Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE): Innovation and Early Learning Programs: Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program—Early-Phase Grants Assistance Listing Number (ALN) 84.411C | ED GRANTS 042722 003

Opportunity Information: Apply for ED GRANTS 042722 003

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), opened a discretionary grant competition under the Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program for Early-Phase Grants, listed as ALN 84.411C (Funding Opportunity Number ED GRANTS 042722 003). This opportunity is part of OESEs Innovation and Early Learning Programs portfolio and is intended to support new, entrepreneurial approaches that can measurably improve outcomes for high-need students. The formal, controlling requirements and definitions come from the official Federal Register notice, and applicants are expected to follow the Department of Educations Revised Common Instructions for discretionary grant programs (published December 27, 2021) for submission procedures, addresses, and other application mechanics.

At its core, the EIR program funds the creation, development, implementation, replication, or scaling of field-initiated innovations that are evidence-based as defined in the notice and that aim to improve student achievement and attainment for high-need students. A defining feature of EIR is that it does not just pay for implementation; it also requires rigorous evaluation so that the field learns what works, for whom, and under what conditions. The larger program is designed to build a pipeline of validated solutions to persistent educational challenges, with the intent that effective approaches can later be expanded to reach many more students.

EIR is structured as a multitier evidence-and-scale model that ties the amount of available funding and the expectations for growth to the strength of evidence behind the proposed intervention. Projects are expected to progress through the tiers as they generate stronger proof of effectiveness: Early-phase, Mid-phase, and Expansion. Each tier differs in how much prior evidence is required at the time of application, what kind of evaluation is expected during the grant, and the degree of scale the project should reach. This particular competition is only for Early-phase grants; Mid-phase and Expansion competitions are announced separately.

Early-phase grants are meant for innovations that are promising but not yet strongly proven. Applicants must provide a rationale (using the notices definition), meaning there is a credible research-informed theory for why the intervention should work, even if it has not yet been validated through large-scale, high-causality studies. The Early-phase funding supports developing or refining the program, implementing it in practice, and conducting feasibility testing to determine whether it can be delivered well and whether it shows potential to improve student achievement and attainment for high-need students. Importantly, Early-phase grants are not intended to simply roll out established practices in more places or to fund solutions that only make sense in one highly specific local context. The point is to test relatively new approaches and figure out whether they can produce meaningful improvements and merit larger-scale investment later.

Eligibility for this competition is broad and includes many types of entities that commonly operate or support education programs. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education (including state-controlled); federally recognized tribal governments and other eligible tribal organizations; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in those nonprofit categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other entities as clarified in the official notice. Because EIR projects typically require both implementation capacity and evaluation capability, applicants often partner across sectors (for example, a district working with a nonprofit developer and an external evaluator), though specific partnership requirements should be confirmed in the Federal Register notice.

For the FY 2022 Early-phase competition described here, applications became available April 29, 2022, with a notice of intent to apply due May 26, 2022, and full applications due July 21, 2022. The deadline for intergovernmental review was September 21, 2022. The Department also indicated it would post additional competition information for prospective applicants on the EIR program website maintained by OESE. While the excerpt does not list the full set of priorities, performance measures, or submission requirements, it emphasizes that applicants must consult the official notice for those details, since they govern what must be included and how proposals will be scored.

Funding details in the synopsis indicate an award ceiling of $4,000,000 per grant and an expectation of about 20 awards. As a discretionary grant competition, awards are made competitively rather than by formula, and applicants should anticipate that proposal quality, alignment to the program purpose, and the credibility of the evaluation and rationale will be central to funding decisions. Questions about the competition were directed to the program contact: Yvonne Crockett at the U.S. Department of Education (email eir@ed.gov, phone 202-453-7122), with the mailing address at 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20202-5900.

Overall, this opportunity is best understood as seed-and-proof funding for education innovations: it supports trying out and refining a promising intervention for high-need students, while simultaneously building early evidence through feasibility testing and evaluation. Successful Early-phase projects are expected to generate the knowledge and results needed to compete later for Mid-phase or Expansion funding, where the bar for prior evidence is higher and the expectation is to serve substantially larger numbers of students.

• The Department of Education in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE): Innovation and Early Learning Programs: Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program—Early-Phase Grants Assistance Listing Number (ALN) 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 Apr 27, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 21, 2022 Applications Available April 29, 2022. Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply May 26, 2022. Deadline for Transmittal of Applications July 21, 2022. Deadline for Intergovernmental Review September 21, 2022. 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-2022-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 20 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), 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, Small businesses, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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