II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 370 

To improve and expand geographic literacy among kindergarten through grade 

12 students in the United States by improving professional development 

programs for kindergarten through grade 12 teachers offered through 

institutions of higher education. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2013 

Mr. COCHRAN (for himself and Ms. MIKULSKI) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To improve and expand geographic literacy among kindergarten through grade 12 students in the United States 

by improving professional development programs for kindergarten through grade 12 teachers offered through 

institutions of higher education. 

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 ‘‘Teaching Geography 

5 Is Fundamental Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION. 

2 Title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

3 U.S.C. 1021 et seq.) is amended— 

4 (1) by redesignating part C (20 U.S.C. 1041) 

5 as part D; 

6 (2) by redesignating section 261 (20 U.S.C. 

7 1041) as section 291; and 

8 (3) by inserting after part B (20 U.S.C. 1031 

9 et seq.) the following: 

10 ‘‘PART C—GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION 

11 ‘‘SEC. 261. FINDINGS. 

12 ‘‘Congress makes the following findings: 

13 ‘‘(1) The economic stature and competitiveness 

14 of the United States requires increasingly sophisti15 cated levels of geographic knowledge and mastery of 

16 geographic tools. 

17 ‘‘(2) It is estimated that the United States 

18 geospatial industry generated $73,000,000,000 in 

19 revenue last year, with 500,000 high-wage jobs and 

20 that the industry is growing at between 25–30 per21 cent per year. This burgeoning industry will not be 

22 able to maximize its growth potential without a sus23 tained Federal investment in geography education. 

24 ‘‘(3) A 2012 report by a Council on Foreign 

25 Relations task force, U.S. Education Reform and 

26 National Security, states that the lack of global 


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1 awareness among United States citizens increasingly 

2 jeopardizes their ability to interact with local and 

3 global peers, or participate meaningfully in business, 

4 diplomatic, and military situations. 

5 ‘‘(4) Geographic literacy is essential to a well 

6 prepared citizenry in the 21st century because geo7 graphic factors assume greater importance as the 

8 world’s economies, societies, and political structures 

9 grow more global in scale. 

10 ‘‘(5) The 2010 National Assessment of Edu11 cational Progress in geography shows that fewer 

12 than 30 percent of students tested in grades 4, 8, 

13 and 12 scored at grade-level or above. These scores 

14 have stayed the same or gotten worse, since the last 

15 time the test was administered in 2001. 

16 ‘‘(6) The National Academy of Sciences urged 

17 creation of a national program to improve the geo18 graphic competence of the United States general 

19 population and the school age population. 

20 ‘‘(7) Geography is one of the ‘core academic 

21 subjects’ defined under the Elementary and Sec22 ondary Education Act of 1965. 

23 ‘‘(8) A recent National Geographic Society sur24 vey found that all 50 States and the District of Co25 lumbia recognize geography in their curricula or conVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:25 Feb 28, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S370.IS S370

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1 tent standards, and an increasing number require 

2 geography for graduation and include geography in 

3 mandated statewide assessments. 

4 ‘‘(9) Seven of 10 educators responding to a Na5 tional Geographic survey felt their professional de6 velopment opportunities in geography were inad7 equate and half believed their schools had inad8 equate basic materials for teaching geography. 

9 ‘‘(10) The National Geographic Society has 

10 spent more than 25 years pioneering an extraor11 dinarily effective national program for improving the 

12 teaching of geography by engaging university faculty 

13 geographers and highly trained teachers in State Ge14 ographic Alliances dedicated to providing high-qual15 ity professional development opportunities for kin16 dergarten through grade 12 teachers. 

17 ‘‘(11) More than 80 colleges and universities in 

18 all 50 States have received grants from the National 

19 Geographic Society to support State Geographic Alli20 ances and their professional development programs. 

21 Alliance-trained kindergarten through grade 12 

22 teachers and their higher education partners conduct 

23 workshops, develop localized teaching materials, and 

24 facilitate communication among thousands of teachVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:25 Feb 28, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S370.IS S370

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1 ers whose responsibilities include teaching of geog2 raphy in various formats and grade levels. 

