zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Education for Tomorrow's Jobs Act - Amends part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require local educational agencies receiving subgrants under part A to describe how they will establish and carry out a school improvement program, including how they will: create a network of schools or programs of study that integrate a rigorous curriculum emphasizing college and career readiness, and wraparound support services; use school-level strategies to personalize students' educational experience; demonstrate their capacity to implement and sustain their program; involve institutions of higher education, employers, community-based organizations, parent organizations, and other stakeholders in the school improvement process; provide school staff and other stakeholders with high-quality training and technical assistance; facilitate student transitions from secondary schools that do not award diplomas to secondary schools that do, and from the latter to postsecondary education; enable their program through policies that may include budgeting, governance, curriculum, and scheduling autonomies; place students, when possible, in a school or program of study that the student or their parents choose; ensure that students are able to fully participate in their school or program of study and are not placed in a school or program of study on the basis of their prior academic achievement or status as a poor, minority, disabled, or limited English proficient student; and arrange for an ongoing and rigorous evaluation of their program, and disseminate best practices.

Date: 2011-10-12
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Today's Entrepreneurs are America's Mentors Act or TEAM Act - Amends the Small Business Act to establish in the Small Business Administration (SBA) an Office of Entrepreneurial Education, headed by a Director, to develop and provide innovative entrepreneurial information, education, and resources to promote prospective entrepreneurs and successful small businesses. Directs the SBA's Associate Administrator for Entrepreneurial Development to establish a program of grants to nonprofit organizations to provide technical assistance to primary and secondary schools for the development and implementation of curricula and mentoring programs designed to promote entrepreneurship. Requires the Director to submit to the congressional small business committees best practices of U.S. entrepreneurial education and training programs. Authorizes the SBA Administrator to award up to 100 scholarships per year to students pursuing a Masters of Business Administration degree. Requires each student, in return for such scholarship, to provide, on a full-time basis for one to two weeks, free technical assistance, counseling, and related assistance to small businesses and entrepreneurs. Directs the Administrator to establish a program to host regional competitions and a national conference to address regional challenges through entrepreneurial research and business planning. Requires the Administrator to recommend to Congress legislation for establishing programs to forgive or defer student loan payments in order to assist youth entrepreneurship by making capital available for business formation.

Date: 2012-05-22
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Commerce
Women and Minorities in STEM Booster Act of 2012 - Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), acting through the Human Resources Directorate and not less than one research directorate of the NSF, to award competitive grants to eligible entities to enable them to carry out the activities specified below in order to increase the participation of women and underrepresented minorities in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Requires an eligible entity that receives a grant to use those grant funds to carry out the following activities designed to increase the participation of women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields: (1) online workshops, (2) mentoring programs that partner STEM professionals with students, (3) internships for undergraduate and graduate students in STEM, and (4) conducting outreach programs providing elementary and secondary school students with opportunities to increase their exposure to STEM.

Date: 2012-08-01
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
National STEM Education Tax Incentive for Teachers Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain full-time elementary and secondary school teachers of math, science, engineering, or technology courses a refundable tax credit for 10% of their undergraduate tuition up to $1,000 in any taxable year. Increases such credit amount to $1,500 for teachers in schools serving disadvantaged children. Terminates such credit after the 10th taxable year for which such credit is allowed.

Date: 2013-01-03
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Taxation
Diverse Teachers Recruitment Act of 2013 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award competitive matching grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) or nonprofits, educational service agencies, institutions of higher education, or states that enter into partnerships with such LEAs to: (1) recruit individuals from underrepresented groups as public elementary and secondary school teachers, and (2) provide training and retention incentives to public elementary and secondary school teachers.

Prohibits grants to applicants that do not serve schools that have difficulty recruiting, training, and retaining individuals from underrepresented groups as teachers.

Gives priority to applicants that serve the most high-need schools and those that serve schools with high concentrations of poor, minority, disabled, or limited English proficient students.

Requires the Secretary to evaluate the success of the grantees and compile a database of best practices for recruiting, training, and retaining individuals from underrepresented groups as public elementary and secondary school teachers.

