I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1665 

To direct the National Science Foundation to support STEM education 

research focused on early childhood. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 11, 2019 

Ms. STEVENS (for herself and Mr. BAIRD) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

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: 

8 (1) The National Science Foundation is a large 

9 investor in STEM education and plays a key role in 

10 setting research and policy agendas. 


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1 (2) While studies have found that children who 

2 engage in scientific activities from an early age de3 velop positive attitudes toward science and are more 

4 likely to pursue STEM expertise and careers later 

5 on, the majority of current research focuses on in6 creasing STEM opportunities for middle school-aged 

7 children and older. 

8 (3) Women remain widely underrepresented in 

9 the STEM workforce, and this gender disparity ex10 tends down through all levels of education. 

11 SEC. 3. SUPPORTING EARLY CHILDHOOD STEM EDUCATION 

12 RESEARCH. 

13 In awarding grants under the Discovery Research 

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

15 Foundation shall consider the age distribution of a STEM 

16 education research and development project to improve the 

17 focus of research and development on early childhood edu18 cation. 

19 SEC. 4. SUPPORTING FEMALE STUDENTS IN PREKINDER20 GARTEN THROUGH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN 

21 STEM EDUCATION. 

22 Section 305(d) of the American Innovation and Com23 petitiveness Act (42 U.S.C. 1862s–5(d)) is amended by 

24 adding at the end the following: 


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

2 participation of women in STEM fields, research 

3 funded by a grant under this subsection may include 

4 research on— 

5 ‘‘(A) the role of teacher training and pro6 fessional development, including effective incen7 tive structures to encourage teachers to partici8 pate in such training and professional develop9 ment, in encouraging or discouraging female 

10 students in prekindergarten through elementary 

11 school from participating in STEM activities; 

12 ‘‘(B) the role of teachers in shaping per13 ceptions of STEM in female students in pre14 kindergarten through elementary school and 

15 discouraging such students from participating 

16 in STEM activities; 

17 ‘‘(C) the role of other facets of the learn18 ing environment on the willingness of female 

19 students in prekindergarten through elementary 

20 school to participate in STEM activities, includ21 ing learning materials and textbooks, classroom 

22 decorations, seating arrangements, use of media 

23 and technology, classroom culture, and gender 

24 composition of students during group work; 


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1 ‘‘(D) the role of parents and other care2 givers in encouraging or discouraging female 

3 students in prekindergarten through elementary 

4 school from participating in STEM activities; 

5 ‘‘(E) the types of STEM activities that en6 courage greater participation by female stu7 dents in prekindergarten through elementary 

8 school; 

9 ‘‘(F) the role of mentorship and best prac10 tices in finding and utilizing mentors; 

11 ‘‘(G) the role of informal and out-of-school 

12 STEM learning opportunities on the perception 

13 of and participation in STEM activities of fe14 male students in prekindergarten through ele15 mentary school; and 

16 ‘‘(H) any other area the Director deter17 mines will carry out the goal described in para18 graph (1).’’. 

19 SEC. 5. SUPPORTING FEMALE STUDENTS IN PREKINDER20 GARTEN THROUGH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN 

21 COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION. 

22 Section 310(b) of the American Innovation and Com23 petitiveness Act (42 U.S.C. 1862s–7(b)) is amended by 

24 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 gender bias 

9 in the classroom; 

10 ‘‘(B) offering innovative pre-service and in11 service programs that instruct teachers on gen12 der-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 gender inclusion; 


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1 ‘‘(E) developing and offering gender-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 in person and through the Internet to support 

8 such students in participating in computer 

9 science activities; 

10 ‘‘(G) engaging female students in pre11 kindergarten through elementary school and 

12 their guardians about the difficulties faced by 

13 such students to maintain an interest in partici14 pating in computer science activities; 

15 ‘‘(H) acquainting female students in pre16 kindergarten through elementary school with 

17 careers in computer science and encouraging 

18 such students to consider careers in such field; 

19 ‘‘(I) developing tools to evaluate activities 

20 conducted under this subsection; and 

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

22 determines will accomplish the aim described in 

23 paragraph (2)(C).’’. 

Æ 


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