2015-FFT-Info-Sessio.. - Chicago Foundation for Education

FFT-Chicago Information Session Script
2015 Program Year
This script is to be used in conjunction with the 2015 Information Session PowerPoint Presentation.
This script is intended for informational purposes only. All applicants should read the specific
Application Guidelines for their program before beginning the application process. If you have any
questions before your presentation, contact CFE at 312.670.2323 or [email protected]. If your
participants have questions you don’t feel comfortable answering, direct them to call 1-800-681-2667
or email [email protected].
Before beginning the session, get to know your audience by asking them how familiar they are with
Fund for Teachers and the grant opportunity. That will allow you to tailor the presentation to meet
the needs of the audience.
SLIDE 1: Introduction
Thank you for joining us today to learn more about Fund for Teachers. This presentation will give you
background information on FFT, our application process and tips for writing a successful grant
proposal.
Fund for Teachers works with US teachers through various partnerships across the country. For
Chicago Public School teachers, CFE facilitates localized program implementation, outreach, and
marketing.
Fund for Teachers has awarded more than 6,000 teachers, sending them to 137 countries on all seven
continents.
SLIDE 2: Our Mission
The mission of Fund for Teachers is to provide teachers the resources to pursue opportunities that
will have the greatest impact on their practice, the academic lives of their students and on their
communities. Above all, FFT honors the professionalism of dedicated teachers and values their
judgment as to what best impacts their practice.
Recognizing teachers as professionals, Fund for Teachers awards grants directly to teachers, up to
$5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for teams. 90% of the grant is paid upon award, with the
remaining 10% paid upon completion of post fellowship obligations.
Ultimately, FFT believes that by experiencing the potential of their own personal and professional
learning, teachers will, in turn inspire potential in their students.
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SLIDE 3: Eligibility
Geographically, any teacher within the US, who meets the basic eligibility criteria, may apply.
The eligibility criterion requires the applicant to:
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Be employed full-time as a PreK-12th grade CPS teacher.
Spend at least 50% of his/her work week in direct instruction with students in a classroom or
classroom-like setting.
Intends to continue teaching in the consecutive school year.
Has at least three years teaching experience.
If you are currently in your third year of teaching, you are eligible. Student and substitute
teaching do not count toward the three year teaching requirement
In addition to eligibility requirements, applicants should be aware of the following:
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Applicants may submit one application per year.
If you are awarded a Fund for Teachers grant, you are eligible to apply again in 3 years. This
number will change to 5 years with the start of the 2016 grant cycle.
All members of a team must meet the eligibility criteria.
PreK teachers must teach in a school that is classified as a Chicago Public School.
Fund for Teachers has awarded almost every type of fellowship imaginable: from special education
conferences to a study of mariachi history. However, there are a few exceptions or projects we are
unable to fund:
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Applicants may not apply for stipends. Funds must go towards a learning experience, not your
time.
Applicants cannot use funds for student travel.
Applicants cannot use funds for substitute compensation.
Applicants may not use grant funds for the completion of post baccalaureate degrees,
university/college credit hours, teacher certifications or courses for graduate credit. Although
courses and classes at a university/college can be proposed as a fellowship experience, the
primary goal of course work should be a specific student outcome, rather than a degree plan.
Finally, funds may not be used for onsite or campus professional development by the school
or the district. The benefits from the experience will ultimately benefit the entire school
community but the actual fellowship should happen off campus.
SLIDE 4: Grant Writing Tips
There are a few basic tips that will help you with any grant writing:
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Valuable information in the guidelines could be the difference between preparing a successful
grant application or not. Fund for Teachers provides these guidelines for your review before
you begin the application process.
Use the tools provided. FFT provides proposal writing tips and excerpts of awarded proposals
within the application guidelines.
Proofread your proposal. Although this may seem like common sense, it is a step many grant
applicants skip. Consider this: Fund for Teachers receives hundreds of great grant
applications. Poor spelling and grammar indicate lack of commitment. When choosing
between competing applications the reader will choose the proposal with the least errors.
