CFDA#
None
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Funder Type
State Government
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IT Classification
B - Readily funds technology as part of an award
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Authority
Georgia Governor's Office of Student Achievement
Summary
The Innovation Fund, operated by the Governor's Office of Student Achievement (GOSA), provides competitive grants to local education agencies (LEAs), charter schools, and traditional public schools to plan, implement or scale innovative education projects aligned with the Innovation Fund's priority areas. Since 2011, the Innovation Fund has invested over $32 million of state and federal funding through 84 grants ranging in focus from teacher and leader induction and development to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) applied learning, blended learning, and birth to age eight language and literacy development. This year, GOSA is offering a new grant opportunity – Innovation Fund Tiny Grants – for districts and schools seeking a small amount of funding to implement an innovative project that will deeply engage students. An innovative project solves an existing problem in an inventive way and has the potential to have a large and lasting impact on the academic environment.
Tiny Grant-funded programs or projects must align with one of the following priority areas:
- Applied Learning with a Focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) education;
- Development and Replication of Blended Learning School Models; or
- Birth to Age Eight Language and Literacy Development.
History of Funding
Applied Learning with a Focus on STEAM Education
- Drew Charter School - The Media Arts and Science Club
- County Line Elementary - VR Critters
- Westside High School - CREATE: Enrichment MakerSpace
- Sallie Zetterower Elementary - Sprouting STEM at Sallie Z!
- Floyd County Schools - Raised Bed to Table: Kitchen Gardens
- Dr. M. H. Mason Elementary - Terra Club Herbs
- McDuffie County Schools - Project S.T.R.I.D.E.
- Elm Street Elementary - E3 (Engineering Entrepreneurial Experience)
- Elm Street Elementary - Tiny House, Big Dreams
- North Heights Elementary - Growing Up Green: Gadgets in the Garden
- Warren County Schools - Community Gardens and Brown Bag Program
- White County Middle School - WCMS Robotics
- Metter High School - Algebra I Graphic Design Logo Project
- Paulding County School District - STEAM reseource and development innovation lab
- Statesboro High School - Using virtual reality to teach Blueprint Reading & Design
- Woodland Middle School - Engaging and achieving through Maker Lab
Birth through Age Eight Language and Literacy Development
- Barrow County Schools - Barrow Book Partnership
- Carrollton Elementary - Kindergarten Kick-Off
- North Hart Elementary - Growing Great Minds at North Hart Elementary
- Heard County Elementary - Heard County Baby Braves
- Monroe County Schools - Pre-K Phonological Awareness Project
- Montgomery County Schools - Eagle Express
- Esteher Jackson Elementary School - Project SOAR
- Furlow Charter School - Bilingual Book Project
Blended Learning
- Jasper County Primary School - Blended Learning: Enhanced Literacy Development for Primary Students
- Jones County High School - Blended Learning and Differentiated Instruction for Algebra 2
Past awards grantees can be found at https://gosa.georgia.gov/sites/gosa.georgia.gov/files/Tiny%20Grant%20Winner%20Summaries_May%202018.pdf and https://gosa.georgia.gov/sites/gosa.georgia.gov/files/January%202018%20Tiny%20Grant%20Summaries.pdf.
Additional Information
Definitions:
Proposals in the Applied Learning with a Focus on STEAM priority area will:
- Provide students with a rigorous curriculum that seamlessly and authentically integrates science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics;
- Provide opportunities for students to apply classroom content to authentic, real-world (personal, home, career, community, society) experiences. These opportunities should be a part of a rigorous academic curriculum, not just fun” projects; and
- Build students' 21st Century Skills, including but not limited to: critical thinking, problem solving, grit, collaboration and communication.
STEAM Education is defined as an integrated curriculum (as opposed to science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics taught in isolation) that is driven by problem solving, discovery, exploratory project/problem-based learning, and student-centered development of ideas and solutions.
Proposals in the Blended and Personalized Learning priority area will:
- Provide students with agency over the place, path, and pace of their learning;
- Where appropriate, use online learning to allow for student agency over the pace, path, and pace of their learning;
- Allow students to progress based on mastery of content, rather than a pre-determined timeline;
- Appropriately differentiate instruction for all types and levels of learners; and
- Utilize rigorous learning experiences that appropriately challenge students.
Proposals in the Birth to Age Eight Language and Literacy priority area will:
- Provide children, birth to age eight, with access to language-rich child and adult interactions both inside and outside of school; and
- Provide children with rigorous, evidence-based instruction aimed to ensure that, by 3rd grade, students are active consumers and critical thinkers of written texts.
In alignment with the Get Georgia Reading Campaign, grants aligned with this priority area must address the following four pillars:
- Language Nutrition: All children receive language-rich child and adult interactions.
- Access: All children and their families have access to high-quality social services that support healthy development.
- Productive Learning Climate: Children have access to home and school environments that foster their social-emotional development, school engagement, and academic achievement.
- Teacher Preparation and Effectiveness: Early childhood educators provide high-quality, evidence-informed instruction tailored to the needs of each child, regardless of background. (Definition from Get Georgia Reading)
- An Innovative Program solves an existing problem in a new and inventive way, has the potential to dramatically improve student achievement, is replicable, and can be objectively evaluated. For the purposes of the Tiny Grant program, we are looking for projects that align with Level 2 or Level 3 from the chart below. (Definition adapted from The Walton Family Foundation and Forbes.com)