1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Middle School Technical Education Program Act or the Middle STEP Act . 2. Findings (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Career and technical education prepares students to be college and career ready by providing core academic, technical, and employability skills. (2) Eighty percent of students taking a college preparatory academic curriculum with rigorous career and technical education courses met college and career readiness goals, compared to 63 percent of students taking the same academic core who did not experience rigorous career and technical education courses. (3) Students concentrating in career and technical education improved their 12th grade National Assessment of Educational Progress scores by 8 points in reading and 11 points in mathematics, while students who took no career and technical education courses did not increase their mathematics scores and only increased reading scores by 4 points. (4) The average high school graduation rate in 2012 for students concentrating in career and technical education programs was 93 percent, compared to the average nationwide high school graduation rate of 80 percent. (5) Partnerships between businesses and educators help adults build academic, technical, and employability skills through education and on-the-job training. 3. Purpose and definitions (a) Purpose The purpose of this Act is to support the development of middle school career exploration programs linked to career and technical education programs of study. (b) Definitions In this Act: (1) Career and technical education exploration program The term career and technical education exploration program means a program that is developed through an organized, systemic framework and is designed to aid students in making informed plans and decisions about future education and career opportunities and enrollment in career and technical education programs of study. (2) Eligible partnership The term eligible partnership means an entity that— (A) shall include—