Date: 2013-02-06
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
ARPA-ED Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to reserve up to 30% of amounts appropriated for the Investing in Innovation Fund under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to establish and carry out the objectives of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Education (ARPA-ED).

Requires the Secretary to appoint to the ARPA-ED, for terms of up to four years, individuals who have expertise in carrying out the Agency's objectives.

Requires the ARPA-ED to: (1) identify and promote advances in learning, fundamental and applied sciences, and engineering that may be translated into new learning technologies; (2) develop, test, and evaluate new learning technologies and related processes; and (3) accelerate transformational technological advances in education.

Directs the Secretary to award grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, or cash prizes to, or enter into other transactions with, public or private entities in pursuit of these objectives.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) convene an advisory panel to provide the Secretary and the ARPA-ED with advice in making those awards or entering into those transactions; (2) obtain independent, periodic, and rigorous evaluations of the ARPA-ED's effectiveness; and (3) disseminate information to education practitioners on effective practices and technologies developed through the ARPA-ED.

Date: 2013-02-14
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Stepping Up to STEM Act of 2013 - Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to establish the Office of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education within the Department of Education to administer STEM education.

Directs the Office of STEM Education to conduct an independent evaluation of the Department's STEM Education programs at least once every five years.

Establishes an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Education (ARPA-ED) within the Department to pursue breakthrough research and development in educational technology and to facilitate the effective use of that technology to improve student achievement.

Directs the Secretary of Education to award matching grants to state-based STEM networks or similar organizations of STEM stakeholders to increase students' achievement in the STEM disciplines in elementary and secondary schools and in out of school and afterschool programs.

Includes among grant uses:

 testing, sharing, and scaling up STEM education research, promising practices, and exemplary programs; identifying state STEM education weaknesses and prioritizing strategies to address them; implementing rigorous career and college ready standards in STEM education; developing and implementing innovative STEM assessments that measure student progress toward those career and college ready standards; promoting and developing pre- and in-service STEM teacher training; developing STEM career pathways and workforce education and training programs that reflect 21st century workforce needs; facilitating the implementation of expanded STEM learning opportunities on school sites; and promoting, supporting, and designing programs that develop STEM content coaches and master educators in order to strengthen core competencies of the classroom practitioner. Requires grantees to conduct periodic independent evaluations of their effectiveness in accomplishing those activities.

Prohibits the Secretary from: (1) endorsing or approving any STEM curriculum designed for use in an elementary school, secondary school, or institution of higher education; or (2) requiring a state, local educational agency, or school to adopt a specific STEM program or instructional materials.

Date: 2013-03-12
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Elementary Educator STEM Content Coach Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award grants to states and, through them, subgrants to partnerships between local educational agencies and public or nonprofit organizations to carry out professional development training programs for elementary school teachers that have at least three years of classroom teaching experience and exhibit content knowledge in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Refers to those teachers as STEM Coaches.

Requires grant applicants to have adopted college- and career-ready standards in the STEM disciplines.

Requires public or nonprofit subgrantees to have expertise in developing or implementing before school, after school, summer learning, or expanded learning time activities for students.

Requires the professional development training programs to: (1) give STEM Coaches a deep understanding of the principles and concepts of the STEM disciplines; (2) create enthusiasm for the STEM disciplines; (3) provide opportunities for collaboration and teacher mentoring among STEM Coaches and between STEM Coaches and other teachers; and (4) allow STEM Coaches to connect student learning in the STEM disciplines to real-life applications, to out of school programs, and across the curriculum.

Directs the Secretary to plan a national evaluation of the professional development training program for STEM Coaches.

Date: 2013-03-12
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Project Ready STEM Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to national and regional intermediaries and, through them, subgrants to their community-based affiliates to operate in-school, after school, summer, and weekend programs that focus on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education.

Defines a "national intermediary" as a national private nonprofit organization that has: (1) a network comprising community-based affiliates in at least 50 urban communities, (2) expertise in overseeing programs to help middle and secondary school students succeed, and (3) operated in at least 25 states continuously for at least 20 years.

