Master Teacher Program
- The Master Teacher Program was developed by the Ohio Educator Standards Board (ESB) in response to Senate Bill 2 which created the ESB and mandated that they create a definition for “master teacher” and the criteria being designated a master teacher.
- The Master Teacher Program is aligned with both the Ohio Standards for the Teaching Profession and the Ohio Standards for Professional Development .
- The Master Teacher Program is designed to work as part of the Career Ladder (Lattice) Program also mandated by SB 2, which is a “performance-based multilevel system of teaching positions or compensation levels within a school district or district building.”
- Master Teacher designation is required for the Senior Professional Educator License and one of the pathways to the Lead Professional Educator License.
The ESB has created processes and procedures for districts to use to implement the Master Teacher Program .
Districts are required to:
- Assemble a Master Teacher Committee of at least five total members (majority teachers) to review and score Master Teacher applications . OEA encourages locals NOT to use the LPDC for this purpose and to keep these two committee functions separate;
- Establish local formatting, assembling and submitting requirements;
- Educator all teachers about the requirements, processes and procedures for the Master Teacher Program.
Note: The work of the Master Teacher Committee is subject to the Open Meetings Act/Sunshine Law.
All Master Teacher Program documents are available online at the ODE Website.
For more information, visit ODE’s Master Teacher Program page: http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Teaching/Professional-Development/Master-Teacher
For members only: OEA’s Contract Language Development Guide for Master Teacher
Licensure and Renewal Information
Ohio offers several different types of licenses for educators including a Resident Educator 4-year License, a 5-year Professional License and Substitute License. Information regarding Teacher Licensure and Certification in Ohio can be found by accessing the Ohio Department of Education links below:
If you are applying for Initial Licensure: http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Teaching/Licensure/Apply-for-Certificate-License
If you are applying for Licensure Renewal: http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Teaching/Licensure/Renew-Certificate-License
For an overview of Teacher Licenses in Ohio:
http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Teaching/Licensure/Apply-for-Certificate-Licens
Ohio Resident Educator Program
The Ohio Resident Educator Program began in 2011 and has evolved to a comprehensive, multi-year induction program. Successful completion of the program and the Resident Educator Summative Assessment (RESA) results in professional licensure.
Full information regarding the Ohio Resident Educator Program can be accessed on the Ohio Department of Education Website: http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Teaching/Resident-Educator-Program
How to Get Free Classroom Supplies
Rather than reaching deeper into your own pockets, Tamar Snyder at Edutopia suggests following these tips for getting free supplies:
Don’t Buy What’s Free
Look into these strategies for obtaining free materials:
- Recycling. Jennifer Volpe, a speech pathologist at Cobble Hill High School, in Brooklyn, New York, recommends a nonprofit recycling site called Freecycle, where people from all over the world post books, CDs, electronics, and toys they’re giving away. “The only catch is that you have to arrange to pick up the items,” says Volpe.
- Free shopping spree. Teachers at schools in which at least 60 percent of students qualify for free lunch can take part in a monthly shopping spree at resource centers such as A Gift for Teaching, in Orlando, Florida, which gets many of its new supplies donated as surplus from businesses.
- Try a Facebook Group. Join a Facebook Group for your community/region and post a request for the supplies you need.
Put Your Classroom Up For Adoption
Adopt-A-Classroom offers a free, safe online e-wallet account to educators who want to solicit financial support from the community. Teachers can use the money to purchase books, games, and other educational supplies through the online vendors associated with the site.
To sign up, log on to the site, register your classroom, and describe what kinds of supplies you’d like to buy. Then let parents and local businesses know that they can “adopt” your classroom for as little as $25.
Go For The Big Score
OfficeMax, in partnership with Adopt-A-Classroom, hosts the annual A Day Made Better event in October. Last year, the office superstore sent 1,300 teachers each a large box of classroom-supply staples that included scissors, glue sticks, pencils, pens, notebooks, tissues, and even a digital camera.
Teachers who’d like to be considered for A Day Made Better 2009 should have a school principal or fellow teacher nominate them at the official site.
Raise Funds For Supplies
Neeta Garg, owner of the Kumon Math and Reading Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, wanted to help local teachers. So last summer, she organized a school-supplies drive. She sent flyers and emails to parents, and her daughter posted the event on Facebook. In addition to hundreds of donated pencils and notebooks, she collected gloves, coats, and backpacks — all of which she donated to area public schools.
And at Wilmot Elementary School, in Deerfield, Illinois, parent-teacher organization (PTO) fundraisers pay for a lot of supplies. Teachers fill out wish lists of the classroom supplies they’d like, from pencil sharpeners to cooking utensils. The PTO organizes fundraisers throughout the year, including a Market Day, when students and their families can order food from a catalog once a month.
