18 individuals in rural areas in the United States lack19 ing access to high-speed broadband compared to 1.7 

20 percent of individuals in urban areas in the United 

21 States. 

22 SEC. 3. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION RURAL STEM AC23 TIVITIES. 

24 (a) PREPARING RURAL STEM EDUCATORS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall provide 

2 grants on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis to in3 stitutions of higher education or nonprofit organiza4 tions (or a consortium thereof) for research and de5 velopment to advance innovative approaches to sup6 port and sustain high-quality STEM teaching in 

7 rural schools. 

8 (2) USE OF FUNDS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded under 

10 this subsection shall be used for the research 

11 and development activities referred to in para12 graph (1), which may include— 

13 (i) engaging rural educators of stu14 dents in prekindergarten through grade 12 

15 in professional learning opportunities to 

16 enhance STEM knowledge, including com17 puter science, and develop best practices; 

18 (ii) supporting research on effective 

19 STEM teaching practices in rural settings, 

20 including the use of rubrics and mastery21 based grading practices to assess student 

22 performance when employing the transdis23 ciplinary teaching approach for STEM dis24 ciplines; 


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1 (iii) designing and developing pre2 service and in-service training resources to 

3 assist such rural educators in adopting 

4 transdisciplinary teaching practices across 

5 STEM courses; 

6 (iv) coordinating with local partners 

7 to adapt STEM teaching practices to lever8 age local natural and community assets in 

9 order to support in-place learning in rural 

10 areas; 

11 (v) providing hands-on training and 

12 research opportunities for rural educators 

13 described in clause (i) at Federal labora14 tories, institutions of higher education, or 

15 in industry; 

16 (vi) developing training and best prac17 tices for educators who teach multiple 

18 grade levels within a STEM discipline; 

19 (vii) designing and implementing pro20 fessional development courses and experi21 ences, including mentoring, for rural edu22 cators described in clause (i) that combine 

23 face-to-face and online experiences; and 


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1 (viii) any other activity the Director 

2 determines will accomplish the goals of this 

3 subsection. 

4 (B) RURAL STEM COLLABORATIVE.—The 

5 Director shall establish a pilot program of re6 gional cohorts in rural areas that will provide 

7 peer support, mentoring, and hands-on research 

8 experiences for rural STEM educators of stu9 dents in prekindergarten through grade 12, in 

10 order to build an ecosystem of cooperation 

11 among educators, researchers, academia, and 

12 local industry. 

13 (b) BROADENING PARTICIPATION OF RURAL STU14 DENTS IN STEM.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall provide 

16 grants on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis to in17 stitutions of higher education or nonprofit organiza18 tions (or a consortium thereof) for— 

19 (A) research and development of program20 ming to identify the barriers rural students face 

21 in accessing high-quality STEM education; and 

22 (B) development of innovative solutions to 

23 improve the participation and advancement of 

24 rural students in prekindergarten through 

25 grade 12 in STEM studies. 


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1 (2) USE OF FUNDS.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded under 

3 this subsection shall be used for the research 

4 and development activities referred to in para5 graph (1), which may include— 

6 (i) developing partnerships with com7 munity colleges to offer advanced STEM 

8 course work, including computer science, to 

9 rural high school students; 

10 (ii) supporting research on effective 

11 STEM practices in rural settings; 

12 (iii) implementing a school-wide 

13 STEM approach; 

14 (iv) improving the National Science 

15 Foundation’s Advanced Technology Edu16 cation program’s coordination and engage17 ment with rural communities; 

18 (v) collaborating with existing commu19 nity partners and networks, such as the 

20 Cooperative Extension System services and 

21 extramural research programs of the De22 partment of Agriculture and youth serving 

23 organizations like 4–H, after school STEM 

24 programs, and summer STEM programs, 


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1 to leverage community resources and de2 velop place-based programming; 

3 (vi) connecting rural school districts 

4 and institutions of higher education, to im5 prove precollegiate STEM education and 

6 engagement; 

7 (vii) supporting partnerships that 

8 offer hands-on inquiry-based science activi9 ties, including coding, and access to lab re10 sources for students studying STEM in 

11 prekindergarten through grade 12 in a 

12 rural area; 

13 (viii) evaluating the role of broadband 

14 connectivity and its associated impact on 

15 the STEM and technology literacy of rural 

16 students; 

17 (ix) building capacity to support ex18 tracurricular STEM programs in rural 

19 schools, including mentor-led engagement 

20 programs, STEM programs held during 

21 nonschool hours, STEM networks, maker22 spaces, coding activities, and competitions; 

23 and 


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1 (x) any other activity the Director de2 termines will accomplish the goals of this 

3 subsection. 

