August 6, 2010

Trends and Reports

• Annie E. Casey Foundation Releases 2010 KIDS COUNT Data Book
• Federal budget proposal for 2011 includes increases for Child Care, Head Start, and new Early Learning Challenge Fund

OCDEL Corner

• FMAP passes Senate, moves to House
• DPW Weekly Updates
• Governor Rendell: Pennsylvania Among Finalists in Second Round of Federal Race-to-the-Top Funding Competition - State Could Receive Up to $400 million to Accelerate Reforms, Boost Achievement 

In the Community

• Rebecca Belski Receives Pennsylvania Child Care Association Award of Excellence

In the News

• Growing up poor can affect brain development - Pitt study among those to find poverty impacts function
• The Case for $320,000 Kindergarten Teachers
• Grantmakers, Government Aligning to Encourage College Completion - State-Financed Preschool Programs Among Recommendations

Upcoming Events

• 2010 Events
• Kindergarten Here I Come Story Times in Bucks County - August 10-30, Bucks County
• Children's Museum of Pittsburgh to host a Celebration of Kindergarten! - August 14, Pittsburgh
• PDII Revised Early Learning Standards & Standards Aligned System (SAS) - August 25, Harrisburg
• Competence and Confidence:  Partners in Policymaking for Families of Children in Early Intervention - Beginning October, King of Prussia
• Lehigh Valley Early Care & Education Professional Development Day - October 11, Bethlehem
• Second Annual Pennsylvania Infant Mental Health Conference - October 22-23, Philadelphia, PA

Higher Education

• Pennsylvania School-Age Professional Credential On-Line 

Funding Opportunities

• Heinz Endowments Announces Out-of-School-Time Arts Program Request for Proposals
• Kids In Need Foundation Accepting Applications for Teacher Grants
• Community Tool Box Announces Global Prize Contest for Community Innovations
• Cracker Barrel Foundation
•  The Countess Moira Charitable Foundation – Youth Organization Grants 

Resources

• Tool to keep teachers, parents and students on the same page

Trends and Reports

Annie E. Casey Foundation Releases 2010 KIDS COUNT Data Book

Overall improvements in child well-being that began in the late 1990s stalled in the years leading up to the current economic downturn, a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation finds.

This year's KIDS COUNT Data Book (60 pages, PDF) found that the 2008 child poverty rate topped 18 percent, which means the number of children living in poverty grew by a million between 2000 and 2008. Moreover, when more up-to-date Census data is released later this year, the child poverty rate is expected to climb past 20 percent. The report also found that child well-being worsened in three areas — the percentage of low-birth-weight babies born, the percentage of children living in single-parent families, and the child poverty rate — and that it improved in five areas, namely infant mortality, child deaths, teen deaths, teen births, and the percentage of teens not in school and not high school graduates.

Looking across all child well-being indicators, New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Vermont ranked at the top of the list among the fifty states, while Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi ranked at the bottom. The states recording the biggest improvement in their rankings between 2000 and 2007 (health data) and 2000 and 2008 (economic data) were New York, Maryland, North Carolina, Illinois, Oregon, and Wyoming. The states with the biggest drop in their rankings were Montana, South Dakota, Maine, Alaska, and Hawaii. Pennsylvania's overall rank was 23.

Based on the report's findings, the Casey Foundation recommends that the federal government take steps to improve the collection of data on the nation's children, including enhancing the National Survey of Children's Health, which was last conducted in 2007 and is not scheduled again until 2011; adopting a supplemental poverty measure that captures non-cash benefits such as food stamps and child care to better understand how children are faring; increasing the sample size of the American Community Survey to include urban neighborhoods and sparsely populated rural communities; and addressing problems within the Vital Statistics System, which over the past few years have resulted in significant gaps and delays in compiling key data on health.

