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ESchool News Online - Funding Center
Source for up-to-the-minute grant programs, funding sources, and technology funding information.

TIIAP: Telecommunications & Information Infrastructure Assistance Program
U.S. Department of Commerce program which funds telecommunications projects aimed at rural and underserved urban populations. Requires matching funds. Site contains application guidelines, deadlines, and list of previous recipients.

Online Funding Resources
Links from Castle Technology Consultants to a wide variety of online resources related to grants, proposals, and philanthropic organizations which provide funding for educational purposes (primarily technology focused).

The SMARTer Kids Foundation provides the following grants and programs to eligible K-12 schools and learning institutions. Click on any of the links below for full details and instructions on how to apply

TechGrants You Can Use
The following are technology funding and product opportunities, ranging from thousands of dollars in capital to free/discounted products. The editor of TechGrants, on a monthly basis, highlights foundations or organizations that have awarded technology grants or have indicated a specific interest in the area of technology. Click below on full story for information on this month's featured granting organizations. Remember to check the link that shows "time-sensitive" submission deadlines.

Corning Foundation Grants
The Corning Inc. Foundation, established in 1952, develops and administers projects in support of educational, cultural, and community organizations. Over the years, the foundation has contributed more than $83 million through its grant programs. Each year, the foundation fulfills approximately 225 grants totaling some $2,250,000. Corning's areas of involvement have included community service programs for students, curriculum enrichment, student scholarships, facility improvement, and instructional technology projects for the classroom. All requests for support must be made in writing. Application deadline: ongoing.

The following foundations have supported many educational technology projects:

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Emphasis: math, educational technology
630 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2550
New York, NY 10111-0242
(212) 649-1649
http://www.sloan.org/

American Honda Foundation
Emphasis: science educational technology
P.O. Box 2205
Torrance, CA 90509

Arthur Vining Davis Foundation
Emphasis: secondary education
111 Riverside Avenue, Suite 130
Jacksonville, FL 32202-4921
(904) 359-0670
http://www.jvm.com/davis/

Carnegie Corporation of New York
Emphasis: science, math, educational technology
437 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022
(212) 371-3200
http://www.carnegie.org/

The Ford Foundation
Emphasis: educational technology
320 East 43rd Street
New York, NY 10017
(212) 573-5000
http://www.fordfound.org/

Investing in School Technology: Strategies to Meet the Funding Challenge (1997)
Provides state and local policy makers -- state legislatures, state superintendents and departments of education, local school boards, and school district superintendents -- some tools and pointers for thinking about their educational technology plans and for developing comprehensive strategies for funding those plans.

Packard Foundation - areas include "children," and "edcuation."

TECHNOGRANTS HOME PAGE - links to the biggest & most innovative foundations & corporate philanthropers

William & Flora Hewlitt Foundation - "promotes the well-being of mankind by supporting selected activities of a charitable nature, as well as organizations or institutions engaged in such activities,"including higher education & primary/seconardy education, primarilyin California.

IRS, groups make foundations' returns available on the Web. Anyone with Internet access can now see financial and program information for more than 60,000 private foundations, thanks to the efforts of Philanthropic Research, Inc. (PRI) and the Urban Institute's National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS). The Form 990s have been available at the NCCS's web site since March 20, 2000. The IRS mandate, similar to disclosure rules requiring public charities to make copies of their forms available to thepublic, forces foundations to make their Forms 990-PF available on demand. The forms are stored as Adobe Acrobat PDF files. If you don't have the free Acrobat Viewer software, you can download it here. Arthur "Buzz" Schmidt, founder and president of PRI, said foundations will benefit from having their returns available on the Web because -- rather than having to print out multiple copies of the form -- they can now direct requests to the GuideStar or NCCS web sites. A PRI report also stated that disclosure will give charities access to information regarding potential funders, and allow the general public to gain a broader understanding of how foundations work.

Government Grants (for the United States) Small Business Innovative Research Program - if your school has any unique ideas that could be marketed beyond your school to improve the state of education, this program may be worth looking into. Each year the national government coordinates across departments to offer 6-month research grants up to $50,000, and more for later program development.

Ancient History Technology Innovation Challenge Grants

ATTN: 84.303A

U.S. Department of Education Application Control Center

Room 3633 Regional Office Building-3

7th & D Streets, S.W. (D Street, S.W. Entrance)

Washington, D.C. 20202-4725

Telephone: 202-708-8493

Applications sent by mail must be received no later than May 30, 1997.

Applications not received by the deadline date will not be considered

ALL CLASSROOMS CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET; ALL STUDENTS TECHNOLOGICALLY LITERATE from ED Initiatives

On September 15, the DOE announced the award of $18.5 million for 19 grants to school district partnerships that are demonstrating how today's advanced technologies can bring schools & communities into the information age.

http://www.ed.gov/Technology/challenge/

Technology Innovation Challenge Grants * Applicatiions Due: May 30, 1997

Office of Educational Research and Improvement

U.S. Department of Education

Phone: 202-208-3882

Fax: 202-208-4042

E-mail: ITO_STAFF1@ed.gov

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION HOME PAGE

http://www.ed.gov/Technology

* Technology Innovation Challenge Grants are the next generation of an initiative that began as the Challenge Grants for Technology in Education, and they are counterparts of the new Technology Literacy

Challenge Grants for Technology in Education -- 1997 Guidelines (p2 of 53)

Challenge Fund.

Table of Contents

* The Challenge

* Who Can Apply for a Technology Innovation Challenge Grant?

* What Can You Do with a Technology Innovation Challenge Grant?

