Show Me the Money: Funding Classroom

Projects through DonorsChoose.org

Alan Brown and Geoff Price
with Department of Education Alumni

Collaborative Learning Conference | August 10 & 11, 2016

About the Course & Assignment

EDU 758: Educational Leadership examines contemporary

leadership theory and its various applications in education
while focusing specifically on teacher leadership in
classrooms, schools, and communities.
As part of this course, students were tasked with exploring
longitudinal trends in the categories of books, supplies, and
technology from fully-funded projects in Forsyth County on the
crowdfunding site DonorsChoose.org.
For more information about this project:
http://forsythdonorschoose.weebly.com/

About the Contributors

Antonio Alanis
Master of Arts in Education
Spanish

Jordan Rowell
Master of Arts in Education
French

Andrew Boudon
Master of Arts in Education
Mathematics

Sarah A. Smith
Master of Arts in Education
Mathematics

Josh Campbell
Master of Arts in Education
Social Studies

Sarah H. Smith
Master of Arts in Education
Spanish

Ali Chohan
Master of Arts in Education
Social Studies

Jake Thornton
Master of Arts in Education
Social Studies

Kate McCrea
Master of Arts in Education
French

Stacey Walker
Master of Arts in Education
Social Studies

Webmaster:
Matthew Stran
Master of Arts in Education
Social Studies
Faculty Contributor:
Dr. Geoff Price
Instructor, Instructional
Technology

EDU 758 Instructor:

Dr. Alan Brown
Director, Secondary Education

About DonorsChoose.org
Charles Best launched DonorsChoose.org in 2000 out of a
Bronx public high school where he taught history, and his
nonprofit organization now provides a simple way to
address educational inequity by empowering public school
teachers to create classroom project requests to support
their students learning needs.

Elementary Book Projects

A Consideration of One Teachers

Book Projects in Grade 3-5
Andrew Boudon

Elementary Book Projects

Trends for Book Projects in Lower Grades:

Teachers often realize the literature they would like their
students to read at the beginning of the school year, and
projects often receive funding in December.
Book Requests:
Class sets of a single book; class sets of multiple books; 5
copies of 5 books at a time; childrens magazine subscriptions
Project Costs:
Median project costs: $283
Class sets range from $150 to $450 in price

English Language Learners

How Do ESL Teachers Use DonorsChoose.org

to Help Disadvantaged Students Overcome
Poverty and Language Barriers?
Sarah H. Smith

English Language Learners

Books for School and Home:

About one/fourth (9/39) of the fully-funded requests for books
in the ESL category explicitly stated that materials were
intended for use in the school and at home. These teachers
often created lending libraries and bilingual book collections.
Developing Multiple Languages:
These projects are beneficial so parents can read to their
children in Spanish and children can read back to them in
English, helping them develop literacy in both languages.

Average Cost:
Average cost (excluding two outliers) was $314.

Reading and Global Awareness

Developing Global Awareness through Reading

in the Early Elementary Grades
Kate McCrea

Reading and Global Awareness

Leveled Reading Books:
36% of 442 funded book projects applied to early elementary
grades (preK-2). A majority of projects focused on finding
books appropriate for students reading levels.
Developing Global Awareness:
Approximately 18% of projects focused on obtaining funding
for books that would help students develop awareness of the
world around them and cultivate mutual respect.
Provoking Empathy for Students:
Funded project descriptions often focused on the low
likelihood that students would have an opportunity to learn
about or see the world without the intervention of these books.

Technology and World Languages

Performance-Based Learning and 21st-Century

Technology in World Language Classrooms
Jordan Rowell

Technology and World Languages

Funded Projects in World Language Classrooms:
Only 8 of 441 funded technology project requests were made
by world language teachers, and half came from a single
teacher. The average cost per project was $583.64.
Demonstrating Mastery of Learning:
Funded projects allowed students to extend or demonstrate
mastery of their target language by creating high quality
digital (and physical) artifacts (e.g., videos, recordings,
invitations to celebrations, travel brochures, newspapers)
Requested Technologies:
Teachers requested iPads, digital cameras, wireless mice for
Chromebooks, color photo printers, and LCD projectors.

Technology in High School

Qualities of A Successful Technology

Proposal for High School
Sarah A. Smith

Technology in High School

Projects in Grades 9-12:

Only 26% of all fully-funded technology projects were in
grades 9-12.

Project Types:
A majority of projects are between $100-$500. Teachers
often request 1 or 2 laptops or tablets, digital cameras, or
projectors. Larger projects include science lab materials,
advanced calculators, and interactive white boards.
Content Areas:
A larger number of projects are for social studies,
yearbook, journalism, and special education classrooms.

