THE News Update: White House Launches $9 Million Grant Contest to Reduce Assessment Burden

8/10/2016

News & Issues

NGSS Begins Releasing Sample Science Standard Bundles
The organization behind the Next Generation Science Standards has begun releasing sample "bundles" of standards to help people move away from thinking that the standards are supposed to be taught as a checklist.
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White House Launches $9 Million Grant Contest to Reduce Assessment Burden
The Enhanced Assessment Instruments Grant program is the next step in the president's action plan to improve the quality of academic assessments.
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Interactive Atlas Shows Snapshots of State of Ed Worldwide
UNESCO, the United Nations organization focused on world education, science and culture, has launched a new "eAtlas" that provides interactive snapshots of education data.
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Ed Tech Investor that Owns Edgenuity Also Buys Up Compass Learning
An investment company focused on digital and software-as-a-service education solutions has expanded its reach into online and blended learning environments.
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Survey Finds 81 Percent of K–12 Teachers Shopping Online for Class
Back-to-school shopping is in full swing, and 81 percent of K–12 teachers say they now shop online for classroom items, according to a new survey released by SheerID, a verification company, and Agile Education Marketing.
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Oaks Christian Online Launches First Online Program for 7th and 8th Grade Students
Oaks Christian Online is offering the courses in response to what it says is the high demand for top-tier, flexible, accredited course options for middle schoolers. All courses are accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), as well as the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS).
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West Virginia Students to Get New Learning Tools This Fall
Schools in 29 West Virginia counties have adopted resources from a private partner for use in the upcoming school year.
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HTC Vive Unveils New Catalog of VR Content
The Viveport platform expands HTC Vive's application inventory and will include virtual reality content related to education.
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itslearning and Gooru Partner to Offer 35 Full-Year Courses
Learning management system developer itslearning is partnering with Gooru, a nonprofit content provider, to offer 35 curriculum courses, backed with assessments, for grades 6-12 in core subject areas such as science, math, English language arts and social studies.
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Pearson Offers Writer as Microsoft Word Add-in
A free writing app from Pearson now plugs into Microsoft Word to make its feature set available to students as they're working on assignments.
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Upcoming K–12 Grants
- Lowe's Toolbox for Education
  Sponsor: Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation
  Award: $5,000
  Number of Awards: Up to 1,000
  Qualification: Public schools only
  Application Deadline: Sept. 26
- Project Learning Tree GreenWorks Grants 2016
  Sponsor: Project Learning Tree
  Award: $1,000
  Number of Awards: Not specified
  Application Deadline: Sept. 30
- TAF Project-Based Learning Grants for Grades K–5
  Sponsor: Toshiba America Foundation
  Award: Two categories: Up to $1,000
  Number of Awards: Not specified
  Application Deadline: Oct. 1
- NEA Learning & Leadership Grants
  Sponsor: National Education Association
  Award: $2,000 to $5,000
  Number of Awards: Not specified
  Application Deadline: Oct. 15
- NEA Student Achievement Grants
  Sponsor: National Education Association
  Award: $2,000 to $5,000
  Number of Awards: Not specified
  Application Deadline: Oct. 15
- SaveOnEnergy.com Teacher Grant
  Sponsor: SaveOnEnergy.com
  Award: $500
  Number of Awards: 6
  Application Deadline: Oct. 21
- AIAA Foundation Classroom Grant
  Sponsor: AIAA Foundation (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics)
  Award: $250
  Number of Awards: Not specified (up to two grants per educator per year)
  Qualification: Teacher submitting proposal must be AIAA member (Educator Associate membership is free and includes other benefits); homeschool clubs of 25 or more students also eligible
  Application Deadline: Nov. 16 (submission period opens Oct. 1)
- Verizon Innovative Learning app challenge
  Sponsor: Verizon
  Award: $5,000 plus technology for state-level winners; $15,000 additional cash, plus travel and support, for national winners
  Number of Awards: 102 state-level winners (one middle school and one high school team from each state, plus DC); nine national winners (four middle school and four high school, plus one "fan favorite" based on public voting)
  Application Deadline: Nov. 18
- TAF Project-Based Learning Grants for Grades 6–12
  Sponsor: Toshiba America Foundation
  Award: Two categories: Up to $5,000 and more than $5,000
  Number of Awards: Not specified
  Application Deadline: Up to $5,000 awarded on a rolling basis; Feb. 1, 2017 deadline for applications for more than $5,000
- Academic Enrichment Grants
  Sponsor: McCarthey Dressman Education Foundation
  Award: $30,000 maximum ($10,000 over three years)
  Number of Awards: Not specified (five awarded last year)
  Application Deadline: April 15, 2017 (submissions open Jan. 15, 2017)
- Teacher Development Grants
  Sponsor: McCarthey Dressman Education Foundation
  Award: $30,000 maximum ($10,000 over three years)
  Number of Awards: Not specified (two awarded last year)
  Application Deadline: April 15, 2017 (submissions open Jan. 15, 2017)
- Adopt a Classroom
  Deadline: Ongoing
- Brinker International Grants
  Deadline: Ongoing
- Brown Rudnick Community Grants
  Deadline: Ongoing
- Corning Foundation Grants
  Deadline: Ongoing
- DonorsChoose.org
  Deadline: Ongoing
- Michael & Susan Dell Foundation Grants
  
  Deadline: Ongoing
  Award: No more than 10 percent of an organization's annual operating expenses or 25 percent of the total budget for the project being funded; awards have ranged from the hundreds to the millions of dollars.
  Number of Awards: Varies
  Qualification: Project should "directly serve or impact children living in urban poverty, particularly in the areas of education, family economic stability (including microfinance) and childhood health."
- Naiku Innovative Teacher Grant
  Deadline: Ongoing (approx. 10 awards per month)
- Sony Grants for Education
  Deadline: Ongoing (grants awarded on a rolling basis)
Call for Papers & Proposals
- ICEEEL 2017 : 19th International Conference on e-Education and e-Learning
  Papers Due: Oct. 4, 2016
  Event: April 24-25, 2017
  Boston, MA
Upcoming Events
- Distance Teaching & Learning Conference
  Aug. 9–11, 2016
  Madison, WI
- VMworld 2016
  Aug. 28–Sept. 1, 2016
  Las Vegas
- SANS Network Security 2016
  Sept. 10–19, 2016
  Las Vegas, NV
- National Indian Education Association's 47th Annual Convention & Trade Show
  Oct. 5–8, 2016
  Reno, NV
- OLC Accelerate
  Nov. 16–18, 2016
  Orlando, FL
- More events at thejournal.com

Professional Resources

THE News Update is a thrice-weekly newsletter covering the latest in technology trends, tools, and usage for K-12 instruction and administration. Opinion pieces by leading technology experts and visionaries provide insight on a variety of critical issues. News, announcements, and need-to-know statistics give readers a quick look at timely news and events affecting the education community. Please direct any questions or comments about THE News Update to [email protected]

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News & Issues

Upcoming K–12 Grants

Call for Papers & Proposals

Upcoming Events

Professional Resources