1.Innovative Inspiration school
grant program
(a)The Director shall establish the Innovation
Inspiration school grant program and make grants under this section to eligible
entities for the promotion of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
and to participate in robotics and STEM competitions.
(b)The goals of the
Innovation Inspiration school grant program are to—
(1)support eligible
entities in supporting non-traditional STEM education teaching methods;
(2)support the
participation by teams of students from eligible entities in certain
not-for-profit STEM robotics competitions;
(3)foster innovation
and broaden access to careers in STEM by engaging students in after-school
programs supported by teachers and professional mentors who will receive
additional hands-on training and on-going communications that will not only
apply to their interaction with students on the STEM competition teams, but
also the other students in their STEM classrooms; and
(4)encourage the
collaboration between students, engineers, and professional mentors to design,
build, program, and compete in challenges with sophisticated robots.
(c)
(1)Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Director shall establish an application process and award
criteria.
(2)An
eligible entity shall submit an application at such time, in such form, and
with such information and assurances as required by the Director.
(3)In
developing the award criteria, the Director shall give preference to an
eligible entity without an established STEM education program and located in a
rural, urban, or underserved area.
(d)The Director shall award grants to selected
eligible entities not later than November 1st of each authorized fiscal year to
enable such entities to participate in regional and national robotics
competitions.
(e)
(1)An eligible entity receiving a grant under this section
shall receive not more than $20,000 per year for not more than 5 years.
(2)Such entity shall use not more than the following amounts
for the following purposes in each year for which funds are received:
(A)$6,000 for
parts.
(B)$4,000 for
additional materials.
(C)$5,000 for teacher
incentives and stipends.
(D)$5,000 for support
and expenses for regional and national robotics competitions.
(f)
(1)Communications
and Outreach ProgramThe Director shall establish a
communications and outreach program to publicize the availability and
application procedure for the grant program established by this section.
(2)The
Director shall establish an evaluation and monitoring program to determine the
efficacy of the grant program established by this section.
(g)Authorization of
appropriations
(1)There are authorized
to be appropriated to the Director to carry out the grant program established
in this section $98,800,000 for fiscal years 2010 through 2014.
(2)Of
the amounts authorized under
paragraph (1), not more than—
(A)$2,500,000 per
fiscal year shall be used for the program established under
subsection (f)(1); and
(B)$7,500,000 per
fiscal year shall be used for the program established under
subsection (f)(2).
(h)In
this section, the following definitions apply:
(1)The
term Director means the Director of the National Science
Foundation.
(2)The term eligible entity means a local
educational agency, as defined in section 9101(26) of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(26)), or, if such local
educational agency chooses not to apply for a grant under this section, a
secondary school, as defined in section 9101(38) of such Act (20 U.S.C.
7801(38)).
(3)The
term STEM means science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics.