I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4705 
To establish the Math and Science Teaching Corps. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 7, 2006 
Mr. SAXTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To establish the Math and Science Teaching Corps. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mathematics and 
Science Teaching Corps Act of 2006’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Mathematics and science are the bases for 
almost every technical competence in the modern 
marketplace, including fields as diverse as computer 
programming, physics, engineering, manufacturing, 
and oil exploration.
(2) Cultivating a workforce with strong mathe-
matics and science skills is necessary both to keep 
the United States competitive in a global economy 
and for its national security. China’s long-term 
growth rate has surpassed that of the United States 
in the time since Chinese economic reform focused 
on the development of science and technology. 
(3) Secondary school students in the United 
States rank near the bottom when compared to their 
counterparts in other developed countries. Of the 
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Devel-
opment nations participating in the 2003 Program 
for International Student Assessment, the United 
States ranked 24th of 29 in mathematics and 23rd 
of 29 in science, while Korea and Japan ranked in 
the top 5 in both categories. 
(4) Research shows that teacher quality is the 
most important factor in determining student 
achievement, especially in the technical fields of 
mathematics and science. Researchers from Penn 
State, the Urban Institute, and the RAND Corpora-
tion have all found higher student achievement in 
secondary school for those students whose teachers 
had taken more coursework related to their subject 
area.
(5) According to the Center for Teaching and 
Policy, 38 percent of secondary school mathematics 
classes, 28 percent of general science classes, 45 per-
cent of life science classes, and 60 percent of phys-
ical science classes are taught by individuals lacking 
a major or a minor in such discipline. 
(6) College graduates with strong mathematics 
or science backgrounds have many career opportuni-
ties that are more financially attractive than teach-
ing. According to the National Science Foundation, 
recent college graduates in 2001 were offered be-
tween $10,000 and $20,000 more for their first year 
in a technical occupation other than teaching. 
(7) Sophisticated mathematics and science 
teachers are needed in all classrooms across the Na-
tion in order to raise student achievement and ulti-
mately help the United States maintain its competi-
tiveness in the global economy. 
(8) Individuals who are strong in mathematics 
and science need financial incentives, peer men-
toring, and professional development for proper re-
cruitment and retainment in the field of teaching. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 
(1) recruit up to 8,000 new, outstanding mathe-
matics and science secondary school teachers each
year who might otherwise begin different careers; 
and 
(2) reward up to 8,000 existing and out-
standing mathematics and science secondary school 
teachers each year who might otherwise leave the 
teaching profession. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 
the Director of the Math and Science Teaching 
Corps. 
(2) 
HARD-TO-STAFF
SCHOOL.—The 
term 
‘‘hard-to-staff school’’ means a secondary school that 
has great difficulty in finding and retaining qualified 
and effective teachers, as determined by the Direc-
tor. 
(3) PARTICIPATING LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN-
CY.—The term ‘‘participating local educational agen-
cy’’ means a local educational agency that has been 
certified by the Director as offering an induction 
program for individuals receiving fellowships under 
this Act that meets adequate standards, including— 
(A) clustering Math and Science Teaching 
Corps Fellows in individual or nearby schools;
(B) providing multi-year mentoring and 
coaching; 
(C) offering new teacher seminars on a 
monthly basis; 
(D) reducing the course load for such Fel-
lows; 
(E) allowing time for joint lesson planning 
and other constructive collaborative activities; 
(F) providing professional development op-
portunities for such Fellows and Math and 
Science Teaching Corps Master Fellows on con-
tent knowledge and pedagogy; and 
(G) facilitating relationships between Math 
and Science Teaching Corps Fellows and Math 
and Science Teaching Corps Master Fellows. 
(4) PARTNER INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘part-
ner institution’’ means an institution of higher edu-
cation that has been certified by the Director as 
meeting adequate standards for— 
(A) offering a teacher preparation program 
that— 
(i) is modeled on the Master of Arts 
in Teaching program, which provides a 
full-time, 1-year course of study leading to
teacher certification and a master’s degree; 
and 
(ii) includes pedagogical courses and a 
minimum of 1 semester of student teach-
ing experience; 
(B) offering a part-time master’s degree 
program in mathematics or science education 
for teachers who are certified to teach; 
(C) offering a graduate degree program in 
mathematics and science; and 
(D) establishing an explicit collaboration 
between the teacher preparation and mathe-
matics and science departments of the institu-
tion to provide graduate-level mathematics and 
science content courses that are appropriate for 
secondary school teachers. 
