Research in Disabilities Education (RDE)

Research in Disabilities Education (RDE) is sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF). This opportunity supports mission-aligned projects and measurable outcomes.

NSF 08-527: Research in Disabilities Education (RDE) | NSF - U.S. National Science Foundation Archived funding opportunity This solicitation is archived. Important information for proposers and award recipients All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in the funding opportunity and in the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) and its supplements .

All NSF grants and cooperative agreements are subject to the applicable set of NSF award terms and conditions . NSF has updated its research security policies for NSF funded projects. NSF 08-527: Research in Disabilities Education (RDE) Posted: December 27, 2007 Download the solicitation (PDF, 0.

6mb) National Science Foundation Directorate for Education & Human Resources Division of Human Resource Development Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p. m.

proposer's local time): Innovation through Institutional Integration Regional Alliances for Persons with Disabilities in STEM Education (RDE-RAD) Demonstration, Enrichment, and Information Dissemination (RDE-DEI) Focused Research Initiatives (RDE-FRI) Program revisions include an extension of the maximum duration of the Demonstration, Enrichment, and Information Dissemination (RDE-DEI) awards to 24 months.

The budget limit for the RDE-DEI awards is now $150,000. Changes to the Focused Research Initiatives (RDE-FRI) awards include a revised budget limit of $375,000. A new track for Innovation through Institutional Integration (I 3 ) has been added.

I 3 challenges institutions to think strategically about the creative integration of NSF-funded awards and is itself an integrative, cross-cutting effort within the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR). For Fiscal Year 2008, proposals are being solicited in six EHR programs that advance I 3 goals: CREST, ITEST, MSP, Noyce, RDE, and TCUP.

All proposals submitted to I 3 through these programs have a common due date and will be reviewed in competition with one another. Awards will be made to institutions of higher education (including two-and four-year colleges). Given the focus on institutional integration, an institution may submit only one proposal to the I 3 competition in only one program.

Summary Of Program Requirements Research in Disabilities Education The RDE program seeks to broaden the participation and achievement of people with disabilities in all fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and associated professional careers. The RDE program has been funding this objective since 1994 under the prior name "Program for Persons with Disabilities."

Particular emphasis is placed on increasing the number of students with disabilities successfully completing quality associate, undergraduate and graduate degrees in STEM and increasing the number of students with disabilities entering the professional STEM workforce.

This goal is addressed by three RDE program tracks: Regional Alliances for Persons with Disabilities in STEM Education (RDE-RAD); Focused Research Initiatives (RDE-FRI); and Demonstration, Enrichment, and Information Dissemination projects (RDE-DEI).

Innovation through Institutional Integration (I 3 ) projects enable 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 2008, proposals are being solicited in six EHR programs that advance I 3 goals: CREST, ITEST, MSP, Noyce, RDE, and TCUP.

Cognizant Program Officer(s): Applicable Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): --- Education and Human Resources Anticipated Type of Award: Standard Grant or Continuing Grant or Cooperative Agreement Estimated Number of Awards: awards per year pending the availability of funds with a mix of Regional Alliances for Persons with Disabilities in STEM Education awards, Focused Research Initiatives awards, and Demonstration, Enrichment, and Information Dissemination awards.

Focused Research Initiatives awards will be up to 3 years. Demonstration, Enrichment, and Information Dissemination awards will be up to 2 years. Regional Alliances for Persons with Disabilities in STEM Education awards will be for up to 5 years, with years 4 and 5 depending on performance.

For the Innovation through Institutional Integration competition, up to 10 continuing awards in this cross-divisional effort will be made, pending availability of funds. Anticipated Funding Amount: in FY 2008 for new awards in all RDE program tracks pending availability of funds.

$10,000,000 over 5 years for Innovation through Institutional Integration projects which are being requested across multiple EHR programs, pending availability of funds.

Proposals may only be submitted by the following: For the RDE-RAD, RDE-FRI, and RDE-DEI 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 (I 3 ) is limited to institutions of higher education (including two- and four-year colleges) located and accredited in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members. None specified for the RDE-RAD, RDE-FRI, and RDE-DEI tracks.

The PI for an Innovation through Institutional Integration (I 3 ) proposal must be the university provost or equivalent, unless the proposal is exclusively for I 3 STEM educational or related research. Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: None Specified for the RDE-RAD, RDE-FRI, and RDE-DEI tracks.

