Public Education Foundation of Little Rock 2008 Grant Guidelines

View Pre-Application form   Downloadable Application  Printable Cover Sheet

When schools, communities, and families work together, children succeed.

Teaming up with parents, local businesses, philanthropies, and community leaders, the Public Education Foundation of Little Rock offers grants directly to teachers, principals, and other certified staff.

2008 Grant Guidelines and Application Process

The Public Education Foundation of Little Rock is a non-profit 501C(3) philanthropic organization created to support educational programs for both the students and the staff of the Little Rock School District.

The Foundation's mission is to involve all segments of the Little Rock community in order to enrich and to improve student achievement in public schools.

A. The foundation will provide funds for creative, innovative, and research-supported proposals that create exciting learning environments. (For a list of previous grants and descriptions, please go to our news section.) One or more of the following criteria must be met:

Student Achievement:

• Emphasize active student learning and participation to strengthen students' learning experience
• Involve interdisciplinary and/or team teaching by designing collaborative learning experiences
• Use non-traditional techniques with innovative ideas
• Provide a continuing learning experience
• Use items that can be shared with other teachers, classes, or schools for more than one year

Parent and Community Participation:

• Involve parents and/or community participation to improve academic excellence within public schools

Individuals or teams of individuals who are employed by the Little Rock School District and who are involved in student instruction or who participate in related support services benefiting students

Innovative Idea Grants from $200 to $5,000 will be awarded to individual teachers, campus teams, principals, or departments. The Foundation encourages applications submitted by teacher teams or pairs. The number of awards will depend on available funds from the Public Education Foundation.

No funding will be provided for:

• Political purposes
• Salaries or stipends
• Computers or peripherals
• Staff development activities
• SMART boards/interactive whiteboards
• Capital improvement projects that should be supported by the Little Rock School District
• Non-academically related items such as costumes, uniforms, fees, or athletic equipment

The Little Rock School District and the recipient school will retain ownership of non-consumable materials. Any exceptions to these policies will be decided on a case- by-case basis by the Foundation. All purchases must meet LRSD criteria.

Grants will be selected by the Foundation Grant Selection Committee and based on the following:

• The degree by which the proposal addresses the Foundation's grant criteria and focuses on student achievement and parent and community participation.
• The degree by which the proposal addresses a creative or innovative approach to the accomplishment of those objectives.
• The degree by which the proposal is clear and logical and addresses all questions within the grant application.
• The degree by which the proposal has outlined measurable, achievable, and reasonable objectives.

• Thursday, November 15, 2007 through Thursday, January 31, 2008
• The deadline for all 2008 applications will be Thursday, January 31, 2008 no later than 5:00 p.m.

It is brief, simple and can all be done via the Internet. The application form is only four (4) pages long.

1. Pre-application Form
   Fill out and submit the pre-application form on-line. All fields are required. After completing this form, click the "verify application" button at the bottom of the screen. You will get a screen with the information you submitted. After verifying that the information submitted is correct, click the "submit application" button at the bottom of this screen. A confirmation screen should come up next. This screen also includes your grant application number. (Please print this page for your records.) The grant number will be used on your grant application form and will identify your grant throughout the application and selection process. If you do not get the confirmation screen and a grant number, please call the Foundation office at 372-1461.
2. Grant Application Form (Please note Application General Guidelines and Writing Tips in Section I.)
   Save the application as a Word Document File, complete and email the completed grant application document as an attachment back to the Foundation at grants@fortheschools.org. The document must be in 12 point font and no longer than four pages.
3. Mail or Fax the Cover and Signature Page
   Fax (372-7499) or mail the cover and signature page to
   The Public Education Foundation of Little Rock
   300 Spring Building, Suite 300
   Little Rock, AR 72201

All grant applications will be reviewed by the Public Education Foundation Grant Selection Committee. For each grant application submitted, the committee shall make one of the following recommendations:

(a) approved; (b) approved with conditions and/or modifications; or (c) not approved.

Comments will be solicited from the principal(s) of each individual school location requesting funds. All recommendations from the Foundation Committee will be presented to the Foundation Board of Directors for formal approval. Applicants will be notified of grant awards in April 2008.

1. Use the awards for the purposes intended.
2. Prepare a brief End-of-Project Summary Report when the project has been completed and submit the report as an e-mail attachment to the Little Rock Public Education Foundation. This is a requirement of each grant recipient, and there will be no exceptions. If you were awarded a grant in 2007, the End-of-Project Summary Report must be submitted before your 2008 application will be considered.
3. Agree to make the End- of-Project Summary Report available to the Little Rock Public Education Foundation for sharing with other teachers and for inclusion in the Little Rock Public Education Foundation's Annual Report.
4. Agree to share successful procedures in staff development sessions.

• Proposal must be typed, 12 point font, keeping total application to no more than four (4) pages.
• Focus on innovative ideas that target a specific group of students
• Promise only what you can reasonably expect to achieve.
• Keep the application simple and straightforward.
• Tell what you hope to achieve or what will be different or better if the project is successful.
• Limit the number of objectives.
• Keep action steps specific and related to purpose and objectives.

The grants will be reviewed based on the following criteria and point system:

1. Summary (20 points)

• Describes project and target group
• Lists purpose and objectives
• Includes short statement about methods
• States number of students affected
• States total cost

2. Problem Statement (10 points)

• Relates to district goals
• Is focused and reasonable in scope
• Makes no unsupported assumptions
• Includes statements from authorities/academic sources
• Is supported by statistical evidence

3. Proposal Description (10 points)

• States what will be accomplished
• Includes race, gender, grade level(s) affected
• Includes measurable objectives
• Includes a timeline
• Relates to problem or need

4. Relationship to Foundation Objectives (5 points)

• Addresses student achievement
• Addresses parent and community participation

5. ADE Benchmarks (5 points)

• Identifies benchmarks

6. Action Plan - Chart (10 points)

• Lists activities
• Names responsible person(s)
• Gives targeted completion date
• Cites how activity will be evaluated

7. End of Project Report (5 points)

• Describes project evaluation plan
• Describes expected results
• Includes at least one measurement of student achievement or parent participation

8. School or Community Involvement (5 points)

• Describes who is involved
• Describes the nature of the involvement

9. Budget (10 points)

• Is in requested format
• Is sufficient to perform all activities described in proposal
• Contains no unexplained costs
• Is complete and accurate

10. Innovation (20 points)

• Is compelling
• Is creative

J. Recap of Timeline for 2008 Grant Cycle:

• Thursday, November 15, 2007 - Application process begins and pre-applications accepted
• Thursday, January 31, 2008 - All grant applications due electronically no later than 5:00 p.m.
• April 2008 - Grants Awarded