"Our KIDS COUNT project has made significant strides in tracking results and compiling data on children and families during the past two decades," said Casey Foundation president and CEO Patrick T. McCarthy. "But the reality is that we can only go so far without needed improvements to our data collection systems. None of us has a good grasp on the conditions facing America's children because state and federal agencies collect data too infrequently and often do not measure what really matters for kids."

Available information includes 10 Key Indicators of child well-being, which includes percentage of low-birthweight babies; infant mortality rate; child death rate; teen death rate; teen birth rate; percentage of teens not in school and not high school graduates; percentage of teens not attending high school and not working; percentage of children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment; percentage of children in poverty; and percentage of children in single-parent families.  The complete report is available on the Annie E. Casey Foundation (pdf) website.

Federal budget proposal for 2011 includes increases for Child Care, Head Start, and new Early Learning Challenge Fund

On July 29 the U.S. Senate Appropriations committee reported out the FY 2011 Appropriations bill for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies which includes additional funding for child care and Head Start. If passed by Congress, the additional funding would likely allow states and Head Start grantees to continue serving the additional children and centers funded by the ARRA federal stimulus bill. The bill also includes $300 million for a new Early Learning Challenge Fund.

Highlights include:

• Child Care—The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included important investments in child care, allowing states to increase assistance for low-income families and support quality improvement activities. The bill maintains the funding level provided for in the Recovery Act by providing an increase of $1 billion over the fiscal year 2010 level, for a total of $3.1 billion.
• Head Start—The bill provides $8.2 billion for Head Start, an increase of $990.3 million over the fiscal year 2010 appropriation. This amount will allow Head Start programs to provide comprehensive early childhood development services to 978,000 low-income children, and maintain increases in families served because of Recovery Act funding in fiscal years 2009 and 2010.
• Early Learning Challenge Fund—The bill includes $300 million for a new Early Learning Challenge Fund that will provide competitive grants to states to raise the bar for early childhood programs. High-quality early learning programs help children develop the cognitive, social, and emotional skills needed to succeed in school and later in life. Yet quality varies greatly across settings, within states, and across the Nation. The Early Learning Challenge Fund will encourage states to coordinate quality improvement activities across early learning settings, including child care, Head Start and pre-kindergarten programs; expand the number of low-income children in high-quality programs; and ensure that more children enter kindergarten ready to succeed.

This is only one of the very first steps in the federal budget process. Click here to read the full release.

OCDEL Corner

FMAP passes Senate, moves to House

On Thursday, August 5, the U.S. Senate passed a revised version of the Federal Medical Assistance Percentages bill (FMAP) that would provide about $600 million in federal assistance to Pennsylvania through June 2011. This is $250 million less than previously proposed.

U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi indicated that she will be calling the U.S. House back into session for a vote next week.

Pennsylvania’s 2010-2011 state budget included a contingency of $850 million from FMAP to balance the budget. Therefore, if FMAP passes the U.S. House, there will still be a $250 million gap in the state budget that needs to be addressed by Governor Rendell and the General Assembly.

For more information on why FMAP is vital to protect Pennsylvania’s early education programs, visit the Pennsylvania Promise for Children website.

DWP Weekly Updates

The Department of Public Welfare issues weekly messages highlighting ways in which its programs and services are protecting our most vulnerable citizens and helping them become more independent and have a high quality of life.  The latest update celebrates the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act.

• NEW!  July 29:  Americans with Disabilities Act 20th Anniversary (pdf)
• Click here to see past DPW Weekly Updates.
• Click here to sign up to receive these alerts directly.

Governor Rendell: Pennsylvania Among Finalists in Second Round of Federal Race-to-the-Top Funding Competition - State Could Receive Up to $400 million to Accelerate Reforms, Boost Achievement

Pennsylvania is one of 19 finalists in the second round of the highly competitive federal Race to the Top grant competition, Governor Rendell said on July 27, 2010.  If selected, the state could receive up to $400 million in federal funding to help build on and accelerate its strong progress in education reform and student achievement over the past seven years.

