II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3790 

To create a set of effective voluntary national expectations, and a voluntary 

national curriculum, for mathematics and science education in kindergarten through grade 12, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 3, 2006 

Mrs. CLINTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To create a set of effective voluntary national expectations, 

and a voluntary national curriculum, for mathematics 

and science education in kindergarten through grade 12, 

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 ‘‘National Mathematics 

5 and Science Consistency Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The United States has fallen behind other 

2 industrialized countries in terms of competing in a 

3 global economy. This deterioration is due in large 

4 part to the diminishing number of well-trained peo5 ple in the fields of mathematics, science, and tech6 nology, as well as the decrease in scientific innova7 tions generated from the United States in recent 

8 years. 

9 (2) Not only did the United States produce 

10 fewer graduates in mathematics, science, and engi11 neering in 2002 than it did in 1985, but the United 

12 States is also generating far fewer college graduates 

13 in those fields than other countries. In China, 59 

14 percent of undergraduates receive degrees in science 

15 and engineering and in Japan, 66 percent receive 

16 such degrees, but in the United States, only 32 per17 cent of undergraduates receive degrees in science 

18 and engineering. 

19 (3) United States students are scoring far be20 hind students in other countries on international 

21 mathematics and science assessments. A recent 

22 Trends in International Mathematics and Science 

23 Study (TIMSS), the largest and most comprehensive 

24 comparative international study of education, found 

25 that 12th graders in the United States ranked 21st 


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1 out of 40 industrialized countries on general knowl2 edge in mathematics and science. Furthermore, the 

3 Programme for International Student Assessment 

4 (PISA), an organization that compiles reports on the 

5 reading and mathematics skills of 15-year-olds, 

6 found that the United States ranked 28th out of 40 

7 nations surveyed in mathematics literacy. 

8 (4) In the United States, each State has its 

9 own set of standards and curriculum for mathe10 matics and science education in kindergarten 

11 through grade 12, with its own definition of pro12 ficiency for these standards. When each State’s defi13 nition of proficiency is compared to a national 

14 model, less than 40 percent of the students in grade 

15 4, and only 17 percent of the students in grade 12, 

16 reach the national proficiency level in mathematics. 

In addition, approximately 1 17 ⁄3 of the students in 

grades 4 and 8, and nearly 1 18 ⁄2 of the students in 

19 grade 12, do not reach the basic level in science, ac20 cording to the recent National Assessment of Edu21 cational Progress. 

22 (5) In its report, Rising Above the Gathering 

23 Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a 

24 Brighter Economic Future, the National Academy of 

25 Sciences recommends that the Department of EduVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:17 Aug 05, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3790.IS S3790

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1 cation collect ‘‘effective K–12 materials that would 

2 be available free of charge as a voluntary national 

3 curriculum that would provide an effective standard 

4 for K–12 teachers’’. The National Academy of 

5 Sciences advocates for the creation of world-class na6 tional benchmarks and a national curriculum in 

7 order to ensure students are receiving the skills 

8 needed to successfully compete in a global economy. 

9 SEC. 3. DEVELOP VOLUNTARY NATIONAL EXPECTATIONS 

10 AND A VOLUNTARY NATIONAL CURRICULUM 

11 FOR MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE EDU12 CATION IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE 

13 12. 

14 (a) PANEL.—The Secretary of Education shall con15 vene a panel to produce voluntary national expectations 

16 for mathematics and science education, accompanied by 

17 a sample curriculum for mathematics and science and as18 sessment items for each expectation, for kindergarten 

19 through grade 12. 

20 (b) MEMBERS OF PANEL.—The panel described in 

21 subsection (a) shall be composed of— 

22 (1) professionals from the National Academy of 

23 Sciences; 

24 (2) psychometricians; 

25 (3) State-level education officials; 


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1 (4) National Board certified teachers; 

2 (5) recipients of Presidential Awards for Excel3 lence in Mathematics and Science Teaching under 

4 section 117(a) of the National Science Foundation 

5 Authorization Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 1881b(a)); 

6 (6) representatives of the National Science 

7 Foundation; 

8 (7) representatives of the National Council of 

9 Teachers of Mathematics; 

10 (8) representatives of the National Science 

11 Teachers Association; and 

12 (9) members of any other entities that the Sec13 retary of Education determines necessary. 