For Fiscal Year 2008, proposals are being solicited in six EHR programs that advance I 3 goals: CREST, ITEST, MSP, Noyce, RDE, and TCUP. Given the focus on institutional integration, an institution may submit only one proposal to the I 3 competition in only one program. Limit on Number of Proposals per PI: Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions A.

Proposal Preparation Instructions Letters of Intent: Not Applicable Preliminary Proposal Submission: Not Applicable Full Proposals submitted via FastLane: NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide, Part I: Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) Guidelines apply. The complete text of the GPG is available electronically on the NSF website at: https://www. nsf.

gov/publications/pub_summ. jsp? ods_key=gpg .

Full Proposals submitted via Grants. gov: NSF Grants. gov Application Guide: A Guide for the Preparation and Submission of NSF Applications via Grants.

gov Guidelines apply (Note: The NSF Grants. gov Application Guide is available on the Grants. gov website and on the NSF website at: https://www.

nsf. gov/bfa/dias/policy/docs/grantsgovguide. pdf ) Cost Sharing Requirements: Cost Sharing is not required under this solicitation.

Indirect Cost (F&A) Limitations: Not applicable. Other Budgetary Limitations: Other budgetary limitations apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p. m. proposer's local time): Innovation through Institutional Integration Regional Alliances for Persons with Disabilities in STEM Education (RDE-RAD) Demonstration, Enrichment, and Information Dissemination (RDE-DEI) Focused Research Initiatives (RDE-FRI) Proposal Review Information Criteria National Science Board approved criteria.

Additional merit review considerations apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information. Award Administration Information Additional award conditions apply.

Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information. Additional reporting requirements apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

The Division of Human Resource Development (HRD) serves as the focal point for NSF’s agency-wide commitment to broadening the participation of all individuals in STEM. HRD programs reflect NSF's commitment to developing the resources of the STEM community as a whole and ensuring an adequately trained research and development workforce.

To meet the challenges presented by the nation's increasing needs in STEM, the RDE program supports efforts to increase the success of people with disabilities in STEM education pathways and professional careers.

More broadly, HRD programs, including the RDE program, the Research on Gender in Science and Engineering program (GSE), the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP), Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP), the Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST), the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP), the Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP), and ADVANCE: Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers provide coordinated and integrated approaches to developing and leveraging individual talents and institutional infrastructures.

Managed synergistically, these programs enable successful transitions from high school to associate and baccalaureate-level study and from undergraduate STEM programs to the attainment of graduate degrees. Such efforts serve to increase the number of underrepresented minorities, women, and persons with disabilities well prepared for the STEM workforce of the future.

Innovation through Institutional Integration (I 3 ) projects enable 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 2008, proposals are being solicited in six EHR programs that advance I 3 goals: CREST, ITEST, MSP, Noyce, RDE, and TCUP. The Research in Disabilities Education program seeks to broaden the participation and achievement of people with disabilities in all fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Particular emphasis is placed on increasing the number of students with disabilities who successfully complete quality associate, undergraduate and graduate degrees in STEM and increasing the number of students with disabilities entering the professional STEM workforce.

These two primary goals are addressed when students with disabilities participate in STEM activities and courses at the middle school, high school, undergraduate and graduate levels; and when students with disabilities demonstrate improved academic performance in STEM courses and activities.

The full involvement of students with disabilities in STEM courses and activities requires attention to the following RDE program objectives: Increasing public awareness and recognition of the capabilities and strengths of people with disabilities in STEM fields with evidence-based information that demonstrates success; Developing, promoting and evaluating the use of accessible and appropriate assistive technologies, instructional materials and learning resources for students with disabilities in STEM and for STEM professionals; Creating and implementing new STEM learning methods and teaching pedagogy, that incorporate universal design learning approaches, to improve the engagement and performance of students with disabilities in STEM coursework and lead to student success in STEM; Employing proven practices, such as mentoring, to support the success of students with disabilities in STEM academic courses, critical academic junctures, research and industry internships and externships, and transitions to the STEM workforce.

This solicitation requests proposals for new projects in each of the three RDE program tracks: The Regional Alliances for Persons with Disabilities in STEM Education track; The Focused Research Initiatives track; and The Demonstration, Enrichment, and Information Dissemination track.

This solicitation also requests proposals for new projects in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources track: Innovation through Institutional Integration.

