I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2982 

To direct the Secretary of Education to award grants to State educational 

agencies to develop comprehensive plans to strengthen elementary and 

secondary computer science education, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 2, 2013 

Mr. CA ́RDENAS (for himself and Mr. POLIS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 

and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Education to award grants to 

State educational agencies to develop comprehensive 

plans to strengthen elementary and secondary computer 

science education, 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 ‘‘Computer Science in 

5 STEM Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Computer science is transforming industry, 

4 creating new fields of commerce, driving innovation 

5 in all fields of science, and bolstering productivity in 

6 established economic sectors. 

7 (2) Computer science underpins the information 

8 technology sector of the United States economy, 

9 which is a significant contributor to the economic 

10 output of the United States. 

11 (3) The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 

12 that from 2008 through 2018 more than 1,500,000 

13 high-wage computing jobs will be created in the 

14 United States economy, making high-wage com15 puting one of the fastest growing occupational fields. 

16 (4) The breadth of industries requiring com17 puting professionals is diverse, two-thirds of com18 puting jobs are in sectors other than information 

19 technology, including manufacturing, defense, health 

20 care, finance, and government. 

21 (5) Providing students with computer science 

22 education in elementary and secondary school is crit23 ical for student success in the 21st century and for 

24 strengthening the workforce. 

25 (6) Elementary and secondary computer science 

26 education gives students a deeper knowledge of the 


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1 fundamentals of computing, yielding critical thinking 

2 skills that will serve them throughout their lives in 

3 numerous fields. 

4 (7) Computer science courses in elementary and 

5 secondary schools are fading from the national land6 scape at a time when they are most needed. The 

7 Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) has 

8 found that introductory secondary school computer 

9 science courses have decreased in number by 17 per10 cent since 2005 and the number of Advanced Place11 ment (AP) computer science courses has decreased 

12 by 33 percent. 

13 (8) Significant disparities in access to computer 

14 science education exist for minorities. Research in 

15 the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second 

16 largest and one of the most diverse school districts 

17 in the United States, found college-preparatory com18 puter science courses were commonly missing in 

19 schools with high numbers of Latino and African20 American students. 

21 (9) Only 14 States allow computer science 

22 courses to count toward a student’s secondary school 

23 graduation requirements, chilling student interest in 

24 computer science courses. 


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1 (10) The CSTA has found that many States do 

2 not have a certification or licensure process for com3 puter science teachers, and where certification proc4 esses do exist, such processes often have no connec5 tion to computer science content. 

6 (11) Computer science education has been en7 cumbered by confusion regarding the related but dis8 tinct concepts of computer science education, tech9 nology education, and the use of technology in edu10 cation. 

11 (12) Computer science education courses have 

12 often been placed within the vocational education 

13 pathways in schools, creating a focus on applied in14 formation technology skills rather than a focus on 

15 developing core computer science knowledge. 

16 (13) With the growing importance of computing 

17 in society, the need for students to understand the 

18 fundamentals of computing, and the significant chal19 lenges computer science education faces in elemen20 tary and secondary education, broad support for 

21 computer science education is needed to catalyze re22 form. 


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1 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE AMERICA COMPETES REAU2 THORIZATION ACT OF 2010. 

3 Section 2(2) of the America COMPETES Reauthor4 ization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 6621 note) is amended 

5 by inserting ‘‘, and computer science’’ after ‘‘and mathe6 matics’’. 

7 SEC. 4. STATE COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING GRANTS. 

8 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu9 cation shall award grants to State educational agencies to 

10 develop comprehensive plans to strengthen elementary and 

11 secondary computer science education in accordance with 

12 this section. 

13 (b) OBJECTIVES.—A comprehensive plan developed 

14 under this section shall outline strategies for achieving the 

15 following objectives: 

16 (1) Provide an engaging and rigorous computer 

17 science education intended to ensure students are 

18 prepared for the 21st century. 

