II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 737 

To direct the National Science Foundation to support STEM education 

research focused on early childhood. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 11, 2019 

Ms. ROSEN (for herself, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. SCHATZ, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Ms. 

CORTEZ MASTO, and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 STEM Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The National Science Foundation is a large 

2 investor in STEM education and plays a key role in 

3 setting research and policy agendas. 

4 (2) While studies have found that children who 

5 engage in scientific activities from an early age de6 velop positive attitudes toward science and are more 

7 likely to pursue STEM expertise and careers later 

8 on, the majority of current research focuses on in9 creasing STEM opportunities for middle-school-aged 

10 children and older. 

11 (3) Women remain widely underrepresented in 

12 the STEM workforce, and this gender disparity ex13 tends down through all levels of education. 

14 SEC. 3. SUPPORTING EARLY CHILDHOOD STEM EDUCATION 

15 RESEARCH. 

16 In awarding grants under the Discovery Research 

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

18 Foundation shall consider the age distribution of a STEM 

19 education research and development project to improve the 

20 focus of research and development on early childhood edu21 cation. 


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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, includVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S737.IS S737

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1 ing learning materials and textbooks, classroom 

2 decorations, seating arrangements, use of media 

3 and technology, classroom culture, and gender 

4 composition of students 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; 

15 ‘‘(G) the role of informal and out-of-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; and 

20 ‘‘(H) any other area the Director deter21 mines will carry out the goal described in para22 graph (1).’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. SUPPORTING FEMALE STUDENTS IN PREKINDER2 GARTEN THROUGH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN 

3 COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION. 

4 Section 310(b) of the American Innovation and Com5 petitiveness Act (42 U.S.C. 1862s–7(b)) is amended by 

6 adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(3) USES OF FUNDS.—The tools and models 

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

9 ‘‘(A) offering training and professional de10 velopment programs, including summer or aca11 demic year institutes or workshops, designed to 

12 strengthen the capabilities of prekindergarten 

13 and elementary school teachers and to famil14 iarize such teachers with the role of gender bias 

15 in the classroom; 

16 ‘‘(B) offering innovative pre-service and in17 service programs that instruct teachers on gen18 der-inclusive practices for teaching computing 

19 concepts; 

20 ‘‘(C) developing distance learning pro21 grams for teachers or students, including devel22 oping curricular materials, play-based com23 puting activities, and other resources for the in24 service professional development of teachers 

25 that are made available to teachers through the 

26 Internet; 


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1 ‘‘(D) developing or adapting prekinder2 garten and elementary school computer science 

3 curricular materials that incorporate contem4 porary research on the science of learning, par5 ticularly with respect to gender inclusion; 

6 ‘‘(E) developing and offering gender-inclu7 sive computer science enrichment programs for 

8 students, including after-school and summer 

9 programs; 

10 ‘‘(F) providing mentors for female students 

11 in prekindergarten through elementary school 

12 in person and through the Internet to support 

13 such students in participating in computer 

14 science activities; 

15 ‘‘(G) engaging female students in pre16 kindergarten through elementary school and 

17 their guardians about the difficulties faced by 

18 such students to maintain an interest in partici19 pating in computer science activities; 

20 ‘‘(H) acquainting female students in pre21 kindergarten through elementary school with 

22 careers in computer science and encouraging 

23 such students to consider careers in such field; 

24 ‘‘(I) developing tools to evaluate activities 

25 conducted under this subsection; and 


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1 ‘‘(J) any other tools or models the Director 

2 determines will accomplish the aim described in 

3 paragraph (2)(C).’’. 

Æ 


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