Enlist help from others. FFT provides applicants with the same scoring rubric used by our
Selection Committee. Ask peers to score your proposal based on the rubric categories.
FFT Selection Committees are comprised of readers from all industries. Ask someone not
involved in education to review your proposal. Doing so can help you remove educational
jargon or identify ambiguous points. Providing someone not in education, who is not familiar
with your proposal, a copy of the rubric and proposal for feedback can best simulate the
selection process.
SLIDE 5: Proposal Scoring
Fund for Teachers enlists the help of the community to score grant proposals and ultimately select
our Fellows.
A Selection Committee comprised of past Fellows, educators, donors and civic leaders will score each
proposal using a scoring rubric. This rubric is available to you, and should be used to assist you in
sharpening your proposal.
The selection process is completely blind; all identifying information that could create a bias will be
removed before distribution to the committee. It is for this reason that we ask you to avoid giving any
identifying information in your proposal, such as your name or school name. Before scoring, we will
remove your coversheet from the application. The merit of your application is the sole criterion for
scoring.
Grants are awarded until the quality declines or the money runs out. Nationally the award percentage
is about 15-20%, though that number varies by program and year.
Each of the seven proposal sections are weighted equally on the scoring rubric. Often times, the
beginning sections start strong and the later sections are weaker. Give equal attention to each
section.
Answer each question that is asked. These questions area requirement of the application, though you
are welcome to provide additional information where you feel it is needed.
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SLIDE 6: Section One - Rationale and Purpose
The Rationale and Purpose introduces your idea and why it merits consideration. Set the stage and
communicate a learning opportunity you’ve desired to experience and why. The fellowship should
expose you to new surroundings and challenges.
What you want to do and why you’ve proposed this activity should be clear at the beginning of the
proposal. This is where you grab the reader’s attention.
Remember that the Selection Committee members only know what you tell them. It is important to
describe yourself, your students and your teaching environment, so that they will understand the
relevance of your project, without identifying information. However, consider providing important
details about your school environment: demographics, school type, urban, suburban or rural, etc...
Applicants most often leave out the key questions or learning goals. Make sure to include these as
they are critical to understanding your fellowship.
SLIDE 7: Section Two - Project Description
The Project Description is a detailed account of how you plan to execute your Fellowship. You should
be as specific as possible. Show proof that ample research has been conducted. Make readers
confident you are ready to execute your plans if awarded a grant.
Each of your proposed activities should relate directly to your fellowship rationale and purpose and
the key questions you proposed. You should assume that the reader has little or no knowledge of the
location or activities you’ll pursue, so be explicit in detailing their relevance.
Finally, providing the reader with a timeline of your proposed fellowship can increase the credibility of
your proposal. For example, many applicants request funding to learn a new language- this is an
admirable and often funded fellowship concept. However, if you claim to be able to accomplish this in
only one week, the reader may not take your project seriously.
Be realistic. Sometimes more is just more, not better.
SLIDE 8: Section Three - Teacher Growth and Learning
Your personal and professional growth as a teacher is the cornerstone of the Fund for Teachers
mission. Your proposed fellowship experience should address your key questions and learning goals,
while helping you grow both personally and professionally.
Many applicants have difficulty with this section because their daily lives are focused on doing what is
best for their students.
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In this section, take the opportunity to consider how you will benefit. Focus on yourself, the longevity
of your career and how this project will affect it. You will focus on benefits to your students in the
next section.
SLIDE 9: Section Four - Student Growth and Learning
For many selection committee members, the major goal of your fellowship should be how your
students will grow and learn from your experience and why it is relevant.
What experiences or knowledge would they be missing if you didn’t have the opportunity to
experience your proposed fellowship?
This section also allows applicants to discuss how they are currently teaching their subject and how
they will augment or improve current techniques upon their return to the classroom.
SLIDE 10: Section Five - Benefits to School Community
Fund for Teachers and our donors hope that your fellowship experience will extend beyond the walls
of your classroom to impact your whole school community.
