[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3790 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3790

  To create a set of effective voluntary national expectations, and a 
voluntary national curriculum, for mathematics and science education in 
         kindergarten through grade 12, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 3, 2006

 Mrs. Clinton introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To create a set of effective voluntary national expectations, and a 
voluntary national curriculum, for mathematics and science education in 
         kindergarten through grade 12, and for other purposes.

    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 ``National Mathematics and Science 
Consistency Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The United States has fallen behind other 
        industrialized countries in terms of competing in a global 
        economy. This deterioration is due in large part to the 
        diminishing number of well-trained people in the fields of 
        mathematics, science, and technology, as well as the decrease 
        in scientific innovations generated from the United States in 
        recent years.
            (2) Not only did the United States produce fewer graduates 
        in mathematics, science, and engineering in 2002 than it did in 
        1985, but the United States is also generating far fewer 
        college graduates in those fields than other countries. In 
        China, 59 percent of undergraduates receive degrees in science 
        and engineering and in Japan, 66 percent receive such degrees, 
        but in the United States, only 32 percent of undergraduates 
        receive degrees in science and engineering.
            (3) United States students are scoring far behind students 
        in other countries on international mathematics and science 
        assessments. A recent Trends in International Mathematics and 
        Science Study (TIMSS), the largest and most comprehensive 
        comparative international study of education, found that 12th 
        graders in the United States ranked 21st out of 40 
        industrialized countries on general knowledge in mathematics 
        and science. Furthermore, the Programme for International 
        Student Assessment (PISA), an organization that compiles 
        reports on the reading and mathematics skills of 15-year-olds, 
        found that the United States ranked 28th out of 40 nations 
        surveyed in mathematics literacy.
            (4) In the United States, each State has its own set of 
        standards and curriculum for mathematics and science education 
        in kindergarten through grade 12, with its own definition of 
        proficiency for these standards. When each State's definition 
        of proficiency is compared to a national model, less than 40 
        percent of the students in grade 4, and only 17 percent of the 
        students in grade 12, reach the national proficiency level in 
        mathematics. In addition, approximately \1/3\ of the students 
        in grades 4 and 8, and nearly \1/2\ of the students in grade 
        12, do not reach the basic level in science, according to the 
        recent National Assessment of Educational Progress.
            (5) In its report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm: 
        Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic 
        Future, the National Academy of Sciences recommends that the 
        Department of Education collect ``effective K-12 materials that 
        would be available free of charge as a voluntary national 
        curriculum that would provide an effective standard for K-12 
        teachers''. The National Academy of Sciences advocates for the 
        creation of world-class national benchmarks and a national 
        curriculum in order to ensure students are receiving the skills 
        needed to successfully compete in a global economy.

SEC. 3. DEVELOP VOLUNTARY NATIONAL EXPECTATIONS AND A VOLUNTARY 
              NATIONAL CURRICULUM FOR MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION 
              IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE 12.

