[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 28 (Tuesday, February 13, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H1097-H1100]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
BUILDING BLOCKS OF STEM ACT
Mr. KNIGHT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 3397) to direct the National Science Foundation to support
STEM education research focused on early childhood, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3397
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.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The National Science Foundation has made the largest
financial investment in STEM education of all Federal
agencies, and plays a very powerful role in helping to set
research and policy agendas.
(2) 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.
(3) However, the majority of current research focuses on
increasing STEM opportunities for students in middle school
and older.
(4) Women remain widely underrepresented in the STEM
workforce and this gender disparity extends down through all
levels of education. Strategic funding of programs is needed
in order to understand and address the root cause of this
gap.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the National Science Foundation.
(2) Early childhood.--The term ``early childhood'' applies
to children from birth through the age of 10.
(3) Institution of higher education.--The term
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the
term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 1001(a)).
(4) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational
agency'' has the meaning given the term in section 8101 of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 USC
7801), except that such term also includes preschools, after-
school programs, and summer programs.
(5) STEM.--The term ``STEM'' has the meaning given the term
in section 2 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of
2010 (42 U.S.C. 6621 note).
(6) Young girls.--The term ``young girls'' means female
individuals who have not attained the age of 11.
SEC. 4. SUPPORTING STEM RESEARCH ON EARLY CHILDHOOD.
In awarding grants under the Discovery Research PreK-12
program, the Director shall consider age distribution in
order to more equitably allocate funding for research studies
with a focus on early childhood.
SEC. 5. SUPPORTING GIRLS IN STEM EDUCATION AND COMPUTER
SCIENCE.
(a) Research Grants.--
(1) In general.--The Director shall award grants, on a
competitive basis, to institutions of higher education or
nonprofit organizations (or consortia of such institutions or
organizations), to accelerate research efforts to increase
understanding of the factors that contribute to the
participation of young girls in STEM activities.
(2) Research areas.--Research areas funded by a grant under
this subsection may include--
(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
young girls from participating in STEM activities;
(B) the role of teachers in shaping young girls'
perceptions of STEM and discouraging such girls from
participating in STEM activities;
(C) the role of other facets of the learning environment on
the willingness of young girls to participate in STEM
activities, including learning materials and textbooks,
classroom decorations, seating arrangements, use of media and
technology, classroom culture, and gender composition of
students during group work;
(D) the role of parents and other caregivers in encouraging
or discouraging young girls from participating in STEM
activities;
(E) the types of STEM activities that elicit greater
participation by young girls;
[[Page H1098]]
(F) the role of mentorship and best practices in finding
and utilizing mentors;
(G) the role of informal and out-of-school STEM learning
opportunities on girls' perception of and participation in
STEM activities; and
(H) any other activity the Director determines will
accomplish the goals of this subsection.
(3) Grant recipient report.--An entity awarded a grant
under this subsection shall report to the Director, at such
time and in such manner as the Director may require, on the
activities carried out and materials developed using such
grant funds.
(b) Development and Testing of Scalable Models for
Increased Engagement.--
(1) In general.--The Director shall award grants, on a
competitive basis, to institutions of higher education or
nonprofit organizations (or consortia of such institutions or
organizations), to develop and evaluate interventions in pre-
K and elementary school classrooms that increase
participation of young girls in computer science activities.
(2) Partnerships.--In order to be eligible to receive a
grant under this subsection, an institute of higher
education, nonprofit organization, or consortium, shall enter
into a partnership with one or more local educational agency
or State in carrying out the activities funded by such grant.
(3) Uses of funds.--Grants awarded under this subsection
shall be used for activities that draw upon the expertise of
the partner entities described in paragraph (2) to increase
participation of young girls in computer science activities,
including--
(A) offering training and professional development
programs, including summer or academic year institutes or
workshops, designed to strengthen the capabilities of pre-K
and elementary school teachers and to familiarize such
teachers with the role of gender bias in the classroom;
(B) offering innovative preservice and in-service programs
that instruct teachers on gender-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 a cadre of master teachers who will promote
reform and the adoption of gender-inclusive practices in
teaching computer science concepts in early childhood
education;
(E) developing tools to evaluate activities conducted under
this subsection;
(F) developing or adapting pre-K and elementary school
computer science curricular materials that incorporate
contemporary research on the science of learning,
particularly with respect to gender inclusion;
(G) developing and offering gender-inclusive computer
science enrichment programs for students, including after-
school and summer programs;
(H) providing mentors for girls in person and through the
Internet to support such girls in participating in computer
science activities;
(I) engaging parents of girls about the difficulties faced
by girls to maintain an interest and desire to participate in
computer science activities, and enlisting the help of
parents in overcoming these difficulties;
(J) acquainting girls with careers in computer science and
encouraging girls to consider careers in such field; and
(K) any other activities the Director determines will
accomplish the goals of this subsection.
