August 2025 Newsletter

​Dear Colleagues,

Last week, NSF announced significant changes to preK–12 funding with the launch of the NSF STEM K–12 program and solicitation. DRK–12 will no longer accept proposals. (Read our full article below.)

New DRK–12 awards have been announced since our July newsletter. Congratulations to these newest project teams! We eagerly await to hear about additional awards.

As DRK–12 and CADRE come to an end, we plan to celebrate and share the history and accomplishments of the program. We welcome your stories about the significance of the DRK-12 program to your research and the evolution of preK-12 STEM education. Please send your contributions of any length to cadre@edc.org or enter them here.

The DRK-12 program has funded important research to improve teaching and learning for children. This month’s Spotlight on Early STEM Learning features DRK-12 projects that depict early learning as an entry point for lifelong STEM education and engagement. They position play, culture, family, and teachers as central levers in children’s STEM education and development, and challenge narrow definitions of readiness and skill. We also invite you to revisit and share three of CADRE’s related, “oldie but goodie” resources: our video on The Importance of Early Math Education, featuring DRK-12-funded researchers Arthur Barody, Jere Confrey, Paul Goldenberg, and Julie Sarama, and our briefs, Considerations for STEM Education from PreK Through Grade 3 and Nurturing STEM Skills in Young Learners, PreK–3, which highlight important considerations about STEM educational experiences for young children, how to best support professional learning for the educators who provide those experiences, and the need for intentional, play-based STEM learning in preK–3, supported by clear goals and strong teacher capacity.

In case you missed it, CADRE provided a summer reading list that captures recent DRK–12 publications. We’ve even added some new publications to the list. NSF will be affected by the recent executive order, Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking, which notably states that grants must be approved by a political appointee. Finally, a recording of the recent National Science Board is now available.

Best,
The CADRE Team

NSF Restructures DRL | Announcement

NSF logoLast week, NSF announced significant changes to DRL funding programs with the launch of the NSF STEM K–12 program and solicitation. With this new funding opportunity comes the archival of longstanding DRL programs including DRK–12, AISL, CSforAll, as well as others. There have also been changes to ECR:Core, which will now only accept DUE and DGE focused applications. The solicitation encourages applicants who planned to apply to the archived or modified programs to submit proposals to NSF STEM K–12 instead. Full proposals to this solicitation are accepted at any time. Most awards (~40) supported by the program will range between $25,000 and $750,000, with a typical duration of one to three years. The program is expected to be capped at ~30 million dollars.

Join NSF for a general overview webinar about FY26 funding opportunities in DRL on September 4, 2025 at 1-2:30pm ET. Registration is required. Regularly check the NSF STEM K-12 webpage and CADRE social media for information about additional webinars and office hours to be announced. Email STEMK12@nsf.gov with questions.

NSF also announced two other new funding opportunities—Dear Colleague Letters—aligned with the recent executive order to advance K–12 artificial intelligence education.

  1. The Expanding AI Career and Skilled Technical Workforce Opportunities in Support of High School Students DCL seeks to strengthen the U.S. AI workforce and advance education and innovation pipelines by increasing early access to high-quality, AI learning opportunities for America's high school students. 
  2. The Expanding K–12 Resources for AI Education DCL seeks to build upon NSF's extensive investments in fundamental research, technology transition and education related to the science and application of AI. Existing awardees with K–12 AI or computer science education experience are and invited to submit supplemental funding proposals to refine, scale, and/or implement established K–12 AI-related activities.

As DRK–12 and CADRE come to an end, we plan to celebrate and share the history and accomplishments of the program in our remaining months as the DRK–12 resource center. We invite you to share your reflections on the significance of the DRK-12 program for your research and for the evolution of preK–12 STEM education. Stories of any length are welcome. CADRE plans to post these contributions on cadrek12.org; please let us know if you would prefer your comments to remain anonymous. CADRE reserves the right to curate submissions before posting. Send your contributions to cadre@edc.org or submit them here.

Early STEM Learning | Spotlight

Child using a tablet.

This month’s Spotlight highlights the work of 14 DRK–12 projects that focus on early learning in science, mathematics, and computer science. For more information about early STEM learning, browse our list of reports, DRK–12 publications, and other related resources. 

In this Spotlight:

View Spotlight

New DRK–12 Awards | Project List

New award logo

Since our July newsletter, additional DRK-12 projects have been funded. View the full list of recent awards below.

Congratulations to the newest DRK-12 awardees!

View Awards

Newsbites

News from NSF

News from DRK-12 Projects and Awardees

Awards & Recognition
 

Publications

Do you have news to share? Email cadre@edc.org.

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

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