CADRE: 17 Years of Advancing STEM Education
Connecting people, building capacity, sharing knowledge.
Since 2008, Community for Advancing Discovery Research in Education (CADRE) at EDC has served as the central resource network for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Discovery Research PreK–12 (DRK–12) program. Our CADRE team has supported over 1,300 DRK–12 projects in leading groundbreaking work to strengthen PreK–12 STEM education and position students for success in college, careers, and life.
With the closing of the DRK–12 program, CADRE’s work is at an end. Our team was honored to support researchers’ learning, share their important discoveries, and advance the R&D of innovative products that are shaping the future of STEM education today. View a new interactive timeline of CADRE’s work: “From Vision to Practice: The CADRE Story.”
Key CADRE activities and accomplishments have included:
- Leading national convenings that connected and educated thousands of researchers and practitioners, R&D leaders, educators, and members of the public through Principal Investigator (PI) Meetings, STEM Smart Initiative conferences, webinars, and online learning series. These gatherings fostered cross-project collaboration, shared methods and findings, and linked research with classroom and district practice.
- Launching the CADRE Fellows Program, which fostered the professional growth of 180 early career STEM education researchers and developers. Our effective program is viewed as a model for the field and featured cohort learning, proposal writing workshops, and mentoring by experienced PIs and NSF program officers. Today, many former CADRE fellows hold academic, nonprofit, and governmental roles and lead NSF-funded STEM education research, contributing to a self-sustaining pipeline of researchers.
- Developing hundreds of products including videos such as What Is Scientific Modeling? and The Importance of Early Math Education; Research briefs like Generative AI in STEM Teaching (2025); Practice briefs, including Considerations for STEM Education from PreK through Grade 3; a Dissemination Toolkit that helps researchers widely share their work; and a hub of spotlight features on themes and trends in STEM education research.
As CADRE sunsets, all of its products will remain publicly accessible on CADRE’s website and YouTube channel. This ensures researchers and future resource networks will be able to benefit from the work and make use of CADRE’s connector model that has strengthened U.S. STEM education research for almost two decades.
“We are glad CADRE’s resources will continue to be available to advance the work of researchers, educators, and policymakers,” said Catherine McCulloch, CADRE’s lead. “But the DRK–12 legacy endures not just in publications or products, but in a field that is stronger, more connected, and focused on impact—ready to carry forward the work of improving STEM education for all learners. To the awardees we worked with: We were so glad to support you and partner with you in moving your vital research into teachers’ classrooms, improving U.S. STEM learning and achievement.”
In addition to McCulloch, CADRE’s long-time team of EDC experts includes Amy Busey, Leana Nordstrom, and Jennifer Stiles, who continue to advance key EDC STEM education work including the Data Paths initiative and Amgen Biotech Experience. Emeritus members of EDC’s CADRE team include Barbara Berns, E. Paul Goldenberg, and Jacqueline Miller.
We invite you to learn more about EDC’s STEM Education & Workforce Development initiatives.
