Universities? Yes, but …
August 5, 2010‘Surprises’ in Race to the Top
August 30, 2010
Update: The Department of Education has made their official announcement of the i3 grant winners – no changes from the leaked report, but they have posted a summary of characteristics of the winners as well as answers to frequently asked questions about the highest rated applicants.
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The U.S. Department of Education has announced 49 winners in its $650 million Investing in Innovation (i3) grant program. The i3 program, part of the larger American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), delivered three ‘tiers’ of grants:
- “Scale-up” grants of $50 million for programs that have the potential to reach hundreds of thousands of students and have strong evidence of success;
- “Validation” grants of $30 million are for programs with “good evidence” of their impact that are ready to expand and increase their evidence base; and
- “Development” grants of $5 million are available to support programs that have a high potential for success but need further study.
Over 2,000 organizations submitted letters of intent to apply, and the Department ultimately received 1,698 applications. Of these, only 49 applications were chosen as ‘winners’. This list of winners was leaked on August 4th and Education Week posted a list of the highest rated applications. There is some hedging around referring to these organizations as ‘winners’ because the i3 program requires all grantees to raise matching funds equal to 20% of the grant. The highest ranked applicants have until September 8th, 2010 to raise the funds or receive a waiver from the Department of Education.
There were only four winners for the largest, Scale Up, grants – Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), Ohio State University’s Reading Recovery Program, the Success for All Foundation, and Teach for America. In Massachusetts five organizations received grants. The President and Fellows of Harvard College have won a $12 million Validation Grant for Project READS. The Bay State Reading Institute, Boston Plan for Excellence, Achievement Network, and Plymouth Public Schools each qualified for a $5 million Development Grant.
You can find further information about the various applicants and applications on the Investing in Innovation Data page.