(4) Grant recipient report.--An entity awarded a grant
under this subsection shall report to the Director, at such
time and in such manner as the Director may require, on the
activities carried out, materials developed using such grant
funds, and the outcomes for students served by such grant.
(5) Evaluation required.--Not later than 4 years after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall evaluate
the grant program under this subsection. At a minimum, such
evaluation shall--
(A) use a common set of benchmarks and assessment tools to
identify best practices and materials developed and
demonstrated by the partnerships described in paragraph (2);
and
(B) to the extent practicable, compare the effectiveness of
practices and materials developed and demonstrated by such
partnerships with those of partnerships funded by other local
or State government or Federal Government programs.
(6) Dissemination of results.--
(A) Evaluation results.--The Director shall make publicly
available free of charge on an Internet website and shall
submit to Congress the results of the evaluation required
under paragraph (5).
(B) Materials.--The Director shall ensure that materials
developed under a program funded by a grant under this
subsection, that are demonstrated to be effective in
achieving the goals of this subsection (as determined by the
Director), are made publicly available free of charge on an
Internet website, including through an arrangement with an
outside entity.
(7) Annual meeting.--The Director may convene an annual
meeting of the partnerships participating in a program funded
by a grant under this subsection, for the purpose of
fostering greater national collaboration.
(8) Technical assistance.--At the request of a partnership
seeking a grant under this subsection, the Director shall
provide the partnership with technical assistance in meeting
any requirement of this subsection.
SEC. 6. COMPUTER SCIENCE IN THE ROBERT NOYCE TEACHER
SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.
Section 10 of the National Science Foundation Authorization
Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 1862n-1) is amended--
(1) by striking ``and mathematics'' each place it appears
and inserting ``mathematics, informatics, and computer
science'';
(2) in subsection (a)(3)(B), by striking ``or mathematics''
and inserting ``mathematics, informatics, and computer
science'';
(3) in subsections (b)(1)(D)(i), (c)(1)(A), (d)(1), and
(i)(7), by striking ``or mathematics'' each place it appears
and inserting ``mathematics, informatics, or computer
science''; and
(4) in subsection (i)(5), by striking ``or mathematics''
and inserting ``mathematics, or computer science''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Knight) and the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie
Bernice Johnson) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
General Leave
Mr. KNIGHT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to
include extraneous material on H.R. 3397, as amended, the bill now
under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. KNIGHT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on an
important policy to improve our Nation's STEM education.
H.R. 3397 is a bipartisan bill that I am proud to sponsor with Ms.
Rosen, and it fits in with a larger set of education and workforce
improvement legislation the Science, Space, and Technology Committee
has recently reported to address critical challenges to our STEM
workforce.
Investing in our children and their futures is always an opportunity
for good. Strategically expanding the reach of our STEM education
programs to children of all ages will improve more individuals with
aptitude are engaged and stay on their educational path.
Research shows that kids as young as 1, 2, or 3 are capable of
absorbing STEM concepts. And any parent can tell you that shortly after
kids learn to talk, the questions can be endless. Children have a
natural curiosity that can be fostered into an interest in science,
technology, engineering, math, and computer science.
This bill directs NSF to more equitably allocate funding for research
in studies that focus on early childhood. Investing in children early
ensures we are laying the groundwork to develop young innovators in
STEM.
I would like to thank Ms. Rosen for her work on the bill.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation,
and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such
time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3397, the Building Blocks of
STEM Act. I want to thank Ms. Rosen for her leadership on this issue.
Drawing upon her experience as a girl who codes, Ms. Rosen has been a
strong champion for creating more opportunities for talented girls and
women interested in computer science. I commend Ms. Rosen for her
efforts on this critically important issue.
The demand for computer science expertise is on the rise in all
sectors of the economy. To ensure that we have the capacity to meet
that demand, we must do more to leverage all of our human capital to
tackle the technological challenges of the future.
Research shows us that girls as young as 6 years old are adopting
gender-based stereotypes that discourage them from engaging in STEM
activities, including computer science.
