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Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs

FY2026: Civics Teaching and Learning

Fund Code: 0589

Purpose:

The purpose of this one-year competitive grant program is to support civics teaching and learning, as required by Chapter 296 of the Acts of 2018 and emphasized in the 2018 History and Social Science Framework.

This grant supports curriculum, professional development, and/or collaborative planning designed to further students' civic knowledge, skills and dispositions. This year, DESE is particularly interested in supporting work to provide meaningful civic learning experiences to students in grades K–5, but will consider proposals focused on strengthening civics teaching and learning at any grade level. Proposals may include interdisciplinary elements or other opportunities for civic learning beyond the history/social science classroom.

In addition, the grant supports implementation of grade 8 and high school civics projects, the hosting of local civics project showcases, participation in the Massachusetts Civics Project Showcases, and other enrichment activities focused on meaningful civic learning.

For details about the civics projects and other civics instructional information, please visit Civics.

Priorities:

DESE seeks to fund civics teaching and learning initiatives that exemplify:

  • Equity. Grant-funded projects should increase all students' access to high-quality civic learning 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.

  • Civic deeper learning. Grant-funded projects should help students master civic knowledge, skills and dispositions, appropriate to grade-level standards, through creat

  • Sustainability. Grant-funded projects should take steps toward long-term enhancements to civics teaching and learning, 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.

Competitive priority in the scoring process will be given to:

  • Districts and schools in chronically underperforming status

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

  • Proposals that include grant activities in grades K–5

  • LEAs that have not previously received a Civics Teaching and Learning Grant

Eligibility:

All Massachusetts Local Education Agencies (districts, charter schools, and Collaboratives) are eligible to apply.

Curriculum Data Collection: In order to be eligible for this grant, districts must have completed their LEAs 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 or the Democratic Knowledge Project's Civic Engagement in Our Democracy curriculum:

Funding Type:

Trust

Funding:

Approximately $1,000,000 is available through this grant. Total amount of awards will be determined based on quality of proposals received.

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.

Maximum award is determined by the total student enrollment of the applying LEA (or group of LEAs 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 $60,000
Fund Use:

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.

This grant may fund projects within one or more of the following categories.

  • Purchase and/or development of curricular materials intended to further students' civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions at any grade level. All curricular materials should be thoughtfully integrated if supplementing pre-existing curriculum. Note that for Grades K–5 and 8, curricular materials must be among those listed in DESE's K–12 History/Social Science Curricular Materials Guide. Districts should review all curricular materials to determine that they meet their expectations for high quality in areas such as standards alignment, classroom tasks and instruction and support for all students; the HSS CURATE rubric may be a helpful resource to leverage in selecting and reviewing materials.

  • Professional development and/or collaborative planning for teachers and/or administrators focused on curriculum implementation and/or instruction of civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions in any grade level.

  • Support for student-led civics projects, as required by Chapter 296 of the Acts of 2018 and described in the Civics Project Guidebook, in grade 8 and/or high school.

  • Hosting of local civics project showcases and/or participation in a Massachusetts Regional Civics Project Showcase.

  • Experiential civic learning opportunities (e.g. field trips to the State House, visits to local government offices, after school opportunities). Experiential learning should be meaningfully connected to the curriculum and may not include out-of-state travel.

Fund use may include, but is not limited to:

  • Stipends for teachers and administrators to participate in professional development or planning, including but not limited to DESE's Civics Pathways, or for work outside of contractual hours.

  • Purchasing curriculum/instructional materials and/or associated professional development to support implementation (for Grades K–8, this must be either Investigating History or materials listed in DESE's K-12 History/Social Science Curricular Materials Guide).

  • Contracting with external partners, including institutions of higher education, professional development providers, or after-school providers.

  • Funds for substitute teachers to allow for educator participation in professional development.

  • Student transportation costs associated with hosting or participating in a local civics project showcase, student participation in a Massachusetts Civics Project Showcase, and/or experiential learning activities.

  • Supplies associated with implementing the student-led civics project.

  • Supplies, venue rental, and/or other costs associated with hosting a local civics project showcase.

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.

  • If funds are being used to support curriculum implementation in grades K-8, curricular materials must either be Investigating History or be among those listed as highlighted materials in DESE's K-12 History/Social Science Curricular Materials Guide.

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:

Rebekah Judson

Date Due:

Friday, February 28, 2025*
Proposals must be received at the Department by 5:00 p.m. 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: .

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.

Please refer to resources provided by the Mass Civics Learning Coalition for information about the civics legislation, civics teaching and learning materials, and partners.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will be evaluating the impact of this grant. Grant recipients may be required to share a description of the outcomes of the grant and/or to submit grant-funded products; recipients may also be required to provide an external evaluator access to observe or attend grant activities. Educators in recipient districts may be asked to complete surveys or respond to questions regarding their work with the grant funds.

Submission Instructions:

The FY26 FC 0589 Civics Teaching and Learning Grant will be submitted in our 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 Reques t 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

 
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