Defines a "regional intermediary" as a private nonprofit community-based organization that has: (1) a network comprising community-based affiliates in a prescribed region, and (2) expertise in extending educational services to middle and secondary school students.

Requires the STEM programs to primarily serve students who are traditionally underrepresented in STEM field careers, and include project-based learning opportunities and individualized instruction.

Directs each subgrantee to collaborate with an institution of higher education in providing such services.

Requires grantees to direct at least: (1) 50% of their grant to community-based affiliates that are successfully operating STEM programs so that they can expand them to reach more students traditionally underrepresented in STEM field careers, and (2) 25% of their grant to the development of STEM programs by community-based affiliates not currently operating any.

Date: 2013-03-21
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Prepare All Kids Act of 2013 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary of Education to establish a Prekindergarten Incentive Fund from which matching grants shall be awarded to states and, through them, subgrants to qualified prekindergarten providers to establish, expand, or enhance voluntary high quality full-day prekindergarten programs serving children ages three through five.

Directs state grantees to set aside: (1) at least 15% of their grant for quality early childhood development programs for children from birth through age three, and (2) at least 10% of their grant to extend the hours of early childhood development programs to create extended day and year programs.

Requires prekindergarten subgrantees to: (1) maintain a maximum class size of 20 children, with at least 1 prekindergarten teacher per classroom; and (2) ensure that the ratio of children to prekindergarten teachers and teacher aides does not exceed 10 to 1.

Prohibits the use of program funds for assessments of children in prekindergarten or early childhood development programs if: (1) the assessments are used to reward or sanction individual children, teachers, programs, or schools; or (2) a single assessment is used as the primary or sole method for assessing program effectiveness.

Date: 2013-03-21
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Instructional Leadership Act of 2013 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to states, local educational agencies (LEAs), nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, or partnerships or consortia which include at least one of those entities to develop and implement innovative programs and sites to train school principals in instructional leadership skills.

Requires the Secretary to award additional competitive grants to states or partnerships or consortia which include states for pilot programs that evaluate and promote the incorporation of instructional leadership standards into state principal certification or licensure.

 Directs the Secretary to establish a definition of "an effective principal" that is based on reports from this Act's grantees and emphasizes instructional leadership standards.

Requires the Secretary to award competitive grants to states and high-need LEAs or partnerships between such LEAs and certain educational entities to develop state-of-the-art principal induction programs that provide new principals a minimum of three years of extensive, high-quality, comprehensive induction into the field of school administration.

Date: 2013-04-11
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
School Principal Recruitment and Training Act of 2013 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a principal recruitment and training grant program awarding renewable, matching grants to states, local educational agencies (LEAs), and states and LEAs that partner with each other or with nonprofit organizations or institutions of higher education to recruit, prepare, place, and support principals in eligible schools.

Defines "eligible schools" as high-need schools, persistently low-achieving schools, achievement gap schools, schools with middle grades that feed students to high schools with low graduation rates, and rural schools served by high-need LEAs.

Requires grantees to work with experts and stakeholders to develop, during the first year of a grant, a leadership training program for principals, mentors, and other school leaders that prepares and supports them in leading effective school reform efforts in persistently low-achieving schools.

Requires grantees to use the grants, after that first year, to: (1) implement their leadership training program; (2) ensure that their training program is informed, on an ongoing basis, by consultations with experts and stakeholders and by tracking the performance of program graduates; (3) select cohorts of experienced principals to lead school reform efforts in persistently low-achieving schools; (4) support and encourage interaction among principals who have completed the training program; and (5) disseminate information to principals, mentors, and other school leaders engaging in reform efforts in persistently low-achieving schools.

Makes grant renewal decisions dependent on the Secretary of Education's evaluation of the extent to which the principals recruited, prepared, placed, or supported by the grantee have improved school-level student outcomes in eligible schools.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) evaluate the programs funded by this Act, and (2) identify and disseminate research and best practices related to those programs.

