116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 737 

AN ACT 

To direct the National Science Foundation to support STEM 

education research focused on early childhood. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Building Blocks of 

3 STEM Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The National Science Foundation is a large 

7 investor in STEM education and plays a key role in 

8 setting research and policy agendas. 

9 (2) While studies have found that children who 

10 engage in scientific activities from an early age de11 velop positive attitudes toward science and are more 

12 likely to pursue STEM expertise and careers later 

13 on, the majority of current research focuses on in14 creasing STEM opportunities for middle school-aged 

15 children and older. 

16 (3) Women remain widely underrepresented in 

17 the STEM workforce, and this disparity extends 

18 down through all levels of education. 

19 SEC. 3. SUPPORTING EARLY CHILDHOOD AND ELEMEN20 TARY STEM EDUCATION RESEARCH. 

21 In awarding grants under the Discovery Research 

22 PreK–12 program, the Director of the National Science 

23 Foundation shall consider the age distribution of a STEM 

24 education research and development project to improve the 

25 focus of research and development on elementary and pre26 kindergarten education. 
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1 SEC. 4. SUPPORTING FEMALE STUDENTS IN PREKINDER2 GARTEN THROUGH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN 

3 STEM EDUCATION. 

4 Section 305(d) of the American Innovation and Com5 petitiveness Act (42 U.S.C. 1862s–5(d)) is amended by 

6 adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(3) RESEARCH.—As a component of improving 

8 participation of women in STEM fields, research 

9 funded by a grant under this subsection may include 

10 research on— 

11 ‘‘(A) the role of teacher training and pro12 fessional development, including effective incen13 tive structures to encourage teachers to partici14 pate in such training and professional develop15 ment, in encouraging or discouraging female 

16 students in prekindergarten through elementary 

17 school from participating in STEM activities; 

18 ‘‘(B) the role of teachers in shaping per19 ceptions of STEM in female students in pre20 kindergarten through elementary school and 

21 discouraging such students from participating 

22 in STEM activities; 

23 ‘‘(C) the role of other facets of the learn24 ing environment on the willingness of female 

25 students in prekindergarten through elementary 

26 school to participate in STEM activities, includ-
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1 ing learning materials and textbooks, seating 

2 arrangements, use of media and technology, 

3 classroom culture, and composition of students 

4 during group work; 

5 ‘‘(D) the role of parents and other care6 givers in encouraging or discouraging female 

7 students in prekindergarten through elementary 

8 school from participating in STEM activities; 

9 ‘‘(E) the types of STEM activities that en10 courage greater participation by female stu11 dents in prekindergarten through elementary 

12 school; 

13 ‘‘(F) the role of mentorship and best prac14 tices in finding and utilizing mentors; and 

15 ‘‘(G) the role of informal and after-school 

16 STEM learning opportunities on the perception 

17 of and participation in STEM activities of fe18 male students in prekindergarten through ele19 mentary school.’’. 

20 SEC. 5. SUPPORTING FEMALE STUDENTS IN PREKINDER21 GARTEN THROUGH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN 

22 COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION. 

23 Section 310(b) of the American Innovation and Com24 petitiveness Act (42 U.S.C. 1862s–7(b)) is amended by 

25 adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(3) USES OF FUNDS.—The tools and models 

2 described in paragraph (2)(C) may include— 

3 ‘‘(A) offering training and professional de4 velopment programs, including summer or aca5 demic year institutes or workshops, designed to 

6 strengthen the capabilities of prekindergarten 

7 and elementary school teachers and to famil8 iarize such teachers with the role of bias 

9 against female students in the classroom; 

10 ‘‘(B) offering innovative pre-service and in11 service programs that instruct teachers on fe12 male-inclusive practices for teaching computing 

13 concepts; 

14 ‘‘(C) developing distance learning pro15 grams for teachers or students, including devel16 oping curricular materials, play-based com17 puting activities, and other resources for the in18 service professional development of teachers 

19 that are made available to teachers through the 

20 Internet; 

21 ‘‘(D) developing or adapting prekinder22 garten and elementary school computer science 

23 curricular materials that incorporate contem24 porary research on the science of learning, par25 ticularly with respect to female inclusion; 
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1 ‘‘(E) developing and offering female-inclu2 sive computer science enrichment programs for 

3 students, including after-school and summer 

4 programs; 

5 ‘‘(F) providing mentors for female students 

6 in prekindergarten through elementary school 

7 to support such students in participating in 

8 computer science activities; 

9 ‘‘(G) engaging female students in pre10 kindergarten through elementary school, and 

11 their guardians (if such communication takes 

12 place on school premises during otherwise13 scheduled conferences or formal conversations 

14 between teachers and guardians) about— 

15 ‘‘(i) the difficulties faced by female 

16 students with regard to maintaining an in17 terest in participating in computer science 

18 activities; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) the potential positive career ben20 efits of engaging in such activities; 

21 ‘‘(H) acquainting female students in pre22 kindergarten through elementary school with 

23 careers in computer science and encouraging 

24 such students to consider careers in the com25 puter science field; and 
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1 ‘‘(I) developing tools to evaluate activities 

2 conducted under this subsection, including re3 ports for evaluating the effectiveness of activi4 ties under this section.’’. 

Passed the Senate September 26, 2019. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 737 

AN ACT 

To direct the National Science Foundation to supchildhood. port STEM education research focused on early