Discovery Research K 12 | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) is a discretionary grant opportunity focused on improving STEM learning and teaching across the preK-12 landscape. It supports research-driven projects intended to strengthen outcomes for students while also benefiting teachers, school leaders, and even parents who influence learning. The core expectation is that every project is organized around a clear research question or hypothesis tied to a meaningful need in preK-12 STEM education, rather than being purely a curriculum development or implementation effort without a strong research component.

DRK-12 places special emphasis on studying innovative resources, models, and tools across their full life cycle, including how they are designed, tested, implemented in real settings, evaluated for effectiveness, and expanded or scaled beyond a single classroom or district. The program is designed to support work that responds to immediate challenges in STEM education, but it also welcomes proposals that anticipate major shifts in how schooling may function in the future. In practice, this means NSF is looking for projects that do not just fine-tune existing approaches, but also question common assumptions about how students learn STEM, how teachers teach it, and how systems can better support both.

A key feature of the solicitation is its four research strands: Assessment, Learning, Teaching, and Scale-up. Projects may concentrate on one strand, but the overall goal is to generate usable, evidence-based outcomes such as scalable instructional tools, assessments, professional learning models, or learning technologies, alongside stronger contributions to research knowledge about STEM learning and teaching. DRK-12 also signals a strong interest in work that can help identify and cultivate the next generation of STEM innovators, reflecting a broader national priority to build long-term STEM capacity.

The program expects projects to be grounded in learning theory and informed by prior research and development, not built from scratch without justification. It also stresses relevance to an increasingly diverse student population and alignment with national, state, or discipline-specific priorities. While DRK-12 is mainly concerned with formal education (schools, classrooms, and standard instructional time), it explicitly recognizes that learning also happens in informal and out-of-school environments. Applicants are encouraged to draw on what is known about learning in those settings when it strengthens the proposed research and design.

Technology is another central theme. DRK-12 acknowledges that students and STEM professionals already use powerful technologies in everyday life, and that emerging tools and new ways of accessing information are reshaping society and the economy. As a result, many competitive projects are likely to explore technology-enabled approaches that can transform STEM teaching and learning, not just digitize traditional materials. At the same time, the program highlights the importance of excellent teaching as a necessary driver of STEM improvement. Even though the Teaching strand focuses directly on teacher education resources and their impacts on student learning, proposals in other strands can also include teacher supports or professional development when it is clearly connected to improved student outcomes. Similarly, projects in the Learning strand may include development of assessments when those measures are essential to evaluating project goals.

DRK-12 allows projects that focus deeply on a single STEM discipline or concept as well as projects that integrate across disciplines, grade levels, or learning contexts. Regardless of structure, proposals must show that the targeted STEM content is important both from the standpoint of the discipline and from what is known about how people learn. For larger, full research and development efforts, NSF sets an expectation that results or products will be disseminated and adopted beyond the sites directly funded by the grant, meaning applicants should think early about scalability, usability, and pathways to broader uptake.

Administratively, this opportunity is NSF Funding Opportunity Number 11-588 (NSF Publication 11-588) under CFDA 47.076 (Education and Human Resources). It is a grant program with no cost sharing or matching requirement and is broadly open to eligible applicants (listed as unrestricted, subject to any specific eligibility clarifications in the full solicitation). NSF anticipated around 45 awards from an estimated total funding amount of $40,000,000. Key dates included required letters of intent (historically listed as November 17, 2011 and October 4, 2012) and full proposal deadlines (January 10, 2012 and December 6, 2012), with the final closing date shown as December 6, 2012. For access issues, the notice directs applicants to NSF Grants.gov support at grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov.

Browse more opportunities from the same agency: National Science Foundation

Browse more opportunities from the same category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development

Next opportunity: Software Infrastructure for Sustained Innovation

Previous opportunity: Cyberlearning Transforming Education

USGrants.org Applicant Portal:

Are you interested in learning about about how to apply for this government funding opportunity? You can create a free applicant account and receive instant access to our applicant portal that many business owners like you have benefited from.

Apply for 11 588

 

[Watch] how do funding administrators access proposals?

Applicants also applied for:

Applicants who have applied for this opportunity (11 588) also looked into and applied for these:

 

Grant application guides and resources

It is always free to apply for government grants. However the process may be very complex depending on the funding opportunity you are applying for. Let us help you!

Apply for Grants

 

 

Premium leads for funding administrators, grant writers, and loan issuers

Thousands of people visit our website for their funding needs every day. When a user creates a grant proposal and files for submission, we pass the information on to funding administrators, grant writers, and government loan issuers.

If you manage government grant programs, provide grant writing services, or issue personal or government loans, we can help you reach your audience.

Subscribe to Leads

 

Request more information:

Would you like to learn more about this funding opportunity, similar opportunities to "11 588", eligibility, application service, and/or application tips? Submit an inquiry below:

Don't forget to subscribe to our grant alerts mailing list to receive weekly alerts on new and updated grant funding opportunities like this one in your email.