Professional Development & Resources
Building on the success of last year’s MAA-Neff Middle School Partnerships Program, the Mathematical Association of America is launching a new, one-time grant initiative funded by The John and Mary Neff Foundation. This initiative continues MAA’s commitment to supporting the professional development of middle school mathematics teachers through funding scalable models of professional development that meaningfully leverage school partnerships and professional communities to strengthen middle school mathematics teaching and improve student engagement.
We welcome proposals from college and university faculty at accredited U.S. institutions (including U.S. Territories), accredited schools or school districts, and nonprofit organizations. Applicants from higher education institutions are strongly encouraged to demonstrate established partnerships with middle school mathematics educators (e.g., letter of collaboration that reflects shared decision making and goals; faculty/teacher project co-directors; co-design of professional development activities).
Call for Proposals
Please review the Call for Proposals below and submit your application by March 3, 2026 at 11:59 PM EST. Application submission form is coming soon.
Funding Details
Initial Funding: MAA expects to award 8 initial grants of up to $12,000 for a 12-month period.
Eligibility for Initial Funding: Applications will be accepted from college and university faculty at accredited U.S. institutions (including U.S. Territories), accredited schools or school districts, and nonprofit organizations. Applicants from higher education institutions are strongly encouraged to demonstrate established partnerships with middle school mathematics educators (e.g., letter of collaboration that reflects shared decision making and goals; faculty/teacher project co-directors; co-design of professional development activities).
Eligibility for a two-year Expansion Grant: During the initial grant period, initial funding recipients will have the opportunity to apply for a 2-year expansion grant of up to $40,000. MAA expects to award 4-5 expansion grants to a subset of the initially funded projects.
Indirect costs of up to 10% of direct costs are allowable.
Timeline
This MAA-Neff Middle School Professional Development Initiative will follow the approximate timeline below.
Phase 1: Initial Funding
November 21, 2025: Application period opens.
December 9, 2025: Informational webinar, 3:30-4:30 pm ET
January-February 2026: Virtual Office Hours for applicant support
March 3, 2026: Application period closes at 11:59 pm ET
March 31, 2026: Notifications of awards
May 2026-June 2027: Initial funding period for project activities
Phase 2: Expansion Grants for Initial Grantees
December 4, 2026: Expansion Grant application period opens for initial grantees
March 8, 2027: Applications for expansion grants due at 11:59 pm ET
April 2027: Notifications of expansion grant awards
May 2027-June 2029: Expansion grant project activities
Restrictions
Funding for the program is limited, and the MAA will make every attempt to support a broad range of projects from various geographic locations. If any department, district, or nonprofit organization is interested in submitting more than one proposal, the proposals must support different programs and must have different personnel.
Contact Us
For technical information regarding submission of your proposal, please contact the MAA Programs Staff at programs@maa.org. For questions regarding proposed projects or proposal development, please contact the Program Director, Emilie Hancock at Emilie.Hancock@cwu.edu.