January 2022 Newsletter

Dear Colleagues,

In this month’s newsletter, we are excited to announce the 2022 CADRE Fellows! Thank you to the reviewers who helped identify this year’s cohort from a record number of amazing applicants. We look forward to supporting the scholars throughout the coming year. Our Spotlight addresses a topic of critical importance to STEM education, i.e., motivation and engagement. And we hope that you’ll register for 2022 STEM For All Video Showcase by February 11.
 
Over the next few months, CADRE will be launching several new initiatives. Watch your email for information about recorded conversations for early career and prospective awardees on the Hidden Curriculum of DRK-12 Awards (e.g., proposal review panels, feedback, revising and resubmitting); a learning series on Professional Development for Researchers Who Don’t Study PD; and a topical synthesis group focused on Classroom-based Assessment. We will also join the EQR Hub (introduced below) for an informational webinar about our services for the greater DRK-12 community.
 
Finally, we’re happy to include a new year’s message from Mike Steele, the DRK-12 program lead.
 
Best,
The CADRE Team

Message from Mike Steele, NSF

To the Discovery Research PreK-12 PI Community,
 
Welcome to 2022! I want to begin by extending my appreciation for your extraordinary efforts over the last two years to carry out important and meaningful STEM education research. Under the backdrop of a continuing global pandemic, it has been heartening to see incredible innovation, determination, and humanity in the work of both awarded and proposed projects from the DRK-12 community. I am continually impressed by the ways in which our community has risen to the challenges facing teachers and students, supported them through the work that we do, and strengthened our collective commitments to humane and ethical STEM education research along the way.
 
It is an exciting time for us at NSF and in the Division of Research on Learning as the last year has seen many new developments, some of which I’d like to highlight here. The Racial Equity in STEM solicitation (NSF PD 21-191Y) is a critical step in providing dedicated research attention to the impacts of systemic racism in STEM education. The Dear Colleague Letters NSF 21-110 and 21-114 challenge our field to better understand the challenges and affordances of STEM teaching and learning for persons with disabilities and to consider how we can expand access for students and scholars with disabilities to engage in STEM education research. The Education and Human Resources directorate has also recently launched additional supports for postdoctoral STEM education research fellowships (NSF 22-531). I am proud of the efforts that NSF, EHR, and DRL have made to attend to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the context of STEM education.
 
This fiscal year also marks the launch of the next iteration of the CADRE resource center. We are excited about the expanded expertise that EDC has mobilized to strengthen and diversify CADRE’s support offerings. Alongside new innovations and modes of engagement, CADRE will continue to be a hub for the DRK-12 community through the dynamic website, the biennial PI meeting, and the highly successful CADRE Fellows programming.
 

As always, we here at NSF are at your service as you continue to navigate a dynamic STEM education landscape. We encourage you to reach out to program officers with questions about existing awards, ideas for new proposals, and publications or other modes of disseminating your work. Keeping your program officer updated on your progress outside of just the annual reporting structure can help us connect related projects to each other and gives us information to share inside and outside of NSF about the fine work that you do.

 
My best wishes to you all for a healthy and productive 2022, and thank you for all that you do for our STEM students and teachers,
 
Mike Steele
Program Lead, Discovery Research PreK-12

Spotlight on Motivation & Engagement in STEM Education

The unprecedented circumstances of the past two years have highlighted the need to better understand and support learner motivation and engagement in STEM education, particularly for underserved, underrepresented, and at-risk student populations. In this month’s Spotlight, we highlight three projects that are currently researching approaches and learning environments that are designed to motivate and engage students in science, computer science, and software engineering, along with information on the larger body of research, innovations, and instrumentation in the DRK-12 portfolio and other related resources.
 
In this Spotlight:
If you would like to share information about your award as a Featured Project, email cadre@edc.org.
 
View Spotlight

Meet the 2022 CADRE Fellows!

