In September, Gov. Nathan Deal announced nine additional winners of Innovation Fund grants, a $19.4 million competitive grant program created through Georgia's Race to the Top (RT3) plan. Through the Innovation Fund, the state awards grants to partnerships between local education authorities or charter schools, institutions of higher education, businesses and nonprofit organizations that develop or implement innovative and high-impact programs aimed at producing positive outcomes for students.
The Governor's Office of Student Achievement will announce the guidelines for the next round of Innovation Fund Grants by the end of November or early December. Awards will be announced in early 2013.
In Governor Deal's September Press release, he stated:
"The Innovation Fund empowers local communities to work together and think creatively about how to best address their educational needs," Deal said. "The nine grant awards we make today represent a wide range of projects with the potential to serve as tomorrow's best practices."
The nine selected grant recipients are:
Building the Pipeline of Highly Effective Charter Teachers and Leaders - The Georgia Charter Schools Association and Lake Oconee Academy will develop and expand three recruitment, training and alternate certification programs to attract, support and retain highly effective teachers and leaders in the charter school sector.
Community Partnership for a Quality Pipeline of Effective High School Leaders - The Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement will support Paulding County School System to build district capacity and create a pipeline of effective high school leaders.
Computational Thinking: 21st Century STEM Problem-Solving Skills for Georgia Students - The Georgia Institute of Technology will work with B.E. Mays High School (Atlanta Public Schools) and Tapjoy, Inc. to incorporate computational thinking into high school STEM curricula, teaching students to construct models to simulate, visualize and solve real-world problems.
Charter System Leadership Development and Governance Certification Program - As a newly approved charter system, Fulton County Schools and its partners will launch the Leadership and Innovation Academy, a program to equip principals and School Governance Councils with the skills they need to successfully operate and govern a charter school.
Drew Charter School Partnership for Expansion - Drew Charter School, the Georgia Tech Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (GT CEISMC), the Georgia State University School of Music and others will expand Drew's highly successful pre-K-8 STEAM curriculum to grades 9-12, creating a true cradle-to-college pipeline serving inner-city students.
Greene County STEAM TLA Collaborative - Greene County Schools, the Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Georgia faculty and Ed Innovation Partners seek to open a charter school in Greene County with the mission of increasing the number of students who choose STEM fields as a career.
Museum in a Box - The Museum School of Avondale Estates will work with Zoo Atlanta, the Georgia Aquarium, Fernbank Museum of Natural History, the Atlanta History Center and others to expand the school's highly successful museum-based learning strategy to metro-area schools.
Real STEM - A partnership between Georgia Southern University, seven area research institutes and six school districts to develop hands-on STEM learning modules related to the environmental concerns of Georgia's coastal region.
Rockdale 21st Century Academy of Environmental Studies - Rockdale County Schools, in partnership with GT CEISMC and Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), will create a STEM-focused middle grades school that provides students with portfolio and project-based learning modules.
For Full Press Release, Click HERE
