The Insider's Guide to Winning Education Grants E-Book

Dakota Pawlicki

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Find, apply for, and win grant dollars for the classroom

This accessible guide offers a proven, step-by-step process for researching, writing, applying for, and winning education grants. The book educates readers on the basics of grant writing, including what sources are the most reliable for securing education funding. It also serves as a practice tool, with worksheets, proposal templates, real-world examples, and advice from grant-winning teachers to help instill confidence about navigating this somewhat daunting process.

• Offers a proven formula for winning education grants in clear, step-by-step instructions
• Includes a wealth of handy tools, worksheets, templates, and teacher-tested advice
• Outlines the four main components of money-generating education grants
• Based on UNITE's celebrated "Grant Writing Teacher" Professional Development series

The book's step-by-step process is filled with illustrative examples of successful grant proposals.

Leseprobe

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgments

The Authors

About UNITE

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1: First Period: Grants 101

“Show Me the Money”

Types of Grants

Grants Are Right Around the Corner

Learning the Lingo

Analyzing the RFP and Grant Application

Stop and Find an RFP

Chapter 2: Second Period: Composition

Before the Pen Hits the Paper (or Your Fingers Hit the Keyboard)

Putting Your Ideas into Words: Writing Style

Word and Character Counts Count

Assemble Your Editing Team before You Start Writing

Major Components of Most RFPs

Chapter 3: Third Period: Creative Writing

What Is a Needs Statement?

The Project Description

Chapter 4: Fourth Period: Economics

What Is a Budget?

Stakeholders

Identifying What to Buy

Budget Prompts

Budget Presentation

Advanced Budget Techniques

Matching

Chapter 5: Fifth Period: Personal Finance

Pay Day!

Reporting

Chapter 6: Sixth Period: Statistics

Using Statistics to Support Your Proposal

Overall Process

Chapter 7: Seventh Period: Communication

Thanking All Involved

The Dreaded Rejection Letter

Victory: The Award Letter

Ongoing Communication and Updates

Building a Relationship with Your Funder and Other Stakeholders

Thinking about the Future

Appendix A: Templates and Worksheets

Appendix B: Resources

Index

Cover design by Michael Cook

Cover image by © MDI Digital/Getty

Copyright © 2014 by Dakota Pawlicki and Chase James. All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

For UNITE members across the nation and the students they teach

Acknowledgments

Urban Needs in Teacher Education (UNITE) is a dynamic nonprofit organization whose membership consists of talented and dedicated pre- and in-service teachers around the United States of America. These educators self-select to continue their professional development on their own time to better teach the students in their classrooms and serve the urban communities in which their schools are situated. This book is a result of the persistent fervor in which UNITE teachers demonstrate in the pursuit of new knowledge and skills. It is our hope as authors that we capture the spirit of UNITE and bring the knowledge of our organization and its members to a wider audience.

Although UNITE is thankful to the many individuals who have seen to its success over the years, we would like to especially thank those by name who have made this book a reality:

Colleen Burger: editor

Kathryn Kloepper: contributor of materials and book design

Greg Michie: friend, advisor, and forwarder of material

Kari Podany: contributor of materials and visual images

Kim Heilenbach: contributor of materials and book design

Joseph Roth: book design

Gregory Fairbank: book design

Eva Lawrence: book design

This book is made useful by its many exemplars, interactive tutorials, and online content for which we relied heavily on practicing teachers and philanthropic organizations to provide a wide array of coverage across contents and grade levels. These insightful works were provided in part by Carmela Balice, the Chicago Foundation for Education, Donorschoose.org, John Dudley, Katie Lyons, Megan McCoy, Michael Mettenburg, and Rachel Perveiler.

Finally, thank you to the friends, family, and supporters who have made UNITE, this book, and so much more a reality. Without your constant presence, our work would cease to matter.

The Authors

Dakota Pawlicki is president of UNITE (Urban Needs In Teacher Education). The lead author and presenter for UNITE's grant-writing teacher professional development series, Dakota is coauthor of a multimillion-dollar federal Teacher Quality Partnership grant received in 2009. After teaching in Chicago Public Schools, Dakota joined the Chicago Teacher Education Pipeline at Illinois State University, where he currently serves as operations manager, developing and coordinating teacher-preparation programs.

Chase James, executive director of UNITE, has experience writing and editing grant proposals ranging from small classroom projects to multimillion-dollar programs for schools and nonprofit organizations. In addition to his role at UNITE, Chase is an educator in the Chicago Public Schools, teaching social studies at Collins Academy High School in the city's North Lawndale neighborhood.

