Education Innovation and Research

84.411A (Expansion grants)

84.411B (Mid-phase grants)

84.411C (Early-phase grants)

Discretionary/Competitive Grants

Education Innovation and Research (EIR)

The Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program provides funding to:

  • create, develop, implement, replicate, or take to scale entrepreneurial, evidence-based, 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 educational challenges and to support the expansion of effective solutions to serve substantially larger numbers of students.  The EIR is established under section 4611 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

There are 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.

Contact Information

  • Ashley Brizzo, Group Leader
    Education Innovation and Research
    U.S. Department of Education, OESE
    400 Maryland Ave SW
    Washington, DC 20202