3 ‘‘(12) A study by Mid-continent Research for 

4 Education and Learning that assessed student aca5 demic achievement in geography on the National As6 sessment of Educational Progress showed that stu7 dents taught by Alliance-trained teachers out8 performed other students by almost 10 percent. 

9 ‘‘(13) We live in a changing world with multiple 

10 and evolving threats to national security, including 

11 terrorism, asymmetrical warfare, and social unrest. 

12 As the nature of the threat evolves, so do the tools, 

13 knowledge, and skills needed to respond. A 2013 

14 National Academies report states that it is likely 

15 that qualified GIS (Geography Information Systems) 

16 and remote sensing experts are already hard to find. 

17 Long before 2030, competition and a small number 

18 of graduates will likely result in shortages in all 

19 emerging areas and in the core areas of cartography, 

20 photogrammetry, and geodesy. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 262. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES. 

22 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this part is to— 

23 ‘‘(1) promote geographic literacy and improved 

24 understanding of global cultures among kindergarten 

25 through grade 12 students by expanding programs 


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1 that employ the geographic knowledge and expertise 

2 of faculty members in institutions of higher edu3 cation for the benefit of kindergarten through grade 

4 12 teachers; and 

5 ‘‘(2) otherwise advance geographic literacy. 

6 ‘‘(b) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives of this part are 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) To increase students’ knowledge of, and 

9 achievement in, standards-based geography to enable 

10 the students to become better informed and more 

11 productive citizens. 

12 ‘‘(2) To increase the number of highly qualified 

13 teachers of United States and world geography and 

14 to enable the teachers— 

15 ‘‘(A) to improve student mastery of geo16 graphic principles; and 

17 ‘‘(B) to increase practical applications of 

18 those principles. 

19 ‘‘(3) To encourage geographic education re20 search, to develop and disseminate effective instruc21 tional materials, and to promote replication of best 

22 practices and exemplary programs that foster geo23 graphic literacy. 

24 ‘‘(4) To assist States in measuring the impact 

25 of education in geography. 


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1 ‘‘(5) To leverage and expand private and public 

2 support for geography education partnerships at na3 tional, State, and local levels. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 263. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to 

6 award a grant to a national nonprofit education organiza7 tion or a consortium of national nonprofit education orga8 nizations (referred to in this part as an ‘eligible entity’) 

9 that has as its primary purpose the improvement of the 

10 quality of student understanding of geography through ef11 fective teaching of geography in the Nation’s classrooms. 

12 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity that desires a 

13 grant under this part shall submit an application to the 

14 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accompanied 

15 by such information as the Secretary may require. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 264. USE OF FUNDS. 

17 ‘‘(a) DIRECT ACTIVITIES.—An eligible entity that re18 ceives a grant under this part shall use not more than 

19 25 percent of the funds made available through the grant 

20 for a fiscal year to— 

21 ‘‘(1) strengthen and expand the eligible entity’s 

22 relationships with institutions of higher education 

23 and with State and local agencies and other public 

24 and private organizations with a commitment to geVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:25 Feb 28, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S370.IS S370

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1 ography education and the benefits of geography 

2 education; 

3 ‘‘(2) support and promote research-based train4 ing of teachers of geography and related disciplines 

5 in kindergarten through grade 12 as a means of 

6 broadening student knowledge of the world, includ7 ing the dissemination of information on effective 

8 practices and research findings concerning the 

9 teaching of geography; 

10 ‘‘(3) support research on effective geography 

11 teaching practices and the development of assess12 ment instruments and strategies to document stu13 dent understanding of geography; 

14 ‘‘(4) convene national conferences on geography 

15 education to assess the current State of geographic 

16 literacy and to identify strategies for improvement; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(5) develop and disseminate appropriate re19 search-based materials to foster geographic literacy. 

