1.This Act may be cited as the
Teaching Geography is Fundamental
Act
.
2.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:
C
231.Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)Geographic literacy is essential to a
well-prepared citizenry in the 21st Century because geographic 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 second to last. Only 13 percent of young adults aged 18
through 24 in the United States were able to correctly identify Iraq on a map
of Asia and the Middle East.
(3)The economic stature and competitiveness of
the United States requires increasingly sophisticated levels of geographic
knowledge and mastery of geographic tools.
(4)United States Department of Labor data
identifies geotechnology as one of the 3 fastest growing employment fields
serving industries such as insurance, 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 geographic competence of the
United States general population and the school age population.
(6)Geography is defined as a core
academic subject
within the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
(7)A recent National Geographic Society survey
found that all 50 States and the District of Columbia recognize geography in
their curricula or content standards, and an increasing number require
geography for graduation and include geography in mandated statewide
assessments.
(8)Seven of 10 educators responding to a
National Geographic survey felt their professional development opportunities in
geography were inadequate and half believed their schools had inadequate basic
materials for teaching geography.
(9)The National Geographic Society has spent
over 15 years pioneering an extraordinarily effective national program for
improving the teaching of geography by engaging university faculty geographers
and highly trained teachers in State Geographic Alliances dedicated to
providing high quality professional development opportunities for kindergarten
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 Alliances 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 teachers whose responsibilities
include teaching of geography in various formats and grade levels.
(11)A study by Mid-continent Research for
Education and Learning that assessed student academic achievement in geography
on the National Assessment of Educational Progress showed that students taught
by Alliance-trained teachers outperformed other students by almost 10
percent.
232.
(a)The purpose of this part is to promote
geographic literacy and improved understanding of global cultures among
kindergarten through grade 12 students by expanding programs that employ the
geographic knowledge and expertise of faculty members in institutions of higher
education for the benefit of kindergarten through grade 12 teachers and to
otherwise advance geographic literacy.
(b)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 research,
to develop and disseminate effective instructional materials, and to promote
replication of best practices and exemplary programs that foster geographic
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 national, State, and local
levels.
233.
The Secretary is authorized to award a
grant to a national nonprofit education organization or a consortium of
organizations (hereafter in this part referred to as the
grantee
) that has as its primary purpose the improvement of the
quality of student understanding of geography through effective teaching of
geography in the Nation’s classrooms.
234.
(a)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
relationships with institutions of higher education and with State and local
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 disciplines 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;
(3)to support research on effective geography
teaching practices and the development of assessment instruments and strategies
to document student understanding of geography;
(4)to convene national conferences on
geography education to assess the current state of geographic literacy and to
identify strategies for improvement; and
(5)to develop and disseminate appropriate
research-based materials to foster geographic literacy.
(b)
(1)The grantee shall use
not more than 75 percent of the funds made available through the grant for a
fiscal year to award subgrants to eligible recipients.
(2)Eligible
recipient definedIn 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).
(3)Eligible recipients
shall use the subgrant funds for 1 or more of the following purposes:
(A)Conducting teacher training programs that
use effective and research-based approaches 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
leaning technology to the teaching of geography or to the continuing education
of teachers.
(D)Promoting rigorous academic standards 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 activities
for teachers and students to improve their knowledge of the concepts and tools
of geography while enhancing understanding of their home region.
(G)Promoting comparative studies of world
cultures, economies, and environments.
(H)Encouraging replication of best practices
and model programs to promote geographic literacy.
(I)Developing and disseminating effective,
research-based geography learning materials.
(J)Convening State-based conferences to assess
the state of geographic literacy and to identify strategies for
improvement.
235.
(a)To be eligible
to receive a grant under this part, the 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)To be eligible to receive a subgrant under
this part, an eligible recipient shall submit an application to the grantee at
such time, in such manner and accompanied by such information as the grantee
may require.
(2)
(A)The grantee shall
invite individuals described in subparagraph (B) to review all applications
from eligible recipients for a subgrant under this section and to make
recommendations to the grantee regarding the approval of the
applications.
(B)The individuals referred 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.
236.
(a)The 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)
(1)In order to be
eligible to receive a subgrant under this part an eligible recipient shall
agree in the application submitted under section 235(b) to provide matching
funds towards the costs of the activities assisted under the subgrant.
(2)An eligible recipient shall provide
matching funds in an amount equal to 20 percent of the subgrant funds received
under this part for the second and each succeeding fiscal year for which
subgrant payments are made.
(3)Matching funds
may be provided in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, including facilities,
staffing salaries, and educational materials.
237.Authorization of
appropriationsThere are
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part $15,000,000 for fiscal
year 2006 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal
years.
.