19 (2) Assess the State’s needs for computer 

20 science education, particularly for underrepresented 

21 populations. 

22 (3) Ensure access to computer science courses, 

23 particularly at low-performing schools and for low24 income students and students underrepresented in 

25 computing. 


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1 (4) Ensure that students are exposed to grade2 appropriate computer science concepts in kinder3 garten through grade 12 and that computer science 

4 courses at the secondary level are viewed as part of 

5 the core curriculum students need to be ready for 

6 postsecondary education and careers. 

7 (5) Ensure that teachers have the appropriate 

8 background, skills, and access to resources to teach 

9 computer science. 

10 (c) CONTENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE PLANS.—A 

11 State educational agency that receives a grant under sub12 section (a) shall develop a comprehensive plan that meets 

13 the objectives described in subsection (b) and includes the 

14 following: 

15 (1) An assessment of elementary and secondary 

16 computer science education in such State. 

17 (2) Proposals to improve elementary and sec18 ondary computer science education in such State 

19 through the development and implementation of— 

20 (A) challenging and grade-appropriate aca21 demic content standards for computer science 

22 at elementary and secondary education levels; 

23 (B) grade-appropriate assessments of com24 puter science learning; 


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1 (C) programs to increase access to com2 puter science courses for students at low-per3 forming schools and students underrepresented 

4 in computing; 

5 (D) improved computer science teacher 

6 certification or licensure requirements and proc7 esses; 

8 (E) professional development programs for 

9 computer science teachers; and 

10 (F) programs for ensuring that computer 

11 science courses at the secondary level are con12 sidered an integral part of the curriculum stu13 dents need to be well prepared for higher edu14 cation and employment. 

15 (d) CONSULTATION.—In developing a comprehensive 

16 plan under this section, a State educational agency shall 

17 collaborate with representatives of institutions of higher 

18 education, with other interested parties, and, where they 

19 exist in such State, with State P–16 or P–20 councils. 

20 (e) DURATION OF GRANTS.—The Secretary shall 

21 award each grant under subsection (a) for a period of 2 

22 years. 

23 (f) FUNDING STRUCTURE.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

25 grants under subsection (a) proportionally among 


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1 the State educational agencies that apply for grant 

2 funding under this section based on the number of 

3 low-income children served by the State educational 

4 agency compared to the total number of low-income 

5 children served by all of the State educational agen6 cies that apply for grant funding under this section. 

7 (2) COUNTING LOW-INCOME CHILDREN.— 

8 (A) CATEGORIES OF CHILDREN.—The 

9 number of low-income children to be counted 

10 for purposes of this section is the aggregate 

11 of— 

12 (i) the number of children aged 5 to 

13 17, inclusive, in the State from families 

14 below the poverty level, as determined by 

15 the Secretary on the basis of the most re16 cent satisfactory data; 

17 (ii) the number of children (deter18 mined for either the preceding year or for 

19 the second preceding year, as the Secretary 

20 finds appropriate) aged 5 to 17, inclusive, 

21 in the State in institutions for neglected 

22 and delinquent children (other than such 

23 institutions operated by the United 

24 States); and 


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1 (iii) the number of children aged 5 to 

2 17, inclusive, in the State from families 

3 above the poverty level as determined 

4 under paragraph (4)(A) of section 1124(c) 

5 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu6 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6333(c)(4)). 

7 (B) METHODOLOGY.—In making computa8 tions under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

9 shall use the methodology described in para10 graphs (3) through (5) of section 1124(c) of the 

11 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

12 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6333(c)). 

13 (3) MINIMUM GRANT.—Notwithstanding para14 graph (1), each State educational agency approved 

15 by the Secretary to receive a grant under this sec16 tion shall receive a minimum grant of $250,000. 

17 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated such sums as necessary, 

19 subject to the availability of appropriations, to carry out 

20 this section. 

21 SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS. 

22 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall 

23 award grants to State educational agencies in accordance 

24 with this section to implement computer science education 


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1 improvements proposed in comprehensive plans that meet 

2 the requirements of subsections (b) and (c) of section 4. 

