Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE): Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program: Early-Phase Grants Assistance Listing Number 84.411C | ED GRANTS 072821 001

Opportunity Information: Apply for ED GRANTS 072821 001

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), offered this discretionary grant competition under the Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program for Early-Phase Grants (Assistance Listing Number 84.411C). The program is authorized under section 4611 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended, and it is aimed at supporting education innovations that are created in the field (by practitioners, organizations, and partners working directly with schools and students) and that are grounded in evidence. The basic idea is to fund promising approaches, test them rigorously, and then build a pipeline of stronger evidence so the most effective solutions can later be expanded to reach many more students, especially those considered high-need.

EIR is structured as a multi-tier evidence-and-scale model, meaning the amount of funding and the expectations for proof of impact increase as projects move through three tiers: Early-phase, Mid-phase, and Expansion. This specific opportunity invited applications only for Early-phase grants, which sit at the beginning of that pipeline. Early-phase applicants are not required to already have strong causal evidence of effectiveness, but they do have to present a clear rationale as defined in the official notice. In practice, that means applicants must show a credible, research-informed logic for why the proposed innovation should improve student achievement and attainment for high-need students. The Department’s expectation for Early-phase projects is that they will focus on developing an innovation (or meaningfully improving it), implementing it in real settings, and conducting feasibility testing to determine whether it can be delivered as intended and whether it shows signs of producing positive outcomes.

A key point in the opportunity is what Early-phase grants are not meant to do. They are not intended to simply take an already well-established practice and roll it out to more sites without adding new learning, and they are not meant to fund solutions tailored only to a single, unique local context that cannot generalize. Instead, they are designed for relatively newer or more entrepreneurial practices that prior research suggests are promising, where the project can produce useful knowledge about whether the approach works, for whom it works, and under what conditions it can be implemented effectively. The broader program emphasis is on improving student achievement and attainment for high-need students while also generating credible evidence through rigorous evaluation, so that successful innovations can later be replicated or brought to scale.

In terms of who could apply, eligibility included a wide set of organizations: public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations (including 501(c)(3) and certain non-501(c)(3) nonprofits), for-profit organizations other than small businesses, and other eligible entities as clarified in the official notice. This range reflects the program’s intent to encourage partnerships and field-initiated ideas from across the education sector, including collaborations among school systems, researchers, community-based organizations, and developers of instructional or student-support models.

For the 2021 competition reflected in the synopsis, the Department expected to make about 12 awards, with an award ceiling of $4,000,000 per grant. The opportunity was posted with key dates that included applications becoming available on July 30, 2021; a notice of intent to apply due August 17, 2021; and final applications due August 27, 2021. The intergovernmental review deadline was October 26, 2021. Applicants were directed to follow the Department’s Common Instructions for Applicants to Department of Education Discretionary Grant Programs (Federal Register, February 13, 2019) for submission procedures and other government-wide requirements, and to consult the official Federal Register notice for the detailed rules on priorities, required application components, performance measures, and evaluation expectations.

Finally, the Department provided a program contact for questions and competition support: Yvonne Crockett at the U.S. Department of Education, along with the program email address (eir@ed.gov) and phone number. Additional competition materials were also referenced as being posted on the EIR program website. For any organization considering applying, the synopsis repeatedly emphasizes that the controlling requirements are in the official Federal Register notice, which contains the precise definitions (including what counts as a “rationale” and “evidence-based”), the selection criteria, and the mandatory application and reporting requirements.

• The Department of Education in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE): Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program: Early-Phase Grants Assistance Listing Number 84.411C" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 84.411.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 28, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 27, 2021 Applications Available July 30, 2021. Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply August 17, 2021. Deadline for Transmittal of Applications August 27, 2021. Deadline for Intergovernmental Review October 26, 2021. Pre-Application Information The Department will post additional competition information for prospective applicants on the EIR program website https://oese.ed.gov/offices/office-of-discretionary-grants-support-services/innovation-early-learning/education-innovation-and-research-eir/fy-2021-competition/. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT Yvonne Crockett, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, room 3E344, Washington, DC 20202-5900. Telephone (202) 453-7122. Email eir@ed.gov.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $4,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 12 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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