About The Foundation - Martha Holden Jennings Foundation

The Martha Holden Jennings Foundation completed a strategic plan which determined the Foundation's priorities and direction. The Foundation has developed a more structured approach to the way it identifies, evaluates, and supports potential programs.

REAFFIRMING THE FOUNDATION'S PRINCIPLES AND MISSION

Through this strategic review, the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation reaffirmed two immutable principles that broadly define its mission. The first, from the Foundation's Articles of Incorporation, is "… to foster the development of individual young people to the maximum possible extent … in secular primary and secondary schools." The second, is "… to provide a means for greater accomplishment on the part of Ohio's teachers, to encourage creativity in teaching and to bring greater recognition to the teaching profession."

These two immutable principles provide a dual focus on student capabilities and teaching for the organization's internal programming and external philanthropic support.

DEFINING THE GOALS OF THE FOUNDATION

The Foundation has specified four goals for its activities:

To support a specific target population defined by pre-K through 12th grade students throughout Ohio with a particular preference given to students and districts most in need (e.g. urban and rural districts and populations showing a significant achievement gap).

To engage schools and districts in partnerships with institutions of higher learning, affiliated organizations and the Ohio Department of Education to provide services that align with and reinforce what is being taught in the schools. Also, to collaborate with other foundations to extend the reach and impact of the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.

To place an emphasis on building certain capabilities with a primary focus over the next 3-4 years on:

Improving learning in mathematics, science, or technology
Improving language literacy
Improving learning in the arts
Supporting the recruitment, retention and development of teachers
Strengthening the leadership skills of teachers and administrators
Providing other services to students

To maintain a focus on measuring outcomes and disseminating successes by making continued support contingent on tangible progress in advancing student learning. Also, to foster direct connections between the effective practices, programs and educators from the Grants-to-Educators, Open Grants, Jennings Initiatives and Jennings Scholars programs.

PURPOSE OF EACH GRANT PROGRAM IN ACHIEVING THESE GOALS

The Foundation has outlined the distinct purposes of its four primary grant programs.

The Jennings Initiatives program will drive significant improvement in specific areas of need in the educational arena through proactively planning and developing programs to meet those needs by engaging partners in collaborative efforts and by sharing effective practices throughout the state.
The Foundation Open Grants program will support innovative programs for preschool, elementary and secondary school students and their teachers, ensure activity in a thematic grant category linked to the Foundation's principles and identify potential Jennings Initiatives programs.
The Grants-to-Educators program will encourage individuals to try innovative but smaller-scale activities in schools that support the Foundation's principles and thematic grant categories and identify potential Foundation grant programs.
The Jennings Scholar and related programs will motivate, recognize and develop the classroom and leadership capabilities of high-quality educators, include more theme-related content in its programming and increase the prestige of the Jennings Scholars program.

OPEN GRANTS AND GRANTS-TO-EDUCATORS PROGRAM

Open Grants are available to any public school district, non-religious private school or tax-exempt organization that assists elementary and secondary public schools in Ohio.

Grants-to-Educators are available to public schools or non-religious private schools working with public schools in Ohio.

Open Grants and Grants-to-Educators requests will now be required to fit within one of the following six thematic categories which are in priority order:

Improving learning in mathematics, science, or technology
Improving language literacy
Improving learning in the arts
Supporting the recruitment, retention, and development of teachers
Strengthening teachers' and administrators' leadership skills
Providing other services to students

The Foundation will consider innovative grants that relate to global awareness and 21st Century skills.

In addition, Open Grant proposals will now be evaluated according to ten criteria:

Improvement of student achievement
Innovation and creativity
Assessment of outcomes
Research basis
Achievable implementation
Collaboration
Alignment
Cost effectiveness
Sustainability
Dissemination

TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL GRANT

Study the website grant criteria.
Allow adequate time for review process.
Complete the grant proposal accurately.
Provide a clear explanation of how budget items relate to specific educational needs.
Proofread the grant request for spelling and grammar errors.
Review and answer the impact questions if applying for a consecutive year of funding.

