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.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1343 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1343
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct
the Secretary of Education to award grants for science, technology,
engineering, and math education programs.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 21, 2013
Ms. Fudge introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct
the Secretary of Education to award grants for science, technology,
engineering, and math education programs.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Project Ready STEM Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Employment projections forecast a 17 percent growth in
the STEM fields over the next decade.
(2) Ninety-two percent of STEM occupations will require at
least some post-secondary education.
(3) While the number of degrees awarded in STEM fields has
increased steadily since the 1960s, the overall share of STEM
degrees awarded has actually shrunk in comparison to all
degrees conferred.
(4) Internationally, a larger proportion of all degrees
awarded are in the STEM fields. While 16 percent of degrees
awarded in the United States are in STEM fields, nearly 50
percent of degrees awarded in China, 38 percent in South Korea,
and 28 percent in Germany are in STEM fields.
(5) Minorities are seriously underrepresented in the
science and engineering workforce in the United States, with
just under 6 percent of Blacks and over 5 percent of Hispanics
participating in the STEM workforce.
(6) Twenty-one percent of Black college students enter
college with STEM majors, but only 16 percent actually receive
a bachelor's degree in a STEM major.
(7) Over \1/2\ of Black students that enroll in a 4-year
university are interested in STEM, but are not proficient in
math.
(8) Since 1990, mathematic scores on the assessments
conducted by the National Assessment of Education Progress have
increased for all students, but White students have average
scores 27 points higher than Black and Hispanic students.
(9) After school programs play an important role in
addressing the achievement gap in underserved communities.
Studies demonstrate that STEM learning during the school day is
necessary but not sufficient for life-long STEM literacy.
(10) As many as 8,400,000 students are enrolled in after
school programs. Ethnic minority children are more likely than
non-minority children to participate in after school programs.
While 15 percent of all students are enrolled in after school
programs, 24 percent of Black students and 21 percent of
Hispanic students are enrolled in such programs.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to prepare middle school
and secondary school students to be ready for opportunities in the STEM
fields in college and in careers through strong after school, summer,
and weekend programs that focus on STEM education.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO ESEA FOR STEM GRANTS.
Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1964 (20
U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended--
(1) in the heading, by inserting ``and stem grants'' after
``partnerships'';
(2) by inserting after the heading of part B the following:
``Subpart 1--Math and Science Partnerships'';
and
(3) by inserting after section 2203 the following new
subpart:
``Subpart 2--STEM Grants
``SEC. 2211. PROJECT READY STEM GRANT PROGRAM.
``(a) Authorization.--The Secretary is authorized to award grants,
to be known as `Project Ready STEM Program' grants, to national and
regional intermediaries to establish in-school, after school, summer,
and weekend programs that focus on science, technology, engineering,
and math (referred to in this section as `STEM') education.
``(b) Application.--A national or regional intermediary seeking a
grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary
at such time, in such form, and containing such information as the
Secretary may reasonably require, including the following:
``(1) The amount requested and the proposed use of the
funds.
``(2) A description of how the national or regional
intermediary will require a community-based affiliate operating
a Project Ready STEM Program to provide the following:
``(A) A program description, including a
description of--
``(i) the project-based learning that the
program will use and the applicability of such
projects to students' lives after graduation
from secondary school;
``(ii) the academic instruction, research
model, or curriculum that the program will use;
and
``(iii) any service-learning opportunities
that will be available to students.
``(B) Evidence that the Project Ready STEM Program
will primarily serve students who are traditionally
underrepresented in STEM field careers.
``(C) A description of the student recruitment
plan, student retention plan, and parental engagement
plan.
``(D) A description of the professional development
and training that the community-based affiliate will
provide to its Project Ready STEM Program staff.
``(E) A description of the community-based
affiliate's collaboration with an institution of higher
education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 10001)).
``(F) A description of how the community-based
affiliate will enable students who participate in the
program to achieve the goals in subsection (c).
``(c) Goals.--The goals of the Project Ready STEM Programs are the
following:
``(1) To increase awareness of and exposure to current
science content, scientific processes, and tools for students
who are traditionally underrepresented in STEM field careers.
``(2) To provide STEM learning that is connected to
workforce skills that are essential in the 21st century.
