Rural STEM Education Research Act

IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 210 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 19, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions AN ACT To coordinate Federal research and development efforts fo- cused on STEM education and workforce development in rural areas, including the development and application of new technologies to support and improve rural STEM education, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H210.RFS H210 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 210 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural STEM Edu- 2 cation Research Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds the following: 5 (1) The supply of STEM workers is not keeping 6 pace with the rapidly evolving needs of the public 7 and private sector, resulting in a deficit often re- 8 ferred to as a STEM skills shortage. 9 (2) According to the Bureau of Labor Statis- 10 tics, the United States will need one million addi- 11 tional STEM professionals than it is on track to 12 produce in the coming decade. 13 (3) Many STEM occupations offer higher 14 wages, more opportunities for advancement, and a 15 higher degree of job security than non-STEM jobs. 16 (4) The 60,000,000 individuals in the United 17 States who live in rural settings are significantly 18 under-represented in STEM. 19 (5) According to the National Center for Edu- 20 cation Statistics, nine million students in the United 21 States—nearly 20 percent of the total K–12 popu- 22 lation—attend rural schools, and for reasons rang- 23 ing from teacher quality to shortages of resources, 24 these students often have fewer opportunities for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H210.RFS H210 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 210 RFS high-quality STEM learning than their peers in the 1 Nation’s urban and suburban schools. 2 (6) Rural areas represent one of the most 3 promising, yet underutilized, opportunities for 4 STEM education to impact workforce development 5 and regional innovation, including agriculture. 6 (7) The study of agriculture, food, and natural 7 resources involves biology, engineering, physics, 8 chemistry, math, geology, computer science, and 9 other scientific fields. 10 (8) Employment in computer and information 11 technology occupations is projected to grow 11 per- 12 cent from 2019 to 2029. To help meet this demand, 13 it is important rural students have the opportunity 14 to acquire computing skills through exposure to com- 15 puter science learning in grades Pre-K through 12 16 and in informal learning settings. 17 (9) More than 293,000,000 individuals in the 18 United States use high-speed broadband to work, 19 learn, access healthcare, and operate their busi- 20 nesses, while 19,000,000 individuals in the United 21 States still lack access to high-speed broadband. 22 Rural areas are hardest hit, with over 26 percent of 23 individuals in rural areas in the United States lack- 24 ing access to high-speed broadband compared to 1.7 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H210.RFS H210 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 210 RFS percent of individuals in urban areas in the United 1 States. 2 SEC. 3. NIST ENGAGEMENT WITH RURAL COMMUNITIES. 3 (a) MEP OUTREACH.—Section 25 of the National 4 Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 5 278k) is amended— 6 (1) in subsection (c)— 7 (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘commu- 8 nity colleges and area career and technical edu- 9 cation schools’’ and inserting the following: 10 ‘‘secondary schools (as defined in section 8101 11 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 12 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)), community col- 13 leges, and area career and technical education 14 schools, including those in underserved and 15 rural communities,’’; and 16 (B) in paragraph (7)— 17 (i) by striking ‘‘and local colleges’’ 18 and inserting the following: ‘‘local high 19 schools and local colleges, including those 20 in underserved and rural communities,’’; 21 and 22 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or other applied 23 learning opportunities’’ after ‘‘apprentice- 24 ships’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H210.RFS H210 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 210 RFS (2) in subsection (d)(3) by striking ‘‘, commu- 1 nity colleges, and area career and technical edu- 2 cation schools,’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘and 3 local high schools, community colleges, and area ca- 4 reer and technical education schools, including those 5 in underserved and rural communities,’’. 6 (b) RURAL CONNECTIVITY PRIZE COMPETITION.— 7 (1) PRIZE COMPETITION.