I

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.

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 ‘‘High Performance

5 Schools Research Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the physical plant of the Nation’s elemen2 tary and secondary schools is inadequate;

3 (2) in a 1995 study the General Accounting Of4 fice estimated the overall price tag to repair and up5 grade school facilities to be $112,000,000,000;

6 (3) there is evidence that educational achieve7 ment suffers for students in shabby school buildings

8 and that some specific environmental factors, such

9 as noise level and type of lighting, can significantly

10 affect student learning;

11 (4) the details of the linkages between the spe12 cific characteristics of the physical environment of a

13 school and student learning in the school have not

14 been quantified satisfactorily; and

15 (5) to guide future investments in new and up16 graded school facilities, a focused research effort is

17 needed to determine rigorously how specific physical

18 characteristics of school buildings influence student

19 learning and which physical characteristics are most

20 important for creating a positive learning environ21 ment.

22 SEC. 3. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

23 The Director of the National Science Foundation (in

24 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Director’’) shall establish a

25 competitive, merit-based research program to investigate
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1 how the characteristics of the physical environment of ele2 mentary and secondary schools affect student educational

3 achievement.

4 SEC. 4. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.

5 (a) RESEARCH PROJECTS.—Awards made under sec6 tion 3 shall be for research projects that focus on the

7 quantification of the effects on student educational

8 achievement of lighting, noise, temperature and ventila9 tion, general upkeep, and other characteristics of the phys10 ical environment of school classrooms. The research

11 projects shall be designed to separate the effects of the

12 key variables that influence student educational achieve13 ment in order to isolate the effects of the environmental

14 variables.

15 (b) ASSESSMENTS.—For awards made under section

16 3, the Director shall ensure that each research project

17 specifies appropriate procedures to make assessments of

18 student educational achievement. Such assessments shall

19 be carried out over a multiyear period.

20 (c) DISSEMINATION OF FINDINGS.—The Director

21 may sponsor and support workshops, conferences, and

22 dedicated web sites to disseminate information to school

23 administrators about the findings of research projects car24 ried out under section 3.
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1 SEC. 5. GUIDELINES, PROCEDURES, AND CRITERIA.

2 The Director shall establish and publish application

3 and selection guidelines, procedures, and criteria for the

4 program established under section 3.

5 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

6 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na7 tional Science Foundation to carry out this Act

8 $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2002, 2003, and

9 2004.

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