$650 million in new grants

shyb - Flickr (cc)

As many are aware Arne Duncan has announced the beginning of the Investing in Innovation Fund ($650 million in new grants for education). Details of the grant are still emerging and can be found at following US Department of Education website. Michael Horn (Author of Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns directed me to an article in eSchool News that included a preliminary list of requirements that included the following:

• Boost student achievement, increase graduation rates, and retain teachers;
• Be scalable
• Offer sustainable innovation, not flash-in-th-pan ideas that will burn out, and
• Attract some matching funds along with ED's grant dollars

I will be watching as more details emerge - I am hoping that these funds will provide opportunities for new environments that will help students learn to be innovative... not simply support innovative ways to get students to meet the standards.