Nellie Mae Education Foundation Announces Two Major Funding Opportunities

QUINCY, Mass., April 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Nellie Mae Education Foundation has announced two major funding opportunities. The Foundation has issued a call for Letters of Interest (LOI) for their long-term, three-pronged District Level Systems Change (DLSC) grants. LOI for the DLSC grants must be submitted by May 27, 2010.  The Foundation has also issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for their Opportunity Fund. RFPs for the Opportunity Fund must be submitted by June 8, 2010.  Details are available on the Foundation's Grant Guidelines page.

The funding opportunities come less than one month after the Foundation's announcement of its new strategic focus - which aims to promote the integration of student-centered approaches to learning across New England.

District Level Systems Change

In the first phase of this two-phase grant, the Foundation will accept LOI from those looking to improve education in any of the 335 districts across New England that meet DLSC eligibility requirements. In keeping with its mission of supporting underserved learners, at least 30% of the students in the identified districts receive free or reduced lunch.

For this grant, the definition of "districts" includes public school districts, charter districts, Local Education Authorities, supervisory unions, and similar entities.

The Foundation will analyze readiness of the applying districts and communities to work in collaboration to plan, implement, and support a transition to a student-centered approach to education by using a three-part approach focusing on developing and enhancing models of practice; reshaping education policies; and increasing public understanding and demand for high quality educational experiences. Up to ten grants of approximately $200,000 will be awarded to selected communities for a 12 to 15 month period in order to help them plan how they will make the transition.

In the second phase, the Foundation will select four to eight of the planning grant recipients and continue to provide them with multi-year support at an amount anticipated to be between $800,000 and $1.5 million per year.

The Opportunity Fund

Additionally, stakeholders from organizations and public schools across New England will be invited to submit proposals for support for work on student-centered learning that tests or expands any one of the Foundation's Theory of Change components: model development, policy change, and public understanding. These will be one to three year grants of up to $75,000 per year.

"Both the DLSC initiative and the Opportunity Fund are rooted in a belief that student-centered approaches to learning can prepare students with the skills and knowledge they need to improve their lives and the lives of those in their communities," said Mary Sylvia Harrison, Vice President of Programs for the Nellie Mae Education Foundation. "With today's releases, we begin a process that we hope will support and promote innovative approaches and new collaborations that will improve the well being of our entire region."

The calls for LOI and the Opportunity Fund RFP represent the second and third grant opportunities made available by the Foundation since it announced its new strategic focus on March 24th. A Request for Videos was released on April 9th as part of the Foundation's Public Understanding initiative.

More Information

The Nellie Mae Education Foundation supports student-centered approaches to learning. These approaches are based on the science of how people learn and are frequently characterized by: Innovative uses of time; Inclusion of a wider variety of adults - to complement teachers - in all aspects of learning; Measurement of skills and mastery of content using a combination of demonstration and traditional testing; Learning that takes place both in and out of the classroom; and A persistent focus on the needs and interests of learners.

Full criteria and state-by-state lists of the districts that are eligible for the DLSC grants are available on the Foundation's website, www.nmefdn.org

The Nellie Mae Education Foundation is the largest charitable organization in New England that focuses exclusively on education. The Foundation supports the promotion and integration of student-centered approaches to learning at the middle and high school levels across New England. To elevate student-centered approaches, the Foundation utilizes a three-part strategy that focuses on: developing and enhancing models of practice; reshaping education policies; and increasing public understanding and demand for high quality educational experiences. The Foundation's new initiative areas are: District Level Systems Change; State Level Systems Change; Research and Development; and Public Understanding.  Since 1998, the Foundation has distributed over $110 million in grants.

SOURCE Nellie Mae Education Foundation