Community for Advancing Discovery Research in Education (CADRE)

Challenge

Improving STEM education is a team effort. It requires dedicated teachers, researchers, curriculum developers, and scholars all working together to support innovation and excellence in the classroom.

This idea is the foundation for the Community for Advancing Discovery Research in Education (CADRE), an EDC-led network for STEM education researchers who have been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Discovery Research PreK-12 (DRK-12) program. CADRE supports and accelerates learning among the DRK-12 community about the practice and outcomes of STEM education research. We help project teams leading NSF-funded initiatives across the United States to connect with each other, share important discoveries, and develop the innovative products that will shape the future of STEM education.

Key Activities

Through CADRE, EDC and its partners:

• Engage STEM education and research communities in gaining a better understanding of innovations in STEM education and research
• Provide capacity-building experiences for diverse groups of researchers and early career scholars to support their contributions to STEM education and research

Our Impact

CADRE’s influence on advancing STEM education research and promoting improved teaching and learning includes, among others, the following:

• Supported the capacity building of more than 1,000 DRK–12 projects and their principal investigators (PIs) and program staff since 2008
• Supported a new cohort of CADRE Fellows each year since 2009
• Created and curated resources for education researchers, including the Project Management Tools and Dissemination Toolkit
• Supported prospective awardees in developing successful DRK-12 proposals through the new Uncovering the Hidden Curriculum of DRK-12 video series and NSF Proposal Toolkit
• Provided Spotlights on key areas of PreK-12 STEM education and research, such as assessment
• Engaged the education community through STEM Smart outreach meetings and newsletters that connect research and practice