Deadline: 18-Jul-23
Are you an innovative micro school, homeschooling co-op, community-based organization, or K-12 district or charter school looking to provide high-quality, enriching, and learner-led education? Outschool.org is looking for at least eight organizations aiming to close academic achievement and/or enrichment gaps for BIPOC and economically marginalized learners for the third cohort of community partners, sponsored by Walton Family Foundation.
Outschool.org co-designs programs with community organizations and offer funding for program support, education design expertise, family navigation tools and programming, training, and access to technology resources.
What Will Community Partners Receive?
- Training & Support Valued at More Than $85,000
- Throughout over the course of 1-2 years, Outschool.org will provide all community partners with support in educational programming co-design, marketing, family training and community building, and organizational stability and growth.
- One $10,000 Grant to Support Program Implementation
- All community partners will receive funding to pay caregivers to navigate educational options, or use towards stipends or salaries required for on-the-ground program support. For partner organizations that do not have direct-to-family public funds, Outschool.org will also provide $500/learner.
- Free and Discounted Resources
- Community partners will gain access to free and discounted resources, including but not limited to Outschool classes. Other high-quality content providers grantees can access include Reconstruction, CommonLit, Zearn, and Newsela.
If selected, you will be expected to
- Work alongside Outschool.org to co-design a program designed to meet the individual academic and enrichment needs of learners while accommodating their interests.
- Meet weekly with Outschool.org program manager and coordinate 2-3 site visits throughout the partnership.
- Commit a designated point of contact to oversee the partnership (Approximately 5 hours/week to implement programming – There may be more intensive times when commitment is greater).
- Support program implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, including administering pre-post surveys to learners and/or families and collecting and sharing pre-post academic achievement data.
- Participate in thought leadership efforts, such as distributing media release forms to families (who have the option of opting-out) and working with Outschool.org on content creation as mutually agreed upon (e.g. blog posts, case studies, and news stories).
- Provide access to high-quality learning experiences and collect learner and family feedback on experiences.
- Develop a program budget with Outschool.org that leverages public funds and/or Outschool.org support to maximize outcomes.
Eligibility Criteria
- Outschool.org is seeking a diverse portfolio of community partners. Starting this year, they are particularly interested in helping families, programs, and organizations maximize direct-to-family education funding programs such as Education Scholarship Accounts (ESAs), micro grants, and tax credits programs. The belief is that public direct-to-family funds have the opportunity to help to close the out-of-school learning participation gap for racially and economically marginalized students.
- They are also interested in co-investing in partnership with schools and districts with access to per pupil funding such as ESSER, Title I, and Title II funds.
- Most importantly, they are looking for partner organizations that are passionate, collaborative, and innovative. They want to work with people who not only understand the pressing need for educational equity, but also possess the drive to act, so they can collectively work towards creating a profound and lasting impact on learners and families across the U.S.
- You should apply if you:
- Are a homeschooling co-op, microschool, community-based organization, K-12 district public or charter school.
- Have a bold, clear, and explicit vision to meet learners’ academic and enrichment needs and interests that is learner/family/community-centered.
- Have the ability to reach at least 40 learners in grades Pre-K-12 by September 2023, of which at least 75% of which are BIPOC and economically marginalized.
- Have access to technology devices and stable wifi to enable hybrid learning.
- Can show a history of community-centered work
- Have strong and stable leadership
- Are located in diverse regions across the country, including rural areas, with preference given to the following ESA, microgrant, and tax credit program states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.
- Have the capacity to track inputs and outcomes (e.g. attendance, use of funds), and administer surveys and assessments for learners ages 8-18.
- For more established organizations, demonstrate a track record of implementing new programs and experiments using data and evaluation to inform decision making.
- For new organizations, a desire to develop measurement frameworks that speak to the impact of your work.
For more information, visit Outschool.org.