Duncan Outlines Rules for Innovation Competition

School districts now have some guidance on what they need to do to qualify for innovation grants thanks to the Education Department's announcement today.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan told reporters in a telephone conference call that the department is making an "unprecedented investment" in K-12 education with the Investing in Innovation (i3) program.

"The i3 competition will provide seed money for fresh ideas, help grow promising programs with a good track record and scale up programs with proven results at a national level," Duncan said.

To be eligible for the $650 million contest, school districts need to show that they have improved K-12 student achievement, decreased dropout rates, increased high school graduation rates or improved teacher and school leader effectiveness. They can collaborate with nonprofit organizations or other schools, but they must have evidence to demonstrate that their practices and programs work.

The level of evidence that supports school districts' strategies determines which one of the three grant categories they should apply for.

Scale-up grants focus on programs and practices that could reach more than 100,00 students and have strong evidence that they have improved student achievement.

Validation grant programs will have good evidence of their impact, but are ready to expand.

Development grants support new and high-potential practices that need to be studied further to see if they're effective.

The innovation grant funding comes from the $53.6 billion State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, which was established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Of that pot of money, $8.8 billion goes to block grants that can fund key services, and $5 billion goes to incentive grants. Those grants include the innovation program and the $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund, which awards money to states.

These are multi-year grants, so all the money will not go out the door on day one, Duncan said. The department will monitor how school districts use the funds and will take the grants away from those that do not use it wisely. School districts will be more competitive if their programs focus on early learning, college access, rural districts and students with disabilities and limited English proficiency.

They'll also need to demonstrate that they have 20 percent private sector matching funding and conduct an independent program evaluation.

The Education Department will solicit public comment on the proposed priorities and guidelines for the next 30 days. As for the future, it plans to publish a final application in early 2010, accept proposals in the spring and decide who gets the money by Sept. 30, 2010.