FY2026: Genocide Education

Fund Code: 0215

Purpose:

The purpose of this competitive grant program is to support teaching and learning related to the history of genocide. As stated in Chapter 98 of the Acts of 2021, "Every school district shall, for the purpose of educating middle and high school students, provide instruction on the history of genocide consistent with the content standards articulated in the history and social science curriculum framework." This grant supports LEAs to develop and/or select curriculum materials, implement professional development, and design other enriching learning experiences intended to further secondary students' understanding of the history and patterns of genocide. LEAs may propose to collaborate with vendors to support this work.

Priorities:

DESE seeks to fund genocide education initiatives that exemplify:

• Equity. Grant-funded projects should increase all students' access to high-quality genocide education experiences and work to address historical inequities where they exist. In addition, projects should provide students with culturally and linguistically sustaining learning experiences that value and affirm their identities and linguistic resources, center student and community agency, and develop students' critical perspectives. Supports for multilingual learners should be developed in alignment with the 2020 WIDA English Language Development Framework.

• Sustainability. Grant-funded projects should take steps toward long-term enhancements to genocide education, including, but not limited to, the development of supportive instructional leadership structures. Investments such as professional development for educators or acquisition of needed instructional materials can provide benefits long past the period of this grant, as opposed to "one-off" activities.

• Community Partnership. Grant-funded projects should include opportunities to work in partnership with relevant organizations and/or engage local community members. Examples include (but are not limited to): partnering with organizations with expertise in genocide education, partnering with local community-based organizations, soliciting input from relevant community stakeholders, and designing learning opportunities at local sites.

Competitive priority in the scoring process will also be given to:

• Districts and schools in chronically underperforming status

• LEAs that have not previously been awarded a Genocide Education Grant

• LEAs with a student population in which greater than 40% are designated as low-income.

• Grant-funded projects that enhance the antibias impact of their work by strengthening students' sense of safety and belonging in school. This may include learning about the relationship and differences between bullying, hate, prejudice, bias, and factors that can potentially lead to or disrupt violence and genocide, and/or applying these concepts to modern-day contexts and examples relevant to the school community. These efforts may also include work grounded in an analysis of available data [such as from the Views of Climate and Learning (VOCAL) and Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)].

Eligibility:

All Massachusetts Local Education Agencies (districts, charter schools, and Collaboratives) are eligible to apply. LEAs that received funds via the FY24 FC215 Genocide Education Continuation Grant are eligible to apply as long as their application explains why the additional funds are necessary to support their project.

In order to be eligible for this grant, LEAs must have completed their Curriculum Data Collection. As of Fall 2024, this includes reporting curriculum data for History/Social Science for Grades 3–8 and high school US History I.

Data should be viewable and up to date here: Curriculum Data - ELA Statewide Report. Directions about the expectations and how to provide the data can be found here: Curriculum Data Collection.

Please Note: For LEAs applying for grant funding from the One8 Foundation to support implementation of DESE's Investigating History curriculum:

LEAs may apply for both this grant and funding through the One8 Foundation. However, in an effort to support as many LEAs as possible, LEAs that are awarded One8 grant funding to support one or both of these curricula will not receive curriculum or professional learning funds from the Civics Teaching and Learning Grant to support the same grant activities (e.g. to fund professional learning for the same curriculum).

Funding Type:

Trust

Funding:

Approximately $2,000,000 is available through this grant. Total amount of awards will be determined based on quality of proposals received.

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.

This RFP is the governing document for these grant funds.

Maximum award is determined by the total student enrollment of the applying LEA or group of LEAs if applying as a partnership.

1. Size Tier 1: LEAs or LEA groups enrolling up to 1,000 students (total)
   May apply for up to $20,000

2. Size Tier 2: LEAs or LEA groups enrolling 1,001–6,000 students (total)
   May apply for up to $40,000

3. Size Tier 3: LEAs or LEA groups enrolling 6,001 or more students (total)
   May apply for up to $70,000

4. Size Tier 4: LEAs or LEA groups enrolling 10,001 or more students (total)
   May apply for up to $100,000

Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. Funds will be awarded based upon the number of high-quality proposals received.

Fund Use:

LEAs may propose initiatives in one or more of the following categories:

• Curriculum: Development, adoption and implementation, and/or purchase of curriculum that focuses on topics outlined in the genocide education legislation and/or the History and Social Science Framework related to genocide education. Curriculum may be implemented in history and social science courses as well as in other subject areas (e.g., English language arts). Applicants are encouraged to build upon existing quality curricular resources and to incorporate frameworks that can build students' conceptual knowledge. All curricular materials should be thoughtfully integrated if supplementing pre-existing curriculum. As LEAs select supplemental and/or core curriculum, they should ensure that materials chosen meet their expectations for high quality in areas such as standards alignment, classroom tasks and instruction and support for all students. LEAs should consult the HSS CURATE rubric , the information and recommendations in the K-12 History/Social Science Curricular Materials Guide, and their own review process in identifying materials to use.

• Professional Development: Training for educators that focuses on the implementation of curriculum materials, content knowledge, and/or pedagogical strategies related to the teaching of the history of genocide. Applicants are encouraged to incorporate training activities that build educators' skills in discussing sensitive material with students.

• Enrichment: Other learning activities designed to deepen students' understanding of the history of genocide and connect it to local context. Potential activities include (but are not limited to): field trips to relevant local sites or museums, visits from experts or individuals directly impacted by genocide, opportunities for students to view performances or other cultural events related to the history of genocide.

Fund use may include, but is not limited to:

• Stipends for teachers and administrators to participate in professional development or planning for work outside of contractual hours, and/or to cover the costs of substitutes

• Purchasing curriculum/instructional materials related to topics outlined in the genocide education legislation and/or the History and Social Science Framework related to genocide education, and/or purchasing associated professional development to support implementation

• Contracting with external partners, including non-profit organizations, institutions of higher education, and professional development providers

• Student transportation and/or costs associated with special events or experiential learning opportunities

Funding restrictions:

• No funds may be used toward out-of-state travel.

• No funds may be dedicated toward salaries.

• No funds may be used to purchase technology (e.g., Smart Boards, iPads).

• No greater than 5% of funds may be dedicated toward administrative costs associated with the grant.

Project Duration:

Upon Approval (no earlier than July 1, 2025) – June 30, 2026

Program Unit:

Office of Literacy and Humanities
Center for Instructional Support

Contact:

Miesha Keita

Date Due:

Friday February 28, 2025
Proposals must be received at the Department by 5:00 p.m. Eastern on the date due.

Competitive grant applications are considered submitted when the grant application is submitted by the Superintendent or their designee through the "LEA Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved" step in GEM$. In order to be considered for competitive funding, applicants must submit a grant application through the LEA Superintendent Approved stage by the due date and time listed in the RFP.

All responses must be submitted through proper steps and received by the due date/time listed above. Failure to do so will result in disqualification. Responses not received on time will not be reviewed. Applicants applying after the due date may be notified their application was received late and will not be reviewed. Applications must be submitted as directed in the Submissions Instructions below. Failure to do so may result in disqualification. If you need assistance with submitting your application, please reach out to the contact person listed on this funding opportunity.

Additional Information:

A webinar accessible to all LEAs will be held on January 15, 2024 from 4–5pm. This webinar will focus on both the Civics Teaching and Learning Grant and the Genocide Education Grant. LEAs may register for the webinar at this link: History/Social Science Grants Webinar Meeting Registration.

Additionally, office hours will be held on January 29, 10–11am and February 12, 4–5pm. During these sessions, LEAs may book a 10-minute meeting to learn more about the Civics Teaching and Learning Grant and/or the Genocide Education Grant. Due to the competitive nature of these grants, DESE can only answer questions and provide information about the grant opportunities and will not provide feedback or insight into draft proposals.

Questions may be submitted on a rolling basis through February 14, 2024. Responses will be posted regularly on DESE's History, Social Science, and Civics web page.

For more information about evaluating instructional materials, please see DESE's K-12 History/Social Science Curricular Materials Guide, which includes the Social Studies Curricular Materials Rubric .

Submission Instructions:

The FY26 FC 0215 Genocide Education 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$)

New organizations that do not have an established LEA with DESE skip to Step 3.

Step 1: Establish and assign proper roles before the grant due date/time. 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 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. These forms can be accessed without logging in to the system.

Step 2: Submit the grant through all LEA steps in GEM$. There are three LEA steps a competitive grant must be submitted through by the due date and time to be considered for funding:

• Grantwriter Submitted

• LEA Fiscal Representative Approved

• LEA Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved

Competitive grant applications are considered submitted once the grant application is submitted by the Superintendent or their designee through the "LEA Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved" step in GEM$. In order to be considered for competitive funding, applicants must submit a grant application through the LEA Superintendent Approved stage by the due date and time listed in the RFP. Please plan accordingly.

The Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved Step allows for the organization lead to review and approve the grant application. Removing the requirement for the Part I Standard Contract Form, this step signifies Superintendent /Chief Executive sign off. Any grant budget changes requiring signature, will re-execute this step when amended signifying the organization lead is approving these changes.

Step 3: (If applicable) New organizations request temporary organization access. New organizations are entities that have not been established as an LEA in GEM$. Entities that do not have an organization established in GEM$ must contact the DESE Program Unit issuing this grant at a minimum 5 business days prior to the grant due date for temporary organization access.

Temporary Access will need to be created by DESE before you can then assign the proper roles and submit the grant as outlined in Steps 1 and 2.

Failure to provide DESE with GEM$ Temp Organization Access Request at least 5 business days prior to the due date may result in not meeting the submission due date listed above. DESE cannot accept or review applications after the due date.

Last Updated: December 18, 2024