II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1609 

To provide support for the development of middle school career exploration 

programs linked to career and technical education programs of study. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 18, 2015 

Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. CASEY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. 

WARNER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

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

A BILL 

To provide support for the development of middle school 

career exploration programs linked to career and technical education programs of study. 

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 ‘‘Middle School Tech5 nical Education Program Act’’ or the ‘‘Middle School 

6 STEP Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Career and technical education prepares 

2 students to be college and career ready by providing 

3 core academic, technical, and employability skills. 

4 (2) Eighty percent of students taking a college 

5 preparatory academic curriculum with rigorous ca6 reer and technical education courses met college and 

7 career readiness goals, compared to 63 percent of 

8 students taking the same academic core who did not 

9 experience rigorous career and technical education 

10 courses. 

11 (3) Students concentrating in career and tech12 nical education improved their 12th grade National 

13 Assessment of Educational Progress scores by 8 

14 points in reading and 11 points in mathematics, 

15 while students who took no career and technical edu16 cation courses did not increase their mathematics 

17 scores and only increased reading scores by 4 points. 

18 (4) The average high school graduation rate in 

19 2012 for students concentrating in career and tech20 nical education programs was 93 percent, compared 

21 to the average nationwide high school graduation 

22 rate of 80 percent. 

23 (5) Partnerships between businesses and edu24 cators help adults build academic, technical, and emVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Jun 22, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1609.IS S1609

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1 ployability skills through education and on-the-job 

2 training. 

3 SEC. 3. PURPOSE AND DEFINITIONS. 

4 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to support 

5 the development of middle school career exploration pro6 grams linked to career and technical education programs 

7 of study. 

8 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

9 (1) CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION EX10 PLORATION PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘career and tech11 nical education exploration program’’ means a pro12 gram that is developed through an organized, sys13 temic framework and is designed to aid students in 

14 making informed plans and decisions about future 

15 education and career opportunities and enrollment in 

16 career and technical education programs of study. 

17 (2) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘eligi18 ble partnership’’ means an entity that— 

19 (A) shall include— 

20 (i) not less than 1 local educational 

21 agency that receives funding under section 

22 131 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and 

23 Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 

24 U.S.C. 2351), or an area career and techVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:56 Jun 22, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1609.IS S1609

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1 nical education school or educational serv2 ice agency described in such section; 

3 (ii) not less than 1 eligible institution 

4 that receives funding under section 132 of 

5 the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical 

6 Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2352); 

7 and 

8 (iii) not less than 1 representative of 

9 either a local or regional business, indus10 try, nonprofit organization, or apprentice11 ship program; and 

12 (B) may include other representatives of 

13 the community, including representatives of 

14 parents’ organizations, labor organizations, 

15 nonprofit organizations, employers, and rep16 resentatives of local workforce development 

17 boards (established under subtitle A of title I of 

18 the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 

19 Act). 

20 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

21 the Secretary of Education. 

22 SEC. 4. CAREER EXPLORATION PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT 

23 GRANTS. 

24 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary shall create a 

25 pilot program to support the establishment of career and 


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1 technical education exploration programs. In carrying out 

2 the pilot program, the Secretary shall award grants to eli3 gible partnerships to enable the eligible partnerships to de4 velop middle school career and technical education explo5 ration programs that are aligned with career and technical 

6 education programs of study described in section 

7 122(c)(1)(A) of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical 

8 Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2342(c)(1)(A)). 

9 (b) GRANT DURATION.—Grants awarded under this 

10 Act shall be for a period of not more than 4 years. 

11 (c) APPLICATION.—An eligible partnership seeking a 

12 grant under this section shall submit an application to the 

13 Secretary at such time and in such manner as the Sec14 retary may require. Each application shall include— 

15 (1) a description of the partner entities com16 prising the eligible partnership, the roles and respon17 sibilities of each partner, and a demonstration of 

18 each partner’s capacity to support the program; 

19 (2) a description of how the eligible partnership 

20 will use grant funds to carry out each of the activi21 ties described under subsection (e); 

22 (3) a description of how the middle school ca23 reer and technical education exploration program 

24 aligns to regional economies and local emerging 

25 workforce needs; 


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1 (4) a description of how the new middle school 

2 career and technical education exploration program 

3 is linked to— 

4 (A) 1 or more career and technical edu5 cation programs of study offered by the agency 

6 or school described in section 3(b)(2)(A)(i); and 

7 (B) 1 or more career and technical edu8 cation programs of study offered by the postsec9 ondary institution described in section 

10 3(b)(2)(A)(ii); 

11 (5) a description of the students that will be 

12 served by the middle school career and technical 

13 education exploration program; 

14 (6) a description of how the middle school ca15 reer and technical education exploration program 

16 funded by the grant will be replicable; 

17 (7) a description of how the eligible partnership 

18 will disseminate information about best practices re19 sulting from the middle school career and technical 

20 education exploration program to similar career and 

21 technical education programs of study, including 

22 such programs in urban and rural areas; 

23 (8) a description of how the middle school ca24 reer and technical education exploration program 

25 will be implemented; 


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1 (9) a description of how the middle school ca2 reer and technical education exploration program 

3 will provide accessibility to students, especially eco4 nomically disadvantaged, low-performing, and urban 

5 and rural students; and 

6 (10) a description of how the eligible partner7 ship will carry out the evaluation required under 

8 subsection (f). 

