Computing Education for the 21st Century
The next competition is expected to have a March 2014 deadline. Stations can reference the Fiscal Year 2013 solicitation for more detailed competition information.
Grant: Computing Education for the 21st Century (CE21)
Agency: National Science Foundation
Division: Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering
Deadline: This competition is closed. The deadline was April 2, 2013.
Description: The Computing Education for the 21st Century (CE21) program aims to build a computationally savvy 21 century workforce through its efforts to address the interrelated issues of underproduction, underrepresentation and lack of a K-12 presence. Innovations in computing and more broadly, information technology (IT), drive our economy, underlie many new advances in science and engineering and contribute to our national security. However, student interest in computing has declined dramatically over the last decade. The CE21 program seeks to reverse this trend by engaging larger numbers of students, teachers and educators in computing education and learning at earlier stages in the education pipeline.
CE21 projects will contribute to our understanding of how diverse student populations are engaged and retained in computing, learn its fundamental concepts and develop computational competencies that position them to contribute to an increasingly computationally-empowered workforce.
CE21 supports efforts in these three tracks:
- Computing Education Research (CER) proposals aim to develop an educational research base for computing.
- CS 10K proposals aim to develop the knowledge base needed to catalyze the CS 10K effort to have rigorous academic curricula incorporated into computing courses in 10,000 high schools, taught by 10,000 well trained teachers.
- Broadening Participation (BP) proposals aim to develop and assess small-scale interventions to engage and retain students from underrepresented groups.
Fit for public broadcasting: Stations are encouraged to partner with eligible institutions of higher education in their efforts aimed at teacher professional development, workforce training and educational outreach. This is a field where stations have not only a history of successful partnership, but continue to participate in even greater community involvement.
This is a program that has ample room for station partnership. For example, the “FRABJOUS” project, funded in 2011, was a collaborative effort through the University of California, Berkeley and the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. FRABJOUS establishes a new Advanced Placement computing course, and participates in tool and materials development, teacher professional development via workshops, peer-to-peer, and online support and other like-minded projects. Other projects funded through the CE21 program are found on the NSF website.
Eligibility: Nonprofits focused on educational or research activities, universities and colleges, state education offices and local school districts are encouraged to apply. A full list of eligibility categories is identified in the Grant Proposal Guide, Chapter I, Section E.
Anticipated funding: Approximately $13 million will be made available in FY13, to support between 13-20 awards. CER and BP projects will be funded at a level up to $600,000 over three years. CS 10K projects will be funded at a level of $1 million over three years.
How to apply: Applicants should prepare to submit applications via Grants.gov or the NSF FastLane system. Instructions for both systems can be found within this Program Notice, Chapter V, Section A. Please note, all collaborative proposals submitted as separate submissions from multiple organizations must be submitted via the NSF FastLane system. Guidelines on using the FastLane system can be found within the NSF Grant Proposal Guide.
Resources:
Program notice
Program website
Frequently asked questions
Search for previous awards
Map of recent awards in this program
