I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2155 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct 

the Secretary of Education to award grants for science, technology, 

engineering, and mathematics education programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2015 

Ms. FUDGE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award 

grants for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education programs. 

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 ‘‘Community STEM 

5 Learning Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Employment projections forecast a 17-per2 cent growth in the science, technology, engineering, 

3 and mathematics (‘‘STEM)’’ fields over the next 

4 decade. 

5 (2) Ninety-two percent of STEM occupations 

6 will require at least some post-secondary education. 

7 (3) While the number of degrees awarded in 

8 STEM fields has increased steadily since the 1960s, 

9 the overall share of STEM degrees awarded has ac10 tually shrunk in comparison to all degrees conferred. 

11 (4) Internationally, a larger proportion of all 

12 degrees awarded are in the STEM fields. While 16 

13 percent of degrees awarded in the United States are 

14 in STEM fields, nearly 50 percent of degrees award15 ed in China, 38 percent in South Korea, and 28 per16 cent in Germany are in STEM fields. 

17 (5) Minorities are seriously underrepresented in 

18 the science and engineering workforce in the United 

19 States, with just under 6 percent of Blacks and over 

20 5 percent of Hispanics participating in the STEM 

21 workforce. 

22 (6) Twenty-one percent of Black college stu23 dents enter college with STEM majors, but only 16 

24 percent actually receive a bachelor’s degree in a 

25 STEM major. 


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(7) Over 1 1 ⁄2 of Black students that enroll in a 

2 4-year university are interested in STEM, but are 

3 not proficient in math. 

4 (8) Since 1990, mathematic scores on the as5 sessments conducted by the National Assessment of 

6 Education Progress have increased for all students, 

7 but White students have average scores 27 points 

8 higher than Black and Hispanic students. 

9 (9) After school programs play an important 

10 role in addressing the achievement gap in under11 served communities. Studies demonstrate that 

12 STEM learning during the school day is necessary 

13 but not sufficient for life-long STEM literacy. 

14 (10) As many as 8,400,000 students are en15 rolled in after school programs. Ethnic minority chil16 dren are more likely than non-minority children to 

17 participate in after school programs. While 15 per18 cent of all students are enrolled in after school pro19 grams, 24 percent of Black students and 21 percent 

20 of Hispanic students are enrolled in such programs. 

21 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to prepare 

22 middle school and secondary school students to be ready 

23 for opportunities in the STEM fields in college and in ca24 reers through strong after school, summer, and weekend 

25 programs that focus on STEM education. 


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1 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO ESEA FOR STEM GRANTS. 

2 Part B of title II of the Elementary and Secondary 

3 Education Act of 1964 (20 U.S.C. 6661 et seq.) is amend4 ed— 

5 (1) in the part heading, by inserting ‘‘AND

6 STEM GRANTS’’ after ‘‘PARTNERSHIPS’’; 

7 (2) by inserting after the part heading the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘Subpart 1—Math and Science Partnerships’’; 

10 and 

11 (3) by inserting after section 2203 the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘Subpart 2—STEM Grants 

14 ‘‘SEC. 2211. INFORMAL STEM LEARNING PROGRAM. 

15 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is authorized 

16 to award grants, to be known as ‘informal STEM learning 

17 program’ grants, to national and regional intermediaries 

18 to establish informal STEM learning in-school, after 

19 school, summer, and weekend programs that focus on 

20 science, technology, engineering, and math (referred to in 

21 this section as ‘STEM’) education. 

22 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—A national or regional inter23 mediary seeking a grant under this section shall submit 

24 an application to the Secretary at such time, in such form, 

25 and containing such information as the Secretary may rea26 sonably require, including the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) The amount requested and the proposed 

2 use of the funds. 

3 ‘‘(2) A description of how the national or re4 gional intermediary will require a community-based 

5 affiliate operating an informal STEM learning pro6 gram to provide the following: 

7 ‘‘(A) A program description, including a 

8 description of— 

9 ‘‘(i) the project-based learning that 

10 the program will use and the applicability 

11 of such projects to students’ lives after 

12 graduation from secondary school; 

13 ‘‘(ii) the academic instruction, re14 search model, or curriculum that the pro15 gram will use; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) any service-learning opportuni17 ties that will be available to students. 

18 ‘‘(B) Evidence that the informal STEM 

19 learning program will primarily serve students 

20 who are traditionally underrepresented in 

21 STEM field careers. 

22 ‘‘(C) A description of the student recruit23 ment plan, student retention plan, and parental 

24 engagement plan. 


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1 ‘‘(D) A description of the professional de2 velopment and training that the community3 based affiliate will provide to its informal 

4 STEM learning program staff. 

5 ‘‘(E) A description of the community-based 

6 affiliate’s collaboration with an institution of 

7 higher education (as defined in section 101 of 

8 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

9 10001)). 

10 ‘‘(F) A description of how the community11 based affiliate will enable students who partici12 pate in the program to achieve the goals in sub13 section (c). 

14 ‘‘(c) GOALS.—The goals of the Informal STEM 

15 learning program grants are the following: 

16 ‘‘(1) To increase awareness of and exposure to 

17 current science content, scientific processes, and 

18 tools for students who are traditionally underrep19 resented in STEM field careers. 

20 ‘‘(2) To provide STEM learning that is con21 nected to workforce skills that are essential in the 

22 21st century. 

23 ‘‘(3) To increase on time grade promotion, the 

24 number of students who graduate high school, and 


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1 the number of students who pursue opportunities in 

2 STEM fields. 

3 ‘‘(4) To increase enrollment in and completion 

4 of more STEM related coursework in school for stu5 dents who are traditionally underrepresented in 

6 STEM field careers. 

7 ‘‘(5) To increase awareness of students who are 

8 traditionally underrepresented in STEM field ca9 reers of the opportunities after graduation from sec10 ondary school in STEM fields, including college ma11 jors in STEM and careers in STEM. 

