I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 885 
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 2, 2011 
Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mr. PETRI, and Mr. WALZ of Minnesota) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To improve and expand geographic literacy among kinder-
garten through grade 12 students in the United States 
by improving professional development programs for kin-
dergarten through grade 12 teachers offered through 
institutions of higher education. 
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 ‘‘Teaching Geography 
is Fundamental Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION. 
Title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1021 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘PART D—GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION 
‘‘SEC. 271. FINDINGS. 
‘‘Congress makes the following findings: 
‘‘(1) Geographic literacy is essential to a well- 
prepared citizenry in the 21st century because geo-
graphic factors assume greater importance as the 
world’s economies, societies, and political structures 
grow more global in scale. 
‘‘(2) In a recent National Geographic–Roper 9- 
country survey of geographic literacy among young 
adults aged 18 through 24, Americans ranked sec-
ond to last. Only 13 percent of young adults ages 18 
through 24 in the United States were able to cor-
rectly identify Iraq on a map of Asia and the Middle 
East. 
‘‘(3) The economic stature and competitiveness 
of the United States requires increasingly sophisti-
cated levels of geographic knowledge and mastery of 
geographic tools. 
‘‘(4) The Department of Labor data identifies 
geotechnology as one of the 3 fastest growing em-
ployment fields serving industries such as insurance, 
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banking, real estate, forestry, and agriculture as well 
as Federal, State, and local Governments. 
‘‘(5) The National Academy of Sciences urged 
creation of a national program to improve the geo-
graphic competence of the United States general 
population and the school age population. 
‘‘(6) Geography is defined as a ‘core academic 
subject’ under the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965. 
‘‘(7) A recent National Geographic Society sur-
vey found that all 50 States and the District of Co-
lumbia recognize geography in their curricula or con-
tent standards, and an increasing number require 
geography for graduation and include geography in 
mandated statewide assessments. 
‘‘(8) Seven of 10 educators responding to a Na-
tional Geographic survey felt their professional de-
velopment opportunities in geography were inad-
equate and half believed their schools had inad-
equate basic materials for teaching geography. 
‘‘(9) The National Geographic Society has 
spent over 15 years pioneering an extraordinarily ef-
fective national program for improving the teaching 
of 
geography 
by 
engaging 
university 
faculty 
geographers and highly trained teachers in State Ge-
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ographic Alliances dedicated to providing high qual-
ity professional development opportunities for kin-
dergarten through grade 12 teachers. 
‘‘(10) More than 60 colleges and universities in 
all 50 States have received grants from the National 
Geographic Society to support State Geographic Alli-
ances and their professional development programs. 
Alliance-trained kindergarten through grade 12 
teachers and their higher education partners conduct 
workshops, develop localized teaching materials, and 
facilitate communication among thousands of teach-
ers whose responsibilities include teaching of geog-
raphy in various formats and grade levels. 
‘‘(11) A study by Mid-Continent Research for 
Education and Learning that assessed student aca-
demic achievement in geography on the National As-
sessment of Educational Progress showed that stu-
dents taught by Alliance-trained teachers out-
performed other students by almost 10 percent. 
‘‘SEC. 272. PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this part is to pro-
mote geographic literacy and improved understanding of 
global cultures among kindergarten through grade 12 stu-
dents by expanding programs that employ the geographic 
knowledge and expertise of faculty members in institutions 
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of higher education for the benefit of kindergarten 
through grade 12 teachers and to otherwise advance geo-
graphic literacy. 
‘‘(b) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives of this part are 
the following: 
‘‘(1) To increase students knowledge of, and 
achievement in, standards-based geography to enable 
the students to become better informed and more 
productive citizens. 
‘‘(2) To increase the number of highly qualified 
teachers of United States and world geography and 
to enable the teachers to improve student mastery of 
geographic principles and practical applications of 
those principles. 
‘‘(3) To encourage geographic education re-
search, to develop and disseminate effective instruc-
tional materials, and to promote replication of best 
practices and exemplary programs that foster geo-
graphic literacy. 
‘‘(4) To assist States in measuring the impact 
of education in geography. 
‘‘(5) To leverage and expand private and public 
support for geography education partnerships at na-
tional, State, and local levels. 
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‘‘SEC. 273. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 
‘‘The Secretary is authorized to award a grant to a 
national nonprofit educational organization or a consor-
tium of organizations (hereafter in this part referred to 
as the ‘grantee’) that has as its primary purpose the im-
provement of the quality of student understanding of ge-
ography through effective teaching of geography in the 
Nation’s classrooms. 
‘‘SEC. 274. USE OF FUNDS. 
