FY2024: English Learner Education Support

Fund Code: 0181

Purpose:

This competitive grant program, aligned with the DESE Educational Vision , is one of the multiple ways DESE is supporting districts that have English learners and wish to implement new and innovative ELE programs and supports for innovative ELE programs, while also providing districts with an opportunity to create a more culturally and linguistically diverse workforce.

There are four goals for the grant. Districts may apply for funding to fulfill any one or more of the four goals:

Goal 1: Develop and/or implement an alternative bilingual ELE program for English learners.

Goal 2: Create (and cultivate) or continue a "grow your own" bilingual education hub that would support and encourage statewide initiative and collaboration, improve the Bilingual Education educator pipeline, share knowledge to accelerate the adoption of proven and recognized programmatic models for English learners, and develop successful models that can be replicated for years to come.

Goal 3: (New This Year) Create (and cultivate) a "grow your own" ESL Teacher hub that would improve the ESL educator pipeline and will provide training alongside a mentor teacher and concurrent coursework in the area of ESL licensure.

Goal 4: Develop high quality ESL and/or dual language curriculum or enrich the existing ESL and/or dual language curriculum, or align purchased curricular materials to WIDA Standards / MA Frameworks that prioritize deeper learning and the linguistic and academic needs of multilingual learners.

Priorities:

Priorities for Goal 1

The intended outcomes for Goal 1 are as follows:

• Explore the components of a bilingual English learner education (ELE) program in preparation for developing a proposal the following school year (i.e., launch an exploratory year).
• Develop a proposal for a new bilingual English learner education (ELE) program and successfully complete DESE's review process; or
• Develop a proposal for improving an existing bilingual ELE program; or
• Within the existing ELE program the district is proposing to improve, develop a proposal to implement culturally and linguistically sustaining teaching practices that promote equity and social justice and that reflect the principles of the Vision for English Learner Education and Blueprint for EL Success and DESE's Educational Vision.

Applicants for Goal 1 must:

• Partner with an Institution of Higher Education that has an approved Bilingual Education Program in place.
• Partner with an association of bilingual educators
• Ensure that all targeted groups listed in Part III of the required forms are included in the plan proposal.

For more information, please see the attached Part III Goal 1.

Priorities for Goal two (2):

The intended outcomes for Goal 2 are as follows:

• Increase the number of qualified bilingual education teachers in the district.
• Encourage and support bilingual students, parents, community members, paraprofessionals, and teachers to become teachers in bilingual education settings.
• Build systems to implement effective bilingual education programs.

For more information, please see the attached Part III Goal 2.

Priorities for Goal three (3):

The intended outcomes of Goal 3 are as follows:

• Increase the number of qualified ESL teachers in the district.
• Encourage and support students, parents, community members, paraprofessionals and teachers to become ESL teachers serving in various ELE program types.

For more information, please see the attached Part III Goal 3.

Priorities for Goal four (4):

The intended outcomes of Goal 4 are as follows:

• Increase the achievement of multilingual learners in meeting their linguistic and academic goals by developing high quality curricula with a learner-centered approach.
• Provide multilingual learners with access to ESL and DL curricula that promote deeper learning by focusing on mastery of language and academic standards, support students' cultural and racial heritage by elevating student identity and include tasks and content that lead to student creativity.
• Provide the teachers of multilingual learners with high quality curricula that will support high-quality instruction with a clear scope and sequence and standard-based learning goals, referencing the Next Generation ESL Toolkit for ESL curriculum and CAL's Guiding Principles for DL curriculum.
• ESL curriculum meets the criteria for high quality as defined by the DESE's new Evaluating High Quality NGESL Instructional Materials (HQIM-NGESL) Rubric .

For more information, please see the attached Part III Goal 4.

Note: Competitive priority will be given to districts and schools in chronically underperforming status and the Strategic Transformation Region.

