Fund Your Education Innovations: Get Up To $5 Million!

Note: Each funding opportunity description is a synopsis of information in the Federal Register application notice. For specific information about eligibility, please see the official application notice. The official version of this document is the document published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html.Please review the official application notice for pre-application and application requirements, application submission information, performance measures, priorities and program contact information.

Purpose of Program: The Investing in Innovation Fund (i3), established under section 14007 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), provides funding to support (1) local educational agencies (LEAs), and (2) nonprofit organizations in partnership with (a) one or more LEAs or (b) a consortium of schools. The purpose of this program is to provide competitive grants to applicants with a record of improving student achievement and attainment in order to expand the implementation of, and investment in, innovative practices that are demonstrated to have an impact on improving student achievement or student growth (as defined in this notice), closing achievement gaps, decreasing dropout rates, increasing high school graduation rates, or increasing college enrollment and completion rates. These grants will (1) allow eligible entities to expand and develop innovative practices that can serve as models of best practices, (2) support partnerships between eligible entities and the private sector and philanthropic community, and (3) support eligible entities in identifying and documenting best practices that can be shared and taken to scale based on demonstrated success. Under this program, the Department awards three types of grants: ``Scale-up'' grants, ``Validation'' grants, and ``Development'' grants.

The three grant types differ in the evidence that an applicant is required to submit in support of its proposed project; the expectations for ``scaling up'' successful projects during or after the grant period, either directly or through partners; and the funding that a successful applicant is eligible to receive. This notice invites applications for Validation grants. The notice inviting applications for Scale-up grants is published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register. The notice inviting applications for Development grants was published in the Federal Register on February 24, 2012 (77 FR 11087) and is available at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-02-24/pdf/2012-4357.pdf.

Validation grants provide funding to support practices, strategies, or programs that show promise, but for which there is currently only moderate evidence (as defined in this notice) that the proposed practice, strategy, or program will have a statistically significant effect on improving student achievement or student growth, closing achievement gaps, decreasing dropout rates, increasing high school graduation rates, or increasing college enrollment and completion rates and that, with further study, the effect of implementing the proposed practice, strategy, or program may prove to be substantial and important. Scale-up grants require applicants to have strong evidence (as defined in this notice) to support their proposed project. Applications for Validation grants do not need to have the same level of research evidence to support the proposed project as is required for Scale-up grants. An applicant for a Validation grant may also demonstrate success through an intermediate variable strongly correlated with these outcomes, such as teacher or principal effectiveness.

An applicant for a Validation grant must estimate the number of students to be reached by the proposed project and provide evidence of its capacity to reach the proposed number of students during the course of the grant. In addition, an applicant for a Validation grant must provide evidence of its capacity (e.g., qualified personnel, financial resources, management capacity) to scale up to a State or regional level, working directly or through partners either during or following the grant period. We recognize that LEAs are not typically responsible for taking to scale their practices, strategies, or programs in other LEAs and States. However, all applicants, including LEAs, can and should partner with others to disseminate and take to scale their effective practice, strategy, or program.Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.411B (Validation grants).Applications for grants under the i3 program, CFDA number 84.411B (Validation grants), must be submitted electronically using the Governmentwide Grants.gov Apply site at www.Grants.gov.

Through this site, you will be able to download a copy of the application package, complete it offline, and then upload and submit your application. You may not email an electronic copy of a grant application to us.You may access the electronic grant applications for i3 program at www.Grants.gov. You must search for the downloadable application package for this competition by the CFDA number. Do not include the CFDA number's alpha suffix in your search (i.e., search for 84.411, not 84.411B).