``(3) To increase on time grade promotion, the number of
students who graduate high school, and the number of students
who pursue opportunities in STEM fields.
``(4) To increase enrollment in and completion of more STEM
related coursework in school for students who are traditionally
underrepresented in STEM field careers.
``(5) To increase awareness of students who are
traditionally underrepresented in STEM field careers of the
opportunities after graduation from secondary school in STEM
fields, including college majors in STEM and careers in STEM.
``(6) For students to have the experience of interacting
with staff who demonstrate a positive attitude toward STEM
fields.
``(7) To facilitate project-based learning and service-
learning.
``(d) Allocation.--A national or regional intermediary that
receives a grant under this section shall reserve--
``(1) not more than 25 percent to provide technical and
administrative assistance to and collect data from its
community-based affiliates to which it makes subgrants;
``(2) not less than 50 percent for subgrants to community-
based affiliates that have demonstrated effectiveness in
operating STEM programs in order for such affiliates to expand
such STEM programs to reach more students who are traditionally
underrepresented in STEM field careers; and
``(3) not less than 25 percent for subgrants to community-
based affiliates that do not operate STEM programs in order for
such affiliates that seek to develop new STEM programs that are
consistent with the goals of this section to develop and
establish such new STEM programs.
``(e) Subgrants to Community-Based Affiliates.--
``(1) Application.--A community-based affiliate seeking a
subgrant shall submit an application to its national or
regional intermediary at such time, in such form, and
containing such information as the national or regional
intermediary may reasonably require.
``(2) Uses of funds.--A community-based affiliate that
receives a subgrant under this section to operate a Project
Ready STEM Program shall operate an in-school, after school,
summer, or weekend program that focuses on STEM education and
primarily serves students who are traditionally
underrepresented in STEM field careers. Such program shall
include the following:
``(A) Educational services that include--
``(i) an initial assessment of students'
progress in math, science, and reading;
``(ii) remediation and educational
enrichment services; and
``(iii) helping students to improve their
study skills.
``(B) Project-based learning opportunities.
``(C) Individualized instruction and tracking of
student progress that is aligned with in-school
performance.
``(3) Collaboration.--A community-based affiliate that
receives a subgrant under this section shall collaborate with
an institution of higher education to provide the services
described in paragraph (2).
``(f) Reports.--
``(1) Secretary report to congress.--The Secretary shall
submit a report annually to the Committee on Education and the
Workforce in the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in the Senate on the
progress that national and regional intermediaries and their
community-based affiliates operating Project Ready STEM
Programs have made toward achieving the goals in subsection
(c).
``(2) National or regional intermediary report to the
secretary.--A national or regional intermediary receiving a
grant under this section shall submit a report annually to the
Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the Secretary may require, including the
progress that its community-based affiliates operating Project
Ready STEM Programs have made toward achieving the goals in
subsection (c).
``(3) Community-based affiliate report to its national or
regional intermediary.--A community-based affiliate that
receives a subgrant under this section shall submit a report
annually to the national or regional intermediary that awarded
such subgrant at such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the intermediary may require, including the
progress its Project Ready STEM Program has made toward
achieving the goals in subsection (c).
``(g) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Community-based affiliate.--The term `community-based
affiliate' means a community-based organization (as defined in
section 9101) that is an affiliate of a national or regional
intermediary.
``(2) National intermediary.--The term `national
intermediary' means a national private nonprofit organization
that--
``(A) has a network comprised of community-based
affiliates in not less than 50 urban communities;
``(B) has demonstrated expertise and effectiveness
in overseeing programs to help middle school and
secondary school students succeed, including programs
to help such students become college-ready and career-
ready; and
``(C) has operated in not less than 25 States
continuously for not less than 20 years.
``(3) Project-based learning.--The term `project-based
learning' means learning through a broad project that includes
instruction, substantive content, and reflection, with the goal
that students who participate in the project will achieve a
concrete goal or complete a project.
``(4) Regional intermediary.--The term `regional
intermediary' means a private nonprofit community-based
organization that--
``(A) has a network comprised of community-based
affiliates in a prescribed region; and
``(B) has demonstrated expertise and effectiveness
in conducting outreach and providing education
activities to middle school and secondary school
students.
``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section--
``(1) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2014;
``(2) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2015;
``(3) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2016; and
``(4) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2017.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
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