3 (b) BENCHMARKS.—Each State educational agency 

4 applying for a grant under this section shall— 

5 (1) develop quantifiable benchmarks for the ac6 tivities supported under such grant, which may in7 clude benchmarks for increasing— 

8 (A) student knowledge and competency of 

9 grade-appropriate computer science concepts; 

10 (B) the number of students that take com11 puter science courses; 

12 (C) the diversity of students who take com13 puter science courses; 

14 (D) the number of students who plan to 

15 pursue postsecondary computer science degrees; 

16 (E) the diversity of students who plan to 

17 pursue postsecondary computer science degrees; 

18 and 

19 (F) the number of teachers who are cer20 tified to teach computer science; and 

21 (2) submit such quantifiable benchmarks to the 

22 Secretary for approval. 

23 (c) ACTIVITIES.—Grant funds received under this 

24 section shall be used by each State educational agency for 

25 the development and implementation of— 


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1 (1) challenging and grade-appropriate academic 

2 content standards for computer science; 

3 (2) grade-appropriate assessments of computer 

4 science learning; 

5 (3) programs to increase access to computer 

6 science courses for students at low-performing 

7 schools and students underrepresented in computing; 

8 (4) improved computer science teacher certifi9 cation requirements and processes; 

10 (5) professional development programs for com11 puter science teachers; 

12 (6) programs for ensuring that computer 

13 science courses at the secondary level are considered 

14 an integral part of the curriculum students need to 

15 be well prepared for higher education and employ16 ment; 

17 (7) effective computer science curricula; 

18 (8) computer science distance learning pro19 grams; and 

20 (9) such other activities that strengthen com21 puter science education and that such State edu22 cational agency considers appropriate. 

23 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—A State edu24 cational agency may use not more than five percent of a 


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1 grant received under this section for administrative ex2 penses. 

3 (e) PARTNERSHIPS.—In performing the activities re4 quired under subsection (c), each State educational agency 

5 shall partner with institutions of higher education and 

6 local educational agencies, and may partner with nonprofit 

7 organizations, businesses, and other State educational 

8 agencies. 

9 (f) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational 

11 agency receiving a grant under this section shall 

12 provide a non-Federal share, in cash or in-kind, of 

13 the funding for the activities described in subsection 

14 (c) of not less than 20 percent of the total cost of 

15 such activities in any fiscal year. 

16 (2) FINANCIAL HARDSHIP WAIVER.—The Sec17 retary may reduce or waive the requirement to pro18 vide a non-Federal share under paragraph (1) for a 

19 State educational agency if such State educational 

20 agency demonstrates a need for such waiver or re21 duction due to extreme financial hardship. 

22 (g) DURATION OF GRANTS.—The Secretary shall 

23 award each grant under subsection (a) for a period of five 

24 years. 


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1 (h) SUBSEQUENT GRANTS.—At the end of the 5-year 

2 period for a grant, the grant recipient may apply for an 

3 additional grant under this section by submitting an up4 dated comprehensive plan that meets the requirements of 

5 subsections (b) and (c) of section 4. In considering an ap6 plication for a subsequent grant under this section, the 

7 Secretary shall take into consideration the reports filed 

8 under subsection (l). 

9 (i) COMPETITIVE BASIS; PRIORITY.—The Secretary 

10 shall— 

11 (1) award grants for a fiscal year on a competi12 tive basis among State educational agencies that 

13 meet the requirements for funding under this sec14 tion; and 

15 (2) give priority to State educational agency 

16 proposals that include an emphasis on serving low17 performing schools and on increasing participation 

18 in computer science by students underrepresented in 

19 computing. 

20 (j) FUNDING PRIORITY.—In allocating grant funds 

21 received under this section, a State educational agency 

22 shall give priority to proposals that include an emphasis 

23 on serving low-performing schools and on increasing par24 ticipation in computer science by students underrep25 resented in computing. 


