Call it innovation, creativity, imagination, cutting edge, paradigm shift, or any other term for new information, an assessment of innovation may now impact the final decision on awarding grants to investigators. What exactly is innovation and how does the reviewer perceive innovation in the research approach? Procedures, the approach, and…

Not long ago, college seemed out of reach for Jesse Ashley, a high school senior in Buffalo, New York. In a troubled school system plagued by low achievement and high dropout rates, Jesse's chronic absenteeism and bouts with depression made his prospects shaky. But Jesse got help, returned to classes and began thinking about college--all under an…

Like their students, middle school agriculture teachers are a unique group with special needs and concerns. And like their students, the needs of middle school teachers and their programs are often misunderstood and overlooked in the professional world when compared to secondary teachers and programs. As middle school programs are still fairly new…

The process of writing successful grant proposals has received not so dubious attention in the last several decades. This article provides contextual significance resulting from a review of literature spanning 1975 to 2013. I identify essential vocabulary stemming from the literature review to familiarize the reader with the terminology associated…

This article demonstrates how unknowing and/or unintentional commitments to neoliberal ideology adversely impact the advancement of the civic engagement movement. After considering the relevant literature on this topic, I outline how the grant-seeking process can be understood as one organizing technique that affirms structures produced by…

This article discusses the implementation of local level education data-driven planning as implemented by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on the Millennium Development Goals (OSSAP-MDGs) in partnership with The Earth Institute, Columbia University. It focuses on the design and implementation of the…

It was a blustery, chilly January morning in 2009. Washington, D.C., was teeming with visitors, who had gathered in throngs on the Mall the day before to celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States. Dan Leeds, of the philanthropic Leeds family, had invited two dozen high-ranking officers from foundations…

Foundation funding focused on Ghana over the past decade has encompassed all aspects of the global development agenda and beyond. Among foundations whose grants are tracked by Foundation Center, their giving focused on Ghana totaled $499 million between 2002 and 2012. While few foundations intentionally aligned their grantmaking priorities with…

Considerable research highlights the value of mentorship to the professional development of early career faculty in academia, yet less research focuses on factors motivating individuals to provide formal guidance to junior colleagues. Given that new social work faculty, in particular, may not receive sufficient mentoring, understanding what…

Although the Faculty Learning Community is not a new structure or initiative in the higher education arena, adapting this model for faculty development focused on grant proposal writing is relatively new. This article describes how the concept developed by Milt Cox of Miami University has been successfully modified and implemented twice on the…

Little information exists about the structure and content of grant writing courses offered in the United States. To fill this gap, we used multiple data sources, including a content analysis of syllabi from 93 graduate-level grant writing courses in the United States, and an online survey that sought insight into (a) the ways in which textbooks…

School library budgets are about as miserably low or nonexistent as many librarians have ever seen. The population of school librarians who have not just one, but "many" school libraries to manage is growing. Time and funds are short, and needs for books, programming, and technology are high. Grant money is out there for librarians, and the author…

Studies have demonstrated the dramatic impact small discretionary funding can have on a school. Grant funding allows school leaders to think creatively by developing unique solutions to today's educational challenges. This article presents strategies that principals, faculty, parents, and advisory groups can follow to attract grant funding that…

Music teachers often need to be creative in finding monies for programs that go beyond the basics and reach more students. Grant-writing skills can bring both funding and other types of donations to enhance music programs. Researching the funding sources, looking at successful proposals, carefully following directions, seeking the opinions of…

Phyllis Glink, the executive director of the Irving Harris Foundation, describes the Foundation's strategic approach to grantmaking in the infant and early childhood field. The Harris Professional Development Network evolved out of Irving Harris's growing appreciation for the importance of supporting very young children's mental health and…