Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs

FY2024: Computer Science (CS) Engage Grant

Fund Code: 126

Purpose:

The purpose of this state competitive grant is to establish and promote rigorous, engaging, and standards-aligned digital literacy and computer science (DLCS) education in public schools for kindergarten through grade 12. The CS Engage grant is intended to run until December of 2026, pending appropriation, and will provide funding for DLCS Planning and Implementation.

Best practices for DLCS planning and implementation include the creation of a district team to enact the changes needed to create rigorous, inclusive, and sustainable K–12 DLCS education. To participate in this grant, districts will form a District Team to include at least:

one district administrator,
one school leader, and
one DLCS teacher

Through this grant, the District Team will take part in Planning Activities (Anticipated September to June 30, 2024) and, if approved for a continuation grant, Implementation Activities (Upon Approval (no earlier than July 1, 2024) to June 30, 2025).

During Planning Activities (Anticipated September to June 30, 2024), the District Team will:

Engage in an in-depth, facilitated process to develop a DLCS Implementation Plan for their district
Select DLCS high quality instructional material (HQIM) curriculum for a selected grade span (K–2, 3–5, 6–8, or 9–12) for SY2025
Plan for DLCS educator, administrator, counselor, and coach Professional Development (PD) during July and August 2024 (note: the funding for PD will be included in the CS Engage Implementation Grant)
Identify educators to attend an Intro to Computer Science workshop in April or June 2024

If approved for a continuation grant, during Implementation Activities (Upon Approval (no earlier than July 1, 2024) – June 30, 2025) district educators will:

Attend summer curriculum PD (up to 6 days) as well as school follow-up PD for select curriculum. Educators attending PD will receive stipends
Use funding to purchase classroom devices (excluding student computers) associated with the selected curriculum
Receive stipends or substitute reimbursement for up to two (2) curriculum planning days
Have the option of attending school year professional learning communities (PLC) as a support to their implementation efforts.

This grant is intended to a be a three-year grant, providing districts with the support and funding to develop and implement a DLCS Implementation plan. DESE recommends that the first year focus on middle grades (6-8) implementation. However, a district may opt to focus on another grade span (K–2, 3–5, or 9–12), provided they justify their selection.

Priorities:

This grant supports the creation of new programs and/or expansion of existing programs to serve more students who are the most underserved (including but not limited to students designated as economically disadvantaged, English language learners, special education, underrepresented minorities, underrepresented females, and those living in rural areas).

Competitive Priority will be given to:

Districts serving traditionally underserved student populations, including students of color, English learners, students with disabilities, and students from low-income families.
Application reviewers will pull student demographic data directly from District Profiles pages.
Districts that have not received grant support from other DESE DLCS grant programs.
Districts that are not currently implementing DLCS at one or more schools at the selected grade span.
Districts and schools in chronically underperforming status and the Strategic Transformation Region

Eligibility:

Massachusetts public school districts (including Regional and Charter districts) are eligible to apply for funding.

Curriculum Data must be up to date on DESE District Profiles for K–8 ELA/Literacy, K–12 math, and 6–8 Science by the time of the grant due date. To check if this information is complete, check the statewide Curriculum report. Or, visit your District Profiles page via Profiles Search, and select Curriculum Data from the left-hand navigation. If the required data is not complete or up to date, details and directions on how to enter or update this data can be found at Curriculum Data Collection webpage.

Previous DL Now grant recipient information:

Districts which received three (3) years of grant funding through the DL Now grant are ineligible for the CS Engage Grant.
Districts which received two (2) years of grant funding through the DL Now grant are eligible for only one (1) year of the CS Engage Grant.
Districts which received one (1) year of grant funding through the DL Now grant are eligible for only two (2) years of the CS Engage Grant.

Funding Type:

Trust

Funding:

Approximately $80,000 is available.

Recipients may be eligible for continuations for up to three additional years in the CS Engage program. Approximately $345,000 of additional funding for Implementation Activities from July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025 will be available through the CS Engage Implementation Grant. Over the course of the program (FY2024 – FY2027), funding will be based upon enrollment, needs, and performance. Up to approximately $1,200,000 total may be available for this cohort of recipients. Continuation funding is not guaranteed and is contingent upon successful completion of grant requirements.

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.

The initial level of funding could change during the year based on changes in the awarded program (e.g., grade span(s), number of participants, or number of course(s)). The grant budget may be amended up or down to reflect the program changes. Grant recipients are required to contact the program coordinator to discuss any proposed change to the awarded program.

