NSF Research in Disabilities Education focused on STEM

Published on January 18, 2011 by Paul Secor   ·   No Comments

The RDE program seeks to broaden the participation and achievement of people with disabilities in all fields of STEM education and associated professional careers by contributing to the research knowledge base and increasing the number of students with disabilities completing associate, undergraduate and graduate degrees in STEM and entering our nation’s science and engineering workforce. RDE projects contribute to closing the gaps occurring for people with disabilities in STEM fields by successfully disseminating findings, project evaluation results, and proven good practices and products to the public.

• Research projects contribute to the knowledge base by investigating disability related differences in secondary and post-secondary STEM learning and in the educational, social and pre-professional experiences that influence student interest, academic performance, retention in STEM degree programs, STEM degree completion, and career choices. Projects also investigate effective practices for transitioning students with disabilities across critical academic junctures, retaining students in undergraduate and graduate STEM degree programs, and graduating students with STEM associate, baccalaureate and graduate degrees. Projects may include student interventions, with or without a focus on accessible technology and cyberlearning, involving students as subjects only if the intervention is an integral part of gathering data and if the findings from the intervention would substantially answer the research questions posed within the context of theory and hypotheses.  Results from research projects inform the delivery of innovative, transformative and successful practices employed by the Alliances for Students with Disabilities in STEM.

• Alliances for Students with Disabilities in STEM are projects designed to advance the number of students with disabilities completing associate, undergraduate and graduate degrees in STEM and to increase the number of students with disabilities entering our nation’s science and engineering workforce.  Alliances engage multiple institutions of higher education and secondary school systems to work as a team to employ evidenced-based practices and promising interventions to advance students across critical academic junctures, to degree completion, and into the workforce or graduate STEM degree programs.

• Demonstration, Enrichment or Dissemination projects are three distinct types of RDE awards: Demonstration projects are pilot investigations designed to offer proof-of-concept data for future RDE Research studies. Enrichment projects are test beds for establishing Alliances for Students with Disabilities in STEM and piloting the implementation of promising practices to advance students with disabilities completing associate, baccalaureate and graduate degrees in STEM and to increase the number of students with disabilities entering our nation’s science and engineering workforce or graduate STEM degree programs.  Dissemination projects communicate the research in disabilities education knowledge base, findings from RDE projects, and successful practices and products for advancing secondary and post-secondary students with disabilities in STEM.

• Proposals submitted to the Innovation through Institutional Integration (I³) track would request support for projects that enable faculty, administrators and others in institutions to think and act strategically about the creative integration of NSF-funded awards, with particular emphasis on awards managed through programs in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), but not limited to those awards.  For Fiscal Year 2010, proposals are being solicited in nine EHR programs that advance I³ goals:   CREST,  GSE, HBCU-UP, ITEST, LSAMP, MSP, Noyce, RDE, and TCUP.

FUNDING

Anticipated funding for new grants in all RDE program tracks is $3,000,000 in each year, and $5,500,000 for Innovation through Institutional Integration projects across multiple EHR programs, pending the availability of funds.

Alliance proposals may request up to a total of $3,000,000 for five years, pending availability of funds. Continued funding in years four and five is contingent on satisfactory performance and availability of funds. Continued funding will be reduced or eliminated if performance is not satisfactory. The proposal should include a budget for each year and a cumulative budget. If subawardee institutions are partnering with the proposing institution, then the proposal should include subawardee budgets for each year and a cummulative budget for each institution.

Research proposals may request up to $450,000 for up to three years pending availability of funds. The proposal should include a budget for each year and a cumulative budget. If subawardee institutions are partnering with the proposing institution, then the proposal should include subawardee budgets for each year and a cummulative budget for each institution.

Demonstration, Enrichment or Dissemination proposals may request up to $200,000 for up to two years pending availability of funds. The proposal should include a budget for each year and a cumulative budget.

Awards for Innovation through Institutional Integration projects will be made for durations of up to five years, with years four and five dependent on performance, in amounts of up to $250,000 per year, for a total of up to $1.25 million over 5 years. Innovation through Institutional Integration awards will be made as continuing grants.

NSF expects to fund 1-2 Alliance proposals, 5-8 Research proposals, 2-14 Demonstration, Enrichment or Dissemination proposals per year, and up to 10 Innovation through Institutional Integration awards in this competition, depending on the quality of the submissions and availability of funds.

The proposed start dates for Alliance, Research, and Demonstration, Enrichment or Dissemination proposals should be at least seven months from the full proposal deadline.

Funds should be budgeted for the principal investigator to attend a four-day grantee meeting, held in the Washington, D.C. area, each award year.

Office equipment for project staff are expected to come from other sources.

ELIGIBILITY
For the Alliance, Research and Demonstration, Enrichment or Dissemination tracks:  Non-profit, non-academic organizations: Independent museums, observatories, research labs, professional societies and similar organizations in the U.S. associated with educational or research activities, and universities and colleges: U.S. universities and two- and four-year colleges (including community colleges).

Eligibility for Innovation through Institutional Integration (I³) is limited to institutions of higher education (including two- and four-year colleges) accredited, and having a campus located in the US. If the proposal is exclusively for I³ STEM educational or related research, then all categories of proposers identified in the NSF Grant Proposal Guide are eligible to submit.

http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09508/nsf09508.htm