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

Agency: Department of Education

84.411 -- Education Innovation and Research (formerly Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund)

Archived opportunityLast Updated: May 13, 2026

Description

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.

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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.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants

Nonprofit

Nonprofits non-higher education with 501(c)(3)
Nonprofits non-higher education without 501(c)(3)

Miscellaneous

Other

Business

For-profit organizations other than small businesses

Education

Public and state institutions of higher education
Private institutions of higher education

Additional information

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 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 is in the application package. Note: If you are a nonprofit organization, under 34 CFR 75.51, you may demonstrate your 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, any IHE is eligible to be a partner in an application where an LEA, SEA, BIE, consortium of SEAs or LEAs, or a nonprofit organization is the lead applicant that submits the application. A private IHE that is a nonprofit organization can apply for an EIR grant. A nonprofit organization, such as a development foundation, that is affiliated with a public IHE can apply for a grant. A public IHE that has 501(c)(3) status would also qualify as a nonprofit organization and could be a lead applicant for an EIR grant. 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 described in 34 CFR 75.51(b), however, would not qualify as a nonprofit organization, and therefore could not apply for and receive an EIR grant.

Grantor contact information

Description

Julius C Cotton ED Grants.gov FIND Systems Admin. Phone 202-245-6288 julius.cotton@ed.gov Program Manager: 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.

Email

Program Mailbox

eir@ed.gov

Documents

File name	Description	Last updated
2021-19283.pdf	Reopening the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Competition for Certain Eligible Applicants Document	Sep 8, 2021 01:23 PM UTC
2021-16097.pdf	Final Priorities and Definitions Document	Jul 28, 2021 01:29 PM UTC
2021-16099.pdf	Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Document	Jul 28, 2021 01:31 PM UTC
2019-02206.pdf	Common Instructions for Department of Education Discretionary Grant Programs Document	Jul 26, 2021 05:45 PM UTC

Link to additional information

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE): Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program: Early-Phase Grants Assistance Listing Number 84.411C; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021

Archived: October 13, 2021

Application process

This site is a work in progress. Go to www.grants.gov to apply, track application status, and subscribe to updates.

Award

$60,000,000

Program Funding

Expected awards

$--

Award Minimum

$4,000,000

Award Maximum

Funding opportunity number:

ED-GRANTS-072821-001

Cost sharing or matching requirement:

Yes

Funding instrument type:

Grant

Opportunity Category:

Discretionary

Opportunity Category Explanation:

Category of Funding Activity:

Education

Category Explanation:

History

Version:

Posted date:

July 28, 2021

Archive date:

October 13, 2021