I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3950 

To amend provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

1965 relating to mathematics and science instruction. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 28, 2009 

Mr. EHLERS (for himself, Ms. MATSUI, and Mr. BARTLETT) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 relating to mathematics and science 

instruction. 

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 ‘‘Improving Mathe5 matics and Science Teacher Quality Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PARTNERSHIPS FOR MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE 

7 TEACHER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT. 

8 (a) SUBPART HEADING.—The heading for part B of 

9 title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

10 of 1965 is amended to read as follows: 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3950 IH

1 ‘‘PART B—PARTNERSHIPS FOR MATHEMATICS AND

2 SCIENCE TEACHER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT’’. 

3 (b) PURPOSE; DEFINITIONS.— 

4 (1) PURPOSE.—Subsection (a) of section 2201 

5 such Act (20 U.S.C. 2201(a)) is amended— 

6 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

7 by inserting ‘‘businesses, informal science edu8 cation centers,’’ after ‘‘higher education,’’; 

9 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘and in10 formal science education centers’’ after ‘‘higher 

11 education’’; 

12 (C) at the end of paragraph (4), by strik13 ing ‘‘and’’; 

14 (D) at the end of paragraph (5), by strik15 ing the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(6) replicate and apply the effectiveness of 

18 model mathematics and science professional develop19 ment programs on a broader level.’’. 

20 (2) DEFINITIONS.—Subsection (b) of such sec21 tion is amended— 

22 (A) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

23 (i) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

24 the end; 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3950 IH

1 (ii) by striking clause (i) and redesig2 nating clause (ii) as clause (i); 

3 (iii) by inserting after clause (i) (as so 

4 redesignated) the following: 

5 ‘‘(ii) a teacher training department of 

6 an institution of higher education; and’’. 

7 (B) in paragraph (1)(B)(i), by striking 

8 ‘‘science, or teacher training’’ and inserting ‘‘or 

9 science’’; 

10 (C) in paragraph (1)(B)(iii), before the 

11 semicolon insert ‘‘or a consortium of busi12 nesses’’; 

13 (D) in paragraph (1)(B)(iv), after ‘‘organi14 zation’’ insert ‘‘, including an informal science 

15 education center,’’; and 

16 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(3) MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE TEACHER.— 

18 The term ‘mathematics and science teacher’ means 

19 a mathematics, science, or technology teacher at the 

20 elementary school or secondary school level. 

21 ‘‘(4) SCIENCE.—The term ‘science’, in the con22 text of elementary and secondary education, includes 

23 technology and pre-engineering.’’. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3950 IH

1 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR PARTNERSHIPS FOR MATHEMATICS 

2 AND SCIENCE TEACHER QUALITY IMPROVE3 MENT. 

4 (a) SECTION HEADING.—The section heading for 

5 section 2202 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

6 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6662) is amended to read as fol7 lows: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 2202. GRANTS FOR PARTNERSHIPS FOR MATHE9 MATICS AND SCIENCE TEACHER QUALITY IM10 PROVEMENT.’’. 

11 (b) GRANTS.—Subsection (a) of such section is 

12 amended— 

13 (1) by striking paragraph (1) and redesignating 

14 paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) as paragraphs (1), (2), 

15 and (3), respectively; and 

16 (2) in paragraph (1) (as so redesignated)— 

17 (A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 

18 as follows: 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is au20 thorized to award grants to State educational 

21 agencies to enable such agencies to award sub22 grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible part23 nerships to carry out the authorized activities 

24 described in subsection (d).’’; and 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3950 IH

1 (B) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A)(i)’’ in 

2 subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘subsection 

3 (f)(3)’’. 

4 (c) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Subsection (b) 

5 of such section is amended— 

6 (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol7 lows: 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible partnership 

9 desiring a subgrant under this part shall submit an 

10 application to the State educational agency, at such 

11 time, in such manner, and accompanied by such in12 formation as the State educational agency may re13 quire.’’; 

14 (2) by amending paragraph (2)(C) to read as 

15 follows: 

16 ‘‘(C) a description of how the activities to 

17 be carried out by the eligible partnership will be 

18 based on a review of scientifically based re19 search or modeled after programs identified by 

20 the Secretary, in consultation with the Director 

21 of the National Science Foundation, to be rep22 licated on a more expansive basis, and an expla23 nation of how the activities are expected to im24 prove student academic achievement and 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 3950 IH

1 strengthen the quality of mathematics and 

2 science instruction;’’; and 

3 (3) in paragraph (2)(D)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘subsection (c)’’ in clause 

5 (i) and inserting ‘‘subsection (d)’’; and 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (e)’’ in clause 

7 (ii) and inserting ‘‘subsection (f)’’. 