—Pursuant to section 8 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation 9 Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719), the Secretary of 10 Commerce, acting through the Under Secretary of 11 Commerce for Standards and Technology (referred 12 to in this subsection as the ‘‘Secretary’’), shall, sub- 13 ject to appropriations, carry out a program to award 14 prizes competitively to stimulate research and devel- 15 opment of creative technologies in order to deploy 16 affordable and reliable broadband connectivity to un- 17 derserved rural communities. 18 (2) PLAN FOR DEPLOYMENT IN RURAL COMMU- 19 NITIES.—Each proposal submitted pursuant to para- 20 graph (1) shall include a plan for deployment of the 21 technology that is the subject of such proposal in an 22 underserved rural community. 23 (3) PRIZE AMOUNT.—In carrying out the pro- 24 gram under paragraph (1), the Secretary may award 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H210.RFS H210 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 210 RFS not more than a total of $5,000,000 to one or more 1 winners of the prize competition. 2 (4) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the 3 date on which a prize is awarded under the prize 4 competition, the Secretary shall submit to the rel- 5 evant committees of Congress a report that describes 6 the winning proposal of the prize competition. 7 (5) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the pro- 8 gram under subsection (a), the Secretary may con- 9 sult with the heads of relevant departments and 10 agencies of the Federal Government. 11 SEC. 4. NITR-D BROADBAND WORKING GROUP. 12 Title I of the High-Performance Computing Act of 13 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5511 et seq.) is amended by adding at 14 the end the following: 15 ‘‘SEC. 103. BROADBAND RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 16 WORKING GROUP. 17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish a 18 broadband research and development working group to ad- 19 dress national research challenges and opportunities for 20 improving broadband access and adoption across the 21 United States. 22 ‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES.—The working group shall identify 23 and coordinate key research priorities for addressing 24 broadband access and adoption, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H210.RFS H210 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 HR 210 RFS ‘‘(1) promising research areas; 1 ‘‘(2) requirements for data collection and shar- 2 ing; 3 ‘‘(3) opportunities for better alignment and co- 4 ordination across Federal agencies and external 5 stakeholders; and 6 ‘‘(4) input on the development of new Federal 7 policies and programs to enhance data collection and 8 research. 9 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION.—The working group shall co- 10 ordinate, as appropriate, with the Rural Broadband Inte- 11 gration Working Group established under section 6214 of 12 the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Public Law 13 115–334) and the National Institute of Food and Agri- 14 culture of the Department of Agriculture. 15 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—The working group shall report to 16 Congress on their activities as part of the annual report 17 submitted under section 101(a)(2)(D). 18 ‘‘(e) SUNSET.—The authority to carry out this sec- 19 tion shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the 20 date of enactment of the Rural STEM Education Act.’’. 21 SEC. 5. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES EVALUATION. 22 (a) STUDY.—Not later than 12 months after the date 23 of enactment of this Act, the Director shall enter into an 24 agreement with the National Academy of Sciences under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H210.RFS H210 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 HR 210 RFS which the National Academy agrees to conduct an evalua- 1 tion and assessment that— 2 (1) evaluates the quality and quantity of cur- 3 rent Federal programming and research directed at 4 examining STEM education for students in grades 5 Pre-K through 12 and workforce development in 6 rural areas; 7 (2) assesses the impact of the scarcity of 8 broadband connectivity in rural communities has on 9 STEM and technical literacy for students in grades 10 Pre-K through 12 in rural areas; 11 (3) assesses the core research and data needed 12 to understand the challenges rural areas are facing 13 in providing quality STEM education and workforce 14 development; and 15 (4) makes recommendations for action at the 16 Federal, State, and local levels for improving STEM 17 education for students in grades Pre-K through 12 18 and workforce development in rural areas. 19 (b) REPORT TO DIRECTOR.—The agreement entered 20 into under subsection (a) shall require the National Acad- 21 emy of Sciences, not later than 24 months after the date 22 of enactment of this Act, to submit to the Director a re- 23 port on the study conducted under such subsection, includ- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H210.RFS H210 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 HR 210 RFS ing the National Academy’s findings and recommenda- 1 tions. 