II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 619 

To assist coordination among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics efforts in the States, to strengthen the capacity of elementary 

schools, middle schools, and secondary schools to prepare students in 

science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 17, 2011 

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

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

A BILL 

To assist coordination among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics efforts in the States, to strengthen 

the capacity of elementary schools, middle schools, and 

secondary schools to prepare students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, 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 ‘‘STEM Support for 

5 Teachers in Education and Mentoring (STEM) Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘STEM2 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STEM EDUCATION PLANNING AND TRAINING. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Elementary and 

3 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et 

4 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘PART E—STEM EDUCATION PLANNING AND 

6 TRAINING 

7 ‘‘SEC. 2501. DEFINITIONS. 

8 ‘‘In this part: 

9 ‘‘(1) INDIAN TRIBE; TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 

10 The terms ‘Indian tribe’ and ‘tribal organization’ 

11 have the meanings given those terms in section 4 of 

12 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist13 ance Act. 

14 ‘‘(2) STEM.—The term ‘STEM’ means science, 

15 technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 2502. PLANNING GRANTS. 

17 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to ad18 dress the lack of coordination among STEM education ef19 forts in the States. 

20 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this sec21 tion, the term ‘eligible entity’ means a State, Indian tribe, 

22 tribal organization, nonprofit organization, or institution 

23 of higher education. 

24 ‘‘(c) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From amounts made 

25 available to carry out this section, the Secretary shall 

26 carry out a program of awarding, on a competitive basis, 


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1 planning grants to eligible entities to enable the eligible 

2 entities to— 

3 ‘‘(1) develop effective State or tribal STEM 

4 networks for communication and collaboration that 

5 include school teachers, institutions of higher edu6 cation, nonprofit organizations, businesses, Federal, 

7 State, and local governments, and any other relevant 

8 entities; and 

9 ‘‘(2) through such State STEM networks, iden10 tify future STEM skills needed for STEM and non11 STEM occupations. 

12 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity desiring a 

13 grant under this section shall submit an application to the 

14 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 

15 such information as the Secretary may require. 

16 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) REPORTS TO THE SECRETARY.—An eligi18 ble entity receiving a grant under this section shall 

19 submit to the Secretary an annual report describing 

20 the progress made on the grant. 

21 ‘‘(2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

22 3 years after the date of enactment of the STEM 

23 Support for Teachers in Education and Mentoring 

24 (STEM) Act, and every 3 years thereafter, the SecVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:06 Mar 22, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S619.IS S619

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1 retary shall submit a report to Congress regarding 

2 the program supported under this section. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 2503. TRAINING PROGRAM GRANTS. 

4 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to 

5 strengthen the capacity of teachers, elementary schools, 

6 middle schools, and secondary schools to inspire and pre7 pare students for STEM careers and build STEM literacy. 

8 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this sec9 tion, the term ‘eligible entity’ means a State, Indian tribe, 

10 tribal organization, local educational agency, institution of 

11 higher education, or nonprofit organization. 

12 ‘‘(c) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail14 able to carry out this section, the Secretary shall 

15 carry out a program of awarding grants, on a com16 petitive basis, to eligible entities to enable the eligi17 ble entities to develop, carry out, and evaluate train18 ing programs for STEM education in elementary 

19 schools, middle schools, and secondary schools. 

20 ‘‘(2) PROPORTIONALITY.—To the extent prac21 ticable, the Secretary shall, in awarding grants 

22 under this section, ensure an equitable distribution 

23 between eligible entities serving urban areas and eli24 gible entities serving rural areas. 


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1 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity desiring a 

2 grant under this section shall submit an application to the 

3 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 

4 such information as the Secretary may require. Such ap5 plication shall include— 

6 ‘‘(1) a description of how the eligible entity will 

7 monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the train8 ing program, including how the eligible entity plans 

9 to measure the impact of the training on teachers 

10 who attended the training after the teachers return 

11 to the classroom; and 

12 ‘‘(2) any other information the Secretary deter13 mines appropriate. 

14 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity receiving a 

15 grant under this section shall use grant funds to carry 

16 out a training program, using best practice models and 

17 through summer institutes or other professional develop18 ment enrichment programs, that provides professional de19 velopment regarding STEM education to STEM teachers 

20 (including STEM teachers who are master teachers or 

21 have otherwise demonstrated mastery of STEM teaching) 

22 and administrators who are currently employed as teach23 ers and administrators, respectively, as of the time of the 

24 program. 

25 ‘‘(f) REPORTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) REPORTS TO THE SECRETARY.—An eligi2 ble entity receiving a grant under this section shall 

3 submit to the Secretary an annual report that de4 scribes the progress made on the grant and includes 

5 the results from the evaluation described in the ap6 plication under subsection (d). 

7 ‘‘(2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

8 3 years after the date of enactment of this part, and 

9 every 3 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit 

10 a report to Congress regarding the program sup11 ported under this section. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 2504. NATIONAL PANEL. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

14 national panel to review, evaluate, and identify— 

15 ‘‘(1) rigorous kindergarten through grade 12 

16 STEM curricula models, including computer or web17 based simulation education programs and kinesthetic 

18 learning; and 

19 ‘‘(2) best practices with respect to STEM cur20 ricula. 

21 ‘‘(b) MEMBERS.—The Secretary shall determine the 

22 membership of the national panel described in subsection 

23 (a), which shall be comprised of individuals who have the 

24 wisdom and experience to identify and recommend the 

25 most effective STEM curricula models, such as— 


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1 ‘‘(1) representatives of technology industries 

2 and business; 

3 ‘‘(2) teachers and school administrators; 

4 ‘‘(3) representatives of nonprofit organizations 

5 and community organizations; 

6 ‘‘(4) faculty members of institutions of higher 

7 education; 

8 ‘‘(5) research specialists and curricula special9 ists; 

10 ‘‘(6) at least 1 rural education expert; and 

11 ‘‘(7) other individuals, as determined appro12 priate by the Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(c) REPORTS.—The panel shall prepare reports and 

14 recommendations regarding the panel’s findings as re15 quested by the Secretary. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 2505. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

18 this part such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 

19 2011 and each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

20 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents in 

21 section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

22 of 1965 is amended by inserting after the item relating 

23 to section 2441 the following: 

‘‘PART E—STEM EDUCATION PLANNING AND TRAINING

‘‘Sec. 2501. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 2502. Planning grants. 

‘‘Sec. 2503. Training program grants. 


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‘‘Sec. 2504. National panel. 

‘‘Sec. 2505. Authorization of appropriations.’’. 

Æ 


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