II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3047 

To provide for the coordination of the Nation’s science, technology, 

engineering, and mathematics education initiatives. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2008 

Mr. REID (for Mr. OBAMA (for himself, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr. 

BROWN)) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

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

A BILL 

To provide for the coordination of the Nation’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education initiatives. 

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 ‘‘Enhancing Science, 

5 Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Act 

6 of 2008’’. 

7 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

8 The purpose of this Act is to coordinate Federal 

9 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics eduVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:57 May 24, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3047.IS S3047

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1 cation efforts and foster cooperation between the States 

2 and Federal Government by— 

3 (1) improving coherence of Federal STEM edu4 cation programs through the President’s Office of 

5 Science and Technology Policy; 

6 (2) coordinating STEM education initiatives at 

7 the Department of Education; 

8 (3) providing an incentive to States to align 

9 STEM education; and 

10 (4) improving the dissemination of STEM edu11 cation research, promising practices, and exemplary 

12 programs through the National STEM Education 

13 Research Repository. 

14 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

15 Congress finds the following: 

16 (1) To preserve the competitiveness of the 

17 United States in the global economy our Nation 

18 must continue to combine innovation with techno19 logical advances and scientific discovery. 

20 (2) In 2006, the Committee on Science, Engi21 neering, and Public Policy of the National Acad22 emies published ‘‘Rising Above the Gathering 

23 Storm’’ estimating that in the United States innova24 tions generated by STEM fields account for more 


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1 than half of the growth in gross domestic product 

2 (GDP). 

3 (3) According to the analysis conducted by the 

4 Association of American Universities in 2006, only 

5 15 percent of college graduates receive a diploma in 

6 engineering or the natural sciences in the United 

7 States as compared with 38 percent in South Korea, 

8 47 percent in France, and 67 percent in Singapore. 

9 (4) Every student deserves the opportunity to 

10 contribute to the long-term prosperity of the United 

11 States by acquiring skills that foster critical think12 ing, inventiveness, and innovation. 

13 (5) Highly qualified teachers are crucial to in14 stilling students with the values and skills necessary 

15 to preserve and improve innovation in the United 

16 States and maintain our Nation’s leadership in the 

17 global knowledge economy. 

18 (6) Teacher preparation programs at institu19 tions of higher education will enhance the prepara20 tion they provide by incorporating promising prac21 tices and exemplary programs that foster student 

22 learning, problem solving skills, and inventiveness 

23 and by aligning STEM education preservice and in24 service training among States. 


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1 (7) Women and minorities in the United States 

2 are not employed in STEM occupations in propor3 tion to their numbers in the population or their en4 rollment in higher education; efforts must be made 

5 to increase diversity in the STEM workforce to im6 prove the range of viewpoints and solutions available 

7 to address challenges presented by a diverse and 

8 global marketplace. 

9 (8) Many of the Federal agencies have well es10 tablished programs designed to support and improve 

11 STEM education including the Environmental Pro12 tection Agency, Department of Agriculture, Depart13 ment of Commerce, Department of Defense, Depart14 ment of Education, Department of Energy, Depart15 ment of Health and Human Services, Department of 

16 the Interior, National Aeronautics and Space Ad17 ministration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad18 ministration, National Science Foundation, the Na19 tional Institutes of Health, and the National Insti20 tute of Standards and Technology. 

21 (9) According to the Academic Competitiveness 

22 Council’s (ACC) recent report, in 2006 the United 

23 States sponsored 105 STEM education programs at 

24 a dozen different Federal agencies. These programs 

25 devoted approximately $3,120,000,000 to STEM 


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1 education activities spanning kindergarten through 

2 postgraduate education and outreach. It was shown 

3 that many of these Federal agencies do not share in4 formation or work collaboratively on similar pro5 grams. The ACC found that ‘‘coordination among 

6 agencies could be improved to avoid, for example, 

7 grants to numerous projects that support the same 

8 sorts of interventions . . . there appears to be a lack 

9 of communication among the agencies about the 

10 work they are funding and the results that are being 

11 generated . . . agencies are often uninformed by the 

12 results of earlier projects.’’. 

13 (10) Strengthening partnerships between the 

14 Federal and State governments, the private sector, 

15 nonprofit organizations, and the education commu16 nity will improve STEM education in our Nation’s 

17 schools. 