Date: 2013-04-25
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Recognizing Achievement in Classified School Employees Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award National Classified School Employees of the Year Awards to public school employees within certain occupational specialties who provide exemplary service to students in pre-kindergarten through higher education.

Requires the Secretary to choose an awardee each year, out of nominations received from each state, from each of the following occupational specialties: (1) paraprofessionals, (2) clerical and administrative services, (3) transportation services, (4) food and nutrition services, (5) custodial and maintenance services, (6) security services, (7) health and student services, (8) technical services, and (9) skilled trades.

Date: 2013-04-25
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Sandra Day O'Connor Civic Learning Act of 2013 - Expresses the sense of Congress that the Commissioner for Education Statistics, in administering the National Assessment of Educational Progress, should increase the number of students tested to improve disaggregation and analysis of data regarding progress in history and civics.

Amends part C (Innovation for Teacher Quality) of title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to repeal We the People, a Civic Education program, and replace it with a program awarding competitive grants to nonprofit educational organizations to develop and implement programs that promote civic learning and engagement through instruction, professional development, and evaluations.

Requires such programs to promote: (1) equity through access to funding and program benefits; (2) innovation through design, settings, and delivery; (3) scalability through broad, cost-effective implementation and institutionalization; and (4) accountability through program assessments and the identification of best practices.

Date: 2013-04-26
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Engaging Students Through Service Learning Act - Amends title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish an Enhancing the Effectiveness of K-12 Education through Service Learning grant program.

Directs the Secretary of Education to reserve a portion of program funds to: (1) establish a National Center for K-12 Service Learning; and (2) conduct research and evaluation activities, including a study on the effects of academic service-learning on instructional quality and the success of students in low-performing schools; and (3) assist states in developing exemplary service-learning programs.

Requires the Secretary to award grants to states to: (1) support a service-learning specialist who acts as a conduit of information between the state and local level, (2) implement a statewide cascade professional development model and support local service-learning efforts, and (3) award competitive subgrants to local educational agencies.

Requires subgrantees to use: (1) the service-learning model to strengthen the content area disciplines and implement key educational innovations in schools with a high percentage of underperforming youth, and (2) a cascade professional development model to bring practice to scale.

Describes the cascade professional development model as one that trains high-quality professional development specialists who then train educators who are then responsible for training, mentoring, and supporting their peers.

Date: 2013-06-05
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
STEM Support for Teachers in Education and Mentoring (STEM) Act or the STEM 2 Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award competitive planning grants to states, Indian tribes or tribal organizations, nonprofit organizations, or institutions of higher education (IHEs) to develop effective state or tribal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) networks that coordinate STEM education efforts by: (1) facilitating communication and collaboration among public and private STEM stakeholders, and (2) identifying STEM occupational skills needed in the future.

Directs the Secretary to award competitive grants to states, Indian tribes or tribal organizations, local educational agencies (LEAs), IHEs, or nonprofit organizations to develop, implement, and evaluate STEM education training programs for teachers and administrators in elementary, middle, and secondary schools and for preservice teachers in postsecondary schools.

Requires the Secretary to award competitive grants to states, Indian tribes or tribal organizations, LEAs, public charter schools, IHEs, or nonprofit organizations to support curriculum development, assessments, or related activities that enable states to adopt new mathematics and science academic standards.

Requires the Secretary to establish a national panel to identify and recommend the most effective STEM curricula models for kindergarten through grade 12.

Date: 2013-06-12
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
To Aid Gifted and High-Ability Learners by Empowering the Nation's Teachers Act or the TALENT Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require state assessments of student proficiency to measure individual academic achievement, including above grade level achievement.

Requires states to: (1) recognize local educational agencies (LEAs) that significantly increase the proportion of their students, overall and in specified student subgroups, that score at or above the advanced level of achievement on such assessments; (2) assist their LEAs and schools in providing additional educational assistance to advanced, gifted, and talented students; and (3) report annually a comparison of the performance of students between different LEAs at each level of achievement, disaggregated by specified student subgroups.

Requires LEAs receiving school improvement funds to identify gifted and talented students and support their learning needs.