8 (d) PRIORITY.—Such section 2202 is amended by re9 designating subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f) as subsections 

10 (d), (e), (f), and (g), respectively, and by inserting after 

11 subsection (b) the following new subsection: 

12 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this part, 

13 a State educational agency shall give priority to eligible 

14 partnerships that carry out activities modeled after pro15 grams identified by the Secretary, in consultation and co16 ordination with the Director of the National Science Foun17 dation, to be replicated on a more expansive basis.’’. 

18 (e) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Subsection (d) of 

19 such section (as so redesignated) is amended— 

20 (1) by inserting before the period at the end of 

21 paragraph (1) the following: ‘‘, including activities to 

22 replicate model math and science professional devel23 opment programs’’; 

24 (2) by striking paragraphs (4), (5), and (10) 

25 and redesignating paragraphs (6), (7), (8), and (9) 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 3950 IH

1 as paragraphs (4), (5), (6), and (7), respectively; 

2 and 

3 (3) in paragraph (5) (as so redesignated), by 

4 inserting ‘‘, such as an exemplary teacher (as de5 fined in section 9109) or a building leader’’ after 

6 ‘‘teacher’’. 

7 (f) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION.—Subsection 

8 (e)(2) of such section (as so redesignated) is amended to 

9 read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION.—In 

11 carrying out the activities authorized by this part, 

12 the Secretary shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) consult and coordinate with the Di14 rector of the National Science Foundation, par15 ticularly with respect to the appropriate roles 

16 for the Department and the Foundation in the 

17 conduct of summer workshops, institutes, or 

18 partnerships to improve mathematics and 

19 science teaching in elementary schools and sec20 ondary schools; 

21 ‘‘(B) collaborate with the Director of the 

22 National Science Foundation to make widely 

23 available, including through dissemination on 

24 the Internet and to all State educational agen25 cies and other recipients of funds under this 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 3950 IH

1 part, information on model programs identified 

2 by the Director of the National Science Foun3 dation to be replicated on a more expansive 

4 basis; and 

5 ‘‘(C) in collaboration with the Director of 

6 the National Science Foundation, hold an an7 nual summit with partnership grantees from 

8 this part and from the National Science Foun9 dation’s Mathematics and Science Partnership 

10 program to review the progress and results of 

11 awarded grants.’’. 

12 (g) EVALUATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY PLAN.— 

13 Subsection (f) of such section (as so redesignated) is 

14 amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘an evalua16 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘a scientifically valid and rig17 orous evaluation’’; and 

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

19 ‘‘(3) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

20 The Secretary shall reserve one-half of one percent 

21 of the funding authorized under this part to provide 

22 training and technical assistance to eligible partner23 ships in conducting a scientifically valid and rigorous 

24 evaluation to measure the impact of activities funded 

25 under this part.’’. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 3950 IH

1 (h) REPORT.—Subsection (g) of such section (as so 

2 redesignated) is amended— 

3 (1) by striking ‘‘subsection (e)’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘subsection (f)’’; and 

5 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The 

6 Secretary shall place this report on the Depart7 ment’s Web site.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 (a) GRANTS TO STATES, LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

10 AGENCIES, AND ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIPS.—Subsection 

11 (a) of section 2103 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu12 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6603) is amended to read 

13 as follows: 

14 ‘‘(a) GRANTS TO STATES, LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

15 AGENCIES, AND ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIPS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

17 appropriated to carry out this part (other than sub18 part 5) and part B such sums as may be necessary 

19 for fiscal year 2010 and for each of the 5 succeeding 

20 fiscal years. 

21 ‘‘(2) RESERVATION.—From the funds appro22 priated under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall re23 serve not less than 15 nor more than 20 percent to 

24 carry out part B.’’. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 3950 IH

1 (b) NATIONAL PROGRAMS.—Subsection (b) of such 

2 section is amended by striking ‘‘2002’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘2010’’. 

4 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2203 of 

5 such Act is repealed. 

Æ 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS