The AFT Innovation Fund received more than 125 letters of interest in response to the announcement of the Fund’s priorities in May 2009. Using criteria developed with the Fund’s program evaluation experts, the field was winnowed to 15 applications with the greatest potential.

Those 15 applicants received an invitation to respond to a comprehensive Request for Proposal. AFT Innovation Fund staff met with each of the applicant teams and offered them skilled technical assistance.

All 15 applicants submitted comprehensive proposals. The Fund recruited 20 independent reviewers to read and score the proposals. Three reviewers read and scored each proposal, evaluating them based on innovativeness, importance of the problem to be addressed, capacity to implement and sustain the initiative, and ability to improve student outcomes.

Along with detailed notes from reviewers and numerical scores, reviewers were asked for summary judgments on whether proposals should be funded, and if so, under what conditions.

The AFT Innovation Fund staff scrutinized all the reviewers’ comments and analyzed the evaluation score sheets. After a thorough and careful review, eight proposals were recommended for funding in the Fund’s first grant cycle. The AFT Innovation Fund Advisory Board endorsed the recommendations, and the AFT Educational Foundation Board approved the grantees.

Interestingly, while type, size and location of the applicants were not part of the judging criteria, the grantees represent state and local federations, and large and small affiliates, and are geographically well-distributed throughout the country.