Python in Education - Request for Ideas

The Python Software Foundation Board Committee for Python in Education wants to hear how the PSF can help members of our community increase the presence of Python in education.



Our first goal is to gather ideas from the community on ways the PSF can fund work to improve Python in education. We want to collect a broad spectrum of ideas and projects at all levels and in all disciplines. After the ideas phase, we will use the ideas provided to guide our request for proposals.

Timeline

Here’s the full timeline:

• January 23- February 18, 2019: Request for Ideas phase


• February 18 - March 31, 2019: Request for Proposals phase


• April 1-17, 2019: Review process


• April 18, 2019: Notify the accepted proposals


• June-August of 2019: Accepted proposal work begins

Scope

The scope of the “request for ideas” phase is vague on purpose. We do not want to steer the ideas brought forth and want to see a wide variety of pitches.



Think small. If you had $100 USD what would you do?

Think BIG! If you had $10,000,000 USD what would you do?



There is no limit to the amount of money that your pitch might cost. If we think you have a great idea and it serves to improve Python in education, we will support it. Smaller requests will come from funds we have on hand. Larger funding requests will take more work to fulfill as we will work to gather funds through several methods such as donation drives and grants from other organizations.



While the Request for Ideas is vague and open ended, there are some guidelines. These guidelines will come into play during the Request for Proposal phase, but they may help you in the Request for Ideas phase.



Here are some things that we will look for and consider in a proposal:

Basic requirements

• The criteria for acceptance will be based on the following guidelines:


• Does the proposal adhere to PSF’s Code of Conduct?


• Does the proposal align with the Python Software Foundation’s mission?


• Is the proposal well organized and detailed? Be sure to tell us what the main issue, problem, or subject is and why is it important. 


• Does the proposer have any experience relevant to the proposal? While not strictly a requirement, having previous experience in what is being proposed will be considered in the overall application.


• Is the subject pertaining to underrepresented topics within our community? As we strive to improve the diversity of our community, priority will be given to proposals that bring new viewpoints and additional representation to the Python ecosystem.

Advanced requirements

• The proposal should include a timeline and capture major milestones for the work being proposed.


• If the proposal includes assistance from other contributors/resources, please share the details.


• The proposal should include the expected outcomes of proposed work as well as metrics for how the outcomes will be evaluated.

Submit your ideas and questions to edu-committee@python.org.

Thank you for your time and we look forward to seeing all of the wonderful ideas!