* Selection Criteria

* How to Apply

* How to Submit Applications

* Notification of Award

* The Forms

* Application Package Checklist

* The Technology Literacy Challenge

Improve education and increase economic competitiveness? Modern computers and telecommunication networks are powerful tools. But the hardware alone is not enough to improve learning. Sustained professional development for teachers and effective software, well integrated with the curriculum, are essential to help students meet high academic standards.

This is an ambitious challenge. We are experiencing a scientific and technological revolution of unprecedented proportions. Everywhere we look, technology is changing the way we work and live. Everywhere, that is, but in our classrooms. In the information age, we have industrial era schools. In classrooms that could be modern communication centers for learning, the basic media of instruction are blackboards and chalk.

Community leaders and educators are excited about the possibilities for transforming their classrooms into information age learning centers, but few school systems can afford the costs and risks associated with developing new, high quality applications of technology on their own. Similarly, few school systems working alone, have all the expertise and resources they need to integrate these learning innovations into the curriculum on a system-wide basis.

Technology Innovation Challenge Grants provide seed money to form community partnerships that can bear these costs and marshal these resources. These consortia bring telecommunications, hardware and software expertise to schools in combination with the educational resources of universities, research institutes, libraries and museums.

As catalysts for change, Technology Innovation Challenge Grants support educators and parents, industry partners, community leaders and others who are collaboratively developing new applications of technology to transform their factory era schools into information age learning centers. Some of the most exciting possibilities might flow from a creative synthesis of ideas generated by teachers and students, who are working with software developers and cognitive researchers in consortia that include: telecommunication firms and hardware manufacturers, entertainment producers, and others who are stretching our thinking about how to create new learning communities.

Technology Innovation Challenge Grants have the potential to improve education by building on computer and telecommunication advances that create powerful new ways to discover knowledge and exchange information. We learn more when we are solving challenging problems in meaningful contexts. Our mastery of new knowledge becomes stronger

when we actively collaborate with others to communicate our understanding of what we have learned. The extent of learning and the effectiveness of teaching need no longer be limited by the amount of time in the classroom or by the resources of a particular school. Teachers and students can tap vast electronic libraries and museums with a wealth of texts, video images, music, arts and languages. They can work with scientists and scholars around the globe who can help them use experimental research, primary historical documents, and authentic learning in real life settings to improve their understanding of physical phenomena and world events.

Technology Innovation Challenge Grant consortia need not be limited by geography. The information superhighway creates new possibilities for extending the time, the place, and the resources for learning. It can bring high quality education and training to every classroom, workplace, and home in the community at any time of day. The information superhighway can be used to create new learning communities linking schools, colleges, libraries, museums, and businesses across the country or around the world.

Technology Innovation Challenge Grant consortia are encouraged to act on their most ambitious visions for technology in education reform.

But, we must not become a society in which students from low income communities, and other areas in need of technology, are left behind in the acquisition of knowledge and skills for responsible citizenship and productive work in the 21st century. Failure to include these communities will put their future, and the future of the country, at risk. In awarding Technology Innovation Challenge Grants, the U.S. Secretary of Education will evaluate the extent to which the proposed project is designed to serve areas with a high number or percentage of disadvantaged students or the greatest need for educational technology.

Who Can Apply for a Technology

Innovation Challenge Grant?

Challenge Grants are five-year awards, and each applicant must propose five years of activity. Grants will range from $250,000 a year to $1,500,000 a year, with the average being $900,000 a year for five years. Applications that exceed $ 1,500,000 for any year of the five year project, and applications proposing less than five full years of work, will not be considered (these applications will be returned to the applicant without review).

Each application must be submitted by a Local Education Agency (LEA) on behalf of a consortium of partners with appropriate resources to develop innovative applications of technology that will addressspecific learning needs identified in the application (a definition of LEA appears on p. 9). Each consortium must include at least one local educational agency with a high percentage or number of children living below the poverty line. Moreover, the U.S. Secretary of Education will evaluate the extent to which the assistance sought is designed to serve areas with a high number or percentage of disadvantaged students or the greatest need for access to educational technology. The consortium may also include other local education agencies and private schools, State Education Agencies and institutions of higher education, museums and libraries, hardware manufacturers, software designers, telecommunication firms, and other businesses or The consortium holds the potential for a creative synergy among its members. The partners should be carefully chosen for their potential to develop innovative applications of technology for improved learning. A consortiums efforts should be clearly designed to encourage ongoing involvement of educators, students, parents, business leaders, and others who are committed to school improvement and education reform. Specific objectives for active participation by each consortium member at each stage of development will contribute to success.

Technology Innovation Challenge Grants are five-year development and demonstration projects. Each consortium should have plans in place to begin start-up activities in year one, including initial trials of new learning content and sustained professional development for teachers (Technology Innovation Challenge Grants are not planning grants). Years two and three should be devoted to refinement and expansion of the new applications of technology. Years four and five should support systemwide adoptions that can become self sustaining after the fifth year.

Additional sources of support may include foundation grants, private corporate sponsorship, and other philanthropic contributions.

Technology Innovation Challenge Grant consortia may draw on a wide range of federal government sources for support. For example, with assistance from the U.S. Department of Education, communities across the country have developed district-wide and state-wide school reform plans to meet the National Education Goals, and these plans provide an ideal context for demonstrating the use of new technologies to improve learning. Other U.S. Department of Education programs may contribute to the success of a consortiums effort, including: Title I of the Improving Americas Schools Act; the Eisenhower Professional Development Program; School-to Work Opportunities; Star Schools; the Regional Technology for Education Consortia; the Regional Educational Laboratories, and the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund, which is the companion initiative of the Technology Innovation Challenge Grants.