18 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The term ‘‘Federal 

21 agencies’’ means— 

22 (A) the Environmental Protection Agency; 

23 (B) the Department of Agriculture; 

24 (C) the Department of Commerce; 

25 (D) the Department of Defense; 


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1 (E) the Department of Education; 

2 (F) the Department of Energy; 

3 (G) the Department of Health and Human 

4 Services; 

5 (H) the Department of Labor; 

6 (I) the Department of the Interior; 

7 (J) the National Aeronautics and Space 

8 Administration; 

9 (K) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

10 Administration; 

11 (L) the National Science Foundation; 

12 (M) the National Institutes of Health; 

13 (N) the National Institute of Standards 

14 and Technology; and 

15 (O) other agencies of the Federal Govern16 ment that administer or provide funding for 

17 STEM education programs. 

18 (2) NSERR.—The term ‘‘NSERR’’ means the 

19 National STEM Education Research Repository es20 tablished under section 8. 

21 (3) STEM.—The term ‘‘STEM’’ means science, 

22 technology, engineering, and mathematics. 


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1 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, 

2 TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHE3 MATICS EDUCATION. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMITTEE.—The Presi5 dent shall establish a Committee on Science, Technology, 

6 Engineering, and Mathematics Education within the Na7 tional Science and Technology Council, which may be re8 ferred to as the ‘‘Committee on STEM Education’’. 

9 (b) FUNCTION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The function of the Com11 mittee on STEM Education shall be to coordinate 

12 the efforts of the Federal agencies that relate to 

13 STEM education from the prekindergarten level 

14 through the graduate level to avoid unnecessary du15 plication and ensure coherence among Federal 

16 STEM education programs. 

17 (2) INCREASING PARTICIPATION OF MINORI18 TIES, PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, AND WOMEN.— 

19 The Committee on STEM Education shall seek to 

20 improve the quality and quantity of the STEM 

21 workforce with consideration of increasing participa22 tion of individuals identified in section 33 or 34 of 

23 the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities 

24 Act (42 U.S.C. 1885a or 1885b). 

25 (3) COORDINATION.—The President shall en26 sure that all efforts to coordinate the efforts of the 


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1 Federal agencies that relate to STEM education are 

2 coordinated through the Committee on STEM Edu3 cation. 

4 (c) STRUCTURE AND OPERATION.— 

5 (1) MEMBERSHIP.—The membership of the 

6 Committee on STEM Education— 

7 (A) shall include not less than 1 represent8 ative from each of the Federal agencies; and 

9 (B) may include outside experts. 

10 (2) MEETINGS.—The Committee on STEM 

11 Education shall convene not less often than quar12 terly. 

13 (3) STAFF.—The Committee on STEM Edu14 cation shall be served by— 

15 (A) an Assistant Director selected by the 

16 members of the Committee with the approval of 

17 the Director of the Office of Science and Tech18 nology Policy; and 

19 (B) a professional staff of not less than 2 

20 individuals. 

21 (d) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Committee on STEM 

22 Education shall have the following responsibilities: 

23 (1) Conducting an ongoing inventory and as24 sessment of the effectiveness and coherence of efVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:57 May 24, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3047.IS S3047

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1 forts within Federal agencies that relate to STEM 

2 education. 

3 (2) Coordinating and facilitating the commu4 nication and cooperation among all Federal agencies 

5 engaged in efforts that relate to STEM education. 

6 (3) Developing annual goals and objectives for 

7 improving STEM education throughout the Nation 

8 in collaboration with relevant organizations. 

9 (4) Not later than 30 days after developing the 

10 goals and objectives under paragraph (3)— 

11 (A) disseminating the goals and objectives 

12 to each Federal agency engaged in efforts that 

13 relate to STEM education; 

14 (B) communicating the goals and objec15 tives to the Committee on Health, Education, 

16 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, the Com17 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor18 tation of the Senate, the Committee on Edu19 cation and Labor of the House of Representa20 tives, and the Committee on Science and Tech21 nology of the House of Representatives, and rel22 evant STEM education organizations; and 

23 (C) making the goals and objectives widely 

24 available to the public, particularly to stake25 holders that represent individuals identified in 


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1 section 33 or 34 of the Science and Engineering 

2 Equal Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C. 1885a or 

3 1885b). 

