[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 156 (Thursday, September 26, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5758-S5759]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 944. Mr. McCONNELL (for Ms. Rosen (for herself and Mrs. Capito))
proposed an amendment to the bill S. 737, to direct the National
Science Foundation to support STEM education research focused on early
childhood; as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
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.''.
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