SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Engineering Education 
for Innovation Act’’ or the ‘‘E2 for Innovation Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) There is a national concern that the Na-
tion’s preeminence in science and innovation is erod-
ing. According to the National Science Board’s 2010 
Science and Engineering Indicators, only 5 percent 
of college graduates in the United States major in 
engineering, compared with 12 percent of European 
students and 20 percent of those in Asia. The report 
also notes that the performance of elementary and 
secondary school students in the United States lags 
behind many nations on international assessments of 
mathematics and science. 
(2) While women earn 58 percent of all bach-
elor’s degrees, they constitute only 18.5 percent of 
bachelor’s degrees awarded in engineering. 
(3) African-Americans earn only 4.6 percent of 
bachelor’s degrees awarded in engineering and His-
panics earn only 7.2 percent. 
(4) The introduction of engineering education 
has the potential to improve student learning and 
achievement in science and mathematics, increase 
awareness about what engineers do and of engineer-
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ing as a potential career, and boost students’ tech-
nology and engineering literacy, according to a new 
report, ‘‘Engineering in K–12 Education’’ from the 
National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the 
National Research Council (NRC). 
(5) The report described in paragraph (4) also 
identifies the following 3 core principles for K–12 
engineering education: 
(A) Emphasize engineering design process. 
(B) Incorporate important and develop-
mentally appropriate mathematics, science, and 
technology knowledge and skills. 
(C) Promote engineering habits of mind in-
cluding systems thinking, creativity, collabora-
tion, communication, and attention to ethical 
considerations. 
(6) While exposure to formal engineering edu-
cation has increased dramatically over the past 15 
years, reaching several million K–12 students, most 
students in the United States have never experienced 
an engineering course or lesson. 
(7) There is also a lack of diversity in these ex-
isting K–12 engineering education opportunities. 
The number of girls and underrepresented minorities 
participating in K–12 engineering education does 
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not correspond to their proportion of the general 
population. 
(8) The President’s Council of Advisors on 
Science and Technology (PCAST) report Prepare 
and Inspire: K–12 Science, Technology, Engineer-
ing, and Math (STEM) Education for America’s Fu-
ture recommends that the Nation focus on preparing 
all students, including girls and minorities underrep-
resented in STEM fields, in order to meet the na-
tional need for a STEM-capable citizenry and a 
STEM-proficient workforce. The report also notes 
that achieving the Nation’s goals for K–12 STEM 
education will require partnerships with State and 
local governments and with the private and philan-
thropic sectors. 
(9) Only a handful of States have integrated 
engineering into their core academic K–12 stand-
ards. 
(10) K–12 engineering education in the United 
States is supported by a relatively small number of 
curricular and teacher professional development pro-
grams. 
(11) While science, technology, engineering, and 
mathematics education is viewed as a national edu-
cation policy, often the implementation of policies 
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and initiatives focuses exclusively on mathematics 
and science and overlooks the engineering and tech-
nology education components. 
(12) Schools, policy makers, and other stake-
holders often narrowly refer to the term ‘‘techno-
logically literate’’ as the ability to use educational 
technologies. Although educational technology is im-
portant, it is far from the only type of technology we 
depend on in a modern society. In 2006, the Na-
tional Academy of Engineering and the National Re-
search Council’s report, ‘‘Technically Speaking’’, 
outlined a broader view of ‘‘technological literacy’’, 
one more consistent with how scientists, engineers, 
and technologists see the world. In this view, tech-
nology and engineering literacy includes— 
(A) knowledge of technology, the engineer-
ing design process, and impacts on society; 
(B) critical thinking and decisionmaking 
weighing benefits, risks, costs, and tradeoffs; 
and 
(C) capability to use a variety of tech-
nologies, apply the design process, fix simple 
technological problems, and obtain and under-
stand information about technological issues. 
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(13) The Standards for Technological Literacy, 
developed by the International Technology and Engi-
neering Education Association and passed by a for-
mal review by the National Academy of Engineering 
and the National Research Council, closely align 
with the Academies’ concept of technology and engi-
neering literacy in paragraph (11). 
(14) To support an innovation economy and 
maintain our country’s vitality and security, we 
must expand students’ understanding of technology 
and engineering and widen the pipeline to careers in 
these fields so that a diverse array of talented stu-
dents can pursue them. 
(15) The Federal Government has an interest 
in expanding K–12 engineering and technology edu-
cation. The National Assessment of Educational 
Progress (NAEP) Science 2009 assessment included 
items testing student’s technological design skills. 
The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) 
will administer a NAEP Technology and Engineer-
ing Literacy probe assessment in 2014 that will as-
sess student knowledge in engineering design and 
systems, information and communication technology, 
and technology and society. 
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