Improving School Libraries grant

Program Office: Academic Improvement and Teacher Quality Programs

CFDA Number: 84.364
Program Type: Discretionary/Competitive Grants

Program Description

This program helps LEAs improve reading achievement by providing students with increased access to up-to-date school library materials; well-equipped, technologically advanced school library media centers; and professionally certified school library media specialists.

Types of Projects

Districts may use funds for the following activities:

• Purchase up-to-date school library media resources, including books;
• Acquire and use advanced technology that is integrated into the curricula to develop and enhance the information literacy, information retrieval, and critical-thinking skills of students;
• Facilitate Internet links and other resource-sharing networks;
• Provide professional development for school library media specialists of PK-3 students and provide activities that foster increased collaboration among library specialists, teachers, and administrators of PK-12 students; and
• Provide students with access to school libraries during nonschool hours, weekends, and summer vacations.

GE, Reagan Presidential Foundation Launch College Scholarship Program

[reposted from Philanthropy News Digest] The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and GE have announced the launch of the GE-Reagan Foundation Scholarship Program, an $8 million initiative to provide up to two hundred four-year scholarships over the next decade to students who embody leadership, drive, integrity, and citizenship.

Through the program, up to twenty students will be chosen annually to receive a $10,000 scholarship, renewable for up to three years — for a total of up to $40,000 per student. Recipients must be pursuing a bachelor's degree at an accredited U.S. college or university and can use the funding to cover their tuition, room, and board expenses. To be considered, applicants must be nominated by a community leader and fill out an online form prior to the deadline. During the summer of 2011, the first cohort of scholars will be recognized at an awards ceremony.

GE has committed $15 million to the Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration, a year-long celebration of the fortieth president's one-hundredth birthday on February 6, 2011. As part of that effort, GE will commit $5 million to establish the scholarship program, while the Reagan Presidential Foundation will contribute $3 million.

“Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and GE Launch College Scholarship Program.” GE Foundation Press Release 1/20/11.

International Research Studies Program

Purpose of Program: The IRS Program provides grants to eligible applicants to conduct research and studies to improve and strengthen instruction in modern foreign languages, area studies, and
other international fields.

Do Something

Since 1996, Do Something has annually honored young people who are working to improve their communities and the world with the Do Something Awards.

Applicants must be age 25 or younger (born on or after September 1, 1985) and be a U.S. or Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

In 2011, the five nominees will be rewarded with a community grant of $10,000, media coverage, and continued support from Do Something. The grand-prize winner will receive $100,000 during the live broadcast of the awards ceremony. All winners have the option of receiving $5,000 of their grant in the form of an educational scholarship.

Visit the Do Something Web site for complete program guidelines and information on the work of previous award winners.

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP

Grant Foundation Scholars Program

[from Philanthropy News Digest]

The William T. Grant Foundation, which supports research to understand and improve the everyday settings of youth between the ages of 8 and 25 in the United States, is accepting applications for the William T. Grant Scholars Program.

The Grant Scholars Program is a professional development program for early-career researchers in the social, behavioral, and health sciences. The program encourages scholars to be ambitious in their research endeavors by tackling important questions that will advance theory, policy, and practice for youth and to do so with an expanded array of expertise that includes different methods, disciplinary perspectives, and content knowledge. The program differs from traditional research grants in that it supports career development. Applications are particularly encouraged from scholars who already have a promising track record but seek a qualitative shift in their trajectory as researchers.

Applicants are invited to identify areas in which they seek to expand their expertise and to propose five-year research plans to develop it. Applicants are also asked to create mentoring plans that will aid them in acquiring new expertise and producing stronger work.

Applicants must have received their terminal degree within seven years of submitting their application and must be employed in career-ladder positions at nonprofit institutions. Applicants inside and outside the United States are eligible. As with U.S. applicants, foreign applicants must pursue research that has compelling policy or practice implications for the settings of youth between the ages of 8 and 25 in the United States. Applicants of any discipline are eligible.

Each year, four to six scholars are selected to receive $350,000, distributed over five years. Awards are made to the applicant's institution.

Visit the Grant Foundation Web site to download the complete program brochure with grant guidelines and application requirements.

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP

Grant Foundation Scholars Program

[from Philanthropy News Digest]

The William T. Grant Foundation, which supports research to understand and improve the everyday settings of youth between the ages of 8 and 25 in the United States, is accepting applications for the William T. Grant Scholars Program.

The Grant Scholars Program is a professional development program for early-career researchers in the social, behavioral, and health sciences. The program encourages scholars to be ambitious in their research endeavors by tackling important questions that will advance theory, policy, and practice for youth and to do so with an expanded array of expertise that includes different methods, disciplinary perspectives, and content knowledge. The program differs from traditional research grants in that it supports career development. Applications are particularly encouraged from scholars who already have a promising track record but seek a qualitative shift in their trajectory as researchers.

