Building Blocks of STEM Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1665 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 24, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation AN ACT To direct the National Science Foundation to support STEM education research focused on early childhood. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1665.RFS H1665 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 HR 1665 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Building Blocks of 2 STEM Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds the following: 5 (1) The National Science Foundation is a large 6 investor in STEM education and plays a key role in 7 setting research and policy agendas. 8 (2) While studies have found that children who 9 engage in scientific activities from an early age de- 10 velop positive attitudes toward science and are more 11 likely to pursue STEM expertise and careers later 12 on, the majority of current research focuses on in- 13 creasing STEM opportunities for middle school-aged 14 children and older. 15 (3) Women remain widely underrepresented in 16 the STEM workforce, and this gender disparity ex- 17 tends down through all levels of education. 18 SEC. 3. SUPPORTING EARLY CHILDHOOD STEM EDUCATION 19 RESEARCH. 20 In awarding grants under the Discovery Research 21 PreK–12 program, the Director of the National Science 22 Foundation shall consider the age distribution of a STEM 23 education research and development project to improve the 24 focus of research and development on early childhood edu- 25 cation. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1665.RFS H1665 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 HR 1665 RFS SEC. 4. SUPPORTING FEMALE STUDENTS IN PREKINDER- 1 GARTEN THROUGH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN 2 STEM EDUCATION. 3 Section 305(d) of the American Innovation and Com- 4 petitiveness Act (42 U.S.C. 1862s–5(d)) is amended by 5 adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(3) RESEARCH.—As a component of improving 7 participation of women in STEM fields, research 8 funded by a grant under this subsection may include 9 research on— 10 ‘‘(A) the role of teacher training and pro- 11 fessional development, including effective incen- 12 tive structures to encourage teachers to partici- 13 pate in such training and professional develop- 14 ment, in encouraging or discouraging female 15 students in prekindergarten through elementary 16 school from participating in STEM activities; 17 ‘‘(B) the role of teachers in shaping per- 18 ceptions of STEM in female students in pre- 19 kindergarten through elementary school and 20 discouraging such students from participating 21 in STEM activities; 22 ‘‘(C) the role of other facets of the learn- 23 ing environment on the willingness of female 24 students in prekindergarten through elementary 25 school to participate in STEM activities, includ- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1665.RFS H1665 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 HR 1665 RFS ing learning materials and textbooks, classroom 1 decorations, seating arrangements, use of media 2 and technology, classroom culture, and gender 3 composition of students during group work; 4 ‘‘(D) the role of parents and other care- 5 givers in encouraging or discouraging female 6 students in prekindergarten through elementary 7 school from participating in STEM activities; 8 ‘‘(E) the types of STEM activities that en- 9 courage greater participation by female stu- 10 dents in prekindergarten through elementary 11 school; 12 ‘‘(F) the role of mentorship and best prac- 13 tices in finding and utilizing mentors; 14 ‘‘(G) the role of informal and out-of-school 15 STEM learning opportunities on the perception 16 of and participation in STEM activities of fe- 17 male students in prekindergarten through ele- 18 mentary school; and 19 ‘‘(H) any other area the Director deter- 20 mines will carry out the goal described in para- 21 graph (1).’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1665.RFS H1665 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 HR 1665 RFS SEC. 5. SUPPORTING FEMALE STUDENTS IN PREKINDER- 1 GARTEN THROUGH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN 2 COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION. 3 Section 310(b) of the American Innovation and Com- 4 petitiveness Act (42 U.S.C. 1862s–7(b)) is amended by 5 adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(3) USES OF FUNDS.—The tools and models 7 described in paragraph (2)(C) may include— 8 ‘‘(A) offering training and professional de- 9 velopment programs, including summer or aca- 10 demic year institutes or workshops, designed to 11 strengthen the capabilities of prekindergarten 12 and elementary school teachers and to famil- 13 iarize such teachers with the role of gender bias 14 in the classroom; 15 ‘‘(B) offering innovative pre-service and in- 16 service programs that instruct teachers on gen- 17 der-inclusive practices for teaching computing 18 concepts; 19 ‘‘(C) developing distance learning pro- 20 grams for teachers or students, including devel- 21 oping curricular materials, play-based com- 22 puting activities, and other resources for the in- 23 service professional development of teachers 24 that are made available to teachers through the 25 Internet; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1665.RFS H1665 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 HR 1665 RFS ‘‘(D) developing or adapting prekinder- 1 garten and elementary school computer science 2 curricular materials that incorporate contem- 3 porary research on the science of learning, par- 4 ticularly with respect to gender inclusion; 5 ‘‘(E) developing and offering gender-inclu- 6 sive computer science enrichment programs for 7 students, including after-school and summer 8 programs; 9 ‘‘(F) providing mentors for female students 10 in prekindergarten through elementary school 11 in person and through the Internet to support 12 such students in participating in computer 13 science activities; 14 ‘‘(G) engaging female students in pre- 15 kindergarten through elementary school and 16 their guardians about the difficulties faced by 17 such students to maintain an interest in partici- 18 pating in computer science activities; 19 ‘‘(H) acquainting female students in pre- 20 kindergarten through elementary school with 21 careers in computer science and encouraging 22 such students to consider careers in such field; 23 ‘‘(I) developing tools to evaluate activities 24 conducted under this subsection; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1665.RFS H1665 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 HR 1665 RFS ‘‘(J) any other tools or models the Director 1 determines will accomplish the aim described in 2 paragraph (2)(C).’’. 3 Passed the House of Representatives July 23, 2019. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1665.RFS H1665 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS