Kids In Need Teacher Grants Help Teachers Realize Their Dreams
Applications for 2008 Teacher Grants are available here.
Kids In Need Teacher Grants provide K-12 educators with funding to provide innovative learning opportunities for their students. The Kids In Need Foundation helps to engage students in the learning process by supporting our most creative and important educational resource — our nation's teachers.
How are the Teacher Grants funded?
The Teacher Grants are funded by the retail and education credit union sponsors.
The 2008 Sponsors are
How do teachers get an application?
Retail sponsors and designated education credit unions make the grant applications available at their outlets during the back-to-school season. Applications from the sponsors are also available on this Web site.
How many Teacher Grants are awarded?
In 2006, 270 grants (more than $110,000) were awarded. Teacher Grant awards range from $100 to $500 each and are used to finance creative classroom projects. Typically, 200-300 grants are awarded each year.
What is the selection criteria?
The applications are judged according to a rubric which emphasizes innovativeness and merit, clarity of objectives, replication feasibility, suitability of evaluation methods, and cost effectiveness. See guidelines and suggestions here.
Who is eligible?
All certified K-12 teachers in the U.S. are eligible.
What type of projects are funded?
At the end of the academic year, teachers report on the outcome of the funded projects. Some examples of winning projects include:
- Twilight Zone "Eye of the Beholder" - This project consisted of remaking a Twilight Zone episode in its entirety from the original script. Students cast the drama, built the sets, designed and rigged the lighting and sound, applied the make-up, ran the cameras, edited the video tape, designed the titles and credits, and put on an event for the premiere showing of the completed video.
- Charged Cars - Math in Motion - Students designed and built a battery-operated vehicle with a wheelbase of 40 cm designed to be mathematically accurate to travel and stop at any designated point between 1 and 10 meters.
Winning projects are put in the form of project ideas and are published as a The Guide to Award Winning Project Ideas. Cd's of the Guide are distributed to teachers through the Kids In Need National Network of Resource Centers and from the Foundation office.