Proposals that emphasize increasing the number of students with disabilities who successfully complete quality associate, undergraduate and graduate degrees in STEM and/or increasing the number of students with disabilities entering the professional STEM workforce are strongly encouraged.

Proposals from minority-serving institutions, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities are especially encouraged. Additionally, proposals are encouraged from institutions that primarily serve students with disabilities, or institutions that enroll a high number of students with disabilities.

It is strongly recommended that the budget and timeline estimates submitted be reasonable for the proposed scale and scope of work. Proposals that significantly differ from the recommended duration or amount of funding stipulated in this solicitation may be returned without review. All proposals should clearly describe the role of the primary institution and all partner organizations, and should specify proposed managerial arrangements.

Partner institutions may submit collaborative proposals with the lead institution or the lead institution may submit a non-collaborative proposal with partner institutions listed as subawards, as appropriate. All proposals should clearly address the appropriate RDE program goal(s) and associated objective(s), as well as the specific RDE-RAD, RDE-FRI or RDE-DEI program track goals, objectives and targets.

RDE-RAD proposals represent comprehensive, multidisciplinary networks that employ proven practices to increase the quality and the quantity of students with disabilities completing post-secondary STEM degrees and entering our nation’s workforce. RDE-RAD projects are networks established by universities and colleges with linkages throughout academia and in partnership with industry, government, and national research laboratories.

Academic partnerships include 2-year and 4-year institutions as well as pre-college educational entities. The primary goals of a RDE-RAD project are to increase the quantity and quality of students with disabilities receiving associate, baccalaureate and graduate degrees in STEM disciplines and entering the STEM workforce.

To achieve these goals RDE-RAD projects address the following objectives: To successfully employ evidenced-based practices to provide students with disabilities comprehensive STEM educational and research experiences; To provide high quality support services for student recruitment and retention in STEM degree programs; and To offer proven career-development activities and support for students to successfully manage critical academic junctures and transition to the STEM workforce.

RDE-RAD projects must demonstrate short-term and long-term increases in the numbers of undergraduate and graduate STEM students with disabilities completing degrees and entering the STEM workforce. RDE-RAD projects also address the promise of long-term change in the production of new doctoral degree students with disabilities, and their entrance into productive faculty or research careers.

Reporting data on the current number of students with disabilities enrolled in STEM degree programs at the partner institutions, and the number of students with disabilities who have recently completed STEM degrees, will provide a baseline for proposers to measure these increases.

The strategy for implementing this project to create a unified program of change must be clear and focused as the RDE-RADs represent a substantial investment of time (up to five years) and funding (up to $3,000,000).

The RDE-RAD projects address the following targets: Aggregate STEM baccalaureate production for students with disabilities at the awardee and partner institutions; Attention to individual student transitions from high school to undergraduate STEM degree programs at the awardee and partner institutions; Retention and progression of students with disabilities in STEM baccalaureate degrees at the awardee and partner institutions; Aggregation of students with disabilities progressing to STEM graduate school entry at and from the awardee and partner institutions; Institutionalizing, disseminating and promoting the replication of strategies and collaborative approaches proven successful to transition high school students with disabilities to undergraduate STEM degree programs, and to transition undergraduate STEM students with disabilities to graduate STEM programs; Aggregration of students with disabilities progressing to the STEM workforce from awardee and partner institutions; and Institutionalizing, disseminating and promoting the replication of strategies and collaborative approaches proven successful to transition undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities from STEM degree programs to the STEM workforce.

The structure and content of proposed projects should be governed by organizational capabilities of the primary institution and partner alliance members, strategies for the formation of the alliance, and characteristics of specific localities. Project specifics may encompass a wide variety of activities.

The project activities must form a feasible, logical, comprehensive and unified program of change focused upon improving the educational experiences of students with disabilities and contributing to student completion of STEM degrees.

While the primary focus of a RAD project is at the undergraduate level, projects must include activities that affect student advancement through the critical transition points during STEM education: from high school to college, between 2- and 4-year colleges, from undergraduate study to the workplace, from undergraduate to graduate school, and from graduate school to industry or academia.

These activities allow the RAD project to build linkages between the various sectors of the STEM community and the educational process to increase the flow of students, their academic advancement rate, and degree completion.

Whether proposers choice to submit an alliance proposal that is a multidisciplinary project at a single institution, or multidisciplinary projects at multiple universities, the proposal must plan for successful project coordination and for generating meaningful and significant project outcomes.

