/ Bay Education Foundation
STEM Grants
2017-2018 -- REVISED /

TO:Principals

Prospective Applicants

FROM:Janet Kessler, Executive Director

RE:BEF STEM GRANTS

DATE:August 1, 2017

Attached you will find guidelines and application forms for the Bay Education Foundation STEM grants. It is anticipated that $20,000 will be available for this program for the 2017-2018 school year. Assuming all the funding comes through, we will be offering up to 40+ STEM grants.

PREFERENCE: PREFERENCE WILL BE GIVEN TO APPLICANTS FROM TITLE I SCHOOLS AND TO THOSE WHO FOCUS ON MATERIALS, SUPPLIES, EQUIPMENT, SOFTWARE, AND HARDWARE—AS OPPOSED TO FIELD TRIPS.

Please make as many copies of this cover memo and the application as you wish. Teachers and other educators may apply. I urge you to read the guidelines carefully. Applications should arrive at the Bay Education Foundation at the Nelson Building office no later thanSeptember 14, 2017, at 4:30 p.m. Please note that this application does not require separate school board approval.

An electronic version of this application will be available on the BEF web site (). NOTE: THERE ARE SEVERALGRANT PROGRAMS OUT THERE. PLEASE BE SURE TO USE THE CORRECT FORM FOR THE PROGRAM YOU WANT. At this time, you may NOT submit electronically or via fax.

Please note that evaluations of these grants are required at the end of the project and must be submitted by May 2018. IF YOU CANNOT MEET THIS DEADLINE, DO NOT APPLY FOR THIS GRANT.

GUIDELINES

PURPOSE: The purpose of STEMprogram is to support individual educators or groups of educators in their design and implementation of classroom activities in STEM education.Proposals must be either problem-based or product- based and may be enhancements of currently existing activities or new projects.

ELIGIBILITY: All Bay District Schools personnel are eligible to apply, but the applications must specify how the project will directly affect student learning. You may apply more than once. Remember: Maximum of five grant awards to one person; maximum of ten to one school.

FUNDS: Applicants or teams of applicants may apply for up to $500. Since the project funding should be $20,000, it is expected that 20grants will be awarded.

JUDGING: A panel of the Bay Education Foundation Board and/or their designees will judge the proposals. The judges may or may not be educators; therefore, they may not be familiar with technical terms and educational acronyms. Awards will be made strictly on merit and will be blind. THEREFORE, DO NOT INCLUDE TEACHER NAMES, SCHOOL NAMES/MASCOTS, OR OTHER INFORMATION THAT IDENTIFIES THE SCHOOL. Identifying the level of your school (elementary, middle, high, special center) is allowed.

EXAMPLES: Keep in mind that projects must directly impact students. Please note that this does NOT have to be a brand new project. You may build upon current classroom activities. To the extent that the applicant can show how student learning will be impacted, the following areas will be considered for funding:

  • Materials, supplies, software, and equipment to support the project
  • NO FIELD TRIPS OR TEXTBOOKS

LENGTH: Adhere to the application. DO NOT INCLUDE A TITLE PAGE, LETTERS OF SUPPORT, ATTACHMENTS, OR BINDERS. Use only the four pages provided by the application. You may make individual sections longer or shorter, but do not exceed the limit.

EVALUATION: You must set your project up so that it lends itself to evaluating the number of students impacted and the number of students improved.

SUBMISSION: Submitone four-page original( 1 cover page, 2 application pages, and 1 budget page) and four copies of the three-page application (no cover page) to Janet Kessler, Bay Education Foundation, Nelson Building. Your original will be four pages: one cover page and three application pages. Staple in the upper left hand corner. You may NOT submit electronically or via fax.

COVER PAGE

PROJECT NAME______

PRIORITY: STEM

SCHOOL______

PROJECT DIRECTOR______

(The project director is the applicant or the member of the group of applicants who agrees to serve as the contact person.)

Estimated # of Students Participating:______

I have read and approved this project.

Principal’s Signature:

______

I understand that Imust spend all of the budgeted funds and submit an evaluation by May 31, 2017.

Project Director’s Signature:

______

APPLICATION

  1. Project Name: ______

Project Priority:__STEM______

  1. Project Summary: What will you do?
  1. Needs: What needs of your students does this project address? How did you identify the needs? How does the project relate to your school improvement plan?
  1. Learning Goals: What is it that you want your students to know and be able to do? What standards/objectives are you covering? (Can you measure the number of participants who meet—or don’t meet—the goal? If not, find something else.)
  1. Evaluation: How will you PROVE that the students know or can do what you designed this project to help them achieve? What number participated? What number achieved the goal?(See evaluation addendum for this.)
  1. Activities/Timetable: Describe the major activities of your project and specify a timeline for accomplishing them.
  1. Special Features: What, if any, special features make your proposal especially worthy of consideration? Check all that apply.

_____I am a Bay Education Foundation member. (+ 5 points)

_____My school is a low-performing school.

_____My grade/school is low-performing in math or science.

_____Other ______

PROPOSED BUDGET-up to $500

****See below

What? / $Amount
Travel
(field trips)
Consultants
Classroom materials (includes shipping)
Classroom materials
Classroom materials
Classroom materials
Software
Postage
OPS (printing, binding, etc.)
Computer hardware (printers, etc.)
A-V materials (tapes, movies, CDs,etc.)
Other equipment
(tape players, cameras, earphones,etc.)
Total

If other private funds will be used to help fund your project, please write the source of the funds (business partner name, PTO, etc.) and the amount. (Please keep documentation of the donation.)

