I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1669

To establish a Science and Mathematics Early Start Grant program, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 18, 1995

Ms. FURSE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Economic and Educational Opportunities

A BILL

To establish a Science and Mathematics Early Start Grant

program, 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 ‘‘Science and Mathe5 matics Early Start Grant Program Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

8 (1) preschoolers from low-income families have

9 very limited opportunities to be exposed to science

10 and mathematics activities;
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1 (2) preschoolers from low-income families need

2 basic, age-appropriate science and mathematics ex3 periences in order to develop educationally at a nor4 mal rate;

5 (3) most preschool teachers have little experi6 ence with simple science and mathematics activities;

7 (4) attainment of the National Education Goal

8 that calls for United States students to be first in

9 the world in mathematics and science achievement

10 will require a comprehensive, age-appropriate science

11 and mathematics program for preschoolers from low12 income families;

13 (5) long-term efforts to train preschool teachers

14 to use science and mathematics activities have been

15 limited in number; and

16 (6) the long-term efforts to train preschool

17 teachers to use science and mathematics activities

18 that have been implemented have shown significant

19 positive results.

20 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide

21 Head Start teachers with training programs directed to22 ward the use of age-appropriate science and mathematics

23 activities in order to increase their students’ interest in

24 and familiarity with science and mathematics. All students

25 should have a basic exposure to science and mathematics
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1 activities in order to move the Nation toward the National

2 Goal that United States students will be first in the world

3 in mathematics and science achievement.

4 SEC. 3. MODEL SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS EARLY START

5 PROGRAMS FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF

6 SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS IN EARLY

7 CHILDHOOD EDUCATION.

8 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Health

9 and Human Services (hereafter referred to in this Act as

10 the ‘‘Secretary’’) may award grants, to be known as

11 Science and Mathematics Early Start Grants, to organiza12 tions to enable such organizations to support model pro13 grams that provide instruction to Head Start personnel

14 regarding the introduction of science and mathematics ac15 tivities to children enrolled in Head Start programs.

16 (b) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec17 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to applicants that

18 demonstrate the ability to—

19 (1) provide teacher training programs that in20 volve participants in hands-on activities similar to

21 activities that are intended for students;

22 (2) attract broad teacher participation;

23 (3) use experienced teachers as instructors;

24 (4) provide the materials required by the activi25 ties described in paragraph (1), but not commonly
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1 found in Head Start classrooms, except that not

2 more than 25 percent of the funds awarded for each

3 fiscal year to any organization for a model program

4 shall be used to carry out this paragraph;

5 (5) provide for periodic followup activities con6 ducted, at minimum, during a 6-month period; and

7 (6) provide teachers with college or university

8 experience and credits.

9 (c) DISSEMINATION.—Each recipient of a grant

10 under this section shall report the results of the model

11 program to the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for

12 Mathematics and Science Education in an appropriate for13 mat for dissemination.

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

15 are authorized to be appropriated $4,000,000 for fiscal

16 year 1996, and such sums as may be necessary for each

17 of the fiscal years 1997 through 2000, to carry out this

18 section.

19 (e) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—The Secretary shall

20 evaluate, and report to the Congress every 2 years (begin21 ning 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act) re22 garding, the activities assisted under this section.

23 SEC. 4. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUNDING.

24 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may

25 award grants to each of the ten regional Head Start agen-
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1 cies for the purpose of improving teaching and learning

2 through sustained and intensive high-quality professional

3 development activities in science and mathematics at the

4 region and local agency levels.

5 (b) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—

6 (1) REGIONAL ALLOCATION.—From the

7 amounts appropriated for a fiscal year under sub8 section (f), the Secretary shall allot to each of the

9 ten regional Head Start agencies an amount that

10 bears the same ratio to the amount appropriated as

11 the number of children enrolled in the Head Start

12 programs administered by the regional agency bears

13 to the number of children enrolled in all Head Start

14 programs, as determined by the Secretary on the

15 basis of the most recent satisfactory data. In making

16 determinations under this paragraph, the Secretary

17 shall establish a per child ratio amount.

