January 2026 Newsletter

​Dear Colleagues,

As CADRE comes to a close, this is our final newsletter. Over the next month, the cadrek12.org website will transition to a static site. Though the site will no longer be updated by CADRE or DRK–12 community members, it will continue to provide access to information and resources related to DRK–12 projects, research, and STEM education topics. Because we will no longer make changes to the website once it is archived, we encourage you to send any updates you would like us to make to your project page, including your project resources, by January 31.

We’re sharing two pieces that highlight CADRE’s history—a legacy brief and an interactive timeline—along with a community Padlet that functions like a shared remembrance and celebration card for DRK–12. Please read the brief, explore the timeline, and “sign the card” by posting a short note, memory, or resource about how DRK–12 has shaped your work, the field, or our schools. Through these reflections, we hope to capture the impact of the DRK–12 program.

If you attend AERA, please join a group of DRK–12 mathematics education researchers for their session on April 10, which highlights advances in mathematics instruction through the work of multiple DRK–12 projects!

Thank you to all who contributed to the DRK–12 program and CADRE’s work to support this community over the past 15 years. It’s been a pleasure to serve you.

The CADRE Team

CADRE Legacy | Brief

Collage of CADRE Staff Headshots

Read a reflection on how CADRE connected 1,300+ DRK–12 awardees; helped to advance STEM education research; and built capacity through the Fellows program, Spotlights on STEM Education research topics, convenings, and more.

From Vision to Practice: The CADRE Story | Interactive Timeline

Screenshot of CADRE Timeline

Explore CADRE’s milestones, programs, partnerships, and resources through an interactive timeline. Through a selection of events, topics, and products, we highlight key elements of CADRE’s efforts to support the DRK–12 program and awardees, as well as preK–12 STEM education and research.

DRK–12 Impacts and Importance Notes | Padlet

Screenshot of Padlet

Add your message to our community Padlet—a shared “remembrance card”—on how DRK–12 shaped your work, the field, and our schools. Your notes are a valuable record of the program’s impact.

Here are a few reflections your colleagues have already shared.

  • “I am deeply appreciative of the National Science Foundation’s investment in STEM education and its flagship DRK–12 portfolio. It is not an exaggeration to say that NSF’s DRK–12 program has been the cornerstone of our nation’s STEM education research infrastructure over the past 15+ years. As the leading driver of innovation in STEM education, the program has impacted nationwide how kids from preschool to high school learn science, technology, engineering and mathematics.” –DRK–12 PI
     
  • “Attending my first PI meeting in approximately 2012 was an incredible experience. I remember feeling like all the brilliance and cutting-edge action in science education was concentrated in one place and I was so excited and honored to be a part of it.” –DRK–12 PI
     
  • “DRK–12 was designed to support research and development in the STEM preK–12 space, to ask the question about a good balance, or good combination, of R and D. The PIs and research teams deserve recognition for pushing the field forward on this, so that preK–12 STEM education is attended to purposefully while these purposeful efforts are studied systematically. We hope part of the DRK–12 legacy is the increased body of practice-oriented knowledge that has resulted.” –NSF Program Officer

Project Tip: CADRE Resources for Early-Career Researchers

If you are an early-career researcher or work with researchers new to the field, we invite you to explore and share a sampling of CADRE’s project design and implementation resources that were developed with DRK–12 awardees’ ideas and input.
 

Additional resources are available in CADRE’s resources. 

Newsbites

News from NSF

News from NSF Networks

  • If you missed the REVISE webinar series Playful Pathways to AI in Informal STEM, recordings are now available.

News from DRK-12 Projects and Awardees

Awards and Recognition

Publications

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

In Case You Missed It

Highlights from recent newsletters and announcements:

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

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