Start A Gift Registry
Gift registries aren’t just for weddings anymore. At DonorsChoose, public school teachers can post online requests for equipment and supplies. Supply Our Schools allows teachers in low-income school districts to register for classroom supplies. Gold Star Registry is yet another site that encourages parents, PTAs, and other community-support organizations to make similar types of donations.
Seek Out A Matchmaker
San Diego businessman Jerry Hall founded iLoveSchools.com to match donors with teachers seeking new or gently used equipment and supplies for their classrooms. Tens of thousands of teachers have signed up, and many have received gifts such as computers and art supplies — even a saxophone with sheet music.
Sell Advertising Space
Tom Farber, an Advanced Placement calculus teacher at San Diego’s Rancho Bernardo High School, made headlines when he asked parents and local businesses to sponsor his exams. “I knew that I had to do something,” said Farber, explaining that if he gave one quiz per chapter to each of his 167 students, he’d spend more than $500 (roughly $3 a student) on photocopies alone.
So Farber began selling a small amount of space at the bottom of each exam. He charges $10 per quiz, $20 for tests, and $30 per final. Most sponsors use motivational quotes, such as this gem: “A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants trees under which he full well knows he will never sit.”
To date, Farber has raised more than $625 — enough to cover a year’s worth of photocopies.
NEA Foundation Grants
The NEA Foundation is a public charity founded by educators for educators to improve public education for all students.
Throughout the year, the NEA Foundation awards over 150 grants to support educators’ efforts to close the achievement gaps, develop creative learning opportunities for students, and enhance their own professional development.
OEA encourages all eligible educational professionals to apply for these grants. There are two primary grant categories open to all public education professionals:
- Student Achievement
- Learning & Leadership
Student Achievement Grants: $5,000
These grants promote classroom innovation and engage students in critical thinking, inquiry, and self-direct learning that deepens knowledge of standards-based subject matter. Approximately 75 awards are announced annually.
Criteria / Proposed learning opportunity should:
- Include specific and measurable goals for student that are rigorous and aligned to state standards
- Include activities that engage students in critical thinking and problem solving
- Align goals, assessment, activities, and budget
Learning & Leadership Grants:
These grants support high-quality professional development opportunities, including, Summer Institutes, action research, collegial study, lesson study, and mentoring. Approximately 75 grants are award annually —$2,000 for individuals and $5,000 for groups.
Criteria /Proposed professional development should:
- Be directly related to a clear and compelling student need, based on data
- Include collegial sharing that is interactive and sustained over time
- Be likely to improve student achievement
- Include a budget that is appropriate to the project goals
Applying for Foundation Grants:
Applicants must be a practicing U.S. public school employee:
- PreK-12 teachers
- Education support professionals
- Higher education faculty and staff
As a grantee, you are expected to:
- Fully implement your proposed plan
- Complete a final report that includes a narrative of your project’s accomplishments and a financial report of expenditures
- Share any materials developed and press clippings collected
- Share your findings with colleagues and others
Applications are accepted throughout the year and are reviewed three times a year, beginning on February 1, June 1, and October 15. The NEA Foundation offers writing tips for grants on its website at www.neafoundation.org. The site also includes brief descriptions of past recipients’ work.
→ Back to the Scholarships, Grants & Awards Home Page
OEA Friend of Education Award
The Ohio Education Association Friend of Education Award recognizes a person and/or organization whose leadership, actions, and support have contributed to the improvement of public education on a statewide and/or national level. Past recipients include a U.S. Senator, U.S. Representatives, and a corporation.
Any member of the Ohio Education Association may nominate an individual or organization to receive this award. The OEA President, Vice President, and Secretary-Treasurer shall review the nomination(s) and supporting rationale.
Current members of the OEA Board of Directors and association staff members are not eligible for this scholarship. In addition, OEA Awards and Scholarship Committee Members are not eligible for two years after completion of service on the committee to apply or to be nominated.
The online nomination form must be completed in a single session, as you will not be able to save, and return to it at a later time without starting over. In addition it must be received on or before February 29, 2024. Late applications will not be considered. The OEA Awards and Scholarship Committee reserves the right to present no award or to refer an applicant to another award or scholarship.
TIP: Consider using this nomination worksheet as a guide prior to completing the online form. This guide can not be submitted in lieu of the online nomination form.
Please click here to see the rubric that the OEA Awards Committee will use to evaluate each submission.
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OEA John F. Kennedy Scholarship
The $4,000 John F. Kennedy Scholarship is presented each year to an OEA member who is a career teacher enrolled in a graduate-level program and in need of financial assistance.
Preference is given to applicants enrolled in programs that continue classroom involvement. The recipient must provide OEA with an annual statement describing their employment and graduate work status.