18 (2) REALLOCATION.—With respect to the allot19 ment of any regional agency that fails to apply for

20 an allotment for any fiscal year, the Secretary shall

21 reallot such amount to the remaining regional agen22 cies in proportion to the original allotment to such

23 agencies.
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1 (c) WITHIN-REGION ALLOCATIONS.—Of the amounts

2 received by a regional agency under this section for any

3 fiscal year—

4 (1) not less than 90 percent of such amounts

5 shall be made available for local permissible activi6 ties (hereafter referred to in this Act as ‘‘flow7 through funds’’); and

8 (2) not to exceed 10 percent of such amounts

9 may be retained by the regional agency, of which—

10 (A) not to exceed 3 percent of such

11 amounts may be used for the administrative

12 costs of the regional agency; and

13 (B) the remaining amounts shall be used

14 to fund or expand exemplary and innovative

15 science and mathematics professional develop16 ment programs.

17 (d) LOCAL PLAN AND APPLICATION FOR IMPROVING

18 MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE TEACHING AND LEARN19 ING.—

20 (1) LOCAL APPLICATION.—

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—A local Head Start

22 agency that desires to receive a grant under

23 this section shall prepare and submit to the ap24 propriate regional Head Start agency an appli-
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1 cation (singly or as a consortium) at such time

2 as the regional agency shall require.

3 (B) INDICATORS.—As part of an applica4 tion submitted under subparagraph (a), a local

5 Head Start agency shall establish specific goals

6 and objectives for improving mathematics and

7 science teaching and learning through profes8 sional development.

9 (2) NEEDS ASSESSMENT.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—As part of an applica11 tion submitted under paragraph (1), a local

12 Head Start agency shall include an assessment

13 of local needs for professional development as

14 identified by the local Head Start agency and

15 staff.

16 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—A needs assessment

17 to be included in an application under subpara18 graph (A) shall be carried out with the involve19 ment of teachers, and shall take into account

20 the activities that need to be conducted in order

21 to give teachers and, where appropriate, admin22 istrators, the means, including the knowledge

23 and skills, to provide Head Start children with

24 the opportunity to develop a strong foundation

25 in mathematics and science.
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1 (3) APPLICATION CONTENTS.—An application

2 submitted under this section shall include the plans

3 of the local Head Start agency for professional de4 velopment that—

5 (A) focus on teaching and learning in

6 mathematics and science;

7 (B) have been developed with the extensive

8 participation of Head Start teachers, adminis9 trators, staff, and pupil services personnel;

10 (C) include a time line for the professional

11 development activities indicating duration and

12 schedule; and

13 (D) will be periodically reviewed and re14 vised by the local Head Start agency, as nec15 essary, to reflect changes in the strategies and

16 programs of the local Head Start agency under

17 this section.

18 (e) LOCAL ALLOCATION OF FUNDS AND PERMIS19 SIBLE ACTIVITIES.—

20 (1) AMOUNT OF ALLOCATION.—The maximum

21 amount of a grant for which a local Head Start

22 agency may apply under this section shall equal the

23 product of—

24 (A) the number of children served by the

25 local agency; and
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1 (B) the per child ratio amount determined

2 under subsection (b)(1).

3 (2) REALLOCATION.—If a local Head Start

4 agency does not apply for a grant prior to the grant

5 allocation deadline that is established by the regional

6 Head Start agency involved, the regional agency

7 shall reallocate the amount that any such local agen8 cy would have received to the remaining local agen9 cies in proportion to their original grant allocations.

10 (3) LOCAL ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—A local

11 Head Start agency that receives a grant under this

12 section for any fiscal year—

13 (A) shall use not less than 70 percent of

14 the amount received under such grant for the

15 professional development of teachers, and,

16 where appropriate, administrators, and, where

17 appropriate, pupil services personnel, parents,

18 and other staff of individual schools to pay for

19 direct program costs to include—

20 (i) stipends;

21 (ii) tuition, registrations, and fees;

22 (iii) related travel, food, and lodging;

23 (iv) child care; and

24 (v) training supplies, books, and ma25 terials; and
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1 (B) may use not to exceed 30 percent of

2 the amount received under such grant for math3 ematics and science classroom supplies, equip4 ment, and materials.

5 (4) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—A local Head Start

7 agency that receives a grant under this section

8 shall use amounts received under such grant for

9 activities that give Head Start teachers and ad10 ministrators the knowledge and skills to provide

11 children with the opportunity to develop a

12 strong foundation in mathematics and science.

