Education

Get a Slice of the Pi Society: Math Teachers Eligible for Grants

By Erik W. Robelen — February 12, 2010 1 min read
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Attention math teachers. A new initiative called the Pi Society will award a first round of grants this spring for fellowships worth $5,000 apiece to improve math instruction. Teachers may pursue “fellowships of their own design anywhere in the world,” according to materials I received describing the effort. (I’ve heard that Bora Bora is an especially great place to learn about math!)

The application deadline just closed for this spring’s grants, but the next round starts up in October.

The Pi Society is being organized by the Fund for Teachers, a Houston-based foundation that provides fellowship money to “empower teachers to pursue disciplines and destinations they believe will most impact them personally, their students, and their community,” the materials say.

In 2009, Fund for Teachers awarded fellowships valued at $1.6 million to 398
teachers representing 253 schools. No firm decision has been made on the number of Pi Society grants to be made this year. The fellowships are awarded based on the quality of individual applications and merit.

The Pi Society grants aim to help teachers improve the quality of their math instruction and equip them “to be visionary instructional leaders.” The fellowships are currently limited to teachers in Houston, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Boston, and the states of Oklahoma and Nebraska.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Curriculum Matters blog.