4 (5) Annually evaluating the progress and suc5 cess of each Federal agency at achieving the goals 

6 and objectives under paragraph (3). 

7 (6) Consulting with the State Consortium on 

8 STEM Education when developing Federal STEM 

9 education policy and budgets. 

10 (7) Proposing a coordinated interagency budget 

11 for STEM Education to the Office of Management 

12 and Budget aligned with the goals developed under 

13 paragraph (3). 

14 (8) Strengthening partnerships between the 

15 STEM education community, Federal, State, and 

16 local governments, and other countries. 

17 (9) Implementing the program for Semiannual 

18 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics 

19 Days as set forth in section 1004 of the America 

20 COMPETES Act (Public Law 110–69). 

21 (10) Hosting an annual meeting on the status 

22 of STEM education, including the role of education 

23 in meeting the recommendations of the report sub24 mitted by the National Science and Technology 

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1 PETES Act (Public Law 110–69) in conjunction 

2 with— 

3 (A) the State Consortium on STEM Edu4 cation; 

5 (B) the Federal agencies; 

6 (C) States, including the District of Co7 lumbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 

8 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is9 lands, American Samoa, Guam, the United 

10 States Virgin Islands, and any other territory 

11 or possession of the United States; 

12 (D) businesses and industries; 

13 (E) institutions of higher education; 

14 (F) STEM education professions and 

15 teachers from prekindergarten through 

16 postbaccalaureate study; and 

17 (G) other relevant stakeholders in STEM 

18 education, including stakeholders that represent 

19 individuals identified in section 33 or 34 of the 

20 Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities 

21 Act (42 U.S.C. 1885a or 1885b). 

22 (11) Issuing a biennial report to the Nation on 

23 the status of STEM education that— 


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1 (A) specifies the efforts and outcomes of 

2 each Federal agency in improving STEM edu3 cation; and 

4 (B) contains an analysis of the quality, 

5 scale, and effectiveness of the efforts of the 

6 Federal Government relating to improving 

7 STEM education and increasing participation 

8 of individuals identified in section 33 or 34 of 

9 the Science and Engineering Equal Opportuni10 ties Act (42 U.S.C. 1885a or 1885b). 

11 (12) Developing, in consultation with the Sec12 retary of Labor, business and industry partners and 

13 other appropriate entities, a 5-year projection of the 

14 STEM workforce, including a demographic break15 down of individuals identified in section 33 or 34 of 

16 the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities 

17 Act (42 U.S.C. 1885a or 1885b). 

18 (e) REQUIREMENTS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

20 but notwithstanding any other provision of law, a 

21 person shall not be eligible to receive a grant from 

22 any Federal agency for a project that relates to 

23 STEM education research unless the person dem24 onstrates that all reports, proceedings, data sets, on25 line modules, and other products of the project will 


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1 be submitted by their authors for consideration to be 

2 included in the NSERR. 

3 (2) COPYRIGHT.—The Committee on STEM 

4 Education and the NSERR shall implement the pub5 lic access policy under paragraph (1) in a manner 

6 consistent with copyright law. 

7 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

9 $650,000 for fiscal year 2009 and each of the succeeding 

10 fiscal years. 

11 SEC. 6. OFFICE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, 

12 AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION WITHIN THE 

13 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. 

14 (a) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—Section 202(b)(1) of 

15 the Department of Education Organization Act (20 

16 U.S.C. 3412(b)(1)) is amended— 

17 (1) in subparagraph (E) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

18 the end; 

19 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as sub20 paragraph (G); and 

21 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(F) an Assistant Secretary for Science, 

24 Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics 


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1 Education (who may be referred to as the As2 sistant Secretary for STEM Education); and’’. 

3 (b) OFFICE.—Title II of the Department of Edu4 cation Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3411 et seq.) is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 221. OFFICE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEER7 ING, AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be in the Depart9 ment an Office of Science, Technology, Engineering, and 

10 Mathematics Education (which may be referred to as the 

11 ‘Office of STEM Education’), to be administered by the 

12 Assistant Secretary for STEM Education appointed under 

13 section 202(b). 

14 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Assistant Secretary 

15 for STEM Education, acting through the Office of STEM 

16 Education, shall have the following responsibilities: 

17 ‘‘(1) Coordinating and overseeing all science, 

18 technology, engineering, and mathematics (referred 

19 to in this section as ‘STEM’) education efforts with20 in the Department. 

