STEM Education Act of 2015
Latest action. Became public lawWhat a bill becomes when enacted, numbered by Congress and order of enactment: Public Law 119-4 is the 4th law of the 119th Congress.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) No: 114-59.
(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on September 24, 2015. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
STEM Education Act of 2015
(Sec. 3) Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to continue to award competitive, merit-reviewed grants to support: (1) research and development of innovative out-of-school STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning and emerging STEM learning environments; and (2) research that advances the field of informal STEM education.
Requires supported activities to include research and development that improves understanding of learning and engagement in informal environments and design and testing of innovative STEM resources for such environments to improve STEM learning outcomes and increase engagement for elementary and secondary school students and teachers and the public.
(Sec. 4) Amends the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 to allow award of NSF Master Teaching Fellowships to mathematics and science teachers who possess a bachelor's degree in their field (currently limited to those with a master's degree).
Requires fellowship grants to be used, in the case of Master Teaching Fellowships for teachers with bachelor's degrees in their field who are working toward a master's degree, to: (1) offer academic courses leading to a master's degree and leadership training to prepare individuals to become master teachers, and (2) offer programs both during and after matriculation to enable fellows to become highly effective mathematics and science teachers and to exchange ideas with others in their fields. Limits fellowship support during such a master's degree program to one year, with a prorated amount in the case of enrollment in a part-time program.
Includes elementary or secondary school computer science teachers as mathematics and science teachers for purposes of the program of teacher recruiting and training grants known as the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Public Law" stage on October 7, 2015. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
This bill has been enacted. It is law.
The record's latest action, on October 7, 2015: Became Public Law No: 114-59.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
LAMAR SMITH (R-TX) introduced it on February 20, 2015, and 9 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 2 Democrats, 7 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HousePassed
- SenatePassed
- PresidentSigned into law