13 (B) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVI14 TIES.—Professional development activities fund15 ed under this section shall—

16 (i) take into account recent research

17 on the teaching and learning of mathe18 matics and science;

19 (ii) provide professional development

20 that incorporates effective strategies, tech21 niques, methods, and practices for meeting

22 the educational needs of diverse groups of

23 students, including females, minorities,

24 children with disabilities, limited English
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1 proficient children, and economically dis2 advantaged children;

3 (iii) include preparation for future

4 mathematics and science content and peda5 gogical components; and

6 (iv) be of sufficient intensity and du7 ration to have a positive and lasting im8 pact on the Head Start teacher’s perform9 ance in the classroom.

10 (C) ACTIVITIES.—Amounts received under

11 a grant under this section may be used for pro12 fessional development activities such as—

13 (i) professional development for teams

14 of teachers, and, where appropriate, ad15 ministrators, pupil services personnel, or

16 other staff, to support the teaching of

17 mathematics and science using devel18 opmentally appropriate activities;

19 (ii) to enable Head Start teachers and

20 appropriate staff to participate in profes21 sional development in mathematics and

22 science programs that are offered through

23 professional associations, universities, com24 munity-based organizations, and other pro25 viders, such as educational partnership or-
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1 ganizations, science centers, and museums,

2 including financial support and time off;

3 (iii) activities that provide follow up

4 for teachers who have participated in pro5 fessional development activities that are

6 designed to ensure that the knowledge and

7 skills learned by the teacher are imple8 mented in the classroom;

9 (iv) support for partnerships between

10 Head Start agencies, consortia of agencies,

11 and institutions of higher education, in12 cluding schools of education, which shall

13 encourage teachers to participate in inten14 sive, ongoing mathematics and science pro15 grams, both academic and pedagogical, at

16 institutions of higher education;

17 (v) the establishment and mainte18 nance of local professional networks that

19 provide a forum for interaction among

20 teachers and that allow exchange of infor21 mation on advances in mathematics and

22 science content and teaching pedagogy;

23 (vi) professional development to en24 able teachers, and, where appropriate,

25 pupil services personnel and other school
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1 staff, to ensure that females, minorities,

2 limited English proficient children, chil3 dren with disabilities, and the economically

4 disadvantaged have full opportunity to de5 velop a strong foundation in mathematics

6 and science;

7 (vii) preparing teachers, and, where

8 appropriate, pupil services personnel to

9 work with parents and families on foster10 ing student achievement in mathematics

11 and science;

12 (viii) professional development activi13 ties and other support for new teachers as

14 such teachers move into the Head Start

15 classroom to provide practical support and

16 to increase mathematics and science con17 tent and teaching pedagogy for such teach18 ers;

19 (ix) professional development for

20 teachers, parents, early childhood edu21 cators, administrators, and other staff to

22 support activities and services related to

23 preschool transition programs to raise stu24 dent performance in mathematics and

25 science; and
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1 (x) developing professional develop2 ment strategies and programs to more ef3 fectively involve parents in helping their

4 children achieve in mathematics and

5 science.

6 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

7 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section,

8 $6,000,000 for fiscal year 1996, and such sums as may

9 be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1997 through

10 2000.

11 (g) REPORTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY.—

12 (1) REGIONS.—Not later than September 30,

13 1996, and each September 30 thereafter, a regional

14 Head Start agency that receives funds under this

15 section shall prepare and submit to the Secretary a

16 report concerning—

17 (A) the status of the activities and grants

18 completed and currently in operation during the

19 year for which the report is submitted;

20 (B) an evaluation of the implementation of

21 this section; and

22 (C) an evaluation of the effectiveness of

23 local Head Start agency activities assisted

24 under this section.
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1 (2) LOCAL HEAD START AGENCIES.—Not later

2 than 3 months after the conclusion of the grant pe3 riod, the local Head Start agency that receives the

4 grant under this section shall prepare and submit to

5 the appropriate regional Head Start agency a report

6 concerning the progress of such local agency toward

7 meeting the goals and objectives identified in the

8 local application and plan of such local agency, as

9 well as concerning the effectiveness of the activities

10 of the agency under this section.

11 (3) FEDERAL EVALUATION.—Not later than 2

12 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the

13 Secretary shall prepare and submit to the President

14 and the appropriate committees of Congress a report

15 concerning the effectiveness of the programs and ac16 tivities conducted under this section.

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