"Pennsylvania's finalist status in round two of Race to the Top is a real testament to the hard work we've already done in implementing targeted reforms that help our students to achieve and succeed," Governor Rendell said. "Pennsylvania's education community should be enormously proud that these efforts have been recognized in advancing our Race to the Top application."

Pennsylvania's application included agreements signed by the superintendent, school board president and local teachers' union president of 122 of the state's school districts and 69 charter schools committing to implement strategies and activities that will help meet ambitious student achievement targets over the next four years. Superintendents of another 152 school districts which chose not to participate directly in the Race to the Top application also signed letters of support for Pennsylvania's Race to the Top strategies.

Race to the Top funds would be used to accelerate ongoing efforts to:

• Increase student achievement and develop data systems capable of supporting reform;
• Turn around the lowest performing schools;
• Create a world-class system for professional development;
• Develop a robust evaluation system for teachers and leaders; and
• Evaluate programs to identify and spread best practices.

The funds would help double the rate of students reaching proficient and advanced levels of academic achievement; ensure more than 100,000 additional students perform at least at grade level; cut in half the number of students testing at the lowest level; and help ensure that at least 85 percent of students in the most struggling schools reach proficiency.

Pennsylvania and the other finalists will be invited to make a presentation in Washington in mid-August, with the grants to be announced in early September.

Pennsylvania's Race to the Top application is available online at the Department of Public Welfare website.

A list of school districts (SD) and charter schools (CS) that submitted Race to the Top memoranda of understanding (pdf) is available.

In the Community

Rebecca Belski Receives Pennsylvania Child Care Association Award of Excellence

The Pennsylvania Child Care Association (PACCA) announced the winner of the 2010 Award of Excellence Award on June 8th during the Early Childhood Action Day in the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg.  “Early Childhood Action Day is the perfect day to acknowledge those child care professionals who inspire the rest,” said Diana Dixon, Chair of the Pennsylvania Child Care Association Board of Directors.  Their dedication and hard work each day keeps Pennsylvania’s children learning and families working.  “Child care providers everywhere play a critical role in Pennsylvania’s future and today’s economy.”

Rebecca Joann Belski from Duck Hollow Discovery Learning Center was moved by the event as this year’s recipient of the Award of Excellence.  The award honors directors and administrators for outstanding service and accomplishments in the field of administration.  “I am extremely honored to have received the PACCA Award of Excellence.  In August 1999, with the help of my family, I was able to purchase Duck Hollow Discovery Learning Center.  Since that time, it has been a pleasure to come to work here on a daily basis, to share my life with my employees, children, and parents,” said Rebecca.  “This award validates what we have accomplished.  Therefore, I proudly accept this award, not just for myself, but for all the people who made this possible.”   

In addition to the Award of Excellence, Rebecca was also presented with a citation from the House of Representatives by Representative Deberah Kula during the ceremony.  She also received a Certificate of Achievement from Senator Richard Kusunic.

For additional information about this award and the work being done around quality child care, please visit the Pennsylvania Child Care Association (PACCA) website.

In the News

Growing up poor can affect brain development - Pitt study among those to find poverty impacts function

A classic public service ad showed a man holding an egg and saying, "This is your brain," and then dropping its contents into a sizzling frying pan and saying, "This is your brain on drugs."

Today, it may be time to come up with an image for an even more damaging social time bomb: "This is your brain on poverty."

Studies emerging from around the nation are showing that growing up in a low-income household can have a direct impact on the organization and function of the brain. Living in a poor home has been linked to people having trouble forming memories, difficulty focusing attention, hypersensitivity to stress, problems with delaying gratification and even being stifled in overall intelligence.

In the midst of these gloomy reports, however, is a silver lining: It appears that if parents can provide warm, consistent nurturing, they can counteract many of the effects of too little money, too little food and too little safety -- the ingredients that often make up an impoverished childhood.  But doing that is a challenge.

To read the full article by Mark Roth, please visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 1, 2010.

