§7381l — Title 42 The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code

§7381l National Laboratories Centers of Excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics education

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 84— - DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER XIII— - DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY SCIENCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS › Part Part B— - Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Programs › Subpart subpart 3— - national laboratories centers of excellence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education › § 7381l

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Each National Laboratory must set up a program to support a Center of Excellence in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) at least one high-need public secondary school in its region. The chosen school and the lab must partner with a college or university education program, and they may also include a nonprofit with STEM experience. The Secretary must create rules to help labs pick sites, and each lab must choose sites through an open, public, competitive process. The Secretary must set goals and performance checks for each center. The Director must provide lab scientific and engineering staff to help teachers teach STEM courses and let teachers use lab equipment in those classes. A Center must give student teaching, internships, or practicum experiences for future STEM teachers, provide supervision and mentoring for those candidates, and, as much as possible, offer professional development for current secondary teachers in the region. The Secretary must consider center performance when deciding a lab contractor’s award fee. The Director must make an evaluation plan to measure impact and share the results. Programs already running at any National Laboratory on August 9, 2007 are not changed by this. High-need public secondary school: either a school with 40% or more students from low-income families, or a school given locale code 41, 42, or 43 by the Secretary of Education.

Title 42, §7381l

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In this section, the term “high-need public secondary school” means a secondary school—

(1)in which 40 percent or more of the students attending the school are children from low-income families; or

(2)designated with a school locale code of 41, 42, or 43, as determined by the Secretary of Education.

(b)The Secretary shall establish at each of the National Laboratories a program to support a Center of Excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (referred to in this section as a “Center of Excellence”) in at least 1 high-need public secondary school located in the region served by the National Laboratory to provide assistance in accordance with subsection (f).

(c)(1)To comply with subsection (g), each high-need public secondary school selected as a Center of Excellence and the National Laboratory shall form a partnership with a school, department, or program of education at an institution of higher education.

(2)The partnership may include a nonprofit entity with demonstrated experience and effectiveness in science or mathematics, as agreed to by other members of the partnership.

(d)(1)The Secretary, acting through the Director, shall establish criteria to guide the National Laboratories in selecting the sites for Centers of Excellence.

(2)A National Laboratory shall select a site for a Center of Excellence through an open, widely-publicized, and competitive process.

(e)The Secretary shall establish goals and performance assessments for each Center of Excellence authorized under subsection (b).

(f)Consistent with section 7381b and 7381c of this title, the Director shall make available necessary assistance for a program established under this section through the use of scientific and engineering staff of a National Laboratory, including the use of staff—

(1)to assist teachers in teaching a course at a Center of Excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics; and

(2)to use National Laboratory scientific equipment in the teaching of the course.

(g)A Center of Excellence in a region shall ensure—

(1)provision of clinical practicum, student teaching, or internship experiences for science, technology, and mathematics teacher candidates as part of the teacher preparation program of the Center of Excellence;

(2)provision of supervision and mentoring for teacher candidates in the teacher preparation program; and

(3)to the maximum extent practicable, provision of professional development for veteran teachers in the public secondary schools in the region.

(h)The Secretary shall consider the results of performance assessments required under subsection (e) in determining the contract award fee of a National Laboratory management and operations contractor.

(i)The Director shall—

(1)develop an evaluation and accountability plan for the activities funded under this section that objectively measures the impact of the activities; and

(2)disseminate information obtained from those measurements.

(j)Nothing in this section displaces or otherwise affects any similar program being carried out as of August 9, 2007, at any National Laboratory under any other provision of law.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2015—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 114–95 substituted “in which 40 percent or more of the students attending the school are children from low-income families” for “with a high concentration of low-income individuals (as defined in section 6537 of title 20)”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2015 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 114–95 effective Dec. 10, 2015, except with respect to certain noncompetitive programs and competitive programs, see section 5 of Pub. L. 114–95, set out as a note under section 6301 of Title 20, Education.