Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII): Education Innovation and Research Program--Early-phase Grants CFDA Number 84.411C | ED GRANTS 121516 003

Opportunity Information: Apply for ED GRANTS 121516 003

The Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII) Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program Early-phase Grants opportunity (CFDA 84.411C) is a U.S. Department of Education discretionary funding competition designed to support new, promising education innovations and to build credible evidence about whether those innovations actually improve outcomes for students who face the greatest challenges. Authorized under section 4611 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the program focuses on improving student achievement and attainment for high-need students, while also producing knowledge that educators and policymakers can use to make better decisions about what works, for whom, and under what conditions.

A defining feature of EIR is its tiered evidence structure, which ties the size and type of award to how strong the existing evidence is behind a proposed practice. The overall EIR framework includes Early-phase, Mid-phase, and Expansion grants, each requiring progressively stronger prior evidence and supporting progressively larger scale. This particular notice is only for Early-phase grants, which are meant for practices that are relatively new and do not yet have extensive rigorous evidence behind them. Early-phase awards emphasize development, iteration, implementation, and feasibility testing, along with an initial evaluation that helps determine whether the innovation shows enough promise to justify further investment and broader replication later. In other words, this competition is not mainly about taking a well-established program and rolling it out to more sites; it is about testing a practice that is novel and significant relative to what is already happening nationally, and learning quickly and rigorously whether it can move the needle for high-need students.

Another core requirement is that every funded EIR project contributes to the evidence base. Grantees are expected to generate usable information about effectiveness, implementation, and improvement over time, and the program requires independent evaluations of EIR projects. The intent is that results are not only useful to the grantee for refining and improving the practice, but also to the wider field, including schools and districts not funded by EIR that could benefit from the lessons learned. Across the EIR program, stronger designs (including, at the higher tiers, large randomized controlled trials) are used to validate effective solutions and support scaling, but at the Early-phase level the emphasis is typically on feasibility, early outcomes, and building a foundation for more rigorous testing as evidence develops.

Eligibility is broad and includes several types of education agencies and partners. Eligible applicants include local educational agencies (LEAs), State educational agencies (SEAs), the Bureau of Indian Education, consortia of SEAs or LEAs, and nonprofit organizations. The notice also allows partnerships in which an SEA, LEA, eligible consortium, or the Bureau of Indian Education applies in partnership with one or more of the following: a nonprofit organization, a business, an educational service agency, or an institution of higher education. This structure is meant to encourage collaborations that combine practical school-system access with program design, research, technical, or implementation expertise.

The notice also explains how an applicant may qualify as a rural applicant under EIR, using National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) locale codes. To be considered rural, the applicant must fit one of the specified eligible rural applicant configurations (for example, an LEA with an urban-centric district locale code of 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43, or a consortium of such LEAs, or certain partners working with such an LEA), and a majority of the schools served must also have one of those locale codes (or a combination of them). The application package is identified as the place to find additional detail on rural eligibility.

Operationally, applications for CFDA 84.411C must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov. Applicants are expected to download the application package, complete it offline, and submit it through the Grants.gov system; applications cannot be submitted by email. When searching in Grants.gov, applicants are instructed to search by the CFDA number without the letter suffix (search for 84.411 rather than 84.411C). The opportunity is listed as a discretionary program using a cooperative agreement as the funding instrument. The synopsis notes that the authoritative requirements, priorities, submission instructions, performance measures, and official definitions are contained in the Federal Register notice, and applicants are directed to consult that notice for the full and controlling details. The posted closing date in the synopsis is April 13, 2017.

• The Department of Education in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII): Education Innovation and Research Program--Early-phase Grants CFDA 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 2016-12-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-04-13. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for ED GRANTS 121516 003

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