Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program - Expansion Grant

Overview

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 higher numbers of 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. A goal of the program is for projects that build this evidence 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.

Expansion grants are supported by strong evidence (as defined in this notice) for at least one population and setting, and grantees are encouraged to implement at the national level (as defined in this notice). Expansion grants provide funding for the implementation and rigorous evaluation of a program that has been found to produce sizable, significant impacts under a Mid-phase grant or other effort meeting similar criteria, for the purposes of (a) determining whether such impacts can be successfully reproduced and sustained over time, and (b) identifying the conditions in which the program is most effective. 

This notice invites applications for Expansion grants only.

Expansion grant projects are expected to scale practices that have prior evidence of effectiveness to improve outcomes for high-need and underserved students. They are also expected to generate important information about an intervention's effectiveness, such as for whom and in which contexts a practice is most effective, including cost considerations such as economies of scale. Expansion grant projects are uniquely positioned to help answer critical questions about the process of scaling a practice to the national level across geographies as well as locale types. Expansion grant applicants are encouraged to consider how the cost structure of a practice can change as the intervention scales. Additionally, grantees may want to consider how their project will balance implementation fidelity and flexibility for scaling.

The FY 2024 Expansion grant competition includes three absolute priorities and two competitive preference priorities. All Expansion grant applicants must address Absolute Priority 1. Expansion grant applicants are also required to address one of the other two absolute priorities (applicants may not submit under more than one of the other 2 absolute priorities). All applicants have the option of addressing the competitive preference priorities and may opt to do so regardless of the absolute priority they select.

• Absolute Priority 1—Strong Evidence establishes the evidence requirement for this tier of grants. All Expansion grants applicants must submit prior evidence of effectiveness that meets the strong evidence standard.
• Absolute Priority 2—Field-Initiated Innovations—General gives applicants the option to propose projects that are field-initiated innovations to improve student achievement and attainment.
• Absolute Priority 3—Field-Initiated Innovations—Promoting Equity in Student Access to Educational Resources and Opportunities: Educator Recruitment and Retention is intended to elevate and strengthen the educator workforce in ways that prioritize innovation in recruiting and retaining educators to better support high-need students. Applicants are encouraged to address fundamental challenges schools face in recruiting and retaining qualified educators by addressing the responsibilities and challenges educators continue to face after the pandemic. For example, projects may be designed to improve supports for educators that enhance the ability of schools to recruit and retain staff ( e.g., strategies to support educator wellbeing or structuring staffing and schedules to ensure educators and students are appropriately supported, and have sufficient time for planning, collaboration, working with coaches, and observing instruction of other educators) and increase access to leadership opportunities that can lead to increased pay and improved retention for fully certified, experienced, and effective educators, while expanding the impact of great teachers within and beyond their classrooms. Projects may support the recruitment and retention of all school staff or specific staff with acute recruitment and retention challenges ( e.g., personnel serving children or students with disabilities) and increasing access to leadership opportunities that can lead to increased pay and improved retention for fully certified, experienced, and effective educators, while expanding the impact of great teachers within and beyond their classrooms. Projects may support the recruitment and retention of all school staff or specific staff with acute recruitment and retention challenges ( e.g., personnel serving children or students with disabilities). 
• Competitive Preference Priority 1 — Promoting Equity in Student Access to Educational Resources and Opportunities: Implementers and Partners is intended to encourage applicants to propose projects that involve (as applicants or partners) entities underrepresented in the program's portfolio of grants. The Department is eager to increase the volume of applicants and partners from entities such as community colleges (as defined in this notice), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (as defined in this notice), Tribal Colleges and Universities (as defined in this notice), and minority-serving institutions (as defined in this notice). 
• Competitive Preference Priority 2—Addressing the Impact of COVID-19 on Students, Educators, and Faculty: Community Asset-Mapping and Needs Assessment and Evidence-Based Instructional Approaches and Supports reflects the Administration's ongoing commitment to addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Pre-K through grade 12 education. The pandemic caused unprecedented disruption in schools across the country and drew renewed attention to the ongoing challenges for underserved students. In response to the pandemic, educators mobilized to address the needs of all students. Researchers, educators, parents, and policymakers are working to understand and address the impact of inconsistent access to instruction, enrichment, peers, and services and supports, and the impact of other related challenges. We also know that for students in underserved communities, inequities in educational opportunity and outcomes existed previously, and have been exacerbated by the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the education landscape, as students continue to make up for lost classroom instruction. However, it also provides an opportunity to redesign how schools approach teaching and learning in ways that both address long-standing gaps in educational opportunity and better prepare students for college and careers. Over 14 million public school students (31 percent) missed at least 10 percent of school in school year 2021-2022. According to analysis by the Council of Economic Advisors, absenteeism accounted for up to 27 percent of the test score declines in math and 45 percent of the test score declines in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. To that end, the Department seeks projects that build the evidence base on effective educational practices to improve achievement for high-need students by expanding existing innovative education practices to address these challenges and inequities. The proposed innovations should be designed to better enable students to access the educational opportunities they need to succeed in school and reach their full potential.

IHE can only apply in partnership with LEA, SEA, or BIE. 

Cost Sharing or Matching: Under section 4611(d) of the ESEA, each grant recipient must provide, from Federal, State, local, or private sources, an amount equal to 10 percent of funds provided under the grant, which may be provided in cash or through in-kind contributions, to carry out activities supported by the grant.

DATES:
Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply: June 06, 2024. 
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: July 05, 2024.

Estimated Average Size of Awards: Up to $15,000,000. 
Maximum Award: We will not make an award exceeding $15,000,000 for a project period of 60 months.

The Department intends to fund one or more projects under each of the EIR competitions, including Expansion grants (84.411A), Mid-phase grants (84.411B), and Early-phase grants (84.411C). Entities may submit applications for different projects for more than one competition (Early-phase grants, Mid-phase grants, and Expansion grants). The combined maximum new award amount a grantee may receive under these three competitions, is $16,000,000. If an entity is within funding range for multiple applications, the Department will award the highest scoring applications up to $16,000,000.