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1 (k) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds made 

2 available to carry out this section shall be used to supple3 ment, and not supplant, other Federal and State funds 

4 available to carry out the activities described in this sec5 tion. 

6 (l) REPORTS.—Each State educational agency receiv7 ing a grant under this section shall— 

8 (1) measure the progress of such State edu9 cational agency in achieving the benchmarks devel10 oped under subsection (b)(1); 

11 (2) collect data relating to student-related 

12 benchmarks developed under subsection (b)(1) in a 

13 form that is disaggregated by student race, eth14 nicity, gender, disability status, migrant status, 

15 English proficiency status, and low-income status, 

16 except that such disaggregation shall not be required 

17 when the number of students in a category is insuf18 ficient to yield statistically reliable results or the re19 sults would reveal personally identifiable information 

20 about an individual student; 

21 (3) collect such other performance information 

22 as the Secretary may reasonably require for the na23 tional evaluation conducted under section 6; 

24 (4) submit a report to the Secretary addressing 

25 each item in paragraphs (1) through (3) not later 


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1 than four years after the date on which the State 

2 educational agency receives an initial grant under 

3 this section; and 

4 (5) not later than two years after the date of 

5 the submission of the report required under para6 graph (4), and biennially thereafter until the State 

7 educational agency no longer receives grant funding 

8 under this section, submit to the Secretary an up9 date of such report. 

10 (m) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall provide guid11 ance to State educational agencies regarding acceptable 

12 data sources and methodologies for— 

13 (1) establishing performance benchmarks; and 

14 (2) measuring progress by State educational 

15 agencies receiving grants under this section. 

16 SEC. 6. NATIONAL EVALUATION. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not earlier than 4 years after the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall con19 tract with an independent organization for a comprehen20 sive, scientifically valid, and quantitative evaluation of the 

21 performance and effectiveness of the activities funded by 

22 grants received under this Act in improving the availability 

23 and quality of computer science education, the overall par24 ticipation rate of students in computer science courses, 


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1 and the participation rate of students underrepresented in 

2 computing in computer science courses. 

3 (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 5 years 

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec6 retary shall submit to Congress a report on the re7 sults of the evaluation described in subsection (a). 

8 (2) REPORT UPDATES.—Not later than 2 years 

9 after the date on which the Secretary submits the 

10 report required under paragraph (1), and biennially 

11 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress 

12 an update of such report. 

13 SEC. 7. EXPANDING TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAMS 

14 FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE TEACHERS. 

15 (a) SUBPART HEADING.—Part B of title II of the 

16 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

17 U.S.C. 6661 et seq.) is amended by inserting at the end 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘Subpart 2—Model Teacher Preparation Program’’. 

20 (b) COMPUTER SCIENCE MODEL TEACHER PREPA21 RATION PROGRAM.—Insert after the subpart 2 heading 

22 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 2211. COMPUTER SCIENCE MODEL TEACHER PREPA2 RATION PROGRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary is authorized 

4 to award grants to institutions of higher education to im5 prove training for elementary school and secondary school 

6 computer science teachers. 

7 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary shall award a 

8 grant under this section to an institution of higher edu9 cation that— 

10 ‘‘(1) has, at minimum— 

11 ‘‘(A) a program in teacher education; and 

12 ‘‘(B) a program in computer science or 

13 informatics; and 

14 ‘‘(2) submits an application at such time, in 

15 such form, and containing such information and as16 surances as the Secretary may require. 

17 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—An institution of higher edu18 cation that receives a grant under the section shall use 

19 the grant funds to carry out not less than one of the fol20 lowing activities: 

21 ‘‘(1) Develop courses for undergraduate stu22 dents that— 

23 ‘‘(A) prepare such students to teach com24 puter science in elementary schools and sec25 ondary schools; 


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1 ‘‘(B) address content and pedagogy in 

2 informatics or computer science education; and 

3 ‘‘(C) engage the teacher education depart4 ment and other relevant departments at the in5 stitution of higher education. 

