II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 757 

To create a national set of effective voluntary national expectations for mathematics and science education in kindergarten through grade 12, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 5, 2007 

Mrs. CLINTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

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

A BILL 

To create a national set of effective voluntary national expectations for mathematics and science education in kindergarten through grade 12, and for other purposes. 

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 Mathematics 

5 and Science Consistency Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The United States has fallen behind other 

9 industrialized countries in terms of competing in a 


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1 global economy. This deterioration is due in large 

2 part to the diminishing number of well-trained peo3 ple in the fields of mathematics, science, and tech4 nology, as well as the decrease in scientific innova5 tions generated from the United States in recent 

6 years. 

7 (2) Not only did the United States produce 

8 fewer graduates in mathematics, science, and engi9 neering in 2002 than it did in 1985, but the United 

10 States is also generating far fewer college graduates 

11 in those fields than other countries. In China, 59 

12 percent of undergraduates receive degrees in science 

13 and engineering and in Japan, 66 percent receive 

14 such degrees, but in the United States, only 32 per15 cent of undergraduates receive degrees in science 

16 and engineering. 

17 (3) United States students are scoring far be18 hind students in other countries on international 

19 mathematics and science assessments. A recent 

20 Trends in International Mathematics and Science 

21 Study (TIMSS), the largest and most comprehensive 

22 comparative international study of education, found 

23 that 12th graders in the United States ranked 21st 

24 out of 40 industrialized countries on general knowl25 edge in mathematics and science. Furthermore, the 


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1 Programme for International Student Assessment 

2 (PISA), an organization that compiles reports on the 

3 reading and mathematics skills of 15-year-olds, 

4 found that the United States ranked 28th out of 40 

5 nations surveyed in mathematics literacy. 

6 (4) In the United States, each State has its 

7 own set of standards and curriculum for mathe8 matics and science education in kindergarten 

9 through grade 12, with its own definition of pro10 ficiency for these standards. When each State’s defi11 nition of proficiency is compared to a national 

12 model, less than 40 percent of the students in grade 

13 4, and only 17 percent of the students in grade 12, 

14 reach the national proficiency level in mathematics. 

In addition, approximately 1 15 ⁄3 of the students in 

grades 4 and 8, and nearly 1 16 ⁄2 of the students in 

17 grade 12, do not reach the basic level in science, ac18 cording to the recent National Assessment of Edu19 cational Progress. 

20 (5) In its report, Rising Above the Gathering 

21 Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a 

22 Brighter Economic Future, the National Academy of 

23 Sciences recommends that the Department of Edu24 cation should collect ‘‘effective K–12 materials that 

25 would be available free of charge as a voluntary naVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:07 Mar 07, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S757.IS S757

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1 tional curriculum that would provide an effective 

2 standard for K–12 teachers’’. The National Acad3 emy of Sciences advocates for the creation of world4 class national benchmarks and a national curriculum 

5 in order to ensure students are receiving the skills 

6 needed to successfully compete in a global economy. 

7 SEC. 3. DEVELOP VOLUNTARY NATIONAL EXPECTATIONS 

8 FOR MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE EDU9 CATION IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE 

10 12. 

11 (a) AGREEMENT WITH THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF

12 SCIENCE.—The Secretary of Education shall enter into a 

13 contract with the National Academy of Sciences of the Na14 tional Academies for the National Academy of Sciences 

15 to convene and oversee a panel, subject to the require16 ments of this section, that shall produce voluntary na17 tional expectations for mathematics and science education, 

18 accompanied by promising practices in teaching mathe19 matics and science and assessment items for each expecta20 tion, for kindergarten through grade 12, in accordance 

21 with subsection (c). 

22 (b) MEMBERS OF PANEL.— 

23 (1) MEMBER QUALIFICATIONS.—Each member 

24 of the panel described in subsection (a) shall have 

25 substantial knowledge or experience relating to— 


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1 (A) education, mathematics, or science pol2 icy or programs; or 

3 (B) mathematics or science curricula edu4 cational content development. 

5 (2) COMPOSITION OF PANEL.—In selecting the 

6 members of the panel described in subsection (a), 

7 the National Academy of Sciences shall ensure 

8 that— 

9 (A) each member has the qualifications re10 quired under paragraph (1); 

11 (B) the panel is broadly representative of 

12 scientists, practitioners, educators, parents, and 

13 representatives from entities with expertise in 

14 education, mathematics, and science; 

15 (C) a majority of the members of the panel 

16 are parents directly involved in the kindergarten 

17 through grade 12 education process; and 

18 (D) the members of the panel who are edu19 cators and parents proportionately represent— 

20 (i) the different demographic areas of 

21 the United States, including urban, subur22 ban, and rural schools; and 

23 (ii) public and private schools. 

