To require the Director of the National Science Foundation to establish a grant program to make grants to eligible entities to develop instructional content on artificial intelligence, and for other purposes.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8390 To require the Director of the National Science Foundation to establish a grant program to make grants to eligible entities to develop instruc- tional content on artificial intelligence, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 Mr. TONKO (for himself and Mr. RESCHENTHALER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech- nology, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To require the Director of the National Science Foundation to establish a grant program to make grants to eligible entities to develop instructional content on artificial intel- ligence, 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 SECTION 1. GRANT PROGRAM FOR ARTIFICIAL INTEL- 3 LIGENCE INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than January 5 1, 2022, the Director shall award grants on a competitive 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8390.IH H8390 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8390 IH basis to eligible entities to research the development of in- 1 structional content for teachers of a public elementary 2 school or secondary school in accordance with subsection 3 (e). 4 (b) APPLICATIONS.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 6 grant under subsection (a), an eligible entity shall 7 submit to the Director an application at such time, 8 in such manner, and containing such information as 9 the Secretary may require, which shall include— 10 (A) an explanation detailing how the pro- 11 posed research and development of instructional 12 content by such eligible entity would com- 13 plement and enrich a curriculum approved by a 14 State educational agency for implementation in 15 a public elementary school or secondary school; 16 and 17 (B) a plan to— 18 (i) develop or adapt instructional con- 19 tent in accordance with subsection (e); 20 (ii) pilot such instructional content in 21 a public elementary school or secondary 22 school; or 23 (iii) assess the comprehension of stu- 24 dents after the instruction of such pilot in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8390.IH H8390 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8390 IH structional content to determine the effi- 1 cacy of such instructional content. 2 (2) CONDITIONS FOR RECEIVING A GRANT.—As 3 a condition of receiving a grant under this section, 4 an eligible entity shall agree to— 5 (A) report to the Director, at such time 6 and in such manner as the Director may re- 7 quire, on— 8 (i) the activities carried out and mate- 9 rials developed using funds from such 10 grant; and 11 (ii) input received from any teacher of 12 an elementary school or secondary school 13 that has successfully used the instructional 14 content within the curriculum of such 15 school; 16 (B) ensure that all instructional content 17 created as a result of such grant are freely 18 available to the public; and 19 (C) comply with the requirements of sec- 20 tion 3474.20 of title 2, Federal Code of Regula- 21 tions. 22 (c) REVIEW BOARD.— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8390.IH H8390 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8390 IH (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall es- 1 tablish, and appoint individuals to, a review board to 2 select the grant recipients in accordance with— 3 (A) the standard metrics in the most re- 4 cent version of the National Science Foundation 5 Proposal and Award Policies Guide; and 6 (B) the metrics outlined in subsection (d). 7 (2) COMPOSITION.—The review board shall be 8 equally comprised of the following: 9 (A) Faculty members at institutions of 10 higher education with expertise in artificial in- 11 telligence. 12 (B) Faculty members at institutions of 13 higher education with expertise in education. 14 (C) Teachers at institutions of higher edu- 15 cation. 16 (D) Teachers at elementary schools or sec- 17 ondary schools, including elementary schools or 18 secondary schools receiving funds under part A 19 of title I of the Elementary and Secondary 20 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et 21 seq.). 22 (E) Professionals who, as determined by 23 the Director, spend the majority of their work- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8390.IH H8390 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8390 IH day interacting with artificial intelligence tools 1 in the workplace. 2 (d) ADDITIONAL SELECTION METRICS.—The Direc- 3 tor shall develop metrics, for the review board to measure 4 the likely success of an application, that assess— 5 (1) the ability for the instructional content de- 6 rived from the research grants to be widely distrib- 7 uted, and easily accessible, to public elementary 8 schools and secondary schools; 9 (2) the ability for the instructional content de- 10 rived from the research grants to reach a diverse 11 student body; and 12 (3) the ability for the instructional content de- 13 rived from the research grants to address the unique 14 needs of a school receiving Federal funds under 15 Title 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 16 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.). 17 (e) INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity conducting 19 research under subsection (a) shall devise a com- 20 prehensive and structured series of exercises— 21 (A) appropriate to each grade level; and 22 (B) designed to— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8390.IH H8390 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8390 IH (i) convey the principles behind, me- 1 chanics of, and societal implications or eth- 2 ics of the use of artificial intelligence; and 3 (ii) provide teaching instructions for 4 teachers at elementary schools or sec- 5 ondary schools on such mechanisms when 6 needed. 7 (2) TEACHING INSTRUCTIONS.—In providing 8 teaching instructions for teachers at elementary 9 schools or secondary schools under paragraph (1), 10 an eligible entity may include the following: 11 (A) Prescribed worksheets. 12 (B) Textbooks or other reading materials. 13 (C) Educational games. 14 (D) Digital instructional resources, includ- 15 ing web-based applications, mobile applications, 16 or application programming interfaces. 17 (E) Virtual professional development pro- 18 grams for teachers at elementary schools or sec- 19 ondary schools, including webinars, online con- 20 ferences, or massive open online courses. 