Future of Data in K-12 Education Design Challenge Rules

Official Rules of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Future of K-12 Education Data Design Challenge (“Official Rules”)

 

Sponsor:

The sponsor of the Contest (the “Contest”) is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, 1615 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20062. (“Sponsor”).

NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE THE CHANCE OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. ALL APPLICABLE FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY.

Eligibility for Entry:

To be eligible to participate in the Future of K-12 Education Data Design Challenge, an applicant (“Entrant”) must:

  1. Possess a valid United States taxpayer identification number;
  2. Agree to the Design Challenge Official Rules, including potentially presenting publicly to the Future of Data Working Group.
  3. Be either an individual or an organization determined to be and currently classified as an exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. For-profit businesses are not eligible to apply.

Employees, officers, consultants, and directors of the Sponsor and any affiliated entities, and their respective immediate families (parents, spouses, children, siblings) and individuals residing in their household (whether or not related) are not eligible to apply.

Term:

The Contest begins on December 1, 2022 and ends on May 30, 2023. All entries must be submitted on or before February 24, 2023. By submitting a Proposal, each Entrant agrees to the Official Rules and warrants that his or her Proposal complies with all requirements set out in the Official Rules. This is a skills-based Contest and chance plays no part in the determination of winners.

Proposal Procedure:

Entrants must submit a proposal for changing federal K-12 education assessment and accountability policy (“Proposal”). Proposals shall include:

  1. A description of the problem(s) with the current assessment and accountability paradigm that the Proposal is trying to address;
  2. Objectives for policy change (i.e., at a high level, what requirements, guidance, and/or approaches to assessment and accountability will change?);
  3. Desired outcome of the policy change (i.e., what does the Entrant hope will happen if the described policy objectives are achieved?);
  4. Description of how the policy change will result in students who are better prepared for college, careers, and civic participation than in the current education system, with a focus on students who the system has historically underserved; AND
  5. An explanation of known tradeoffs, and potential negative consequences, as well as rationale for the approach selected.

Proposals shall also adhere to the below guiding principles:

  1. All students can learn, and all deserve to be held to high expectations and deserve to be served by a system that can meet their personal needs.
  2. Information regarding school and district inputs and student educational outcomes is critical for students, teachers, parents, and policymakers.
  3. A federal role is critical for establishing guardrails to ensure that all students can access a high-quality education.
  4. Education funding shall strive for quality and equity, meaning students who the system has historically underserved shall have the most resources applied to their educational experience.
  5. Information and transparency into the K-12 system’s performance shall expand access to high-quality learning opportunities. It shall allow resources to be targeted to improving low performing schools and also allow students and families to select other public options if their school is not meeting their student’s needs or interests.

For example, a Proposal may identify the difficulty in administering project-based assessment at scale in the current K-12 system. This example Proposal would explain the benefits of project-based assessment, the current obstacles for project-based assessment, a proposal for how to change policy to allow for project-based assessments at scale, a conversation about the potential drawbacks to this approach, and how to safeguard against these drawbacks.

Prohibition on lobbying and political activity. The Proposals must not advocate for or propose specific current or potential legislative action (on any level, including federal, state or local). The Proposals shall not advocate contact with legislators by anyone, including the public. The Proposals shall focus, on a high level, on the current status of a particular issue and what needs to change, again, without reference to a specific legislative action or specific proposed legislative action. No language shall be included as to proposed legislative action contents. No language shall be included to indicate any partisanship, and in particular there shall be no criticism or praise for a particular party or its approach on pertinent issues. Failure to follow these requirements may result in disqualification.

If a Proposal, in the sole discretion of the Sponsor, contains material that is prohibited by the foregoing paragraph the Sponsor reserves the right to identify said Proposal as a Top 20 proposal. If this situation occurs the Sponsor reserves the right to, in cooperation with the Entrant, remove or revise the language of the Proposal, in accordance with the prohibition, before using or distributing said Proposal. The purpose of this right reserved by the Sponsor is to avoid a situation where the Sponsor will be deemed to have lobbied or engaged in political activity by use or distribution of the Proposal by the Sponsor. As a charity, the Sponsor does not engage in lobbying or political activity.

Entrants must submit their Proposal to FutureofData@USChamber.com before 11:59 pm EST on February 24, 2023 (“Closing Date”). Proposals shall be cleanly formatted, free of typos, written in complete sentences, and no longer than 10 pages.

Contest Prize:

Up to twenty Proposals will be chosen (“Top 20”) for a second round of review by a subcommittee of the Future of Data Working Group. Upon selection for the second review, the Top 20 Entrants will receive a cash prize of $5,000. From this second review, six Proposals (“Top 6”) will be chosen. The Top 6 will present to the Sponsor and Future of Data Working Group at a public event, currently scheduled to be held on June 27, 2023 and receive an additional cash prize of $25,000. The Top 6 may be asked to travel to Washington, DC or some other location to present their Proposals and such travel expenses may be paid for by the Sponsor.

The prize may not be transferred or assigned by the winner. No cash equivalent will be provided in lieu of the non-cash prize. The Sponsor reserves the right to substitute the prize in the event of unavailability.

All winners must provide a valid taxpayer identification number in the form of a signed W9 form to the Sponsor. Winners will be solely responsible for all federal, state or other tax liabilities arising from this Contest.

