II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 419 

To assist coordination among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics efforts in the States, to strengthen the capacity of elementary 

schools, middle schools, and secondary schools to prepare students in 

science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2015 

Mr. UDALL (for himself and Mr. HEINRICH) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To assist coordination among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics efforts in the States, to strengthen 

the capacity of elementary schools, middle schools, and 

secondary schools to prepare students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘STEM Support for 

3 Teachers in Education and Mentoring (STEM) Act’’ or 

4 the ‘‘STEM2 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. STEM EDUCATION PLANNING AND TRAINING. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Elementary and 

7 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et 

8 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘PART E—STEM EDUCATION PLANNING AND 

10 TRAINING 

11 ‘‘SEC. 2501. DEFINITIONS. 

12 ‘‘In this part: 

13 ‘‘(1) INDIAN TRIBE; TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 

14 The terms ‘Indian tribe’ and ‘tribal organization’ 

15 have the meanings given those terms in section 4 of 

16 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist17 ance Act. 

18 ‘‘(2) STEM.—The term ‘STEM’ means science, 

19 technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 2502. PLANNING GRANTS. 

21 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to ad22 dress the lack of coordination among STEM education ef23 forts in the States. 

24 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this sec25 tion, the term ‘eligible entity’ means a State, Indian tribe, 

26 tribal organization, nonprofit organization, or institution 


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1 of higher education that identifies a coalition of related 

2 entities to participate in the grant application process 

3 under this section and subsequent STEM network activi4 ties funded with a grant awarded under this section. 

5 ‘‘(c) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail7 able to carry out this section, the Secretary shall 

8 carry out a program of awarding, on a competitive 

9 basis, planning grants to eligible entities to enable 

10 the eligible entities to— 

11 ‘‘(A) develop effective State or tribal 

12 STEM networks for communication and col13 laboration that include school teachers, institu14 tions of higher education, nonprofit organiza15 tions, businesses, Federal, State, and local gov16 ernments, and any other relevant entities; and 

17 ‘‘(B) through such State STEM networks, 

18 identify future STEM skills needed for STEM 

19 and non-STEM occupations. 

20 ‘‘(2) PROPORTIONALITY.—In awarding grants 

21 under this section, the Secretary shall, to the extent 

22 practicable, ensure a distribution of grant funds fo23 cused on high-need and high-poverty eligible entities. 

24 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity desiring a 

25 grant under this section shall submit an application to the 


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1 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 

2 such information as the Secretary may require. 

3 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) REPORTS TO THE SECRETARY.—An eligi5 ble entity receiving a grant under this section shall 

6 submit to the Secretary an annual report describing 

7 the progress made on the grant. 

8 ‘‘(2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

9 3 years after the date of enactment of the STEM 

10 Support for Teachers in Education and Mentoring 

11 (STEM) Act, and every 3 years thereafter, the Sec12 retary shall submit a report to Congress regarding 

13 the program supported under this section. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 2503. TRAINING PROGRAM GRANTS. 

15 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to 

16 strengthen the capacity of preservice and existing teach17 ers, elementary schools, middle schools, and secondary 

18 schools to use proven methods, including inquiry or 

19 project-based learning, to inspire and prepare students for 

20 STEM careers and build STEM literacy. 

21 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this sec22 tion, the term ‘eligible entity’ means a State, Indian tribe, 

23 tribal organization, local educational agency, institution of 

24 higher education, or nonprofit organization. 

25 ‘‘(c) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail2 able to carry out this section, the Secretary shall 

3 carry out a program of awarding grants, on a com4 petitive basis, to eligible entities to enable the eligi5 ble entities to develop, carry out, and evaluate train6 ing programs for STEM education— 

7 ‘‘(A) in elementary schools, middle schools, 

8 and secondary schools for existing teachers; and 

9 ‘‘(B) in postsecondary schools for preser10 vice teachers. 

11 ‘‘(2) PROPORTIONALITY.—In awarding grants 

12 under this section, the Secretary shall, to the extent 

13 practicable, ensure an equitable distribution— 

14 ‘‘(A) between eligible entities serving urban 

15 areas and eligible entities serving rural areas; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(B) of grant funds focused on high-need 

18 and high-poverty eligible entities. 

19 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity desiring a 

20 grant under this section shall submit an application to the 

21 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 

22 such information as the Secretary may require. Such ap23 plication shall include— 

24 ‘‘(1) a description of how the eligible entity will 

25 monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the trainVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 Feb 18, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S419.IS S419

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1 ing program, including how the eligible entity plans 

2 to measure the impact of the training on— 

3 ‘‘(A) teachers who attended the training 

4 after the teachers return to the classroom; or 

5 ‘‘(B) preservice teachers; and 

6 ‘‘(2) any other information the Secretary deter7 mines appropriate. 

