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 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. One of the program’s goals is for projects to build evidence that will allow them to advance through EIR’s grant tiers: “Early-phase,” “Mid-phase,” and “Expansion.”
“Early-phase,” “Mid-phase,” and “Expansion” grants differ in terms of the evidence of effectiveness required to be considered 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.
Mid-phase grants are supported by moderate evidence (as defined in this notice). Mid-phase grants provide funding for the implementation and rigorous evaluation of a program that has been successfully implemented under an Early-phase grant or other similar effort, such as developing and testing an innovative education practice at a local level, for the purpose of measuring the program’s impact and cost-effectiveness.
This notice invites applications for Expansion grants only.
Deadlines:
- Deadline for Notice of Intent To Apply: June 6, 2024
- Deadline for Applications: July 5, 2024
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.
In addition, with respect to IHEs and their affiliates, the following entities may apply for a grant under 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; (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.
An applicant may not submit an application for the same proposed project under more than one type of grant (e.g., both an Expansion grant and Mid-phase grant).
See solicitation for details