Digital Media & Learning Competition

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced the Digital Media and Learning Competition, a $2 million open competition for ideas with the potential to transform learning using digital media. The competition seeks designers, inventors, entrepreneurs, researchers, and others to build digital media experiences — the learning labs of the 21st century — that help young people interact, share, build, and explore in new and innovative ways.

Awards will be made in two categories: 21st Century Learning Lab Designers and Game Changers. The competition includes three rounds of submissions, with public comment at each stage. The public will also be invited to judge the final candidates, including the selection of People's Choice awards in each category.

Amount: Varies

Date due: The application system opens on January 15, 2010. During this period, applicants are encouraged to seek partnerships with other applicants that may make either or both proposed projects stronger. Preliminary applications are due on January 22, 2010.

For more information, click here.

Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education: EU - US Program

This priority supports the formation of educational consortia between EU and US institutions. To meet this priority the applicant must propose a project that encourages cooperation in the coordination of curricula; the exchange of students, if pertinent to grant activities; and the opening of educational opportunities between the U.S. and EU member sites.

Amount: Varies depending upon type of project proposed

Date due: April 8, 2010

For more information, click here.

Oregon Math & Science Partnership Program

The purpose of the Oregon MSP program is to improve the academic achievement of students in the areas of mathematics and science by encouraging State educational agencies, institutions of higher education, local educational agencies, elementary schools, and secondary schools to collaborate. The goals of the Oregon MSP program are to:

• Support partnerships to increase the subject matter knowledge and teaching skills of cohorts of K-12 teachers of mathematics and/or science. A cohort may be made up of teachers within one eligible school district. Alternatively, a cohort may be made up of teachers selected from throughout an Education Service District, or from throughout the state. A cohort may also include teachers from non-eligible LEA’s, if the non-eligible LEA’s use their Title IA or Title IIA funds to support their teacher’s participation in grant activities. A cohort should be of a manageable size to ensure high quality professional development. Partnerships will bring together teachers with higher education mathematicians, scientists, and/or engineers to expand teachers' subject matter knowledge of mathematics and/or science teaching that is aligned with the Oregon mathematics and/or science academic content standards and enhances the ability of K-12 teachers to teach students these standards.
• Enhance professional development of K-12 teachers of mathematics and/or science as a career-long process. Partnerships will provide opportunities for advanced and ongoing professional development activities that improve K-12 teachers' subject matter knowledge that is aligned with the Oregon mathematics and/or science academic content standards and knowledge of how students learn particular content. Partnerships also will provide teachers with the opportunity to work with experienced teachers and disciplinary higher education faculty in mathematics, science, and/or engineering.
• Improve and expand training of mathematics and science teachers, including training such teachers in the effective integration of technology into curricula and instruction.
• Support the rigorous evaluation of programs regarding the impact of Oregon Title IIB MSP awards on the academic achievement of the students of teachers in these programs and ensure the results are widely accessible through electronic means.
• Develop more rigorous mathematics and science curricula that are aligned with Oregon’s state academic content mathematics and science standards and with the standards expected for postsecondary study in mathematics, science, and engineering.

Amount: $300,000/year for three years

Date due: April 26, 2010

For more information, click here.

Internationalizing Teacher Preparation

The Longview Foundation is offering two cycles of funding (Spring 2010 and Fall 2010) focusing on expanding programs to internationalize pre-service teacher education. The program to internationalize pre-service teacher education supports activities to ensure that PK-12 teachers in all subject areas begin their careers with:

• Knowledge of the international dimensions of their subject matter and a range of global issues;
• Pedagogical skills to teach their students to analyze primary sources from around the world, appreciate multiple points of view, and recognize stereotyping
• A commitment to assisting students to become responsible citizens of the world and their own communities.

Amount: $15,000 - $30,000

Date due: January 15, 2010 (for Spring 2010); July 16, 2010 (for Fall 2010)

Grants are made to encourage teacher preparation programs to adopt a range of strategies on the home campus to develop the global expertise of future teachers. These include:

• Expanding programs for prospective world language teachers.
• Providing professional development for faculty and advisors
• Supporting revisions to the general and professional education requirements and courses for teachers
• Creating opportunities for fieldwork in internationally themed classrooms or multicultural communities in the United States
• Using technology to bridge international geographic and cultural barriers

For more information, click here.

Milken-PennGSE Education Business Plan Competition

The First Annual Milken-PennGSE is a business plan competition sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE) and the Milken Family Foundation.

Amount: $25,000 (first prize); $15,000 (second prize)

Date due: February 2, 2010

Educational entrepreneurship business plans should outline the problem they address, offer a solution, and discuss scaling possibilities for bringing the proposed innovation to additional settings. Broadly construed, educational entrepreneurship initiatives can address a wide range of educational issues. This competition encourages applications in every conceivable educational setting – from early childhood through corporate/adult training, in settings and contexts anywhere in the world.

For more information, click here.

Undergraduate Foreign Language (Teacher Preparation)

The Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language (UISFL) program provides grants to strengthen and improve undergraduate instruction in international studies and foreign languages. An invitational priority is for collaborative efforts between colleges of education and other colleges within the same institution to propose projects that will strengthen instruction in foreign languages and international studies in teacher education programs that provide pre-service training for K-12 teachers in foreign languages and international studies.

Amount: $100,000/year for 3 years

Date due: December 17, 2009

Competitive preference is given to institutions that require graduating students to have two years of postsecondary credit in a foreign language or who can demonstrate the equivalent.

For more information, click here.

Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences Institutional Grants Program

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences funds the Institutional Grants Program to assist in fostering educational activities between the public and the film industry while encouraging the appreciation of motion pictures as both an art form and a vocation.

Amount: Varies

Date due: January 15, 2010

Eligible programs include but are not limited to craft workshops and conferences in which college students and/or adults are trained in one or more of the various craft fields of film production (directing, cinematography, screenwriting, editing, etc.); library and archival projects in which the papers of filmmakers are preserved and/or made available to the public; screening programs, especially those in which filmmakers interact with audiences; seminar programs, in which film professionals discuss their work and/or particular aspects of the creation and distribution of films; teacher training programs, in which production techniques and/or film appreciation information is presented for teachers to take back to their classrooms; and visiting artist programs, especially those in which a filmmaker spends several days in residence at a college, university or media center.

For more information, click here.