The new year has brought new changes to the National Science Foundation’s schedule of education funding opportunities. Traditionally, solicitations for formal and informal K-12 science education had set deadlines, often in the fall and winter. With the release of the STEM K-12 solicitation, proposals are now accepted year-round. Program officers have encouraged applicants to submit their best work whenever it’s ready.
As we noted in an earlier blog, anyone considering a submission should send a one-page concept paper to STEMK12@nsf.gov for feedback. In this post, we offer three suggestions to make that one-pager – and your subsequent proposal – as competitive as possible.
➡️ Plan your work in phases, proposing projects that both stand alone and inform your future work. The STEM K-12 program funds projects for up to $750,000 for up to three years. If your goals and ideas are too large for that budget, consider breaking up the work into a series of smaller pieces. Keep in mind that each piece must meet the proposal criteria for intellectual merit and broader impact. In other words, your work should incorporate critical stakeholder perspectives and answer novel questions about STEM teaching and learning that benefit society.
➡️ Be innovative and take risks. Winning proposals will be novel, multidisciplinary, and potentially transformative. They may also translate fundamental research into broader educational practices. Look to NSF’s EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) and Translation and Diffusion programs for inspiration. You can find funded projects here: EAGER, Translation and Diffusion.
➡️ Conduct research that is rigorous, relevant, and responsive to community experiences. Reviewers will be looking for high-quality research and evaluation when judging proposals’ intellectual merit. STEM K-12 projects should build new knowledge about educational theory and practice that others can apply to their own work. To do that, proposals must include a research plan with clear and coherent frameworks, questions, study designs, data collection, and analysis and interpretation strategies. You can consult this Rockman blog for tools to help generate and refine your ideas. There should also be meaningful evaluation to assess project success. Be sure to also explain how you’ll monitor progress, make improvements, and measure impact.
If you’re considering submitting an NSF STEM K-12 proposal, we’d be delighted to consult with you. We’ve worked on a wide array of formal and informal K-12 STEM education programs, including mentoring projects and community-centered research. We offer a complimentary 30-minute call to discuss your research or evaluation needs. We look forward to hearing from you!