Race to the Top (R2T)
Funds available:
$4.35 billion.
Timeframe: Payout in two phases—early 2010 and fall 2010. First round of finalists have been announced. Applications for the second round are due June 1, 2010.
Who applies? States submit competitive proposals. Fifty percent of the award goes to subgrants to LEAs (Local Education Agencies), including public charter schools, based on the Title I formula.
Is scientific evidence required for proposed program? Optional element of the proposal.
Is program evaluation required? Yes. There will be a national evaluation in which states participate. States may ask LEAs to conduct their own program evaluation.
Is building research capacity a goal of the proposed program? Yes. Proposals will be judged on their plans:
- To ensure that the state's longitudinal data system supports decision-makers "in the continuous improvement of instruction, operations, management, and resource allocation."
- To use (in collaboration with its participating LEAs) instructional improvement systems... that provide... principals, and administrators with the information they need to inform and improve their instructional practices, decision-making, and overall effectiveness; and evaluate the effectiveness of the actions taken.
- To expand statewide longitudinal data systems... with the purpose of allowing important questions related to policy or practice to be asked and answered.
Is advanced statistical analysis called for? Yes. The definitions for highly effective teachers and principals calls for identifying those “whose students achieve high rates of student growth.” This calculation requires isolating the teacher or principal’s contribution to this growth through one of the value-added analytic techniques.
Strengthen your Race to the Top application by including Empirical Education as a partner.
We can help your state and its LEAs build the capacity for high quality research and evaluation as called for by the R2T program. For example, by now, your state agency may have a longitudinal data system in place (or you and your contractor may be creating one). When you combine your system with our MeasureResults® analysis tools, you build the local research capacity (at state, then LEA levels) called for by the R2T solicitation.
The program evaluations that may be called for by R2T can take a form that is innovative (and therefore attractive to the US Department of Education) by having Empirical Education assist in building your local capacity for this kind of research. We can also serve as an efficient and rigorous independent external evaluator if that is part of the proposal.
In addition, we can assist your department in setting up the analytic tools to calculate teacher and principal contributions to student growth as called for by R2T. This can be built into a larger statistical needs analysis, providing the matrix of districts and schools that are contributing most successfully to growth broken out by demographic groups, school subjects, and educational level. This innovative integrated analysis will strengthen your proposal by demonstrating the capacity for—and commitment to—continuous improvement.
View our webinar, Meet Stimulus Funds’ Research Requirements with Confidence to learn about the research requirements and a flexible research approach that takes advantage of your current data collection.
Investing in Innovation (i3)
Funds available: $650 million. Matching funds(20%) will be required from partners. Three categories of grants:
- Scale-up grants up to $50 million
- Validation grants up to $30 million
- Development grants up to $5 million
Timeframe: Final notice was March 9, 2010. Application deadline is May 11, 2010. Funds to be obligated by September 30, 2010.
Who applies? LEAs and entrepreneurial non-profits and partnerships that may include for-profit developers, public sector educational and philanthropic organizations. (States are not directly involved.)
Is scientific evidence required for proposed program? Yes. The stringency of the requirements varies with the three categories. Scale-up grants require rigorous evidence and demonstration of a strong impact. Validation grants require previous evidence (of moderate strength) which requires either experimental or quasi-experimental studies. Development grants call for prior evidence that is promising and warrants further study.
Is program evaluation required? Yes. See the description in our news section. The final RFP is very detailed with respect to the methodological requirements for an independent evaluation. These vary with the category of grant. While scale-up grants call for an experimental study of the program at scale, development grants allow formative evaluations.
Is building research capacity a goal of the proposed program? Yes. Absolute Priority #2 calls for innovations that improve the use of data, including conducting program evaluations that provide stakeholders with data they need to improve effectiveness.
Is advanced statistical analysis called for? Yes. The LEA making the proposal has to document that it has significantly closed achievement gaps and significantly increased student achievement for all groups of students.
Help your LEAs and communities strengthen their i3 application by recommending inclusion of Empirical Education as a partner.
We can help your LEAs build the capacity for high quality research and evaluation as called for by the Absolute Priority #2. For example, by combining a local data driven decision-making system with our MeasureResults® analysis system, the LEA builds an innovation local research capacity.
Empirical Education can also serve as an efficient and rigorous independent external evaluator if that is part of the proposal. We are expert in meeting all US ED requirements, including the requirement for cooperation with the ED technical assistance in national evaluations.
We can also assist LEAs and their partners in establishing the research base needed for program that will be the subject of the proposal. Through a quick-turnaround rigorous analysis of the achievement results of their program in prior years, Empirical Education can provide a research report for inclusion in the proposal.
Learn more about the specific research requirements for ED stimulus program applications. View our webinar, Meet Stimulus Funds’ Research Requirements with Confidence, presented by experts at Empirical Education on January 20, 2010.
Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT or Ed-Tech)
Funds available:
$650 million from ARRA supplementing the $265 million in the regular 2009 appropriation.
Timeframe: Made available to states summer, 2009
Who applies? Awarded to states via formula. Up to 5% may be reserved for state activities. The remainder is awarded as subgrants to LEAs: 50% by formula and 50% on a competitive basis.
Is scientific evidence required for proposed program? In many cases the expectation is that programs or technologies will be “research-based.”
Is program evaluation required? Yes. SEAs must have evaluation measures for the impact of Ed-Tech activities on student achievement. SEAs are authorized to use the 5% set-aside for this purpose.
Is building research capacity a goal of the proposed program? Yes. Among the suggested uses of the funds is “developing performance measuring systems to evaluate the effectiveness of programs... to strengthen, modify, or discontinue programs based on evaluation results.” The National Governors Association recommends encouraging LEAs to “develop or improve evaluations of technology programs.”
Is advanced statistical analysis called for? Yes. The requirement for the SEA to evaluate the impact of funded activities requires advanced statistics.
Partner with Empirical Education to make the most of your EETT funding.
Empirical Education can help you conduct a high quality program evaluation serving as an efficient and rigorous independent evaluator. We are expert in meeting the ED requirements for rigorous evaluations.
We can help your LEAs build local performance measurement systems for their own program evaluations with our MeasureResults® analysis tools. These tools, in combination with your longitudinal data system, provided exceptionally low cost access to evaluation design and analysis capabilities at the state level as well.
View our webinar, Meet Stimulus Funds’ Research Requirements with Confidence, to learn about the research requirements and a flexible research approach that takes advantage of your current data collection.
Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS)
Funds available:
$245 million.
Timeframe: Applications due December 4, 2009; awards available through 2011.
Who applies: State Education Agencies (SEAs)
Is scientific evidence required for proposed program? No.
Is program evaluation required? No, although states must agree to participate if ED conducts an evaluation. Assessment of attained programmatic goals is required.
Is building research capacity a goal of the proposed program? Yes. The RFA states: “The long-term goal of the program is to enable all States to... support analysis and informed decision-making at all levels of the education system, increase the efficiency with which data may be analyzed to support the continuous improvement of education services and outcomes, facilitate research to improve student academic achievement and close achievement gap...”
Is advanced statistical analysis called for? Yes. Data analysis to support continuous improvement requires sophisticated statistical models.
Partner with Empirical Education to enhance the value of your longitudinal data system.
We can help your state build the capacity for high quality research and analysis that lead to informed decision making, as directed by the RFA. Our MeasureResults® analysis tools build on your LDS to make evaluations for continuous improvement a reality.
LEAs as well as intermediate units that link into your LDS can also benefit by adopting MeasureResults to enable their own local evaluations, providing a richer state-wide sharing of evidence.
Learn more about the specific research requirements for ED stimulus program applications. View our webinar, Meet Stimulus Funds’ Research Requirements with Confidence, presented by experts at Empirical Education on January 20, 2010.
Title I School Improvement Grants (SIG)
Funds available:
$3.546 billion total.
Timeframe: Final application guidelines were released in November. Previous funds allocated for FY 2009 were supplemented with an additional $3 billion in new ARRA funding.
Who applies: States submit proposals. Ninety-five percent of the award goes for subgrants to LEAs (Local Education Agencies), including public charter schools, based on identifying and serving the lowest-achieving Title I schools.
Is scientific evidence required for proposed program? No. The final notice is very detailed with respect to the specific interventions required for each school identified by the LEA.
Is program evaluation required? Yes. There is a national evaluation in which states participate, more details will be forthcoming. LEAs are required to conduct their own program evaluation.
Is building research capacity a goal of the proposed program? Yes. The final notice outlines the need for LEAs to use local data to identify trends based on leading indicators (instructional minutes per school year, teacher attendance) and to track student achievement.
Is advanced statistical analysis called for? Yes. The LEA receiving funding has to document that it is making progress towards the achievement goals for all groups of students. The definitions for highly effective teachers and principals calls for identifying those “whose students achieve high rates of student growth.” This calculation requires isolating the teacher or principal's contribution to this growth through one of the value-added analytic techniques. The SEA must also evaluate the impact of the interventions and report aggregated and disaggregated results.
Partner with Empirical Education to make the most of your SIG funding.
Empirical Education can help you conduct a high quality program evaluation by serving as an efficient and rigorous independent evaluator. We are expert in meeting the ED requirements for rigorous evaluations.
We can help your LEAs build local performance measurement systems for their own program evaluations with our MeasureResults® analysis tools. These tools, in combination with your longitudinal data system, provide exceptionally low cost access to evaluation design and analysis capabilities at the state level as well.
View our webinar, Meet Stimulus Funds’ Research Requirements with Confidence, to learn about the research requirements and a flexible research approach that takes advantage of your current data collection.