2021 Call for Peer Reviewers

EDUCATION INNOVATION AND RESEARCH CALL FOR PEER REVIEWERS

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has received FY 2021 funding for the Education Innovation and Research (EIR) program. EIR grants support: 1) innovative pre-kindergarten through 12 education projects that have the potential to increase student achievement, particularly among high-need students; and 2) the expansion (or scaling) of education practices that have evidence of effectiveness. We are seeking individuals who can participate in competition review panels to inform the selection grant award winners, analyze and score applications, and provide constructive feedback to applicants.

Who Would Be Successful Peer Reviewers of EIR Grant Applications?

• State/district education leaders, school leaders, teachers, foundation officers, university faculty (who work with schools), and researchers
• Persons with administrative, project management, or other leadership experience who have implemented, sustained, expanded, and disseminated innovative school projects
• Professionals with wide-ranging experience informing an ability to distinguish varying merits of innovative and potentially promising project ideas
• Excellent writers, good critical thinkers, and reflective individuals open to feedback from others
• Individuals with scheduling flexibilities who can commit to completing tasks in a timely manner
• Former grant reviewers or grantees for education programs
• Experts who have direct and significant pre-kindergarten through grade 12 education experience in the following content areas:

Reviewer Application and Selection Process

• To apply as a reviewer, send your resume (maximum of 5 pages) to EIRpeerreview@ed.gov.

• Reviewers who are selected to participate will be contacted by the EIR team or its contractor and asked for additional contact information, availability, and potential conflicts of interest.
• If selected, register and submit a PDF-version resume in G5 (www.g5.gov). For support, consult the PowerPoint instructions or contact edcaps.user@ed.gov or 1-888-336-8930.
• Those not selected will remain in the EIR reviewer pool for future competitions.

• ED solicits reviewers without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, or disability. ED will provide reasonable accommodations for an individual with a disability, so that the individual is able to participate in the review process.

Conflict of Interest

You are not eligible to be a reviewer if you will be applying to the competition, if you will be involved in the preparation of a grant application, or if you would stand to benefit from an application that were to receive funding in this new competition. You are eligible, however, if you are a current or past EIR or i3 grantee and are not submitting a new application under the EIR competition.

Responsibilities/Payment

• The FY2021 review is anticipated to include separate competitions occurring in July and October. If selected, you will be contacted to confirm availability for specific dates.
• You will be expected to:
  1. participate in two 45-minute webinars;
  2. read, review, and evaluate approximately 8-12 applications (25-35 pages of narrative as well as appendices);
  3. participate in approximately 4-6 panel calls (each several hours in length);
  4. complete written evaluations of applications based on the selection criteria;
  5. make revisions of your reviews following the panel discussion; and
  6. submit reviews in ED’s online G5 system.
• Payment will be $400 per application (approximately $3,200-$4,800 total) after successful completion of all required tasks.

Program Information

Visit the EIR program website for additional information. Please direct all questions to EIRpeerreview@ed.gov.