    (a) Panel.--The Secretary of Education shall convene a panel to 
produce voluntary national expectations for mathematics and science 
education, accompanied by a sample curriculum for mathematics and 
science and assessment items for each expectation, for kindergarten 
through grade 12.
    (b) Members of Panel.--The panel described in subsection (a) shall 
be composed of--
            (1) professionals from the National Academy of Sciences;
            (2) psychometricians;
            (3) State-level education officials;
            (4) National Board certified teachers;
            (5) recipients of Presidential Awards for Excellence in 
        Mathematics and Science Teaching under section 117(a) of the 
        National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1988 (42 
        U.S.C. 1881b(a));
            (6) representatives of the National Science Foundation;
            (7) representatives of the National Council of Teachers of 
        Mathematics;
            (8) representatives of the National Science Teachers 
        Association; and
            (9) members of any other entities that the Secretary of 
        Education determines necessary.
    (c) Duties of Panel.--The panel described in subsection (a) shall--
            (1) identify the core ideas in mathematics and science 
        common to all States;
            (2) develop a minimum comprehensive set of voluntary 
        national expectations for mathematics and science, based on the 
        core ideas in mathematics and science common to all States, 
        that are taken, or adapted, from--
                    (A) the effective State mathematics and science 
                standards, as of the date of enactment of this Act; or
                    (B) the most recent National Science Education 
                Standards developed by the National Science Teacher 
                Association and the most recent Principles and 
                Standards for School Mathematics developed by the 
                National Council of Teachers of Mathematics;
            (3) develop a model curriculum for mathematics and science 
        based on the voluntary national expectations, that is taken or 
        adapted from effective State mathematics and science teaching 
        materials to serve as a voluntary national curriculum;
            (4) develop sample assessment questions based on each 
        national mathematics and science expectation for teachers to 
        use throughout the school year to guide instruction; and
            (5) develop and coordinate professional development 
        criteria that would prepare teachers to incorporate the 
        voluntary national expectations.
    (d) Personnel Matters.--
            (1) Compensation of members.--Each member of the panel who 
        is not an officer or employee of the Federal Government shall 
        be compensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the 
        annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the 
        Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States 
        Code, for each day (including travel time) during which such 
        member is engaged in the performance of the duties of the 
        panel. All members of the panel who are officers or employees 
        of the United States shall serve without compensation in 
        addition to that received for their services as officers or 
        employees of the United States.
            (2) Travel expenses.--The members of the panel shall be 
        allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of 
        subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies 
        under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 
        Code, while away from their homes or regular places of business 
        in the performance of services for the panel.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary 
for each of the fiscal years 2007 and 2008.

SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.

    (a) In General.--From amounts appropriated under subsection (e) for 
a fiscal year, the Secretary of Education shall award grants, on a 
competitive basis, to eligible State educational agencies to enable the 
eligible State educational agencies to carry out all of the following:
            (1) Contract with entities that publish educational 
        materials, in order to develop instructional materials based on 
        the voluntary national curriculum for mathematics and science 
        developed under section 3(c)(3), in order to effectively teach 
        the voluntary national expectations developed under such 
        section.
            (2) Ensure that the eligible State educational agency has 
        the infrastructure and technical assistance necessary to 
        provide all instructional materials developed under paragraph 
        (1) online and free of charge to teachers and school faculty 
        and staff.
            (3) Train mathematics and science teachers in kindergarten 
        through grade 12--
                    (A) to effectively use instructional materials to 
                teach the voluntary national expectations for 
                mathematics and science produced under section 3(c)(2); 
                and
                    (B) to use the assessment questions developed under 
                section 3(c)(4) to steer instruction.
    (b) Application.--An eligible State educational agency desiring a 
grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary 
of Education at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
information as the Secretary may require. The application shall include 
a description of the activities that will be carried out through a 
grant under this section.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 60 days after the last day of the grant 
period, an eligible State educational agency receiving a grant under 
this section shall prepare and submit a report to the Secretary of 
Education describing the results of the grant.
    (d) Definition of Eligible State Educational Agency.--In this 
section, the term ``eligible State educational agency'' means a State 
educational agency that agrees to adopt and implement the voluntary 
national expectations and the voluntary national curriculum for 
mathematics and science education in kindergarten through grade 12 that 
are developed under section 3.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section a total of $100,000,000 for the 
fiscal years 2007 through 2011.

SEC. 5. REPORT.

    Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
annually thereafter, the Secretary of Education shall--
            (1) study the effects of the voluntary national 
        expectations and the voluntary national curriculum of 
        mathematics and science on student achievement developed under 
        section 3 on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, 
        the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, and 
        the Programme for International Student Assessment, for the 
        most recent year available, as compared to the effects of State 
        standards and curricula on student achievement on such 
        assessments; and
            (2) shall prepare and submit a report to Congress on the 
        Secretary's findings.
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