Requires LEAs and partnerships that receive funding under the Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund program to train educators to identify gifted and talented students and implement instructional practices that support their education.

Authorizes LEAs to use funding under: (1) the small rural school achievement program to support gifted and talented students, and (2) the rural and low-income school program to train teachers to meet the unique learning needs of gifted and talented students.

Directs the Secretary, through the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, to: (1) continue research and development activities regarding the education of gifted and talented students; (2) support a National Research and Dissemination Center on the Gifted and Talented; (3) administer demonstration grants that enhance the ability of educators to support gifted and talented students; and (4) ensure that statistical data regarding the education of gifted and talented children is collected, reported, analyzed, and disseminated.

Amends the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 to require the committee established to coordinate federal STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education programs to encourage participating agencies to develop and implement programs for advanced students.

Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 to require the Secretary of Energy to use academic achievement as the basis for student participation in the Department of Energy's (DOE's) mathematics and science education programs for elementary and secondary school students and its prefreshman science, mathematics, and technology enrichment program for middle school students.

Amends the America COMPETES Act to give Advanced Placement (AP) program and International Baccalaureate (IB) program grant priority to eligible entities that are part of a statewide strategy to increase the availability of AP or IB mathematics, science, and critical foreign language courses by making such courses available earlier than usual to students who are prepared for the work.

Date: 2013-06-12
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Educating Tomorrow's Engineers Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require states to incorporate engineering design skills and practices into their academic content standards and academic achievement standards and assessments in science by the 2016-2017 school year.

Requires states to reserve 10% of the grant they receive under the Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund program to award competitive grants to nonprofit organizations and other entities with expertise in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields to develop and provide professional development and instructional materials for STEM education in their state.

 Changes current references to the mathematics and science partnerships program to references to the STEM partnerships program, which provides funding to states, institutions of higher education, and high-need local educational agencies (LEAs) to recruit and train STEM teachers and improve STEM curricula.

Amends the 21st century community learning centers program to include STEM activities (currently, mathematics and science activities) within the before- and after-school activities funded under that program.

Amends the rural and low-income school program to include professional development in engineering education among the uses of the funds provided to rural LEAs.

Amends the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 to require the National Center for Education Research to sponsor and conduct research geared toward improving STEM, rather than just mathematics and science, teaching and learning.

Directs the Secretary of Education to support research on engineering education and use that research to provide information to the public, and technical assistance to states, on best practices and promising innovations in kindergarten through grade 12 engineering education.

Date: 2013-06-18
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Computer Science Education Act of 2013 - Amends title IX (General Provisions) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to define "computer science" as the study of computers and algorithmic processes, including the study of computing principles, computer hardware and software design, computer applications, and the impact of computers on society.

Makes computer science a core academic subject.

Includes computer science teachers in professional development activities.

Date: 2013-06-27
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Planting STEM in the Classroom Act - Directs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to develop a policy to: (1) encourage federal employees engaged in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) activities to volunteer in STEM education activities by providing them with the administrative leave and support they need to do so; and (2) support increased communication and partnerships between federal scientists and engineers and elementary and secondary schools and teachers through volunteerism in STEM education activities.

Requires each federal science agency to report to Congress on efforts it will make to promote widespread public understanding of career opportunities in the STEM fields specific to the workforce needs of that agency.

Date: 2013-06-28
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
STEM Innovation Networks Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Education to award matching grants to state-based science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) networks or similar organizations of STEM stakeholders to expand STEM education and STEM educator development. Includes among grant uses:

testing, sharing, and scaling up STEM education research, promising practices, and exemplary programs; identifying state STEM education weaknesses and prioritizing strategies to address them; implementing rigorous career and college ready standards in STEM education; developing and implementing innovative STEM assessments that measure student progress toward those career and college ready standards; promoting and developing pre- and in-service STEM teacher training; developing STEM career pathways and workforce education and training programs that reflect 21st century workforce needs; facilitating the implementation of expanded STEM learning opportunities on school sites; and promoting, supporting, and designing programs that develop STEM content coaches and master educators in order to strengthen core competencies of the classroom practitioner. Requires grantees to conduct periodic independent evaluations of their effectiveness in accomplishing those activities.

Prohibits the Secretary from: (1) endorsing or approving any STEM curriculum designed for use in an elementary school, secondary school, or institution of higher education; or (2) requiring a state, local educational agency, or school to adopt a specific STEM program or instructional materials.

Date: 2013-06-28
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Keep Teachers Teaching Act of 2013 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award competitive, renewable grants to local educational agencies (LEAs), states, and partnerships of LEAs, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education for the development and implementation of innovative teacher retention programs that include: (1) professional development; (2) teacher mentoring; (3) advanced certification or credentialing; (4) research, travel, or fellowship opportunities; and (5) pairing teachers with research or industry professionals.

Requires the Secretary to: (1) identify the most promising teacher retention strategies, and (2) make information about those strategies publicly available and easily accessible to states and LEAs.

Date: 2013-07-31
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Computer Science in STEM Act of 2013 - Amends the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 to include computer science in that Act's definition of "STEM" as the academic and professional disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Directs the Secretary of Education to award states: (1) two-year formula grants to develop comprehensive plans to strengthen elementary and secondary computer science education, and (2) competitive five-year matching grants to implement the improvements proposed in their comprehensive plans.

Requires such improvements to include: (1) challenging and grade-appropriate academic content standards for computer science, (2) grade-appropriate assessments of computer science learning, (3) programs to increase disadvantaged students' access to computer science courses, (4) computer science teacher training programs, (5) improved certification or licensure requirements and processes for such teachers, (6) programs to ensure that computer science courses are considered an integral part of the secondary school curriculum, (7) effective computer science curricula, and (8) computer science distance learning programs.

Requires states to partner with institutions of higher education (IHEs) and local educational agencies in implementing such measures.

Favors implementation grant applicants that emphasize serving low-performing schools and increasing the participation in computer science by students underrepresented in computing.

Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary to award five-year grants to IHEs to: (1) develop courses that prepare undergraduate students to teach elementary and secondary school computer science, and (2) develop and fund teacher mentoring programs to support new computer science teachers.

Amends the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 to include informatics and computer science majors and professionals in the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (the Program recruits and prepares science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors and professionals to become mathematics and science teachers).

Date: 2013-08-02
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
STEM Readiness Act of 2013 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award competitive merit-based scholarships to students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) with concurrent certification as kindergarten, elementary, and secondary school teachers.

Requires scholarship recipients to work for at least five academic years as a full-time STEM teacher at a public or private kindergarten or elementary or secondary school during the seven-year period beginning within one year after they complete their studies.

Awards scholarships for one academic year of study at a time, but makes them renewable on an annual basis if their recipients meet certain measures of academic progress.

Allows scholarship recipients to enter into agreements with the Secretary that provide them with a bonus in exchange for performing their service in a high-need local educational agency for a period equivalent to the period for which they receive the bonus.

Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary to award competitive matching grants to up to 50 institutions of higher education to establish, strengthen, and operate four-year undergraduate degree programs that enable students to concurrently: (1) earn a STEM bachelor's degree; and (2) be certified to teach kindergarten, elementary, or secondary school.

Awards those grants one fiscal year at a time, but makes them renewable on an annual basis for up to five years.

Date: 2013-09-19
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Supporting Teachers and Enhancing Manufacturing (STEM) Jobs Act of 2013 - Amends the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 to require the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish, as part of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, a program awarding grants to partnerships between high-need local educational agencies (LEAs), their public schools, and institutions of higher education (IHEs) to provide fellowships to:

 science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) professionals (NSF Teaching Fellows) who are enrolled, in the fellowship's first year, in a master's degree program leading to teacher certification or licensing; and mathematics and science elementary and secondary school teachers (NSF Master Teaching Fellows) who have a master's degree in their field or possess the potential to become highly effective mathematics and science teachers and leaders in their respective schools. Requires the fellowship program to offer fellows: (1) the academic courses they need to earn a master's degree if they lack one, (2) the academic courses and leadership training they need to become master teachers in elementary and secondary schools if they already have a master's degree in education or their respective field, and (3) additional training programs that enable them to fulfill their service requirements.

Amends parts A (Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund) and B (Mathematics and Science Partnerships) of title II (Preparing, Training, and Recruiting High Quality Teachers and Principals) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to reauthorize appropriations under those parts for FY2014-FY2019.

Prohibits any single participant in a part A partnership (between IHEs and high-need LEAs) under part A from using more than 75% (currently 50%) of the partnership grant.

Date: 2013-10-04
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Technology-Enabled Education Innovation Partnership Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award competitive, renewable grants to eligible partnerships to design, implement, refine, and scale technology-enabled education innovation programs.

Defines an "eligible partnership" as a partnership composed of at least one state or local educational agency (LEA) and at least one institution of higher education or nonprofit research organization working with the state or LEA as a research and evaluation partner.

Requires at least 75% of the students participating in each technology-enabled education innovation program to be attending schools in which at least 50% of the student body is eligible for free or reduced-price lunches under the school lunch program.

Requires an independent evaluation of each innovation program by a research and evaluation collaborator.

Directs each partnership to provide a data set containing the student records of innovation program participants to a Technology-Enabled Education Innovation Partnership Coordinating Center that is created by the Secretary to: (1) conduct meta-analyses and other syntheses of such data, and (2) allow independent researchers access to the data.

Directs the Secretary to support national technology activities that provide the technology-enabled education innovation programs with information on, and technical assistance in, effectively implementing technology in schools.

Requires the Secretary to establish and oversee at least one advanced learning technology research and development center to address the priorities and grand challenges for learning technology set forth in the Department of Education's 2010 National Education Technology Plan.

Date: 2013-10-23
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Restorative Justice in Schools Act of 2013 - Amends title II (Preparing, Training, and Recruiting High Quality Teachers and Principals) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow local educational agencies to use title II subgrants to train school personnel in restorative justice and conflict resolution.

Date: 2013-10-30
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Afterschool for America's Children Act - Amends the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program under part B of title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). (21st Century Community Learning Centers provide students with before school, after school, and summer learning programs to improve their academic performance.)

Requires the Centers to provide students' families with opportunities for active and meaningful engagement in their children's education.

Includes Indian tribes or organizations among the local public or private entities that are eligible for grants from states to establish the Centers.

Allows states to use a portion of the part B funds allotted to them by the Secretary of Education to: (1) assist those Centers in aligning their before school, after school, and summer learning programs with the state's academic standards; and (2) ensure that those Centers partner with nonprofit organizations in the community that have had success in carrying out, or working with, those programs.

Requires states to: (1) award grants only to local entities that propose to serve students who primarily attend schools that are eligible for schoolwide programs under part A of title I of the ESEA, and (2) give priority to applicants that propose to serve students that attend schools that have been identified as needing improvement.

Requires states to use a rigorous peer review process in reviewing grant applications.

Prohibits the Secretary or states from giving funding priority to applicants that propose to use the funds to extend the regular school day.

Allows states to renew a grant under part B based on the grantee's performance during the original grant period.

Includes among the activities grants may fund: (1) core academic subject education activities, including those that allow students to recover or attain credits; (2) services for the disabled; (3) activities and programs that support global education and competence; (4) programs that support a healthy, active lifestyle; (5) literacy education programs; and (6) programs that build science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills and support innovative STEM teaching methods.

Requires students' academic performance and overall success to be taken into account in evaluating the performance of the Centers.

Reauthorizes the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program through FY2020.

Date: 2014-02-25
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Getting into Researching, Learning, & Studying of STEM Act of 2014 or the GIRLS-STEM Act of 2014 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to local educational agencies that serve underrepresented or low-income students to enable their elementary and secondary schools to establish and implement programs that:

 encourage the ongoing interest of female students in careers requiring science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) skills at all levels of the career pathway; and prepare female students to pursue the industry-recognized credentials needed to pursue a STEM career. Requires the grants to be awarded in four-school-year increments.

Requires the grants to be used to:

 acquaint female students with, and prepare them to pursue, STEM careers; educate the parents of such students about the opportunities and advantages of STEM careers; provide female students with STEM tutoring, mentoring, after-school activities, and summer programs; expose female students to STEM role models, events, academic programs, or career and technical education programs; purchase education materials, equipment, or software that facilitate STEM instruction; assist female students in selecting secondary school courses that provide them with preparation for postsecondary education and experiential learning opportunities in STEM; facilitate STEM internships for such students; and provide teachers with training that enables them to more effectively teach STEM and overcome gender biases that discourage female students' advancement in those fields.

Date: 2014-04-29
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Establishes the Green Bank as a federally-owned independent corporation with a 20-year charter. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to issue Green Bonds in order to provide the Bank with an initial capitalization of $10 billion and to provide additional capitalization of up to $50 billion upon request of the Bank.

Requires the Bank to establish a program to provide financial support or risk management for qualifying clean energy or energy efficiency projects.

Authorizes the Bank to provide funding for low-interest loans to establish state clean energy financing institutions and to co-fund the projects with an institution.

Gives the Bank immunity from impairment, limitations, or restrictions under laws. Authorizes the Bank to conduct its business without regard to state law relating to incorporation.

Exempts the Bank from all state or local taxation except real property taxation.

Requires the Chief Executive Officer of the Bank to set forth spending safeguards, including: (1) deobligating financial support to entities that demonstrate an insufficient level of performance or wasteful or fraudulent spending, and (2) creating a publicly available online database with information about financing support or risk management.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit and defer tax deduction amounts for foreign-related interest expense (i.e., interest expense allocated and apportioned to income from sources outside the United States).

Date: 2014-04-30
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Energy
Building Understanding, Investment, Learning, and Direction Career and Technical Education Act of 2014 or the BUILD Career and Technical Education Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Education to award competitive two-year grants to local educational agencies to support career and technical education exploration programs that provide middle and high school students with experiential learning opportunities that are connected to their education and career pathways.

Requires grant funds to be used for: (1) leasing, purchasing, upgrading, or adapting equipment related to program activities; (2) staff expenses in coordinating or implementing program activities; (3) consultation services that are directly aligned to program goals; (4) professional development programs that are aligned to program goals; (5) minor remodeling to accommodate program equipment; and/or (6) program evaluation.

Requires each grantee to develop a plan to evaluate grant activities that includes an evaluation of specified outcomes.

Date: 2014-05-30
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education
Innovative STEM Networks Act or the I-STEM Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to states or local educational agencies (LEAs) to establish STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) innovation networks in partnership with nonprofit organizations, businesses, institutions of higher education (IHEs), educational service agencies, or other entities to prepare students for postsecondary education and careers in the STEM fields.

Directs the Secretary of Education to: (1) award no less than 5 and no more than 10 of those grants each fiscal year, and (2) give priority to grantees that include or serve a high-need LEA.

Requires the grants to be used to:

 increase student awareness about STEM career pathways that reflect STEM workforce needs in the area, develop statewide plans that integrate and align workforce needs with STEM education and training programs that provide students with STEM-specific skills and credentials, and identify the strengths and weaknesses in state STEM education efforts and prioritize strategies to address those weaknesses. Authorizes the grants to be used to:

 promote and develop in-school and out-of-school curricular tools and professional development for STEM educators at the elementary and secondary school level; provide induction and mentoring services to new teachers in STEM subjects; promote and develop rigorous undergraduate pre-service teacher programs at IHEs that emphasize STEM content; support the participation of elementary and secondary school students in STEM-related competitions, out-of-school activities, and field experiences; assist in the implementation and assessment of rigorous career and college ready standards in STEM education for students in prekindergarten through grade 12; and develop STEM-related education and workforce training programs in secondary schools and community colleges that reflect local community needs.

Date: 2014-06-10
Topic: Education (Excellence)
Subject: Education