1. INVESTING IN INNOVATION (i3) SUMMARY OF 2015 i3 HIGHEST-RATED APPLICATIONS (HRAs)

2. “As a nation, we expend tremendous time, capital and talent into finding the next great business idea, but too often we overlook the important innovations happening in our own schools, in our own communities. But what if we prized the ingenuity and creativity of our teachers and schools the same way we do for entrepreneurs and start-ups?” –Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education 2

3.  i3 is a Department of Education signature grant program focused on seeding and scaling innovations in K–12 public education. i3 rewards applicants for the rigor of evidence that supports their application—the more rigorous the research, the larger the award; early-stage innovations do not require evidence of effectiveness and receive commensurately smaller grants.  Through five competitions from 2010 to 2015, i3 has awarded $1.2 billion in grants to 143 grantees out of 4,300 applications. These grantees have secured over $200 million in private sector matching funds. This year, the Department received more than 400 applications for the 2015 i3 competition.  The Department awards three types of grants, from greatest amount of funding available to least: “Scale-up grants,” “Validation grants,” and “Development grants.” This “tiered” structure enables i3 to support programs at various phases of growth—from early-stage efforts to organizations with a national reach. 3 i3 IS THE DEPARTMENT’S LEADING PROGRAM FOCUSED ON INNOVATION AND EVIDENCE

4. THE 13 2015 i3 HRAs WILL SUPPORT STUDENTS ACROSS 18 STATES CompetitionOrganizationImplementation Locations Scale-upChildren’s Literacy InitiativeCO, FL, NJ, TX Scale-upNational Math and Science InitiativeCA, GA, IL, MI, ND, OH, TX, Scale-upNew Teacher CenterCA, CO, FL, NY ValidationColumbus State Community CollegeOH ValidationThe Curators of the University of MissouriMO ValidationJacksonville State UniversityAL, AR, UT DevelopmentThe After-School CorporationNY DevelopmentAssociation of Alaska School BoardsAK DevelopmentCenter for Supportive SchoolsNC DevelopmentDesoto Independent School DistrictTX DevelopmentMcREL InternationalCO DevelopmentMetropolitan-Nashville Public SchoolsTN DevelopmentNew Visions for Public Schools, Inc.NY 4

5. THE 13 2015 i3 HRAs WILL SERVE ~300,000 STUDENTS WITH OVER $110M IN FEDERAL FUNDING  There are 13 HRAs for the 2015 competition. These 13 organizations were selected from over 400 applications and, assuming they meet their required private-sector match, will receive a total investment of over $113 million in federal funds.  Approximately 300,000 students will be served by these 13 projects.  All three of the Scale-up projects are previous i3 Validation grant recipients that are now significantly expanding the impact of their evidence-based approaches. The three highest-rated Scale-up applicants are:  Children’s Literacy Initiative (CLI): CLI supports early literacy to ensure that students are reading on grade level by 3 rd grade—a key indicator of their long-term success. This award will allow CLI to serve an additional 49,500 students in Colorado, Florida, New Jersey and Texas.  National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI): NMSI will partner with 40 schools to increase the number of students taking and earning qualifying scores on Advanced Placement math, science, and English exams, enabling them to reach an additional 60,000 students.  New Teacher Center: The New Teacher Center partners with educators to improve student reading and mathematics learning by improving the instructional practice of teachers, improving teacher retention, developing teacher leaders, and disseminating of best practices. This project will enable them to serve an additional 117,000 students and over 1,800 teachers. 5

6. THE 13 2015 i3 HRAs ADDRESS A RANGE OF STUDENT NEEDS, INCLUDING RESHAPING STUDENTS’ HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCES 6 Absolute Priority # of Development HRAs # of Validation HRAs # of Scale-up HRAs High School RedesignN/A1– Non-Cognitive Factors1N/A Rural: High School Redesign N/A1– Rural: Non-Cognitive Factors 2N/A Standards & AssessmentsN/A1– STEM Education3N/A1 Teachers & Principals––2 Utilizing Technology1N/A Total733 Key: N/A = Priority not available in grant category; “–” = HRA not included in that priority

7. APPENDIX A: DevelopmentValidationScale-upTotal Local Educational Agency2002 Nonprofit with consortium of schools 1001 Nonprofit with Local Educational Agency 43310 Total73313 HRAs BY COMPETITION AND APPLICANT TYPE 7 HRAs BY ABSOLUTE PRIORITY AND FUNDING

8. APPENDIX B: PriorityDevelopmentValidationScale-upTotal High School RedesignN/A10,000– Non-Cognitive Factors2,500N/A 2,500 Standards & Assessments N/A25,500– STEM Education2,910N/A60,00062,910 Rural3,30020,000–23,300 Teachers & Principals N/A 166,492 Utilizing Technology5,000N/A 5,000 Total13,71055,500226,492295,702 TOTAL NUMBER OF STUDENTS SERVED BY COMPETITION AND ABSOLUTE PRIORITY 8 TOTAL NUMBER OF STUDENTS SERVED BY COMPETITION AND APPLICANT TYPE Organization TypeDevelopmentValidationScale-UpTotal Local Educational Agency2,010–– Nonprofit with consortium of schools 1,800–– Nonprofit with LEA9,90055,500226,492291,892 Total3,71055,500226,492295,702 Key: N/A = Priority not available in grant category; “–” = HRA not included in that priority