A school community may include: peers, the general student body, feeder schools, the community
surrounding your campus, administration, parents, local businesses or educational non-profits.
Talk to your principal and peers now. Ask what resources you could provide your campus and
teaching partners if you are awarded this fellowship. Do they have suggestions for school-wide
implementation or sharing? You may be surprised at the ideas you will develop as a result of these
conversations.
Presenting to your peers in an in-service or staff meeting is expected. Think bigger.
SLIDE 11: Section Six - Plan for Implementation
How you plan on implementing your fellowship in the classroom may be a Selection Committee member’s
greatest indicator of how dedicated you are to your project and how relevant it is to your classroom. This
will be the blueprint for your learning during the fellowship experience.
You are asked to provide one of the following:
-An outline of a curricular unit/project that focuses on goals, student skills, content, teaching
methods and assessment ideas.
OR
- An action plan for new classroom or school-wide structures that focuses on goals, strategy and
outcomes
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SLIDE 12: Section Seven - Budget Narrative and Itemized Budget
A budget narrative is a detailed description of the expenses you will incur on your proposed
fellowship in narrative form. It is not a line item list.
Budgets should be realistic and well researched. Provide information on where you completed your
research; this may include websites, travel agents or books.
If your budget includes a technology expense, specify why the item is necessary to your fellowship’s
success, why you selected the particular brand or type and whether you have experience using the
technology. Evidence should be clear throughout the entire proposal of the need for technology and
its relevance to your project or classroom implementation.
FYI: Selection Committees may increase or decrease budgets. In most cases, it is the latter, due to
unexplained technology expenses. Hint: Buying a camera? Show how you’ll use the photos with your
students and in your implementation plan.
The maximum food allowance is $50 per day, per person. Food expenses should reflect actual
destination costs with research shown. Travel guides are a great place to find this type of
information.
If you are asking for the full $50/day allowance, make sure to explain the request, so that it doesn’t
appear as if you didn’t research the expense and just chose the request the maximum food allowance.
Applicants should also consider including approximate travel dates, which in some instances can
explain variations in price.
The itemized budget is part of the online application and will be the last step of the application
process. In this section, we ask you to combine expenses by category to give a quick snapshot of the
whole budget in a line item listing. If you have completed your budget narrative, this section should
not take long.
SLIDE 13: Navigating the Online Application
All grant applications are completed and submitted online. To begin the application process, go to
www.fundforteachers.org.
Use a working email address to register. This will be FFT’s main method of communication.
If you have applied in a previous year you may use the same email address, as long as you create a
new password.
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After successfully registering, you will be prompted to select whether you are applying as a team or
individual.
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Elect a team lead and create a team name.
The team lead initiates the online process and creates the team name.
Each team member registers an account and signs a cover sheet.
The team lead cannot advance past the cover sheet until all other members have signed the
cover sheet.
The online application is comprised of three sections: Coversheet, Proposal and Itemized Budget. If
you are applying as a team, the team lead is the only team member responsible for entering the
proposal and budget. Team members will only complete their cover sheets.
Write your proposal in a word processor. Our application does not have a spelling or grammar check.
Plus, it’s the best way to save your work.
Cover sheets must be digitally signed by you and your principal. Be sure the principal email provided
is a working address as an email will be sent to the principal to verify and sign the cover sheet.
You may enter and exit the application as needed until you submit. Save often to ensure your
information is collected and stored.
SLIDE 14: How to Apply
Fund for Teachers application is only submitted online and will be available October 1, 2014.
The deadline for applications is Thursday, January 29, 2015 at 5:00pm CST. An application won’t be
complete until the cover sheet(s) have been digitally signed by the principal.
Applicants will be notified of the results by April 3, 2015.
SLIDE 15: Questions?
If you have questions during the application process, please contact CFE at [email protected] or
312.670.2323. You are also welcome to contact the National Office at 1-800-681-2667 or
[email protected].
Thank you for joining our presentation. Best of luck with your application!
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