Putting Private Capital to Work for Public Innovation

The Education Department said today it will double down on the Pay for Success model to fund early learning with a $2.8 million grant competition open to states and local governments wishing to study the feasibility of the model in their area.

The Pay for Success model is centered around social impact bonds, where a government agency or contractor pays a service provider for the achievement of pre-established outcomes. Typically, private entities absorb the upfront costs and are reimbursed later.

Among the measurable outcomes that Education Department officials are suggesting: kindergarten readiness, improved social and emotional skills, improved executive functioning, reduction in grade retention and in the need for later special education, reduction in discipline referrals and interactions with law enforcement, and increases in high school graduation.

The grant will fund seven to 14 entities, with awards ranging from $200,000 to $400,000. The dollars are not meant to pay for the implementation of Pay for Success programs, just the development of local feasibility studies.

Education Department officials have praised the results of a PFS program in Utah, where the model has gained the backing of state lawmakers. Backed by Goldman Sachs, it has also garnered criticism for overstated success.


House lawmakers passed a bill to fund social impact bonds in June. 

Google Classroom

http://www.google.com/edu/classroom/

The Classroom stream.  Classroom will let teachers create assignments, make announcements, and administer Q&A with their students.  With Classroom, teachers will be able to:

• Create and collect assignments: Classroom weaves together Google Docs, Drive and Gmail to help teachers create and collect assignments paperlessly. They can quickly see who has or hasn’t completed the work, and provide direct, real-time feedback to individual students.
• Improve class communications: Teachers can make announcements, ask questions and comment with students in real time—improving communication inside and outside of class.
•  Stay organized: Classroom automatically creates Drive folders for each assignment and for each student. Students can easily see what’s due on their Assignments page.

Simplified assignment process.  With Classroom, creating assignments in Google Apps for Education will be much easier. You’ll be able to attach a document from Google Drive, share YouTube videos and Google Play for Education content, or send website links. Set a due date for each individual assignment. After you press “Assign,” in the background Classroom automatically files all assignments and class materials into folders organized in Google Drive.

Class announcements and Q&A.  Communicate directly with your students in the real-time activity stream.  Teachers can pose a question at the beginning of class, post videos for the students to watch, set reminders about upcoming events or share anything else important to the class.