Who is eligible to receive this award?
The Nellie Mae Education Foundation will award up to 12 O’Toole Awards of $15,000 each to a school, district or eligible non-profit organization to carry out the proposed work of the nominee. A nominee must be a classroom teacher working in a public high school in New England (Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island and Connecticut).
I’m a teacher. Can I nominate myself?
Yes, if you meet the criteria for this award, you are able to nominate yourself.
Are teachers from charter schools eligible?
Yes, teachers from public charter schools are eligible.
How are you defining public schools?
Teachers are eligible for this award if they work at a public school as constituted by their state education agency.
What constitutes a teacher?
In order to receive the O’Toole Award, the teacher must have been a classroom teacher within the 2017-2018 school year. Teacher aids, paraprofessionals, district administrators, principals, and central office staff are not eligible. If a classroom teacher has administrative duties such as serving as a department head or coaching other teachers, they are eligible as long as they serve a portion of their employment as a classroom teacher.
I’m a teacher working on a teacher proposal. How much time do I have to spent my O’Toole grant if I win?
If you are an award winner, your grant will run from September 1, 2018-September 30, 2019, so your proposed activity should fit within this timeline. Grants must be spent by September 30, 2019.
I see that in order to apply for the award, I need to find the support of an organization that can serve as a grantee. What happens if I cannot?
In order to receive an O’Toole award, you must submit with your application a letter of support from an organization, school or district that will serve as the grantee for the award money. This is required in order to receive the award. The grantee organization can be the school you are working in or an outside nonprofit organization. The Foundation funds public entities such as districts and public schools and 501(c)3 educational organizations that fall under the tax designation 509(a)(1) or 509(a)(2) and have an education focus, as evidenced in their articles of incorporation. Due to the Foundation’s tax status, private foundations (described in section 509 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code) and supporting organizations (described in section 509 (a)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code) are NOT eligible grantees.
When will the school/district/organization receive the funds?
Funds will be distributed early into the 2018-2019 school year. The award itself will be officially be presented at an awards ceremony at District Hall in Boston, MA on the evening of Friday, November 2nd. Attendance at this award ceremony is strongly encouraged. The Nellie Mae Education Foundation will cover your travel expenses for this trip.
If a teacher is nominated by more than one person, will that give them an advantage?
Applications will be reviewed for quality and alignment with criteria, and not quantity of nominations.
Are past O’Toole winners and O’Toole runners up eligible for the 2018 awards?
No, they are not eligible.
My school/district had a teacher win an O’Toole award last year. Are other teachers from my school/district eligible this year?
Yes, as long as the individual teacher has not won an award in the past, they are eligible.
Can I submit nominations from multiple teachers? What if they are teachers in the same school/district?
You may submit nominations for as many teachers that meet the eligibility requirements, and it’s okay if they are from the same school/district, but please note that it is highly unlikely that we will award more than one grant to an individual school/district.
Who is reviewing the nominations?
The Nellie Mae Education Foundation, along with some experts around student-centered learning practice, are reviewing the applications. All final decisions on award selections will be made by Foundation program officers and its President and CEO.
What do you mean by advocating for student-centered approaches to learning at scale?
We are looking for teachers who have not only implemented student-centered approaches to learning in their classroom, but who have served as advocates for student-centered learning, or pushed for the implementation of student-centered learning beyond their own classroom. Examples of this may include a teacher who has served as an advocate to push for policies that are supportive of student-centered learning, or remove policy barriers to student-centered learning; a teacher who has organized professional development or coaching opportunities around student-centered learning for other teachers; a teacher who has publicly shared their experiences around student-centered learning through media channels, such as writing frequent blog posts, op-eds, etc., among other activities.
How do you constitute underserved communities?
NMEF is committed to equity and providing assistance to schools, districts and communities with high concentrations of students that are underserved (e.g., students with low-income backgrounds, historically underserved racial and ethnic groups, ELLs, students with special needs, etc.).
What do you mean by teachers having made student-centered learning a systemic part of their practice?
O’Toole Award winners will demonstrate that student-centered learning is an ongoing part of their pedagogy and practice, as opposed to one-off events that are student-centered. To learn more about what student-centered practice looks like, explore the Educator Competencies for Personalized, Learner-Centered Teaching.
Is it required for teachers to answer the question around how their work is addressing inequities in education?
Yes.
If you have additional questions about eligibility, please contact Chiara Wegener at cwegener@nmefoundation.org. If you have questions about submitting your application, please contact Stephanie Cheney at scheney@nmefoundation.org.