4 (c) APPLICATION.—An applicant seeking a grant 

5 under subsection (a) or (b) shall submit an application at 

6 such time, in such manner, and containing such informa7 tion as the Director may require. The application may in8 clude the following: 

9 (1) A description of the target population to be 

10 served by the research activity or activities for which 

11 such grant is sought. 

12 (2) A description of the process for recruitment 

13 and selection of students, educators, or schools from 

14 rural areas to participate in such activity or activi15 ties. 

16 (3) A description of how such activity or activi17 ties may inform efforts to promote the engagement 

18 and achievement of rural students in prekinder19 garten through grade 12 in STEM studies. 

20 (4) In the case of a proposal consisting of a 

21 partnership or partnerships with one or more rural 

22 schools and one or more researchers, a plan for es23 tablishing a sustained partnership that is jointly de24 veloped and managed, draws from the capacities of 

25 each partner, and is mutually beneficial. 


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1 (d) PARTNERSHIPS.—In awarding grants under sub2 section (a) or (b), the Director shall— 

3 (1) encourage applicants which, for the purpose 

4 of the activity or activities funded through the grant, 

5 include or partner with a nonprofit organization or 

6 an institution of higher education (or a consortium 

7 thereof) that has extensive experience and expertise 

8 in increasing the participation of rural students in 

9 prekindergarten through grade 12 in STEM; 

10 (2) encourage applicants which, for the purpose 

11 of the activity or activities funded through the grant, 

12 include or partner with a consortium of rural schools 

13 or rural school districts; and 

14 (3) encourage applications which, for the pur15 pose of the activity or activities funded through the 

16 grant, include commitments from school principals 

17 and administrators to making reforms and activities 

18 proposed by the applicant a priority. 

19 (e) EVALUATIONS.—All proposals for grants under 

20 subsections (a) and (b) shall include an evaluation plan 

21 that includes the use of outcome-oriented measures to as22 sess the impact and efficacy of the grant. Each recipient 

23 of a grant under this section shall include results from 

24 these evaluative activities in annual and final projects. 

25 (f) ACCOUNTABILITY AND DISSEMINATION.— 


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1 (1) EVALUATION REQUIRED.—The Director 

2 shall evaluate the portfolio of grants awarded under 

3 subsections (a) and (b). Such evaluation shall— 

4 (A) use a common set of benchmarks and 

5 tools to assess the results of research conducted 

6 under such grants and identify best practices; 

7 and 

8 (B) to the extent practicable, integrate the 

9 findings of research resulting from the activity 

10 or activities funded through such grants with 

11 the findings of other research on rural student’s 

12 pursuit of degrees or careers in STEM. 

13 (2) REPORT ON EVALUATIONS.—Not later than 

14 180 days after the completion of the evaluation 

15 under paragraph (1), the Director shall submit to 

16 Congress and make widely available to the public a 

17 report that includes— 

18 (A) the results of the evaluation; and 

19 (B) any recommendations for administra20 tive and legislative action that could optimize 

21 the effectiveness of the grants awarded under 

22 this section. 

23 (g) REPORT BY COMMITTEE ON EQUAL OPPORTUNI24 TIES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—As part of the first report 

2 required by section 36(e) of the Science and Engi3 neering Equal Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 1885c(e)) transmitted to Congress after the date of 

5 enactment of this Act, the Committee on Equal Op6 portunities in Science and Engineering shall in7 clude— 

8 (A) a description of past and present poli9 cies and activities of the Foundation to encour10 age full participation of students in rural com11 munities in science, mathematics, engineering, 

12 and computer science fields; and 

13 (B) an assessment of trends in participa14 tion of rural students in prekindergarten 

15 through grade 12 in Foundation activities, and 

16 an assessment of the policies and activities of 

17 the Foundation, along with proposals for new 

18 strategies or the broadening of existing success19 ful strategies towards facilitating the goals of 

20 this Act. 

21 (2) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 313 of the 

23 American Innovation and Competitiveness Act 

24 (Public Law 114–329) is amended by striking 

25 ‘‘Section 204(e) of the National Science FounVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Dec 12, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4972.IS S4972

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1 dation Authorization Act of 1988’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘Section 36(e) of the Science and Engineer3 ing Equal Opportunities Act’’. 

4 (B) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment 

5 made by paragraph (1) shall take effect as if 

6 included in the enactment of section 313 of the 

7 American Innovation and Competitiveness Act 

8 (Public Law 114–329). 

9 (h) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, the 

10 Director shall, for purposes of enhancing program effec11 tiveness and avoiding duplication of activities, consult, co12 operate, and coordinate with the programs and policies of 

13 other relevant Federal agencies. 