21 (F) Tools to improve the accessibility of in- 22 structional content to students with learning 23 disabilities. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8390.IH H8390 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8390 IH (G) Tools to improve the accessibility of in- 1 structional content to students learning English 2 as a second language. 3 (H) Any other materials or activities that 4 the Director determines to be necessary to ac- 5 complish the general goal outlined in paragraph 6 (1)(B)(i). 7 (3) TOPICS.—In conveying the mechanisms be- 8 hind artificial intelligence and the societal implica- 9 tions of the use of artificial intelligence, an eligible 10 entity may address the following topics: 11 (A) How artificial intelligence systems 12 work, including— 13 (i) how artificial intelligence systems 14 perceive and interact with their sur- 15 rounding environments; 16 (ii) how artificial intelligence systems 17 derive patterns and relationships from 18 data; and 19 (iii) how artificial intelligence systems 20 adapt based on the acquisition of new in- 21 formation. 22 (B) The societal implications of the broad 23 application of artificial intelligence systems, in- 24 cluding— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8390.IH H8390 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8390 IH (i) investigating when and how bias 1 may be intentionally or unintentionally cre- 2 ated when using artificial intelligence; 3 (ii) investigating the tradeoffs between 4 privacy and security as it pertains to the 5 use of artificial intelligence applications; 6 and 7 (iii) investigating the likely future im- 8 pacts of artificial intelligence on society. 9 (C) Any other topics determined necessary 10 by the Director. 11 (f) EVALUATION.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years after 13 the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 3 14 years thereafter, the Director shall evaluate the 15 grant program under this section. 16 (2) CONTENT.—In evaluating the grant pro- 17 gram under subsection (a), the Director shall in- 18 clude— 19 (A) a common set of benchmarks and as- 20 sessment tools to identify best practices and 21 materials developed and demonstrated by the 22 grant recipients; and 23 (B) recommendations for future expansion 24 of such program. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8390.IH H8390 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8390 IH (3) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 30 days 1 after the completion of the evaluation under para- 2 graph (1), the results of such evaluation shall be 3 made available on a publicly accessible website of the 4 National Science Foundation. 5 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 (1) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.—The term ‘‘ar- 7 tificial intelligence’’ means a machine-based system 8 that— 9 (A) can, for a given set of human-defined 10 objectives, make predictions, recommendations, 11 or decisions that influence real or virtual envi- 12 ronments; and 13 (B) uses machine and human-based inputs 14 to— 15 (i) perceive real and virtual environ- 16 ments; 17 (ii) abstract such perceptions into 18 models through analysis in an automated 19 manner; and 20 (iii) use model inference to formulate 21 options for information or action. 22 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 23 the Director of the National Science Foundation. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8390.IH H8390 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8390 IH (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 1 ty’’ means— 2 (A) a State research agency; 3 (B) a Federal research agency; 4 (C) an institution of higher education; 5 (D) a junior or community college; 6 (E) a nonprofit organization with a history 7 of publishing peer-reviewed research in the 8 fields of education, computer science, or related 9 fields; or 10 (F) any combination of subparagraphs (A) 11 through (E). 12 (4) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; SECONDARY 13 SCHOOL.—The terms ‘‘elementary school’’ and ‘‘sec- 14 ondary school’’ have the meanings given those terms 15 in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 16 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 17 (5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 18 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 19 meaning given that term in section 101 of the High- 20 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 21 (6) INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT.—The term ‘‘in- 22 structional content’’ means lesson plans, educational 23 tools, and educational resources designed to assist in 24 the teaching of a concept or series of concepts in a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8390.IH H8390 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8390 IH structured manner to students in elementary schools 1 or secondary schools. 2 (7) JUNIOR OR COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The 3 term ‘‘junior or community college’’ has the meaning 4 given that term in section 312(f) of the Higher Edu- 5 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058(f)). 6 (8) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 7 ‘‘State educational agency’’ means the State board 8 of education or other agency or officer primarily re- 9 sponsible for the State supervision of public elemen- 10 tary schools and secondary schools, or, if there is no 11 such officer or agency, an officer or agency des- 12 ignated by the Governor or by State law. 13 SEC. 2. ROBERT NOYCE TEACHER TRAINING AND EDU- 14 CATION PROGRAM. 15 Section 10(i)(5) of the National Science Foundation 16 Authorization Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 1862n–1(i)(5)) is 17 amended to read as follows: 18 ‘‘(5) the term ‘mathematics and science teacher’ 19 means— 20 ‘‘(A) a science, technology, engineering, 21 mathematics, or computer science, including cy- 22 bersecurity, teacher at the elementary school or 23 secondary school level; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8390.IH H8390 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8390 IH ‘‘(B) a teacher at an elementary school or 1 secondary school who instructs from a cur- 2 riculum that incorporates, to a substantial de- 3 gree, quantitative data analysis.’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:44 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8390.IH H8390 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS