We've begun summer with a lot of enthusiasm about the coming year. Please save the date of June 1-3, 2016 for the DR K-12 PI Meeting to take place in Washington, D.C. On the basis of your evaluations of the 2014 meeting and other feedback collected by NSF and the CADRE team, the meeting wil incorporate multiple posters sessions, a gaming arcade, interactive sessions, and increased time for formal and informal networking. If you wish to serve as a meeting advisor, please let us know at cadre@edc.org.
We are in the process of scheduling fall webinars about the new DR K-12 solicitation, during which an NSF program officer will share specifics about updates to the RFP. In addition, as post-doc mentoring plans are receiving increased attention, we will offer a webinar as well as a series of resources on mentoring. If you have had a positive experience as a mentor or mentee, we invite you to share your story. We will host a "Nuts and Bolts" webinar for those who are first time awardees, those who want a refresher, or those who wish to introduce a member of their team to the administrative requirements of the grant program.
We are pleased to announce the opening of the CADRE Fellows application process. It will extend from today through September 14th. If you can submit your nominations early in the process, it will be greatly appreciated. We have an exciting year for the new Fellows. Not only will they participate in the exceptional mock proposal review at NSF, but they will also have an opportunity to attend and participate in the upcoming PI meeting. We hope PIs and Co-PIs will continue to support the Fellowship program by responding to our request to serve as presenters, discussants, and/or informal mentors over the course of the year.
We want thank those who participated in the NSF 2015 Teaching and Learning Video Showcase this past spring. It appears to have been such a successful strategy for dissemination that we are planning to conduct a second showcase in 2016. If you haven't been involved, see what you missed by viewing your DR K-12 colleagues' videos and related conversations. We are excited that the site had over 20,000 unique visitors and 18,000 video views from 137 countries!
Lastly, welcome to those who have received DR K-12 awards in the most recent funding cycle.
Have a wonderful summer.
Sincerely,
Barbara Brauner Berns
CADRE Principal Investigator
EVENTS
2016 DR K-12 PI Meeting
CADRE is pleased to announce that the 2016 DR K-12 PI Meeting will be held on June 1-3 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. PIs whose grants are actively funded at the time of the meeting will receive invitations in early spring of next year.
If you are interested in becoming an informal advisor for the PI meeting, email cadre@edc.org.
Upcoming CADRE Webinars
Save the dates! This fall, CADRE will host four NSF-led webinars.
DR K-12 Solicitation Webinars (Tentative Dates)
Join NSF Program Officer Karen King for an informational webinar on the newest DR K-12 Program Solicitation
- Tuesday, September 22, 2015, 1-2pm ET
- Tuesday, September 29, 2015, 2-3pm ET
- Tuesday, October 6, 2015, 12:30-1:30pm ET
NSF Nuts & Bolts Webinar
Join NSF Program Officer David Campbell for a webinar on the ins and outs of managing a DR K-12 project.
Mark your calendar and keep an eye on your inbox. Registration information will be sent via email in August.
Projects & People
2015 DR K-12 Awardees
Congratulations and welcome to these recently announced DR K-12 awardees!
Download the current list of 2015 awardees.
Spotlight on the 2015 NSF Teaching and Learning Video Showcase
This spring, CADRE teamed up with other NSF resource centers -- STELAR, ARC, MSPnet, CIRCL, and CAISE -- to hold an interactive online video showcase of NSF EHR funded work. More than 100 projects participated by contributing a video sharing their work, 40 of which featured DR K-12 grants!
The event, held the week of May 11-15, encouraged visitors to watch, discuss, and vote on their favorite videos. Across the five day live event, 20,655 unique visitors from 137 countries participated, with almost 2,000 comments posted and 15,436 Public Choice votes cast.
Thank you to the DR K-12 grantees that took the time to contribute to the showcase by creating a video, facilitating online discussion, or joining the conversation. We are excited to feature the DR K-12 videos and projects in our most recent spotlight on cadrek12.org.
The following DR K-12 videos received Presenters' Choice, Facilitators' Choice, or Public Choice recognition. Congratulations!
- Engineering is Elementary Video | Project Page
- Exploring the Infinite Possibilities of Dynamic Geometry Video | Project Page
- Expressive Digital Tools for Elementary Math Education Video | Project Page
- Math Snacks Video | Project Page
- Next Generation Preschool Math Video | Project Page
- Phet Interactive Simulations: An Overview Video | Project Page
- The Power of Implicit Game-Based Learning Video | Project Page
- Promoting Quality Talk in High School STEM Classes Video | Project Page
- Supporting Teacher Learning about Argumentation Video | Project Page
Visit the Spotlight on NSF's Teaching & Learning Video Showcase.Visit the showcase website to view all of the video submissions, including those from other NSF EHR programs.