14 SEC. 4. OPPORTUNITIES FOR ONLINE EDUCATION. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall award competi16 tive grants to institutions of higher education or nonprofit 

17 organizations (or a consortium thereof, which may include 

18 a private sector partner) to conduct research on online 

19 STEM education courses for rural communities. 

20 (b) RESEARCH AREAS.—The research areas eligible 

21 for funding under this section shall include— 

22 (1) evaluating the learning and achievement of 

23 rural students in prekindergarten through grade 12 

24 in STEM subjects; 


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1 (2) understanding how computer-based and on2 line professional development courses and mentor ex3 periences can be integrated to meet the needs of 

4 educators of rural students in prekindergarten 

5 through grade 12; 

6 (3) combining computer-based and online 

7 STEM education and training with apprenticeships, 

8 mentoring, or other applied learning arrangements; 

9 (4) leveraging online programs to supplement 

10 STEM studies for rural students that need physical 

11 and academic accommodation; and 

12 (5) any other activity the Director determines 

13 will accomplish the goals of this section. 

14 (c) EVALUATIONS.—All proposals for grants under 

15 this section shall include an evaluation plan that includes 

16 the use of outcome-oriented measures to assess the impact 

17 and efficacy of the grant. Each recipient of a grant under 

18 this section shall include results from these evaluative ac19 tivities in annual and final projects. 

20 (d) ACCOUNTABILITY AND DISSEMINATION.— 

21 (1) EVALUATION REQUIRED.—The Director 

22 shall evaluate the portfolio of grants awarded under 

23 this section. Such evaluation shall— 

24 (A) use a common set of benchmarks and 

25 tools to assess the results of research conducted 


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1 under such grants and identify best practices; 

2 and 

3 (B) to the extent practicable, integrate 

4 findings from activities carried out pursuant to 

5 research conducted under this section, with re6 spect to the pursuit of careers and degrees in 

7 STEM, with those activities carried out pursu8 ant to other research on serving rural students 

9 and communities. 

10 (2) REPORT ON EVALUATIONS.—Not later than 

11 180 days after the completion of the evaluation 

12 under paragraph (1), the Director shall submit to 

13 Congress and make widely available to the public a 

14 report that includes— 

15 (A) the results of the evaluation; and 

16 (B) any recommendations for administra17 tive and legislative action that could optimize 

18 the effectiveness of the grants awarded under 

19 this section. 

20 (e) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, the 

21 Director shall, for purposes of enhancing program effec22 tiveness and avoiding duplication of activities, consult, co23 operate, and coordinate with the programs and policies of 

24 other relevant Federal agencies. 


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1 SEC. 5. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES EVALUATION. 

2 (a) STUDY.—Not later than 12 months after the date 

3 of enactment of this Act, the Director shall enter into an 

4 agreement with the National Academy of Sciences under 

5 which the National Academy agrees to conduct an evalua6 tion and assessment that— 

7 (1) evaluates the quality and quantity of cur8 rent Federal programming and research directed at 

9 examining STEM education for students in pre10 kindergarten through grade 12 and workforce devel11 opment in rural areas; 

12 (2) in coordination with the Federal Commu13 nications Commission, assesses the impact the scar14 city of broadband connectivity in rural communities 

15 has on STEM and technical literacy for students in 

16 prekindergarten through grade 12 in rural areas; 

17 (3) assesses the core research and data needed 

18 to understand the challenges rural areas are facing 

19 in providing quality STEM education and workforce 

20 development; and 

21 (4) makes recommendations for action at the 

22 Federal, State, and local levels for improving STEM 

23 education, including online STEM education, for 

24 students in prekindergarten through grade 12 and 

25 workforce development in rural areas. 


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1 (b) REPORT TO DIRECTOR.—The agreement entered 

2 into under subsection (a) shall require the National Acad3 emy of Sciences, not later than 24 months after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act, to submit to the Director a re5 port on the study conducted under such subsection, includ6 ing the National Academy’s findings and recommenda7 tions. 

8 SEC. 6. GAO REVIEW. 

9 Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 

10 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

11 shall conduct a study on the engagement of rural popu12 lations in Federal STEM programs and submit to Con13 gress a report that includes— 

14 (1) an assessment of how Federal STEM edu15 cation programs are serving rural populations; 

16 (2) a description of initiatives carried out by 

17 Federal agencies that are targeted at supporting 

18 STEM education in rural areas; 

19 (3) an assessment of what is known about the 

20 impact and effectiveness of Federal investments in 

21 STEM education programs that are targeted to 

22 rural areas; and 

23 (4) an assessment of challenges that State and 

24 Federal STEM education programs face in reaching 

25 rural population centers. 


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1 SEC. 7. CAPACITY BUILDING THROUGH EPSCOR. 

2 Section 517(f)(2) of the America COMPETES Reau3 thorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 1862p–9(f)(2)) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

6 the end; and 

7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(C) to increase the capacity of rural com9 munities to provide quality STEM education 

10 and STEM workforce development program11 ming to students and teachers; and’’. 