8 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity receiving a 

9 grant under this section shall use grant funds to carry 

10 out a training program, using best practice models (in11 cluding inquiry and project-based models) and through 

12 summer institutes or other professional development en13 richment programs, that provides professional develop14 ment regarding STEM education to existing and 

15 preservice STEM teachers (including STEM teachers who 

16 are master teachers or have otherwise demonstrated mas17 tery of STEM teaching) and administrators who are em18 ployed as teachers and administrators, respectively, as of 

19 the time of the program. 

20 ‘‘(f) REPORTS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) REPORTS TO THE SECRETARY.—An eligi22 ble entity receiving a grant under this section shall 

23 submit to the Secretary an annual report that de24 scribes the progress made on the grant and includes 


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1 the results from the evaluation described in the ap2 plication under subsection (d). 

3 ‘‘(2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

4 3 years after the date of enactment of this part, and 

5 every 3 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit 

6 a report to Congress regarding the program sup7 ported under this section. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 2504. ACADEMIC STANDARDS GRANTS. 

9 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to 

10 strengthen the capacity of States to implement new math11 ematics and science academic standards. 

12 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this sec13 tion, the term ‘eligible entity’ means a State, Indian tribe, 

14 tribal organization, local educational agency, public char15 ter school, institution of higher education, or nonprofit or16 ganization. 

17 ‘‘(c) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail19 able to carry out this section, the Secretary shall 

20 award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible enti21 ties to enable the eligible entities to support cur22 riculum development, assessments, or related activi23 ties that would enable States to adopt new mathe24 matics and science academic standards. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PROPORTIONALITY.—In awarding grants 

2 under this section, the Secretary shall, to the extent 

3 practicable, ensure a distribution of grant funds fo4 cused on high-need and high-poverty eligible entities. 

5 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity desiring a 

6 grant under this section shall submit an application to the 

7 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 

8 such information as the Secretary may require. Such ap9 plication shall include— 

10 ‘‘(1) a description of how the eligible entity will 

11 monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of curriculum 

12 development, assessments, or related activities that 

13 would enable States to adopt new mathematics and 

14 science academic standards; and 

15 ‘‘(2) any other information the Secretary deter16 mines appropriate. 

17 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity receiving a 

18 grant under this section shall use grant funds to carry 

19 out curriculum development, assessments, or related ac20 tivities that would enable States to adopt new mathe21 matics and science academic standards and provide profes22 sional development regarding STEM education standards 

23 and national tests for administrators who are employed 

24 as teachers and administrators, respectively, as of the time 

25 of the program. 


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1 ‘‘(f) REPORTS TO THE SECRETARY.—An eligible enti2 ty receiving a grant under this section shall submit to the 

3 Secretary an annual report that describes the progress 

4 made on the grant and includes the results from the eval5 uation described in the application under subsection (d). 

6 ‘‘SEC. 2505. NATIONAL PANEL. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

8 national panel to review, evaluate, and identify— 

9 ‘‘(1) rigorous kindergarten through grade 12 

10 STEM curricula models, including computer or web11 based simulation education programs, kinesthetic 

12 learning, and inquiry- or project-based learning tech13 niques; and 

14 ‘‘(2) best practices with respect to STEM cur15 ricula. 

16 ‘‘(b) MEMBERS.—The Secretary shall determine the 

17 membership of the national panel described in subsection 

18 (a), which shall be comprised of individuals who have the 

19 wisdom and experience to identify and recommend the 

20 most effective STEM curricula models, such as— 

21 ‘‘(1) representatives of technology industries 

22 and business; 

23 ‘‘(2) teachers and school administrators; 

24 ‘‘(3) representatives of nonprofit organizations 

25 and community organizations; 


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1 ‘‘(4) faculty members of institutions of higher 

2 education; 

3 ‘‘(5) research specialists and curricula special4 ists; 

5 ‘‘(6) at least 1 rural education expert; 

6 ‘‘(7) at least 1 high school or college student to 

7 provide a youth perspective; and 

8 ‘‘(8) other individuals, as determined appro9 priate by the Secretary. 

10 ‘‘(c) REPORTS.—The panel shall prepare reports and 

11 recommendations regarding the panel’s findings as re12 quested by the Secretary. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 2506. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

15 this part such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 

16 2016 and each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

17 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents in 

18 section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

19 of 1965 is amended by inserting after the item relating 

20 to section 2441 the following: 

‘‘PART E. STEM EDUCATION PLANNING AND TRAINING

‘‘Sec. 2501. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 2502. Planning grants. 

‘‘Sec. 2503. Training program grants. 

‘‘Sec. 2504. Academic standards grants. 

‘‘Sec. 2505. National panel. 

‘‘Sec. 2506. Authorization of appropriations.’’. 

Æ 


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