Applicants are invited to identify areas in which they seek to expand their expertise and to propose five-year research plans to develop it. Applicants are also asked to create mentoring plans that will aid them in acquiring new expertise and producing stronger work.

Applicants must have received their terminal degree within seven years of submitting their application and must be employed in career-ladder positions at nonprofit institutions. Applicants inside and outside the United States are eligible. As with U.S. applicants, foreign applicants must pursue research that has compelling policy or practice implications for the settings of youth between the ages of 8 and 25 in the United States. Applicants of any discipline are eligible.

Each year, four to six scholars are selected to receive $350,000, distributed over five years. Awards are made to the applicant's institution.

Visit the Grant Foundation Web site to download the complete program brochure with grant guidelines and application requirements.

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP

Erie Community Foundation: Link to Learning Mini-Grants

Five years ago, The Erie Community Foundation recognized a need to support and enhance the work of Erie County teachers and early learning centers. These groups could benefit from small amounts of funding for their specific projects.

As a result, the Link to Learning Mini-grants started and have been very well received. Area schools and early learning centers are eligible for mini-grants up to $500 for projects that have a profound impact on students and hands-on classroom projects.

This year, the committee evaluated a total of 87 education mini-grant applications from 42 schools. After evaluations, 42 projects from 21 schools were recommended for funding. The proposals in 2010 did not lack for ingenuity and effective classroom methods. Some local projects include:

• The Help Them Tell Mom project at Belle Valley Elementary School provided a printer and camera for the preschool autistic support classroom. This allows the children who cannot verbalize to their parents what happened in school to now share photos of classroom activities.
• Students at Girard High School enhance both their physical education and their appreciation and respect of the outdoors with Fitness and Learning withGPS. Students will improve fitness levels through orienting activities and the popular activity of geocaching thanks to the new GPS unit.
• Middle school students with special needs at Perseus House Charter School will Bridge the Math Gap with new hands on mathematics learning tools. These tools include geometric tools, fraction games, and equation solving tools, all of which enable the students to move beyond concrete and into abstract mathematical thinking.
• The Owl Pellet Project at St. Peter Cathedral Center connects literature and science, as students will receive a copy of the novel Poppy by Avi after which the students will dissect owl pellets to learn about the life of animals in their environments.
• At Jefferson Elementary School, fifth grade students aim for Literacy Growth Through Peer Mentoring, to increase reading ability and comprehension. After exposing students to a variety of literary genres, students will complete a quarterly Reading Assessment of their peers.

Council for Community Solutions online mtg: Youth Employment

The White House Council for Community Solutions has announced it will hold its initial meeting on Friday, February 4, 2011, (1 p.m.-3 p.m. EST) in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

This meeting will be streamed live for public viewing and a link will be available on the council's Web site:http://www.serve.gov/ communitysolutions.

The purpose of this meeting is to review the Council's charge, discuss the key issues impacting youth employment, education, work preparedness and the healthy transition to adulthood, and establish committees to carry out the Council's work.

The public is invited to submit publicly available comments through the Council's Web site. To send statements to the Council, please send written statements to the Council's electronic mailbox at WhiteHouseCouncil@cns.gov. The public can also follow the Council's work by visiting its Web site: http://www.serve.gov/communitysolutions.

The contact person is Susannah Washburn, Executive Director, White House Council for Community Solutions, Corporation for National and Community Service, 10th Floor, Room 10911, 1201 New York Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20525. Phone (202) 606-6740. Fax (202) 606-3464. E-mail: swashburn@cns.gov.

Google Science Fair!

The Science Fair Goes Online

The Google Science Fair takes the traditional science fair and moves it to the Web. Participating students both build and submit their projects online - using Google Docs, Sites, and YouTube, for example - for all aspects of their research projects - from the data collection to the final presentation. Students from all over the world are encouraged to participate - from Paris, Texas to Paris, France, from Venice, Italy to Venice Beach.

To run this science fair, Google is teaming up with some of the most well-known names in science, technology, and education: CERN, LEGO, National Geographic, and Scientific American. And the judges for the event are just as prestigious, including the founder of the FIRST robotics competition Dean Kamen, the leader of National Geographic's Genographic Project Spencer Wells, Nobel prize winner Kary Mullis, and the "father of the Internet" Vint Cerf.

The prizes (oh, the prizes) include some once-in-a-lifetime opportunities: a trip to the Galapagos Islands with a National Geographic Explorer, a trip to Switzerland to visit CERN and the Large Hadron Collider, a chance to work on the development of a new LEGO robotics project.

Encouraging the Next Generation of Scientists

The Google Science Fair is an effort to help encourage students' interest in science and technology. "Google's origins are in scientific experimentation," Google's Tom Oliveri told ReadWriteWeb, noting that it was a hypothesis of two young computer science students back in 1996 that the information on the web could cataloged and searched.