12 SEC. 8. NIST ENGAGEMENT WITH RURAL COMMUNITIES. 

13 (a) MEP OUTREACH.—Section 25 of the National 

14 Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 

15 278k) is amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (c)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘commu18 nity colleges and area career and technical edu19 cation schools’’ and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘secondary schools (as defined in section 8101 

21 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

22 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)), community col23 leges, and area career and technical education 

24 schools, including those in underserved and 

25 rural communities,’’; and 

26 (B) in paragraph (7)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘and local colleges’’ 

2 and inserting the following: ‘‘local high 

3 schools and local colleges, including those 

4 in underserved and rural communities,’’; 

5 and 

6 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or other applied 

7 learning opportunities’’ after ‘‘apprentice8 ships’’; and 

9 (2) in subsection (d)(3) by striking ‘‘, commu10 nity colleges, and area career and technical edu11 cation schools,’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘and 

12 local high schools, community colleges, and area ca13 reer and technical education schools, including those 

14 in underserved and rural communities,’’. 

15 (b) RURAL CONNECTIVITY PRIZE COMPETITION.— 

16 (1) PRIZE COMPETITION.—Pursuant to section 

17 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation 

18 Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719), the Secretary of 

19 Commerce, acting through the Under Secretary of 

20 Commerce for Standards and Technology (referred 

21 to in this subsection as the ‘‘Secretary’’), shall carry 

22 out a program to award prizes competitively to stim23 ulate research and development of creative tech24 nologies in order to deploy affordable and reliable 


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1 broadband connectivity to unserved rural commu2 nities. 

3 (2) PLAN FOR DEPLOYMENT IN RURAL COMMU4 NITIES.—Each proposal submitted pursuant to para5 graph (1) shall include a plan for deployment of the 

6 technology that is the subject of such proposal in an 

7 unserved rural community. 

8 (3) PRIZE AMOUNT.—In carrying out the pro9 gram under paragraph (1), the Secretary may award 

10 not more than a total of $5,000,000 to one or more 

11 winners of the prize competition. 

12 (4) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the 

13 date on which a prize is awarded under the prize 

14 competition, the Secretary shall submit to the rel15 evant committees of Congress a report that describes 

16 the winning proposal of the prize competition. 

17 (5) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the pro18 gram under this subsection, the Secretary shall con19 sult with the Federal Communications Commission 

20 and the heads of relevant departments and agencies 

21 of the Federal Government. 

22 SEC. 9. NITR–D BROADBAND WORKING GROUP. 

23 Title I of the High-Performance Computing Act of 

24 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5511 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

25 the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 103. BROADBAND RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 

2 WORKING GROUP. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish a 

4 broadband research and development working group to ad5 dress national research challenges and opportunities for 

6 improving broadband access and adoption across the 

7 United States. 

8 ‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES.—The working group shall identify 

9 and coordinate key research priorities for addressing 

10 broadband access and adoption, including— 

11 ‘‘(1) promising research areas; 

12 ‘‘(2) requirements for data collection and shar13 ing; 

14 ‘‘(3) opportunities for better alignment and co15 ordination across Federal agencies and external 

16 stakeholders; and 

17 ‘‘(4) input on the development of new Federal 

18 policies and programs to enhance data collection and 

19 research. 

20 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION.—The working group shall co21 ordinate, as appropriate, with the Rural Broadband Inte22 gration Working Group established under section 6214 of 

23 the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Public Law 

24 115–334), the National Institute of Food and Agriculture 

25 of the Department of Agriculture, and the Federal Com26 munications Commission. 


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1 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—The working group shall report to 

2 Congress on their activities as part of the annual report 

3 submitted under section 101(a)(2)(D). 

4 ‘‘(e) SUNSET.—The authority to carry out this sec5 tion shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the 

6 date of enactment of the Rural STEM Education Act.’’. 

7 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

10 the Director of the National Science Foundation es11 tablished under section 2 of the National Science 

12 Foundation Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1861). 

13 (2) FEDERAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Fed14 eral laboratory’’ has the meaning given such term in 

15 section 4 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Inno16 vation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3703). 

17 (3) FOUNDATION.—The term ‘‘Foundation’’ 

18 means the National Science Foundation established 

19 under section 2 of the National Science Foundation 

20 Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1861). 

21 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

22 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

23 meaning given such term in section 101(a) of the 

24 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 


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1 (5) STEM.—The term ‘‘STEM’’ has the mean2 ing given the term in section 2 of the America COM3 PETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 

4 6621 note). 

5 (6) STEM EDUCATION.—The term ‘‘STEM 

6 education’’ has the meaning given the term in sec7 tion 2 of the STEM Education Act of 2015 (42 

8 U.S.C. 6621 note). 

Æ 


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