Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs

FY2024: Financial Literacy Planning and Implementation

Fund Code: 104

Purpose:

The purpose of this competitive grant program is to provide funding to support districts in the selection and/or development of materials, curriculum, professional development and in-person or virtual experiential learning related to financial literacy. Districts may propose to collaborate with vendor(s) to support this work.

Priorities:

Grants will support professional learning and the development and or/selection of materials and curriculum that equip teachers to fully and effectively implement the personal financial literacy standards. The intended outcomes of this grant are for districts to deepen their understanding of the standards, adopt high-quality standards-aligned curricular materials, and provide meaningful learning experiences for students relating to financial literacy.

DESE seeks funding proposals that:

align materials, curriculum, professional development, and experiential learning opportunities to the concepts outlined in Chapter 438 of the Acts of 2018 and/or the Standards for Personal Financial Literacy, such as: earning and spending income; online commerce; the rights and responsibilities of renting or buying a home; saving money; using credit, credit card debt, and making investments; balancing a checkbook; state and federal taxes; and protecting and insuring assets.
utilize existing, quality instructional materials. A non-exhaustive list of instructional resources is available at At a Glance: Personal Financial Literacy
increase equitable access to financial literacy education for all students.
lead to sustainable improvements in financial literacy programming.

LEAs will be given competitive priority in scoring for each of the following eligibilities:

Districts and schools in chronically underperforming status
LEAs with greater than 40% of the student population qualifying as economically disadvantaged
Funding proposals that develop financial literacy knowledge and skills across multiple grade bands (i.e., more than one of the following: K–3, 4–6, 7–8, 9–10, 11–12)

All Massachusetts Local Education Agencies (districts, charter schools, and Collaboratives) are eligible to apply for this grant.

Eligibility:

LEAs in the Strategic Transformation Region may be awarded multiple awards to account for alternative governance structures (e.g., Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership).

Funding Type:

State 7010-1194

Funding:

Approximately $250,000 is available. LEAs may apply for up to $15,000 to support curriculum development, curriculum selection, professional development, and experiential learning. Grants involving a vendor partnership are conditional based on Department approval of a proposal demonstrating that the vendor will offer high-quality and standards aligned curriculum, professional development, and/or experiential learning accessible to all students.

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:

LEAs must propose at least one of the following activities to be eligible for funding:

Curriculum Development: Districts develop high-quality standards-aligned curriculum that incorporates concepts from the legislation and/or the Standards for Personal Financial Literacy. Curriculum for financial literacy can be developed for any course across multiple content areas and grade levels K–12. Curriculum developed during the grant period may be implemented in the 2022-23 school year or beyond. Financial literacy standards can be implemented within an existing course or as a new course; all curricular materials should be thoughtfully integrated if supplementing pre-existing curriculum. Applicants are encouraged to build upon existing quality curricular resources (see following bullet).
Curriculum Implementation and Professional Development: Districts collaborate with vendors to implement pre-existing quality financial literacy curriculum into the school's current curriculum, using resources such as those included at At a Glance: Personal Financial Literacy . This can include the purchase of curricular materials. Proposals in this area should include training from the vendor and additional curriculum work time to ensure consistent and systematic implementation, either within an existing course or as a new course. Selection and training may focus on curriculum that will be implemented in the 2022-23 school year or beyond.
Financial Literacy Experiential Learning: Districts develop and plan enrichment activities for students, such as inviting in experts or creating opportunities that simulate authentic experiences related to financial literacy outside of the classroom (e.g. workshops, project-based learning, financial literacy fairs, and special programs). These experiences may take place virtually. Districts may collaborate with vendors to design and carry out these experiences.

Fund use must be consistent with the activities described above, with the goal of improved outcomes for all students. Fund use may include but is not limited to:

Stipends for teachers
Contracting with external partners, including non-profit organizations, institutions of higher education, and professional development providers

Fund restrictions:

No funds may be dedicated toward administrator salaries.
No greater than 5% of funds may be dedicated toward administrative costs associated with the grant.

Project Duration:

Upon Approval – 6/30/2024

Program Unit:

Center for Instructional Support

Contact:

Reuben Henriques

Date Due:

Friday, November 10, 2023, 5:00 PM.

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:

Additional Information:

Pursuant to Chapter 438 of the Acts of 2018, An act relative to financial literacy in schools, "the department shall make resources available to schools, charter schools, approved private day or residential schools, and collaborative schools to assist in the selection of materials and curriculum on personal financial literacy."

Signed into law by Governor Baker on January 20, 2019, An Act relative to financial literacy in schools seeks to equip students with the necessary skills to be informed and productive participants in our society. LEAs may integrate financial literacy across grades K–12 in a variety of subjects such as mathematics, history and social science, technology, advisory, or business. At the high school level, the Standards for Personal Financial Literacy enumerated in the 2018 History and Social Science Curriculum Framework may be used as a stand-alone course or incorporated into a variety of subjects (page 173). Further information regarding the integration of financial literacy content across grades K–12 can be found in the Personal Financial Literacy Quick Reference Guide and Personal Financial Literacy in the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework, both available on the DESE History, Social Science, and Civics webpage. While there are multiple pathways to teach this content, the goal is for all students to equitably access this knowledge through coherent, high-quality and standards-aligned instruction.

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. Each grant recipient must complete and submit a brief Grant Final (End-of-Year) Report.

Questions and Answers — Questions should be emailed to Reuben.F.Henriques@mass.gov . Applicants can find answers to all the questions asked regarding this funding opportunity and DESE's response on the Office of Literacy and Humanities web page.

Submission Instructions:

Please email the required documents as listed above, attached to a single email, to cisgrants@mass.gov using the subject line: FC104 — [District Name] — Financial Literacy Planning and Implementation Grant. Please use the provided filetypes, and note that signature pages must be sent as pdf documents.

Please use the following file formats:

Part I — General — Program Unit Signature Page — (Standard Contract Form and Application for Program Grants) — PDF document; please note that typed signatures are not acceptable
Part II — Budget Details Pages Workbook — Excel spreadsheet
Part III — Required Program Information — Word document

Please do not submit JPEGs or other file formats.

Applicants will receive a confirmation when the required forms are received. Early submission is strongly encouraged in order to ensure the complete application is received and confirmed by 5pm on the due date.

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.

Last Updated: October 23, 2023