I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3808 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include teacher preparation 

for computer science in elementary and secondary education. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 17, 2019 

Mr. KILMER (for himself, Mr. REED, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio, 

Mr. RYAN, Mr. RIGGLEMAN, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, and Mr. CASTEN of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include 

teacher preparation for computer science in elementary 

and secondary education. 

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 ‘‘Teacher Education for 

5 Computer Science Act’’ or the ‘‘Teach CS Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TEACHER QUALITY ENHANCEMENT. 

7 (a) PARTNERSHIP GRANTS.—Section 202(d)(5) of 

8 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1022a) is 

9 amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘com2 puter science,’’ after ‘‘science,’’; and 

3 (2) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘(includ4 ing computer science, computer engineering, data 

5 science, information technology, and cybersecurity 

6 professionals)’’ after ‘‘occupations’’. 

7 (b) ACCOUNTABILITY AND EVALUATION.—Section 

8 204(a)(4) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

9 1022c(a)(4)) is amended— 

10 (1) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘com11 puter science,’’ after ‘‘science,’’; and 

12 (2) in subparagraph (G)— 

13 (A) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘(including 

14 computational thinking)’’ after ‘‘technology’’; 

15 and 

16 (B) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘(including 

17 computational thinking)’’ after ‘‘technology’’. 

18 (c) TEACHER DEVELOPMENT.—Section 206(a) of the 

19 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1022e(a)) is 

20 amended by inserting ‘‘computer science,’’ after 

21 ‘‘science,’’. 

22 SEC. 3. ENHANCING TEACHER EDUCATION. 

23 Section 232(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

24 (20 U.S.C. 1032a(c)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘(including 

2 computer science)’’ after ‘‘technology’’; and 

3 (2) in paragraph (3)(B), by inserting ‘‘(includ4 ing computer science)’’ after ‘‘technology’’. 

5 SEC. 4. TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR COMPUTER 

6 SCIENCE EDUCATION. 

7 Part B of title II of the Higher Education Act of 

8 1965 is amended (20 U.S.C. 1021 et seq.) by adding at 

9 the end the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 259. TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR COM11 PUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION. 

12 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From the amounts 

13 appropriated to carry out this section, the Secretary may 

14 award competitive grants to eligible institutions to estab15 lish centers of excellence in teacher education programs 

16 for computer science, that may include computational 

17 thinking, computing, and computer engineering. 

18 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant awarded to an eligible 

19 institution under this section— 

20 ‘‘(1) shall be used by such institution to ensure 

21 that current and future teachers meet the applicable 

22 State certification and licensure requirements in a 

23 field that will enable them to teach computer science 

24 in their State at the elementary and secondary 

25 school levels, by— 


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1 ‘‘(A) creating teacher education programs 

2 that meet the requirements of section 

3 200(6)(A)(iv) and offer, through hands-on and 

4 classroom teaching activities with in-service 

5 teachers— 

6 ‘‘(i) doctoral, master’s, or bachelor’s 

7 degrees in teaching computer science at 

8 the elementary school and secondary school 

9 levels; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) teaching endorsements in com11 puter science, in the case of a teacher with 

12 related State certification and licensure re13 quirements or a student who is pursuing 

14 certification and licensure requirements in 

15 related fields, such as mathematics and 

16 science; 

17 ‘‘(B) ensuring that current and future 

18 teachers who graduate from such programs 

19 meet the applicable State certification and li20 censure requirements, including any require21 ments for certification obtained through alter22 native routes to certification, or, with regard to 

23 special education teachers, the qualifications de24 scribed in section 612(a)(14)(C) of the Individ25 uals with Disabilities Education Act; 


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1 ‘‘(C) recruiting individuals to enroll in 

2 such programs, including subject matter experts 

3 and professionals in fields related to computer 

4 science; and 

5 ‘‘(D) awarding scholarships and fellowships 

6 based on financial need and to recruit tradition7 ally underrepresented groups in computer 

8 science to help such students pay the cost of at9 tendance (as defined in section 472); and 

10 ‘‘(2) may be used by such institution to— 

11 ‘‘(A) hire and pay faculty salaries for the 

12 teacher education programs described in para13 graph (1)(A); 

14 ‘‘(B) conduct research in computer science 

15 education; and 

16 ‘‘(C) carry out activities to encourage the 

17 Secretary to partner with other agencies, and 

18 prioritize funding for computer science edu19 cation research to support teacher preparation. 

20 ‘‘(c) DURATION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A grant under this section 

22 shall be awarded for 5 years, conditional upon a sat23 isfactory report to the Secretary of progress with re24 spect to the program carried out with the grant 

25 after the first 3-years of the grant period. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REPORT OF PROGRESS.—Such report of 

2 progress on the program shall include data on the 

3 number of students and instructors enrolled, infor4 mation on former graduates (including on how many 

5 earn teaching certification or licensure in a field that 

6 will enable them to teach computer science in their 

7 State at the secondary level, or be prepared to teach 

8 computer science at the elementary level), and data 

9 on any additional funding (other than Federal 

10 funds) received to carry out the program. 