The online nomination form must be completed in a single session, as you will not be able to save, and return to it at a later time without starting over. In addition, it must be received on or before February 29, 2024. Late applications will not be considered.
TIP: Consider using this nomination worksheet as a guide prior to completing the online form. This guide can not be submitted in lieu of the online nomination form.
Please click here to see the rubric that the OEA Awards Committee will use to evaluate each submission.
→ Back to the Scholarships, Grants & Awards Home Page
OEA Marilyn Cross Scholarship
The $4,000 OEA Marilyn Cross Scholarship is presented to an OEA member and career teacher enrolled in a graduate- level program directly linked to his/her current area of licensure.
The recipient must provide an annual statement describing their employment and graduate work status.
The online nomination form must be completed in a single session, as you will not be able to save, and return to it at a later time without starting over. In addition, it must be received on or before February 29, 2024. Late applications will not be considered.
TIP: Consider using this nomination worksheet as a guide prior to completing the online form. This guide can not be submitted in lieu of the online nomination form.
Please click here to see the rubric that the OEA Awards Committee will use to evaluate each submission.
→ Back to the Scholarships, Grants & Awards Home Page
OEA Peace and International Understanding Award
The OEA Peace and International Understanding Award is presented to a district or local affiliate for outstanding contributions to the promotion or execution of the cause of peace and international understanding.
Criteria:
- Nominations may be submitted by any member and/or group of the United Education Profession (UEP).
- Supportive documents and tangible materials such as tapes, photographs, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, etc., should be submitted with the nomination form.
- In making reference to achievements of the nominee, any contributions throughout an individual’s career are acceptable.
The online nomination form must be completed in a single session, as you will not be able to save, and return to it at a later time without starting over. In addition it must be received on or before February 29, 2024. Late applications will not be considered.
TIP: Consider using this nomination worksheet as a guide prior to completing the online form. This guide can not be submitted in lieu of the online nomination form.
→ Back to the Scholarships, Grants & Awards Home Page
Ohio School Districts Can Receive Funds For Breakfast In The Classroom
COLUMBUS – October 6, 2016 – Beginning today, Ohio school districts can apply for a grant from Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom (the Partners) to provide a much-needed healthy and nutritious morning meal to local students and help increase participation in the federally-funded School Breakfast Program. School districts will be selected based on the number of students that qualify for free or reduced priced meals, the average daily participation in the school breakfast program, as well as district and school-provided support.
The Partners, which is a consortium of national education and nutrition organizations, selected 10 states to participate in the program based on need and the potential for success. They include Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. The goal is to increase access to a morning meal for 30,000 students in the 10 states.
Through a $7.5 million grant from the Walmart Foundation, the Partners will offer a school breakfast to students at no charge and will move it from the cafeteria to the classroom. This is intended to improve participation in the School Breakfast Program and boost learning and health.
While most U.S. schools currently participate in the federal School Breakfast Program, nearly half of low-income children who are eligible for a free or reduced-price breakfast are not eating it, according to a 2015 analysis by the Food Research & Action Center. Barriers include school bus schedules, late arrivals to school, pressure to go directly to class, and reluctance to be labeled “low-income.”
The grants from the Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom to help bring healthy morning meals into the classroom would have an invaluable impact on students and we encourage school districts across the state to apply,” said Scott DiMauro, vice-president of the Ohio Education Association. “The proven benefits of moving breakfast from the cafeteria to the classroom include better attendance records, less tardiness, and fewer behavioral and discipline problems. Those benefits are what the students in Ohio deserve.”
Since 2010, 35 school districts in 18 states have been awarded a grant by the Partners to implement the Breakfast in the Classroom programs. This has resulted in more than 63,000 students starting their day off with a healthy breakfast. The Partners’ grant will provide funding to school districts to assist with the upfront costs typically associated with starting a breakfast in the classroom program. That includes assisting schools with the purchase of equipment, marketing and communication needs, staff training, and the hiring of short-term food staff.
For more information and to find out if a district is eligible, visit www.BreakfastintheClassroom.org.
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About Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom
The Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom came together in 2010 in response to their shared passion for childhood nutrition and the potential to improve educational outcomes and child health. The Partners include the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) Foundation, the School Nutrition Foundation (SNF), and The NEA Foundation. The Partners provide technical assistance and support to school districts to implement the Breakfast in the Classroom programs. The mission of the Partners is to increase breakfast consumption among schoolchildren and spark the academic and nutritional gains associated with the morning meal through the implementation of Breakfast in the Classroom programs.
The Ohio Education Association (ohea.org) represents 123,000 teachers, faculty members and support professionals in Ohio’s public schools, colleges and universities
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