6 ‘‘(2) Develop and fund teacher mentoring pro7 grams to support elementary school and secondary 

8 school computer science teachers who are new to the 

9 profession. 

10 ‘‘(d) DURATION OF GRANTS.—Each grant awarded 

11 by the Secretary under this section shall be for a period 

12 of 5 years. 

13 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the 

14 conclusion of the grant period described under subsection 

15 (d), an institution of higher education that receives a 

16 grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary and 

17 Congress a report that— 

18 ‘‘(1) identifies the number of teachers served 

19 under the grant; 

20 ‘‘(2) identifies the number of teachers described 

21 in paragraph (1) who obtain a teaching position in 

22 a computer science classroom; and 

23 ‘‘(3) evaluates the activities carried out under 

24 this section.’’. 


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1 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

2 for such Act is amended by inserting before the item relat3 ing to part C of title II the following: 

‘‘SUBPART 2—MODEL TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAM

‘‘Sec. 2211. Computer science model teacher preparation program.’’. 

4 SEC. 8. COMPUTER SCIENCE IN THE ROBERT NOYCE 

5 TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. 

6 Section 10 of the National Science Foundation Au7 thorization Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 1862n–1) is amend8 ed— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘and mathematics’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘mathematics, informatics, and computer 

11 science’’ in each place it appears; 

12 (2) in subsection (a)(3)(B), by striking ‘‘or 

13 mathematics’’ and inserting ‘‘mathematics, 

14 informatics, and computer science’’; 

15 (3) in subsections (b)(1)(D)(i), (c)(1)(A), 

16 (d)(1), and (i)(7) by striking ‘‘or mathematics’’ in 

17 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘mathematics, 

18 informatics, or computer science’’; and 

19 (4) in subsection (i)(5), by striking ‘‘or mathe20 matics’’ and inserting ‘‘mathematics, or computer 

21 science’’. 

22 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 


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1 (1) COMPUTER SCIENCE.—The term ‘‘computer 

2 science’’ means the study of computers and algo3 rithmic processes and includes the study of com4 puting principles, computer hardware and software 

5 design, computer applications, and the impact of 

6 computers on society. 

7 (2) COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION.—The 

8 term ‘‘computer science education’’ includes com9 puting education in any of the following: 

10 (A) Software design. 

11 (B) Hardware design. 

12 (C) Creation of digital artifacts. 

13 (D) Abstraction. 

14 (E) Logic. 

15 (F) Algorithm development and implemen16 tation. 

17 (G) Programming paradigms and lan18 guages. 

19 (H) Theoretical foundations. 

20 (I) Networks. 

21 (J) Graphics. 

22 (K) Databases and information retrieval. 

23 (L) Information security and privacy. 

24 (M) Artificial intelligence. 


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1 (N) The relationship between computing 

2 and mathematics. 

3 (O) The limits of computation. 

4 (P) Applications in information technology 

5 and information systems. 

6 (Q) The social impacts of computing. 

7 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

9 meaning given that term in section 101(a) of the 

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

11 (4) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

12 ‘‘local educational agency’’— 

13 (A) subject to subparagraph (B), has the 

14 meaning given that term in section 9101(26) of 

15 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

16 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(26)); and 

17 (B) includes any charter school (as defined 

18 in section 5210(1) of the Elementary and Sec19 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

20 7221i(1))) that constitutes a local educational 

21 agency under State law. 

22 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

23 the Secretary of Education. 

24 (6) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

25 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given 


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1 that term in section 9101(41) of the Elementary 

2 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

3 7801(41)). 

4 (7) STUDENTS UNDERREPRESENTED IN COM5 PUTING.—The term ‘‘students underrepresented in 

6 computing’’— 

7 (A) means populations historically under8 represented in computer science disciplines; and 

9 (B) includes females, racial minorities, and 

10 low-income students. 

Æ 


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