The Department of Education uses a two-phase system to select recipients for Early Reading First that includes a pre-application and a full application. All applicants must submit a pre-application that briefly addresses certain key concepts. Applicants invited to submit full applications will be expected to respond to more specific selection criteria. In accordance with the Early Reading First statute, peer review panels will be convened under section 1222(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) (the Early Reading First statute) and section 1203(c)(2)(A) of the ESEA (the Reading First statute), and will include three experts in early reading development and early childhood development as required by the statute.

FY 2009 EARLY READING FIRST DISCRETIONARY GRANT COMPETITION

ATTENTION FY 2009 EARLY READING FIRST APPLICANTS

The pre-applications were reviewed by experienced peer reviewers using the selection criteria published in the FY 2009 Early Reading First application. A select group of applicants have been invited to submit full applications.

• FY 2009 Invited Applicants
  MS EXCEL (42K)

Following notification to the pre-applicants invited to submit full applications, unsuccessful pre-applicants will be sent a letter addressed to the certifying representative and the project director thanking them for participating in the review process along with reviewer comments. All original unfunded applications and related documents will be retained for 90 days. Unfunded applications and related documents will then be forwarded to the Federal Records Center for an additional three-year retention period.

CLOSING DATES FOR FULL APPLICATION

Deadline for Transmittal of Full Applications under the Early Reading First competition: June 16, 2009 (by 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time)

Please note that full applications will NOT be submitted through the Grants.gov system. Instead invited to submit a full application will utilize the Department's e-Application system. Applications for grants must be submitted electronically using e-Application, accessible through the Department’s e-Grants portal page at: http://e-grants.ed.gov. For information about how to submit full applications electronically, or by mail or hand delivery if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, please refer to the letters of invite forwarded only to invited applicants.

If an applicant wishes to exercise the Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement, applicants must submit no later than two weeks before the full application deadline (June 3, 2009) a statement to the Department requesting an exception to these requirements and explaining the grounds that prevent the applicant from using the Internet to submit your full application. If an applicant decides to mail the request for the Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement to the Department, it must be postmarked no later than two weeks before the full application deadline date (June 3, 2009).

Please note that full applications will NOT be submitted through the Grants.gov system. Instead applicants invited to submit a full application will utilize the Department's e-Application system. Applications for grants must be submitted electronically using e-Application, accessible through the Department's e-Grants portal page at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.

Timeline

The original deadline for submitting a pre-application for the FY 2009 Early Reading First competition was April 2, 2009.

Closing Dates for submission

• Deadline for Transmittal of Phase 1 Pre-Applications: April 2, 2009 (by 4:30:00 p.m., Washington DC, time)
• Deadline for Transmittal of Phase 2 Full Applications: June 16, 2009

Please note that full applications will NOT be submitted through the Grants.gov system. Instead applicants invited to submit a full application will utilize the Department's e-Application system.

In an effort to ensure that only the invited applicants submit a full application, a pin number has been generated for the full application phase of the competition. In order to gain access to the full application in the e-Application system, applicants must use the pin number provided in the letter of invite. The pin number provided is not for public use and will not be distributed.

Full applications for grants under the Early Reading First program must be submitted electronically unless you qualify for an exception to this requirement in accordance with the instructions in section IV of the Federal Register (72 FR 2667) notice. Applications for grants must be submitted electronically using e-Application, accessible through the Department’s e-Grants portal page at: http://e-grants.ed.gov.

You may not e-mail an electronic copy of a grant application to us. If you are prevented from electronically submitting your application on the application deadline date because the e-Application system is unavailable, we will grant you an extension of one business day to enable you to transmit your application electronically, by mail, or by hand delivery. We will grant this extension if—

1. You are a registered user of e-Application and you have initiated an electronic application for this competition; and
2. The e-Application system is unavailable for 60 minutes or more between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date; or
   1. The e-Application system is unavailable for any period of time between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date.

   We must acknowledge and confirm these periods of unavailability before granting you an extension. To request this extension or to confirm our acknowledgment of any system unavailability, you may contact either (1) the person listed elsewhere in the Federal Register (72 FR 2667) notice under For Further Information Contact (see VII. Agency Contact) or (2) the e-Grants help desk at 1-888-336-8930. If the e-Application system is unavailable due to technical problems with the system and, therefore, the application deadline is extended, an e-mail will be sent to all registered users who have initiated an e-Application. Extensions referred to in this section apply only to the unavailability of the Department’s e-Application system.

• Federal Register Notice Inviting Applications for FY 2009 (March 3, 2009)

The FY 2009 Early Reading First Instruction Package (CFDA No. 84.359A - Full application) is available to download.

• Application
  MS WORD (1M) | PDF (800K)

• Eligibility Form A
  MS WORD (42K)

• FY 2009 Applicants Invited to Submit a Full Award
  MS EXCEL (42K)

For printed applications contact:
ED Pubs
P.O. Box 1398
Jessup, MD 20794-1398
Telephone: (877) 433-7827
(TDD) (877) 576-7734
ED Pubs Web site
E-mail: edpubs@inet.ed.gov

The Department has established the following Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) performance measures for the Early Reading First program:

1. The cost per preschool-aged child participating in Early Reading First programs who achieves a significant gain in oral language skills after each year of implementation
2. The percentage of preschool-aged children participating in Early Reading First programs who demonstrate age-appropriate oral language skills after each year of implementation
3. The average number of letters Early Reading First preschool-aged children are able to identify after each year of implementation; and
4. The percentage of preschool-aged children participating in Early Reading First programs who achieve significant gains in oral language skills after each year of implementation.

For FY 2009, applicants may select their own assessment instruments for GPRA reporting. Please see the attached document designed to assist applicants in selecting quality assessments.

• Assessment Instruments
  PDF (25K)

• For automatic e-mail notification when events, publications, or resources relating to ERF become available, we invite you to join the ERF Infoline Listserv!

• ED-Pubs information (application package)