SOURCE______AMOUNT______

******For the purposes of your proposal, you do not have to itemize IN DETAIL. For example, if you are purchasing books for your project, simply write “books ----$300. Leave lines blank if you are not spending funds in these categories. Most expenditures are classroom materials.

Hint Page

Take the time to get the best proofreader in your school to go over your proposal. It makes a terrible impression when applications have errors. Don’t even THINK about handwriting. The application consists of seven (7) sections plus budget page. The numbers below correspond to the seven sections in the application.

  1. Project Name/Priority: A short, memorable name makes your project stand out. Pay some attention to this.
  1. Project Summary: State clearly what you are going to do. “My class and I will create a monthly STEM demonstration in physical science to share with other students in fifth grade. Topics will include. . . . .”
  1. Need: You should be able to document the need in a direct way. For example, “Twenty percent of our fifth graders scored below average in the STEM topics we will cover in our project.”
  1. Learning Goals: Whatever learning targetsare designated for your subject—Florida Standards, course objectives, benchmarks, etc.—should be used. List targets that are most easily measured and reported in terms of NUMBER OF STUDENTS IMPACTED AND NUMBER MEETING THE GOAL.
  1. Evaluation: The evaluation will be due at the end of May. Remember to set your project up in such a way that measurement will be easy. You are encouraged to use any method that shows a change in student learning. MAP is a good choice. Teacher made pre-/post tests are also good.
  1. Timetable and activities: What will you be doing and when? Remember that the activities should meet the needs (#2) and provide a path to attaining the GOAL (#3).
  1. Special Considerations: This section is included to give you space to highlight special qualities. Are you a Foundation member? (It is perfectly fine to send your membership with your application; you get 5 extra points. This usually makes a difference.) Does it provide services to an under-served group? Other qualities? Tell the judges why you should get extra points.

Budget Hints: In setting up your budget, please use the categories listed. Keep in mind that judges like to see the money going to student-centered instruction. You may not use funds for refreshments, awards, t-shirts, and similar items. If students are to get something related to the project, make it a legitimate learning tool: calculator, pen, pencils, books, etc.

Judging Criteria
SECTION / CRITERIA / POINTS AWARDED
Sections 1 & 2 (15 points)
Adherence to Guidelines / Is the proposal comprised of three pages only? Are all sections of the proposal complete?
Section 3 (15 points)
Need / Is the need for this proposal clear and substantiated?
Is the need related to the school improvement plan?
Section 4 (15 points)
Standards/Objectives/
Goals / Is it clear that the purpose of the project is to support increased student learning?
Are the outcomes measurable? /
Section 5 (15 points)
Evaluation / Is there a clear plan to measure and report the effectiveness of the project?
Section 6 (15 points)
Activities/Timeline / Are the major activities of the project listed?
Is there a reasonable timeline to accomplish the project?
Section 7 (10 points)
Special Features / Is the writer a member of the Foundation? (5 points)
TITLE I SCHOOL? (5 POINTS)
Total Points for This Proposal (85 Possible)

Evaluation Addendum

Please review the following to prepare your grant request. Your project and your evaluation MUST yield a result that fits into these outcome measures. Otherwise, your proposal will be disqualified.

If your priority is CAREER/TECHNICAL EDUCATION, you must

  1. List the total number of participants on whom the following data is based.
  2. Report on at least one of the following:
  3. Number of students who enrolled in CTE ed courses/programs as a result of this project.
  4. Number of students who completed and passed CTE certification (specify type).
  5. Number of students who made progress toward completing CTE certification (specify type).
  6. Number of students who participated in a community engagement activity related to this priority.

If your priority is providing STEM education, you must

  1. List the total number of participants on whom the following data is based.
  2. Report on at least one of the following:
  3. Number of students who participate in specific STEM-related activities beyond required course work (clubs, competitions, events, etc.)
  4. Number of students who showed an increased interest in STEM careers (pre-post survey)
  5. Number of students who improved their grade in a STEM area (specify area; standardized test or teacher-made test)

If your priority is LITERACY, you must

  1. List the total number of participants on whom the following data is based.
  2. Report on at least one of the following:
  3. Number of students who improved on a standardized reading test (MAP or other)
  4. Number of students who improved on a standardized writing test
  5. Number of students who show increased participation in reading, as measured by check-out/purchase of reading material, Accelerated Reader, or other program.
  6. Number of students who improved on a teacher-made pre-post test or survey

If your priority is TEACHING QUALITY, you must respond to a pre/post survey that will be prepared by the Bay Education Foundation at the beginning and end of the project. NOTE: this priority should only be used for hard-to-measure projects or staff development projects.

Here are the areas we will be assessing:

  1. Total number of teachers on whom the following data is based
  2. Number of teachers who show an improved attitude toward teaching, as demonstrated by pre-post survey

APPLICATION DEADLINE: September 14, 2017

The entire application package is NINE (() pages: cover memo (1 page); guidelines (1 page); cover page(1 page); application pages (2 pages); budget page (1); hint page (1) judges’ page (1 page), and evaluation addendum(1), . If you do not have all these pages including the cover memo, you are missing important information. Please keep a copy of the entire packet and your proposal for your files.