Re-imagining Teaching and Learning Across Indiana

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Innovation has emerged as one of the most popular buzz words in K-12 education today, rivaling accountability in terms of capturing the attention of policymakers. Over $5 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds has been dedicated to innovation in the form of the Race to the Top (RttT) and the Investing in Innovation Fund (i3) grants. Referring to this significant influx of new dollars to support innovation, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has repeatedly encouraged states to think “innovatively and have the political will and the courage to challenge some of these status quos.” This past year, 49 winners, selected from among nearly 1,700 applicants for funding from the $650 million i3 program, secured the required 20 percent private-sector match. This was no small feat and took the coor-dination efforts of both the U.S. Department of Education and the leadership of key philanthropic organizations. Said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, "We couldn't have been more impressed by the way innovative programs and private sector partners came together to support the ideas and best practices that will help us take leaps forward in education.”