Teacher Grant
Information Sheet
IPEI’s Teacher Grants program provides grants up to
$1,500.00 to ICSD teachers interested in implementing an innovative educational
project. Any proposal designed to enhance the educational experience of ICSD
students will be considered provided that the described project:
·
Directly involves and/or benefits student
learning
·
Enlists the support of a community partner with
whom the project will be completed
·
Cannot be funded through existing avenues of
ICSD support
Any ICSD teacher, or group of teachers, can apply for a
grant. Proposals are reviewed on a competitive basis by a committee of
community members and ICSD representatives using an established set of review
criteria listed in the “Common Questions and Answer” section below.
Notification of all awards will be made within 8 weeks from the November 1st
submission deadline.
A grant project is not considered completed until the final
grant summary report form has been submitted.
COMMON QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
Q. What criteria are used
to evaluate the grant requests?
A.
Is it innovative? To what extent does the
project contain innovative approaches to learning and to preparing students for
a more dynamic world? To what extent is the project designed to pilot new
techniques creating substantive change in approaches to learning and education?
- Does it have a long-term benefit/impact? Who
and how many will benefit from the project? If the project is individual
classroom based, to what extent would the project serve as a model (i.e.,
can the project be replicated and/or expanded upon) for others in the
future? How will students and others be informed about the project and how
will the results be communicated upon completion?
C. Have
you clearly articulated the role of the community partner? What organizations, groups and individuals
were consulted in the design of the project? How will each project “partner’ be
involved? Each partner will derive what benefits? Make sure and articulate carefully what this
particular partner brings to this project and why they were chosen. If the
community partner is an individual, please include a brief CV or explain why
this person is uniquely qualified to be a community partner – for example,
“he/she is a skilled weaver” or “he/she is a native language speaker with
extensive travel background in the target country. If the community partner is an organization,
please provide a brief description of its activities or scope and its past
experience with the proposed project focus.
D. Are
the goals/outcomes clearly stated? Are the goals and anticipated products
or outcomes of the project clearly delineated? What is the timetable for
completion? How will the project be evaluated upon completion? What is the
project potential for success? Is this
project sustainable without funding?
E. Volunteer
role? Do you use volunteer resources
to leverage support for this project?
F. Student Engagement? How will students be actively involved in
this grant?
Q. What happens
if several teachers from one school submit proposals? Will my chances of
receiving a grant be diminished?
A.
There is no limit on the number of proposals that may be submitted
by teachers from any one school. However, in order that IPEI may have the
broadest impact with limited dollars available, the teachers who have submitted
proposals within individual schools may be asked to prioritize proposals when
multiple requests have been submitted.
Q. Who
will be reviewing the proposals and making the decisions?
A. The Grant Review Committee consists of eight
to ten members as follows:
·
1 representative appointed by the ICSD
Superintendent
·
1 representative appointed by the Ithaca
Teachers Association
·
4-6 representatives from area businesses,
community foundations, institutions of higher education, and not-for-profit
organizations
·
1 representative from the lPEl Board of
Directors
Q. What does it mean if all or part of a grant
is BOCES Aidable?
A. The BOCES Arts in Education programs provides
funding for approved services that include dance, music, theatre, visual and
media arts, and writing and literary arts, the environment and science. This
funding comes from IPEI/ICSD and is passed on to BOCES, which then pays for
those services. The following year, ICSD is reimbursed by New York State for a
percentage of the costs. Using this BOCES program generates additional aid to
the ICSD General Fund, the following year.
Q. Who is
a teacher coordinator?
A.
The teacher coordinator is expected to act as project
spokesperson, be responsible for the accounting of funds spent, assure that a
final report on the results of the project is submitted, and serve as the contact
person for the Grant Review Committee.
Q. Who is
a Community Partner?
A.
Identification of a “community partner” with whom the project
will be carried out is a critical component of the community involvement in
this grant program. For example, a music and arts project might include
representatives from several area performing arts organizations; similarly, a
science project might involve a professor from Cornell and/or someone in local
industry as a community partner. The community partner(s) MUST be
identified prior to the grant deadline and contact information included. If the
community partner is an individual, please include a brief CV or explain why
this person is uniquely qualified to be a community partner—for example, “he is
a skilled weaver” or “she is a native language speaker with extensive travel
background in the target country.” If the community partner is an organization,
please provide a brief description of its activities or scope.
Q. What should be
included in the project description?
·
Goals of the project – what you hope to
accomplish
·
Description of specific activities
·
Role and benefits to be derived by the community
partner(s)
·
Evaluation of outcomes
·
Sustainability plans
Q. What are scholastic impact requirements?
- Please
provide the pertinent New York State standards and performance indicators
and/or Common Core Standards and explain how these will be addressed and
assessed. Please also explain how
the student learning relates to the established ICSD curriculum. Proposals
may be for projects outside of the classroom led by teachers or other
professional staff that extend standards and curriculum-based student
learning. Preference will be given to projects in which all students
participate.
Q. When are we notified of the awards?
A.
Applicants will be notified of
grant awards by December 15th and official paperwork will be
sent by January 8th. At that
time, successful applicants will be asked to sign a Letter of Agreement
outlining grant acceptance requirements and procedures for the accounting of
all funds. In addition, grants that are BOCES aidable will have other forms
attached to the Letter of Agreement that will need to be submitted. Return dates will be included in the packets.
Q. What
supply items can we request?
If you are requesting funds for
items such as books, travel for field trips, software or lab supplies, it is important
to distinguish how these items augment rather than replace support that may be
provided through the school district. IPEI funds project-related materials, but
basic material requests should be submitted to the district through Department
Chairs or building Principals.
Q. What
are additional contributions?
A. Describe
in detail all the sources of support for your project, including in-kind and/or
additional funds secured to enhance the success of your project. In-kind is defined as good, commodities, or
services given instead of money.
Q. What items/assistance are generally
supported?
A. Necessary supplies and materials
Equipment, if it is needed for the completion of a
larger project and not the sole basis of your request
Fees/Honoraria
for outside consultants providing technical assistance
Transportation costs
Use
of voluntary resources
Q. What items/assistance are generally not
supported?
A.
Items such as food, prizes, etc.
Equipment such as VCRs, TVs, computers, etc., that
are typically available through the school district
Payments to other ICSD teachers
Funding for overnight field trips
After school clubs
Summer projects
Extension of an approved grant that is not completed,
into the following year
More than 3 years of funding
Acquisitions or activities that are normally funded
by the school district
Q. Where can I get help?
A. Direct all your grant questions to
TeacherGrants@IPEI.org and put “teacher grant” in the subject line - a grant
review committee member will in touch. For example, If you do not have a
relationship with, or cannot find “the right”
community partner for your project, identify the type of partner you would like
to work with and members of IPEI will try to help link you with an appropriate
community partner.
Q. What are Treman
Grants?
A. These are teacher grants that epitomize
excellence in grant writing and exemplify innovative projects of high quality
that are specially recognized by IPEI as outstanding.
NOTE: ipei.org will be updated before school opens after Labor Day, but currently shows 2014-15 grants information.