21 ‘‘(2) Preparing the annual budget for all STEM 

22 education programs within the Department. 

23 ‘‘(3) Managing the following programs: Math 

24 and Science Partnerships, Math Now, Math Skills 

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1 neering Improvement, Teachers for a Competitive 

2 Tomorrow, and all other programs of the Depart3 ment with a focus on STEM education, including, 

4 where appropriate, the National Science and Mathe5 matics Access Retain Talent (SMART grants) pro6 gram, the Teacher Education Assistance for College 

7 and Higher Education (TEACH grants) program, 

8 and the Academic Competitiveness grants program. 

9 ‘‘(4) Consulting with other offices within the 

10 Department that have a STEM education focus, in11 cluding those managing the Carl D. Perkins Career 

12 and Technical Education grants. 

13 ‘‘(5) Representing the Department as the prin14 cipal interagency liaison on the Committee on 

15 STEM Education within the Office of Science and 

16 Technology Policy, established under section 5 of the 

17 Enhancing Science, Technology, Engineering, and 

18 Mathematics Education Act of 2008, unless other19 wise designated by the Assistant Secretary for 

20 STEM Education. 

21 ‘‘(6) Ensuring access to equal educational op22 portunity for every individual so as to increase, to 

23 the maximum extent possible, the participation and 

24 advancement of individuals identified in section 33 

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1 tunities Act (42 U.S.C. 1885a or 1885b) in the 

2 STEM disciplines. 

3 ‘‘(7) Promoting the development and implemen4 tation of quality, scientifically-valid STEM teacher 

5 preparation and teacher professional development, 

6 and to provide technical assistance to support 

7 STEM learning. 

8 ‘‘(8) Providing support to institutions of higher 

9 education and other institutions and organizations 

10 with effective informal STEM education programs to 

11 improve teacher preparation and teacher professional 

12 development by ensuring emphasis on promising 

13 practices and exemplary programs in STEM edu14 cation. 

15 ‘‘(9) Providing support to local educational 

16 agencies or to mathematics and science partnerships 

17 involving local educational agencies, to implement ef18 fective STEM education instruction and exemplary 

19 programs that employ promising practices. 

20 ‘‘(10) Consulting regularly with the State Con21 sortium on STEM Education with regard to devel22 oping STEM education policy and providing tech23 nical support. 

24 ‘‘(11) Conducting a biennial symposium with 

25 invited stakeholders emphasizing engaging students 


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1 that are identified in section 33 or 34 of the Science 

2 and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act (42 

3 U.S.C. 1885a or 1885b) in STEM disciplines, in4 cluding— 

5 ‘‘(A) expert STEM teachers; 

6 ‘‘(B) the State Consortium on STEM Edu7 cation and additional States; 

8 ‘‘(C) business and industry partners; 

9 ‘‘(D) institutions of higher education; 

10 ‘‘(E) institutions and organizations with an 

11 informal STEM education focus; and 

12 ‘‘(F) Federal agencies with STEM edu13 cation programs. 

14 ‘‘(12) Providing periodic public statements on 

15 the status of STEM education in the Nation. 

16 ‘‘(13) Informing the Secretary, policymakers, 

17 the professional societies of STEM teaching profes18 sionals, and STEM practitioners about the effective19 ness of STEM-related education research and pro20 grams operated within the Department. 

21 ‘‘(14) Sharing scientifically-valid education re22 search and promising practices and exemplary pro23 grams with the National STEM Education Research 

24 Repository.’’. 


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1 (c) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—The Assistant Sec2 retary for STEM Education shall conduct an annual inde3 pendent evaluation, through grant or by contract, of the 

4 STEM education programs administered by the Depart5 ment of Education, which shall include— 

6 (1) conducting an assessment of STEM edu7 cation activities within the Department of Education 

8 by using the annual evaluations and reports of the 

9 programs to determine the programs’ impact on— 

10 (A) the quantity of students seeking 

11 STEM degrees, disaggregated by subject area 

12 and individuals identified under section 33 or 

13 34 of the Science and Engineering Equal Op14 portunities Act (42 U.S.C. 1885a or 1885b); 

15 (B) student academic achievement with 

16 consideration of problem-solving, critical think17 ing, collaboration, and other higher order think18 ing skills; 

19 (C) improving STEM teacher quality, 

20 quantity, and retention; and 

21 (D) improving promising teaching prac22 tices that show evidence of fostering student in23 novation; and 

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1 scribed in paragraph (1) to the Committee on 

2 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Sen3 ate, the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate 

4 and the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

5 Education and Labor of the House of Representa6 tives, and the Committee on Science and Technology 

7 of the House of Representatives. 

