FY2019: Massachusetts 21^st Century Community Learning Centers - Exemplary Programs Grant

Fund Code: 646

Purpose:

Supported with federal funds the purpose of this competitive Exemplary Grant Program is to expand and enhance a statewide network of high quality 21^st CCLC programs that will serve as mentors and resources to new and existing programs.

Priorities:

• Implementing culturally relevant and engaging approaches to learning during Out-of-School Time (OST) and/or Expanded Learning Time (ELT), which are aligned to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's (Department) goals and strategies .
• Providing innovative academic enrichment programming that meets the specific academic, social emotional and developmental needs of students.
• Increasing motivation to learn through relevant, hands-on programming that includes but is not limited to high quality Project Based and Service Learning.
• Developing strong collaboration and partnerships for planning and implementation in order to align and leverage resources, improve program quality, and develop shared outcomes for success.
• Providing innovative shared professional development opportunities for teachers, administrators, and community based partners.
• Using data effectively in designing programming that addresses student needs and interests and demonstrates continuous program improvement efforts.
• Providing engaging summer programming that addresses the summer learning slide and supports the successful transition of students into elementary (including pre-K to K), middle and or high school.
• Engaging families in meaningful ways and building strong school-community partnerships to support student outcomes in all developmental areas as described above.
• Contributing to decreasing chronic absenteeism and increasing the graduation rate.
• Developing sustainable models for supporting additional quality learning time.

Key Requirements:

Requirements for applicants:

• [OST] Applicants must offer at least 400 hours of comprehensive OST programming at a school/site during the school-year and summer for a selected population of students. Enrolled students are not expected to attend all 400 hours; however, it is expected that students will attend the programming an average of a minimum of 80 – 100 hours per year.

• [ELT] Applicants must offer a minimum of 300 expanded learning program hours for students during and/or outside of the traditional school days. (Please note this is an increase from the original FY16 required hours due to new ESSA requirements for ELT):

  Schools must continue to provide a school schedule that increases the total number of hours required for all students by a minimum of 180 hours and reflect a total of a minimum of 1,245 hours (for elementary schools) and 1,305 hours (for secondary schools);

  And

  Provide at least 120 hours of summer programming for a select population of students who could benefit from additional learning time OR the difference between 300 hours and the number of hours added to the school schedule so that the total combined hours offered is at least 300. Please note if the school currently offers summer programming, they may propose to use these funds to propose to provide programming that supports the above noted priorities during February and April vacations.

All funded programs must also:

• Have a part or full time (FT) coordinator responsible for overseeing the grant. For districts/communities with multiple sites, this position should be district/community wide. Programs should also designate a site-based coordinator responsible for the daily operation of grant-funded programming.
• Serve as mentors, models, and resources for new and existing 21^st CCLC programs as well as state-funded out of-school time grant recipients across the Commonwealth.
• Share lessons learned and promising practices.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of the 21^st CCLC statewide regional networks.
• Address all the areas outlined in the Priorities section.
• The district/site(s) must commit to participating in an evaluation component to measure the impact these programs have on students.
• [OST] Submit Program Activity Forms within two weeks of the start of each session.
• Implement the Department-developed Survey of Academic Youth Outcomes (SAYO) and Assessment of Program Practices Tool (APT-O) evaluation tools.
• Submit data to the Department three times each year (including summer) on students who are enrolled in programs and services funded by this grant.
• Attend 21st CCLC coordinators meetings and trainings.
• Contribute information about promising practices through promising practices forums, regional networks, etc.

The following is the minimum approximate amount of time a program/site coordinator is expected to devote to mentoring-related activities, by site type:

• Promising Sites — 15%

• Practitioner Sites — 20%

• Demonstration Sites — 25%

Eligibility:

Promising Site Grants — For schools/sites that received a FY16 FC647 B1 as well as the corresponding continuation and have met all grant and eligibility requirements (detailed below).

• Practitioner Site Grants — There are not any sites eligible for Practitioner level in FY19.

• Demonstration Site Grants — For schools/sites that received a FY16 FC formerly 647-B2 grant as well as the corresponding continuation grants and have met all grant and eligibility requirements (detailed below).

Applicants may apply for this Exemplary Program Grant for all or a subset of their sites that are eligible.

Applicants must have met the following requirements throughout their grant funding cycle, or clearly demonstrate how the issues related to not meeting the requirement(s) have been addressed successfully. These items relate specifically and exclusively to the individual site(s) included with the submitted application.

• Submitted data and all other required forms to the Department within required time frames.

• Conducted Assessment of Program Practices (APT) observations.

• Attended 21^st CCLC coordinator meetings (district coordinators and others as applicable), and participated in Department-sponsored 21st CCLC professional development opportunities (district and site coordinators and other program staff as applicable).

• [OST] Maintained consistent attendance levels, with students participating during the school year on average at least 80 hours for high schools, 90 for middle schools, and 100 for elementary schools (not including students that withdrew).

• [OST] Served a percentage of students with high needs (as defined by the Department's accountability system) that is above the school wide percentage of that student subgroup.

