I want to say thanks again to everyone who took the time to respond to me. Your
responses really helped me stop second-guessing myself and focus on making my
application the best it could be. The general consensus was that it was okay to
only have a few measurable outcomes, as long as they applied to the goals I set
forth for the grant.
Original post:
Has anyone on LM_Net received one of the Dollar General Back-To-School Grants
recently? I'm trying to write the application and I find myself really struggling,
especially with the measurable outcomes. I know what I want to accomplish, I'm just
not sure what the foundation is looking for on an application. Do I need a lot of
measurable outcomes, or will one or two be enough? Any help I could get would be
great; if anybody has a copy of their application I could look over, that would be
awesome!
Thanks in advance!
Responses:
I received a grant this year. My measurable outcomes were to see more books checked
out, do class book talks, and survey the students at the end of the year. My grant
was to bring in more boy based fiction books. Hope this helps.
_____
You should need only one measurable outcome for each goal. Example, if students
will read more by end of year, then you need to show how your will measure this
goal; possibly by weekly reading logs, listing # pages, #books.
_____
I won one last year. I only had two measurable outcomes. One was to have
individuals sign up who attended that family fun night at the library and the other
was to have them complete some kind of survey.
_____
I think that you're doing a great job in writing this grant. Most grantors look for
student engagement, collaboration, community, impact, and quantitative assessment
(over qualitative); some may also look for technology integration, interactivity,
and out-of-the box ideas. Most important, be thorough, answer the questions,
provide a timeline.
Your need statement or purpose for the grant is extremely important. Yes. You may
need books for your library, but so does everyone; so you must state a problem, and
develop a program; for example, a literacy problem; program: xyz...goals;
resources: books, tech equipment, etc.
_____
I got a dollar general grant about 2.5 years ago. I am attaching the rough draft of
my application. Of my request, they approved everything but the rack to
display/house the audio books that I purchased.
Hope this helps!
_____
I have gotten two in the past two years. I was very general with my outcomes and
did not include that many. I just told them how it would benefit our students. I
focused on what and why. I did not use measureable goals. I did use numbers of
students that would benefit.
_____
I received one for this school year. This is all I put for measurable results
(grant for a student book club for at-risk students):
The Bulldog Book Club will help the ten - fifteen students involved raise their
individual reading levels by at least one grade level by the end of the school year
in May. They will also meet the passing standard on the state TAKS Reading test.
Students will also improve their English class grades by at least 10%.
Hope that helps!
Sarah Loch
Library Media Specialist
Carl Albert Middle School
Midwest City, OK
sloch@mid-del.net
See what I'm reading now:
http://www.shelfari.com/salamanders_scribe/shelf#firstBook=0&list=6&sort=dateadded
Stephen Krashen wrote:
"It is more than ironic that school districts are willing to spend hundreds of
thousands of dollars on reading programs and staff development which have had
limited success in boosting test scores, but are unwilling to invest in school
library programs that show such direct correlations to student success," researcher
Douglas Achterman wrote in a 2008 study of California school libraries.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings
by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book.
To change your LM_NET status, you send a message to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER:
1) SIGNOFF LM_NET
2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
3) SET LM_NET MAIL
4) SET LM_NET DIGEST
* LM_NET Help & Information: http://lmnet.wordpress.com/
* LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
* EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://lm-net.info/join.html
* LM_NET Supporters: http://lmnet.wordpress.com/category/links/el-announce/
* LM_NET Wiki: http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------
LM_NET
Mailing List Home