Martha Holden Jennings Foundation Impact Study

What evidence would you accept as an indication that your project was successful and has had impact?
What have been the principal accomplishments of the project? How have the grant funds been used to enable these accomplishments?
The Foundation recognizes that circumstances can change, possibly affecting the project implementation. What, if any, difficulties or limitations did you encounter? Why did they occur and what refinements of plans were made to overcome them?
What have been the challenging aspects of this project?
Based on your experiences to date, what advice would you give other organizations planning a similar program? What would you do differently?
Please describe any post-grant plans for your activity.
What plans have been made for financial sustainability should the Foundation not fund the project for a subsequent year?
From this self-assessment, what are the questions you think are key for future study? What additional plans would you like to pursue to continue or augment the impact of this project?

The Foundation does not make grants for capital improvements, indirect costs, overhead, personal travel to workshops or conferences, endowment campaigns, teacher stipends, general school supplies, substitute coverage, school bus transporation, incentives, refreshments, or graduate study. The purchase of technology equipment is not a priority, however, if the proposed project necessitates the purchase of tools such as a Whiteboard or Student Response System/Clickers, please study the list of questions below. Multiple Whiteboards and other types of technology equipment will not be considered. Proposals for Interactive White Boards and/or Student Response Systems MUST

Justify how the requested tool creates teaching and learning opportunities that cannot be achieved using existing or common classroom materials and technology (such as desktop computers, books, etc.), and,
Describe how the requested tool is essential to achieving the teaching and learning outcomes targeted in the proposed project.

EDUCATIONAL USE OF INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARDS AND STUDENT RESPONSE SYSTEMS/CLICKERS (SRS):
FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION

Prepared by The Research Center for Educational Technology (RCET)
Kent State University - Dr. Dale Cook

Well-articulated curricular goals:

Does the project proposal describe specific student learning outcomes that will be achieved using the requested tool?
Does the project proposal list specific content area standards that will be targeted using the tool?
Are math and science standards included as a primary focus in the project plan?
Does the project proposal discuss curricular resources that will be used to facilitate integration of the tool in specific content areas, including math and science?
Does the project proposal include a plan for assessing the effectiveness of the tool for achieving teaching and learning outcomes?
Does the project proposal describe how use of the tool affords teaching and learning opportunities that cannot be achieved using existing or more common classroom materials and/or other technological devices (i.e., books, desktop computers, etc)?

Technology considerations:

If requesting an interactive whiteboard, does the request include a projection system or include discussion of the type of projection system that will be used? Research indicates a built-in projector, although more costly, facilitates greater visibility.
How does the proposed project interface with existing technology practices in the building? Is there "value added" to the current building technology plan by incorporating this tool?

Professional development plan:

Is there a plan in place for providing professional development for integration of this tool?
Does the plan include ongoing support and/or experiences to facilitate continued integration and explore new uses of the tool?

Availability of mentor/technology support:

Are there teachers in the building with experience who can provide mentorship and support to new users of the tool?
Is there a plan in place for providing technical support and troubleshooting for the tool?

The Foundation does not make grants for multiple-year projects. Requests must be for one year only. Depending on the status of the project, an organization may resubmit a proposal for continued funding. Develop a new application and document achieved outcomes and successes/challenges. Review and answer impact questions.

JENNINGS SCHOLARS PROGRAM

The Jennings Scholars program will seek to attract and recognize high performing master teachers from all over the state of Ohio in an effort to reinforce the prestige of the Jennings Scholars program. Moreover, the program will be used to develop individuals who are new to the teaching profession. The program will focus on specific improvement levers identified within Jennings Initiative themes and thereby become an important source of professional development programming for teachers. The program will also encourage Jennings Scholars to apply new and improved capabilities in their own schools and classrooms.

JENNINGS SUMMER SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS WORKSHOPS

These week long workshops are designed to improve the skills of Ohio's math and science teachers. The workshops address the need for high quality math and science teachers in intermediate grades. Participants are nominated by their superintendents.