[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.