Differentiating Mathematics

Differentiating Instruction:
hat Supplies Do Teachers Need to Teach
W
Mathematics?
Stacey Walker

Differentiating Mathematics
Requests for Manipulatives:
60% of 254 fully-funded projects for mathematics supplies for
grades PreK-12 are for manipulatives and materials for
differentiated instruction or sensory learning.
Interdisciplinary Instruction:
In PreK-5 mathematics supply projects, there are crossovers
with art, literacy, and science in the use of manipulatives and
differentiated instruction.
Benefits of Manipulatives:
Manipulatives are beneficial for helping students learn
counting, place value, computation, problem solving, fractions,
ratios, and algebraic abilities.

Science Content Supplies

What Hands-on Supplies Do Science Teachers Need to

Help Students Visualize and Understand Concepts?
Jake Thornton

Science Content Supplies

Increasing Engaged Learning:
Out of the 209 funded science projects, just over 80% were
for content supplies, including mini-archaeology kits,
microscopes, specimens, dissection tools, and skeletons.
Making Science Come Alive:
A majority of funded projects came from the elementary
grades and featured hands-on materials to help make
science come alive (e.g., digging for dinosaur bones kit).
Understanding Abstract Concepts:
Middle and high school projects featured tools that were
visual and tactile, including projects on genetics, atoms,
and cells, wind and solar energy, and anatomy.

Literacy Projects

Fully-funded Literacy Projects in Forsyth County

Ali Chohan

Literacy Projects
Roughly 95% (218 out 231) of projects in the literacy category
under supplies were for elementary schools.
1. Learning Tools (64%):
ABC rugs, magazine subscriptions, geometry blocks,
phonics/word building tools, reading centers, alphabet bags,
word binders, and whisper phones.
2. Office Supplies (20%):
Dry erase markers/boards, composition books, arts/craft
supplies, storage bins, organizational shelves, and other basic
supplies (crayons, scissors, markers, pencils, etc.)
3. Seating and Furniture (16%):
Carpet, chairs, tables, and book shelves

Health & Sports

Wobble Stools, Soccer Balls, Jump Ropes, and Pedometers:

Encouraging Health and Sports in K-12 Schools
Alan Brown

Health and Sports

Requests from Elementary School Teachers:
72 of 75 projects were from teachers in elementary schools with
an average cost (minus 6 extreme outliers) of $389.36. 39% of
all projects were created by 4 teachers from 2 schools.
Schools Need More Basic Athletic Equipment:
Only 28% of projects (none from 2009-2016) were created by
physical education teachers, and yet 29% of projects asked for
sports or playground equipment for outside the classroom.
Classroom Seating:
One of the fastest growing trends in project requests since 2014
has been classroom seating (e.g., wobble stools, bouncy
bands, stability balls, Adirondack chairs, desk pedal exercisers).

Tips for Funding Technology Projects

Winning Tips for Projects in Technology With a Focus

on Language and Literature, Culture, and the Arts
Antonio Alanis

Tips for Funding Technology Projects

Empathizing with Students Needs:
Teachers wrote about how the project would improve
students learning while also appealing to the donors
sense of empathy for the needs of students.

Important Considerations:
Teachers utilized descriptive language, concrete examples,
interdisciplinary teaching and learning, family and
community collaborations, and 21st century skills/activities.
One Major Question to Consider:
What have you done with the technology you currently
have available, and why are these current resources or
methods associated with that technology not sufficient?

Matching Gift Partnerships

A Match Made in Heaven:

rades 6-12 Book Projects with Matching Gift Partnership
G
Joshua Tyler Campbell

Matching Gift Partnerships

Book Projects with Matching Gifts:
Of the 91 fully-funded book projects in grades 612, 38 fullyfunded book projects had matching gifts (41.75%) from 10
companies/foundations (e.g., Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation) and 6 internal DonorsChoose.org programs
(#BestSchoolDay).
Impact of Matching Gift Partnerships:
Nationally, projects with matching gift partnerships are funded
overwhelmingly more so than projects without matching gift
partnerships. Average time for these WSFCS book projects with
matching gift partnerships to be fully-funded was 37 days.
DonorsChoose.org national/aggregate average time to reach
full-funding is 27 days.

For More Information

Alan Brown
brownma@wfu.edu
Geoff Price
pricegp@wfu.edu

To view the final project:

http://forsythdonorschoose.
weebly.com/

Brandi Brown
brburroughs@wsfcs.k12.nc.us

Wake Forest Department of Education

Wake Forest University

Department of Education
B201 Tribble Hall
Box 7266
Winston-Salem, NC 27109
Phone: 336-758-5341
E-mail: education@wfu.edu
Twitter: @WFU_Education
Facebook: WFUEducationDepartment