HERN 1996-97 Voyager Grant

DESCRIPTION. The Hawaii Education and Research Network (HERN) is announcing its sponsorship of the "HERN Voyager Grant." As a catalyst for change, the HERN Voyager Grant will provide financial support for school initiatives involved in unifying communities of educators, parents, industry partners and others who are excited about using new technologies and practices to transform their schools into information age learning centers.

HERN is seeking groups that are ready to take risks, challenge the prevailing academic culture and become models for reform of the school day, student involvement, innovative curriculum design--including the sciences and mathematics--and a strong, self sustaining support system. The application should make a strong case that the proposed plan of action is an effective and appropriate response to a clearly defined educational need.

The Voyager Grant is not interested in funding projects that outline additional duties for already busy educators to implement. HERN is most interested in projects that are congruent with the defined HERN philosophy, existing DOE initiatives and the priorities of the school(s) and communities benefiting from the application. HERN realizes that many of the original projects submitted to us as proposals in early 1996 may have evolved into something different. Applicants may apply with an existing HERN project or start fresh with a new initiative, team or concept.

GUIDELINES. Voyager Grants will be open to all HERN '96 public school participants. A consortium team may apply but each application must include at least one of the HERN '96 participants (a participant may submit only one proposal). Each proposal must hold the potential for creative synergy among its members. The project's partners should be carefully chosen to realize and maximize the promise of technology for improved learning and the proposal itself should be carefully designed to encourage ongoing involvement of educators, students, parents, business and civic leaders, community organizations and others committed to school improvement and education reform.

The proposed HERN Voyager grants are one-year awards and will require that, in the latter half of the year, each grantee submit a performance report for the project's specific benchmarked activities (which must be outlined in your proposal). Within the timeframe of the year long grant, each proposer should be prepared to begin start-up activities, including initial trials of technologies/applications, stimulate student-level implementation and reach a tangible conclusion.

All grants require a full description of any matching funds. This means that some financial or in-kind commitment is expected in each grant proposal. These funds can be in the form of either matching moneys or in-kind contributions (time, equipment, expertise, etc.). While no matching fund threshold has been pre-determined, proposals will be competitively evaluated by calculating the percentage of the match to the amount of grant funds requested. In addition, an assessment will also be applied which is determined by how realistic (and resourceful) the match is and then indexed with the percentage match figure.

SOURCE AND USE OF GRANT FUNDS. HERN anticipates funding approximately 5-15 applications for the 1996-97 school year from its National Science Foundation grant funds. Awards in the range of $1,000-$20,000 are anticipated, but HERN has purposely not defined a maximum or minimum dollar amount for the grant proposals. The scope and potential classroom impact that the award can make will be the determining factor for all Voyager Grant awards.

All grant awards will be paid directly to the school applying for the grant. The administration of all grant funds (as defined specifically in the grant proposal) will be delegated to the school making the application. Because of this responsibility, all applications will require the signature of the school's chief administrator to assure complete knowledge of the grant application and an awareness of the management that will be required at the school level. Applications that are submitted without the appropriate signatures will not be considered for funding.

EVALUATION CRITERIA. A successful application will define specific educational objectives, a method for the evaluation and measurement of these objectives, and include bold and active participation of teachers, students, parents and communities during each stage of the development. The panel of Voyager judges will review all applications and make recommendations based upon the use of three criteria to select reform-action applications for funding:

1. Significance... will be determined by the extent to which: the project offers a creative, new vision for using technology to help make a difference for STUDENTS including first hand involvement of the students in the learning process (e.g. students teaching in teams); the proposal's ability to promote efficiency and effectiveness in education; and how it contributes to the advancement of State and/or local systemic educational reform.

2. Feasibility... will be defined by answering the following questions: will the project have an impact on curriculum transformation, teaching and school day restructuring? Can the project have a far-reaching impact through results, products, or benefits that are easily exportable to a broader audience in other schools and communities? Is the leadership and organizational structure sufficient to carry out the proposal plan?

3. Value... will be assessed by determining a perceived return to the educational community on the grant dollars to be invested. Return can be interpreted to mean impact on the number of people, impact on the daily schedule and students, exportability (can other schools or districts benefit from the end-product?) and evidence of measurable outcomes.

As part of the proposal's narrative the evaluation plan should clearly describe the objectives and critical questions for evaluation, the personnel who will be performing the evaluative tasks and the timeline for all evaluation activities. The HERN Voyager Grant evaluators may, at their discretion, ask to interview (either by phone or in person) those applying for funds.

THE PROPOSAL. All applications should be concise, clearly written and should include the following six components, submitted in the follow order:

1. Title Cover Page, apply using the official HERN Voyager Grant Title Page form.
2. Table of Contents, defining the page number of all sections and a description of any attached appendices.
3. Abstract, a one-page, double-spaced description of the project including a statement of the problem or need being addressed, the proposed activities, and the intended outcomes.
4. Narrative, the grant narrative should be no more than 8 single-sided, double-spaced pages printed in 10 point font or larger. It should address all issues discussed in the above text--specifically the issues of benchmarked activities, evaluation procedures and the significance, feasibility and value sections as discussed under: Evaluation Criteria.
5. Budget Request, attach a single page budget summarizing and detailing the source and use of funds for the planned project. The total amount of funds requested from the HERN Voyager Grant should be clearly defined on this page. The amount requested must also be shown on the title page.
6. Appendix, list all HERN members and other individuals participating in the implementation of the grant. Be sure to include everyone's email, postal address, telephone and fax number. If external sources of matching funds are used, letters from the source acknowledging this support should also be included in the appendix.

HOW TO SUBMIT APPLICATIONS. The deadline for receipt of applications is November 30, 1996. All applications must be postmarked on or before that date. This closing date will be strictly observed. The mailing address for applications is as follows:

NOTIFICATION OF AWARD. Applicants will be notified by December 20, 1996 whether their application is being funded for implementation during the 1996-97 school year. Funds will be dispersed as quickly as possible following the announcement of the award.

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