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The U.S. House of Representatives today passed by voice vote the Building Blocks of STEM Act (S. 737), which ensures that children, and especially girls, are introduced to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) earlier and more effectively. Congressman Jim Baird (R-IN) and Congresswoman Haley Stevens (D-MI) introduced H.R. 1665, which unanimously passed the House in July. S. 737 is the nearly identical Senate version of the bill. This legislation is now headed to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

“Fostering the natural curiosity that children possess is critical to expanding their interests in science, technology, engineering, and math. Equally important is ensuring that we get more girls involved in the STEM fields, so that we have as many people as possible contributing to the knowledge base of our society. It is very timely that the House approved this legislation since today marks the beginning of Computer Science Education Week,” said Congressman Jim Baird (IN-04). “This bill helps ensure we are preparing our future workforce to fill the jobs of the future. By passing this important legislation we will continue America’s global leadership in science and technology,” said Congressman Jim Baird (IN-04)

Ranking Member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Frank Lucas said the following after House passage: “I’m grateful to Representative Baird for his leadership on this bipartisan STEM education bill with Representative Stevens. The demand for skilled workers in science, technology, engineering, math, and computer sciences is growing exponentially and we need to expand our workforce to keep America at the leading edge of innovation. To meet that need we must engage children—particularly girls—in STEM at a young age and encourage them to stay involved as they grow. The Building Blocks of STEM Act does just that. I appreciate all that Representative Baird has done to pass this bill through Congress so it can be signed into law.”

Background:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is one of the largest funders of STEM education programs in the federal government. Through their Discovery Research PreK-12 program, the NSF conducts research and develops new approaches to STEM education, so we can learn what works best when it comes to teaching kids about math and science. Currently, most of this research takes place at the middle and high school levels.

The Building Blocks of STEM Act addresses this by directing the NSF to consider age, with a focus on early childhood, when awarding grants for research. It also creates two additional grant programs: one to accelerate research into why young girls do or do not participate in STEM activities; and a second to develop and evaluate programs in pre-K and elementary schools that will lead to increases in the number of young girls participating in computer science activities.

To view full bill text, please click here.

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Congressman Jim Baird represents Indiana’s 4th Congressional District. A lifelong Hoosier, he serves as a member of the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.