Description

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) anticipate the release of a 2026 Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) Direct to Phase II solicitation #91990026R0005 on or about April 30, 2026. The proposal submission date will be in late June 2026, approximately 60 days after the solicitation release. The program, known as ED/IES SBIR, provides awards to eligible for-profit businesses and partners for the research and development and evaluation of new, commercially viable education technology products (“products”). The ED/IES SBIR Direct to Phase II solicitation will invite proposals for existing evidence-based innovations for awards of $1,000,000 over 2 years for R&D and evaluation of new education technology or special education technology products to ready existing researcher-developed evidence-based innovations (products, interventions, practices) for use at scale, and to plan for commercialization. Projects that focus on advancing innovations that are not evidence-based will not be eligible for the Direct to Phase II program. The existing education innovation is required to have originally been created by researchers at either universities (or other academic institutions) or non-profit education research organizations. Proposals to advance education technology projects that were originated by small businesses are not eligible for the Direct to Phase II program. One or more of the members of the research team that originally created the innovation are required to be part of the project team in the SBIR proposal. Direct to Phase II projects are awarded without a prior Phase I award. Small Business firms and partners who possess strong research and development and evaluation capabilities for education technology products in the below priority area are encouraged to participate. PRIORITY AREA Direct to Phase II: Projects to Develop New Education Technology Products to Ready Existing Evidence-Based Innovations for Use at Scale in Education Settings, and to Plan for Commercialization Three other 2026 ED/IES SBIR solicitations will be released on the same day as the Direct to Phase II solicitation: The Phase IA program solicitation 91990026R0003 will request proposals for the development and evaluation of a prototype of an entirely novel education technology product (where no or limited previous development has occurred) over a period of 9 months. The goal of the Phase IA track is to solicit proposals for ground-breaking high-risk high reward approaches to solve pressing problems in education. The Phase IB program solicitation 91990026R0004 will request proposals for the development of a new component to be integrated with an existing education technology prototype or product. The existing prototype or product is required to be research-based. The resulting product from Phase IB and II funding under this solicitation will be a new version of an education technology product. The Phase II prog…

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