The Case for $320,000 Kindergarten Teachers

Great teachers and early childhood programs can have a big short-term effect. But the impact tends to fade. By junior high and high school, children who had excellent early schooling do little better on tests than similar children who did not — which raises the demoralizing question of how much of a difference schools and teachers can make.  

There has always been one major caveat, however, to the research on the fade-out effect. It was based mainly on test scores, not on a broader set of measures, like a child’s health or eventual earnings. As Raj Chetty, a Harvard economist, says: “We don’t really care about test scores. We care about adult outcomes.”  

Early this year, Mr. Chetty and five other researchers set out to fill this void. They examined the life paths of almost 12,000 children who had been part of a well-known education experiment in Tennessee in the 1980s. The children are now about 30, well started on their adult lives.  

On July 20, Mr. Chetty presented the findings — not yet peer-reviewed — at an academic conference in Cambridge, Mass. They’re fairly explosive.  

To read the full article by David Leonhardt, please visit The New York Times, July 27, 2010.

Grantmakers, Government Aligning to Encourage College Completion - State-Financed Preschool Programs Among Recommendations
 
While access to college has been a major concern of policy experts, academics, and philanthropists in recent decades, college completion rates have emerged as a leading item on the national agenda more recently, the New York Times reports.
 
According to the College Completion Agenda 2010 Progress Report, a new report from the College Board, the United States-- once the world leader in the proportion of adults between the ages of 25 and 34 with a postsecondary degree -- has fallen to twelfth among thirty-six developed nations. Canada now leads the world in educational attainment, with about 56 percent of its young adults having earned at least an associate's degree in 2007, compared with 40 percent in the U.S. While almost 70 percent of high school graduates in the U.S. enroll in college within two years of graduating, only 57 percent enrolled in a bachelor's degree program graduate within six years and fewer than 25 percent who start in a community college graduate with an associate's degree within three years.
 
“The growing education deficit is no less a threat to our nation’s long-term well-being than the current fiscal crisis,” Gaston Caperton, the president of the College Board, warned at a meeting on Capitol Hill of education leaders and policy makers, where he released a report detailing the problem and recommending how to fix it. “To improve our college completion rates, we must think ‘P-16’ and improve education from preschool through higher education.”
 
In May, Grantmakers for Education convened a group of philanthropists and policy experts to discuss ways to bolster college completion rates. The group's first five recommendations involve K-12 education and include more state-financed preschool programs, better high school and middle school college counseling, more dropout prevention programs, better alignment with international curricular standards, and efforts to improve teacher quality.
 
"We led the world in the 1980s, but we didn't build from there," said Kirwan. "You can't address college completion if you don't do something about K-12 education."

To read the full article, please visit the website of Philanthropy News Digest, July 26, 2010

Upcoming Events

2010

• August 7:  Getting Ready:  A Fresh Look at Some Favorite Spaces in Your Classroom, Harrisburg, 717-910-2806
• August 11:  Hear Me Sign - Sign Language Workshop, Phoenixville, 484-716-4520
• August 13:  Early Developmental Disorders Resulting From Child Abuse:  Therapeutic Techniques for Intervention and Prevention, Loretto, 814-940-0223
• August 14:  Babies for the NICU, 2010 Preemie Conference, Pittsburgh
• August 17:  Building a Village, Harrisburg, 717-910-2806
• August 24:  School-Age Director's Leadership Series:  Fun in the Workplace - Applying the F.I.S.H. Philosophy to School-Age Care, Narberth, 610-617-4550 option 4
• September 27-29:  Facing the Challenge:  Helping Teachers Better Work with Children with Challenging Behaviors Train-the-trainer Session, Villanova, 610-574-6141
• October:  Pennsylvania’s Promise for Children Month   
• October 13-15:  Early Childhood Education Summit, State College, 717-526-4646
• November 11:  2010 PSAHPERD, "Get Outdoors PA - BE Active BE Green", Champion, PA

If you are hosting an event, please submit it to the PA Promise for Children website to help spread the word. Your event will show up on the Early Education in my County page.

