Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs

FY2023: Rethinking Grading Pilot

Fund Code: 440

Purpose:

The experimentation with hybrid and remote learning models that occurred throughout the pandemic has provided an opportunity to closely examine and reconsider the way that we measure and report on student learning. At the same time, there is a heightened need to attend to student health and wellness, particularly at the secondary level, as they navigate the transition into life after high school. Finally, consistent with the efforts of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to shift teaching practice to support Deeper Learning, there is an appetite in many communities to reconsider the way they assess and report on student learning on a day-to-day and summative basis, and how this information is communicated to students and families. This includes consideration of transforming the way educators and schools utilize and assign grades for assignments and courses, if/how to calculate GPAs, alternative methods to develop transcripts. This competitive Rethinking Grading Pilot is a two-year project that will create a small, diverse professional learning community of practice of high schools to provide MA exemplars of transformed grading systems (e.g., transcripts, teacher-level grading practice, feedback to students, and grading transparency).

Priorities:

The Rethinking Grading Pilot project prioritizes the following objectives:

Reduce barriers to student engagement and motivation to persist in learning (e.g., the disproportionate impact of a getting a zero for a missing homework assignment), while ensuring strong alignment with local and state graduation requirements.
Promote transparency and empower students to monitor and improve their own learning experiences and performance.
Support deeper learning experiences and rigorous course taking while:
1. Minimizing perverse incentives that drive "game-playing" behavior—and increase stress and anxiety (e.g., AP overload, students arguing for "plusses", not taking electives or challenging "stretch" courses to avoid negatively impacting GPA)
2. Avoiding any adverse impacts to students' post-secondary opportunities, namely higher education admissions and scholarship opportunities.

Competitive priority will be given to districts and schools in chronically underperforming status.

Note: If time and additional resources permit, the project may also identify/support development/refinement of variables and structures within Student Information Systems that can support this new approach to grading.

Eligibility:

Public school districts (including charter schools) may apply on behalf of one high school to become a part of a pilot cohort of up to 5 high schools that will ideally represent the following categories (not necessarily mutually exclusive): Vocational-Technical, Suburban, Urban, and Rural. Potential applicants should carefully review the Part III required program information prompts (focused on leadership and stakeholder support for the systems change envisioned by this project and the steps already taken to implement competency-based grading practices, among other factors) to determine whether this pilot project is a good fit for the district. Potential applicants may also want to attend one of the two bidder's conferences for more information.

Priority will be given to high schools that:

serve a majority of the district's high school students in order to maximize the potential for district-wide policy change, and/or
do not consider prior academic performance for admissions into the high school

The Department reserves the right to consider additional factors such as geographic distribution (rural, urban, and suburban) and diversity of applicant schools (comprehensive, vocational-technical and charter) in making final award decisions.

Funding Type:

Federal (CFDA) 84.425D and 84.425U Federal Coronavirus Relief Programs - Federal Grant Programs

Funding:

Approximately $1,500,000 in federal funding is available for grants of up to $300,000 ($150,000 per fiscal year) per recipient to participate in this two-year pilot project in FY23 and FY24. FY24 continuation funding is contingent upon successful completion of agreed-upon project milestones.

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.

Fund Use:

Funds must be used to support robust participation in the pilot project, including the allocation of a full-time-equivalent lead educator(s) who is/are released from other duties to lead the school and district's participation in the project. Funds may also be used for:

Stipends for additional staff support
Expert consultant services to provide additional analysis and expertise for local systems change
Costs to support an inclusive and equitable process to gather input from staff, students, families, higher education partners, and other community stakeholders institutional partners

Project Duration:

FY2023 — Year 1: 7/1/2022 – 6/30/2023
FY2024 — Year 2: 7/1/2023 – 8/31/2024*

*Year 2 continuation funding would be available upon successful completion of agreed-upon project milestones in Year 1.

Grantees will have to submit continuation grant applications in EdGrants in the Spring of Year 1 to obtain the FY24 continued funding.

Program Unit:

College, Career and Technical Education

Contact:

Cliff Chuang

Phone Number:

781-338-3222

Date Due:

Friday, April 15, 2022
Proposals must be received at the Department by 5:00 pm on the date due.

Required Forms:

Additional Information:

Info Sessions on this RFP will be held via Zoom on

March 24, 2022 from 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Register at Zoom Meeting Registration

And

March 28, 2022 from 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Register at Zoom Meeting Registration

Questions and Answers for the Rethinking Grading Pilot

Submission Instructions:

Proposals must be submitted electronically by 5:00 pm by April 15, 2022 via email to ccte@mass.gov

Pages that exceed the above page limits will not be reviewed and scored. Required forms, appendices, and the budget workbook are not included in these page limits.

Note: DESE reserves the right to conduct an interview or a site visit prior to award.

Awarded Recipients: Upon award, recipients will be required to enter the approved budget and Part I in EdGrants. Once selected, recipients will be contacted with further instructions on the process users.

Last Updated: June 16, 2022