About the Program¶

The Jordan Fundamentals Grant Program was established in 1999 to recognize outstanding teaching and instructional creativity in public secondary schools that serve economically disadvantaged students. If you and your students have a special project that requires funding or would like to create a project that helps education reach new heights, fill out the Jordan Fundamentals application and apply for a grant today.

This program is enabled by the Jordan Brand, a division of NIKE, Inc., and administered by COMPASS Consulting, a private non-profit educational consulting firm, helping schools and communities develop more effective and equitable interventions, approaches and systems to improve student results.

OVER THE YEARS, THE FUNDED PROJECTS HAVE:

• Helped students placed at risk by poverty gain new opportunities to learn

• Supported improvements to the quality of teaching

• Empowered teachers

• Enriched teaching and learning experiences

• Supported active student engagement

• Engendered students with a higher level of motivation to participate in the education

• Linked with local and/or state frameworks and standards for curriculum and instruction

Guidelines¶

To be successful, proposed projects must connect explicitly with the Jordan Code and Brand Truths:

• Authentic – Stay True

• Uncompromised – Demand excellence

• Earned – Bring your best game. Every day

• Aspirational – Be more than expected

Each year, a significant number of projects will be funded as “Innovation Grants” with individual teacher approaches that attempt to engage students in school using either experimental or traditional strategies effectively. These projects should incorporate a number of critical components:

• Address at least one or more of the grant Program Objectives

• Provide multiple examples of how the program will be Effective

• Address specific student needs

• Will rely on at least one specific Brand Truth’s as guiding principles

Inspiration Grants, averaging $10,000, will be awarded to teams of teachers to support scaling-up the implementation of approaches, originally developed with Innovation Grants. Requests larger than $10,000 for Innovation Grants will be considered if the proposal scope is appropriately in alignment with the requested amount. These projects should incorporate a number of critical components:

• Projects should demonstrate the potential for being Effective, Replicable and Sustainable

• Address at least two or more of the grant Program Objectives

• Address specific student needs

• Will rely on at least two of the Brand Truth’s as guiding principles

Eligibilty Requirements¶

APPLICANTS
Applicants must be public school teachers or paraprofessionals working with students in grades 1 through 12.

GEOGRAPHY
Jordan Fundamentals will consider grants in all 50 States and the District of Columbia

SCHOOL DEMOGRAPHICS
At least 50% of the school’s student population must be eligible for the free or reduced school lunch program at the time of application.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
Applicants must develop and implement an educational approach that supports improved student academic achievement and/or social/emotional/behavioral interventions. Proposals may attempt to do this through any of the following program objectives:

• student engagement

• student teacher relationships

• building the capacity of teachers. Student involvement in the proposal design is encouraged.

PROPOSAL CONTENT
Applicants must develop and implement an educational approach that supports improved student academic achievement and/or social/emotional/behavioral interventions through student engagement, student teacher relationships, and/or building the capacity of teachers. Applicants are encouraged to involve students in the development of this plan or unit. Student involvement in the proposal design is encouraged.

SUBMISSION
Proposals must be completed online and submitted prior to the posted deadline of April 15.