2017-18 Teachers Driving Innovation Grant

Proposal Deadline November 1, 2017 at 4PM

Mission Statement

The Manhattan Beach Education Foundation is a community driven fundraising organization, which supplements state funding for programs that inspire learning, enrich teaching, and promote innovation and academic excellence in the public schools of Manhattan Beach.

Purpose

MBEF is requesting proposals from teachers in the Manhattan Unified School District for projects that provide innovation and/or collaboration in learning. The purpose of this grant program is to enhance student learning by providing educators an opportunity to exercise their passion for teaching, developing ideas, partnering with colleagues and connecting with the wealth of knowledge, expertise and talent within the MBUSD and community. Projects should align with school and District goals.

Funding

Teachers Driving Innovation Grant awards range from $100 to $2000 for individual teacher applications, and up to $5000 for collaborative ventures including 2 or more teachers. Collaborations are encouraged and will be given priority. A total of $25,000 in funding is available in the 2017/18 school year.

Allowable Costs

Materials or Supplies: Supplies directly related to the development or implementation of the educational activity
Travel: School Bus fees or travel and sub days required for teachers to visit other schools or participate in Professional Development.
Speaker Fees for a Guest Presenter
Resources to support the implementation of a new courses at MBMS or Costa
Student fees: costs associated with registration or admission fees

Non-Allowable Costs

Furniture: In the 2016/17 School year we funded 6 Flexible Seating projects. We will not be funding additional Flexible Seating proposals at this time.
Routine classroom supplies

Project Period

Awards will be announced by December 1, 2017. Funds must be spent by October 31, 2018.
Interim reports are encouraged and appreciated. Please send us information about special events that are being funded, one month prior to the event.
A final evaluation and report to MBEF is due on September 30, 2018.

Who May Apply?

All MBUSD Teachers and Counselors

Evaluation Criteria

Project must be innovative; it must enhance learning beyond the existing curriculum. Projects should integrate one or more of the following: innovative teaching, project-based education, experiential learning, character development, arts integration, or new technologies.
Projects that include professional development must also include a student based project component that directly uses the knowledge or skills gained during the professional development. This pairing of teacher-learning with student-learning is encouraged.
Project cannot be an activity that is typically supported by the District budget.
Project should have the potential to be duplicated in order to reach a significant number of students.
Project must take place in the 2017/18 academic year; before, during or after school.
Project must be aligned with District and school goals.
Principal at each site must send an email to MBEF saying that they have read and support the proposal.
Proposals must address all topics of the submission form, in order, and may be formatted to include figures, photos, and tables. Proposals should not exceed 4 pages.

Teachers Driving Innovation Grant Committee to include:

3 Non Grants Committee Board Members
3 Advisors- Individuals who do not serve on our board, and are not current educators or administrators in our district.

Assessment and Evaluation Process:

Teachers will submit applications no later than November 1, 2017 to [email protected].
Teachers Driving Innovation Grant Committee Members will receive anonymized proposals from the MBEF staff and will have 2 weeks to evaluate them.
Innovation Grant Committee Members will meet 1-2 times to discuss all grant applications.
Committee will reach out to awardees no later than December 1, 2017.
Teachers who are not granted funding are encouraged to seek feedback and to resubmit applications in the following year.
Awardees will be listed on the MBEF website. At the end of the funding cycle, grant reports and photos will be posted on the MBEF website.

Information you need to know if awarded the grant:

Grant funds will be made available on December 15, 2017.
All expenditures for materials or supplies should follow district purchasing guidelines and utilize the Purchase Order process. Your point of contact for purchase orders is Karyl Brandford at [email protected] If this is not possible, MBEF offers a receipt based reimbursement option for projects that the district is unable to process.
Grant applications must itemize the intended materials and cost. Grant money can only fund direct project expenses.
MBEF highly values photos, videos, emails, and other informal reporting on the project’s progress throughout the year. Send these to Farnaz Flechner, Executive Director- [email protected]. If we decide to publish photos we will ask for a media release forms signed by parents.
A final evaluation and report to MBEF is due on September 30, 2018. These reports are a critical and essential part of the grant process because they allow MBEF to share these exciting projects with the MBEF donor community, and because they enable MBEF to publicize your efforts within the MBUSD teacher community in order to inspire new projects and to promote conversations and collaboration.

PROPOSAL COVER SHEET
Please limit application to 4 Pages.

Project Title:

Purpose/ Objective of project: (1-2 Sentences)

Amount requested:

Name(s) of Teacher(s)*:

Email of primary contact:

School

Grade level(s):

Number of students participating:

Cost per student:

For the below items, feel free to attach up to 3 pages to this cover sheet, or, write in the boxes.

Project Description: Describe the proposed project. What are your objectives and how will you achieve them? How is this project innovative or creative? How is the project aligned with District and school goals?

Collaboration: Please list collaborators and each individual’s responsibilities. We encourage collaboration among teachers, administrators, parents, counselors, community and staff.

Materials or Technology: Please list the specific materials you will need to purchase, and their costs. For technology grant applications, please describe how the technology is innovative and new to the district and compatible with the school’s network.

Timeline: Dates of project activities and tasks.

Budget: Describe in a few sentences how the requested funds will be used. Then, provide an itemized list of materials and expenses.

Sustainable or Replicable: Is the project sustainable or replicable in the future?

Evaluation Plan: Describe expected student outcomes and your proposed method for evaluating the project.

*Your application will be anonymized for selection process. Name will only be seen by MBEF admin.
Please email applications to: [email protected]
Questions? Please contact Farnaz G. Flechner at 310.303.3342 or [email protected]

PROPOSAL EVALUATION SCORE SHEET

Proposal #
Project Title:
School:
Amount Requested:
Reviewer:

Rating Scale:	Poor			Fair		Good			Excellent
10 Point Scale:	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
20 Point Scale:	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20
30 Point Scale:	3	6	9	12	15	18	21	24	27	30

Objective	Rating Scale	Score
Description: Must include description of educational methodology, activities planned to accomplish the objectives, benefits of the educational strategy or curricular justification, responsibilities of the stakeholders. What will students know or be able to do as a result of this project? Is it aligned with school and District goals? The Basics: Target Audience: Describe the student population and the number of students to participate. Timeline: Dates of project activities and tasks Budget: Does the budget meet all specified restrictions? Is the cost per student reasonable? Are materials or services available through MBUSD?	30
Innovation: The degree of creativity of a new idea and practice to enhance learning in the classroom. Projects should integrate one or more of the following: innovative teaching, project-based education, experimental learning, character development, arts integration, or new technologies.	20
Evaluation Plan: Describe method for evaluating success of the project and how it is linked to expected student outcomes. Are meaningful, measurable criteria used? Are evaluation methods adequate for skills or knowledge to be measured?	20
Sustainable or Replicable: Is the project sustainable or replicable in the future?	10
Collaboration: Collaborations are encouraged among teachers, administrators, parents, counselors, community representatives and staff.	20
Total Score:	100 point maximum