Department of Education Grant Award

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the procedures the Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) used in awarding a discretionary grant to demonstrate the use of high technology to address education needs in critical subject areas. GAO noted that: (1) the peer review process was poorly managed; (2) grant proposal priorities were broad and allowed vague applications; (3) reviewer comments on the highest ranked proposal were lost; (4) delays in providing support for a mid-process decision and recreating the lost review comments may have stopped completion of an approved award; (5) OERI actions created the erroneous impression that a new proposal was being recommended for funding; and (6) the Assistant Secretary acted within her authority in recommending the winning proposal for the grant.