II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1739

To establish a commission, under the aegis of the National Science Foundation, to review and propose recommendations for assuring United States

leadership in science and mathematics.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 10, 1998

Mr. FRIST (for himself and Mr. ROCKEFELLER) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and

Human Resources

A BILL

To establish a commission, under the aegis of the National

Science Foundation, to review and propose recommendations for assuring United States leadership in science

and mathematics.

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 ‘‘National Commission

5 for Science and Mathematics Leadership Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 As used in this Act, the term—
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1 (1) ‘‘TIMSS’’ means the Third International

2 Mathematics and Science Study; and

3 (2) ‘‘Commission’’ means the National Commis4 sion on Science and Mathematics Leadership estab5 lished by section 4.

6 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) students in the United States should be pre9 eminent among the nations of the world in science

10 and mathematics achievement by the year 2000;

11 (2) TIMSS, the largest international study ever

12 undertaken of how students perform in science and

13 mathematics, demonstrated that mathematics skills

14 of American students (including the top 10 percent

15 of students in the United States) lags behind the

16 work of students in many other nations;

17 (3) research shows that the problems of stu18 dents in the United States in science and mathe19 matics stem from the lack of a unified effort to de20 fine and implement a process that will assure na21 tional leadership;

22 (4) research shows that the poor performance

23 of students in the United States in science and

24 mathematics also stem from the lack of assessment

25 instruments for curriculum and the lack of a suffi-
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1 cient commitment by colleges and universities in the

2 United States to provide high quality teacher prepa3 ration and professional development programs;

4 (5) there are core problems with the courses of

5 study and the teaching styles upon which many

6 schools in the United States rely for instruction in

7 science and mathematics;

8 (6) the National Science Foundation has con9 cluded that schools in the United States teach math10 ematics concepts in ways that are superficial and,

11 ultimately, ineffective;

12 (7) a coherent framework for mathematics and

13 science must be developed to give balanced attention

14 to basic skills, conceptual understanding, problem

15 solving, reasoning, communication skills, and appro16 priate use of technology;

17 (8) because of the failure of existing teaching

18 methods in science and mathematics in the United

19 States, a systematic retraining of teachers and an

20 increased emphasis on their professional develop21 ment is required; and

22 (9) teachers of math and science should be well23 trained professionals who combine sound knowledge

24 of subject matter with the necessary skills and a
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1 solid understanding of student learning and assess2 ment.

3 SEC. 4. COMMISSION.

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com5 mission to be known as the ‘‘National Commission for

6 Science and Mathematics Leadership’’.

7 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be com8 posed of 12 members, of whom—

9 (1) 4 shall be appointed by the President;

10 (2) 4 shall be appointed jointly by the Speaker

11 and the Minority Leader of the United States House

12 of Representatives, after consultation with the Com13 mittee on Science of the House; and

14 (3) 4 shall be appointed jointly by the Majority

15 Leader and the Minority Leader of the United

16 States Senate, after consultation with the Committee

17 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the

18 Committee on Labor of the Senate.

19 (c) CHAIRMAN.—The Commission shall elect one of

20 its members to serve as chairman.

21 (d) QUORUM.—A quorum for the purpose of conduct22 ing meetings of the Commission is 7.

23 (e) COMPENSATION; PER DIEM.—Members of the

24 Commission shall serve without pay. While away from

25 their homes or regular places of business in the perform-
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1 ance of their duties as members of the Commission, mem2 bers shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem

3 in lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as persons em4 ployed intermittently in government service under section

5 5703 of title 5, United States Code.

6 (f) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at such

7 times and such places, and hold such hearings, as it con8 siders appropriate.

9 (g) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION.—The Na10 tional Science Foundation shall—

11 (1) pay the expenses of the Commission, but

12 not in excess of $500,000; and

13 (2) provide administrative support for the Com14 mission.

15 (h) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate

16 after submitting its report to the Congress under section

17 6.

18 SEC. 5. PURPOSE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE COMMISSION.

19 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Commission is to

20 review and propose recommendations for assuring leader21 ship in science and mathematics training in the United

22 States by the year 2000 in cooperation with the National

23 Academy of the Sciences by—
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1 (1) reviewing existing research based on mathe2 matics and science education leadership, including

3 the TIMSS findings; and

4 (2) converting the research findings into spe5 cific recommendations for implementation by public

6 and private agencies.

7 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Commission shall—

8 (1) review the status of science and mathe9 matics training in the United States as compared to

10 the status of science and mathematics education rel11 ative to international competitors;

12 (2) review the TIMSS findings and other major

13 research projects and formulate an implementation

14 proposal, including specific recommendations which

15 are reviewed by appropriate public and private agen16 cies, to use the information in those findings and

17 projects to build leadership in science and mathe18 matics in the United States;

19 (3) propose professional development priorities

20 based upon available research to strengthen the

21 teaching of science and mathematics at all edu22 cational levels; and

23 (4) coordinate its activities with the National

24 Academy of Sciences.
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1 SEC. 6. REPORT.

2 The Commission shall issue a report to the United

3 States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and

4 Transportation and the Committee on Labor, and the

5 United States House of Representatives Committee on

6 Science no later than 180 days after the date of enactment

7 of this Act.

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