CADRE Fellowship Update & Application
The 2014-2015 CADRE Fellowship
We have just completed the sixth year of the CADRE Fellows program. Surveys administered throughout the Fellowship indicated that we made great strides in accomplishing our goals of supporting Fellows' professional needs while simultaneously facilitating relationships with other Fellows, alumni, and PIs.
Overall, Fellows were highly satisfied with the Fellowship and experienced many benefits. They appreciated the events and activities, and especially valued the two in-person meetings and the opportunities for networking that they provided. Most Fellows indicated that they established personal and/or professional relationships outside of the parameters of the Fellows program, and planned to connect with Fellows in the future for professional advice and networking. They believed the Fellowship offered them important insights into the world of STEM R&D, and particularly valued their visit to the NSF in Arlington, Virginia, as a conclusion to the program, where they participated in a mock proposal review and met with Program Officers. One Fellow described this experience as "having the veil pulled back" on the grant review process.
Thank you to the many grantees who have supported our Fellows in diverse ways! Since our last newsletter, KC Busch, Chris Schunn, and Min Lee provided helpful resources and/or informal mentoring.
Learn more about the CADRE Fellowship and this year's Fellows.
CADRE is Now Accepting Applications for the 2015-2016 CADRE Fellowship
The CADRE Fellowship application process begins early this year. Please review the following important dates and share this information with your DR K-12 colleagues!
- July 23: Application Period Opens
- September 14: Application Deadline
- September 23: Award Notification
- October 19-20: Orientation at EDC (Waltham, MA)
- October - June: Monthly Webinars and Fellow Collaborations
- June 28-29: NSF Visit / Mock Proposal Review (Arlington, VA)
- June 1-3: Fellows Attend 2016 DR K-12 PI Meeting (Washington, DC)
- June 3-4 (tentative):Mock Review at NSF
Access the application materials for the 2015-2016 Fellowship.
Fellowship Alumni
CADRE launched a more structured effort this past year to reconnect with 48 alumni of the program. We thank those Fellows who helped review applications for this past year's cohort, served as presenters or informal mentors, or provided facilitation at the 2015 NSF Teaching and Learning Video Showcase: Kyle Cheney (Worcester Polytechnic Institute), Jenny Dauer (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), Jonathan Hertel (Museum of Science, Boston), Sarah Rand (American Institutes for Research), and Carlos Mejía Colindres (Educational Testing Services). We'd also like to thank in advance alumni Jonee Wilson (Vanderbilt) and AJ Stachelek (Hostos Community College) who will be reviewing applications for this year's Fellows.
If you are a Fellow and wish to join the alumni listserv or the Fellows alumni LinkedIn group, email cadre@edc.org.If you are a DR K-12 awardee, and want to learn more about these promising early career scholars, find out where they are now.
RESOURCES
Mentoring in DR K-12
We are pleased to share new resources, events, and opportunities that continue 
our focus on supporting early career professionals in STEM education R&D.
Mentoring for the Postdoctoral/Early Career Researcher: Key Elements and Broader Impacts
This hot off the press CADRE brief describes the need for effective mentoring relationships and examines elements of good mentoring practices based on a growing body of literature from the field.
Download the brief.Visit the Spotlight on Early Career in STEM Education R&D to access additional information and resources for supporting early career professionals.
Mentoring Plan Webinar (10/13)
On October 13, 2016 (time to be announced), CADRE will host a webinar during which presenters, including DR K-12 grantees, will offer their perspectives on developing effective mentoring plans and relationships.
Keep an eye on your inbox and the CADRE calendar for time and registration information.
Mentor/Mentee Recommendations
We are currently soliciting recommendations from DR K-12 project members who have been part of a particularly valuable mentor-mentee relationship (or know a colleague who has). We would love to learn more about your experience and interest in contributing to our efforts, whether its through an informal interview, webinar participation, or some other manner.
Nominate yourself, your mentor (e.g., PI, advisor, professor, etc.), your mentee, or a colleague as someone whose experiences could inform others in DR K-12. We especially appreciate nominations received by August 13, 2015.
We will contact nominees to learn more about their experience and gauge their interest in contributing to and/or participating in one of our upcoming mentoring events or products.