8 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

10 $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2009 and such sums as may 

11 be necessary for each succeeding fiscal year. 

12 SEC. 7. STATE CONSORTIUM ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, 

13 ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS EDU14 CATION. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available to 

16 carry out this section, the Secretary of Education, acting 

17 through the Office of STEM Education, shall award a 

18 grant to establish 1 voluntary State Consortium on 

19 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Edu20 cation, which may be referred to as the ‘‘State Consortium 

21 on STEM Education’’. 

22 (b) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT.—To be eligible to 

23 receive a grant under this section, the consortium shall 

24 include not less than 5 States representing not less than 

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1 ing to the regional divisions used by the Bureau of the 

2 Census. 

3 (c) PEER REVIEW AND SELECTION OF GRANT RE4 CIPIENT.—The Secretary of Education shall— 

5 (1) establish a peer-review process to assist in 

6 the review and approval of a grant proposal sub7 mitted under this section; 

8 (2) appoint individuals to participate in the 

9 peer-review process who are educators and experts in 

10 identifying, evaluating, and implementing effective 

11 STEM education programs and practices, including 

12 areas of teaching and learning, educational stand13 ards and assessments, professional development, cur14 riculum, and increasing the participation of individ15 uals identified under section 33 or 34 of the Science 

16 and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act (42 

17 U.S.C. 1885a or 1885b), English language learners, 

18 and students with disabilities, including recognized 

19 exemplary teachers and school administrators who 

20 have been recognized at the national or State level 

21 for exemplary work or contributions to the STEM 

22 education field; 

23 (3) approve 1 grant from the proposals sub24 mitted under this section not later than 120 days 

25 after the deadline for submission and acceptance of 


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1 the proposals, as determined by the Secretary, un2 less the Secretary determines that none of the grant 

3 proposals submitted meet the requirements of this 

4 section; 

5 (4) if only 1 grant proposal is submitted pursu6 ant to this section, not decline to approve the grant 

7 proposal before— 

8 (A) offering the applicant an opportunity 

9 to revise the proposal of the applicant if the 

10 proposal does not meet the requirements of this 

11 section; and 

12 (B) providing the applicant with technical 

13 assistance in order to submit a successful pro14 posal; and 

15 (5) direct the Inspector General of the Depart16 ment of Education to— 

17 (A) review— 

18 (i) the process used for screening the 

19 individuals appointed to the peer-review 

20 process under this section to avoid both fi21 nancial conflicts of interest and non-finan22 cial interests that would impair objectivity 

23 in peer review; and 


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1 (ii) the objectivity of the process used 

2 in reviewing and awarding the grant under 

3 this section; and 

4 (B) report the findings of the review under 

5 subparagraph (A) to Congress. 

6 (d) AMOUNT OF GRANT.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under 

8 paragraph (2), the grant awarded to the consortium 

9 under this section shall be not more than 

10 $20,000,000. 

11 (2) ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—For each fiscal year 

12 of the grant period, the Secretary of Education shall 

13 award to the consortium awarded a grant under this 

14 section $2,000,000 for each additional State that is 

15 a member of the consortium beyond the minimum 5 

16 States required under subsection (b). 

17 (e) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—The consortium shall 

18 use the grant funds awarded under this section for the 

19 following purposes: 

20 (1) To establish the State Consortium on 

21 STEM Education. 

22 (2) To convene an Interstate Council on 

23 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics 

24 Education, which may be referred to as the ‘‘Inter25 state Council on STEM Education’’, that includes a 


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1 diverse group of individuals representing a variety of 

2 perspectives on STEM education, the STEM dis3 ciplines, business, curriculum, assessments, English 

4 language learners, and special education, including 

5 the following: 

6 (A) Representatives from States that shall 

7 include not less 1 State Governor, 1 Chief State 

8 School Officer, and 1 representative of a State 

9 educational agency or such agency’s designee. 