9 (d) SELECTION OF GRANTEES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall deter11 mine, based on the peer review process described in 

12 paragraph (3) and subject to the requirement in 

13 paragraph (4), which eligible partnership applicants 

14 shall receive funding under this Act, and the amount 

15 of the grant funding under this Act that each se16 lected eligible partnership will receive. 

17 (2) GRANT AMOUNTS.—In determining the 

18 amount of each grant awarded under this Act, the 

19 Secretary shall— 

20 (A) ensure that all grants are of sufficient 

21 size, scope, and quality to be effective; and 

22 (B) take into account the total amount of 

23 funds available for all grants under this Act 

24 and the types of activities proposed to be car25 ried out by the eligible partnership. 


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1 (3) PEER REVIEW PROCESS.— 

2 (A) ESTABLISHMENT OF PEER REVIEW

3 COMMITTEE.—The Secretary shall convene a 

4 peer review committee to review applications for 

5 grants under this Act and to make rec6 ommendations to the Secretary regarding the 

7 selection of grantees. 

8 (B) MEMBERS OF THE PEER REVIEW COM9 MITTEE.—The peer review committee shall in10 clude the following members: 

11 (i) Educators who have experience im12 plementing career and technical education 

13 programs and career exploration programs. 

14 (ii) Experts in the field of career and 

15 technical education. 

16 (4) RURAL OR SMALL LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

17 AGENCIES.—The Secretary shall set aside not less 

18 than 5 percent of the funds made available to award 

19 grants under this Act to award grants to eligible 

20 partnerships that include rural or small local edu21 cational agencies, as defined by the Secretary. 

22 (e) USE OF FUNDS.—Each eligible partnership re23 ceiving a grant under this section shall use grant funds 

24 to develop and implement a middle school career and tech25 nical education exploration program that— 


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1 (1) shall— 

2 (A) include introductory courses or experi3 ential activities, such as student apprenticeships 

4 or other work-based learning methods, and 

5 project-based learning experiences; 

6 (B) include the implementation of a plan 

7 that demonstrates the transition from the mid8 dle school career and technical education explo9 ration program to a career and technical edu10 cation program of study that is offered by the 

11 entity described in section 3(b)(2)(A)(i); 

12 (C) include programs and activities related 

13 to the development of individualized graduation 

14 and career plans for students; and 

15 (D) offer career guidance and academic 

16 counseling that— 

17 (i) provides information about post18 secondary education and career options; 

19 and 

20 (ii) provides participating students 

21 with readily available career and labor 

22 market information, such as information 

23 about employment sectors, educational re24 quirements, information on workforce sup25 ply and demand, and other information on 


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1 careers that are aligned to State or local 

2 economic priorities; and 

3 (2) may include expanded learning time activi4 ties that— 

5 (A) focus on career exploration, including 

6 apprenticeships and internships; 

7 (B) are available to all students in a mid8 dle school; and 

9 (C) take place during a time that is out10 side of the standard hours of enrollment for 

11 students that are served by the local edu12 cational agency. 

13 (f) EVALUATIONS AND REPORT.— 

14 (1) EVALUATION.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible partner16 ship that receives a grant under this Act shall 

17 collect appropriate data, or otherwise document 

18 through records (in a manner that complies 

19 with section 444 of the General Education Pro20 visions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g), commonly 

21 known as the ‘‘Family Educational Rights and 

22 Privacy Act of 1974’’ and other applicable Fed23 eral and State privacy laws) the information 

24 necessary to conduct an evaluation of grant ac25 tivities, including an evaluation of— 


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1 (i) the extent of student participation 

2 in the middle school career and technical 

3 education exploration program carried out 

4 under this Act; 

5 (ii) the impact of the middle school 

6 career and technical education exploration 

7 program carried out under this Act on the 

8 students’ transition to, or planned partici9 pation in, career and technical programs of 

10 study (as described in section 122(c)(1)(A) 

11 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Tech12 nical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 

13 2342(c)(1)(A))); and 

14 (iii) any other measurable outcomes 

15 specified by the Secretary. 

16 (B) RESOURCES OF THE ELIGIBLE PART17 NERSHIP.—The evaluation described in this 

18 paragraph shall reflect the resources and capac19 ity of the local educational agency, area career 

20 and technical education school, or educational 

21 service agency that is part of the eligible part22 nership in a manner determined by the Sec23 retary. 

24 (2) REPORT.—The eligible partnership shall 

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1 taining the results of the evaluation described in 

2 paragraph (1). 

Æ 


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