‘‘(a) DIRECT ACTIVITIES.—The grantee shall use not 
more than 25 percent of the funds made available through 
the grant for a fiscal year— 
‘‘(1) to strengthen and expand the grantee’s re-
lationships with institutions of higher education and 
with State educational agencies and local educational 
agencies and other public and private organizations 
with a commitment to geography education and the 
benefits of geography education; 
‘‘(2) to support and promote research-based 
training of teachers of geography and related dis-
ciplines in kindergarten through grade 12 as a 
means of broadening student knowledge of the 
world, including the dissemination of information on 
effective practices and research findings concerning 
the teaching of geography; 
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‘‘(3) to support research on effective geography 
teaching practices and the development of assess-
ment instruments and strategies to document stu-
dent understanding of geography; 
‘‘(4) to convene national conferences on geog-
raphy education to assess the current state of geo-
graphic literacy and to identify strategies for im-
provement; and 
‘‘(5) to develop and disseminate appropriate re-
search-based materials to foster geographic literacy. 
‘‘(b) SUBGRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The grantee shall use not 
more than 75 percent of the funds made available 
through the grant for a fiscal year to award sub-
grants to eligible recipients. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT DEFINED.—In this 
part the term ‘eligible recipient’ means an institution 
of higher education associated with— 
‘‘(A) a State geographic alliance; 
‘‘(B) a nonprofit educational organization; 
‘‘(C) a State educational agency or local 
educational agency; or 
‘‘(D) a partnership between or among an 
alliance, organization, or agency described in 
subparagraph (A), (B) or (C). 
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‘‘(3) SUBGRANT USES OF FUNDS.—Eligible re-
cipients shall use the subgrant funds for 1 or more 
of the following purposes: 
‘‘(A) Conducting teacher training pro-
grams that use effective and research-based ap-
proaches to the teaching of geography at the 
kindergarten through grade 12 level. 
‘‘(B) Applying Geographic Information 
System (GIS) or other geographic technological 
tools to the teaching of geography. 
‘‘(C) Applying Internet and other distance 
learning technology to the teaching of geog-
raphy or to the continuing education of teach-
ers. 
‘‘(D) Promoting rigorous academic stand-
ards and assessment techniques to guide and 
measure student performance in geography. 
‘‘(E) Promoting research in geography 
education, emphasizing research that leads to 
improving student achievement. 
‘‘(F) Carrying out local, field-based activi-
ties for teachers and students to improve their 
knowledge of the concepts and tools of geog-
raphy while enhancing understanding of their 
home region. 
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‘‘(G) Promoting comparative studies of 
world cultures, economies, and environments. 
‘‘(H) Encouraging replication of best prac-
tices and model programs to promote geo-
graphic literacy. 
‘‘(I) Developing and disseminating effec-
tive, research-based geography learning mate-
rials. 
‘‘(J) Convening State-based conferences to 
assess the state of geographic literacy and to 
identify strategies for improvement. 
‘‘SEC. 275. APPLICATIONS. 
‘‘(a) GRANTEE APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to re-
ceive a grant under this part, a grantee shall submit to 
the Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 
and accompanied by such information as the Secretary 
may require. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT APPLICATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) SUBMISSION.—To be eligible to receive a 
subgrant under this part, an eligible recipient shall 
submit an application to a grantee at such time, in 
such manner and accompanied by such information 
as the grantee may require. 
‘‘(2) REVIEW.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A grantee shall invite 
individuals described in subparagraph (B) to re-
view all applications from eligible recipients for 
a subgrant under this section and to make rec-
ommendations to the grantee regarding the ap-
proval of the applications. 
‘‘(B) REVIEWERS.—The individuals re-
ferred to in subparagraph (A) are the following: 
‘‘(i) Leaders in the field of geography 
education. 
‘‘(ii) Such other individuals as the 
grantee may determine are necessary or 
desirable. 
‘‘SEC. 276. REQUIREMENTS. 
‘‘(a) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—A grantee receiving 
a grant under this part for a fiscal year, and each eligible 
recipient receiving a subgrant under this part for a fiscal 
year, may use not more than 15 percent of the funds made 
available through the grant or subgrant, respectively, for 
administrative costs. 
‘‘(b) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to be eligible to 
receive a subgrant under this part an eligible recipi-
ent shall agree in the application submitted under 
section 275(b) to provide matching funds towards 
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the costs of the activities assisted under the 
subgrant. 
‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—An eligible recipient shall pro-
vide matching funds in an amount equal to 20 per-
cent of the subgrant funds received under this part 
for the second and each succeeding fiscal year for 
which subgrant payments are made. 
‘‘(3) SOURCE OF MATCHING FUNDS.—Matching 
funds may be provided in cash or in kind, fairly 
evaluated, including facilities, staffing salaries, and 
educational materials. 
‘‘SEC. 277. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this part $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2012 and each of 
the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 
Æ 
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