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[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1130 Introduced in House (IH)]

107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1130

 To establish a research program at the National Science Foundation to 
   quantify the relationship between the physical characteristics of 
 elementary and secondary schools and student academic achievement in 
                 those schools, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 20, 2001

   Mr. Udall of Colorado (for himself, Mr. Etheridge, and Mr. Honda) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                                Science

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To establish a research program at the National Science Foundation to 
   quantify the relationship between the physical characteristics of 
 elementary and secondary schools and student academic achievement in 
                 those schools, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``High Performance Schools Research 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the physical plant of the Nation's elementary and 
        secondary schools is inadequate;
            (2) in a 1995 study the General Accounting Office estimated 
        the overall price tag to repair and upgrade school facilities 
        to be $112,000,000,000;
            (3) there is evidence that educational achievement suffers 
        for students in shabby school buildings and that some specific 
        environmental factors, such as noise level and type of 
        lighting, can significantly affect student learning;
            (4) the details of the linkages between the specific 
        characteristics of the physical environment of a school and 
        student learning in the school have not been quantified 
        satisfactorily; and
            (5) to guide future investments in new and upgraded school 
        facilities, a focused research effort is needed to determine 
        rigorously how specific physical characteristics of school 
        buildings influence student learning and which physical 
        characteristics are most important for creating a positive 
        learning environment.

SEC. 3. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

    The Director of the National Science Foundation (in this Act 
referred to as the ``Director'') shall establish a competitive, merit-
based research program to investigate how the characteristics of the 
physical environment of elementary and secondary schools affect student 
educational achievement.

SEC. 4. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Research Projects.--Awards made under section 3 shall be for 
research projects that focus on the quantification of the effects on 
student educational achievement of lighting, noise, temperature and 
ventilation, general upkeep, and other characteristics of the physical 
environment of school classrooms. The research projects shall be 
designed to separate the effects of the key variables that influence 
student educational achievement in order to isolate the effects of the 
environmental variables.
    (b) Assessments.--For awards made under section 3, the Director 
shall ensure that each research project specifies appropriate 
procedures to make assessments of student educational achievement. Such 
assessments shall be carried out over a multiyear period.
    (c) Dissemination of Findings.--The Director may sponsor and 
support workshops, conferences, and dedicated web sites to disseminate 
information to school administrators about the findings of research 
projects carried out under section 3.

SEC. 5. GUIDELINES, PROCEDURES, AND CRITERIA.

    The Director shall establish and publish application and selection 
guidelines, procedures, and criteria for the program established under 
section 3.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the National Science 
Foundation to carry out this Act $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal 
years 2002, 2003, and 2004.
                                 <all>
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