(5) STANDARDIZED TEST.—The term ‘‘stand-
ardized test’’ means the test required by the Direc-
tor of each individual who applies for a fellowship 
under this Act that evaluates each individual’s math-
ematics or science subject area knowledge. The 
science subject area tests shall include a section to 
assess mathematics skills appropriate to each sub-
ject. The standardized tests shall be approved and 
reviewed periodically by the National Academy of
Sciences to ensure that the tests meet rigorous 
standards and remain appropriate for the intended 
use, and cut-off scores shall be set at the national 
level. 
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MATH AND SCIENCE 
TEACHING CORPS. 
Title II of the Department of Education Organization 
Act (20 U.S.C. 3411 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 221. MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHING CORPS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be in the Depart-
ment a Math and Science Teaching Corps to be adminis-
tered by the Director of the Math and Science Teaching 
Corps in accordance with the Mathematics and Science 
Teaching Corps Act of 2006. 
‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—The Director of the Math and 
Science Teaching Corps shall— 
‘‘(1) administer the Math and Science Teaching 
Corps program established under the Mathematics 
and Science Teaching Corps Act of 2006; and 
‘‘(2) report directly to the Secretary and shall 
perform such additional functions as the Secretary 
may prescribe. 
‘‘(c) PURPOSE.—The Math and Science Teaching 
Corps is established in order to significantly improve
mathematics and science achievement among secondary 
school students in the United States by ensuring that such 
students are taught by well-prepared mathematics and 
science teachers with superior subject area knowledge.’’. 
SEC. 5. MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHING CORPS FELLOW-
SHIPS FOR PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall carry out 
a program through which the Director awards— 
(1) Math and Science Teaching Corps Fellow-
ships for Prospective Teachers (referred to in this 
part as ‘‘MSTC Fellowships’’) to eligible individuals; 
(2) grants to partner institutions to pay the tui-
tion and fees and overhead costs at such institutions 
of individuals receiving MSTC Fellowships under 
this section; and 
(3) grants to participating local educational 
agencies to pay the costs of the activities described 
in subsection (e)(4). 
(b) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—In this 
section, the term ‘‘eligible individual’’ means an individual 
who— 
(1) is a recent college graduate or a mid-career 
professional outside of the teaching field; and 
(2) possesses a strong content area knowledge, 
including a baccalaureate (or higher) degree in
mathematics, science, engineering, technology, or a 
related field. 
(c) APPLICATION.—An individual, partner institu-
tion, or participating local educational agency that desires 
to receive a MSTC Fellowship or grant, as applicable, 
under this section shall submit an application to the Direc-
tor at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by 
such information as the Director may require. 
(d) RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION OF INDIVIDUALS 
FOR MSTC FELLOWSHIPS.— 
(1) RECRUITMENT.—The Director shall recruit 
eligible individuals for the MSTC Fellowships. 
(2) SELECTION.—The Director shall establish 
criteria to ensure that individuals who receive MSTC 
Fellowships under this section possess— 
(A) a comprehensive knowledge of the sub-
ject area to be taught as evidenced by per-
forming at a satisfactory level on a standard-
ized test; 
(B) strong verbal and communication 
skills; and 
(C) other attributes that are linked to ef-
fective teaching. 
(e) ACTIVITIES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who receives a 
MSTC Fellowship under this section shall— 
(A) receive pedagogical training as de-
scribed in paragraph (2); and 
(B) for 4 years, within a 7-year period of 
first receiving the Fellowship, teach mathe-
matics or science in a secondary school, as de-
scribed in paragraph (3). 
(2) PEDAGOGICAL TRAINING.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual who re-
ceives a MSTC Fellowship under this section 
shall— 
(i) if the individual is not certified to 
teach— 
(I) attend, during the first year 
of the MSTC Fellowship, a 1-year, 
full-time graduate education program 
of a partner institution that receives a 
grant under this section; and 
(II) receive, during that 1 year, a 
stipend that is in an amount that is 
equal to the Graduate Research Fel-
lowship stipend awarded by the Na-
tional Science Foundation; or
(ii) if the individual holds appropriate 
teacher 
certification 
credentials 
when 
granted the MSTC Fellowship, then during 
any of the 4 years of the MSTC Fellow-
ship— 
(I) attend a part-time graduate 
education program leading to a mas-
ter’s degree in mathematics or science 
education; or 
(II) enroll at an institution of 
higher education in not more than 24 
credit hours of courses in mathe-
matics, science, or education. 
(B) 
GRANTS
TO
PARTNER
INSTITU-
TIONS.—A partner institution that receives a 
grant under this section— 
(i) shall use the grant funds to pay 
the tuition and fees at such institution of 
individuals receiving MSTC Fellowships 
under this section; and 
(ii) may use not more than 10 percent 
of the grant funds for overhead costs in-
curred by the partner institution in admin-
istering the grant.