20 ‘‘(b) SUBGRANTS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that re22 ceives a grant under this part shall use not more 

23 than 75 percent of the funds made available through 

24 the grant for a fiscal year to award subgrants to eli25 gible recipients. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT DEFINED.—In this 

2 part, the term ‘eligible recipient’ means an institu3 tion of higher education associated with— 

4 ‘‘(A) a State geographic alliance; 

5 ‘‘(B) a nonprofit educational organization; 

6 ‘‘(C) a State educational agency or local 

7 educational agency; or 

8 ‘‘(D) a partnership between or among an 

9 alliance, organization, or agency described in 

10 subparagraph (A), (B) or (C). 

11 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT APPLICATIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) SUBMISSION.—An eligible recipient 

13 that desires to receive a subgrant under this 

14 part shall submit an application to the eligible 

15 entity at such time, in such manner, and ac16 companied by such information as the eligible 

17 entity may require. 

18 ‘‘(B) REVIEW.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The eligible entity 

20 shall invite individuals described in clause 

21 (ii) to review all applications from eligible 

22 recipients for a subgrant under this part 

23 and to make recommendations to the eligi24 ble entity regarding the approval of the ap25 plications. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) REVIEWERS.—The individuals 

2 the eligible entity shall invite to review ap3 plications are the following: 

4 ‘‘(I) Leaders in the field of geog5 raphy education. 

6 ‘‘(II) Such other individuals as 

7 the eligible entity may determine are 

8 necessary or desirable. 

9 ‘‘(4) SUBGRANT USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible 

10 recipient that receives a subgrant under this part 

11 shall use the subgrant funds for 1 or more of the 

12 following activities: 

13 ‘‘(A) Conducting teacher training pro14 grams that use effective and research-based ap15 proaches to the teaching of geography at the 

16 kindergarten through grade 12 level. 

17 ‘‘(B) Applying Geographic Information 

18 System (GIS) or other geographic technological 

19 tools to the teaching of geography. 

20 ‘‘(C) Applying Internet and other distance 

21 learning technology to the teaching of geog22 raphy or to the continuing education of teach23 ers. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Promoting rigorous academic stand2 ards and assessment techniques to guide and 

3 measure student performance in geography. 

4 ‘‘(E) Promoting research in geography 

5 education, emphasizing research that leads to 

6 improving student achievement. 

7 ‘‘(F) Carrying out local, field-based activi8 ties for teachers and students to improve their 

9 knowledge of the concepts and tools of geog10 raphy while enhancing understanding of their 

11 home region. 

12 ‘‘(G) Promoting comparative studies of 

13 world cultures, economies, and environments. 

14 ‘‘(H) Encouraging replication of best prac15 tices and model programs to promote geo16 graphic literacy. 

17 ‘‘(I) Developing and disseminating effec18 tive, research-based geography learning mate19 rials. 

20 ‘‘(J) Convening State-based conferences to 

21 assess the state of geographic literacy and to 

22 identify strategies for improvement. 

23 ‘‘(5) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In order to be eligible 

25 to receive a subgrant under this part, an eligiVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:25 Feb 28, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S370.IS S370

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1 ble recipient shall provide assurances in the ap2 plication submitted under paragraph (3) to pro3 vide matching funds as described in subpara4 graph (B) towards the costs of the activities as5 sisted under the subgrant. 

6 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—An eligible recipient shall 

7 provide matching funds in an amount equal to 

8 20 percent of the subgrant funds received under 

9 this part for the second and each succeeding 

10 fiscal year for which subgrant funds are re11 ceived. 

12 ‘‘(C) SOURCE OF MATCHING FUNDS.— 

13 Matching funds may be provided in cash or in 

14 kind, fairly evaluated, including facilities, staff15 ing salaries, and educational materials. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 265. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS. 

17 ‘‘An eligible entity that receives a grant under this 

18 part for a fiscal year, and each eligible recipient receiving 

19 a subgrant under this part for a fiscal year, may use not 

20 more than 15 percent of the funds made available through 

21 the grant or subgrant, respectively, for administrative 

22 costs. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 266. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this part $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2014 and each of 

4 the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

Æ 


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