I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2049

To authorize the National Science Foundation to undertake certain activities

in support of research on learning.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 5, 2001

Mr. SMITH of Michigan introduced the following bill; which was referred to

the Committee on Science

A BILL

To authorize the National Science Foundation to undertake

certain activities in support of research on learning.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds that—

5 (1) in virtually every sector of society—health,

6 defense, transportation, agriculture, etc.—research

7 is used to guide policy choices;

8 (2) in education, however, research has not

9 been effectively utilized as a tool for informing policy

10 and guiding reform, with less than 0.03 percent of
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1 the $647,800,000,000 spent on elementary and sec2 ondary education invested in research of what edu3 cational techniques actually work and on ways to im4 prove teaching;

5 (3) the 1997 President’s Committee of Advisors

6 on Science and Technology (PCAST) report entitled

7 ‘‘The Use of Technology to Strengthen K–12 Edu8 cation in the United States’’ recommended that our

9 education research investment be increased to 0.5

10 percent and that educational hypotheses be sub11 jected to appropriately rigorous evaluation;

12 (4) a significant body of research and knowl13 edge on the science of learning currently exists; how14 ever, educational materials and practices are rarely

15 aligned to this knowledge, and new education theo16 ries are often incorporated in classrooms on the

17 basis of only tenuously supported data;

18 (5) a cultural divide between education re19 searchers and education practitioners—such as

20 teachers—currently exists;

21 (6) an expert panel convened by the National

22 Research Council recommended in 1999 that more

23 education research be focused on issues of impor24 tance to education practitioners and be conducted by
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1 teams of both traditional researchers and teachers

2 and other education practitioners;

3 (7) the education research effort to date is typi4 fied by a largely scattershot approach, with little co5 ordination of the research effort or focus on particu6 larly compelling questions; and

7 (8) a 1999 report from the National Research

8 Council entitled ‘‘Improving Student Learning’’ rec9 ommended the adoption of a national, strategic edu10 cation research program that would focus efforts on

11 a limited number of the most critically important re12 search questions.

13 SEC. 2. RESEARCH ON LEARNING.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of integrating

15 scientific disciplines in relation to research on learning,

16 and gaining a better understanding of how such research

17 and educational practice can be reconciled, the National

18 Science Foundation shall continue to support research on

19 learning, focusing on the following 4 areas:

20 (1) Brain research as a foundation for research

21 on human learning.

22 (2) Behavioral, cognitive, affective, and social

23 aspects of human learning.
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1 (3) Science, mathematics, engineering, and

2 technological learning in formal and informal edu3 cational settings.

4 (4) Learning in complex educational systems.

5 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

6 are authorized to be appropriated to the National Science

7 Foundation for carrying out this section $29,000,000 for

8 fiscal year 2002, $33,000,000 for fiscal year 2003, and

9 $37,000,000 for fiscal year 2004.

10 SEC. 3. RESEARCH ON LEARNING CENTERS.

11 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF RESEARCH PRIORITIES.—The

12 Director of the National Science Foundation (in this Act

13 referred to as the ‘‘Director’’), in consultation with the

14 National Academy of Sciences, shall review past research

15 on learning, assess current research efforts, and not later

16 than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act

17 develop a set of specific education research priorities to

18 provide the strategic focus of the Centers established

19 under subsection (b). The Director shall ensure that the

20 development of such priorities is informed by the most

21 pressing needs of the education system.

22 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTERS.—The Director

23 shall make grants for the establishment of not more than

24 5 Centers of Research on Learning. The purpose of these

25 Centers shall be to integrate the work of multidisciplinary
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1 teams of researchers, education practitioners, and policy2 makers to support the research priorities developed under

3 subsection (a), and to facilitate the incorporation of the

4 results of that research into educational practice. Grant

5 awards under this subsection shall be made through an

6 open, peer-reviewed competition.

7 (c) STRATEGIC FOCUS OF CENTERS.—Each Center

8 shall focus on addressing one of the specific education re9 search priorities developed by the Director under sub10 section (a).

