[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 737 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.737
One Hundred Sixteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday,
the third day of January, two thousand and nineteen
An Act
To direct the National Science Foundation to support STEM education
research focused on early childhood.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Building Blocks of STEM Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The National Science Foundation is a large investor in STEM
education and plays a key role in setting research and policy
agendas.
(2) While studies have found that children who engage in
scientific activities from an early age develop positive attitudes
toward science and are more likely to pursue STEM expertise and
careers later on, the majority of current research focuses on
increasing STEM opportunities for middle school-aged children and
older.
(3) Women remain widely underrepresented in the STEM workforce,
and this disparity extends down through all levels of education.
SEC. 3. SUPPORTING EARLY CHILDHOOD AND ELEMENTARY STEM EDUCATION
RESEARCH.
In awarding grants under the Discovery Research PreK-12 program,
the Director of the National Science Foundation shall consider the age
distribution of a STEM education research and development project to
improve the focus of research and development on elementary and
prekindergarten education.
SEC. 4. SUPPORTING FEMALE STUDENTS IN PREKINDERGARTEN THROUGH
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN STEM EDUCATION.
Section 305(d) of the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act
(42 U.S.C. 1862s-5(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Research.--As a component of improving participation of
women in STEM fields, research funded by a grant under this
subsection may include research on--
``(A) the role of teacher training and professional
development, including effective incentive structures to
encourage teachers to participate in such training and
professional development, in encouraging or discouraging female
students in prekindergarten through elementary school from
participating in STEM activities;
``(B) the role of teachers in shaping perceptions of STEM
in female students in prekindergarten through elementary school
and discouraging such students from participating in STEM
activities;
``(C) the role of other facets of the learning environment
on the willingness of female students in prekindergarten
through elementary school to participate in STEM activities,
including learning materials and textbooks, seating
arrangements, use of media and technology, classroom culture,
and composition of students during group work;
``(D) the role of parents and other caregivers in
encouraging or discouraging female students in prekindergarten
through elementary school from participating in STEM
activities;
``(E) the types of STEM activities that encourage greater
participation by female students in prekindergarten through
elementary school;
``(F) the role of mentorship and best practices in finding
and utilizing mentors; and
``(G) the role of informal and after-school STEM learning
opportunities on the perception of and participation in STEM
activities of female students in prekindergarten through
elementary school.''.
SEC. 5. SUPPORTING FEMALE STUDENTS IN PREKINDERGARTEN THROUGH
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION.
Section 310(b) of the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act
(42 U.S.C. 1862s-7(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Uses of funds.--The tools and models described in
paragraph (2)(C) may include--
``(A) offering training and professional development
programs, including summer or academic year institutes or
workshops, designed to strengthen the capabilities of
prekindergarten and elementary school teachers and to
familiarize such teachers with the role of bias against female
students in the classroom;
``(B) offering innovative pre-service and in-service
programs that instruct teachers on female-inclusive practices
for teaching computing concepts;
``(C) developing distance learning programs for teachers or
students, including developing curricular materials, play-based
computing activities, and other resources for the in-service
professional development of teachers that are made available to
teachers through the Internet;
``(D) developing or adapting prekindergarten and elementary
school computer science curricular materials that incorporate
contemporary research on the science of learning, particularly
with respect to female inclusion;
``(E) developing and offering female-inclusive computer
science enrichment programs for students, including after-
school and summer programs;
``(F) providing mentors for female students in
prekindergarten through elementary school to support such
students in participating in computer science activities;
``(G) engaging female students in prekindergarten through
elementary school, and their guardians (if such communication
takes place on school premises during otherwise-scheduled
conferences or formal conversations between teachers and
guardians) about--
``(i) the difficulties faced by female students with
regard to maintaining an interest in participating in
computer science activities; and
``(ii) the potential positive career benefits of
engaging in such activities;
``(H) acquainting female students in prekindergarten
through elementary school with careers in computer science and
encouraging such students to consider careers in the computer
science field; and
``(I) developing tools to evaluate activities conducted
under this subsection, including reports for evaluating the
effectiveness of activities under this section.''.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.