Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs

FY2024: Title I, Part A: Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local School Districts

Fund Code: 0305

Purpose:

Title I, Part A of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provides supplemental resources to local school districts to help provide all children significant opportunity to receive a fair, equitable, and high-quality education, and to close educational achievement gaps.

Title I, Part A is one of four principal programs that are available to districts through formula grants under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the current reauthorization of ESEA. The other programs are Title II, Part A; Title III, Part A; and Title IV, Part A.

Priorities:

The priorities of Title I, Part A are to:

Strengthen the core program in schools and provide academic and/or support services to low-achieving students at the preschool, elementary, middle, and high school levels;
Provide evidence-basedⁱ programs that enable participating students to achieve the learning standards of the state curriculum frameworks;
Elevate the quality of instruction by providing eligible staff with substantial opportunities for professional development; and,
Involve parents/guardians of participating public and private school children as active partners in their children's education at school through open, meaningful communication, training, and, as appropriate, inclusion in decision-making processes.

In addition to the above priorities, the Title I, Part A program supports Massachusetts' goals and strategies (listed below) for increasing student achievement by expanding school districts' capacity to support and educate students with the greatest needs.

State Goal, Core Strategies, ESSA Priorities, and Our Way Forward in Massachusetts initiatives

The goal of Massachusetts' public K–12 education system is to prepare all students for success after high school. Our five core strategies to accelerate the pace of school improvement are:

Strengthening standards, curriculum, instruction, and assessment
Promoting educator development
Supporting social-emotional learning, health, and safety
Turning around the state's lowest performing districts and schools
Enhancing resource allocation and data use

Massachusetts has identified four priority focus areas under its plan for implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act:

Early grades literacy
Middle grades math
High-quality college and career pathways for high school students
Supporting historically disadvantaged subgroups of students

Massachusetts Acceleration Roadmap
Massachusetts has developed a tool to support acceleration of student learning. Schools and districts are encouraged to use the self-assessment resources in the Roadmap to identify key areas of focus and related action steps in their work accelerating learning, and then align their funding requests with these identified steps.

Additionally, districts may explore the use of these funds to support the "Our Way Forward" initiatives. This includes:

Deeper Learning for All
Holistic Support and Enrichment
Innovation and Evidence-Based Practices

Eligibility:

A district is eligible to receive funds based on criteria established by the United States Department of Education (USED). Grants are awarded to local school districts after the state reviews and approves a district's grant application.

Funding Type:

Federal CFDA: 84.010

Federal grant funds must adhere to:

UGG (2 CFR 200)
EDGAR As Applicable
EDGAR General Fiscal Administration 34 CFR Part 76

Funding:

FY24 Fund Code 0305 Title I, Parts A & D District Allocations

FY24 Title I, Parts A & D Detailed Allocation Spreadsheet

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 for allocations, it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document.

Fund Use:

Funds may be used to provide academic, instructional, and support services for eligible students, professional development activities for staff, support for parent involvement activities, and the purchase of appropriate supplies and materials.

Project Duration:

Upon approval* through 6/30/2024 (Year 1)

The period of availability for this grant award can be extended 15 months beyond Year 1. The extended period is as follows: 7/1/2024 – 6/30/2025 (Year 2); 7/1/2025 – 9/30/2025 (Year 3). Note: No more than 15% of the Title I award may be carried beyond 9/30/24, without a waiver of this statutory limit.

*The grant start date cannot be prior to DESE receiving a substantially approvable application submission as directed in this RFPs Submission Instructions. Funds cannot exceed the project duration end date.

Program Unit:

Resource Allocation Strategy and Planning

Contact:

Federal Grant Programs

Phone Number:

(781) 338-6230

Date Due:

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Required Forms:

FY24 Federal Grant Assurances — The FY24 Federal Grant Assurances Signature Page (Page 1 only) completed and signed by the Superintendent/Executive Director and uploaded in GEM$ in the LEA Document Library under Assurances, in folder Federal Entitlement Grant Assurances. We cannot approve any federal entitlement grant without a signed, properly dated and uploaded Federal Grant Assurance signature page.
Title I Schoolwide Program Justification, Assurances, and Waiver Request (required for districts with new Schoolwide school programs and for existing Schoolwide school programs that have fallen below the required 40% poverty threshold.) If applicable, upload instructions may be found on the School Ranking Instructions and Waiver Uploads page in GEM$.

Additional Information:

GEM$ Submission Instructions:

The FY2024 Fund Code 0305 Title I, Part A: Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local School Districts grant will be completed and submitted in our new Grants for Education Management System (GEM$). GEM$ is a cloud-based fiscal and program management grant system that will eventually phase out the use of EdGrants.

ⁱ ESEA encourages, and in select cases requires, states and districts to implement "evidence-based" practices, activities, strategies and interventions with demonstrated evidence of effectiveness. Evidence-based practices refer to interventions for which there is evidence of significant positive impact that can be found in published research papers, literature reviews, or ESE research briefs. Alternately, evidence-based practices can be those local practices that a district or state has previously instituted, measured, and found to be effective. For more information on using, building, and sharing evidence to improve student outcomes, see information on DESE's "The How Do We Know Initiative."

Last Updated: July 11, 2023