H.R. 3397 directs NSF to support research into factors that
contribute to the early adoption of these stereotypes. The bill also
directs NSF to support the design, development, and implementation of
scalable models for intervention to prevent or reverse the effects of
these negative and false stereotypes.
I strongly support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support the
bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. KNIGHT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Smith), who is the chairman of the
[[Page H1099]]
Science, Space, and Technology Committee.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman
from California, a member of the Science, Space, and Technology
Committee, for yielding me time on this particular piece of
legislation.
I do support H.R. 3397, the Building Blocks of STEM Act, introduced
by Representative Jacky Rosen and Representative Steve Knight, the
Energy Subcommittee vice chairman.
The bill will help boost our ability to get young people interested
in STEM subjects. America lags behind many other nations when it comes
to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. American students
are ranked 19th in science and 31st in math out of 35 industrialized
nations, the bottom half in both. This is not the educational record of
a country that wants to compete globally.
We must encourage our Nation's youth to study science and engineering
so they will want to pursue these careers.
More graduates with STEM degrees means more advanced technologies and
a more robust economy. A well-educated and trained STEM workforce
promotes our future economic prosperity.
These graduates have the potential to develop technologies that could
save thousands of lives, jump-start a new industry, or even discover
new worlds.
H.R. 3397 directs the National Science Foundation to more equitably
allocate funding for research in studies that focus on early childhood.
Investing in young students seeks to lay the groundwork to interest
them in STEM in their formative years.
The bill also directs the National Science Foundation to develop
scalable models to increase young girls' participation in computer
science. Despite representing nearly half of the college-educated and
total U.S. workforce, women account for less than 25 percent of
America's STEM workforce.
In the last Congress, my bill, the STEM Education Act of 2015, was
signed into law. That bipartisan legislation expanded the Federal
definition of STEM to include computer science. H.R. 3397 continues the
bipartisan commitment of the House Science, Space, and Technology
Committee to promote computer science as a part of STEM by adding
computer science to the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program.
I thank Representative Jacky Rosen and Representative Steve Knight
for working together on this bill. I also thank the chairwoman of the
Research and Technology Subcommittee, Mrs. Comstock, for her work to
improve the underlying legislation by offering the Supporting Girls in
STEM Education and Computer Science amendment.
Including today's five research bills, 20 of the 22 bills the
Science, Space, and Technology Committee has brought to the House floor
this Congress have been bipartisan pieces of legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support these five bipartisan
bills.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as
she may consume to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Rosen).
Ms. ROSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R.
3397, the Building Blocks of STEM Act, which also includes my Code Like
a Girl Act.
I first want to thank my Republican colleague, Steve Knight, for
working with me and co-leading this important legislation and our
Science, Space, and Technology Committee chairman, Lamar Smith, for
helping move this bill through committee. I am proud to see both of my
STEM education proposals come to the floor with wide bipartisan
support.
STEM and computer science are central to our country's innovation,
economic growth, and employment. Across the country, we are continuing
to see a huge demand for workers in the tech industry, including
software developers, engineers, and computer programmers like myself.
I built my career in STEM--a field that has long been dominated by
men--so I know all too well that the demand for talent in STEM is real.
In my home State of Nevada, tech companies like Tesla, Switch, and
Google are leading the way to create the jobs of the future. Even
across all industries, about 15 percent of jobs in Nevada require a
high level of knowledge in at least one STEM field.
Despite these increasing opportunities in STEM careers, not enough
Americans possess the education and skills necessary to succeed. This
disparity between computing and scientific talent and employer demand
really starts as far back as elementary school.
Studies have found that children who engage in scientific activities
from an early age will develop positive attitudes toward science and
are more likely to pursue STEM careers later on. In fact, interviews
with current graduate students and scientists found that the majority
of them reported that their interest in science began before middle
school.
{time} 1730
The bill before us today, the Building Blocks of STEM Act, will
ensure that we are investing in our children as early as possible by
directing the National Science Foundation to equitably distribute
funding across age groups. Specifically, this bill would direct funding
to include early childhood education in the Discovery Research PreK-12
program, which seeks to enhance the learning and teaching of STEM and
address the immediate challenges facing pre-K through 12 STEM
education.
Currently, the Discovery Research PreK-12 program focuses the
majority of its research on students in middle school or older. Since
having access to hands-on STEM experiences as early as possible is
important for continued interest, my bill will ensure that NSF focuses
on engaging our Nation's children in STEM education even younger,
specifically, those under the age of 11.
