AUSTIN ED FUND’S INSPIRE THE FUTURE GRANT 2023
GUIDELINES

Please read the following guidelines carefully before you apply. Click here for grant application resources.

• • Eligibility: All Austin ISD campuses and departments are eligible. Priority will be given to projects that address marginalized student groups, like students who identify as non-white, economically disadvantaged, emergent bilingual, special education, refugees, immigrants, homeless, etc.
  • Project Focus: Applicants will engage in collaborative projects that focus on one of the areas below. Click on the links below to read more about examples of past awarded projects. This list is not exhaustive, so there are plenty more ideas out there!
    • Innovative Teaching
      • Outdoor Learning
      • Literacy, Libraries, and Books
      • College & Career Field Trips & Experiences
    • Student Well-Being
      • Mental Health
      • Physical Health and Wellness
      • Culture and Climate
    • Staff Well-Being
      • Morale and Incentives
      • Mindfulness and Self-Care
      • Planning, Prep, and Professional Learning
  • Demonstrated Need: Applicants must explain the opportunity, solution, or need that is addressed, while also supported by sources of evidence and data. Compelling applications will provide evidence of the need to impact students from marginalized groups based on student, classroom, school, and/or national data.
  • Project Description: Applicants will describe the project, including goals, objectives, timeline, and budget. Specifically, the application asks for three project objectives, with one focusing on an overall learning objective. Applicants will report on these objectives midway through their projects and in their final report. The objectives should be specific, measurable, and achievable.
  • Collaboration: Applicants are encouraged to partner with other teachers, grade-level teams, campus leadership, and other staff or community members to broaden impact. The application asks how and when collaboration will occur and why collaboration is expected to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the project.
  • Innovation: Projects may use a new, creative approach to teaching and learning or apply an approach in a new context or at scale. Innovative projects may also encourage student agency and “out-of-the-box” thinking.
  • Tangible Impact: Projects will show the ability to measure success and report results. Specifically, grantees can use qualitative or quantitative methods to measure progress towards the project objectives. Methods may include pre/post surveys, interviews, observations, assessments, or another measurement approach. The intention of measuring impact is not to create unnecessary work, but to encourage critical thinking around progress. Grantees should consider using the existing data collection methods available to them. The methods you choose should provide you with data on what is/isn’t working to allow for improvement throughout the project. Grantees will not be penalized for not achieving objectives, but an attempt at measurement is required.
    

Funding

Austin Ed Fund is excited to increase the total overall award to $400,000 this grant cycle. A maximum of $2,500 will be awarded for projects that impact individual classrooms. A maximum of $10,000 will be awarded for projects that are collaborative and have a team or campus-wide impact.

Supplemental Pay

To honor project leads and collaborators for their work in implementing their project, applicants may include supplemental pay within budget requests. Some stipulations apply:

• Applicants may request supplemental pay only if they intend to work on their project outside of contract hours. Supplemental pay may only be used for project planning and implementation purposes outside of the project lead and/or collaborator’s contract hours.
  
• Applicants may request up to 10 hours of supplemental pay for the project lead. Or, applicants may request up to 20 hours of supplemental pay to compensate the project team (which may include multiple collaborators).
  
• If supplemental pay is desired, applicants must include supplemental pay as part of the budget on their initial grant application.
• Current supplemental pay rate for planning/prep for professional staff is $25/hour, while classified staff will be paid their hourly rate.

Multi Year Projects

Austin Ed Fund will consider requests for projects implemented over one or two school years. All funding will be awarded at the beginning of your project implementation in year 1 (up to $10,000 to be spent over two years). Multi-year applicants will be required to complete progress and end-of-year reports for each grant year.

Responsibilities of Grant Recipients

• Proposed projects and events need to be implemented with current safety protocols as provided by the District and health authorities.
• Use the awarded funds for the intended purposes.
• Projects must be fully implemented and funds must be spent within a year beginning immediately following award notification, unless awarded a two-year grant.
• Complete required reporting:
  • Mid-year brief narrative report by January 31
  • Final narrative and financial report by June 30
  • Phone or in-person meeting to showcase and check-in on project during the spring semester
• Keep Austin Ed Fund updated if the lead applicant changes in order to determine the future of grant.
• All unused grant money is subject to be returned to Austin Ed Fund.

Review Process

Applications will be reviewed using a common rubric using the following criteria.

• Project Focus
• Demonstrated Need
• Project Description & Budget
• Collaboration
• Innovation
• Tangible Impact

Applications are reviewed by staff, teachers, community and Austin Ed Fund board members. Reviewers score applications using the rubric and applications can earn additional points based on certain outreach and equity priorities.