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Title II — Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

H.R. 4186 · 113th Congress · Mar 10, 2014 · Lineage

II Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

Sec. 201 Findings; sense of Congress

(a)
Findings— Congress finds the following:
(1)
According to the National Science Board’s Science and Engineering Indicators, the science and engineering workforce has shown sustained growth for more than half a century, and workers with science and engineering degrees tend to earn more than comparable workers in other fields.
(2)
According to the Program for International Student Assessment 2012 results, America lags behind many other nations in STEM education. American students rank 21st in science and 26th in mathematics.
(3)
Junior Achievement USA and ING recently found a decrease of 25 percent in the percentage of teenage students interested in STEM careers.
(4)
According to a 2007 report from the Department of Labor, industries and firms dependent on a strong science and mathematics workforce have launched a variety of programs that target K–12 students and undergraduate and graduate students in STEM fields.
(5)
The Federal Government spends nearly $3 billion annually on STEM education related program and activities, but encouraging STEM education activities beyond the scope of the Federal Government, including privately sponsored competitions and programs in our schools, is crucial to the future technical and economic competitiveness of the United States.
(b)
Sense of congress— It is the sense of Congress that—
(1)
more effective coordination and adoption of performance measurement based on objective outcomes for federally supported STEM programs is needed;
(2)
leveraging private and nonprofit investments in STEM education will be essential to strengthening the Federal STEM portfolio;
(3)
strengthening the Federal STEM portfolio may require program consolidations and terminations, but such changes should be based on evidence with stakeholder input;
(4)
the President’s fiscal year 2014 budget proposal did not adequately explain proposed program consolidations and terminations in the Federal STEM portfolio, nor did it elicit stakeholder input and outside expertise, resulting in the need for Congress to limit the Administration’s implementation of that proposal; and
(5)
coordinating STEM programs and activities across the Federal Government in order to limit duplication and engage stakeholders in STEM programs and related activities for which objective outcomes can be measured will bolster results of Federal STEM education programs, improve the return on taxpayers’ investments in STEM education programs, and in turn strengthen the United States economy.

Sec. 202 STEM Education Advisory Panel

(a)
Establishment— The President shall establish or designate a STEM Education Advisory Panel that incorporates key stakeholders from the education and industry sectors within the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
(b)
Qualifications— The Advisory Panel established or designated by the President under subsection (a) shall consist primarily of members from academic institutions and industry and shall include in-school, out-of-school, and informal educational practitioners. Members of the Advisory Panel shall be qualified to provide advice and information on STEM education research, development, training, implementation, interventions, professional development, or workforce needs or concerns. In selecting or designating an Advisory Panel, the President may also seek and give consideration to recommendations from the Congress, industry, the scientific community (including the National Academy of Sciences, scientific professional societies, and academia), State and local governments, and other appropriate organizations.
(c)
Duties— The Advisory Panel shall advise the President, the committee on STEM education established under the National Science and Technology Council, and the STEM Education Coordinating Office on matters relating to STEM education, and shall each year provide general guidance to every Federal agency with STEM education programs or activities, including in the preparation of requests for appropriations for activities related to STEM education. The Advisory Panel shall also assess—
(1)
trends and developments in STEM education;
(2)
progress made in STEM education both inside and outside of the classroom;
(3)
criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of Federal STEM education programs and activities;
(4)
ways to encourage public private-partnerships to strengthen STEM education;
(5)
ways to leverage private and nonprofit investments and utilize expertise resulting from STEM-related competitions to help build the STEM education and workforce pipeline;
(6)
ways to incorporate workforce needs into Federal STEM education programs;
(7)
the management, coordination, implementation, and activities of the STEM Education Coordinating Office and the committee on STEM education established under the National Science and Technology Council; and
(8)
whether societal and workforce concerns are adequately addressed by current Federal STEM education programs and activities.
(d)
Reports— The Advisory Panel shall report, not less frequently than once every 2 fiscal years, to the President and Congress on its assessments under subsection (c) and its recommendations for ways to improve Federal STEM education programs. The first report under this subsection shall be submitted within 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.
(e)
Travel expenses of non-Federal members— Non-Federal members of the Advisory Panel, while attending meetings of the Advisory Panel or while otherwise serving at the request of the head of the Advisory Panel away from their homes or regular places of business, may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section 5703 of title 5, United States Code, for individuals in the Government serving without pay. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit members of the Advisory Panel who are officers or employees of the United States from being allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with existing law.

Sec. 203 Committee on STEM education

Section 101(b) of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 6621(b)) is amended to read as follows:

“(b) Responsibilities—The committee described in subsection (a) shall develop recommendations for the STEM Education Coordinating office to consider. These recommendations shall focus on—

“(1) priority areas for Federal funding in STEM education, which may include student engagement, student retention, informal education, and teaching;

“(2) access to innovations and expertise derived from agency activities across the Federal Government;

“(3) significant links among K–12 education, higher education, and industry; and

“(4) the teaching of innovation and entrepreneurship as part of STEM education activities.”

Sec. 204 STEM Education Coordinating Office

(a)
Establishment— The Director of the National Science Foundation shall establish within the Directorate for Education and Human Resources a STEM Education Coordinating Office, which shall have a Director and staff that shall include career employees detailed from Federal agencies that fund STEM education programs and activities.
(b)
Responsibilities— The STEM Education Coordinating Office shall—
(1)
coordinate the STEM education activities and programs of the Federal Government, including at the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Environmental Protection Agency, and any other Federal agency with STEM education programs or activities;
(2)
coordinate STEM education activities and programs with the Office of Management and Budget;
(3)
review STEM education activities and programs to ensure they are not redundant, overlapping, or duplicative of similar efforts within the Federal Government;
(4)
periodically update and maintain the inventory of federally sponsored STEM education programs and activities conducted by the committee on STEM education established under the National Science and Technology Council, including documentation of assessments of the outcome-oriented effectiveness of such programs and activities and metrics used to evaluate those programs and activities;
(5)
provide technical and administrative support to the committee on STEM education established under the National Science and Technology Council and the Advisory Panel established under section 202; and
(6)
serve as the point of contact on Federal STEM education activities for government agencies, academia, industry, professional societies, State STEM education programs, interested citizen groups, and other STEM stakeholders to exchange technical and programmatic information.
(c)
3-Year strategic plan—
(1)
In general— The STEM Education Coordinating Office shall—
(A)
at the time of the President’s budget request, and every 3 years thereafter, in consultation with Federal agencies having STEM education programs or activities, the committee on STEM education established under the National Science and Technology Council, and the Advisory Panel established under section 202, update the Federal Government STEM education strategic plan established in May 2013 by the committee on STEM education established under the National Science and Technology Council; and
(B)
coordinate the implementation of such plan through such agencies.
(2)
Contents— The strategic plan shall—
(A)
specify and prioritize annual and long-term objectives, including a description of the role of each agency in supporting programs and activities designed to achieve the objectives;
(B)
specify the common metrics that will be used to assess progress toward achieving the objectives; and
(C)
describe the approaches that will be taken by each agency to assess the effectiveness of its STEM education programs and activities.
(d)
Report— The Director of the STEM Education Coordinating Office shall transmit a report annually to Congress at the time of the President’s budget request. The annual report shall include—
(1)
a description of the STEM education programs and activities across the Federal Government for the previous and current fiscal years, and the proposed programs and activities under the President’s budget request, of every Federal agency with STEM education programs or activities;
(2)
an evaluation of the extent of duplication and fragmentation of the programs and activities described under paragraph (1), and any recommendations for consolidations or terminations to remedy those problems;
(3)
a description of ways the Federal Government is leveraging private and nonprofit investments and utilizing expertise resulting from STEM-related competitions to build the STEM education workforce pipeline; and
(4)
a description of the progress made in carrying out the 3-year strategic plan, including a description of the outcome of any program assessments completed in the previous year, and any changes made to that plan since the previous annual report.
(e)
Responsibilities of NSF— The Director of the National Science Foundation shall encourage and monitor the efforts of the STEM Education Coordinating Office to ensure that the strategic plan under subsection (c) is implemented effectively and that the objectives of the strategic plan are met.