About UNITE

UNITE (Urban Needs in Teacher Education) is a nonprofit organization aiming to enhance the preparation of teachers in our nation's most underprivileged and underrepresented schools. Since its founding in 2006, UNITE has grown from a small, on-campus group at Illinois State University to a national nonprofit serving thousands of educators annually. UNITE provides professional development for preservice and in-service teachers on topics ranging from classroom management and grant writing to special education and gangs. UNITE works actively with schools, universities, and colleges of education across the nation.

To learn more about the organization or to schedule a UNITE grant-writing workshop at your school or district, visit www.urbanneeds.org.

Foreword

During my first year as a teacher in Chicago, the resources available to me were confined to a tall metal cabinet in a corner of my classroom. The best thing that can be said about that cabinet is that it was full. But the praise ends there. Its shelves were crammed with dusty dittos, outdated textbooks, faded worksheets, and reading passages that bore little relevance to the lives and experiences of my students.

I remember opening the double doors of that cabinet many times and just staring inside, hoping something different—something I could actually use to help teach my students—would magically appear. It never happened.

I pieced together a curriculum the best I could that year, but the lack of resources was a constant challenge. Our school's budget was tighter than tight, and I had almost no knowledge at the time of what assistance—financial or otherwise—might be available beyond my school's doors.

Over two decades later, teachers in Chicago and many other school districts across the United States still face dwindling budgets and limited resources. Underfunding of K–12 education combined with expenditures focused on high-stakes testing have meant cuts to arts programs, after-school activities, and even basic classroom supplies. In the summer of 2013, protestors converged on the Chicago Board of Education to draw attention to a new round of funding reductions. One teacher held a sign that read:

Dear students,

Due to recent budget cuts, please bring the following supplies on the first day of classes: toilet paperhand soapteacherspaper towelsbooksteachers' aidesmarkerspencilsnurseone case copy paperfloor wax

Sometimes as a teacher you have to laugh to keep from crying. But you also have to take action. In part, that means raising your voice in the struggle for educational equity—protesting, blogging, joining with grassroots teacher activist groups. But it also means arming yourself with the know-how to sustain your classroom and provide for your students when you don't have adequate resources.

That's where this book can help.

Dakota Pawlicki, Chase James, and the other young educators who contributed to The Insider's Guide to Winning Education Grants understand the process of grant writing inside and out. They've done it for their own classrooms. They've helped others do it. They've led workshops and created helpful resources for teachers. And now all of their knowledge and experience are collected in this incredibly useful book.

As the authors point out, what you'll learn in these pages was probably not on the radar screen of your teacher preparation program. You may have learned a lot about curriculum construction, alternative assessment, or technology integration, but through it all, the unspoken assumption was likely that you'd have the resources you need once you landed in a classroom of your own. Far too often, that's not the case.

I've known Dakota, Chase, and many of this book's contributors since they were undergraduates studying to become teachers. What impressed me about them then, and what continues to now, is not only their unwavering commitment to working with students in under-resourced schools but also their determination to bring other teachers along for the ride. These young educators are not satisfied with simply closing their classroom doors and doing the best they can for their twenty-five or thirty kids. Like all good teachers, they want to share what they've learned with colleagues. They want to effect change on a larger scale, and this book is just one fruit of their labors.

So, don't just stand there staring into a cabinet full of decades-old textbooks or pointless worksheets like I did my first year. Close the cabinet doors, gather some colleagues together, read this book, and start writing that first grant.

Gregory Michie

Author, Holler If You Hear Me:

The Education of a Teacher and His Students

Chicago, Illinois

August 2013

Introduction

It is no surprise that schools are cash strapped. We see it each summer as states and districts get ready for the upcoming year. What programs are being cut this year? How many teachers do we have to lay off? How big will my class size be? States with broken budgets are unable to pay promised dollars to school districts, and with per-pupil spending increasing each year, lawmakers at all levels are having to make tough choices to balance budgets.

Traditional teacher preparation does not prepare teachers for these conditions. In fact, it doesn't even prepare teachers for these conversations. Teachers leave their program ready to get kids to learn, work with parents, and collaborate with a team of like-minded educators. Most teacher-preparation programs do not include coursework in business, budgeting, or education policy. Some in our nation believe that teacher training should not even include training on how to teach…that a degree in something combined with a couple of weeks of training on managing a classroom qualifies to teach in the United States' toughest schools.