11 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—An eligible institution desiring 

12 a grant under this section shall submit an application to 

13 the Secretary, at such time in such manner, and con14 taining such information as the Secretary may require, 

15 which shall include— 

16 ‘‘(1) a demonstration of the need for teachers 

17 with the certification or licensure requirements that 

18 enable them to teach computer science at the ele19 mentary and secondary level in the geographic area 

20 or State in which the institution is located; 

21 ‘‘(2) the plan to ensure the longevity of the pro22 gram after the end of the grant; and 

23 ‘‘(3) the plan to scale up the program (includ24 ing the plan for the number of personnel to be hired, 

25 a description of their expected qualifications and tiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Jul 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3808.IH H3808

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1 tles, the number of fellowships and scholarships to 

2 be awarded, the estimated administrative expenses, 

3 proposed academic advising strategy, and organizing 

4 and outreach to maintain virtual community of com5 puter science educators). 

6 ‘‘(e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant under 

8 this section, an eligible entity shall provide, from 

9 non-Federal sources, an amount that is not less than 

10 33 percent of the amount of the grant, which may 

11 be provided in cash or in-kind, to carry out the ac12 tivities supported by the grant. 

13 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive all or 

14 part of the matching requirement described in para15 graph (1) for any fiscal year the Secretary deter16 mines that applying such requirement to the eligible 

17 institution would result in serious hardship or an in18 ability to carry out the authorized activities de19 scribed in this section. 

20 ‘‘(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 

21 after the first grant is awarded under his section and each 

22 year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 

23 report on the success of the program based on metrics de24 termined by the Secretary, including the number of cenVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Jul 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3808.IH H3808

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1 ters established, the number of enrolled students, and the 

2 number of qualified teachers. 

3 ‘‘(g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 

4 use up to 5 percent of the amount appropriated for each 

5 fiscal year to provide technical assistance to eligible insti6 tutions. 

7 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘eligi9 ble institution’ means an institution of higher edu10 cation, as defined in section 101, which may be in 

11 a partnership with a nonprofit organization 

12 ‘‘(2) COMPUTER SCIENCE.—The term ‘com13 puter science’ means the study of computers includ14 ing algorithmic processes and engineering principles 

15 for hardware and software design, development, and 

16 systems integration, and their impact on society. 

17 ‘‘(3) COMPUTING.—The term ‘computing’ 

18 means any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefit19 ting from, or creating algorithmic processes. 

20 ‘‘(4) COMPUTATIONAL THINKING.—The term 

21 ‘computational thinking’ means the human ability to 

22 formulate problems so that their solutions can be 

23 represented as computational steps or algorithms to 

24 be executed by a computer and integrated into 

25 broader networks of systems.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. ADJUNCT TEACHER CORPS. 

2 Section 255 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

3 U.S.C. 1035) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘computer 

5 science,’’ after ‘‘science,’’; 

6 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘computer 

7 science,’’ after ‘‘science,’’; 

8 (3) in subsection (e)(1), by inserting ‘‘computer 

9 science,’’ after ‘‘science,’’; 

10 (4) in subsection (f)(2)(A)(i), by inserting 

11 ‘‘computer science,’’ after ‘‘science,’’; 

12 (5) in subsection (g)(1), by inserting ‘‘computer 

13 science,’’ after ‘‘science,’’; 

14 (6) in subsection (g)(3), by inserting ‘‘computer 

15 science,’’ after ‘‘science,’’; and 

16 (7) in subsection (k)(2), by inserting ‘‘computer 

17 science,’’ after ‘‘science,’’. 

18 SEC. 6. GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS TO PREPARE FACULTY 

19 IN HIGH-NEED AREAS AT COLLEGES OF EDU20 CATION. 

21 Section 258(d)(2)(A) of the Higher Education Act of 

22 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1036(d)(2)(A)) is amended by inserting 

23 ‘‘(including computer science)’’ after ‘‘technology’’. 

24 SEC. 7. TEACH GRANT. 

25 Section 420N of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

26 (20 U.S.C. 1070g–2) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)(2)(B), by inserting ‘‘com2 puter science,’’ after ‘‘science,’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(C)— 

4 (A) by redesignating clauses (iii) through 

5 (vii) as clauses (iv) through (viii), respectively; 

6 and 

7 (B) by inserting after clause (ii), the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(iii) computer science;’’. 

10 SEC. 8. GRADUATE AND POSTSECONDARY IMPROVEMENT 

11 PROGRAMS. 

12 (a) PURPOSE.—Section 700(1)(B)(i) of the Higher 

13 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1133(1)(B)(i)) is 

14 amended by inserting ‘‘computer science,’’ after 

15 ‘‘science,’’. 

16 (b) DESIGNATION OF AREAS OF NATIONAL NEED.— 

17 Section 712(b)(4) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

18 (20 U.S.C. 1135a(b)(4)) is amended by inserting before 

19 the period at the end the following: ‘‘, including the need 

20 for computer science’’. 

Æ 


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