Every gift made to the UI College of Education is special. Most special, though, are those gifts that stray from the norm-gifts that find new and unique ways to help the College, the University, and the state.

Such a gift-a recent grant from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust of Muscatine-is already hard at work putting research into the hands of today's education practitioners. The $215,150 grant supports teachers throughout the state as they learn to use ePortfolio™, a web-based framework for collecting, revising, and reflecting upon teachers' professional work.

Created by college staff, the ePortfolio provides an inexpensive, interactive medium for teachers and their mentors, as well as UI College of Education students, to document teachers' mastery of Iowa's recently adopted Teacher Quality Standards.

The Carver Trust grant will fund the ePortfolio™ training of 300 early-career K-12 teachers from across Iowa, beginning with 50 in November 2003, 100 in 2004, and 150 in 2005, the third and final year of the grant. Each teacher will receive an honorarium and travel expenses for attending the training sessions.

The UI College of Education has long been committed to working closely with the public schools in Iowa, finding unique, practical applications for research. Despite state budget cuts, tuition increases, and an uncertain economic future, the college-with the help of gifts like the Carver Trust grant-is making an important difference in the lives of students and teachers across Iowa. And like the Carver Trust grant, your gift, whether big or small, can have an important, immediate impact advancing educational opportunities for Iowa's students and teachers.