12 ‘‘(6) For students to have the experience of 

13 interacting with staff who demonstrate a positive at14 titude toward STEM fields. 

15 ‘‘(7) To facilitate project-based learning and 

16 service-learning. 

17 ‘‘(d) ALLOCATION.—A national or regional inter18 mediary that receives a grant under this section shall re19 serve— 

20 ‘‘(1) not more than 25 percent to provide tech21 nical and administrative assistance to and collect 

22 data from its community-based affiliates to which it 

23 makes subgrants; 

24 ‘‘(2) not less than 50 percent for subgrants to 

25 community-based affiliates that have demonstrated 


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1 effectiveness in operating STEM programs in order 

2 for such affiliates to expand such STEM programs 

3 to reach more students who are traditionally under4 represented in STEM field careers; and 

5 ‘‘(3) not less than 25 percent for subgrants to 

6 community-based affiliates that do not operate 

7 STEM programs in order for such affiliates that 

8 seek to develop new STEM programs that are con9 sistent with the goals of this section to develop and 

10 establish such new STEM programs. 

11 ‘‘(e) SUBGRANTS TO COMMUNITY-BASED AFFILI12 ATES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—A community-based affil14 iate seeking a subgrant shall submit an application 

15 to its national or regional intermediary at such time, 

16 in such form, and containing such information as 

17 the national or regional intermediary may reasonably 

18 require. 

19 ‘‘(2) USES OF FUNDS.—A community-based af20 filiate that receives a subgrant under this section to 

21 operate an informal STEM learning program shall 

22 operate an in-school, after school, summer, or week23 end program that focuses on STEM education and 

24 primarily serves students who are traditionally 


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1 underrepresented in STEM field careers. Such pro2 gram shall include the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) Educational services that include— 

4 ‘‘(i) an initial assessment of students’ 

5 progress in math, science, and reading; 

6 ‘‘(ii) remediation and educational en7 richment services; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) helping students to improve 

9 their study skills. 

10 ‘‘(B) Project-based learning opportunities. 

11 ‘‘(C) Individualized instruction and track12 ing of student progress that is aligned with in13 school performance. 

14 ‘‘(3) COLLABORATION.—A community-based af15 filiate that receives a subgrant under this section 

16 shall collaborate with an institution of higher edu17 cation to provide the services described in paragraph 

18 (2). 

19 ‘‘(f) REPORTS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) SECRETARY REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The 

21 Secretary shall submit a report annually to the Com22 mittee on Education and the Workforce in the 

23 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

24 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in the Sen25 ate on the progress that national and regional interVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 May 12, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2155.IH H2155

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1 mediaries and their community-based affiliates oper2 ating informal STEM learning programs have made 

3 toward achieving the goals in subsection (c). 

4 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL OR REGIONAL INTERMEDIARY

5 REPORT TO THE SECRETARY.—A national or re6 gional intermediary receiving a grant under this sec7 tion shall submit a report annually to the Secretary 

8 at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

9 information as the Secretary may require, including 

10 the progress that its community-based affiliates op11 erating informal STEM learning programs have 

12 made toward achieving the goals in subsection (c). 

13 ‘‘(3) COMMUNITY-BASED AFFILIATE REPORT TO

14 ITS NATIONAL OR REGIONAL INTERMEDIARY.—A 

15 community-based affiliate that receives a subgrant 

16 under this section shall submit a report annually to 

17 the national or regional intermediary that awarded 

18 such subgrant at such time, in such manner, and 

19 containing such information as the intermediary may 

20 require, including the progress its informal STEM 

21 learning program has made toward achieving the 

22 goals in subsection (c). 

23 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY-BASED AFFILIATE.—The term 

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1 based organization (as defined in section 9101) that 

2 is an affiliate of a national or regional intermediary. 

3 ‘‘(2) INFORMAL STEM LEARNING EDUCATION.— 

4 The term ‘informal STEM learning education’ is 

5 education related to science that occurs in informal, 

6 out-of-school contexts, such as participating in struc7 tured afterschool programs and visiting science cen8 ters and engaging with the exhibits and programs 

9 offered at such centers. 

10 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL INTERMEDIARY.—The term 

11 ‘national intermediary’ means a national private 

12 nonprofit organization that— 

13 ‘‘(A) has a network comprised of commu14 nity-based affiliates in not less than 50 regional 

15 communities; 

16 ‘‘(B) has demonstrated expertise and effec17 tiveness in overseeing programs to help middle 

18 school and secondary school students succeed, 

19 including programs to help such students be20 come college-ready and career-ready; and 

21 ‘‘(C) has operated in not less than 25 

22 States continuously for not less than 20 years. 

23 ‘‘(4) PROJECT-BASED LEARNING.—The term 

24 ‘project-based learning’ means learning through a 

25 broad project that includes instruction, substantive 


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1 content, and reflection, with the goal that students 

2 who participate in the project will achieve a concrete 

3 goal or complete a project. 

4 ‘‘(5) REGIONAL INTERMEDIARY.—The term ‘re5 gional intermediary’ means a private nonprofit com6 munity-based organization that— 

7 ‘‘(A) has a network comprised of commu8 nity-based affiliates in a prescribed region; and 

9 ‘‘(B) has demonstrated expertise and effec10 tiveness in conducting outreach and providing 

11 education activities to middle school and sec12 ondary school students. 

13 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

15 out this section— 

16 ‘‘(1) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2016; 

17 ‘‘(2) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2017; 

18 ‘‘(3) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2018; and 

19 ‘‘(4) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2019.’’. 

Æ 


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