McCarthey Dressman Education Foundation

McCarthey Dressman Education Foundation

OVERVIEW: The McCarthey Dressman Education Foundation supports individual teachers and teacher teams in projects that enhance instruction and learning in K-12 education. The foundation is especially interested in projects aimed at improving educational outcomes for underprivileged students.

IP TAKE: The McCarthey Dressman Education Foundation provides support for teachers who aim to improve their practice and expertise through the development and articulation of best practices with an emphasis on underprivileged students.  This accessible foundation maintains an open application process for teachers and teacher teams. Its grants are not geographically limited, but its application window closes when the foundation reaches 350 applicants, so grantseekers will want to have their materials ready in order to apply earlier rather than closer to the deadline.

PROFILE: The McCarthey Dressman Education Foundation was founded by Sarah McCarthey and Mark Dressman, education professors at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, the foundation aims to “serve as a catalyst in maximizing the skills and creativity of educators at the K-12 levels and cultivating pioneering approaches to teaching that result in dynamic student learning.” It pursues this through three funding initiatives: academic enrichment, teacher development and student teaching.

Grants for K-12 Education

McCarthey Dressman’s academic enrichment grants aim to support programs that “nurture the intellectual, artistic and creative abilities of children from low-income households.” Grants are awarded to individuals who are teachers or employees of non-profit organizations and have extensive expertise and experience working with low-income K-12 populations. The foundation’s teacher development program is aimed teams of education professionals who are interested in developing best practices and observing the effects of these practices on student learning. For its student teaching initiative, McCarthey Dressman provides scholarships and mentoring to candidates in the student teaching phase of their education.

McCarthey Dressman academic enrichment and teacher development grants range from $10,000 to $20,000 per year for up to two years. Student teaching scholarships are awarded in the amount of $6,000 to student teachers enrolled in programs at select universities in California, New Mexico and Texas. The foundation’s website provides descriptions of recently funded projects.

Important Grant Details

The McCarthey Dressman Foundation maintains an open online application process and provides application materials for each program on its website. Application deadlines typically occur between January 15 and April 15.

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