Author: Patsy Crawford | Posted: 28. March 2012 21:51
In notices published in the Federal Register on March 27, 2012, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) invited applications for a third round of its Investing in Innovation (i3) competitive grant program. School districts and nonprofit organizations in partnership with schools or school districts are eligible to compete for a portion of the nearly $150 million i3 fund for either “Scale-up” projects or “Validation” projects. A Scale-up grant applicant must demonstrate strong evidence that its project will have a statistically significant effect on one or more of ED’s stated objectives, such as improving student achievement or growth, closing achievement gaps, decreasing dropout rates, increasing high school graduation rates, or increasing college enrollment and completion rates. A Validation grant applicant is required to demonstrate only moderate evidence that its project will meet one or more of the stated objectives. According to ED’s March 27th press release, Scale-up grants will be awarded up to $25 million and Validation grants will be awarded up to $15 million.
ED’s notice inviting applications for Scale-up grants is available at http://tinyurl.com/7wkzmlz; and the notice inviting applications for Validation grants is available at http://tinyurl.com/d8zvjhx. Grant applications are due by May 29, 2012 and awards will be announced no later than December 31, 2012.
