[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4366 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4366

 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

                             April 17, 2012

 Ms. Fudge (for herself, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Mr. Gene Green of 
Texas, Ms. Jackson Lee of Texas, Ms. Brown of Florida, Ms. Richardson, 
 Ms. Sewell, and Mr. Filner) 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) Minorities are seriously underrepresented in the 
        science and engineering workforce in the United States, with 
        only 4 percent of the Black population and slightly over 4 
        percent of the Hispanic population participating in the STEM 
        workforce.
            (2) The number of degrees awarded in the fields of science, 
        technology, engineering, and math (referred to in this Act as 
        ``STEM'') in the United States is stagnant even though 
        employment projections forecast a 17-percent growth in STEM 
        fields over the next decade.
            (3) Twenty percent of Black college students enter college 
        with STEM majors, but only 15 percent actually receive a 
        bachelor's degree in a STEM major.
            (4) Nearly \1/4\ of Black public school students are 
        interested in STEM, but are not proficient in math.
            (5) 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 26 points higher than Black and Hispanic students.
            (6) 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.
            (7) 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 
intermediaries to establish 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 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 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 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 
        intermediary at such time, in such form, and containing such 
        information as the national 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 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 intermediaries and their community-based 
        affiliates operating Project Ready STEM Programs have made 
        toward achieving the goals in subsection (c).
            ``(2) National affiliate report to the secretary.--A 
        national 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 
        intermediary.--A community-based affiliate that receives a 
        subgrant under this section shall submit a report annually to 
        the national intermediary that awarded such subgrant at such 
        time, in such manner, and containing such information as the 
        national 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 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.
    ``(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 2013;
            ``(2) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2014;
            ``(3) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2015; and
            ``(4) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2016.''.
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