2 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 3 are authorized to be appropriated to the Director to carry 4 out this section $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2022. 5 SEC. 6. GAO REVIEW. 6 Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 7 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 8 shall conduct a study on the engagement of rural popu- 9 lations in Federal STEM programs and submit to Con- 10 gress a report that includes— 11 (1) an assessment of how Federal STEM edu- 12 cation programs are serving rural populations; 13 (2) a description of initiatives carried out by 14 Federal agencies that are targeted at supporting 15 STEM education in rural areas; 16 (3) an assessment of what is known about the 17 impact and effectiveness of Federal investments in 18 STEM education programs that are targeted to 19 rural areas; and 20 (4) an assessment of challenges that state and 21 Federal STEM education programs face in reaching 22 rural population centers. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H210.RFS H210 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 HR 210 RFS SEC. 7. CAPACITY BUILDING THROUGH EPSCOR. 1 Section 517(f)(2) of the America COMPETES Reau- 2 thorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 1862p–9(f)(2)) is 3 amended— 4 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 5 the end; and 6 (2) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(C) to increase the capacity of rural com- 8 munities to provide quality STEM education 9 and STEM workforce development program- 10 ming to students, and teachers; and’’. 11 SEC. 8. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION RURAL STEM RE- 12 SEARCH ACTIVITIES. 13 (a) PREPARING RURAL STEM EDUCATORS.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall provide 15 grants on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis to in- 16 stitutions of higher education or nonprofit organiza- 17 tions (or a consortium thereof) for research and de- 18 velopment to advance innovative approaches to sup- 19 port and sustain high-quality STEM teaching in 20 rural schools. 21 (2) USE OF FUNDS.— 22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded under 23 this section shall be used for the research and 24 development activities referred to in paragraph 25 (1), which may include— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H210.RFS H210 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 HR 210 RFS (i) engaging rural educators of stu- 1 dents in grades Pre-K through 12 in pro- 2 fessional learning opportunities to enhance 3 STEM knowledge, including computer 4 science, and develop best practices; 5 (ii) supporting research on effective 6 STEM teaching practices in rural settings, 7 including the use of rubrics and mastery- 8 based grading practices to assess student 9 performance when employing the transdis- 10 ciplinary teaching approach for STEM dis- 11 ciplines; 12 (iii) designing and developing pre- 13 service and in-service training resources to 14 assist such rural educators in adopting 15 transdisciplinary teaching practices across 16 STEM courses; 17 (iv) coordinating with local partners 18 to adapt STEM teaching practices to lever- 19 age local natural and community assets in 20 order to support in-place learning in rural 21 areas; 22 (v) providing hands-on training and 23 research opportunities for rural educators 24 described in clause (i) at Federal Labora- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H210.RFS H210 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 HR 210 RFS tories, institutions of higher education, or 1 in industry; 2 (vi) developing training and best prac- 3 tices for educators who teach multiple 4 grade levels within a STEM discipline; 5 (vii) designing and implementing pro- 6 fessional development courses and experi- 7 ences, including mentoring, for rural edu- 8 cators described in clause (i) that combine 9 face-to-face and online experiences; and 10 (viii) any other activity the Director 11 determines will accomplish the goals of this 12 subsection. 13 (B) RURAL STEM COLLABORATIVE.—The 14 Director may establish a pilot program of re- 15 gional cohorts in rural areas that will provide 16 peer support, mentoring, and hands-on research 17 experiences for rural STEM educators of stu- 18 dents in grades Pre-K through 12, in order to 19 build an ecosystem of cooperation among edu- 20 cators, researchers, academia, and local indus- 21 try. 22 (b) BROADENING PARTICIPATION OF RURAL STU- 23 DENTS IN STEM.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H210.RFS H210 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with [Text truncated for display. 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