FY2025: Investigating History Expansion

Fund Code: 0116

Purpose:

Investigating History is here! Investigating History is an openly available, comprehensive set of history/social studies curricular materials for Grades 5 through 7. Investigating History is fully aligned to the 2018 Massachusetts History/Social Science Framework , and is anchored in four instructional principles:

• historical inquiry and investigation;
• historical empathy and human connections;
• civic engagement and current world relevance;
• culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogy.

Investigating History is a complete and comprehensive package of curricular materials that includes lesson plans, student handouts, and slide decks. Learn more about the curriculum and register to access the materials at Investigating History.

In partnership with the One8 Foundation, DESE is offering grants to support teacher professional development as well as curriculum printing costs. This grant is intended for LEAs that received FC 653 (Investigating History Implementation) and/or worked with a certified Investigating History professional development provider in FY24, and wish to deepen and extend their Investigating History work by expanding their implementation to additional units, classrooms, and/or grades.

One or more schools from the LEA can participate.

Priorities:

DESE seeks to award Investigating History grants to entities with participating schools that:

• Provide all students, including students with disabilities and English Language Learners, with the history/social studies instructional time required for the Investigating History curriculum (an average of 90 minutes per week in Grade 5 and 225 minutes per week in Grade 6 and 7)
• Demonstrate the necessary conditions, including time and commitment, to make and sustain meaningful adoption and implementation and affirmatively commit to be part of the implementation supports included under the grant

Eligibility:

This continuation grant is intended for FY24 0116 Investigating History Expansion Grant recipients. The eligible districts include:

• Argosy Collegiate Charter School
• Attleboro
• Greenfield
• Narragansett
• North Middlesex Regional School District
• Salem
• Taunton
• UP Academy Charter School of Dorchester
• Uxbridge
• Winchendon

Curriculum Data must be up to date on DESE District Profiles for K–8 ELA/Literacy, K–12 math, and 6–8 Science by the time of the grant due date. To check if this information is complete, check the statewide Curriculum report. Or, visit your District Profiles page via Profiles Home, and select Curriculum Data from the left-hand navigation. If the required data is not complete or up-to-date, details and directions on how to enter or update this data can be found at: Curriculum Data Collection.

Funding Type:

Trust

Funding:

There is approximately $213,300 available in FY 25. Recipients will need to provide detailed cost information to DESE to demonstrate compliance with grant priorities and approved fund uses in order to draw down funds over the grant period.

This RFP is the governing document for these grant funds.

Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding becomes available, it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document.

Fund Use:

LEAs will receive funding to access special resources and supports to promote teacher and student success with Investigating History, provided in partnership the One8 Foundation, an Investigating History supporter and DESE partner. These are required for Track A districts and include the following:

• All participating teachers (classroom teachers as well as ESL/language support teachers and special education teachers supporting Investigating History) will attend an in-person, centrally located Unit Launch Day event for each of 3 units. Unit Launch Days will take place in October 2024, January 2025, and March 2025. Print teachers' guides and color classroom resources will be provided to all participating teachers.
• One or more district, school, and/or teacher leaders will participate in a statewide Investigating History Leaders Community of Practice, which will meet regularly both in-person and virtually throughout the school year.

In addition, LEAs may request funds to cover some or all of the cost of professional development for teachers and/or administrators from a certified Investigating History PD Provider.

• LEAs should work with your preferred certified provider(s) to develop a PD package that meets your needs; the amount requested through the grant should not exceed $500 per teacher for this PD.
• PD packages may include facilitated common planning time, PLCs, or coaching. Please note, these PD packages should not include Unit Launches because those will happen at Unit Launch Days.

Project Duration:

Upon Approval* – June 30, 2025

* Grant start date cannot be prior to DESE receiving a substantially approvable Application Submission as directed in this RFP's Submission Instructions. Goods and Services cannot be procured prior to Grants receiving and approving an application submission. Funds cannot exceed the project duration end date.

Program Unit:

Office of Literacy and Humanities
Center for Instructional Support (CIS)

Contact:

InvestigatingHistory@mass.gov

Phone Number:

(781) 338-6237

Date Due:

Monday, August 5, 2024, at 5:00 p.m.

Proposals must be received at the Department by 5:00 p.m. Eastern on the date due.

Additional Information:

DESE is collaborating with a third-party, independent evaluator to learn more about student and teacher experiences with Investigating History. As a condition of fund use, administrators and/or teachers will be expected to engage with research activities, which may include one or more of the following:

• Administering an end-of-unit student assessment and/or 3-4 brief, in-class formative assessments
• Completing periodic surveys about their teaching practice and experiences with the Investigating History curriculum
• Participating in classroom observations and brief follow-up debrief conversations
• Participating in interviews, student surveys, and/or focus groups

DESE will analyze the statewide data collected for research purposes. Analyses will only be reported in the aggregate (e.g., by grade-level, region, etc.) or anonymized in order to meet state and federal confidentiality laws. The identities of districts and schools will not be reported, and all reporting will protect the identities of students, educators, schools, and districts.

Submission Instructions:

The FY25 FC0116 Grant will be submitted in our new GEM$ system. GEM$ is a cloud-based fiscal and program management grant system that will eventually phase out the use of EdGrants.

Grants for Education Management System (GEM$)

Please Note: Grant Submission at the LEA level requires roles to be established for Grant writer for the specific fund code, LEA fiscal for financial review/approval, and Superintendent/Chief Executive sign off. All these roles should be established prior to the grant due date and all appropriate forms should be either uploaded to GEM$, maintained at the LEA level or sent in to the DESE RFP contact as described on the individual forms. The user guidance documents and forms are found on the GEM$ homepage under DESE Resources. This form can be accessed without logging in to the system.

Last Updated: July 29, 2024