APPLICATIONS TO RECEIVE GRANTS of up to $1,000 are now available to teams of teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District who have innovative ideas of how to improve classroom instruction.

The Innovation Grants program is sponsored by the Los Angeles Educational Partnership (LAEP), an independent non-profit education fund working to improve public education for the children of Los Angeles. The Innovation Grants program provides funds directly to teams of teachers to develop and implement instructional projects which motivate and challenge students to learn. The grant projects are designed to improve teaching and learning at the classroom level.

Grants are available to any Los Angeles Unified pre-K through 12th-grade classroom teacher; all teachers must apply as part of a team (2 or more teachers working together); and teacher teams may only apply for one 1998 Innovation Grant.

Applicants will be asked to explain how their innovative classroom work will be shared with others in the school community. The Innovation Grants program also encourages applicants to incorporate strategies for greater parental, business, or community involvement in grant projects.

Major funding is provided by the Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. for Toyota Innovation Grants in Math and Science. Additional funding is available for literacy projects, defined as early literacy, reading, writing, language arts, and/or English. Only applications that include an emphasis on math, science, and/or literacy content will be considered. Interdisciplinary and standards-based projects are encouraged.

Applications are available from school principals and from UTLA chapter chairs, or by calling LAEP at (213) 622-5237.

Completed applications must be received by LAEP by April 17, 1998. Recipients of 1998 Innovation Grants will be notified by mail by September 4, 1998.

During the past 13 years, LAEP's Fund for Innovation has awarded more than $1.5 million to nearly 4,000 teachers. These grants have reached more than 550 schools in three school districts.