14 (c) DUTIES OF PANEL.—The panel described in sub15 section (a) shall— 

16 (1) identify the core ideas in mathematics and 

17 science common to all States; 

18 (2) develop a minimum comprehensive set of 

19 voluntary national expectations for mathematics and 

20 science, based on the core ideas in mathematics and 

21 science common to all States, that are taken, or 

22 adapted, from— 

23 (A) the effective State mathematics and 

24 science standards, as of the date of enactment 

25 of this Act; or 


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1 (B) the most recent National Science Edu2 cation Standards developed by the National 

3 Science Teacher Association and the most re4 cent Principles and Standards for School Math5 ematics developed by the National Council of 

6 Teachers of Mathematics; 

7 (3) develop a model curriculum for mathematics 

8 and science based on the voluntary national expecta9 tions, that is taken or adapted from effective State 

10 mathematics and science teaching materials to serve 

11 as a voluntary national curriculum; 

12 (4) develop sample assessment questions based 

13 on each national mathematics and science expecta14 tion for teachers to use throughout the school year 

15 to guide instruction; and 

16 (5) develop and coordinate professional develop17 ment criteria that would prepare teachers to incor18 porate the voluntary national expectations. 

19 (d) PERSONNEL MATTERS.— 

20 (1) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—Each mem21 ber of the panel who is not an officer or employee 

22 of the Federal Government shall be compensated at 

23 a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the annual 

24 rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Exec25 utive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 


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1 States Code, for each day (including travel time) 

2 during which such member is engaged in the per3 formance of the duties of the panel. All members of 

4 the panel who are officers or employees of the 

5 United States shall serve without compensation in 

6 addition to that received for their services as officers 

7 or employees of the United States. 

8 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the 

9 panel shall be allowed travel expenses, including per 

10 diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for 

11 employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 

12 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from 

13 their homes or regular places of business in the per14 formance of services for the panel. 

15 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

17 such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 

18 2007 and 2008. 

19 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated 

21 under subsection (e) for a fiscal year, the Secretary of 

22 Education shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to 

23 eligible State educational agencies to enable the eligible 

24 State educational agencies to carry out all of the following: 


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1 (1) Contract with entities that publish edu2 cational materials, in order to develop instructional 

3 materials based on the voluntary national curriculum 

4 for mathematics and science developed under section 

5 3(c)(3), in order to effectively teach the voluntary 

6 national expectations developed under such section. 

7 (2) Ensure that the eligible State educational 

8 agency has the infrastructure and technical assist9 ance necessary to provide all instructional materials 

10 developed under paragraph (1) online and free of 

11 charge to teachers and school faculty and staff. 

12 (3) Train mathematics and science teachers in 

13 kindergarten through grade 12— 

14 (A) to effectively use instructional mate15 rials to teach the voluntary national expecta16 tions for mathematics and science produced 

17 under section 3(c)(2); and 

18 (B) to use the assessment questions devel19 oped under section 3(c)(4) to steer instruction. 

20 (b) APPLICATION.—An eligible State educational 

21 agency desiring a grant under this section shall submit 

22 an application to the Secretary of Education at such time, 

23 in such manner, and containing such information as the 

24 Secretary may require. The application shall include a deVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:17 Aug 05, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3790.IS S3790

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1 scription of the activities that will be carried out through 

2 a grant under this section. 

3 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the last 

4 day of the grant period, an eligible State educational agen5 cy receiving a grant under this section shall prepare and 

6 submit a report to the Secretary of Education describing 

7 the results of the grant. 

8 (d) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE STATE EDUCATIONAL

9 AGENCY.—In this section, the term ‘‘eligible State edu10 cational agency’’ means a State educational agency that 

11 agrees to adopt and implement the voluntary national ex12 pectations and the voluntary national curriculum for 

13 mathematics and science education in kindergarten 

14 through grade 12 that are developed under section 3. 

15 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

17 a total of $100,000,000 for the fiscal years 2007 through 

18 2011. 

19 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

20 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

21 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Edu22 cation shall— 

23 (1) study the effects of the voluntary national 

24 expectations and the voluntary national curriculum 

25 of mathematics and science on student achievement 


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1 developed under section 3 on the National Assess2 ment of Educational Progress, the Trends in Inter3 national Mathematics and Science Study, and the 

4 Programme for International Student Assessment, 

5 for the most recent year available, as compared to 

6 the effects of State standards and curricula on stu7 dent achievement on such assessments; and 

8 (2) shall prepare and submit a report to Con9 gress on the Secretary’s findings. 

Æ 


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