US Chamber of Commerce

Race to the Top (RTTT)
$4B

ED is using this high-profile grant competition as an incentive to get States to remove barriers to reform. Grantees will have to implement reforms in teacher quality, high academic standards, using data to drive reform, and turning around low-performing schools. 

In September, the Secretary announced the 10 winners for Race to the Top Phase II: the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Rhode Island.  States have until November 19 to submit District-level scope of works to the U.S. Department of Education.
 

Reforming the lowest-performing Title I schools and middle/high schools.

Districts that receive this funding will have to implement one of four dramatic reforms in the lowest-performing schools, and will have to report on the outcomes.

Grants have been awarded to all fifty states plus D.C. Targeted are the lowest-achieving schools, which must use one of four prescriptive models to raise student achievement.

Investing in Innovation (i3) $650M

Scaling up successful education reform practices and programs.

This fund is intended to support innovations that have succeeded in improving school performance, ranging from small grants (up to $5 million) for promising practices, to large grants (up to $50 million) for programs with strong evidence of effectiveness.

The Department announced 49
winners in August. All applicants were able to secure the required private sector match, and received awards last month.
 

Assessments aligned with new national academic standards.
 

The Department chose two winners: the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC).

Incentive pay for high-performing teachers and principals in high-need schools.

The Department awarded 62 TIF grants in late September, totaling $442 million.