Find out how you can submit an event to the PA Promise for Children website (pdf)!

Kindergarten Here I Come Story Times in Bucks County - August 10-30

Nine Bucks County Public Libraries are hosting 11 “Kindergarten Here I Come” Story Times August 10-30 throughout the county.  Aimed at children about to enter Kindergarten and their families, the events will feature children’s librarians who will read stories and discuss children’s questions and expectations about kindergarten.   Each new kindergartener will receive the “Kindergarten Here I Am!” calendar of literacy activities.

Those attending will also receive books and some kindergarten supplies through the support of the Bucks County Quality Child Care Coalition (the Bucks CEG) and United Way of Bucks County Success By 6. 

This community experience to prepare children for kindergarten actively involves families.  Transition to kindergarten has been identified as a major life event and this effort is another strategy to prepare children and actively involve families and the community.  Connie Hillman, Bucks County Public Libraries Youth Services Consultant, commented, “This is so important and a great way to help our communities.  Hopefully next year, even more will be planned!”

For additional information about the "Kindergarten Here I Come" Story Times and location at the Bucks County Public Libraries, and early learning in Bucks County, please contact Patricia Miiller, Community Engagement Coordinator, at pmiiller@earthlink.net.

Children's Museum of Pittsburgh to host a Celebration of Kindergarten! - August 14, Pittsburgh

Join the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh in celebrating Kindergarten on August 14, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.  Celebrate the transition from preschool to kindergarten with local educators and community neighbors. Join the fun with storytellers, performers and activities. Receive valuable information on children’s health, after school childcare and child development.

This event is free to children entering kindergarten & one adult.  Meet Mr. Mcfeely from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Curious George from the "Curious George:  Lets Get Curious" exhibit and Ready Freddy school readiness mascot.  Free book, T-Shirt and more for kindergartners while they last.

No registration is required.  For additional information, please call 412.322.5058 x213 or visit the Kindergarten Here I Come website.

PDII Revised Early Learning Standards & Standards Aligned System (SAS) - August 25, Harrisburg

The PDII Revised Early Learning Standards & Standards Aligned System will be held on August 25 at the Harrisburg PaTTAN from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm.  This is mandatory for those who would like to continue instructing on ELS and those who would like to begin to do so.  This is also an update for instructors on Revised Early Learning Standards module. Instructors will walk through the changes to the workshop and ask any questions about the content. Standards Aligned System (SAS) is a focus of PDE on teacher preparation and best practices in developing EC curriculum. 

Those interested in attending can register through the PA Key website.  Please log into the PA Key intranet by following the directions presented at the website, then search for the date 8/25/2010 and look for the PDII event.  There are no fees to participate with this training.  Deadline for registration is August 18.

For additional information, please contact Donna Wennerholt, Professional Development Project Manager, Pennsylvania Key at donwen@berksiu.org or 717-213-3734.

Competence and Confidence:  Partners in Policymaking for Families of Children in Early Intervention - Beginning October, King of Prussia

A free multi-session leadership development training for families with children in Early Intervention and pre-school program will be offered October, December, February and April at the Dolce Valley Forge Hotel and Conference Center, King of Prussia. Sessions are free, but all participants must apply.  A limited number of applicants will be accepted.  Travel and childcare expenses are reimbursed, and meals are included.  Overnight lodging is provided for participants traveling 40+ miles.

Participants will learn to identify best practice supports in early intervention; connect with community resources; and navigate the Pennsylvania Early Intervention System.  Those invited to attend are interested family members from Pennsylvania who have an infant, toddler or pre-school age child who receives early intervention services; desire to learn to advocate for themselves and others by building leadership skills; and are willing to make a time commitment to attend all trainings (all four trainings are two-day sessions).

Apply online at the Temple University website or for more information, contact Diane Perry at 215-204-3031 (voice) 215-204-1356 (TTY) or email dperry@temple.edu.  Application is due by October 1, 2010. 

Lehigh Valley Early Care & Education Professional Development Day - October 11, Bethlehem

The fourth annual Lehigh Valley Early Care & Education Professional Development Day for center directors, early childhood educators, and staff, will be held at Northampton Community College, 3835 Green Pond Rd., Bethlehem, PA on Monday, October 11.  The theme of this year’s conference is “Building Partnerships with Families”.  

The morning session will begin with a panel discussion on early care and education.  Panelists are Betsy Gilgoff, Executive Director, Childcare Information Services Inc., and Shelly Feller, Unconditional Childcare.  Unconditional Childcare provides intervention for children who are at risk of being withdrawn from their licensed childcare program due to behavioral problems.  Other panelists include Ann Rider, Supervisor of Special Education, Colonial I.U. 20, in Northampton County, will have information about the resources provided for preschool children ages three through school age by the Intermediate Units in both Northampton and Lehigh Counties, as well as Lynne Matejicka from Lehigh County Early Intervention, who will talk about what services are available for children from birth to age three in the two counties.  Rounding out the panel are Kelly Miller, an Infant/Toddler Mental Health Consultant, and Judy Rex, Director of Healthcare Education at Northampton Community College.

The afternoon session will include workshops for staff as well as a director’s track.  To attend the conference you must pre-register and pay the conference fee of $35.00.  No walk-ins accepted the day of the conference.  The registration fee includes continental breakfast, lunch, afternoon refreshments, all sessions and hand-outs.  For more information please contact Denise Continenza at 610-391-9840 or dhc128@psu.edu.

Second Annual Pennsylvania Infant Mental Health Conference - October 22-23, Philadelphia, PA

The Program in Infant Mental Health at Chatham University, Pittsburgh, PA is sponsoring the Second Annual Pennsylvania Infant Mental Health Conference, October 22-23 at University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. 

Presentations include:

• Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up: An Intervention for High-risk Infants and Their Parents by Mary Dozier, Ph.D., Amy E. du Pont Chair of Child Development, Department of Psychology, University of Delaware
• The Neuroscience of Toxic Stress and its Impact on Mental and Physical Health for a Lifetime by Pat Levitt, Ph.D., Director, Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute; Provost Professor of Neuroscience, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Pharmacy; Chair, Dept. Cell and Neurobiology, Keck School of Medicine of USC
• Trauma through the Eyes of a Young Child by Joy D. Osofsky, Ph.D., Barbara Lemann Professor, Departments of
  Pediatrics and Psychiatry, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
• The MOM Program: Home Visiting to Empower Mothers with Young Children by Jerilynn Radcliffe, Ph.D., ABPP, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology in Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

12 hours of CEUs available for Act 48, DPW, Licensed Professional Counselor, Psychology, Social Work, and Speech (pending approval).  CE credits will be offered to participants completing post-workshop forms.

For more information, visit Chatham University website or e-mail imhp@chatham.edu. 

Higher Education

Pennsylvania School-Age Professional Credential On-Line

The Pennsylvania School-Age Professional Credential On-Line is a collaborated effort with the Northwest Regional Key and Clarion University to have the credential accessible to all school-age providers throughout Pennsylvania.  The Pennsylvania School-Age Credential On-Line articulates for six college credits with Clarion University.  The Pennsylvania School-Age Professional Credential is a competency based program modeled after the Child Development Associate (CDA). It provides individuals working in school-age programs the opportunity to examine their work in relation to the Pennsylvania School-Age Care Competency Standards.

Registration fee is $120.00.  This will cover the cost of the books and use of the on-line services. On-line classes will start October 2010.

For more information please see the flyer (pdf) or contact Chuck Lytle, Northwest Regional Key at 800-860-2281 Ex. 132 or chuckl@nwir.org.