Educators not equipped with the knowledge and skills to keep their schools fiscally afloat are at a disadvantage. This book is for those teachers who want to take action. As teachers, we cannot wait for others to straighten up our financial house. We must aggressively pursue opportunities for self-growth and learn the very game that poses the greatest threat to education: the game of money. This book is much more than simply a how-to guide for writing and winning grants. It is a survival book for teachers and districts everywhere. This book, and the process it outlines within its pages, is a lifeline to those who seek to bring stability to their classrooms (not to mention supplies, equipment, and opportunities).

We hope you find it useful. We hope you find it insightful. Most of all, we hope you join us in bettering our profession and taking control of our schools once more.

How to Use This Book

The pages that follow provide a step-by-step walk-through on writing education grants. The process, strategies, and suggestions offered are best practices assembled by the authors from many practicing educators with a proven success in writing grants. Whether you are writing your first classroom grant for less than $500 or are part of a seasoned grant-writing team gearing up for a multimillion-dollar grant, this book has something for you.

Tip 1. If you have never written a grant before, we suggest reading the book in its entirety while writing a grant. UNITE, the nonprofit organization sponsoring this book, offers a classroom grant each year. Sample RFPs (request for proposals) can be found in appendix B. After each chapter, complete the respective portion of the RFP incorporating the techniques discussed. At the end of the book, you will have a complete grant proposal ready to be submitted to UNITE and could potentially win your very first grant!

Tip 2. Dig out those old grants and have them handy. Perhaps you have won some and lost some over the years and you are reading this book to hone your skills. Take out your old grants and review them while reading through these chapters. There are many examples taken from winning grants right here in this book. Take a moment to compare the voice, presentation, and format of these winners against your own.

Tip 3. Jump around. Although this book can be read as a whole, it can also be used as a reference text. If you are having trouble with budgets or need to get some fresh ideas on incorporating data into your projects, jump to those chapters for a quick refresher.

Tip 4. Interact with the book. There are many interactive features within the book that are aimed at improving your skills as a grant writer. Make sure to use them completely. Also, check out the appendixes for resources and examples that can be used in your next proposal.

Tip 5. Follow Grant as he ventures through the book with you. Grant will often have useful insights, reminders, tip, and tricks that you may want to note as you work through the pages.

Tip 6. Realize the full potential of this book. Although the main focus of this book is writing excellent education grants, there are many other pieces of advice that go well beyond the grant-writing and -winning process and into turning your school into a resource-producing machine. The authors and contributors have a diverse background as educators and nonprofit professionals. By combining their knowledge of and skills in the classroom with the unique expertise of running a nonprofit, they have created a resource that blends techniques on finding and securing new money while maintaining good relationships with donors.

This book is meant to be used by teachers, administrators, preservice teachers, universities, counselors, and other school personnel. By reading this book, the reader will be equipped with the knowledge on how to write small classroom-based grants as well as large grants that can be used to fund whole programs.

Not a teacher? The advice, strategies, forms, and other tools included in this book can be used by parents, students, administrators, school board members, and anyone else interested in winning education grants.

Many education professionals find themselves limited when writing grants. Most teachers and administrators will apply for grants for technology or equipment because that is usually the first thing to get cut from budgets. We want to encourage you to think beyond the immediate needs of the classroom and consider writing larger grants for your school. Some ideas that you may want to consider while reading this book are as follows:

Start or support service learning and civic engagement activities.Start small learning communities.Create after-school opportunities for youth.Develop partnerships with local organizations, other schools, universities, or other entities to achieve a project.Hire staff to run a special program.

Ideas are endless but by thinking a bit bigger, you may find and realize more opportunities than you had previously thought possible.

Congratulations on taking the next step to reach your professional goals, and good luck!

To download many of the templates and worksheets from this book, go to www.wiley.com/go/educationgrants

First Period: Grants 101

You are a first-year teacher. You have elaborate dreams of immersing your students into a rich, hands-on curriculum on a daily basis in order to enhance their learning experiences. You yearn to travel with your students through new, exciting worlds and push them to thinking beyond anyone's greatest expectations. Your dreams are limitless, until you awaken and realize that you are teaching in a school that has not allocated funds for extracurricular activities, resources, or curriculum enhancement. You realize that you cannot begin to pay for all of the expenses that come along with enriching activities, especially on your teacher salary. You start to think of your students and how hard it will be to explain to them that you simply have no means of gathering these extra resources for their learning…