To enter, you can register online and create your project as a Google Site. Registration is open through April 4, and the announcement of the semi-finalists will happen in early May. Oregon high school student Tesca has created a great sample site so you can see what an online science fair project might look like.

Youth Development, Juvenile justice systems

The purpose of OJJDP’s FY 2011 Field Initiated Research and Evaluation (FIRE) Program is to support methodologically rigorous research and evaluation studies that inform policy and practice consistent with the Department of Justice’s mission. With this solicitation, OJJDP encourages applicants to propose research and evaluation projects related to delinquency prevention; the reduction and control of juvenile delinquency and serious crime committed by juveniles; efforts to prevent recidivism through positive youth development; links between child neglect, victimization, and crime; and juvenile justice system response to issues such as sex crimes committed by juveniles, females in the juvenile justice system, and disproportionate minority contact at points along the juvenile justice system.

America Competes Act Signed by President

On Tuesday, January 4, President Obama signed into law The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, which significantly advances the administration’s innovation agenda by doubles funding to our nation’s basic research agencies, boosting investment in high-risk, high-reward energy technology development, and improving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.

Importantly for EDA, COMPETES supports the core of our Jobs and Innovation Partnership initiative, which seeks to elevate regional innovation cluster development as a key driver of future jobs and economic growth, by calling for the Secretary of Commerce to establish a regional innovation program to encourage and support the development of regional innovation strategies, including regional innovation clusters and science and research parks.

In addition, COMPETES formally establishes the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Department of Commerce “to foster innovation and the commercialization of new technologies, products, processes, and services with the goal of promoting productivity and economic growth in the United States.”

Below is Commerce Secretary Gary Locke’s statement outlining how this important legislation will further strengthen the Commerce Department’s mission.

STATEMENT FROM U.S. COMMERCE SECRETARY GARY LOCKE ON THE

REAUTHORIZATION OF THE AMERICA COMPETES ACT

“Yesterday, the President signed the America COMPETES Act and renewed our nation’s focus on science, education and technology, recognizing their importance to the future of American innovation and competitiveness.

“At the U.S. Department of Commerce, this means more research and expanded programs at our National Institute of Standards and Technology and our National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to advance science and technology in the United States. It bolsters our Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in its efforts to drive the commercialization of new innovations to foster job creation and economic growth. And it supports a Regional Innovation Program through our Economic Development Administration that will help business get off the ground and capitalize on regional strengths.

“These innovative programs and initiatives at the U.S. Department of Commerce, with the help of the America COMPETES Act, will help create jobs here at home, make our businesses more competitive abroad and strengthen the foundation of our economy.”

Youth programs request for information

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in its role as the Chair of the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs requests public comments to inform the development of a strategic plan for Federal youth policy.

The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs has identified a number of questions to focus on, and the Working Group is particularly interested in receiving comments addressing some or all of these questions.

(a) What is the single most important thing youth need to be successful?
(b) What programs really make a difference in the lives of youth? How do you know this?
(c) What are the barriers to collaborating to improving youth outcomes and how can these barriers be removed?
(d) What can Federal agencies do to assist? What are your ideas for Federal policy to improve the coordination, effectiveness, and efficiency of programs affecting youth?
(e) How can youth be engaged in these efforts?

Literacy and targeted populations reports

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has announced the release and availability of seven Occasional Papers on Literacy and Targeted Populations prepared by the American Institutes for Research (AIR).

As part of the work of the Interagency Coordinating Group on Adult Literacy, ETA and the Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) initiated the development of four occasional papers based on the secondary analyses of the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) data (http://nces.ed.gov/naal/). ETA also initiated the preparation of three additional occasional papers to better understand literacy needs of different population segments served through the public workforce system.

As part of the MOU between ETA and OVAE, AIR examined the literacy of non-native English speaking adults, America's young adults, female welfare recipients, and incarcerated adults nearing release from prison. The findings in occasional papers suggest that service delivery strategies should include elements of adult education such as adult basic education, English as a Second Language, and computer skills training to assist these populations with entering employment or making employment transitions.

Training and Employment Notice 20-10 provides additional background and furnishes a short description of each paper. All papers are available at the ETA Occasional Paper Series Web site at http://wdr.doleta.gov/research/keyword.cfm.

Direct links to the individual papers appear below:

Overcoming the Language Barrier: The Literacy of Non-Native-English-Speaking Adults

Preparing Youth for the Future: The Literacy of America's Young Adults

Gaining the Skills for Employment: The Literacy of Female Public Assistance Recipients

Preparing for Life Beyond Prison Walls: The Literacy of Incarcerated Adults

Building Career Ladders for the Working Poor Through Literacy Training

Workers in Declining Industries: Literacy's Role in Worker Transitions

Survival Literacy Training for Non-Native-English-Speaking Workers