I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2050

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
2

•HR 2050 IH

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
3

•HR 2050 IH

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.
4

•HR 2050 IH

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
5

•HR 2050 IH

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
6

•HR 2050 IH

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. INTERAGENCY EDUCATION RESEARCH INITIATIVE.

10 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na11 tional Science Foundation for participation in the Inter12 agency Education Research Initiative, $28,000,000 for fis13 cal year 2002, $31,000,000 for fiscal year 2003, and

14 $33,000,000 for fiscal year 2004.

Æ