December 2019 Newsletter

Looking Back ...

There were some exciting STEM achievements in 2019, such as the imaging of a black hole and the first all-female spacewalk. NSF managed to make a lot of awards, despite a government shutdown. One of the CAREER grants was awarded to former CADRE Fellow Carlos (Nick) Gomez! This interactive NSF awards summary shows the number of awards and amount of funding by state, type of institution, and/or institution name, going back 10 years. And the DRK-12 community developed products, published, and presented, as highlighted in our monthly newsletter "Newsbites." Our most viewed Newsbites (and other DRK-12 highlights) from 2019 are listed below.

There were also challenges. PISA and NAEP scores were released, leading to questions about the implications of the steady or declining scores of US students in reading and mathematics. At the same time, although there is increased enrollment in non-IHE alternative certificate programs, there are reports of declining enrollment in and completion of teacher prep programs, especially for those specializing in STEM. And within the larger context of concern about the research enterprise (including data security, IP, and sexual harassment), the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has requested comments on steps that federal agencies can take to ensure effective, efficient, safe, and inclusive research environments.

Looking Ahead ...

The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology is developing a 5-year plan around four industries of the future named by the White House as a focus for federal funding: AI, advanced manufacturing, quantum information science, and 5G. Meanwhile, the Building Blocks of STEM Act—which directs NSF to support STEM education research focused on early childhood, female students, and female students in computing—has been progressing through Congress. The 2020 NSF EHR budget request indicates a continued commitment to broadening STEM participation, and education and workforce connections.

In January, NSF is expected to release the revised 2020 Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG). See highlighted text on the for-comment PAPPG draft indicating proposed changes, including an expanded section on responsible and ethical conduct of research. In the next year, we also expect to see a revised DRK-12 solicitation.

The 2020 DRK-12 PI Meeting planning committee is busy working on the design for the June 3-5 meeting. Awardees who will have active DRK-12 grants in June 2020 can expect an invitation this winter to register for the PI meeting. If you have suggestions for the planning committee to consider, please send them to cadre@edc.org.

CADRE will invite applications in January for the biennial CADRE Postdoc Opportunity, through which five early career scholars participate in capacity-building activities, including attending the DRK-12 PI Meeting along with the CADRE Fellows.

We look forward to seeing you next year, perhaps at the PI meeting, at the DRK-12 middle grades engineering education session at NSTA, or during an online conversation with the 2020 CADRE Fellows.

Wishing you a happy new year!

The CADRE Team

Project Tip: Career-Life Balance

Many professionals struggle with career-life balance. For those times when personal life events impact your project work, read FAQs about NSF's family-friendly policies and procedures for awardees.

Newsbites from NSF, DRK-12, and NSF Networks

News from NSF

NSF Merit Review System and Grant Writing Workshop at SIGCSE 2020, Portland, OR

News from DRK–12 Projects & Awardees

Celebrating Computer Science Education Week
Blog | Paul Goldenberg makes a case for why all students should learn how to program a computer.
Conceptual Dynamics of Student Reasoning during Interviews Involving Discrepant Embodied Experiences
Publication | In this Journal for STEM Education Research article, Victor Lee describes conceptual dynamics observed in two cases where high school students were interviewed and responded to discrepant embodied experiences.
Designing for Rightful Presence in STEM: The Role of Making Present Practices
Publication | In this Journal of the Learning Sciences article, Angela Calabrese Barton and Edna Tan write about the construct of rightful presence (and the co-constructed "making present" practices) as one way to consider more systemically how to make sense of the historicized and relational nature of teaching and learning.
Developing Student 21st Century Skills in Selected Exemplary Inclusive STEM High Schools
Publication | In this International Journal of STEM Education article, Stephanie Stehle and Erin Peters-Burton describe their study, which analyzed student work samples and teacher lesson plans from seven exemplary inclusive STEM high schools to better understand at what level teachers at these schools are engaging and developing student 21st Century skills.
Eliminating Counterexamples: A Case Study Intervention for Improving Adolescents' Ability to Critique Direct Arguments
Publication | In this Journal of Mathematical Behavior article, David Yopp, Rob Ely, Anne Adams, Annelise Nielsen, and Erin Corwine describe a case study investigating eighth-grade mathematics students' conceptions about the validity of a direct argument after experiencing an intervention for improving their argumentation and proving practices.
Infrastructuring as a Practice of Design-Based Research for Supporting and Studying Equitable Implementation and Sustainability of Innovations
Publication | In this Journal of the Learning Sciences article, William Penuel presents infrastructuring as a useful construct for guiding efforts to support more equitable implementation and sustainability of resources developed to support student learning in design-based research.
Limitless Mind
Podcast | In this Second City Works podcast, Jo Boaler discusses her book and research on the adaptability of our brains.
Longitudinal Investigation of Primary Inservice Teachers' Modelling the Hydrological Phenomena
Publication | In this International Journal of Science Education article, Tina Vo (2016-17 CADRE Fellow), Cory Forbes, Laura Zangori, and Christina Schwarz describe their work investigating teachers' conceptualizations and practice modeling water related phenomena over time.
Making Mathematical Thinking Visible
Publication | In this Educational Leadership article, Johannah Nikula, Jill Neumayer DePiper, and Mark Driscoll make that case that for English language learners, diagrams can be a powerful tool to develop and communicate mathematical understanding.
NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students
Awards & Recognition | Jessica Fries-Gaither's book Exemplary Evidence: Scientists and Their Data, was recognized by NSTA.
Supporting the Scientific Practices through Epistemologically Responsive Science Teaching
Publication | In this Journal of Science Teacher Education article, Leema Berland, Rosemary Russ, and Cori West present a theoretical argument that epistemologically responsive science teaching has the potential to scaffold student participation in the scientific practices.