H.R. 3397 also includes the text of another STEM bill of mine, the
Code Like a Girl Act, which I introduced with the support of my
Republican colead, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. It is also cosponsored
by Subcommittee on Research and Technology Chairwoman Barbara Comstock
and Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Ranking Member Eddie
Bernice Johnson; and I would like to thank them both for their support.
This legislation is for our girls, girls like Isabel, an eighth
grader from my district who loves STEM. She is on her high school
robotics team. Last year, for a school project, she proposed a new
monitoring system to accurately assess the fire issues at Yellowstone
National Park.
This past summer, I received a letter from Isabel, and in her letter
to me, she offered an idea on how to increase and improve solar energy
in Nevada. I wrote back to Isabel and later had the opportunity to meet
her and her family in person. I thanked her for her advocacy and let
her know that we will only move forward in this country by inspiring
young minds to create, innovate, and imagine the future. Isabel is one
of the young girls we are fighting for today.
Young girls should know that they are more capable of succeeding in
STEM and that they can grow up to be the next Grace Hopper or Katherine
Johnson. This bill will help bridge that divide and close the gender
gap that, for too long, has deprived young women from achieving their
full potential. These young, talented minds could be working on our
Nation's most challenging problems by inventing the next breakthrough
technology, founding future startup companies, improving access to
healthcare with computing, and even keeping our Nation safe from cyber
attacks. The Code Like a Girl Act would create two NSF programs to
encourage young girls to pursue computer science.
As we all know, the gender gap in the STEM workforce is widening.
Women only hold about 26 percent of STEM jobs, even though they make up
more than half of the U.S. workforce. This gender disparity extends
down through all levels of education. In 2015, approximately 23 percent
of AP computer science exam takers were girls.
And gender stereotypes begin at a very early age. Studies have shown
that, at around 6 years old, girls develop the belief that brilliance
is a male characteristic, and this negative stereotype is shown to have
an immediate effect as girls start to lose their interest in activities
they perceive as requiring brilliance.
Another study found that young children, both boys and girls, already
believe that boys are better than girls at
[[Page H1100]]
robotics and programming. It is unclear where precisely this stereotype
originates from, but implicit biases can have a negative impact on a
girl's academic achievement in math and science and on their future
decisions to enroll in advanced courses in these subjects.
The Code Like a Girl Act addresses this issue by creating NSF grants
to increase understanding of the factors that contribute to the
participation of young girls 10 and younger in STEM and computer
science activities. This bill also creates a grant program to develop
and evaluate interventions in pre-K and elementary school classrooms
with the goal of increasing participation of young girls in computer
science.
Some of these activities may include teacher training and
professional development, classroom programs on gender-inclusive
teaching practices, and providing mentors for girls to support their
computer science aspirations. We know that young girls are interested
in science, math, and computing, but we need to make sure that, as they
grow older, they stay involved and engaged.
We also know that knowledge of computer science and use of technology
is becoming increasingly essential for all individuals, not just those
planning to work in the technology sector. STEM education cultivates
students' curiosity, their creativity. It teaches them to work as a
team and fosters critical thinking skills that are fundamental for
success in any field.
Mr. Speaker, this legislation will help invest in our students. It
will help them rise to meet the challenges of a changing economy that
increasingly relies on highly skilled labor and technology. I am proud
to stand for our students before this Chamber because, together, we are
making smart investments that will help our children succeed, smart
investments so that we can help our communities build more effective
workforces and a stronger, competitive economy.
For these reasons, I am proud that my Building Blocks of STEM Act,
including the text of my Code Like a Girl Act, is being considered
today. With the passage of these bills, we are one step closer to
bridging the current gaps in STEM education and workforce training.
Building the blocks for careers in STEM will prepare Nevadans and all
Americans for better jobs and help us meet the demands of our 21st
century economy. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I support the bill,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. KNIGHT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, investing and encouraging early education in STEM are
needs that we know are here now and even more in the future. I want to
thank Ms. Rosen for her leadership in this role. It is absolutely
something that is bipartisan. It is something that Congress is behind.
I can tell you, just on a personal note, Lancaster High School came
out with their robotics team more than a decade ago, 100 percent boys.
Just a short period after that, about 4 or 5 years, they were 50
percent girls, 50 percent boys, and they were winning awards all over
the country. That was because we had great teachers there who pushed
and made sure that girls knew that they could be on the robotics team
and pulled them in. That is exactly what we are talking about:
investing and encouraging.
I urge passage of this good bill. This is bipartisan.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Knight) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 3397, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________