Student Opportunity Act (SOA) Plans (FY25–FY27)

The Student Opportunity Act calls for every district and charter school in the Commonwealth to develop 3-year plans that identify key disparities in student learning opportunities and outcomes for the student groups they serve and describe how they will utilize evidence-based approaches and strategies to address those disparities. Plans covering the years FY25–FY27 were due to DESE on April 1, 2024. The SOA legislation requires DESE to post districts' SOA plans on its website; individual districts are also required to post their plans on their district web sites.

Note: SOA Plans from charter schools are due August 1 and will be available in GEM$ until later in the calendar year.

Overview and Background to SOA Plans

Before reading individual district plans, we strongly encourage you to read the brief overview of the Student Opportunity Act and the purpose of SOA Plans on pages 4–5 of the FY24 Student Opportunity Act Plans — Summary Report This report also provides a useful descriptive summary of what districts across the Commonwealth are prioritizing in the SOA plans they will be implementing between FY25–FY27.

Instructions for Accessing a District's SOA Plans

The Instructions for Accessing a District's SOA Plan in GEMS document provides step-by-step directions for locating individual district SOA plans for FY25–FY27, which are now available in DESE's Grants for Education Management System (GEM$).

• A log-in and password are not required to access SOA plans in GEM$.
• You have the option of reading the plan on-line or creating a pdf version of the plan that can be downloaded and printed. (See instructions for details)

Other Links

• FY24 Student Opportunity Act Plan — Summary Report (Versions in Arabic , Chinese , Haitian-Creole , Portuguese , and Spanish )
• Instructions for Accessing a District's SOA Plan in GEMS (Versions in Arabic , Chinese , Haitian-Creole , Portuguese , and Spanish )
• SOA District Resources (additional information on SOA Plans, including SOA Plan guidance, SOA sample plans, and other supports for districts)

Note regarding SOA plans that are not yet accessible in GEM$

Well over 90 percent of districts' SOA Plans are publicly available in GEM$. There are two key reasons why a district's plan is not available in GEM$.

1. The district has not yet submitted its SOA Plan, as required by legislation. Keep in mind that SOA Plans from charter schools were not due until August 1, 2024 and will not be available in GEM$ until later in the calendar year.
2. The district's SOA Plan is still a work in progress. This means that a district's plan has been submitted, but after initial review, it does not yet meet the required criteria for SOA Plans. Once a district's plan meets the criteria, its plan will become publicly available via GEM$.

Note: Districts' and charter schools' original 3-year gap-closing plans (SOA Plans) can be accessed on the Districts' Original 3-year Gap-Closing Plans page.

Last Updated: October 4, 2024