The Director shall establish a committee under the National Science and Technology Council, including the Office of Management and Budget, with the responsibility to coordinate Federal programs and activities in support of STEM education, including at the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Education, and all other Federal agencies that have programs and activities in support of STEM education.
The committee established under subsection (a) shall-
(1) coordinate the STEM education activities and programs of the Federal agencies;
(2) coordinate STEM education activities and programs with the Office of Management and Budget;
(3) encourage the teaching of innovation and entrepreneurship as part of STEM education activities;
(4) review STEM education activities and programs to ensure they are not duplicative of similar efforts within the Federal government;
(5) develop, implement through the participating agencies, and update once every 5 years a 5-year STEM education strategic plan, which shall-
(A) specify and prioritize annual and long-term objectives;
(B) specify the common metrics that will be used to assess progress toward achieving the objectives;
(C) describe the approaches that will be taken by each participating agency to assess the effectiveness of its STEM education programs and activities; and
(D) with respect to subparagraph (A), describe the role of each agency in supporting programs and activities designed to achieve the objectives;
(6) establish, periodically update, and maintain an inventory of federally sponsored STEM education programs and activities, including documentation of assessments of the effectiveness of such programs and activities and rates of participation by women, underrepresented minorities, and persons in rural areas in such programs and activities;
(7) collaborate with the STEM Education Advisory Panel established under section 303 of the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act and other outside stakeholders to ensure the engagement of the STEM education community;
(8) review the measures used by a Federal agency to evaluate its STEM education activities and programs;
(9) request and review feedback from States on how the States are utilizing Federal STEM education programs and activities; and
(10) recommend the reform, termination, or consolidation of Federal STEM education activities and programs, taking into consideration the recommendations of the STEM Education Advisory Panel.
The Director shall encourage and monitor the efforts of the participating agencies to ensure that the strategic plan under subsection (b)(5) is developed and executed effectively and that the objectives of the strategic plan are met.
The Director shall transmit a report annually to Congress at the time of the President's budget request describing the plan required under subsection (b)(5). The annual report shall include-
(1) a description of the STEM education programs and activities for the previous and current fiscal years, and the proposed programs and activities under the President's budget request, of each participating Federal agency;
(2) the levels of funding for each participating Federal agency for the programs and activities described under paragraph (1) for the previous fiscal year and under the President's budget request;
(3) an evaluation of the levels of duplication and fragmentation of the programs and activities described under paragraph (1);
(4) except for the initial annual report, a description of the progress made in carrying out the implementation 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;
(5) a description of how the participating Federal agencies will disseminate information about federally supported resources for STEM education practitioners, including teacher professional development programs, to States and to STEM education practitioners, including to teachers and administrators in schools that meet the criteria described in subsection (c)(1)(A) and (B) of section 7381j of this title;
(6) a description of all consolidations and terminations of Federal STEM education programs and activities implemented in the previous fiscal year, including an explanation for the consolidations and terminations;
(7) recommendations for reforms, consolidations, and terminations of STEM education programs or activities in the upcoming fiscal year; and
(8) a description of any significant new STEM education public-private partnerships.
(
Section 303 of the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(7), is section 303 of
Section was enacted as part of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, also known as the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Reauthorization Act of 2010, and not as part of the National Science and Technology Policy, Organization, and Priorities Act of 1976 which comprises this chapter.
2017-Subsec. (b)(7) to (10).
Subsec. (c).
Subsec. (d).
Subsec. (d)(6) to (8).
"(a)
"(b)
"(1)
"(2)
"(A)
"(B)
"(C)
"(i) primarily be individuals from academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and industry, including in-school, out-of-school, and informal education practitioners; and
"(ii) be individuals who are qualified to provide advice and information on STEM education research, development, training, implementation, interventions, professional development, or workforce needs or concerns.
"(c)
"(1)
"(A) advise CoSTEM;
"(B) periodically assess CoSTEM's progress in carrying out its responsibilities under section 101(b) of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 6621(b)); and
"(C) help identify any need or opportunity to update the strategic plan under section 101(b) of that Act.
"(2)
"(A) the management, coordination, and implementation of STEM education programs and activities across the Federal Government;
"(B) the appropriateness of criteria used by Federal agencies to evaluate the effectiveness of Federal STEM education programs and activities;
"(C) whether societal and workforce concerns are adequately addressed by current Federal STEM education programs and activities;
"(D) how Federal agencies can incentivize institutions of higher education to improve retention of STEM students;
"(E) ways to leverage private and nonprofit STEM investments and encourage public-private partnerships to strengthen STEM education and help build the STEM workforce pipeline;
"(F) ways to incorporate workforce needs into Federal STEM education programs and activities, particularly for specific employment fields of national interest and employment fields experiencing high unemployment rates;
"(G) ways to better vertically and horizontally integrate Federal STEM education programs and activities from pre-kindergarten through graduate study and the workforce, and from in-school to out-of-school in order to improve transitions for students moving through the STEM education and workforce pipelines;
"(H) the extent to which Federal STEM education programs and activities are contributing to recruitment and retention of individuals identified in sections 33 and 34 of the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C. 1885a, 1885b) in the STEM education and workforce pipelines; and
"(I) ways to encourage geographic diversity in the STEM education and the workforce pipelines.
"(3)
"(d)
"(e)
"(f)
"(1)
"(2)
"(g)
[For definitions of terms as used in section 303 of
"(1)
"(2)