Grants - Innovation

A. ING Unsung Heroes Awards: $2,000-$12,000 for innovative class projects.

B. Hoenny Center Project Awards for Teachers: The Hoenny Center studies preK-12 peer teaching and wants proposals for classroom action research projects that focus on peer teachers' motivations, teaching strategies, and rewards; and/or on classroom techniques that professional educators use to improve peer teaching by students.

C. InvenTeams Grants: Sponsored by Lemelson-MIT, InvenTeams is a national grant initiative that fosters inventiveness among high school students. InvenTeams asks high school students, teachers and mentors to collaboratively identify a problem that they want to solve, research the problem, and then develop a prototype invention as an in-class or extracurricular project. Teachers apply with students for grants of up to $10,000 to support each team's efforts.

D. Jordan Fundamentals Grant Program: The Jordan Fundamentals Grant Program recognizes outstanding teaching and instructional creativity in public secondary schools that serve economically disadvantaged students. First to twelfth grade public school teachers or paraprofessionals in schools with at least 50% of the student body eligible for free or reduced lunch may apply by developing an original lesson plan or thematic unit that demonstrates high expectations for students. Up to 400 grants of $2,500 will be awarded each year. They may be used for resource materials, supplies, equipment, transportation, costs related to field trips, software, and other items required to implement and assess the proposed lesson or thematic unit.

E. Kids in Need Foundation: This foundation awards over $100,000 in grants of $500 denominations to numerous teachers to fund creative classroom initiatives.

F. NEA Student Achievement Grants: The grants aim to improve the academic achievement of students by engaging in critical thinking and problem solving. The work should also improve students' habits of inquiry, self-directed learning, and critical reflection. Proposals for work resulting in low-income and minority student success with honors, advanced placement, or other challenging curricula are particularly encouraged.

G. Toshiba America Foundation: TAF offers grants of up to $1,000 for K-6 teachers, in public or private schools, for the creation of projects designed to improve instruction for students in grades 7-12. The Foundation strongly encourages projects planned and led by individual teachers or teams of teachers for their own classrooms. Many successful grantees have designed projects that tap into the natural curiosity of their students, enable students to frame their own scientific questions, and incorporate the expertise of community partners.