Grant Application
Deadline: January 23, 2025 at 5:00PM Central

Part Two: Proposal

Consists of five sections and should articulate creative, thoughtful activities or projects that demonstrate potential for learning for the teacher, the student, and the school community.

• Create and save your proposal using a word processor, avoiding any formatting.
• 25,000 characters, including spaces, (approx. six and half, single spaced, typed pages) cumulative for all five sections.
• Avoid identifying references: Please refrain from using your name, your school or district names within your proposal to ensure an anonymous selection process.
• Avoid using hyperlinks and web addresses.
• Refer to the Scoring Criteria when addressing each of the five proposal sections.
• TEAMS:
  • Proposals should reflect collaboration and demonstrate your ability to work successfully as a team. Team members should be active participants in the writing process. They should also understand that they are financially responsible for their portion of the grant if awarded.
  • Only the team lead is responsible for entering the proposal.

Sections:

A response to each application question is required. However, applicants should not feel limited by these questions and should provide selection committee readers with any information they feel is helpful in articulating their fellowship goals. Additionally, we strongly encourage you to review the Scoring Criteria (found here and under Quick Links) to understand what criteria selection committee members are looking for in a highly scored proposal.

Fellowship Purpose and Overarching Goals

• Describe a skill or area of knowledge you would like to develop further as an educator. How do you believe this learning will enhance your ability to meet the diverse needs of your students?
• Describe what you know about your students including but not limited to: their collective learning needs, culture(s), interests, and academic performance. How do these factors shape your fellowship goals? What data or stories support this?
• What are the overarching goals of your fellowship? What motivates you to pursue this learning?
• Why have you chosen to pursue this learning opportunity in a specific location or institution? What unique aspects of this destination make it essential for your professional growth and the needs of your students?

Fellowship Plan

• What is your summer learning plan and what key activities will you experience to achieve your goals?
• Provide a detailed rationale for each activity. How do these activities connect to your professional growth and the learning needs of your students?
• How will your plan incorporate opportunities to learn from experts and engage in real-world experiences that push the boundaries of your current practice?
• How will this fellowship encourage your learning about different cultures and perspectives?

Teacher Growth and Learning

• Identify the personal and intellectual challenges you expect to encounter during your fellowship. How will these challenges foster your growth?
• Discuss the importance of learning about your students' cultures through this fellowship. How will this knowledge contribute to your growth as a teacher and enhance your instructional practice? (For an active definition on culture, click here.)
• How will this fellowship help you make learning experiences more relevant for your students?
• How will you integrate critical thinking, reflection, and metacognitive strategies into your fellowship experience to ensure continuous learning?

Student and Stakeholder Experience

• How will you refine or create new student learning experiences as a result of your summer learning? How do these changes align with your overarching goals and your students' needs? (e.g. new units, practices, routines, methods, classroom activities, school initiatives, and/or other student-centered experiences)?
• How do you plan to involve students in more authentic and cognitively challenging work? How will this allow students to be more reflective of their own strengths and interests?
• Outline your strategy for building partnerships with stakeholders (e.g., colleagues, parents, community members) and enabling your students to do the same. How will these partnerships increase student agency and leadership?
• Discuss the feasibility of the proposed changes within your current school context. What factors in your school environment support or challenge the implementation of these changes?

Budget Narrative

• Provide a detailed budget for your fellowship, including all anticipated needs.
• Explain how each budget item supports the achievement of your fellowship goals and aligns with the activities outlined in your learning plan.
• Include a time frame and breakdown of costs, approximate costs as closely as possible. Consider the timing of fund distribution when planning your fellowship activities.
• How have you ensured that your budget is research-based and adheres to grant guidelines?
• Team budgets should include both costs broken down by individual and totals for the whole
• NOTE: We strongly advise you against under budgeting. The cost of your fellowship is not a consideration in the selection process. Fund for Teachers is unable to increase your budget after you are Applicants should also be aware that you will receive 90% of your grant award in the spring, and the remaining 10% of your award after the completion of your post- fellowship reports in the fall. Please consider this timing when applying.

Refer to Part Three: Itemized Budget Sheet for more detail regarding allowable expenses.