FY2023: Title III, Part A: Immigrant Children and Youth

Fund Code: 186

Purpose:

The federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title III Immigrant grant provides supplemental resources to local school districts to provide enhanced instructional opportunities for immigrant children and youth.

Priorities:

The priorities of Title III Immigrant grant are to provide enhanced instructional opportunities for immigrant children and youth that it serves. These include:

• Family literacy, parent and family outreach, and training activities designed to assist parents and families to become active participants in the education of their children;

• Recruitment of, and support for personnel, including teachers and paraprofessionals who have been specifically trained, or are being trained, to provide services to immigrant children and youth;

• Provision of tutorials, mentoring, and academic or career counseling for immigrant children and youth;

• Identification, development, and acquisition of curricular materials, educational software, and technologies to be used in the program;

• Basic instruction services that are directly attributable to the presence of immigrant children and youth in the LEA, including the payment of costs of providing additional classroom supplies, costs of transportation, or such other costs as are directly attributable to such additional basic instruction services;

• Other instructional services that are designed to assist immigrant children and youth to achieve in elementary and secondary schools in the U.S., such as programs of introduction to the educational system and civics education; and

• Activities, coordinated with community-based organizations, institutions of higher education, private sector entities, or other entities with expertise in working with immigrants, to assist parents and families of immigrant children and youth by offering comprehensive community services.

In addition to the above priorities, the Title III program supports Massachusetts' goals and strategies (listed below) by enhancing grant recipients' capacity to increase students' academic achievement.

State Goal, Core Strategies, and ESSA Priorities

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:

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

Additionally, 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

ESEA 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 may be found in published research papers, literature reviews, or MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) 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.

Eligibility:

Funds will be awarded to eligible districts that have met the following criteria:

• Size of immigrant center: Needed to have 100 or more immigrant students in the district
• Level of need among the immigrant population: The district's percentage of immigrant students who are low income needed to exceed 50%.
• Increase in number: The number of immigrant students enrolled in school year 2023 must be at least 10 more than the average of the prior two years
• Increase in percentage: The percentage of immigrant students enrolled in school year 2023 must be at least 14.5% higher than the average of the prior two years

Please note: ESSA defines "immigrant children and youth" as individuals, who were not born in the United States of America, and who are in his/her first three years of schooling in the United States. For making this determination, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are considered states. A student can be designated as both immigrant and EL for three years. After three years the student can still be designated EL, if they meet EL eligibility criteria, but can no longer be designated as an immigrant student.

Funding Type:

Federal CFDA: 84.365

Funding:

An estimated $1,114,271 will be available for immigrant subgrants to eligible entities. List of districts eligible for FY23 Immigrant grant and allocations .

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:

Under the statute, (ESEA Section 3115 (e)), a district must use the Title III Immigrant Grant to provide enhanced instructional opportunities for immigrant children and youth. Please see the list of activities in the section above labeled, "Priorities." We encourage a district that receives these funds to prioritize activities that will meet the unique needs of the immigrant children and youth enrolled in the district, as well as families of these students.

Title III funds, including the Immigrant grant, must be used to supplement the level of local, state, and federal funds that, in the absence of Title III funds, would otherwise be expended for programs for EL and immigrant children and youth and in no case supplant such federal, state, and local funds.

There is a maximum 2% cap on direct administrative costs, and suggested maximum 20% for supplies and materials, and 15% for travel.

Project Duration:

Upon Approval * – 6/30/2023 (Year 1) **

*Grant start date cannot be prior to DESE receiving a substantially approvable application submission as directed in this RFP's Submission Instructions. Goods and Services cannot be procured prior to Grants receiving and approving an application submission. Funds cannot exceed the project duration end date

**The period of availability for this grant award can be extended beyond Year 1. Extended period as follows: 7/1/2023 – 6/30/2024 (Year 2); 7/1/2024 – 9/30/2024 (Year 3)

Program Unit:

Resource Allocation Strategy and Planning

Contact:

Federal Grants

Phone Number:

(781) 338-6230

Date Due:

Friday, March 31, 2023

Required Forms:

• Title III, Part A Immigrant Grant Affirmation of Consultation with Participating Nonprofit Private Schools — If the private school chooses to participate in receiving equitable services, a completed and signed version of this form must be uploaded as part of the Immigrant Grant Application in the Grants for Education Management System (GEM$).

Additional Information:

• Non-Regulatory Guidance: English Learners and Title III of the ESEA, as amended by the ESSA.

• Title III, Part A Immigrant Grant Quick Reference Guide

• Title III, Part A Quick Reference Guide on allowable and unallowable costs

Submission Instructions:

The FY23 Fund Code 186 Immigrant Children & Youth Application will be submitted in our new GEM$ system. GEM$ is a cloud-based fiscal and program management grant system that will be taking the place of EdGrants.

Each district eligible to receive a FC 186 Immigrant allocation will be contacted and given specific instructions on how to access and navigate the application in GEM$. Please note the Federal Grants program office will be obtaining User Roles for each district level required user.

Last Updated: February 1, 2023