Funding Opportunities

Heinz Endowments Announces Out-of-School-Time Arts Program Request for Proposals
Deadline:  August 30, 2010

The Pittsburgh-based Heinz Endowments' Arts & Culture Program is partnering with the foundation's Children, Youth & Families Program to announce a new $500,000 grants program focused on providing arts opportunities to children and youth in out-of-school time (OST).

The program will support projects that focus on children from neighborhoods defined as "distressed" by the Allegheny County Department of Human Services. Because of Pittsburgh's history and demographics, it is expected that African American children will be significant beneficiaries of this kind of focus. To this end, the foundation is interested in programs that enable one or more skilled teaching artists to work with a consistent group of young people over time, allow participants to build skill in an art form, and provide programming that is culturally competent.

With maximum awards of $75,000 over two years, programs should be designed to begin with a planning period in the fall of 2010, run for eighteen months, and provide children with an opportunity to be taught by highly skilled teachers who introduce them to new skills and strengths. As these resources are not sufficient to sustain a program or create a wholly new program, it is expected that in many cases out-of-school-time programs will collaborate with teaching artists or arts organizations to offer programming to their constituents. It is also expected that providers will use this opportunity to improve existing arts OST programs, or add arts components to existing OST programs.

In order to be eligible for this opportunity, applicants must have offered out-of-school programming three to five days a week in the prior program year. A program intending to partner with the Pittsburgh Public Schools must be an approved provider of out-of-school-time programming.

The Request for Proposals and list of eligible neighborhoods is available at the Heinz Endowments website.

Kids In Need Foundation Accepting Applications for Teacher Grants
Deadline: September 30

The School, Home, & Office Products Association's Kids In Need Foundation offers Kids In Need Teacher Grants to provide K-12 educators in United States with funding to implement innovative learning opportunities for their students. The Kids In Need Teacher Grants are funded by retail and education credit union sponsors.

All certified K-12 teachers in the U.S. are eligible. Applications are judged on the basis of innovativeness and merit, clarity of objectives, replication feasibility, suitability of evaluation methods, and cost effectiveness.

For additional information, please visit the Kids In Need website. 

Community Tool Box Announces Global Prize Contest for Community Innovations
Deadline:  October 31, 2010

The Community Tool Box, a service of the Work Group for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas, has announced the 2010 Out of the Box Prize program to honor promising initiatives that improve community health and development worldwide.

Any group that has engaged in any aspect of community health and development effort — from planning to sustainability — between 2008 and 2010 can apply. Eligible initiatives may involve innovative activities to improve community health, education, urban or rural development, poverty, the environment, social justice, or other related issues of importance to communities. Applicants must be willing to share the group's innovative and promising approach with others.

For additional information, please visit the Community Tool Box website.

Cracker Barrel Foundation
Deadline:  Ongoing

Cracker Barrel Foundation seeks to strengthen and preserve community by supporting programs in the areas of education, human services, cultural affairs and the environment. Special consideration is given to programs that address children, youth and family issues, and emphasize traditional values such as hard work, education and self-reliance.

For additional details, please visit the Cracker Barrel Foundation website.

The Countess Moira Charitable Foundation – Youth Organization Grants
Deadline: Rolling 

The mission of the Countess Moira Charitable Foundation is to aid in the well-being of youth. In the past, the Foundation has supported charitable organizations that focus on the betterment of youth.   The amount of awards will vary. The Foundation makes grants to private nonprofit or public tax-exempt organizations. The Foundation will support operating, program, endowment and/or capital funding needs.

For additional details, please visit the website of the Countess Moira Charitable Foundation.

Resources

Tool to keep teachers, parents and students on the same page

Creative teachers know how important the home-school connection can be.  New.SchoolNotes.com is the free service that can help keep teachers, students, and their parents “on the same page!”  Teachers can post homework, create and share flashcards, keep a calendar of upcoming events, and upload documents, images, and favorite URLs, all for free!

Students and parents can be automatically notified when the SchoolNotes page is updated.  Also free is daily content from Education World, customized for teachers, students, and parents.