Selected provisions in bill as introduced

• Recommends the National Science Foundation spend $8 million annually over the next five years to support curriculum development and training for STEM educators.
• Authorizes the agency to establish a pilot “regional cohort” program that would provide “peer support, mentoring, and hands-on research experiences for rural STEM educators of students in grades Pre–K through 12, in order to build an ecosystem of cooperation among educators, researchers, academia, and local industry.”
• Recommends NSF spend $12 million annually over the next five years to support research on the barriers faced by rural students in accessing high-quality STEM education.
• Directs NSF to support research on ways to integrate online coursework into STEM instruction in rural schools and includes separate provisions that promote access to broadband internet.