IT'S About TIME! (Tread Softly)

Investing In Innovation (i3) Grant Collaboratory

Who Plans to Apply for i3? Look Online Now

By Michele McNeil 

The U.S. Department of Education has posted a spreadsheet listing the more than 2,000 districts, schools, and nonprofits that plan to apply for the $650 million Investing in Innovation grant.

If the thought of opening an Excel spreadsheet intimidates you, there's also a convenient summary of the intents-to-apply.

This list is a compilation of those who told the department, by April 1, that they plan to apply for these competitive grants. This was more of a courtesy for the department so officials could figure out what kind of workload is in store for them and the peer reviewers. Those on this list are not bound to apply, and those who aren't on the list can still apply. The deadline for the one and only round of this competition is May 11.

The list, 2,045 organizations long, is tedious to wade through. But my quick and crude Microsoft Access query tells me that about 800 of these potential applicants are districts and schools, while the remaining organizations are nonprofits. The districts include Atlanta, Los Angeles, Denver, Hartford (Ct.), and Broward County (Fla.).

The list of nonprofits include some usual suspects—Teach for America and The New Teacher Project— but also includes some lesser-knowns, such as Clarksville, Tenn.'s "The Way Mission," and Brookline, Mass.' "Facing History and Ourselves."

A fair number of universities also make the list, including the University of Southern California and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

To receive an invitation and collaboratively participate in our i3 Collaboratory initiative please e-mail digitallearning@gmail.com with Count Me In in the Subject Line and you will receive an follow-on invitation to the Investing In Innovation (i3) Grant Collaboratory blog-site.