Fund Use:

This grant will provide funding as well as hands-on support from Department specialists and a Professional Development Coordinator for up to three years for recipients to accomplish the activities listed in the Purpose section of this RFP. Following the grant period, recipients are expected to continue implementing the materials and practices initiated by this grant.

Funds from this grant must be used in alignment with the purpose and priorities outlined and as described in the budget and required program information that is submitted with the application.

Funds may be used for substitutes and expenses for planning and program dissemination. Substitute reimbursements and expenses for the District Team should include:
1. Allocate 2 days for an in-person Strategic CSforALL Planning Tool (SCRIPT) workshop for the District Team.
2. Allocate 3 two-hour virtual meetings for the District Team.
3. Allocate 1 day for an in-person curriculum selection workshop attended by the District Team.
Funds may be used for stipends/salary for the District Team Point of Contact. The District Team Point of Contact maintains the plan and other grant artifacts in an accessible location, collects and reports data, and manages communication with DESE, the Grant Evaluator, and the PD Coordinator. For this role, plan for 1–2 hours/month for the 10 months of the grant.
Funds may be used for educators in the selected grade span to attend an in-person 3-day Intro to CS course during April vacation or the last week in June. These funds will be paid to DESE's contracted Professional Development Provider for the cost of the workshop and educator stipends. DESE's PD Provider will manage all payments of educator stipends.

Note: Grant funds may not be allocated to pay for both a participant's: graduate credit tuition and a stipend; or substitute reimbursement and a stipend. Grant funding may be used for stipends for work outside of work hours.

Project Duration:

Upon Approval – 6/30/2024

Pending appropriation and the meeting of grant requirements, awarded grantees may be eligible for continuation grant(s) in Fiscal Year(s) 2025, 2026, and 2027. Continuation funding is not guaranteed.

Program Unit:

Center for Instructional Support Office / STEM

Contact:

Paula Moore

Date Due:

Friday, July 28, 2023*

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

* All responses must be received by the due date 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.

Required Forms:

Part I — General — Program Unit Signature Page — (Standard Contract Form and Application for Program Grants)
Part II — Budget Details. Please use the "Start Here" tab of the provided template to calculate a budget for FY24. If your district needs to cover Indirect Costs, please use this FY23 Indirect Cost Calculator to do so.
Part III — Program Information

Additional Information:

Please submit all questions to cisgrants@mass.gov by Friday, June 30, 2023. A link to Questions and Answers will be posted on the STEM Grants and Opportunities page.

An information session will be held on Tuesday, June 27, 2023 at 1:00 pm. Please register to attend.

As CS Engage Grant recipients, District and school teams agree to participate in an external, third-party, independent evaluation of the CS Engage Grant activities with the goal of supporting improvements to the training, curricula implementation, and supports. The evaluation methods used with district and school teams may include, but are not limited to, surveys, interviews, and/or focus groups. School and district administrators will support the evaluation by participating in evaluation activities and by supporting teachers' participation in evaluation activities. Additionally, the district administrators will connect the evaluation team with district personnel who can identify appropriate data collection policies. The following is a list of possible school- and district- level data that may be shared between the District, DESE, and/or potential third-party evaluators.

Personnel participation data (e.g., attendance in trainings and implementation meetings)
Implementation data (i.e., measures of curricula implementation fidelity that could be reported by the school/district teams, or through interviews surveys, and other methods)
School and district outcome data related to DLCS classes (e.g., class schedules, student demographics in DLCS classes, student grades, student interest surveys, MCAS scores, etc.)

DESE and all of our research partners are required by federal (FERPA) and state (FIPA) law to protect the confidentiality of individual-level data. Research partners are required to enter into a legal agreement with DESE to ensure the confidentiality of all data and reporting that meets state and federal law as well as DESE's additional suppression rules to ensure that no individual can ever be identified.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education expects grant recipients to share a description of the outcomes of the grant and products as requested to expand the impact of the grant.

Submission Instructions:

Please email the forms listed in the Required Forms section, attached to a single email, to cisgrants@mass.gov .

Please use the subject line: CS Engage from [Entity Name] FC 126

Part I — should contain a wet signature by an authorized signatory and should be converted to a PDF for submission

Part II and Part II — should be submitted in their original Excel and Word formats, respectively

Awarded Recipients: Upon award, recipients will be required to enter the approved application in DESE's online Grants Platform. Once selected, recipients will be contacted with further instructions on the process.

Last Updated: October 23, 2023