Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII): Education Innovation and Research Program--Mid-phase Grants CFDA Number 84.411B | ED GRANTS 121516 002

Opportunity Information: Apply for ED GRANTS 121516 002

The Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII) Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program Mid-phase Grants opportunity (CFDA 84.411B) is a U.S. Department of Education discretionary grant competition that supports education projects with a clear, evidence-based innovation aimed at improving outcomes for high-need students. The program was authorized under section 4611 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). At its core, EIR is meant to help educators and their partners create, refine, test, and expand promising solutions to persistent challenges in K-12 education, while also requiring strong evaluation so the field can learn what works, for whom, and under what conditions.

A defining feature of EIR is its tiered or multi-phase structure, which ties the size of an award to the strength of the evidence behind the proposed practice. Mid-phase grants sit in the middle of that evidence-and-scale pipeline. In practical terms, this means the Department is looking for applicants who already have some supportive evidence for an innovation and are ready to implement it more broadly and evaluate it more rigorously than would typically be expected for an early-stage pilot. The broader EIR design is intended to create incentives for organizations to try new approaches, build credible evidence over time, and then replicate or scale successful approaches across more schools, districts, and potentially states, while directly addressing common barriers to expansion such as cost, staffing demands, and maintaining implementation fidelity as the program grows.

The program’s purpose statement emphasizes several key goals: improving student achievement and educational attainment for high-need students, supporting entrepreneurial and field-initiated ideas (meaning ideas that come from practitioners and organizations working in real settings), and conducting rigorous evaluations of the interventions being implemented. The expectation is that EIR-funded work will not only serve participating students but will also produce useful findings, tools, and knowledge that other educators can adopt or adapt. Mid-phase funding, specifically, is positioned to strengthen the evidence base and demonstrate whether an innovation can work at a larger scale than a small pilot, often across multiple sites, with careful attention to consistent delivery and measurable outcomes.

Eligibility is broad and includes a range of public education entities and their partners. Eligible applicants include local educational agencies (LEAs), state educational agencies (SEAs), the Bureau of Indian Education, and consortia of SEAs or LEAs. Nonprofit organizations (as defined in the official notice) are also eligible, and the program explicitly encourages partnerships. In addition, an SEA, LEA, eligible consortium, or the Bureau of Indian Education may apply 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 reflects how many education innovations are developed and implemented in practice, with districts and states working alongside research organizations, universities, nonprofits, and sometimes private-sector partners that provide curricula, technology, or specialized services.

The notice also describes how an applicant may qualify as a rural applicant for EIR, which is based on federal locale codes. To qualify, the applicant must meet two conditions. First, the applicant must be an LEA with an urban-centric locale code of 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43 (or a consortium of such LEAs), or an educational service agency or nonprofit partnering with such an LEA, or a qualifying LEA/consortium partnering with an SEA. Second, a majority of the schools served by the project must have one of those same locale codes (or a combination of them). The application package is referenced as the place to find additional detail on rural eligibility, which is important because rural status can affect competitive priorities or set-asides in some federal competitions depending on the year’s notice.

From an application logistics standpoint, submissions for CFDA 84.411B must be made electronically through Grants.gov. Applicants are expected to download the application package, complete it offline, and upload it through the Grants.gov portal; emailing an application directly is not permitted. A small but important instruction in the notice is that applicants should search for the application package using the CFDA number without the letter suffix (search for 84.411 rather than 84.411B). The opportunity summary also notes that the description provided is only a synopsis and that the controlling requirements, priorities, and instructions are found in the official Federal Register notice, including details such as performance measures, application components, submission requirements, and program contact information.

The opportunity is listed as a cooperative agreement under the Department of Education, within the education funding activity category. The opportunity number is ED GRANTS 121516 002, and the original closing date shown is April 13, 2017, with a creation date of December 15, 2016. Because the synopsis points applicants back to the Federal Register for the authoritative version, prospective applicants are expected to rely on that official notice for the exact definitions referenced (for example, definitions of “high-need students,” “student achievement,” “innovative practices,” and what qualifies as sufficiently rigorous evaluation designs), as well as any absolute, competitive preference, or invitational priorities that may shape what kinds of projects are most likely to be funded.

• 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--Mid-phase Grants CFDA Number 84.411B" 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 002

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