Investing in Innovation Fund—Validation Grants

Overview

<p><span>Validation grants provide funding to support expansion of projects supported by moderate evidence of effectiveness (as defined in this notice) to the regional level (as defined in this notice) or to the national level (as defined in this notice). In addition, as Validation projects seek to improve outcomes for students in high need schools, they also generate important information about an intervention’s effectiveness and the contexts for which a practice is most effective. We expect that Validation grants will increase practitioners’ and policymakers’ understanding of the implementation of proven practices, and help identify effective approaches to expanding such practices while also maintaining or increasing their effectiveness across contexts. All Validation grantees must evaluate the effectiveness of the i3-supported practice that the project implements and expands. The evaluation of a Validation project must identify the core elements of, and codify, the i3-supported practice that the project implements in order to support adoption or replication by other entities. We also expect that evaluations of Validation grants will be conducted and disaggregated in a variety of contexts and for a variety of students in order to determine the context(s) and population(s) for which the i3-supported practice is most effective. </span></p> <p><span>Identifies four Absolute Priorities for the Competition, representing a range of education topics. Applicants must identify the Absolute Priority they are addressing. There is one Competitive Preference Priority. Absolute Priorities <br>• Absolute Priority 1-- Implementing Internationally Benchmarked College- and Career-Ready Standards and Assessments <br>• Absolute Priority 2--Promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education <br>• Absolute Priority 3-- Improving Low-Performing Schools <br>• Absolute Priority 4--Serving Rural Communities <br>• Note: Applicants applying under this priority must also address one of the other three absolute priorities established for the FY 2016 i3 Validation competition, while serving students enrolled in rural LEAs (as defined in the 2016 i3 NIA). Competitive Preference Priority (Optional) <br>• Competitive Preference Priority —Supporting Novice i3 Applicants (zero or 3 points)</span></p>