When selecting project partners for an alliance proposers may want to consider the results from a series of retrospective studies of NSF projects indicating that multidisciplinary projects at a single institution, in comparison to multi-university projects, are better coordinated and more successful with greater project outcomes (Cummings, J. N. , Kiesler, S.

(2005), Collaborative Research Across Disciplinary and Organizational Boundaries, Social Studies of Science, 35 (5), 703-722; and Cummings, J. N. , Kiesler, S.

(forthcoming), Coordination Costs and Project Outcomes in Multi-University Collaborations, Research Policy). The RDE-RAD track is characteristically different from the other two RDE program tracks. RDE-RAD proposed projects are encouraged to address the following: The scope of implementation services for students with disabilities in STEM is clear and specific.

There is a “unified program for change” developed from the latest knowledge about proven practices for increasing the number of students with disabilities completing STEM courses and degrees at the middle school, high school, college and/or graduate school levels, and/or transitioning into the STEM workforce.

The program takes advantage of existing evidenced-based practices to provide students with disabilities comprehensive STEM educational and research experiences; established high quality support services for student recruitment and retention in STEM degree programs; and proven career-development activities and support for students to successfully manage critical academic junctures and transition to the STEM workforce.

These should already be identified and first year project activities should not involve researching promising practices. The selected models or approaches that are promoted are based on evidence of effectiveness or success, especially for students with disabilities, and strong evidence is cited. The project team includes experts who are research producers and education practitioners in disability and STEM.

The expert credentials for peer-reviewed research and experience with programs, materials, or approaches are clear and relevant. The proposal indicates awareness of the community and the region to be reached, its unique characteristics, and special opportunities for cooperation and leverage. There is a strong mandate to communicate information to a broad public community.

In addition, there should be plans to network with other educational improvement efforts, education researchers and professional associations for the purposes of outreach and public dissemination. The scale of potential impact is proportional to the funding level.

The proposal includes plans for an NSF visit to the project in the first year of the award and a mid-point panel review of the project’s progress in the third year of the award that will contribute to the NSF’s decisions regarding continued annual funding for the fourth and fifth year of the proposed project.

The proposal includes rigorous formative and summative project evaluation components (refer to section G: PROJECT EVALUATION for additional information).

The RDE-FRI track includes investigations that address the following track goals: Developing, promoting and evaluating the use of accessible and appropriate assistive technologies, instructional materials and learning resources for students with disabilities in STEM and for STEM professionals; and Creating and implementing new STEM learning methods and teaching pedagogy, that incorporate universal design learning approaches, to improve the engagement and performance of students with disabilities in STEM coursework and lead to student success in STEM.

RDE-FRI proposals include investigations of effective pedagogical methods, teaching and learning styles, and supportive practices for people with disabilities in STEM education and careers; research projects that develop specific and utilitarian assistive technologies to help students with disabilities access STEM educational experiences; and evidence-based research studies that contribute to the RDE knowledge base by addressing disability-related differences, including strengths, in STEM learning and in educational and pre-professional experiences that affect student interest, performance and career choice.

Additional areas for focused research include, but are not limited to, the following: Discovering and describing disability-based differences and preferences in learning STEM in K-16 and the factors affecting interest, performance, and choice of STEM study and careers; Discovering and describing how experiences and interactions in informal and formal educational settings inhibit or encourage interest and performance of students in STEM based on disability; Increasing the knowledge about organizational models that lead to more equitable and inviting STEM educational environments in K-16 for students with disabilities; Increasing the knowledge of the process of institutional change required to achieve more equitable and inviting STEM educational environments in K-16 for students with disabilities.

FRI proposals must address the immediate educational impact of applying the research outcomes given the relative time for project completion of up to 3 years and an associated budget of up to $375,000. Successful proposals to the RDE-FRI competition will incorporate relevant advances in research methodologies and theoretical models.

They should capitalize on the development of new instrumental, computational, or statistical methods, models, and tools of observation and analysis.

According to a recent National Research Council report educational research projects should: Pose significant questions that can be investigated empirically; Link relevant research to theory; Use methods that permit direct investigation of the questions posed; Provide a coherent and explicit chain of reasoning; Replicate and generalize across studies; and Disclose research to encourage professional scrutiny and critique.

(National Research Council. (2002). Scientific research in education.

Committee on Scientific Principles for Education Research. Shavelson, RJ; Towne, L, (Eds.) Center for Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education.

