Last summer, Jessica Bryant, Kathy Lennon, and Holly Boehle applied for a grant from the Foundation to purchase six iPads for the psychology department to use for digital assessments.
“The grant allowed us to purchase the iPads and accessories needed to use the Q-interactive online assessment system,” the application reads. “This has streamlined many parts of our evaluation process and provided access to additional assessments.”
Because they applied for the grant in July, they were able to have the iPads up and running for the start of the school year, which was a good outcome, but it could have been even better.
Here’s how:
Every year, the Foundation has two grant cycles. One is in the fall and the other is in the spring. Now, we all know how busy teachers and staff are, especially in the spring, but ideally, grant applications would be submitted in the spring for classroom enhancement grants that would be implemented the following fall. Then, for grants that would be implemented in the second half of the school year, applications would be submitted in the fall.
The Foundation was able to approve this grant as a time-sensitive request, but if too many time-sensitive grants are submitted, it’s difficult to give all our grants the same careful consideration.
That’s all “inside baseball,” as the kids say, but it is worth noting for anyone who will be considering submitting grant applications next year.
It all worked out for the school psychologists: “The grant provided the technology needed to adopt a new digital assessment system, which increased engagement during special education assessments.”
