I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3785 
To provide support for the development of middle school career exploration 
programs linked to career and technical education programs of study. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 
Mrs. DAVIS of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To provide support for the development of middle school 
career exploration programs linked to career and tech-
nical education programs of study. 
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 ‘‘Middle School Tech-
nical Education Program Act’’ or the ‘‘Middle School 
STEP Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Career and technical education prepares 
students to be college and career ready by providing 
core academic, technical, and employability skills. 
(2) Eighty percent of students taking a college 
preparatory academic curriculum with rigorous ca-
reer and technical education courses met college and 
career readiness goals, compared to 63 percent of 
students taking the same academic core who did not 
experience rigorous career and technical education 
courses. 
(3) Students concentrating in career and tech-
nical education improved their 12th grade National 
Assessment of Educational Progress scores by 8 
points in reading and 11 points in mathematics, 
while students who took no career and technical edu-
cation courses did not increase their mathematics 
scores and only increased reading scores by 4 points. 
(4) The average high school graduation rate in 
2012 for students concentrating in career and tech-
nical education programs was 93 percent, compared 
to the average nationwide high school graduation 
rate of 80 percent. 
(5) Partnerships between businesses and edu-
cators help adults build academic, technical, and em-
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ployability skills through education and on-the-job 
training. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSE AND DEFINITIONS. 
(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to support 
the development of middle school career exploration pro-
grams linked to career and technical education programs 
of study. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 
(1) CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION EX-
PLORATION PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘career and tech-
nical education exploration program’’ means a pro-
gram that is developed through an organized, sys-
temic framework and is designed to aid students in 
making informed plans and decisions about future 
education and career opportunities and enrollment in 
career and technical education programs of study. 
(2) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘eligi-
ble partnership’’ means an entity that— 
(A) shall include— 
(i) not less than 1 local educational 
agency that receives funding under section 
131 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and 
Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 
U.S.C. 2351), or an area career and tech-
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nical education school or educational serv-
ice agency described in such section; 
(ii) not less than 1 eligible institution 
that receives funding under section 132 of 
the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical 
Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2352); 
and 
(iii) not less than 1 representative of 
either a local or regional business, indus-
try, nonprofit organization, or apprentice-
ship program; and 
(B) may include other representatives of 
the community, including representatives of 
parents’ organizations, labor organizations, 
nonprofit organizations, employers, and rep-
resentatives of local workforce development 
boards (established under subtitle A of title I of 
the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 
Act). 
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Education. 
SEC. 4. CAREER EXPLORATION PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT 
GRANTS. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary shall create a 
pilot program to support the establishment of career and 
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technical education exploration programs. In carrying out 
the pilot program, the Secretary shall award grants to eli-
gible partnerships to enable the eligible partnerships to de-
velop middle school career and technical education explo-
ration programs that are aligned with career and technical 
education programs of study described in section 
122(c)(1)(A) of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical 
Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2342(c)(1)(A)). 
(b) GRANT DURATION.—Grants awarded under this 
Act shall be for a period of not more than 4 years. 
(c) APPLICATION.—An eligible partnership seeking a 
grant under this section shall submit an application to the 
Secretary at such time and in such manner as the Sec-
retary may require. Each application shall include— 
(1) a description of the partner entities com-
prising the eligible partnership, the roles and respon-
sibilities of each partner, and a demonstration of 
each partner’s capacity to support the program; 
(2) a description of how the eligible partnership 
will use grant funds to carry out each of the activi-
ties described under subsection (e); 
(3) a description of how the middle school ca-
reer and technical education exploration program 
aligns to regional economies and local emerging 
workforce needs; 
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(4) a description of how the new middle school 
career and technical education exploration program 
is linked to— 
(A) one or more career and technical edu-
cation programs of study offered by the agency 
or school described in section 3(b)(2)(A)(i); and 
(B) one or more career and technical edu-
cation programs of study offered by the postsec-
ondary 
institution 
described 
in 
section 
3(b)(2)(A)(ii); 
(5) a description of the students that will be 
served by the middle school career and technical 
education exploration program; 
(6) a description of how the middle school ca-
reer and technical education exploration program 
funded by the grant will be replicable; 
(7) a description of how the eligible partnership 
will disseminate information about best practices re-
sulting from the middle school career and technical 
education exploration program to similar career and 
technical education programs of study, including 
such programs in urban and rural areas; 
(8) a description of how the middle school ca-
reer and technical education exploration program 
will be implemented; 
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