Washington, DC: National Academy Press) Therefore, all RDE-FRI research proposals should present the disciplinary and conceptual framework for the study. They should include a discussion of the theory or theories grounding the research and specify testable hypotheses.

The proposal should discuss in detail the methods used to test the hypotheses, and if a population sample is used, this should be described along with the rationale for sample selection, and the project's access to the sample population.

The proposal should address whether the design is premised on special needs and interests due to educational level, race, ethnicity, economic status, or gender, in addition to disability, and to what extent data will be disaggregated for multiple characteristics. The expected study results should be expected to be of sufficient significance to merit peer-review and publication.

The RDE program supports efforts to search for new and innovative assistive technologies to facilitate student success in STEM learning and research activities. Projects that propose research and development of assistive technologies must integrate the technology into the STEM learning activities of students with disabilities.

Proposals should address evaluation of the effectiveness of the assistive technologies used in the project with recommendations for further improvement and application of universal design principles, in addition to project evaluation activities. RDE-FRI proposals should address communicating findings to a national audience, particularly to education practitioners.

It is important to show that the investigator is aware of appropriate channels -- specific peer-reviewed journals, publications, web sites, professional association conferences -- and is committed (including allocating resources) to ensure the investment in the project leads to this contribution and that peers in the community will benefit.

RDE-FRI proposals should include rigorous formative and summative project evaluation components (refer to section G: PROJECT EVALUATION for additional information).

DEMONSTRATION, ENRICHMENT AND DISSEMINATION The RDE-DEI track includes projects that address the following track goals: Increasing public awareness and recognition of the capabilities and strengths of people with disabilities in STEM fields by disseminating evidence-based information that demonstrates success; Developing, promoting, evaluating and disseminating the use of accessible and appropriate assistive technologies, and the use of instructional materials and learning resources, for students with disabilities in STEM and for STEM professionals; Creating, implementing and disseminating new STEM learning methods and teaching pedagogy, that incorporate universal design learning approaches, to improve the engagement and performance of students with disabilities in STEM coursework and lead to student success in STEM; Employing and disseminating proven practices, such as mentoring, to support the success of students with disabilities in STEM academic courses, critical academic junctures, research and industry internships and externships, and transitions to the STEM workforce.

The RDE-DEI track includes projects that effectively disseminate information about products, pedagogical approaches, teaching and learning practices, and research for broadening the participation of people with disabilities in STEM fields. Demonstration projects focus on initial pilot, or proof-of-concept, research studies or activities to institutionalize accessible products and STEM educational materials.

Enrichment projects enhance STEM learning experiences for students with disabilities to promote the success of students in STEM education fields. RDE-DEI project proposals should address strategies and timelines for achievement of project goals given a duration of up to 24 months and given a budget of up to $150,000. RDE-DEI proposals should address communicating findings to a national audience, particularly to education practitioners.

It is important to show that the investigator is aware of appropriate channels -- specific peer-reviewed journals, publications, web sites, professional association conferences -- and is committed (including allocating resources) to make sure that the investment in the project leads to this contribution and that peers in the community will benefit.

RDE-FRI proposals should include rigorous formative and summative project evaluation components (refer to section G: PROJECT EVALUATION for additional information). Creativity, connectivity, integration, and synergy are keys to innovation and to developing human and institutional capacity to full potential.

In both research and education, it is the forging of new links between ideas or methodologies that were previously disparate that frequently paves the way for innovation.

When institutions optimize the benefits to be derived from the creative integration of intellectual perspectives or related domains of work, they create important opportunities for making progress on some of the most important scientific, technological, and educational challenges of our time.

On individual campuses across the nation, for example, significant synergistic potential can be ignited when scholars and educators in related disciplines work together. Similarly, NSF awardees can harness new synergies by working together with other NSF-funded projects on their own campus or in close geographic proximity.

Innovation through Institutional Integration challenges institutions to think strategically about the creative integration of NSF-funded awards towards a whole that exceeds the sum of its parts.

Although there is particular emphasis in I 3 on awards managed by programs in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), institutional integration is not limited only to EHR awards but can include other NSF awards with a STEM educational focus.

Two or more institutions in geographic proximity might, for example, partner to bridge existing NSF-funded awards on their campuses (e.g., RDE, IGERT, LSAMP, ATE, CREST, REU) to broaden participation in STEM fields and enhance undergraduate research opportunities.