11 (d) ACTIVITIES OF CENTERS.—The Centers shall

12 promote active collaborations among physical, biological,

13 and social science researchers, education practitioners,

14 and policymakers. The Centers shall be responsible for—

15 (1) evaluating existing research and designing,

16 conducting, or coordinating research that addresses

17 the Center’s strategic focus;

18 (2) stimulating research in relevant areas with19 in the larger research community and synthesizing

20 the findings from among this community;

21 (3) planning future research;

22 (4) facilitating the dissemination of research re23 sults to education practitioners and the incorpora24 tion of those research results into the education sys25 tem; and
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1 (5) assessing the impact of the incorporation of

2 research results described in paragraph (4) on stu3 dent performance.

4 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

5 are authorized to be appropriated to the National Science

6 Foundation for carrying out this section $3,000,000 for

7 fiscal year 2002, $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2003, and

8 $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2004.

9 SEC. 4. EDUCATION RESEARCH TEACHER FELLOWSHIPS.

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall establish a

11 program to award grants to institutions of higher edu12 cation or scientific research institutions (or consortia

13 thereof) to provide fellowships to elementary and sec14 ondary teachers for participation in research programs at

15 such institutions under the guidance of and in collabora16 tion with researchers at the institutions. Such programs

17 shall be aimed at giving fellowship recipients a better un18 derstanding of the behavioral, cognitive, affective, and so19 cial aspects of human learning. The purpose of fellowships

20 under this section shall be to provide the fellowship recipi21 ents with an opportunity to gain knowledge in research

22 on learning in order to better facilitate the transfer of the

23 results of that research into the elementary and secondary

24 education systems.
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1 (b) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—Grant recipients

2 under this section—

3 (1) shall recruit and select teachers and provide

4 such teachers with opportunities to conduct research

5 in the fields of—

6 (A) brain research as a foundation for re7 search on human learning;

8 (B) behavioral, cognitive, affective, and so9 cial aspects of human learning;

10 (C) science and mathematics learning in

11 formal and informal educational settings; or

12 (D) learning in complex educational sys13 tems;

14 (2) shall ensure that fellowship recipients have

15 mentors and other programming support to ensure

16 that their research experience will contribute to their

17 understanding of the science of learning;

18 (3) shall provide programming, guidance, and

19 support to ensure that fellowship recipients dissemi20 nate information about the current state of edu21 cation research and its implications on classroom

22 practice to other elementary and secondary edu23 cators;

24 (4) shall provide fellowship recipients with a

25 scholarship stipend; and
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1 (5) may provide room and board for residential

2 programs.

3 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Not more than 25 percent of

4 the funds provided under a grant under this section may

5 be used for programming support for fellowship recipients.

6 The Director shall issue guidelines specifying the min7 imum or maximum amounts of stipends grant recipients

8 may provide to teachers under this section.

9 (d) DURATION.—A teacher may participate in re10 search under the program under this section for up to 1

11 calendar year or 2 sequential summers.

12 (e) APPLICATION.—An institution of higher edu13 cation or scientific research institution (or a consortium

14 thereof) seeking funding under this section shall submit

15 an application to the Director at such time, in such man16 ner, and containing such information as the Director may

17 require. The application shall include, at a minimum—

18 (1) a description of the research opportunities

19 that will be made available to elementary and sec20 ondary school teachers by the applicant;

21 (2) a description of how the applicant will re22 cruit teachers to participate in the program, and the

23 criteria that will be used to select the participants;
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1 (3) a description of the number, types, and

2 amounts of the scholarships that the applicant in3 tends to offer to participating teachers; and

4 (4) a description of the programming support

5 that will be provided to participating teachers to en6 hance their research experience and to enable them

7 to educate their peers about the value, findings, and

8 implications of education research.

9 (f) REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.—In evaluating the

10 applications submitted under subsection (e), the Director

11 shall consider—

12 (1) the ability of the applicant to effectively

13 carry out the proposed program;

14 (2) the extent to which the applicant is com15 mitted to making the program a central organiza16 tional focus; and

17 (3) the likelihood that the research experiences

18 and programming to be offered by the applicant will

19 improve elementary and secondary education.

20 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

21 are authorized to be appropriated to the National Science

22 Foundation for carrying out this section $5,000,000 for

23 each of fiscal years 2002 through 2004.
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1 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY EDUCATION RESEARCH INITIATIVE.

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na3 tional Science Foundation for participation in the Inter4 agency Education Research Initiative, $28,000,000 for fis5 cal year 2002, $31,000,000 for fiscal year 2003, and

6 $33,000,000 for fiscal year 2004.

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