24 (c) DUTIES OF PANEL.—The panel described in sub25 section (a) shall— 


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1 (1) identify the core ideas in mathematics and 

2 science common to all States; 

3 (2) develop a minimum comprehensive set of 

4 voluntary national expectations for mathematics and 

5 science education, based on the core ideas in mathe6 matics and science common to all States, that are 

7 taken, or adapted, from— 

8 (A) the State mathematics and science 

9 standards, as of the date of enactment of this 

10 Act, that are found to be effective; or 

11 (B)(i) the most recent National Science 

12 Education Standards developed by the National 

13 Science Teacher Association; and 

14 (ii) the most recent Standards for School 

15 Mathematics developed by the National Council 

16 of Teachers of Mathematics; 

17 (3) develop promising practices in teaching 

18 mathematics and science by— 

19 (A) identifying proven, effective, kinder20 garten through grade 12 mathematics and 

21 science teaching materials that exist as of the 

22 date of enactment of this Act; and 

23 (B) identifying the need for new mathe24 matics and science teaching materials; 


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1 (4) develop sample assessment questions based 

2 on each voluntary national expectation, for teachers 

3 to use throughout the school year to guide instruc4 tion; 

5 (5) establish a mechanism for the distribution 

6 of the voluntary national expectations, promising 

7 practices, sample assessment questions, and other 

8 information, identified or developed under this sub9 section; and 

10 (6) develop and coordinate professional develop11 ment criteria that would prepare teachers to incor12 porate the voluntary national expectations into the 

13 teachers’ classroom instruction. 

14 (d) DISSEMINATION.—The Secretary of Education 

15 shall— 

16 (1) disseminate information, in accordance with 

17 the recommendations of the panel described in sub18 section (a), to entities such as State educational 

19 agencies; and 

20 (2) otherwise make the materials collected by 

21 the panel available and accessible to local edu22 cational agencies and schools. 

23 (e) PERSONNEL MATTERS.— 

24 (1) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—The con25 tract described in subsection (a) shall provide that 


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1 each member of the panel who is not an officer or 

2 employee of the Federal Government shall be com3 pensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of 

4 the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV 

5 of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 

6 5, United States Code, for each day (including travel 

7 time) during which such member is engaged in the 

8 performance of the duties of the panel. All members 

9 of the panel who are officers or employees of the 

10 United States shall serve without compensation in 

11 addition to that received for their services as officers 

12 or employees of the United States. 

13 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The contract de14 scribed in subsection (a) shall provide that members 

15 of the panel shall be allowed travel expenses, includ16 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates author17 ized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of 

18 chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while 

19 away from their homes or regular places of business 

20 in the performance of services for the panel. 

21 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

23 such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 

24 2008 through 2012. 


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1 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated 

3 under subsection (e) for a fiscal year, the Secretary of 

4 Education shall award grants, in an amount determined 

5 under subsection (b), to State educational agencies to en6 able the State educational agencies to carry out all of the 

7 following: 

8 (1) Contract with entities that publish edu9 cational materials, in order to develop instructional 

10 materials based on the promising practices in teach11 ing mathematics and science developed under section 

12 3(c)(3) that effectively teach the voluntary national 

13 expectations for mathematics and science education 

14 developed under section 3(c)(2). 

15 (2) Ensure that the State educational agency 

16 has the infrastructure and technical assistance nec17 essary to provide all instructional materials online 

18 and free of charge to teachers and school faculty 

19 and staff. 

20 (3) Train mathematics and science teachers in 

21 kindergarten through grade 12— 

22 (A) to effectively use instructional mate23 rials to teach the voluntary national expecta24 tions for mathematics and science education de25 veloped under section 3(c)(2); and 


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1 (B) to use the assessment questions devel2 oped under section 3(c)(5) to steer instruction. 

3 (b) FORMULA FOR GRANTS.—The Secretary of Edu4 cation shall award a grant for a fiscal year to each State 

5 educational agency that submits a complete application 

6 under subsection (c) in an amount that bears the same 

7 relation to the amount appropriated for this section for 

8 such fiscal year, as the number of students served by the 

9 State educational agency for such fiscal year bears to the 

10 total number of students served by all State educational 

11 agencies that submit complete applications for such fiscal 

12 year. 

13 (c) APPLICATION.—A State educational agency desir14 ing a grant under this section shall submit an application 

15 to the Secretary of Education at such time, in such man16 ner, and containing such information as the Secretary may 

17 require. The application shall include a description of the 

18 activities that will be carried out through a grant under 

19 this section. 

20 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the last 

21 day of the grant period, a State educational agency receiv22 ing a grant under this section shall prepare and submit 

23 a report to the Secretary of Education describing the re24 sults of the grant. 


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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 a total of $100,000,000 for fiscal years 2008 through 

4 2012. 

5 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

6 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

7 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Edu8 cation shall— 

9 (1) study the effects of the voluntary national 

10 expectations for mathematics and science education, 

11 and the promising practices in teaching mathematics 

12 and science, developed under section 3 on student 

13 achievement on the National Assessment of Edu14 cational Progress, the Trends in International Math15 ematics and Science Study, and the Programme for 

16 International Student Assessment, for the most re17 cent year available, as compared to the effects of 

18 State standards and curricula on student achieve19 ment on such assessments; and 

20 (2) shall prepare and submit a report to Con21 gress on the Secretary’s findings. 

Æ 


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