Education Research, Development and Dissemination

To support research activities that improve the quality of education and, thereby, increase student academic achievement, reduce the achievement gap between high-performing and low-performing students, and increase access to and completion of postsecondary education.

Applicants that have the ability and capacity to conduct scientifically valid research are eligible to apply. Eligible applicants include, but are not limited to, non-profit and for-profit organizations and public and private agencies and institutions, such as colleges and universities. SBIR contract awards are limited to eligible small businesses.

Institutions and individuals involved with education will benefit.

Grant competitions are announced in the Federal Register and on the agency website (http://ies.ed.gov/funding/).

Standard Form 424 ("Application for Federal Assistance"), an application narrative, and required certifications must be submitted by the deadline specified in the Federal Register.

The Requests for Application grant notices (available on http://ies.ed.gov/funding) describe the substantive requirements for applications and provide information on how to prepare and submit applications electronically through Grants.gov. The Application Packages provide all of the required forms and are available on http://www.grants.gov. Letters of Intent are encouraged but not required.

Grant applications to Institute of Education Sciences (IES) competitions must be submitted via the Grants.gov government-wide portal that allows potential applicants to find grant opportunities and apply for grants. The Grants.gov registration process can take several weeks. Interested applicants should begin the registration process well in advance of application deadlines.

Individuals planning to submit an application on behalf of their organization must ensure that (1) their institution/organization is registered with Grants.gov and (2) they register themselves as Authorized Organizational Representatives (AORs) well before the competition deadline. Grants.gov registration information can be found at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/apply-for-grants.html.

The Department provides a forecast of contract opportunities on its website at http://www2.ed.gov/fund/contract/find/forecast.html and posts solicitations on the Federal Business Opportunity website (www.fbo.gov). Vendors may view a synopsis, download a solicitation, and register to receive notification of modifications to existing notices.

Grant applications that are responsive and compliant to the Requests for Applications are evaluated by expert reviewers for scientific and technical merit. Scientific reviews are conducted in accordance with the review criteria stated in the Request for Applications and the review procedures posted on the IES website, http://ies.ed.gov/director/sro/peer_review/application_review.asp, by a panel of scientists who have substantive and methodological expertise appropriate to the program of research and Request for Applications. Awards are competitive, with the following criteria considered in making award decisions for responsive and compliant applications: Scientific merit as determined by peer review, performance and use of funds under a previous federal award, contribution to the overall program of research described in the Request for Applications, and availability of funds.

For contracts, the Department reviews offers and makes awards to those companies that are determined to provide the value to the government.

From 210 to 240 days.