I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1090 

To establish an Elementary Educator Science, Technology, Engineering, and 

Mathematics (STEM) Content Coach program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 12, 2013 

Mr. HONDA (for himself, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. 

ELLISON, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. RANGEL, and Mr. 

TAKANO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To establish an Elementary Educator Science, Technology, 

Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Content Coach 

program. 

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 ‘‘Elementary Educator 

5 STEM Content Coach Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Numerous recent reports by national advi9 sory groups, including the President’s Council of AdVerDate Mar 14 2013 18:15 Mar 15, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1090.IH H1090

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1 visors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and 

2 committees of the National Academies, have high3 lighted the need to raise student achievement in 

4 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 

5 (STEM) fields to enable the United States to main6 tain its competitive edge in the global economy. 

7 (2) The PCAST report entitled ‘‘Prepare and 

8 Inspire: K–12 Education in Science, Technology, 

9 Engineering, and Math (STEM) for America’s Fu10 ture’’ states, ‘‘The most important factor in ensur11 ing excellence is great STEM teachers, with both 

12 deep content knowledge in STEM subjects and mas13 tery of the pedagogical skills required to teach these 

14 subjects well.’’. 

15 (3) The PCAST report also recommends that 

16 the Federal Government should support the profes17 sional development of all teachers to help them 

18 achieve deep STEM content knowledge and mastery 

19 of STEM pedagogy. 

20 (4) The National Academy of Sciences finds 

21 that school districts need to enhance the capacity of 

22 kindergarten through grade 12 teachers with content 

23 knowledge and expertise in teaching in order to suc24 cessfully promote effective STEM education in those 

25 grades. 


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1 (5) The Center for American Progress finds 

2 that improving the elementary school teacher’s 

3 knowledge of STEM-related facts, concepts, and pro4 cedures is vital to our Nation’s global competitive5 ness in the 21st century. 

6 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to create a cohort of ele8 mentary educators with a deep content knowledge in 

9 STEM disciplines by providing professional development 

10 to elementary educators. 

11 SEC. 4. ELEMENTARY EDUCATOR STEM CONTENT COACH 

12 GRANT PROGRAM. 

13 From amounts appropriated under section 9, the Sec14 retary of Education shall award grants to State edu15 cational agencies to award subgrants to eligible entities 

16 to carry out professional development training programs 

17 for STEM Coaches. 

18 SEC. 5. GRANTS TO STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 

19 To be eligible to receive a grant under this Act, a 

20 State educational agency shall submit an application to 

21 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con22 taining such information as the Secretary may require, 

23 which shall include— 


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1 (1) a list of the eligible entities the State edu2 cational agency has selected to receive a subgrant 

3 under this program; and 

4 (2) assurances that the State educational agen5 cy has adopted college- and career-ready standards 

6 in STEM disciplines. 

7 SEC. 6. SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 

8 (a) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 

9 subgrant under this Act, an eligible entity shall submit 

10 an application to the State educational agency at such 

11 time, in such manner, and containing such information as 

12 the State educational agency may require, which shall in13 clude— 

14 (1) an identification of the number of STEM 

15 Coaches and the schools at which the STEM Coach16 es teach; 

17 (2) a description of the qualifications of the 

18 STEM Coaches; 

19 (3) assurances that the eligible entity will make 

20 reasonable efforts to place STEM Coaches that com21 plete the professional development training program 

22 described in this section in positions at a school 

23 served by the local educational agency that receives 

24 the subgrant; and 


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1 (4) a description of the plan for offering a re2 search-based professional development training pro3 gram to STEM Coaches, which may include— 

4 (A) training in STEM disciplines which 

5 may include science, technology, computer 

6 science, engineering design, mathematics, and 

7 computational thinking; 

8 (B) methods to integrate such disciplines 

9 into the curriculum; 

10 (C) methods to increase skills and knowl11 edge of pedagogy for effective STEM teaching; 

12 (D) techniques for engaging historically 

13 underachieving or underrepresented groups in 

14 STEM fields, such as girls, minorities, low-in15 come students, English language learners, and 

16 students with disabilities; 

17 (E) educational and instructional leader18 ship training; and 

19 (F) opportunities for teacher mentoring 

20 and collaboration. 

