Applications Due by 9/4 for The Collaborative Fund for Educating Remotely and Transforming Education
Joint Statement from Philanthropy Ohio and Ohio Department of Education Announcing The Collaborative Fund for Educating Remotely and Transforming Education
August 3, 2020
Philanthropy Ohio and the Ohio Department of Education are pleased to join hands to launch the Collaborative Fund for Educating Remotely and Transforming Schools (the Collaborative Fund). This public-private partnership results from significant education stakeholder feedback calling for support to improve remote education practices and outcomes and to use remote education as a catalyst for re-imagining and re-engineering the delivery of high-quality caring, teaching and learning opportunities for Ohio’s underserved students. Enhancing state support for remote education is a priority for Governor DeWine, the State Board of Education, the Ohio Department of Education and Philanthropy Ohio.
The Collaborative Fund prioritizes supports that address inequitable circumstances related to delivering quality remote education opportunities in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. It complements OhioBroadband’s $50 million commitment to ensure hotspots, in-home internet and internet-enabled devices to students. The Collaborative Fund also is anchored to Each Child, Our Future, Ohio’s five-year strategic plan for education. It will help educators deliver a holistic remote education experience that honors the whole child and promotes the state’s Four Equal Learning Domains: Foundational Knowledge & Skills; Well-Rounded Content; Leadership & Reasoning; and Social-Emotional Learning.
The Ohio Department of Education has committed up to $5,000,000 of its state activity CARES Act funding to support the Collaborative Fund. Specifically, the Department will invest 3 dollars for every $1 contributed by Ohio’s philanthropic partners, enabling a three-to-one match. Grant awards will be made on a competitive and regional basis to public schools, districts, community schools, networks, consortiums of schools and Educational Service Centers.
The Collaborative Fund is a component of RemotEDx, a newly formed exchange, network and suite of supports that seeks to provide more students with high-quality, personalized remote education opportunities and to serve more educators with job-embedded professional learning experiences. RemotEDx includes an Exchange where high-quality remote education initiatives can share information about their models; a Network and Learning Academy that will enable members to share best practices and lessons learned; Connectivity and Technology Champions who are singularly focused on ensuring that schools and students have access to the internet and technology; and a Support Squad who are regionally deployed and provide schools with deep technical support and professional learning.
RFP now open
The deadline for submitting proposals is midnight on September 4, 2020, with awards announced by September 30. A webinar question and answer session is scheduled to occur on August 12 at 1 p.m. to address questions related to the Request for Proposals. Please email eanderson@philanthropyohio.org to obtain the call-in information. The session will be recorded and available online after this date. Questions not answered in the call can be sent to ocerinfo@philanthropyohio.org. Proposals can be submitted using the online portal at the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation: https://www.mhjf.org/grantprograms.