Newsbites from DR K-12 and NSF
We regularly seek out, solicit, and share updates about DR K-12 projects, as well as our sister resource networks who serve other NSF funding programs (ARC, CAISE, CIRCL, MSPnet, and STELAR). In addition to disseminating this information on our website and social media, we plan to provide a digest of Newsbites in our quarterly newsletter. Let us hear from you!
News from DR K-12 Projects
- Making Sense of Algebra: Developing Students Mathematical Habits of Mind - Just published by Heinemann! In their new book, PIs Paul Goldenberg and June Mark, along with a team of colleagues, present instructional strategies, tools, and ideas for developing students' mathematical habits of mind and the logic needed to succeed in algebra.
- Podcast on Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning Framework - Joe Krajcik and Kate McNeill discuss using the Claim, Evidence and Reasoning Framework as a method to guide students towards explanations in science during a Lab Out Loud podcast.
- Engaging Young Children in Programming through Robotics and Mobile Apps - NSF Discoveries recently featured Marina Bers' work, including her most recent project -- KIBO, through which young children use blocks and modular components to build and program robots, as well as ScratchJr which has developed educational programming apps for young children that are now available for free on iPad and Android.
- Journal Article: MOOCs from the Viewpoint of the Learner - Eric Wiebe (et al) published an article in the May 2015 issue of Educational Researcher that describes student-centered, theory-driven conceptual and methodological approaches to research on massive open online courses (MOOCs).
- NGSS for All Students - In a blog post for NSTA, Okhee Lee discusses why "teaching science for diversity is teaching science for all." Dr. Lee was also featured in the recent U.S. News article Common Core: A Spark for STEM.
- Video Games Bring Learning Outdoors - A column in The Hechinger Report, "Can some video games get kids to play (and learn) outside more rather than less?" features work funded through DR K-12's Ecomobile (PI: Chris Dede).
- Foundation Science Curricula Now Available as eBooks - Two new high school science curricula, developed by the Foundation Science project, are now available as ebooks through publisher Carolina. Biology: Concepts & Practices and Chemistry: Concepts & Practicesfoster Grade 9-12 students' scientific and data literacy, build their reading, writing, and oral communication skills, and challenge them to practice 21st-century problem-solving skills.
- White Paper: Re-imagining a Curriculum Guide for Teachers in Digital Format - The Electronic Teacher Guide (eTG) project has published a white paper on the collaboration required for a project team with different disciplinary backgrounds (curriculum developers, technology designers, software developers, researchers and evaluators) who are spread across different states.
- New Chapter and Journal Article on Learning Technologies from WISE - The WISE project's Camillia Matuk, Marcia Linn, and Libby Gerard authored a chapter in Design Recommendations for Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Authoring Tools & Expert Modeling Techniques. In addition, Libby Gerard, Kihyun Ryoo, Kevin McElhaney, Lydia Liu,Anna Rafferty, and Marcia Linn published an article, Automated Guidance for Student Inquiry, in the July 6, 2015 edition of the Journal of Educational Psychology.
- Engaging Young Engineers: Teaching Problem-Solving Skills through STEM - DR K-12 PI Kristen Wendell co-authored a book that was recently featured in Tufts University's Center for Engineering Education Outreach (CEEO) newsletter.
- Journal Article: Harvesting a Sea of Data - In an article featured in the Summer 2015 issue of NSTA's The Science Teacher, members of the Ocean Tracks project (PI: Ruth Krumhansl) address a fundamental challenge related to getting big data into K-12 education: designing student-friendly interfaces and experiences. The article discusses the work of the project as well as the Oceans of Data Institute, and the CADRE Team's own Amy Busey was lead author.
Want to share news from your project? Email cadre@edc.org.
News from NSF Networks
- Resources from NSF ITEST Proposal Writing Workshop - On June 9, 2015, STELAR hosted a one day workshop targeting prospective grantees who had not previously been funded through NSF's ITEST program. The agenda, session video, and workshop materials are now available online for those who could not attend in person.
- Informal STEM Learning through Mobile Technology - On informalscience.org, CAISE shares a collection of programs and resources related to using mobile technologies to facilitate informal STEM learning.
- Finding Common Ground - A Taxonomy for Identifying and Describing STEM Schools - As part of the MSP Academy series, MSPnet is hosting a webinar on July 28, 2015 during which presenters Jeanne Century, Melanie LaForce, and Elizabeth Bancroft Noble will share their developing work to support clear communication about STEM schools and related research within the STEM education community.
Contact Us
If you want additional information on CADRE or have specific questions, please email cadre@edc.org. Join us on Facebook or Twitter to receive the latest news and information from CADRE.