Computer Science for All: Research and RPPs

Overview

A key goal of this program is to provide all U.S. students with the opportunity to participate in computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) education in their schools at the preK-12 levels. CT refers to the thought processes involved in formulating problems and their solutions in such a way that the solutions can be effectively carried out by an information-processing agent (usually a computer). CT activities do not require the presence of a computing tool, but involve the requisite reasoning needed to capitalize on the use of computational tools. CS, as used in this solicitation, includes CT but also the broad range of understandings, competencies, and skills needed to apply computation in our digital world. It includes topics of problem specification and representation; algorithm development; software design, programming, and debugging; the Internet and networking; big data; cybersecurity; and application across a wide range of disciplines, including the associated societal impact and ethical considerations. This solicitation focuses on CS and CT instruction, as distinct from the mere use of computers or the use of common computational tools such as word processors or video editing or presentation software. The ability to use such tools is often referred to as computational literacy. This solicitation supports education beyond computational literacy.

This program supports (1) researcher-practitioner partnerships (RPPs) and (2) research with the goal of building knowledge from research and development to support efforts that aim to provide opportunities for all students to participate in CS and CT formal STEM learning at the pre-k, elementary, middle, and high school grade levels. Proposals will be funded in four “strands” that foster design, implementation at scale, and/or research: 

RPP Strands: 

• For the High School Strand, the focus is on preparing and supporting teachers to teach rigorous CS courses; 
• For the PreK-8 Strand, the focus is on designing, developing, and piloting instructional materials that integrate CS and CT into preK-8 classrooms; 
• For preK-12 or preK-14 Pathways Strand, the focus is on designing pathways that support school districts in developing policies and supports for incorporating CS and CT across all grades and potentially into introductory levels at community or four-year colleges and universities.

Research Strand:
 For the Research Strand, the focus is on building strategically instrumental, or "high leverage" knowledge about the learning and teaching of introductory computer science to support key CS and CT understandings and abilities for all students.

A proposal can be submitted to only one strand, and that strand must be designated in the first line of the Project Summary.

Proposal size classes: 
Proposals in the RPP and Research Strands may be submitted in the following size classes:

• Small RPP proposals (maximum of $300,000 for up to 2 years) are designed to support the initial steps in establishing a strong and well-integrated RPP team that could successfully compete for a Medium or Large proposal in the near future. 
• Medium RPP proposals (maximum of $1,000,000 for up to 3 years) are designed to support the modest scaling of a promising approach by a welldefined RPP team. 
• Large RPP proposals (maximum of $2,000,000 for up to 4 years) are designed to support the widespread scaling of an evidence-based approach by a RPP team that builds on prior collaborations. 
• Research proposals (maximum of $500,000 for up to 3 years) are designed to support research projects.