Stimulating Transformative Change for Student Achievement September, 2011 Andy Calkins, Deputy Director Elina Alayeva, Program Officer

A Unique Partnership

Our Mission: Dramatically improve college readiness and completion in the United States by tapping the potential of technology-enabled innovation.

Our Vision:  To leverage the power of technology to transform education to meet students’ and society’s needs in the 21 st century  Commitment to seeking, finding, and supporting innovative working models  … Helping to catalyze a broad and fundamental transformation of education practices, policies, and structures

Invest in Innovation Multiply Impact Accelerate Adoption Build an evidence base and create communities of practice. What NGLC Does

Education should be learner-centered. Active, situated, and experiential learning, best measured by mastery, improves engagement, problem solving, and achievement. Information technology can enable learners, learning, and educational systems – but is not an end, in and of itself. Evidence and data should drive decision-making. Change requires that scale be built into innovation design. We Believe

Today’s Reality: Depersonalized one-size-fits-all approaches Lack of relevance to the real world Lack of deeper learning skills Focus on seat time, not competency Inequity Escalating costs Innovation in silos

Where We’ve Been Wave I: Scaling innovations in blended learning, deeper learning and engagement, learner analytics, and open core courseware. Wave II: Development of interactive course modules to meet the Common Core and deeper learning competencies.

TO DATE: $17 million distributed 48 grantees 280 partner institutions Nearly 300,000 students being served at projects’ outset

Where We’ve Been Read all the winner abstracts: Wave I: winnershttp://nextgenlearning.org/the-grants/wave-i- winners Wave II: winnershttp://nextgenlearning.org/the-grants/wave-ii- winners

The Call: Accelerate the development of next generation school and college models that leverage technology to significantly increase student success at equal or lower costs than current norms.

Wave IIIa RFP The call: Our vision for Wave IIIa is to identify and scale fundamentally redesigned, whole school models that combine the best aspects of brick and mortar and online learning and result in more personalized, mastery based learning.

Wave IIIb RFP The call: To spotlight innovative delivery models that generate high-quality student outcomes at an affordable cost. Grants will stimulate the development of new, next generation online and blended programs that lead to associate's or bachelor’s degrees.

Convictions underlying Wave III: Personalized learning helps students learn more deeply and rapidly Technology-enabled, interactive learning makes personalized, mastery-based learning possible Blended models offer both personalization and other key scaffolding students may need Starting schools from scratch provides maximum flexibility to create genuinely new models

Wave IIIa RFP Our goal: A strong and diverse portfolio of 20 funded projects that are on target to open new whole-school, breakthrough learning models with sustainable business plans in either fall 2012 or fall $150,000 planning grant Up to $300,000 in matching funds

Wave IIIa RFP What is a breakthrough model? Personalized, mastery- based school model that leverages technology to deliver high student outcomes and support rapid, effective scale-up. A new district school A district turnaround school A new charter school A partnership between an urban district and community college

Design Parameters Deeper learning competencies and the Common Core At least 25% of learning time with high-quality digital content Personalized learning Mastery-based learning At least 50% of instruction in brick-and-mortar setting Financial sustainability by year 4

Intended Outcomes 1.5 years of growth on Common Core Standards 90% cohort graduation rate for retained students 80% postsecondary matriculation rate Financial sustainability Models that are intentional about preparing students for college and career success standards, such as deeper learning competencies

Eligibility District and charter Only new models, starting fresh School must open in Fall 2012 or Fall 2013 Must serve students in grades % of students eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch Partnerships with vendors, higher ed institutions, agencies encouraged

Successful Applicants Will: Be innovative – dramatically rethinking instructional strategies and content delivery Be focused on driving college readiness and completion Leverage technology to support student mastery and interactivity Focus on sustainability

Application Process Initial applications accepted on a rolling basis Selected finalists will be asked to submit final proposal materials Proposal CutoffFinalist Notification Winner Notification Models should open in: Nov. 11, 2011Nov. 23, 2011February 2012Fall 2012 Feb. 9, 2012March 9, 2012May 2012Fall 2013 June 8, 2012July 8, 2012August 2012Fall 2013

Application Process Initially: 2-minute video Abbreviated financial model Narrated slide deck Finalists: Questions from challenge panel Financial model and budget Opportunity to interact with reviewers

Some Common Questions What defines a “new” school model? Are new programs within existing schools eligible? Are school conversions allowed? Who must be the lead applicant? Can a district or charter network submit two applications? What kinds of activities do grant funds support?

… and Some Answers A “new” school is one that is opening its doors for the first time in Fall 2012 or Fall 2013 with a dedicated budget and new staff, leadership, academic and financial model New programs within existing schools are not eligible Turnaround schools that have complete autonomy to alter all aspects of the previous model, including staffing, are eligible. Applicants may partner with one or more entities, but the district or charter must be the primary applicant. One organization may submit two separate applications as long as each is for a different school model Initial grant funds support all activities that lead to opening of school

Wave IIIa winners will have access to: Up to $300,000 in 1:1 matching funds, available immediately until August 2013 Total pool of $3M in matching funds given on first-come, first- served basis until funds are spent May be raised from public or private sources; cannot originate from applying organization Must be newly committed and specifically earmarked for the new model and received after the announcement Must be cash only (no in-kind)

More information: NGLC Website: Program Officer Elina Alayeva: Wave IIIa Instructions: the-grants/wave-iiia-challenges the-grants/wave-iiia-challenges