Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE): Innovation and Early Learning Programs: Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program Early-Phase Grants Assistance Listing Number 84.411C
Agency: Department of Education
Posted: 2024-05-06 | Closing date: 2024-07-22
Applications Available: May 6, 2024.     Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply:  June 06, 2024.     Deadline for Transmittal of Applications:  July 22, 2024.     Deadline for Intergovernmental Review:  September 20, 2024.      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-2024-competition/.     FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Jamila Smith, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20202-5900.  Telephone:  (202) 987-1753.  Email:  eir@ed.gov.
Estimated total program funding: 251000000
Award ceiling: 6000000
Expected number of awards: 15
Cost sharing or matching requirement: Yes

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 Revised Common Instructions for Applicants to Department of Education Discretionary Grant Programs, published in the Federal Register on December 7, 2022. 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 to 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 more students. The central design element of the EIR program is its multitier 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.” “Early-phase,” “Mid-phase,” and “Expansion” 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 scale of funded projects, 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). Early-phase grants provide funding for the development, implementation, and feasibility testing of a program that prior research suggests has promise, for the purpose of determining whether the program can successfully improve student achievement and attainment for high-need students. Early-phase grants are not intended to simply expand established practices or address needs unique to one particular context. Rather, the goal is to determine whether and in what ways relatively new 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 grants and Expansion grants are published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register. Assistance Listing Number (ALN) 84.411C. 

Eligibility: 1.  Eligible Applicants:  (a)  An LEA;(b)  An SEA;(c)  The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE);(d)  A consortium of SEAs or LEAs;(e)  A nonprofit (as defined in this notice) organization; and(f)  An LEA, an SEA, the BIE, or a consortium described in clause (d), in partnership with—(1)  A nonprofit organization;(2)  A business;(3)  An educational service agency; or(4)  An IHE.To qualify as a rural applicant under the EIR program, an applicant must meet both of the following requirements:(a)  The applicant is—(1)  An LEA with an urban-centric district locale code of 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43, as determined by the Secretary;(2)  A consortium of such LEAs;(3)  An educational service agency or a nonprofit organization in partnership with such an LEA; or(4)  A grantee described in clause (1) or (2) in partnership with an SEA; and (b)  A majority of the schools to be served by the program are designated with a locale code of 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43, or a combination of such codes, as determined by the Secretary.Applicants are encouraged to retrieve locale codes from the National Center for Education Statistics School District search tool (https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/), where districts can be looked up individually to retrieve locale codes, and the Public School search tool (https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/), where individual schools can be looked up to retrieve locale codes.  More information on rural applicant eligibility will be in the application package for this competition. Note:  An applicant that is a nonprofit organization may, under 34 CFR 75.51, demonstrate its nonprofit status by providing:  (1) proof that the Internal Revenue Service currently recognizes the applicant as an organization to which contributions are tax deductible under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; (2) a statement from a State taxing body or the State attorney general certifying that the organization is a nonprofit organization operating within the State and that no part of its net earnings may lawfully benefit any private shareholder or individual; (3) a certified copy of the applicant’s certificate of incorporation or similar document if it clearly establishes the nonprofit status of the applicant; or (4) any item described above if that item applies to a State or national parent organization, together with a statement by the State or parent organization that the applicant is a local nonprofit affiliate.  In addition, with respect to IHEs and their affiliates, the following entities may apply for a grant in this competition:  (1) As noted above, any IHE that is a partner in an application submitted by an LEA, SEA, BIE, consortium of SEAs or LEAs, or a nonprofit organization; (2) A private IHE that is a nonprofit organization may apply for an EIR grant; (3) A nonprofit organization, such as a development foundation, that is affiliated with a public IHE; and (4) A public IHE with 501(c)(3) status.  A public IHE without 501(c)(3) status (even if that entity is tax exempt under Section 115 of the Internal Revenue Code or any other State or Federal provision), or that could not provide any other documentation of nonprofit status described above, however, would not qualify as a nonprofit organization, and therefore would not be eligible to apply for and receive an EIR grant.