Additional connections might be made internationally with faculty or students outside the United States who would add their considerable intellectual and cultural perspectives.

As another example, an institution might implement new policies, procedures, or mechanisms that encourage and value synergistic efforts among existing NSF-funded awards (e.g., GK-12, MSP, Noyce, REESE, DRK-12) and with other institutional units to better understand and enhance seamlessness across critical educational junctures, perhaps infusing innovative approaches to cyber-learning.

This effort has the following interrelated goals: Increase synergy and collaboration across NSF-funded projects and within/between institutions, towards an educational environment where artificial boundaries are significantly reduced and the student experience is more fully integrated; Expand and deepen the footprints of NSF-funded projects and enhance their sustainability; Promote innovative programming, policies, and practices to encourage the integration of STEM research and education; Provide additional avenues to broaden participation by those underserved in STEM research and education, especially underrepresented minorities, women, and persons of disabilities; attend to seamless transitions across critical educational junctures; and/or provide more effectively for a globally engaged workforce; and Encourage STEM educational or related research in domains that hold promise for promoting intra- or inter-institutional integration and broader impacts.

Excellence or its potential exists everywhere, throughout the nation and in all types and sizes of institutions of higher education. Proposals that facilitate either (a) inter-institutional or (b) intra-institutional efforts are encouraged.

Proposals may be submitted by (a) a single institution to address intra-institutional goals only or (b) an institution acting on behalf of an institutional partnership to address inter-institutional goals. Proposals are expected to incorporate a depth and quality of creative, coherent, and strategic actions that extend beyond commonplace approaches to normal institutional operations.

Proposals may also be submitted for research on institutional integration, commensurate with the goals above. Innovation through Institutional Integration (I 3 ) is a cross-divisional effort in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR). For Fiscal Year 2008, proposals are being solicited in six EHR programs that advance I 3 goals: CREST, ITEST, MSP, Noyce, RDE, and TCUP.

All proposals submitted to I 3 through these programs have a common due date and will be reviewed in competition with one another. All RDE-RAD, RDE-FRI and RDE-DEI proposals should explore the use of benchmarks, indicators, logic models, roadmaps or other formative evaluative methods to document progress toward goals, objectives and outcomes defined in the proposal.

All projects are expected to track and annually report in detail their accomplishment of proposed targets for broader impacts and intellectual merit. The budget MUST include resources for project evaluation and assessment. Process, impact and outcome measures should be defined by the project and should rely on an appropriate mix of qualitative and quantitative measures.

If a project includes the use of a research design to investigate an intervention component then the project is encouraged to use experimental and quasi-experimental designs that may include control, treatment or comparison groups. Project evaluation should focus on the strategic impacts of project activities. Strategic impacts are lasting outcomes attributable to the project.

Anticipated strategic impacts should be specific, realistic, measurable, and achievable through the project’s research, educational activities and products.

Examples of such impacts include: Gains in knowledge or acquisition of new skills (e.g., target or treatment group has increased comprehension of specific concepts); Changes in behavior (e.g., adoption of new institutional policies and practices related to disability; use of new products, teaching methods and/or technologies in STEM); and Changes in attitude or affect (e.g., survey results indicating greater interest in disability equitable and inclusive STEM education practices); and Changes in the student success (e.g., student course completion and academic performance; student degree retention and degree completion).

Evaluation plans should be appropriate for the scope of the project. The use of external evaluators is strongly advised and all evaluations should be conducted by an evaluator with some independence from the project. Proposals should include a plan to broadly disseminate information about the project, including aspects that are found to be effective and ineffective.

The following references may be helpful in designing an evaluation plan: The 2002 User-Friendly Handbook for Project Evaluation (NSF 02-057) (https://www. nsf. gov/pubs/2002/nsf02057/start.

htm). FOOTPRINTS: Strategies for Non-Traditional Program Evaluation (NSF 94-51) ( http://nsf. gov/pubs/1995/nsf9541/index.

jsp ). Online Evaluation Resource Library ( http://oerl. sri.

com ). Field-tested Learning Assessment Guide (FLAG) ( http://www. wcer.

wisc. edu/nise/CL1/flag ). Evaluation Handbook, W.

K. Kellogg Foundation ( http://www. wkkf.

org/Pubs/Tools/Evaluation/Pub770. pdf ). Measuring the overall effectiveness of the NSF’s Research in Disabilities Education