Eligibility:

This competitive grant program is designed for districts, charter schools, regional schools and collaboratives that commit to:

1. Develop and/or implement an alternative bilingual ELE program for English learners.
2. Create (and cultivate) or continue a "grow your own" bilingual education hub that would support and encourage statewide initiative and collaboration, improve the Bilingual Education educator pipeline, share knowledge to accelerate the adoption of proven and recognized programmatic models for English learners, and develop successful models that can be replicated for years to come
3. Create (and cultivate) a "grow your own" ESL Teacher hub that would improve the ESL educator pipeline and will provide training alongside a mentor teacher and concurrent coursework in the area of ESL licensure.
4. Develop high quality ESL and/or dual language curriculum or enrich the existing ESL and/or dual language curriculum, or align purchased curricular materials to WIDA Standards / MA Frameworks that prioritizes deeper learning and the linguistic and academic needs of multilingual learners.

Applicants must:

• Commit to submitting program progress and outcomes to DESE, using templates DESE will provide.
• Commit to presenting and/or sharing grant funded work upon request from DESE.
• Participate in program evaluation determined by DESE to assess the grant program's effectiveness and gauge grant impact, including the effectiveness of the partnerships with Institutions of Higher Education.

Funding Type:

State 7027-1004

Funding:

Approximately $2,500,000 is available.

$1,000,000 of this funding is reserved for eligible applicants in in the commonwealth's 26 Gateway Municipalities as defined by Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 23a, Section 3a and have 100 or more ELs.

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.

Fund Use:

Fund use must be consistent with the priorities described above and the requirements associated with DESE's Educational Vision.

Project Duration:

School Year: FY2024: Upon approval through 6/30/2024
Summer: FY2025: 7/1/2024 – 8/31/2024

Program Unit:

Center for School and District Partnership

Contact:

Diana Gentile

Date Due:

Monday, October 2, 2023

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

All responses must be received by the due date and time listed in this RFP. All responses must be submitted as directed in the Submissions Instructions section of this RFP. Failure to do so may result in disqualification. Responses not submitted on time will not be reviewed. If you need assistance with submitting your application, please reach out to the contact person listed in this RFP.

Additional Information:

New this year: Districts applying for Goal 2 of Goal 3 funding will submit One application on behalf of the hub. The district submitting the application will act as fiscal manager for the hub. Other participating districts will provide an affirmation of their participation (i.e., superintendent's email) to be included in the application. For Goal 2, please note any districts that are new to the bilingual hub this year.

Please submit questions to diana.gentile@mass.gov . Questions and answers will be posted to Headlines on the English Learner Education page.

Districts submitting a budget with an Indirect Cost Rate must use Indirect Cost District Rate 2024 to confirm the maximum FY2022 approved indirect cost rate allowed and must fill out Indirect Cost Rate Calculation Worksheet .

GEM$ Submission Instructions:

The FY24 FC181 English Learner Education Support grant will be submitted in our new GEM$ system. GEM$ is a cloud-based fiscal and program management grant system that will eventually phase out the use of EdGrants.

Grants for Education Management System (GEM$)

Competitive grant applications are considered submitted when the Superintendent / Chief Executive approves the grant application in GEM$. In order to be considered for competitive funding, applicants must submit a grant application by the due date listed in the RFP.

The Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved Step allows for the organization lead to review and approve the grant application. Removing the requirement for the Part I Standard Contract Form, this step signifies Superintendent /Chief Executive sign off. Any grant budget changes requiring signature, will re-execute this step when amended signifying the organization lead is approving these changes.

Please Note: Grant Submission requires applicants to have their organization established in GEM$. Entities that do not have an organization in GEM$ must contact the DESE Program Unit issuing this grant at a minimum 5 business days prior to the grant due date for temporary organization access.

Failure to provide DESE with GEMS Request Form at least 5 business days prior to the due date may result in not meeting the submission due date listed above. DESE cannot accept or review applications after the due date.

Last Updated: September 29, 2023