What: A Moonshot for Kids

Who: Anyone with bold ideas for dramatically improving K-12 student outcomes, including increasing the proportion of girls in STEM

Awards: $1,000 for each of 10 finalists who then refine their ideas and compete for a $10,000 grand prize.

Deadline: August 1, 2019 (brief, 500-word description of idea)

Two Washington, D.C., policy think tanks, one liberal and the other conservative, have launched a competition to “revolutionize schooling.”

“A Moonshot for Kids,” as the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and Center for American Progress (CAP) dub their initiative, seeks bold, evidence-based breakthrough ideas that could “dramatically improve’ outcomes for America’s 50 million K-12 students.

Submissions – which are due August 1, 2019 – must address one of several specific “big goals”:

• Halve the number of fourth graders reading “below basic” level
• Double the number of female students who major in STEM fields
• Double the number of eighth graders who can write an effective, persuasive essay
• Ensure that every student receives high-quality college and career advising by ninth grade
• Reduce the average time a student spends in English-language-learner status by 30 percent
• Double the amount of “high-quality feedback” the average middle school student receives on academic work
• Double the number of students from low-income families and students of color who graduate from high school with “remediation-free” scores on the SAT, ACT, or similar exam

Applications, which must be submitted via an online portal by August 1, 2019, ask for basic contact information and a brief, 500-word description of the solution. Ten finalists will be chosen by September 10, 2019. Each will receive $1,000 and be asked to expand on their ideas in greater detail. The two organizations then will host a competition in the fall to evaluate the ideas, with the grand prize winner awarded $10,000.

See the Fordham Institute website for contest guidelines and application.

Filed under: Competitions and Contests, K-12 Education News, K-12 Outreach Programs, Special Features

Tags: Center for American Progress, Competition, Contest, Evidence-based practice, Moonshot Ideas for K-12 Education Reform, Thomas B. Fordham Institute, women in STEM