i3 Call for Peer Reviewers


Last Updated: March 13, 2012
 

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII), is seeking individuals to serve as peer reviewers for the FY 2012 Investing in Innovation (i3) grant competition. Qualified peer reviewers must meet the criteria listed below.  NOTE: Even if you applied to be a peer reviewer last year, we ask that you reapply this year (as outlined below) as soon as possible in order to be considered for the 2012 competition.

WHO: The Department is seeking peer reviewers from various backgrounds and professions including: PK-12 teachers and principals, college and university educators, educational evaluators, social entrepreneurs, strategy consultants, grant makers, and others with education expertise. Reviewers must have expertise in at least one of the program's six absolute priorities or in educational evaluation. Additionally, the most qualified candidates will have expertise in: program or organizational innovation, strategic planning, scaling successful programs, and/or prior experience reviewing or approving grant applications (further discussion below).

REQUIRED AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Reviewers will be selected to serve in one of the two following categories (you may be considered for either or both).

i3 Absolute Priorities

You must have specific expertise in at least one of the six i3 “Absolute Priorities” (for a detailed explanation of each priority, see the descriptions included in the i3 Notices Inviting Applications (NIAs) at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/innovation/index.html).

  • Improving Effectiveness and Distribution of Effective Teachers or Principals
  • Promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education
  • Improving Parent and Family Engagement (Development grants only)
  • Implementing Standards and Assessments (Scale-Up and Validation grants only)
  • Turning Around Low Performing Schools
  • Improving Achievement in Rural LEA's
OR

Educational Evaluation

The Department is also seeking peer reviewers with experience in designing, conducting, and reviewing rigorous educational evaluations, including:

  • Understanding of education research and recent findings in the relevant literature
  • Knowledge of education data sources and measures of program implementation and outcomes
  • Expertise with experimental and quasi-experimental research designs
  • Fluency in reviewing organizational and project evaluation plans and evaluation results
OTHER DESIRED ATTRIBUTES AND SKILLS:

Innovation, such as:

  • Experience designing, developing and implementing education or related programs that demonstrated successful outcomes/attempted new approaches
  • Experience founding an organization/company or school
Strategic Planning, such as:
  • Experience in education policy making
  • Experience as a strategy consultant
  • Experience as a senior-level administrator, particularly in school districts, charter management organizations, state education agencies, and/or education-related non-profits
Growth and Scaling Programs/Organizations, such as:
  • Experience building, managing and/or overseeing relationships across multiple organizations to deliver a service/product
  • Experience initiating and/or implementing large-scale projects
  • Experience transferring or adapting projects/organizations to new settings
Grant Making and/or Oversight
  • Experience as  a grant application reviewer in private/philanthropic sector or federal programs
  • Experience managing a portfolio of grant projects
OTHER REQUIREMENTS: In addition to the skills, attributes and expertise highlighted above, peer reviewers must also meet the following requirements:

Availability:

Absolute Priorities Reviewers:

  • Must be available for a 4-week period from approximately late April to late May (not full-time), working remotely and via teleconference (includes time for reading applications; any potential panel discussions with other reviewers; and submitting final comments/scores).
And/Or
  • Must be available for a 4-week period from approximately mid-June to late July (not full-time), working remotely and via teleconference (includes time for reading applications; panel discussions with other reviewers; and submitting final comments/scores).
And/Or
  • Must be available for a 4-week period from approximately mid-August to mid-September (not full-time), working remotely and via teleconference (includes time for reading applications; panel discussions with other reviewers; and submitting final comments/scores).
Note that Absolute Priority reviewers must be available for at least one of the periods outlined above (all dates/timing are approximate), but it is not necessary for Absolute Priority reviewers to be available for all three periods.

Education Evaluation Reviewers:

  • Must be available for a 4-week period from approximately mid-June to late July (not full-time), working remotely and via teleconference (approximately two weeks to read applications and two weeks for panel discussion and submitting final comments/scores).
And/Or
  • Must be available for a 4-week period from approximately mid-August to mid-September (not full-time), working remotely and via teleconference (includes time for reading applications; any potential panel discussions with other reviewers; and submitting final comments/scores).
Note that Education Evaluation reviewers must be available for at least one of the periods outlined above (all dates/timing are approximate), but it is not necessary for Education Evaluation reviewers to be available for both periods.

Tools: Each reviewer must have access to the Internet, a phone, a printer and have the ability to interact within a web-based environment.

Quality of Review: Each reviewer must commit to providing detailed, objective, constructive, and timely written reviews for each assigned application. These reviews will be used to recommend applications for funding. They will also be shared with each applicant following the reviews.

Reviewers will receive an honorarium for their time and effort, contingent upon satisfactory completion of the above requirements and consistent with the required schedule.

IF INTERESTED: If you would like to be considered as a peer reviewer, please follow the directions enclosed in the PowerPoint to register yourself in our online peer reviewer database by as soon as possible.

The online registration requires you to submit your resume; please ensure your resume (maximum of 5 pages) includes a brief list of career highlights and/or outlines your specific expertise either in evaluation or in the i3 Absolute Priority areas for which you would like to be considered as a reviewer.  Please do not exceed the five-page limit for resumes.

When the system prompts you for your areas of specialization, please ensure you select at least one of the i3 Absolute Priority areas: teacher/principal effectiveness (“teacher preparation” and/or “school leadership” in the system), STEM education (“STEM”), standards/assessments (“standards” or “assessment, testing, and measurement”), parent/family engagement (“parent and family engagement”), school turnarounds (“school turnaround models”) and/or rural achievement (“rural education”).  If you desire, you may indicate additional areas of expertise outside of the i3 Absolute Priorities (e.g., “charter schools” or “evidence standards”) to indicate complementary areas of expertise, but you are not required to do so.

PROGRAM INFORMATION: For more information about the i3 Program, go to http://www2.ed.gov/programs/innovation/index.html. Please direct all questions to the i3 Peer Review inbox at i3peerreview@ed.gov

The full i3 website at Department of ED may be accessed at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/innovation/index.html.