OESE Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program: Early-Phase Grants

Note: Each funding opportunity description is a synopsis of information in the Federal Register application notice. For specific information about eligibility, please see the official application notice. The official version of this document is the document published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html. Please review the official application notice for pre-application and application requirements, application submission information, performance measures, priorities and program contact information.

For the addresses for obtaining and submitting an application, please refer to our Common Instructions for Applicants to Department of Education Discretionary Grant Programs, published in the Federal Register on February 13, 2019 (84 FR 3768), or at www.govinfo.gov/​content/​pkg/​FR-2019-02-13/​pdf/​2019-02206.pdf.

           Purpose of Program: The EIR program, established under section 4611 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended (ESEA), provides funding to create, develop, implement, replicate, or take to scale entrepreneurial, evidence-based (as defined in this notice), field-initiated innovations to improve student achievement and attainment for high-need students; and rigorously evaluate such innovations. The EIR program is designed to generate and validate solutions to persistent education challenges and to support the expansion of those solutions to serve substantially larger numbers of students.

           The central design element of the EIR program is its multi-tier structure that links the amount of funding an applicant may receive to the quality of the evidence supporting the efficacy of the proposed project, with the expectation that projects that build this evidence will advance through EIR’s grant tiers: “Early-phase,” “Mid-phase,” and “Expansion.”

           The Department awards three types of grants under this program: “Early-phase” grants, “Mid-phase” grants, and “Expansion” grants. These grants differ in terms of the level of prior evidence of effectiveness required for consideration for funding, the expectations regarding the kind of evidence and information funded projects should produce, the level of scale funded projects should reach, and, consequently, the amount of funding available to support each type of project.

           Early-phase grants must demonstrate a rationale (as defined in this notice). The Department expects that Early-phase grants will be used to fund the development, implementation, and feasibility testing of a program, which prior research suggests has promise, for the purpose of determining whether the program can successfully improve student achievement and attainment for high need students. These Early-phase grants are not intended simply to implement established practices in additional locations or address needs that are unique to one particular context. The goal is to determine whether and in what ways relatively newer practices can improve student achievement and attainment for high-need students.

This notice invites applications for Early-phase grants only. The notices inviting applications for Mid-Phase and Expansion grants were published in the Federal Register on June 7, 2021 (86 FR 30292 and 86 FR 30302, respectively).

           Assistance Listing Number (ALN): 84.411C.

On July 28, 2021, we published in the Federal Register (86 FR 40510) the NIA for EIR Early-phase Grants. Under the NIA, applications were due on August 27, 2021. We are reopening this competition for five days for affected applicants to allow those applicants more time to prepare and submit their applications. Eligibility: The reopening of this competition applies to eligible applicants under the Early-phase Grants competition that are affected applicants. An eligible applicant for the Early-phase Grant competition is defined in the NIA. The federally declared disaster areas under this declaration are the jurisdictions identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency under declaration 4609-DR-TN in which assistance to individuals or public assistance has been authorized. To determine if you are an affected applicant, see the Emergency Declaration available at: www.fema.gov/disaster/4609 and https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4609/designated-areas. An affected applicant submitting an application as part of the reopened competition must provide a certification in its application that it is located in a jurisdiction that is part of one of the applicable federally declared disaster areas and must provide appropriate supporting documentation, if requested. We are not reopening the application period for all applicants. Thus, applications from applicants that are not affected applicants may not be submitted as part of this reopened period for submission of applications. Note: All information in the NIA remains the same, except for the deadline date for affected applicants and the deadline for intergovernmental review. Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7261.

Note: Each funding opportunity description is a synopsis of information in the Federal Register application notice. For specific information about eligibility, please see the official application notice. The official version of this document is the document published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html. Please review the official application notice for pre-application and application requirements, application submission information, performance measures, priorities and program contact information.

For the addresses for obtaining and submitting an application, please refer to our Common Instructions for Applicants to Department of Education Discretionary Grant Programs, published in the Federal Register on February 13, 2019 (84 FR 3768), or at www.govinfo.gov/​content/​pkg/​FR-2019-02-13/​pdf/​2019-02206.pdf.

           Purpose of Program: The EIR program, established under section 4611 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended (ESEA), provides funding to create, develop, implement, replicate, or take to scale entrepreneurial, evidence-based (as defined in this notice), field-initiated innovations to improve student achievement and attainment for high-need students; and rigorously evaluate such innovations. The EIR program is designed to generate and validate solutions to persistent education challenges and to support the expansion of those solutions to serve substantially larger numbers of students.

           The central design element of the EIR program is its multi-tier structure that links the amount of funding an applicant may receive to the quality of the evidence supporting the efficacy of the proposed project, with the expectation that projects that build this evidence will advance through EIR’s grant tiers: “Early-phase,” “Mid-phase,” and “Expansion.”

           The Department awards three types of grants under this program: “Early-phase” grants, “Mid-phase” grants, and “Expansion” grants. These grants differ in terms of the level of prior evidence of effectiveness required for consideration for funding, the expectations regarding the kind of evidence and information funded projects should produce, the level of scale funded projects should reach, and, consequently, the amount of funding available to support each type of project.

           Early-phase grants must demonstrate a rationale (as defined in this notice). The Department expects that Early-phase grants will be used to fund the development, implementation, and feasibility testing of a program, which prior research suggests has promise, for the purpose of determining whether the program can successfully improve student achievement and attainment for high need students. These Early-phase grants are not intended simply to implement established practices in additional locations or address needs that are unique to one particular context. The goal is to determine whether and in what ways relatively newer practices can improve student achievement and attainment for high-need students.

This notice invites applications for Early-phase grants only. The notices inviting applications for Mid-Phase and Expansion grants were published in the Federal Register on June 7, 2021 (86 FR 30292 and 86 FR 30302, respectively).

           Assistance Listing Number (ALN): 84.411C.