A National Conference to Build a K-12 Quantum Education Ecosystem and Advance the Quantum Workforce Pipeline

Quantum information science and technology (QIST) is rapidly transforming sensing, computing, communications, and national security, yet the educational pipeline feeding the quantum workforce remains largely underdeveloped. No existing conferences center K-12 educators as their primary audience or address their unique pedagogical needs, curricular constraints, and professional development goals. This project will convene the first national summit dedicated exclusively to K-12 quantum education, bringing together educators, curriculum developers, researchers, policymakers, and industry partners to accelerate the development of a coherent and rigorous K-12 quantum education ecosystem. By engaging, learning from, and impacting more than 100 educators and stakeholders who collectively serve thousands of K-12 students, the project will support the goals of the National Quantum Initiative Act. It will strengthen the early-stage quantum workforce pipeline while advancing curriculum development, research, and cross-sector collaboration. A hybrid in-person and virtual format, along with travel scholarships that will be provided to 40+ educators, will extend the conference's reach to participants regardless of geography or travel constraints. Existing networks and partnerships with organizations, including the Expanding Computing Education Pathways (ECEP) Alliance and Quantum for All, as well as industry partnerships such as the National Security Innovation Council, ORCA Computing, and Texas Blockchain Council, will provide recruitment avenues and speakers to expand national access and input. The summit's five thematic strands - Foundations, Pedagogy, Curriculum Integration, Pathways, and Policy and Ecosystem - will be explored through keynote addresses, panel discussions, and concurrent breakout sessions. Session proposals will be solicited through an open call and evaluated by a rubric-based review committee of content experts assessing quality, engagement, standards alignment, and best practices. A rigorous mixed-methods evaluation will assess conference implementation, participant outcomes, and broader impacts through three data collection methods: document and data reviews of registration, attendance, and conference materials; a post-conference survey administered to all attendees measuring changes in their content knowledge, pedagogical confidence, and awareness of quantum post-secondary and career pathways; and a structured educator focus group gathering qualitative data on participant experience, community-building outcomes, and recommendations for future convenings. Quantitative survey data will be analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with subgroup analysis by participant role; qualitative data from open-ended survey items and focus groups will undergo thematic coding. A comprehensive evaluation report will be published alongside conference proceedings on an open-source institutional repository, providing a permanent public record of the K-12 quantum education landscape, participant outcomes, and evidence-based recommendations for sustaining and scaling these efforts nationally. This project was funded by the STEM K-12 program, which supports fundamental, applied, and translational research on STEM learning in both formal K-12 education and informal learning environments. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.