Teacher Incentive Fund grant winners announced

The U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, has announced the 62 winners of the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grant competition. These 62 winners represent rural and urban school districts, nonprofit groups, and state education organizations from 27 states across the United States.

The goals of this $1.2 billion program are to strengthen the education profession by rewarding excellence, attracting teachers and principles to high-need and hard-to-staff areas, and providing the necessary feedback and support that principles and teachers need to succeed. Currently, the Department is providing only the first two years of funding, which comes to a total of $442 million.

The applicants were evaluated by 60 independent, expert peer reviewers. They were judged based on comprehensive plans to develop, reward, and support teachers and principles in high-need schools. Applicants also needed to show a high level of local educator support and provide a plan for sustainability after the five-year grant period was over. Additional points were given for using value added measures, attracting effective teachers in hard-to-staff subject or specialty areas, and for being first-time applicants. For the full list of TIF grant winners, visit this website.