Prioritize Evidence: Examples

Examples of Prioritizing Evidence with an Evidence Requirement

Allocations of Funds at the Local Level

• Duval County Public Schools’ Outcomes-Based Contracting for Math Tutoring requires applicants to implement programs aligned with the key characteristics of evidence-based high-impact tutoring.

• Uplift Education’s Grades 3-12 Virtual Tutoring Program requires applicants to implement programs aligned with the key characteristics of evidence-based high-impact tutoring.

• The New York City Administration for Children Services’ School-Based Early Support Program requires applicants to select from a model of evidence-based programs identified by the agency.

• The Oakland Unified School District’s Youth Development Enrichment Program: Expanded Learning requires applicants to administer expanding learning programs that adhere to the key features of the expanded learning component of evidence-based Full Service Community Schools.

Allocations of Federal Education Funds by SEAs

• The Minnesota Department of Education’s Full Service Community School Grant Program exclusively funds programs that adhere to the design features of the evidence-based Full Service Community School model (page 1).

• The Tennessee Department of Education’s All Corps High-Dosage Tutoring program requires grantees to implement high-dosage tutoring programs that are aligned with the key features that define evidence-based high-dosage tutoring (page 10).

Allocations of State Funds by SEAs

• The Tennessee Department of Education’s Summer Learning Program requires grantees to use the funds distributed through this grant program to support evidence-based summer learning programs and grantees must demonstrate how their programs align with the key features described throughout the summer learning guidance.

• The Michigan Department of Education’s Great Start Readiness Program requires grantees to use funds for Great Start Readiness programs which include the key features aligned with the Great Start Readiness evidence-base.

Allocations of Federal Funds by Federal Agencies

• The federal American Rescue Plan and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ARP-ESSER) specified minimum percentages of funding that SEAs were required to invest in evidence-based academic interventions, summer programs and afterschool activities.

• The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Innovation and Early Learning Programs, Education Innovation and Research Program expansion grants fund only evidence-based activities, as defined explicitly in the grant announcement.

Examples of Prioritizing Evidence Through Evidence Bonus Points

Allocations of Federal Education Funds by SEAs

• The Maryland Department of Education’s Stronger Connections Grant scoring rubric includes up to 10 points (out of 90) that were awarded for applicants’ description of how the strategies they’ve selected are evidence-based (page 23).

• In the scoring rubric for its 2023 Comprehensive State Literacy Development Grant program, the Ohio Department of Education assesses the degree to which the applicant has included evidence-based strategies in their application, as well as the degree to which the applicant has provided an explanation of how they determined those strategies to be evidence-based. Ohio awards up to 9 points (out of 60) for these criteria, and applicants must earn at least 6 of those points to be eligible for an award (page 47).

Allocations of Federal Funds by Federal Agencies

• The U.S. Department of Education’s Upward Bound and Comprehensive State Literacy Development programs both include a competitive preference priority for strategies supported by evidence.

• AmeriCorps’s State and National competitive grants program allocates up to 20 points for an applicant’s level of evidence and the quality of the evidence.