21 (b) BENEFITS OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.— 

22 The professional development training program described 

23 in subsection (a)(4) shall be designed to— 

24 (1) give STEM Coaches a deep understanding 

25 of the principles and concepts of STEM disciplines; 


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1 (2) create enthusiasm for the teaching and 

2 learning of STEM disciplines; 

3 (3) provide opportunities for collaboration and 

4 teacher mentoring among STEM Coaches and be5 tween STEM Coaches and other teachers; and 

6 (4) allow STEM Coaches to connect student 

7 learning in STEM disciplines— 

8 (A) to real-life applications; 

9 (B) to out of school programs; and 

10 (C) across the curriculum. 

11 (c) SUBGRANT PERIOD.—An eligible entity awarded 

12 a subgrant under this Act shall conduct the professional 

13 development training program described in this section for 

14 a period of not less than 3 successive school years. 

15 (d) REQUIREMENTS FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDING.— 

16 An eligible entity awarded a subgrant under this Act shall 

17 receive funds for the second half of the subgrant period 

18 described in subsection (c) upon demonstration to the Sec19 retary that the eligible entity is making progress in imple20 menting the professional development training program 

21 described in this section at a rate that the Secretary deter22 mines will result in full implementation of such program. 


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1 SEC. 7. EVALUATION AND REPORT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop a plan 

3 for a national evaluation of the Elementary Educator 

4 STEM Content Coach program that evaluates— 

5 (1) the implementation of the program; and 

6 (2) the results achieved by eligible entities at 

7 the end of the 3-year subgrant period. 

8 (b) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than Sep9 tember 1 of the first year beginning after the end of the 

10 subgrant periods, the Secretary shall submit a report de11 scribing the results of the evaluation under subsection (a) 

12 to the Committee on Education and the Workforce and 

13 the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep14 resentatives, and to the Committee on Health, Education, 

15 Labor, and Pensions and the Committee on Appropria16 tions of the Senate. 

17 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘commu20 nity-based organization’’ ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘in21 stitution of higher education’’ ‘‘local educational 

22 agency’’, ‘‘professional development’’, ‘‘Secretary’’, 

23 ‘‘State educational agency’’, and ‘‘teacher men24 toring’’ have the meanings given those terms in sec25 tion 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu26 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 


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1 (2) COLLEGE- AND CAREER-READY STAND2 ARDS.—The term ‘‘college- and career-ready stand3 ards’’ has the meaning given the term in the notice 

4 entitled ‘‘Application for New Awards; Race to the 

5 Top-District’’ published by the Department of Edu6 cation on August 16, 2012 (77 Fed. Reg. 49654). 

7 (3) ELEMENTARY EDUCATOR.—The term ‘‘ele8 mentary educator’’ means a teacher who— 

9 (A) teaches in a public elementary school 

10 in a State; 

11 (B) has at least 3 years of classroom 

12 teaching experience; 

13 (C) has obtained full certification as a 

14 teacher in such State, or holds a license to 

15 teach in such State, in 1 or more grades from 

16 prekindergarten through grade 6; and 

17 (D) exhibits content knowledge in STEM 

18 fields. 

19 (4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti20 ty’’ means a partnership of— 

21 (A) 1 or more local educational agencies; 

22 and 

23 (B) 1 or more public or nonprofit organi24 zations, which may include institutions of high25 er education and community-based organizaVerDate Mar 14 2013 18:15 Mar 15, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1090.IH H1090

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1 tions, with a demonstrated record of success in 

2 designing and implementing before school, after 

3 school, summer learning, or expanded learning 

4 time activities for students. 

5 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

6 the several States of the United States, the District 

7 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 

8 Guam, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Is9 lands, American Samoa, and the United States Vir10 gin Islands. 

11 (6) STEM.—The term ‘‘STEM’’ means science, 

12 technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

13 (7) STEM COACH.—The term ‘‘STEM Coach’’ 

14 means an elementary educator who participates in or 

15 has participated in the Elementary Educator STEM 

16 Content Coach program under this Act. 

17 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec19 retary of Education such sums as are necessary for fiscal 

20 years 2014 through 2018 to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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