Odds of Winning:

Odds of being selected as one of the Top 20 or Top 6 depends on the number of eligible Entrants received on or before the Closing Date and the skill of the Entrants.

Judging Criteria for Selection of Finalists in Essay Competition:

Each Proposal will first be evaluated by a group of judges including Sponsor staff to select the Top 20. A subcommittee of the Future of Data Working Group will then review the Top 20 to select the Top 6. If a judge has a relationship to an Entrant that is or creates the appearance of a conflict of interest due to financial, familial, or other relevant ties, such judge shall recuse him or herself with respect to the particular Entrant.

For both rounds of judging, each judge will use a rubric that rates each submission for its “Ambition: How bold or far-reaching is the Proposal?”, “Coherence: Is the Proposal easy to understand?”, “Thoroughness: Does the Proposal include sufficient detail, and anticipate and answer questions?”, “Creativity: Does the Proposal contain surprising or innovative thinking?”, “Equity: Does the proposal feature a clear equity-oriented philosophy?”, and “Overall Reaction”. The Top 20 highest scoring Proposals will move on to a second round of judging, be notified via email, and have their selection announced publicly. The Top 6 will then be chosen, notified via email, and may be invited to participate in a public meeting currently scheduled for June 27, 2023 featuring the presentation of their Proposal, among other things.

The Sponsor may use Proposal submissions in furtherance of the Sponsor’s charitable and educational purposes. This use may include featuring these Proposals on various websites, in press releases, through social media or other similar means. Each Entrant of a Proposal shall be required to give the Sponsor a license to use the Proposal in accordance with the Sponsor’s charitable and educational purposes, as provided below.

Publicity Release:

Participating in the Contest constitutes a Entrant’s permission for the Sponsor or its agents to photograph, film, and record each Entrant, and to use his/her name, address (city and state), likeness, photograph, voice, biographical information, and/or any statements made by him/her regarding the Contest or its sponsors for purposes of publicity or promotion without additional financial or other compensation, and the Sponsor may, where legal, require Entrants (where applicable) to sign a publicity release confirming such consent prior to acceptance of the prize.

The Entrant grants the Sponsor a non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide license to edit, telecast, exhibit, rerun, reproduce, use, syndicate, license, print, distribute, and otherwise exploit any items (including any photos, videos, audio, or written material) submitted as part of the Entrant’s Proposal, or any portion thereof, in any manner, and in any and all formats and media now known or hereafter devised, without payment to the Entrant or any third party so long as such use by the Sponsor is consistent with the Sponsor’s charitable and educational purposes. The Entrant represents and warrants that it and the Entrant has the full legal right, power, and authority to grant to the Sponsor this license.

General Rules:

No Proposal can be withdrawn after the Closing Date. Neither the Sponsor(s) nor the Entrant’s affiliated entities or agents, are responsible for any illegible, lost, stolen, late, damaged, incomplete, mutilated or misdirected Proposals or other documents. Entrants are responsible for ensuring proper contact information has been submitted and is maintained throughout the Design Challenge to allow communications about the Design Challenge.

Erroneous or false information provided in the Proposal will result in immediate disqualification of the Entrants. Sponsor(s) and the Judges otherwise retain the right to disqualify any Entrant in their sole discretion.

If, for any reason, the Design Challenge is not capable of running as planned, Sponsor reserves the right in Sponsor’s sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Design Challenge at any time. Sponsor reserves the right to amend the rules to the Contest at any time.

By creating a Proposal, or by being an Entrant, Entrant understands that there is no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relation between Entrant and the Sponsor arising from any Proposal or related activity.

The decisions of the Judges are final, and Entrants specifically agree that the decisions of the Judges and any decision of Sponsor(s) is not subject to review or appeal in any forum whatsoever, including courts of law.

Payments of all federal, state, and local taxes are solely the responsibility of the winner(s).

Entrants agree that personal data, especially name and address, may be processed, shared, and otherwise used for the purposes and within the context of the Contest and any other purposes outlined in these Official Rules and according to the Sponsor’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The data may also be used by the Sponsor in order to verify the Entrant’s First Name, Last Name, School Name, ZIP Code, Phone Number/Email, or to otherwise verify the Entrant’s eligibility to participate in the Contest. Entrants have the right to access, review, rectify, or cancel any personal data held by the Sponsor by writing to[Kyle Butler, 1615 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20062. Any information provided as part of this Contest is provided according to the Sponsor’s Terms of Use1 and Privacy Policy2, as they may be amended from time to time, and as otherwise provided for in these Rules.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. By entering the Contest, Entrant agrees that (1) any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or in connection with the Contest, or any prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually without resort to any form of class action; (2) any claims, judgment, and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering the Contest, but in no event attorney’s fees; and (3) under no circumstances, will any Entrant be permitted to obtain any award for, and Entrant hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental, or consequential damages, and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased and any other damages, other than damages for actual out-of-pocket expenses. But in no event shall the liability of the Sponsor exceed $100.

1 The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Terms and Conditions are available at https://www.uschamber.com/terms-and-conditions. For the purposes of the Contest all rights and obligations of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in the Terms and Conditions apply to the Sponsor. 

2 The Sponsor’s privacy policy is available here. For the purposes of the Contest all rights and obligations of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce apply in the Privacy policy apply to the Sponsor.