Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs: FY2018
Strategic Support to Specific Underperforming Schools and Districts
Fund Code: 323Q 220Q
Purpose: | The purpose of this non-competitive grant program is to fund specific strategic initiatives that will improve the state's lowest achieving schools and districts, and support their continuous cycle of improvement. This grant program is aligned with the state's overarching goal:
To support effective planning and the strategic use of grant funds, DESE requires that eligible schools and districts explain in detail how the strategic initiatives funded through this grant program connect to state standards and indicators of effective practice as well as turnaround practices. ESEA requires states and districts to implement "evidence-based" practices, activities, strategies and interventions with demonstrated evidence of effectiveness. Evidence-based practices refer to interventions for which there is evidence of significant positive impact that can be found in published research papers, literature reviews, or the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education research briefs. Alternately, evidence-based practices can be those local practices that a district or state has previously instituted, measured, and found to be effective. Additional guidance from the U.S. Department of Education regarding evidence can be found at Non-Regulatory Guidance: Using Evidence to Strengthen Education Investments. All schools and districts must explain how proposed strategic initiatives connect to indicators for one or more of the state's six district standards (See Appendix A) and to the 2016 Massachusetts Turnaround Practices ![]() ![]()
Applying schools/districts must also identify the grant program goals and initiatives, and describe how they will monitor progress towards such goals, including identifying and describing early evidence of change, intermediate implementation benchmarks, and long-term evidence of success, which they will use to assess progress for each initiative and for the overall program goals. Since these initiatives support the school's or district's existing turnaround process, the school/district is not asked to set additional outcome measures for this work. The district's measures under the state's accountability and assistance system and Measurable Annual Goals (MAGS), if applicable, will serve as outcome measures for these initiatives as well. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Priorities: | Priority will be given to specific Level 3, 4, and 5 schools and districts that have been identified under the state's Framework for Accountability and Assistance and criteria described in the Purpose section above. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Eligibility: | This grant is available to Level 3, 4, and 5 schools and districts only. The Department will list on this grant posting, on a rolling basis, schools and or districts and their designated grant allocations. Grants will only be approved after programmatic and budgetary reviews by Department staff as noted above and upon request of review by the Office of the Governor. The following designated recipients at this time are listed below.
The following districts are eligible to receive grant funding, using fund code 323-Q from Title I Section 1003 School Improvement reservation funds to provide targeted assistance to improve their lowest performing Title I schools (Level 3 Focus schools, Level 4 schools, and Level 5 schools). Assistance should include strategies that align to the 2016 Massachusetts Turnaround Practices Research and promote rapid improvement in student performance and outcomes. * Eligible districts (listed in the chart below) may receive additional funding beyond their base allocation, up to the amount specified in the chart below, to participate in DESE's Turnaround Plan Development Process. If a district applies and is awarded the opportunity for up to three of their Level 3 Focus schools to participate in the DESE's Turnaround Plan Development Process, then the base grant award will be amended up to provide an additional $16,500 per school to engage in networking, data analysis, root cause analysis, a Turnaround Site Visit by an outside vendor, and Turnaround Plan development in SY17-18 that is expected to be reviewed by the DESE and implemented by the school in SY18-19. Level 3 Focus schools eligible to apply must be in the 1st through 10th percentile based on 2016 accountability data. Eligible schools are listed in Appendix C.
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Funding Type: | Fund Code 323: Federal Title I (CFDA 84.010) Fund Code 220: State Targeted Assistance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Funding: | Funding for the grant will come from federal and/or state funds as described above. The total allocation per grant will be determined by financial needs articulated by eligible schools/districts in meetings and other communication with the Department, spending plans drawn up by the Department projecting financial needs of known underperforming schools and districts, and input from the Commissioner, the State Board of Education, and other Department staff in the Center for Accountability, Partnerships, & Targeted Assistance. Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding is to become available it will be distributed under the same guideline as listed in the initial RFP document. |
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Fund Use: | Fund use must be consistent with applicable state and/or federal requirements. Districts are allowed to budget funds at both the district level and school level. All expenditures will be closely reviewed as they relate to the priorities of this grant opportunity. |
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Project Duration: | Upon Approval - 6/30/2018 (state) and 8/31/18 (federal) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Program Unit: | Office of District and School Turnaround, Center for District Support | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Contact: | Programmatic: Office of District and School Turnaround Liaison Abigail T. Slayton (781) 338-3517 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date Due: | To be determined by the Department in consultation with eligible school/district. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Required Forms: | Fund Code 220Q: Part I - Standard Contract and Application for Program
Fund Code 323 Workbook: Part I - Standard Contract and Application for Program Grants and Part II - Required Program Information for 323-Q funding: Applicants will use this workbook to indicate the amount of funding under this grant attributable to Title I eligible schools and to describe how those grant funds will be used.
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Additional Information: | Appendix A: Massachusetts District Standards and Indicators
Appendix B: Massachusetts Family, School, and Community Partnership Fundamentals
Appendix C: Focus Schools Eligible for Turnaround Plan Development Process
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Submission Instructions: | Submit all required grant materials through EdGrants In EdGrants, districts are required to create and name the project. Please use the following naming convention for your "Applicant Project Name" in EdGrants: FY18 323-Q, 220-Q Strategic Support to Specific Underperforming Schools and Districts All required forms should be uploaded / attached in the Attachments List formlet of the Application Submission. This includes a signed / scanned PDF of Part I / Coversheet with Superintendent's signature as well as the workbook final budget the applicant is requesting will be entered directly into EdGrants as part of the application submission process. For Guidance Documents regarding EdGrants, visit EdGrants: User Guides and Information. Please note: It is up to the district to determine who they want to add as EdGrants Front Office users in order to submit grant application as well as payment request information. Please review the EdGrants: User Security Controls to make informed decisions regarding assigning your district level users. |