Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs

FY2022: Title II, Part A: Building Systems of Support for Excellent Teaching and Leading

Fund Code: 140

Purpose:

Title II, Part A of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provides supplemental resources to school districts to improve high quality systems of support for excellent teaching and leading.

Title II, Part A is one of four principal programs that are available to districts through formula grants under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the current reauthorization of ESEA. The other programs are Title I, Part A; Title III, Part A; and Title IV, Part A.

Priorities:

The priorities of Title II, Part A are to:

increase student achievement consistent with challenging State academic standards;
improve the quality and effectiveness of teachers, principals, and other school leaders;
increase the number of teachers, principals, and other school leaders who are effective in improving student academic achievement in schools; and
provide low-income and minority students equitable access to effective teachers, principals, and other school leaders.

In addition to the above priorities, the Title II, Part A program supports Massachusetts' goals and strategies (listed below) by ensuring that all students in the Commonwealth, especially those who have been historically disadvantaged, will be globally competitive and prepared for the transition after high school.

Students will attain ambitious academic/content standards as outlined in the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks by participating in an instructional program that prepares them for the transition after high school, provides support for them as individuals, and ensures equitable access to great teachers and administrators.

State Goal, Core Strategies, ESSA Priorities and Our Way Forward in Massachusetts Initiatives

The goal of Massachusetts' public K–12 education system is to prepare all students for success after high school. Our five core strategies to accelerate the pace of school improvement are:

Strengthening standards, curriculum, instruction, and assessment
Promoting educator development
Supporting social-emotional learning, health, and safety
Turning around the state's lowest performing districts and schools
Enhancing resource allocation and data use

Massachusetts has identified four priority focus areas under its plan for implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act:

Early grades literacy
Middle grades math
High-quality college and career pathways for high school students
Supporting historically disadvantaged students

Massachusetts Acceleration Roadmap
Massachusetts has developed a tool to support acceleration of student learning in the 2021-2022 school year. Schools and districts are encouraged to use the self-assessment resources in the Roadmap to identify key areas of focus and related action steps in their work accelerating learning for the 2021-22 school year, and then align their funding requests with these identified steps.

Additionally, districts may explore the use of these funds to support the "Our Way Forward" initiatives. This includes:

Deeper Learning for All
Holistic Support and Enrichment
Innovation and Evidence-Based Practices

Curriculum Frameworks Alignment
Activities funded under Title II, Part A must be aligned to the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks.

Systems of Professional Growth and Improvement
ESSA requires that districts describe strategies for implementing systems of professional growth and improvement for educators in the district and how the district will evaluate the effectiveness of those systems.

Closing Achievement Gaps
Consistent with the purposes of Title II, Part A, districts may also use Title II, Part A funds to improve results for student groups that have historically struggled to meet proficiency standards, in particular, students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, English learners, and students receiving special education services.

Eligibility:

Funds are awarded by formula to each school district. Subject to appropriation, 20% of the funds are distributed to districts based on the relative numbers of individuals ages 5 through 17 who reside in the area the district serves (based on the most recent census data); and 80 percent of the funds must be distributed to districts based on the relative numbers of individuals ages 5 through 17 who reside in the area the district serves and who are from families with incomes below the poverty line (based on the most recent Census data). (ESEA section 2102(a)). Grants are awarded to local school districts after the state reviews and approves a district's grant application.

Funding Type:

Federal CFDA 84.367

Funding:

FY22 Fund Code 140 Title II, Part A District Allocations

Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding becomes available for allocations, it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document. Unclaimed funds (funds not budgeted for in EdGrants) will be redistributed to eligible districts via a competitive grant.

Fund Use:

A school district may use funds for training, recruiting, and retaining high-quality educators, including teachers, administrators, and paraprofessionals. Funds must supplement, and not supplant, non-federal funds that would otherwise be used for activities authorized under this subpart.

All expenditures are closely reviewed as they relate to the priorities of this grant opportunity.

Project Duration:

Upon approval – 6/30/2022 (Year 1) *

*The period of availability for this grant award can be extended15 months beyond Year 1 by utilizing the multi-year feature for this Funding Opportunity in EdGrants. The extended period is broken up by fiscal year, as follows: 7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023 (Year 2); 7/1/2023 – 9/30/2023 (Year 3).

Program Unit:

Resource Allocation Strategy and Planning

Contact:

Federal Grants

Date Due:

Monday, September 13, 2021

Required Forms:

FY22 Consolidated ESSA Application Workbook
The consolidated workbook excel file is to be uploaded with your Title I grant submission only. Do not upload to the 140 submission in EdGrants. If you do not receive Title I funding, please contact your grant liaison or the federal grants programs office at federalgrantprograms@mass.gov.
- Signature Page — Standard Contract Form (Tab 1 of Consolidated Application) with an original signature of the Superintendent/Executive Director Note: Please sign and date the cover page and ensure the amount matches the amount budgeted. We cannot approve any grant without a signed, properly dated and uploaded signature page. Certain types of Electronic signatures are now accepted.
  - A scan of an original signature uploaded, or a picture of the original signature inserted into the document is still fine (the old way)
  - An electronically signed document using Adobe or Docusign which is a true electronic signature, and not just cursive characters typed into the document.
- Title II Part A, Budget must be entered both on the consolidated workbook tab as well as in EdGrants in the Budget Entry formlet. The budget tab in the workbook and the EdGrants budget should match.
- Schedule A (if applicable)
- FY22 Federal Grant Assurances — to be uploaded with the district's FY22 FC 305 Title I submission in EdGrants. Signature Page (Page 1 only) completed and signed by the superintendent/Executive Director. If your district does not receive a Title I grant, contact your district's DESE grant liaison or the federal grants programs office at federalgrantprograms@mass.gov for submission instructions. We cannot approve any federal entitlement grant without a signed, properly dated and uploaded Federal Grant Assurance signature page.

Additional Information:

Note: Applicants may only legally claim expenses to the grant starting from the date of final DESE approval. The start date for the grant is the date on which the district submits substantially approvable budget and information for the grant. Therefore, to expedite approval, it is essential to have district staff who can be reached in July and August to respond to questions, as needed.

Submission Instructions:

Submit the Application Submission and required grant materials in 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:

FY22 FC 140 Title IIA Applicant Number
For example, Abington (0001) would name the file as FY22 FC 140 Title IIA 0001

In EdGrants, district staff assigned the role of "Front Office User" should enter the Title IIA grant budget, attach a PDF of the Signature Page with an original signature of the Superintendent/Executive Director, a PDF of the signed FY22 Federal Grant Assurances Signature page, and a Schedule A form if it's applicable.

Note: The entire Consolidation Application Workbook must be uploaded with your Title I budget in EdGrants. This is the only place your entire FY22 Consolidated Application workbook will be uploaded.

For additional submission instructions, see the "Read Me First" tab of the FY22 Consolidated ESSA Application workbook.

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 the 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.

Last Updated: July 22, 2021