Title: Building Blocks of STEM Act
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications

Summary:
Building Blocks of STEM Act
This bill modifies National Science Foundation (NSF) grant programs that support STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, including computer science) education.
The bill instructs the NSF, when awarding grants under the Discovery Research PreK-12 program, to improve the focus of research and development on early childhood education.
The bill specifies that NSF grants to increase the participation of underrepresented populations in STEM fields may be used for research into various subjects regarding female students in prekindergarten through elementary school, including
The bill specifies that NSF grants to research computer science education and computational thinking may be used to support development and implementation of various tools and models for teaching and learning, including

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 737 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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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.

    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.

    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 gender disparity extends down through all 
        levels of education.

SEC. 3. SUPPORTING EARLY CHILDHOOD 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 early childhood 
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, 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 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;
                    ``(G) the role of informal and out-of-school STEM 
                learning opportunities on the perception of and 
                participation in STEM activities of female students in 
                prekindergarten through elementary school; and
                    ``(H) any other area the Director determines will 
                carry out the goal described in paragraph (1).''.

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 gender bias in the classroom;
                    ``(B) offering innovative pre-service 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 or adapting prekindergarten and 
                elementary school computer science curricular materials 
                that incorporate contemporary research on the science 
                of learning, particularly with respect to gender 
                inclusion;
                    ``(E) developing and offering gender-inclusive 
                computer science enrichment programs for students, 
                including after-school and summer programs;
                    ``(F) providing mentors for female students in 
                prekindergarten through elementary school in person and 
                through the Internet to support such students in 
                participating in computer science activities;
                    ``(G) engaging female students in prekindergarten 
                through elementary school and their guardians about the 
                difficulties faced by such students to maintain an 
                interest in participating in computer science 
                activities;
                    ``(H) acquainting female students in 
                prekindergarten through elementary school with careers 
                in computer science and encouraging such students to 
                consider careers in such field;
                    ``(I) developing tools to evaluate activities 
                conducted under this subsection; and
                    ``(J) any other tools or models the Director 
                determines will accomplish the aim described in 
                paragraph (2)(C).''.
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