2013 Investing in Innovation (i3) Competition Launched

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has announced the start of the 2013 Investing in Innovation (i3) program. With a total of $150 million in funding, ED has released the pre-application for the i3 Development grant category.

Focused on improving student achievement, the i3 program is designed to generate and validate solutions to persistent educational challenges and to support the expansion of effective solutions across the country. As in past years, the i3 program will continue to fund innovative strategies within three distinct categories:

• Development grants fund the development or testing of practices that are supported by evidence of promise or theory (as defined by ED). Development grants will support new or substantially more effective practices for addressing widely shared challenges.
• Validation grants fund the expansion of projects supported by moderate evidence of effectiveness (as defined by ED) to the national or regional level.
• Scale-up grants fund the expansion of projects supported by strong evidence of effectiveness (as defined by ED) to the national level. In addition to improving outcomes for an increasing number of high-need students, Scale-up grants will generate information about the students and contexts for which a practice is most effective. 

The pre-applications for the Validation and Scale-Up grants will be announced in spring 2013. 

The guidance released by ED includes the 2013 program priorities, which target specific areas of need. This year’s priorities for the Development grant category include: 

• Improving the Effectiveness of Teachers or Principals 
• Improving Low-Performing Schools 
• Improving Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education 
• Improving Academic Outcomes for Students with Disabilities
• Improving Academic Outcomes for English Learners (ELs)
• Improving Parent and Family Engagement
• Effective Use of Technology
• Serving Rural Communities. 

In 2012, more than 650 potential grantees submitted pre-applications for Development grants. Pre-applications for the 2013 i3 Development grants are due April 26, 2013. ED will conduct a peer review process of the pre-applications. Those pre-applications that are highly rated will be invited to apply for the Development competition and will be given additional time to complete the full application.

To learn more about the 2013 i3 grants, click here.

Stay tuned to our blog for updates about the 2013 Investing in Innovation Competition.