Grants & Funding Sources
Small requests can lead to major acquisitions. Size is irrelevant when it comes to seeking grant assistance. One has only to observe the success of the Olga Korbuts, Scott Hamiltons, and David Ecksteins of this world to realize that it is the “size of the fight in the dog” that determines outcomes. Small requests can lead to major acquisitions over time, and persistence is a hallmark of those who ultimately succeed. Some of the grant sources listed offer limited funds, but all are devoted to improving educational delivery systems.
Feds $650M innovation fund
Applications for $650 million in new federal grants that encourage school innovation will be available in early 2010 and due in the spring, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) said in a conference call with reporters Oct. 6. The department estimates that all money under the program will be committed by Sept. 30, 2010.
Under the proposed priorities, grants would be awarded in three categories:
• Scale-up Grants: The largest possible grant category is focused on programs and practices with the potential to reach hundreds of thousands of students. Applicants must have a strong base of evidence that their program has had a significant effect on improving student achievement. Awards in this category can be as much as $50 million.
• Validation Grants: These are for existing, promising programs that have good evidence of their impact and are ready to improve their evidence base while expanding within their own and other communities. Grants of up to $30 million are possible in this category.
• Development Grants: The smallest grant level, designed to support new and high-potential practices whose impact should be studied further. This category awards grants of up to $5 million.
“We’re looking to drive reform, reward excellence, and dramatically improve our nation’s schools,” Duncan said.
Grant recipients will be required to match 20 percent of federal funds with public or private dollars. Successful applicants will need to demonstrate how their programs will be sustainable after their federal grants are completed
The $650 million i3 program will award grants in three categories, with winning applications proposing scalable programs that target specific needs such as early learning and decreasing the dropout rate.
“We’re making an unprecedented investment in cutting-edge ideas that will produce the next generation of school reforms,” said U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. “The i3 competition will provide seed money for fresh ideas, help grow promising programs with a good track record, and scale up programs with proven results to a national level.”
Individual school districts or groups of districts can apply for the i3 grants, and entrepreneurial nonprofits can join with school districts to submit applications. Colleges and universities, companies, and other stakeholders can be supporters of the projects.
Applicants must demonstrate their previous success in closing achievement gaps, improving student progress toward proficiency, increasing graduation rates, or recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers and principals.
Dominion Foundation
The funding cycle is year-round and support is directed toward innovative educational curricula. Any of the Synergistic Learning Systems would fit the criteria described in this group’s brochure.
More information: http://www.dom.com/about/community/foundation/index.jsp
Humana Foundation
The aim is to develop tools to improve literacy and increase the use of technology.
More information: http://www.humanafoundation.org/
AT&T Foundation
The AT&T Foundation supports concepts that improve student achievement and increase the use of new technologies. Their belief is that math, science, and technology are the basic avenues to success in this emerging global economy. The passage of the Perkins Act opens a floodgate of requests to this foundation. Technology is the “paradigm” of this decade.
More information: http://www.att.com/gen/corporate-citizenship?pid=7742
Abington Foundation
This foundation provides gifts for general development of educational programs.
More information: www.fmscleveland.com/abington
OMNOVA Solutions Foundation
Special emphasis is placed on programs that develop skills for readiness that will contribute to future job
success.
More information: omnova.com/about/community/community.aspx
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
This foundation desires to provide grants for programs that have scientific impact. The group is primarily concerned with targeted results.
More information:www.moore.org
William T. Grant Foundation
Improving youth skills and relationships is the goal of this foundation.
This is achieved through the implementation of quality systems and programs.
More information:wtgrantfoundation.org/
Carnegie Foundation
This foundation aims to stimulate scientific literacy and emphasizes the importance of coherent communication and eagerness to challenge students with advanced curricular materials.
More information:http://www.carnegie.org/
Corning Foundation
Corning supports elementary and secondary education in 13 states and the District of Columbia. The foundation would be a great source as it is heavily concerned with instructional literacy projects.
More information: http://www.corning.com/inside_corning/foundation.asp
Dekko Foundation
This foundation favors requests from the states of Alabama, Indiana, and Iowa. Dekko, too, favors early-learning and after-school programs. It is geared for preschool through age 18. The mission of any proposal must be strong and futuristic. Educational lexicon promotes robotics and early learning products as solutions to that end.
More information: http://www.dekkofoundation.org
William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
Advancing technology and assisting Hispanic, disadvantaged, and underserved students are the primary aims of this foundation.
More information: http://www.hewlett.org
Motorola Innovation Generation GrantsAs Motorola develops breakthrough technologies, The Innovation Generation Grants support breakthrough programs that use innovative approaches to develop interest in technology-related fields while strengthening leadership and problem-solving skills.
More information: http://www.motorola.com/content.jsp?globalObjectID=8153
Poor U.S. Math Scores Don’t Add Up
“Change is a moral imperative for U.S. schools,” says Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, the first woman to lead the National Governors Association. The NGA notes that less than two-fifths of American fourth- and eighth-grade students performed at or above grade level in math and science. Eighth graders ranked 27th in the world in math scores.
Therefore, as part of the NGA strategy, the states will focus on improving the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math. The overall objective will be to stimulate student achievement and grow a strong workforce in emerging occupations. This goal dovetails with the objectives of the Perkins Act, whose focus is improving the math, science, and technology strengths of students to create a knowledgeable workforce and maintain world leadership in strategic areas of innovation. Following are various grant options that could provide economic possibilities for school leaders.
American Express Foundation
Serve youth, emphasize school-to-work efforts, and work experiences; build awareness about career and employment options for individuals facing significant barriers to employment; and provide education, training, and workplace experiences so they may actively pursue these options.
More information: http://home3.americanexpress.com/corp/philanthropy/
AMD Corporate Foundation
AMD’s K-12 initiatives target programs that increase student interest and/or proficiency in literacy, math, science, and computer technology supporting effective classroom instruction. LEGO and Hearlihy offerings will produce results in most of these instructional areas. Applications are due twice a year: May 1 and Dec. 1. Funding decisions are communicated no later than six months following the application deadline.
More information: http://www.amd.com/us-en/Corporate/AboutAMD/0,,51_52_7697_7702,00.html
Coca-Cola Foundation
The Coca-Cola Foundation supports high-quality education and encourages new solutions to the problems that impede educational systems today. It also supports programs that have been proven to work such as Synergistic Learning Systems.
More information: http://www2.coca-cola.com/citizenship/foundation.html
A.C Ratshesky Foundation
This foundation supports early education and after-school programs that utilize a variety of educational materials. Early education is a byword for many of the funding sources because
of the apparent lack of readiness in too many children.
More information:http://www.grantsmanagement.com/ratshesky.html
Pitsco, Inc.
The passage of the Perkins Act and the Tech and EETT offerings, plus the desperation on the part of school leadership to engage in productive demonstrations of technology growth at all levels, should initiate significant interest in products from all Pitsco divisions. Author Josiah Holland states, “A time like this demands strong minds, great hearts, and ready hands.” Pitsco, Inc. has the answer to all of these by requiring the knowledge components and providing the opportunity to excel through practical hands-on explorations. This enables students to avoid depreciation in their potential educational development and pursue the goals envisioned by leadership.
Education Liaison Pat Forbes, patforbes@pitsco.com, 800-828-5787