Congratulations to the 2022 CADRE Fellows! View their bios to learn more about their work and interests.
  • Alonzo Brandon Alexander, North Carolina State University
  • Tasnim Alshuli, University of Arizona
  • Dara Bright, Drexel University
  • Diana M. Crespo-Camacho, Oregon State University
  • Shalece S. Kohnke, University of Central Florida
  • Guillermo Lopez, Claremont Graduate University
  • Vanessa Louis, Georgia State University
  • Janice Mak, Arizona State University
  • Sophia Raymond, Tufts University
  • Sara Salisbury, Middle Tennessee State University
  • Rachel Sparks, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • Meng-Yang Matthew Wu, Miami University
  • Lili Yan, Utah State University
  • Meghan Zarnetske, University of Utah
  • Sandra Zuñiga-Ruiz, University of California, Berkeley
 
Meet the Fellows


The Evidence Quality and Reach Hub (EQR)

The American Institutes for Research (AIR) was awarded the Evidence Quality and Reach Hub (EQR) by NSF's DRK–12 program in July 2021 to offer services and resources related to research methods; knowledge translation; and diversity, equity, and inclusion to current and aspiring DRK-12 awardees.
 
The primary objectives of the EQR Hub are to:
  1. Connect with current and aspiring DRK–12 grantees to understand their professional development needs and interests in these areas
  2. Create high-quality and high-value virtual learning opportunities aligned to research methods; knowledge translation; and diversity, equity, and inclusion
Learn more about the EQR Hub in an upcoming webinar, February 15 at 3 PM ET. To stay up to date on forthcoming virtual learning events, please send your preferred email to EQR Hub Director Sonica Dhillon at gdhillon@air.org.

Meet the EQR Hub Team
AIR has assembled a team experienced in supporting centers and leading complex projects, with combined expertise in STEM education, virtual learning, research methods, knowledge translation, and research communications.
 

Danielle Ferguson, EdD, Principal Investigator. Dr. Ferguson will serve as the principal investigator for the EQR Hub, overseeing the intellectual direction of the project. Dr. Ferguson has more than 15 years of experience as a STEM practitioner and researcher. She is a science content expert with experience in large-scale assessments, qualitative research methods, and professional development.

Dean Gerdeman, PhD, Co-Principal Investigator. Dr. Gerdeman, vice president and program lead of the educators and instruction program area at AIR, will serve as the lead for activities associated with research and design methods. Dr. Gerdeman has more than 15 years of experience working with partners to develop and apply evidence for addressing problems in education, with emphases in educator effectiveness, STEM education, and school improvement. His experience includes leading rigorous evaluations of education programs, studying innovations and change efforts, and supporting data and evidence use in education.

Sonica Dhillon, MA, PMP, Project Director. Ms. Dhillon is a certified project management professional and will oversee and manage the day-to-day execution of the EQR Hub. Ms. Dhillon has extensive experience managing complex, cross-organization communication and data collection efforts to support research and collaboration. She currently oversees the execution of several high-quality NSF and Institute of Education Sciences funded projects using a range of research designs as well as advises and leads efforts to translate research into practice using data visualization techniques.

tipsProject Tip: Disseminate Your Work Broadly Through the 2022 STEM For All Video Showcase

Last year's Video Showcase had almost 100,000 unique visitors from 177 countries. Take advantage of this dissemination opportunity. Register for the 2022 STEM For All Video Showcase by February 11 to participate! This year's theme is Access, Equity, and Inclusion. Videos are due by April 20 and the event will be held May 10-17.
 
Visit our Dissemination Toolkit for video tips.

Newsbites

News from NSF

News from NSF Networks

News from DRK-12 Projects and Awardees
 
Awards & Recognition
Publications
Do you have news to share? Email cadre@edc.org.

Upcoming Opportunities

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

Funding

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

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

Career & Professional Development

For job, funding, and capacity-building opportunities for doctoral students, postdocs, and other early career scholars, visit our Early Career News & Opportunities page.

In Case You Missed It

Highlights from recent newsletters and announcements: 

A complete archive of our newsletters and announcements is available on cadrek12.org.

Back to Top

Subscribe | Create CADRE Account