Monday, March 5, 2012

The Department of Education (ED) has announced the third year of the Investing in Innovation (i3) grant program. This most recent announcement invites pre-applications for i3 “Development” grants, which will fund high-potential and relatively untested practices and/or programs whose effectiveness should be studied further. 

An initiative that focuses on improving student achievement by expanding, implementing and investing in innovative practices that have demonstrated success, the i3 initiative continues to generate significant interest throughout the education community. During the 2010 and 2011 grant competitions, nearly 2300 applications from all 50 states were received for i3 funding to support various initiatives, including the promotion of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) initiatives, early learning programs, implementing high quality student standards, turning around low-performing schools and supporting effective teachers and principals.

This year, ED has introduced “Parent and Family Engagement” as an absolute priority in the 2012 i3 Development grant competition. Recognizing that parent and communities play a shared and critical role in the academic success of students, ED hopes that the 2012 i3 Development grant recipients will highlight new and promising practices that can be implemented in schools throughout the nation.

In addition, ED has introduced a “pre-application” as part of the 2012 i3 grant competition. In order to simplify and streamline the application process, applicants must submit a pre-application, which will include a shortened narrative and require fewer supporting documents compared to applications in previous years. Once pre-applications are reviewed, the highest-rated applicants will be asked to submit a longer and more complete application.

Eligible i3 applicants include: local education agencies (LEAs), nonprofits in partnership with LEAs or a consortium of schools. The deadline to submit a “Notice of Intent to Apply” for the Development grant is March 15th, 2012 and the full pre-application is due April 9th, 2012. Applicants that are invited to submit a full application will receive information about these deadlines after the pre-applications have been reviewed. Notices for the “Scale-Up” and “Validation” i3 grants will be available in the coming weeks.

For more information about the i3 program or to review the Notice Inviting Applicants for the i3 Development Grants, please click here.

Stay tuned to our blog for updates about the i3 program and the NIAs for the “Scale-Up” and “Validation” i3 grants.

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