Recent Funding Opportunities
Recent K-12 STEM Education Funding Opportunities
National Science Foundation
Grant Program: STEM + Computing K-12 Education (STEM+C)
Agency: National Science Foundation NSF PD 18-005Y
RFP Website: https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505006&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund
Brief Description: An innovative science, technology, engineering, mathematics and computing (STEM+C) workforce and well-educated citizenry are crucial to the Nation's prosperity, security, and competitiveness. Preparation for the future workforce must begin in the earliest grades from preK-12, where students need to learn not only the science and mathematics central to these areas but also how computational thinking is integral to STEM disciplines. Because of the powerful innovation and application of computing in STEM disciplines, there is an urgent need for real-world, interdisciplinary, and computational preparation of students from the early grades through high school (preK-12) that will provide a strong foundation for mid-level technical careers and for continuing education in higher education. This is particularly important in the key science areas described in the National Science Foundation’s Big Ideas for Future NSF Investment. The STEM+C program supports research and development proposals related to new approaches to pre-K-12 STEM teaching and learning related to Harnessing the Data Revolution, Convergence Research and the Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier.
The STEM+C Program focuses on research and development of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to the integration of computing within STEM teaching and learning for preK-12 students in both formal and informal settings. The STEM+C program supports research on how students learn to think computationally to solve interdisciplinary problems in science and mathematics. The program supports research and development that builds on evidence-based teacher preparation or professional development activities that enable teachers to provide excellent instruction on the integration of computation and STEM disciplines. Proposals should describe projects that are grounded in prior evidence and theory, are innovative or potentially transformative, and that will generate and build knowledge about the integration of computing and one or more STEM disciplines at the preK-12 level.
A proposal submitted to this program description should describe the integration of computing with one or more STEM disciplines. A proposal may focus on studies on the effects of integrating computational thinking with STEM disciplines or the challenges of implementing these potentially disruptive educational interventions. Proposed projects may develop models, assessments, and technological tools to support teaching and learning in this area as well as conduct research on these models, assessments, and tools.
Outcomes of projects should enable the Nation to have a future workforce with knowledge of computational thinking integrated with STEM disciplines, and students prepared and interested in careers in the skilled technical workforce or further education and science careers.
Awards: Standard grants
Letter of Intent: Not Required
Full Proposal Submission Deadline: July 2, 2018
Contacts:
Arlene M. de Strulle
adestrul@nsf.gov; (703) 292-8620
Chia Shen
cshen@nsf.gov; (703) 292-8447
Grant Program: Accelerating Discovery: Educating the Future STEM Workforce (AD)
Agency: National Science Foundation NSF PD 18-1998
RFP Website: https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505552&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund
Brief Description: A well-prepared, innovative science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce is crucial to the Nation's prosperity and security. Future generations of STEM professionals are a key sector of this workforce, especially in the critical scientific areas described in the Big Ideas for Future NSF Investments. To accelerate progress in these areas, the next generation of STEM professionals will need to master new knowledge and skills, collaborate across disciplines, and shape the future of the human-technology interface in the workplace. As a result, NSF recognizes the need to support the development of and research on effective educational approaches that can position the future STEM workforce to make bold advances in these Big Ideas.
In response to this need, the NSF’s Education and Human Resources Directorate seeks to invest in projects that can educate the STEM workforce to advance discovery in the six research Big Ideas: Harnessing the Data Revolution; The Future of Work; Navigating the New Arctic; Multi-messenger Astrophysics; The Quantum Leap; and Understanding the Rules of Life. In addition to developing and implementing novel educational and/or training programs, these projects should simultaneously generate new knowledge about effective STEM education, by studying such programs and exploring related issues.
Specifically, NSF accepts proposals to support education research and development projects focused on re- or up-skilling the existing workforce; developing the skilled technical workforce; and/or preparing those at the undergraduate, graduate, or postdoctoral fellow/early career levels. We encourage projects to partner with industry, public, and private sectors to define the needs of tomorrow’s workforce and develop educational and learning strategies to meet those needs. Proposals should address near-, mid-, and long-term challenges and opportunities facing the development of STEM professionals or anticipate new structures and functions of the STEM learning and teaching enterprise. Proposers are encouraged to include approaches that have the potential to increase and diversify participation in STEM. All proposals should contribute to one or more of the six research Big Ideas.
EHR is particularly interested in supporting innovative education research and development in two Big Ideas: The Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier (FW-HTF) and Harnessing the Data Revolution for 21st Century Science and Engineering(HDR). Projects of interest include innovative uses of technology and big data to understand learning; educational approaches that prepare tomorrow’s innovators to use technology and big data to understand the natural world; effects of advances in intelligent agents on STEM teaching and learning; and evaluation of disruptive educational interventions on long-term student outcomes.
Outcomes of these projects can enable the Nation to: better prepare its scientific and technical workforce for the future; use technological innovations effectively for education, and advance the frontiers of science. Proposals should describe projects that build on available evidence and theory, and that will generate evidence and build knowledge while contributing to the education of the future STEM professionals.
