By now you are probably thinking, āThe authors are really over-stressing the theme of carefully writing a proposal.ā When writing, crafting, developing, preparing a grant proposal, you must communicate your intentions in such a manner that they cannot be misinterpreted by any of the proposal reviewers. For the most part, review panels are composed of people just like you. They are typically selected to provide a wide spectrum of experiences and backgrounds. You should write so carefully that they do not have to interpret your intentions. The more explicit your writing, the easier it is for the review panel members to understand your intentions.
How do you state a problem? That element needs to be expanded.
Using the Problem as a Guide
The careful crafting of the problem statement is most essential, for it will be one of the first sections to be read by a reviewer. If the problem is to eliminate illiteracy in North America, then youāll need billions of dollars. If the problem relates to inadequate reading skills for children in a specific elementary school, then $20,000 might be adequate to fund a pilot project. The key point is not the statement of the problem, per se, but stating a problem that is manageable and solvable.
A problem is a condition that requires some extra effort to fix. A problem can be a brief statement of an observation. For example, a common problem that is frequently observed is that preadolescent girls do not achieve as well as expected in science. The problem is not that all girls do not achieve as expected. It is a condition focused on a specific group, under a specific context. So, we might write a statement such as the following:
Teachers in our middle school are often unaware that they may be biased against young female students in science classes. As a consequence, girls report being more negatively inclined toward science than are young males. In actual classroom observations, we have found that teachers reward boys more than girls in science classes and that girl-initiated science interactions decline during middle school years. Finally, teacher expectations tend to favor boys. From these observations come two distinct, but related, problems: (1) How can science teachers be made aware of the bias toward girls; and (2) What types of training intervention can eliminate sexual bias in middle school science classes?
Reread the above statement. Observe how the problem begins with a rather broadly stated issue and then culminates with a very specific, but solvable problem statement. This is called āVā writing. By giving some general background, the reader or reviewer in the case of grant proposals, is given enough information to make a smooth transition into a specific condition. You will also observe that the statement is specific and explicit.
In contrast, read the following statement in Exhibit āPā that described a problem.
EXHIBIT āPā: The Problem
Home weatherization is not the sole determinant of household energy usage. Peopleās habits can, and do, have serious implications for environmental sustainability. To be effective, conservation education programs must be holistic. Typically, such programs focus on adult consumers with little or no consideration given to the youth who are the future consumer.
Cheap electricity has been one of the key factors that has defined the economic opportunities, environment and quality of life in the state of ā¦ As a result of the increased consumption of electricity, the decade-long surplus of electric energy has disappeared.
To meet this challenge, the state has developed a broad base energy strategy. An important goal of this strategy is to educate not only the adult consumer, but children as well. As the future consumers of energy, they need to be aware of its monetary and environmental costs. Today it is known that stretching electricity supplies by improving efficiency not only reduces the need for new power plants, but it is also less expensive, less polluting, and avoids the environmental impact of new power plants.
Energy conservation education is a component of the ā¦ Project. The Project includes educational and support groups which enhance the knowledge of home energy conservation, resource allocation and other pertinent management issues for low-income families.
Developing an energy literate consumer who will make the right choices regarding their energy needs can only be brought about through conservation education. This, in turn, will contribute to the achievement of the conservation goals. By combining energy education with low-income weatherization and budget management ā¦ helps their clients to decrease their energy usage and increase both their ability to pay and their personal comfort.
How many times did you have to reread either part or all of that statement? The statement is confusing. You are not exactly certain what the problem might be or what parts of the problem will be addressed. Needless to say, the proposal that contained this description was not funded.
A problem needs to be written so that it is clear and concise. As was illustrated previously, the section containing the problem should be carefully prepared to lead a reviewer from a point of knowing little or nothing about a specific condition to a rather informed state. Listed below are a few problem statements that illustrate a straightforward approach.
- Children who attend schools in lower socio-economic neighborhoods have very limited access to personal computers in their classrooms.
- Volunteers for mathematics tutoring need additional training in the use of math manipulatives.
- The āReading Recovery Programā is addressing only 40 percent of those needing the service.
- The history program lacks the instructional resources required to meet the āExpectations of Excellenceā of the National Council for the Social Studies.
- Teacher education programs find it increasingly difficult to provide student teachers and interns with ethnic and multicultural experiences.
- Science teaching in grades K-6 focuses on f...
