Greetings from CADRE
Dear Colleagues,
CADRE (originally known as the DR-K12 Resource Network) will soon complete its first year. Our major task this year has been an analysis of the DR-K12 portfolio, examining the projects from many perspectives, and resulting in a comprehensive look at the first two cohorts. The analysis will help NSF to better understand the scope and depth of research and development on STEM resources, models, and technologies. We will also identify some of the gaps! The analysis will help us to define similarities among projects in order to identify various communities within the portfolio, and to learn about the projects' common challenges and needs. Most importantly, we will soon achieve our goal of giving PIs greater specifics about their colleagues' projects.
We plan to present the analysis at the DR-K12 PI Meeting, November 8-10, 2009. At the same time, we expect to introduce the CADRE website for PIs who want information related to DR-K12 projects. We would not have been able to begin the site development without the wisdom and guidance of PIs who have shared their views about effective (and ineffective) websites. We appreciate their candor in answering the question that is at the core of CADRE: Given the realities of a PI's professional life, what can CADRE do that is both valuable and easily accessible?
In the course of developing the portfolio analysis and website, we met with our advisors, who generously shared their time, experience, and expertise. We also established planning groups on three topics: student assessment, English language learners, and dissemination. To these groups, we are asking a similar question: Given all your existing professional networks, what would be compelling about developing a working group or special interest group specific to the DR-K12 community? What would be the best approaches for doing this? Again, we appreciate the time and ideas of these individuals.
Over the year, we have developed several indices of dissemination vehicles for your work. You can find them in our first newsletter and in the paragraphs that follow. If you have additions that might be useful to other PIs, please let us know. A white paper on dissemination to policy and practice communities is in development.
We are optimistic about the possibilities for Year Two. The first year was largely a planning year, and we are pleased that our support system is up and running and is based on the needs and interests of PIs. There will be a CADRE booth at the PI Meeting, and we hope you will come by, pick up additional information, and talk to the team.
Sincerely,
Barbara Brauner Berns for the CADRE Team
CADRE Principal Investigator