• [OST] Operated each site for at least the required minimum 400 hours of operation.

• [ELT] Offered at least 180 additional hours for all students as part of the required school day/year during which students participated in additional enrichment and intervention.

Applicants for Demonstration Sites must also have met the following the requirements:

• Served in a mentoring capacity for 21st CCLC programs and/or other out-of-school time programs in the state.

• Conducted an APT-O Peer visit.

• Actively participated in the regional network.

Funding Type:

Federal CFDA 84.287

Funding:

A total of approximately $2,500,000 is projected to be available.

Applicants are eligible to apply for up to a maximum of 85% of their FY18 grant award or $50,000 per site (whichever is more). See Addendum D for amounts. If applicants choose to apply for fewer sites than those eligible, maximum funding amounts will be prorated.

Eligible entities (and maximum amounts for which they can apply) are listed in Addendum A- Eligible Entities and Maximum Request Amounts, which can be found in the Additional Information section below.

[ELT] may apply for up to an additional $20,000 to support the additional 120 hours. Please refer to eligibility section for details on the requirements.

Applicants are required to demonstrate, through a combination of matching funds, in-kind resources, and/or collaborations/partnerships, their ability to, at minimum, sustain originally funded programming levels. Those resources must be linked directly to supporting programming and services at the applicant schools/sites.

All or any portion of the match may come in the form of in-kind contributions and coordination with other grant programs and/or services. Programs are encouraged to coordinate services with efforts funded through other federal and state dollars and these efforts can contribute to providing a similar level and quality of services.

Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding is to become available it will be distributed under the same guideline as listed in the initial RFP document.

Fund Use:

Funds must be used solely to support, enhance, and/or provide related programming and activities that address the Purpose, Priorities, and Key Requirements, detailed above, and may include salaries, stipends, contracts, instructional materials, and other expenses associated with implementing additional time.

These funds may not be used to supplant existing costs, which would otherwise be funded (in the absence of these grant funds) from other sources (e.g., current salary levels, current transportation costs, instructional materials already being used during the school day, etc.).

Note:

• Mentoring activities and related staff time and expenses that may be funded through this grant include, but are not limited to the items detailed in Addendum E — Mentoring Expectations that can be found in the Additional Information section below.

• No more than 10% may be used for program materials, not including materials used for mentoring purposes.

• Budgets may not include any Indirect Costs.

[ELT] Funds for the required longer school-day/year may not be used to supplant existing teacher salaries; however, funds may be used for stipends or salaries related to providing enrichment or intervention for students as part of ELT.

Project Duration:

Upon Approval (no earlier than 09/01/2018) – 08/31/2019

Eligibility for continued funding in years two and three (FY20 and FY21) will be based on evidence that the program has met the key requirements and the priorities of this grant including maintenance of attendance levels [OST] and program quality and as evidence that the grantee is working towards sustaining the program beyond the grant period.

Program Unit:

Office of Student and Family Support

Contact:

Karyl Resnick

Phone Number:

(781) 338-3515

Date Due:

Friday, May 25, 2018

See the Submission Instructions section below for additional details.

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

Required Forms:

Part I — General Program Unit Signature Page (Standard Contract Form and Application for Program Grants)

Excel budget/budget narrative for school year and summer activities/expenditures

Part IIIA and IIIB — Program Narrative Information

Addendum A — Grant Assurances

Addendum B — Documentation of Consultation with Non-Public Schools - Please Note: Under Title IX (Uniform Provisions) School districts are mandated to consult with non-public school administrators about the non-public school students' needs and how those needs can be best addressed by federal programs. This must occur in a timely and meaningful way during the design and development of the program. All applicants must provide equitable services to non-public school students and their families, if those students are part of the target population.

Addendum C — SAYO Outcomes Selection and APT Information

Addendum D — Eligible Entities and Maximum Requests Amounts

 

Recipients will be required to utilize the Survey of Academic and Youth Outcomes (SAYO) for all students served by these funds.

Additional Information:

Addendum E — Mentoring Requirements and Expectations

Addendum F — Elements of Exemplary Programs

 

Note: The proposal submitted by the applicant will be worth approximately 70% of each applicant's overall score. Information gathered by the Department through data collection and ratings from FY18 site visits will contribute to approximately 30% of the applicant's overall score.

 

Additional Submission Details
The narrative pages (Part IIIA and Part IIIB) must be numbered with a one inch margin. The font size should be no smaller than 10-point Arial type. It is in the best interest of the applicants to ensure that the proposal is easy to read, is developed logically in accordance with grant priorities, and addresses each question fully.

Submission Instructions:

Email one complete application to cclc@doe.mass.edu and mail one complete hard copy of Parts IIIA and IIIB for each applicant site, excel budget pages and Addendum A-D to:

Karyl Resnick
Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education
21st Century Community Learning Centers Program
75 Pleasant Street
Malden, MA 02148

Awarded Recipients: Upon award, recipients will be required to enter the approved budget, and attach the Part I, Part IIIA and IIIB, and Addendum A-D in EdGrants. Once selected, recipients will be contacted with further instructions on the process.

Last Updated: April 19, 2018