Email cadre@edc.org to share news from your project.

News from NSF Networks

Jan 23 at 1 pm ET: Join the Office Hour with NSF INCLUDES Program Officer Kurt Thoroughman | NSF INCLUDES
Resources from the Impact Evaluation: Why, What, and How Webinar | EvaluATE
Three Strategies for Preparing Teachers of Computer Science | CS for All Teachers

See our CADRE & NSF Network Events page for ATECentral, CIRCL, CAISE, CS for All Teachers, EvaluATE, NSF INCLUDES National Network or STELAR events that may be of interest to you.

Upcoming Opportunities

The following funding and publication opportunities, listed by deadline, may be of interest to you and your DRK-12 project members.

Funding

January 13 - NSF | Cyberlearning for Work at the Human-Technology Frontier
January 15 - NSF | ADVANCE: Organizational Change for Gender Equity in STEM Academic Professions (Full Proposal for Adaptation and Partnership Competition)
January 31 - NSF | Accelerating Research through International Network-to-Network Collaborations (AccelNet)
February 3 - NSF | Growing Convergence Research (GCR)
February 11 - NSF | Computer Science for All (CSforAll:RPP)
February 28 - NSF | EHR Core Research (ECR): Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR: BCSER)
March 10 - NSF | EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Track 4: EPSCoR Research Fellows (RII Track-4)

For more NSF funding opportunities, see CADRE's list of Upcoming NSF DRL EHR Solicitation Deadlines.

Publications

January 1 - Journal of Mathematics Education Leadership | Spring 2020 Issue
January 1 - Science & Children | Earth and Space Science for Young Learners
January 1 - The Science Teacher | Equity for All
January 15 - Connected Science Learning | Design Thinking: Human-Centered Science
February 1 - Science & Children | Engaging Families in Science Learning
February 1 - Science Scope | Using Literature in the Science Classroom
February 1 - The Science Teacher | Evaluating Scientific Claims
March 1 - Science Scope | Effective Classroom Strategies for Science for All
March 1 - The Science Teacher | Interdisciplinary Science
March 15 - Transactions on Computing Education | Re-Entering Computing through Emerging Technology (Extended abstract deadline)
March 31 - Research in Science Education | Multimodal Meaning Making in Science
April 1 - Journal of Mathematics Education Leadership | Summer 2020 Issue
April 1 - Science & Children | Start with the Phenomena
April 1 - Science Scope | Science Beyond the Classroom
April 1 - The Science Teacher | STEM on a Shoestring
April 15 - Connected Science Learning | Engaging Families in Science
Ongoing - Educational Technology Research and Development | Special Issue Proposals
Ongoing - The Elementary STEM Journal | STEM for All: Learning Opportunities
Ongoing - Journal of Research on Technology in Education | Special Issue Proposals
Ongoing - Research in Science Education | Special Issue Proposals

For other publication opportunities, including those with ongoing submissions, see CADRE's list of Publications for STEM Educators, Policymakers, and Researchers.

Conference Proposals