10 (B) Representatives from local educational 

11 agencies that shall include not less than 1 cur12 rent school administrator, and 3 expert STEM 

13 educators that represent early childhood, ele14 mentary, middle, and secondary school perspec15 tives. 

16 (C) Not less than 4 representatives from 

17 STEM education and the STEM fields at insti18 tutions of higher education that include commu19 nity colleges, and public and private 4-year in20 stitutions of higher education. 

21 (D) Not less than 1 representative from a 

22 STEM education professional organization, 

23 such as the National Science Teachers Associa24 tion, the National Council for Teachers of 

25 Mathematics, or those representing career and 


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1 technical education organizations that represent 

2 underrepresented communities in STEM. 

3 (E) Not less than 1 representative from 

4 each of the following categories of relevant 

5 STEM related organizations: 

6 (i) Informal STEM education. 

7 (ii) Business and industry. 

8 (iii) A STEM disciplinary or profes9 sional society. 

10 (iv) A private or corporate foundation. 

11 (v) Other relevant organizations. 

12 (3) To support not less than 1 full-time staff 

13 member for each State. 

14 (4) To share STEM education research, prom15 ising practices and exemplary programs, and pro16 grams through the NSERR. 

17 (f) FUNCTIONS.—The State Consortium on STEM 

18 Education— 

19 (1) shall— 

20 (A) establish small working groups com21 prised of members of the State Council on 

22 STEM Education and outside experts in appro23 priate fields consulting widely to address the 

24 functions outlined in this subsection; 


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1 (B) identify points of weakness and 

2 strength in the STEM education efforts, 

3 prioritize strategies for addressing problem 

4 areas, and communicate State needs to the 

5 Committee on STEM Education and the Assist6 ant Secretary for STEM Education; 

7 (C) develop rigorous common content 

8 standards in STEM education for prekinder9 garten through grade 12 reflecting common ele10 ments between disciplines with consideration 

11 of— 

12 (i) established international standards 

13 and 21st century skills; and 

14 (ii) the needs of English language 

15 learners and special education students; 

16 (D) develop and implement strategies to 

17 integrate STEM education into other subject 

18 areas, such as language arts, social studies, 

19 physical and health education, music and other 

20 performing arts, and environmental education; 

21 (E) develop innovative STEM assessment 

22 practices that include a substantial proportion 

23 of extended constructed response items, such as 

24 performance-based measures, that measure 

25 higher order thinking skills and understanding, 


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1 application and transferability knowledge, prob2 lemsolving, analysis, and synthesis, and include 

3 administration through a variety of modalities, 

4 such as audio-visual and interactive technology; 

5 (F) develop strategies to increase the par6 ticipation and success of individuals identified 

7 in section 33 or 34 of the Science and Engi8 neering Equal Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C. 

9 1885a or 1885b) in STEM fields with consider10 ation of first generation students; 

11 (G) identify and utilize, to the maximum 

12 extent possible, the expertise and resources of 

13 educators, institutions of higher education, 

14 business and industry, and Federal agencies in 

15 the development and implementation of func16 tions outlined in this subsection; 

17 (H) issue periodic reports on the status of 

18 STEM education in the States; and 

19 (I) make STEM education research, prom20 ising practices and exemplary programs, and ef21 fective STEM programs widely available 

22 through the NSERR; and 

23 (2) may— 

24 (A) establish and strengthen partnerships 

25 between 2-year institutions of higher education 


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1 and minority serving institutions and research 

2 institutions to provide STEM students at 2- 

3 year institutions of higher education and minor4 ity serving institutions expanded degree possi5 bilities and opportunities to access research fa6 cilities and mentors, including— 

7 (i) conducting a needs assessment of 

8 how to enhance the flow of STEM students 

9 from 2-year institutions of higher edu10 cation and minority serving institutions to 

11 research institutions; and 

12 (ii) establishing articulation agree13 ments that shall address pathways and 

14 credit transfers between the institutions; 

15 (B) improve and align STEM preservice 

16 teacher training among the member States, in17 cluding developing common— 

18 (i) STEM preservice teacher training 

19 degree programs; 

20 (ii) STEM teacher credentials; and 

21 (iii) alternative pathways to STEM 

22 teacher certification; 

23 (C) promote and develop curriculum tools 

24 and professional development for in-service 


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1 teachers that foster innovation and inventive2 ness; 

3 (D) evaluate the impact that STEM edu4 cation professional development organizations 

5 have on classroom instruction and student 

6 learning in member States; 

7 (E) provide technical support to States 

8 that are members of the Consortium to estab9 lish or strengthen existing P–16 or P–20 Coun10 cils and to align secondary school graduation 

11 requirements with the demands of 21st century 

12 postsecondary education endeavors and support 

13 P–16 education data systems established by 

14 States under section 6401 of the America 

15 COMPETES Act (20 U.S.C. 9871); 

16 (F) develop STEM Career Awareness Pro17 grams in collaboration with school guidance 

18 counselors that reflect the projected STEM 

19 workforce needs of the 21st century that may 

20 include mentoring programs and STEM profes21 sional outreach; and 

22 (G) develop STEM-related workforce edu23 cation and training programs to enhance the 

24 skills of workers to meet the needs of business 

25 and industry. 


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1 (g) OUTSIDE FUNDS.—The State Consortium on 

2 STEM Education shall be permitted to accept and solicit 

3 outside funds. 

4 (h) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—The State Consor5 tium on STEM Education shall conduct an annual inde6 pendent evaluation, by grant or by contract, of the State 

7 Consortium on STEM Education’s effectiveness at accom8 plishing the functions outlined in subsection (f), which 

9 shall include— 

10 (1) an assessment of the impact of such activi11 ties on STEM teaching and learning; and 

12 (2) the preparation and submission of an an13 nual report on the results of the assessment de14 scribed in paragraph (1) to the Assistant Secretary 

15 for STEM Education. 

16 (i) PROHIBITIONS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—In implementing this sec18 tion, the Secretary may not— 

19 (A) endorse, approve, or sanction any 

20 STEM curriculum designed for use in any 

21 school; or 

22 (B) engage in oversight, technical assist23 ance, or activities that will require the adoption 

24 of a specific STEM program or instructional 


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1 materials by a State, local educational agency, 

2 or school. 

3 SEC. 8. NATIONAL STEM EDUCATION RESEARCH REPOSI4 TORY. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available to 

6 carry out this section, the Secretary of Education, acting 

7 through the Office of STEM Education, shall make a 

8 grant to the National Science Digital Library for use by 

9 the Library to establish a National STEM Education Re10 search Repository, which may be referred to as the 

11 ‘‘NSERR’’, to coordinate and organize scientifically-valid 

12 STEM education research, and STEM education pro13 grams that demonstrate promising practices and exem14 plary programs, among governmental and nongovern15 mental agencies. 

16 (b) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—The recipient of the 

17 grant under subsection (a) shall use the grant to provide 

18 basic operational support to the NSERR, including con19 tent development and maintenance, office space, equip20 ment, personnel, and other operational costs. 

21 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The NSERR shall have the 

22 following responsibilities: 

23 (1) Integrating existing STEM education collec24 tions, teacher professional development opportuni25 ties, and student programs available through the 


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1 Federal agencies, including the Science Education 

2 Resource Center, Research from Institutions of 

3 Higher Education, Regional Education Centers 

4 (labs, comprehensive centers, and technical assist5 ance centers), Applied Math and Science Repository, 

6 Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), 

7 State initiatives, national experts, and others. 

8 (2) Developing criteria for STEM education re9 search and promising practices and exemplary pro10 grams, in collaboration with relevant STEM edu11 cation experts, for inclusion in the NSERR. 

12 (3) Publishing, not later than 180 days after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the criteria devel14 oped under paragraph (2). 

15 (4) Ensuring that STEM education research, 

16 promising practices, and exemplary programs have 

17 been evaluated by experts, and that those meeting 

18 the established minimum criteria in paragraph (2) 

19 are made widely available. 

20 (5) Providing summaries of STEM education 

21 research and promising practices and exemplary pro22 grams that were submitted and evaluated under 

23 paragraph (4), including providing contact informa24 tion, examples of successful implementation, and 


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1 other information that may be beneficial to edu2 cators. 

3 (d) OUTSIDE FUNDS.—The NSERR shall be per4 mitted to accept and solicit outside funds. 

5 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

7 $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2009 and such sums as may 

8 be necessary for each succeeding fiscal year. 

Æ 


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