Assembly Grant Program

The Grant Program Brief and Grant Program Rules, below, include important context and guidance for the Call for Applications. These documents provide information related to metrics, budget submission, intellectual property, conflicts of interest, and more, along with example solutions. 

The Assembly Grant Program Brief

Review the FAQs for more information.

Grant Purpose 

Grant funding may be used to support a wide variety of activities, including user research or stakeholder engagement to identify unmet needs; the design of new tools, resources, or approaches to providing support to families; or the piloting of advancements in new technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence) or services and their refinement in response to feedback. What applications must do is propose a new solution that will improve how families access one or more of the following: 

• Funding: Streamline how families enroll in programs that provide public funding to defray the costs of learning options. 
• Information: Provide the information families value most in searching for and selecting available learning options. 
• Guidance: Support families in selecting learning options, including but not limited to the quality of options and how options align to students’ individual needs. 

Children’s Scholarship Fund New Hampshire and Yes. Every Kid. 

The Children’s Scholarship Fund (CSF) empowers New Hampshire families, especially those furthest from opportunity, to find the K-12 learning experiences that best fit their needs. CSF administers the state’s Education Freedom Accounts and the Education Tax Credit scholarship program, both of which allow families to direct state funds toward learning experiences of their choice, including technology, sports, arts, curricular materials, virtual options, and tuition at a public, private, career, or hybrid school. As part of the Assembly Grant Program, CSF plans to work closely with families and education providers to improve CSF’s technology systems with the goal of removing barriers that prevent families from customizing their children’s learning experiences. 

Education Foundation of Sarasota County, ASALH Manasota, and the Gamma Xi Boulé Foundation 

The Education Foundation of Sarasota County has deep ties in Sarasota and is committed to serving the predominantly African American sixth- through 12th-graders in the Newtown community. The state’s Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options offers families financial support to select learning options for their children, but families in Newtown face other significant barriers that keep them from accessing these services. As part of the Assembly Grant Program, the Education Foundation of Sarasota County plans to develop a shared understanding of what quality navigation looks like in deep partnership with families in the Newtown community and co-create solutions that will empower families to make informed choices that align with their educational aspirations. 

GreatSchools 

For the past 25 years, GreatSchools has been a trusted source of information, offering families information and guidance to help them as they search for high-quality schools for their children. Unfortunately, barriers like cost and a lack of information too often keep families from pursuing school options, and they need even more support as the ecosystem of options becomes more complex. Through the Assembly Grant Program, GreatSchools will develop a system that leverages data on user characteristics and behavior to identify those furthest from opportunity and tailor outreach to connect families to both flexible, personalized, and high-quality learning providers, as well as information about local, publicly funded programs for which families may be eligible. 

Institute for Quality Education and Student First Technologies 

The Institute for Quality Education (IQE) empowers Indiana parents to choose the education that best fits their child’s needs by providing honest information, navigation services, and scholarship resources. While school choice has been part of Indiana’s landscape in one way or another for 20 years, IQE research consistently shows that roughly 60% of families are unaware of the options available and how to access them.​ Through the Assembly Grant Program, IQE will design an enhanced version of their My School Options platform that includes more personalized, flexible options (including but not limited to school choice); new features on the platform will also help families navigate learning options and identify those that are most aligned and relevant to their children’s needs and goals. 

NavigatEd Arizona and Families Empowered 

NavigatEd Arizona envisions a future in which all families have access to the learning environment that best serves their children. While myriad options allow families to customize their children’s learning experiences, they need neutral, accurate, and actionable information about how to access options and public funding, including the Empowerment Scholarship program. As part of the Assembly Grant program, NavigatEd Arizona will build an inventory of flexible, personalized learning options — including dual enrollment and part-time enrollment opportunities — that will allow them to improve the free, one-on-one guidance they offer to families who hope to create truly personalized learning experiences for their children. 

Odyssey 

Odyssey supports families seeking to customize their children’s education by offering a marketplace of learning options available through state education savings accounts and microgrant programs. Although these choice programs address cost barriers for families, other barriers remain. Identity verification processes can burden families by requiring multistep document uploads. Families also need better support, including the ability to ask questions at any hour of the day and communicate in their primary or native language. As part of the Assembly Grant Program, Odyssey will design and improve its technology solutions, such as real-time identity verification and artificial intelligence-powered customer support, to address challenges that disproportionately affect families furthest from opportunity. 

Outschool.org and the Virginia Department of Education

Outschool.org’s Outbridge program curates information and fosters supportive communities to help racially and economically marginalized families navigate learning options. Virginia’s Learning Acceleration Grants offer families up to $3,000 to access tutoring, assistive technologies, and specialized educational therapy services and supports. Unfortunately, the families who need these services the most face a range of barriers that keep them from effectively leveraging these funds to support their children’s learning. As part of the Assembly Grant program, Outbridge will develop new features of its platform that provide personalized information and strengthen community networks so that more Virginia families can identify and select in-person and virtual learning opportunities for their children.