My older son is going to be confirmed in our church this year and part of that process involves his giving 30 hours of his time to family, community and the church. What impresses me about this requirement is that it helps a young person see beyond their own world and give to someone else who is of need. My funder today understands this important lesson of giving and wants to help young people bring their talents to the service of others.

This week’s pick: One time mini-grants through the Pay It Forward Foundation are earmarked for “service activities that benefit a school, a neighborhood or the greater community, and that include learning goals for the youth participants.”

Funds may be used for:
• Supplies
• Materials
• Equipment
• Transportation to a service site

Only emailed applications are accepted. Grants of up to $500 are available.
Application deadlines are Sept. 15 and Feb. 15 each year and requests may be submitted at any time. For guidelines, Click here.

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Within the current debates on education policy, there is widespread agreement among teachers, policymakers and testing experts that the current multiple-choice-dominated K-12 tests used in the United States are in need of improvement. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s recent announcement that he will set aside $350 million of the $4.35 billion in discretionary aid to create Race to the Top Fund to improve assessments has these stakeholders debating not if they can improve assessments, but how they can improve assessments.

Testing experts such as Randy E. Bennett of the Educational Testing Service say that the money could help revise tests that would better measure students’ critical thinking skills and improve teacher and student engagement in the assessment process. However, such a revision may force federal officials to rethink the current parameters around assessment and accountability in the current No Child Left Behind (NCLB)law.

Multiple choice tests have largely become analogous with the NCLB law. One reason why multiple-choice tests are prevalent is that they can efficiently determine whether a student can assemble discrete pieces of knowledge across a subject. The results are typically highly reliable, which is desirable for the high-stakes nature of NCLB tests.

However, multiple-choice tests are not ideal for identifying whether students can take multiple pieces of domain-specific knowledge and analyze, integrate and apply them in unfamiliar contexts. International student assessments such as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) include such items. Assessments like the PISA measure abilities that are common in applied fields such as medicine where examinees are required to diagnose and treat patients. A drawback of performance-based assessments is that they are scored by humans, which raise the costs of examination.

I anticipate much debate on how to use the funds provided via the Race to the Top Fund. Questions that may be part of this debate:

• How broadly the material will be examined?
• How to balance critical thinking skills to basic knowledge assessment?
• What will be the length of the assessment?

Also likely to be debated are ideas such as the extent of technology-based testing and whether revisions to these assessments will need revisions to application of NCLB.

The Improve Group has conducted multiple assessments in the areas of education and we have found that a comprehensive approach to assessments is generally best when measuring student outcomes. However, a debate about improving current testing methods provides helpful opportunities for both discussion and analysis.

I would appreciate hearing any ideas you may have regarding revisions to current educational assessment methods.

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How many of you are out there are enjoying incredible vegetables from your own garden or from a local farmers market?

I am one of the garden-crazy as my apartment complex put in a community garden plot this year. I could not be happier. I learned to garden from my parents when I was a little girl and I would like to see all children have that kind of education. Many schools and community organizations have been stepping up to teach the joys and benefits of growing your own food. This week’s funder supports gardening efforts.

This week’s pick: The National Gardening Association (NGA) has small grants to help teach youth about nutrition and the issue of hunger through its Healthy Sprouts Awards. The NGA promotes “home, school, and community gardening as a means to renew and sustain the essential connections between people, plants and the environment.”

Requirements for the grants:

o Gardens must be planted in 2010
o At least 15 youth ages 3-18 must be involved

Applications are due by Saturday, October 17th. Click here for guidelines and forms.

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On August 10, 2009, in a comfortable room at the Carondolet Retreat Center in Saint Paul, the staff of the Improve Group gathered for our yearly retreat. As we have all come to appreciate, our retreats are a mixture of hard work and a very enjoyable experience.

The highlight of this year’s retreat was a learning session on Participatory Evaluation Methods led by Stacie Toal of Canon River Consulting. Stacie is a former student of Dr. Jean King, Professor at the Department of Educational Policy and Administration, College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota. Jean is a respected educator and an inspiring teacher and those qualities have passed on to her students. Stacie’s dynamic session presented our staff with great tools for future evaluation efforts along with facilitating a lively discussion on applications in our current work.

Another highlight of the day was a guest appearance by our newest Improve Group family member, Torrin Davis. Torrin was born this June to Staff member Becky Stewart and her husband Meleck Davis. Stacie, a new mom herself, kindly allowed time in her presentation for all of us to get our “baby fix”.

After a walk to get hearth-baked pizza we re-convened to discuss what quality means to the Improve Group and how we can best serve our clients. The day was a huge success and our gratitude to Leah for making our office a great place to work.

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Sorry if I sound like a broken record in my blogs lately, but September is close at hand. If you are like me you have been running around buying the pens, paper, folders, crayons, rulers, etc. to get the kids ready for a new school year. I find myself wondering why backpacks now cost more than a new cell phone.

But I digress.

As busy as families are at this time, I am sure the schools are doing ten times the preparation we are and funding is just as tight for them. My opportunity today brings assistance to charter schools.

This week’s pick: The Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF) "supports the development and expansion of high-quality charter management and support organizations." CSGF capital pools include:
• Multi-year implementation grants
• Acquisition, construction, renovation & leasehold improvement for expansion
• Central office costs
• Start-up grants (for specific districts/states) through Walton Family Foundation

The CSGF applications are accepted, online throughout the year. The 2010 Business Planning Program Grants have not yet announced their deadline. The Fund is looking for those groups that show commitment to balancing growth and high-quality performance. For more information on the implementation grants click here. To learn about who is eligible for the Walton grants click here.

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With school supply lists coming out and stores stocking their shelves for the inevitable August rush it is easy to see why my mind is on education. I came across this unique and exciting classroom opportunity and I had to blog about it.

This week’s pick: The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) is offering Challenge 20/20 an internet-based program which will pair classes at any K-12 grade level in U.S. schools with their counterpart classes in other countries. The challenge comes in working together towards solving actual global problems with responses that can be tried at the local level.

Public, private and charter schools may apply and they do not have to be NAIS members to participate. You may apply with schools in other countries with which you already have a partnership or apply with an issue of interest and have NAIS select a partner.

The deadline to submit an online application for the 2009-2010 Challenge is August 17, 2009. You will need to create a registration to access application materials but an online brochure and other details can be found by clicking here.

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