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Adult Literacy XPRIZE

THE BARBARA BUSH FOUNDATION

Foundation One-time Literacy Grants
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Funding Amount

$7,000,000

Deadline

Rolling / Open

Grant Type

foundation

Overview

Adult Literacy XPRIZE

Status: Competition concluded; grand prize winners announced in 2019

Geographic Scope: Worldwide competition

Focus Areas:

  • Development of mobile applications for adult learners

  • Increasing adult literacy skills through technology

  • Serving low-literate adults (reading at or below third grade level)

  • Age range: 18-64 years old

    • Background:
    Launched in 2015 as a partnership between XPRIZE, the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, and the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. The competition challenged teams to develop mobile applications for existing smart devices that result in the greatest increase in literacy skills among participating adult learners.

    Prize Structure:

  • Grand Prize: $3,000,000 - awarded to the team with best performance across all adult learners over 15-month, 12,000-person field test

  • Achievement Prizes: $1,000,000 each - awarded to two teams with best performance in key demographic groups (native English speakers and English language learners)

  • Finalist Awards: $100,000 to each of five finalist teams

  • Bonus Prizes: $500,000 each for two teams with best performance by demographic groups

  • Finalist Team Prize Pool: $1,000,000 for teams meeting minimum performance benchmark

    • Finalist Teams (5 selected from 109 original teams across 15 countries):
    1. AmritaCREATE (Amrita University, Kerala, India) - personalized learning app with culturally appropriate e-content
    2. AutoCognita (Hong Kong, China) - constructivist learning approach for basic literacy, numeracy, and life skills
    3. Cell-Ed (Oakland, CA) - EdTech experience with on-demand essential skills and micro-lessons
    4. Learning Upgrade (San Diego, CA) - English and math learning through songs, video, games and rewards
    5. People ForWords (Dallas, TX) - mobile game based on archaeological adventure ("Codex: The Lost Words of Atlantis")

    Grand Prize Winners (2019):

  • People ForWords (co-winner) - $2,500,000

  • Cell-Ed (co-winner) - $2,500,000

    • Eligibility:

  • Teams from educational institutions, nonprofits, companies, and individuals

  • Focus on adult learners with basic literacy challenges

  • Ability to develop mobile applications for smart devices

    • Contact:

  • Lauren Sproull, Vice President of Communications: 850.562.5300 or Lauren.Sproull@barbarabush.org

  • Katherine Schelbert / Eric Desatnik (XPRIZE): Katherine.schelbert@xprize.org / eric@xprize.org or 310-741-4880

  • Address: P.O. Box 14141, College Station, TX 77841-4141

  • Phone: (979) 862-2251

  • Email: bush.foundation@bush41.org

    • How to Apply

    Application Process

    Timeline:

  • Six-month registration period for initial competition

  • 18-month development period for selected teams

  • 12-month field testing phase with top 5 finalists (minimum 1,000 adult learners per app, 5,000 total)

  • Testing locations: Los Angeles, Dallas, and Philadelphia

  • Field testing concluded October 2018

  • Grand prize winners announced early 2019

    • Field Testing Requirements:

  • Minimum 1,000 adult learners per app

  • Ages 18-64

  • Reading at or below third-grade level

  • Pre- and post-test assessments

  • 12-month evaluation period

    • Evaluation Criteria:

  • Greatest increase in adult literacy skills

  • Performance across all demographic groups

  • Specific performance achievements for native English speakers

  • Specific performance achievements for English language learners

  • App usability and engagement

    • Submit to:

  • XPRIZE portal at adultliteracy.xprize.org (for main competition)

  • Additional information available at xprize.org

    • Apply with Grantable Learn more

    Focus Areas & Funding Uses

    Fields of Work

    literacy

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