Awards: Standard grants
Letter of Intent: Not Required
Full Proposal Submission Deadline: July 2, 2018; Window: April 2, 2018 - January 16, 2019
Contacts:
Ellen Carpenter
elcarpen@nsf.gov; (703) 292-5104
Laura B. Regassa
lregassa@nsf.gov; (703) 292-2343
Clytrice L. Watson
clwatson@nsf.gov; (703) 292-4775
Department of Education
Grant Program: Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII): Education Innovation and Research Program: Early-phase Grants
Agency: Department of Education CFDA Number 84.411C ED-GRANTS-041918-003
Website: https://www.federalgrants.com/Office-of-Innovation-and-Improvement-OII-Education-Innovation-and-Research-Program-Early-phase-Grants-CFDA-Number-84411C-70618.html
Brief Description: The Education Innovation and Research (EIR) program, established under section 4611 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended (ESEA), provides funding to create, develop, implement, replicate, or take to scale entrepreneurial, evidence-based, field-initiated innovations to improve student achievement and attainment for high-need students; and rigorously evaluate such innovations. The EIR program is designed to generate and validate solutions to persistent educational challenges and to support the expansion of those solutions to serve substantially larger numbers of students. The central design element of the EIR program is its multi-tier structure that links the amount of funding that an applicant may receive to the quality of the evidence supporting the efficacy of the proposed project, with the expectation that projects that build this evidence will advance through EIR's grant tiers: ``Early-phase,'' ``Mid-phase,'' and ``Expansion.''
Applicants proposing innovative projects that are supported by limited evidence can receive relatively small grants to support the development, implementation, and initial evaluation of the practices; applicants proposing projects supported by evidence from rigorous evaluations, such as an experimental study (as defined in this notice), can receive larger grant awards to support expansion across the country. This structure provides incentives for applicants to (1) Explore new ways of addressing persistent challenges that other educators can build on and learn from; (2) build evidence of effectiveness of their practices; and (3) replicate and scale successful practices in new schools, districts, and States while addressing the barriers to scale, such as cost structures and implementation fidelity. All EIR projects are expected to generate information regarding their effectiveness in order to inform EIR grantees' efforts to learn about and improve upon their efforts and to help similar, non-EIR efforts across the country benefit from EIR grantees' knowledge.
By requiring that all grantees conduct independent evaluations of their EIR projects, EIR ensures that its funded projects make a significant contribution to improving the quality and quantity of information available to practitioners and policymakers about which practices improve student achievement and attainment, for which types of students, and in what contexts. The Department awards three types of grants under this program: ``Early-phase'' grants, ``Mid-phase'' grants, and ``Expansion'' grants. These grants differ in terms of the level of prior evidence of effectiveness required for consideration for funding, the expectations regarding the kind of evidence and information funded projects should produce, the level of scale funded projects should reach, and, consequently, the amount of funding available to support each type of project. Early-phase grants provide funding to support the development, implementation, and feasibility testing of a program, which prior research suggests has promise, for the purpose of determining whether the program can successfully improve student achievement and attainment for high-need students. Early-phase grants must demonstrate a rationale (as defined in this notice). These Early-phase grants are not intended simply to implement established practices in additional locations or address needs that are unique to one particular context.
The goal is to determine whether and in what ways relatively newer practices can improve student achievement and attainment for high-need students. This notice invites applications for Early-phase grants only. The notices inviting applications for Mid-phase and Expansion grants are published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register. Background: EIR is designed to offer opportunities for States, districts, schools, and educators to develop innovations and scale effective practices that address their most pressing challenges. Early-phase grantees are encouraged to make continuous improvements in project design and implementation before conducting a full-scale evaluation of effectiveness. Grantees should consider questions such as: How easy would it be for others to implement this practice, and how can its implementation be improved? How can I use data from early indicators to gauge impact, and what changes in implementation and student achievement do these early indicators suggest? By focusing on continuous improvement and iterative development, Early-phase grantees can make adaptations that are necessary to increase their practice's potential to be effective and ensure that the EIR-funded evaluation assesses the impact of a thoroughly conceived practice. Early-phase applicants should develop, implement, and test the feasibility of their projects. The evaluation of an Early-phase project should be an experimental or quasi-experimental design study (as defined in this notice) that can determine whether the program can successfully improve student achievement and attainment for high-need students. Early-phase grantees' evaluation designs are encouraged to have the potential to meet the moderate evidence (as defined in this notice) threshold.
The Department intends to provide grantees and their independent evaluators with evaluation technical assistance. This evaluation technical assistance could include grantees and their independent evaluators providing to the Department or its contractor updated comprehensive evaluation plans in a format as requested by the technical assistance provider and using such tools as the Department may request. Grantees will be encouraged to update this evaluation plan at least annually to reflect any changes to the evaluation, with updates consistent with the scope and objectives of the approved application.
Awards: Up to $4,000,000. Estimated total funding: $115,000,000
Proposal Deadline:
Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply: May 9, 2018
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: June 5, 2018
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: August 6, 2018
Contact Information:
Julius Cotton, ED Grants.gov
FIND Systems Admin
Telephone: 202-245-6288
Email: EducationGrantInquiries@ed.gov
Program Manager:
Kelly Terpak, U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 4W312
Washington, DC 20202-5900
Telephone: 202-453-7122
Email: eir@ed.gov