FY2024: Expanding High-Quality Instructional Mathematics Materials

Fund Code: 164

Purpose:

The purpose of this competitive grant is to provide funding for districts to purchase high quality core mathematics instructional materials.

This grant will support districts to purchase new adoption of core instructional materials (student books, digital resources, teacher materials and professional learning) for mathematics, as well as initial professional development for educators to implement those materials. High-quality core curricular materials for any grade, Kindergarten through grade 12, are eligible. This grant does not fund the continued use of core instructional materials.

See Section 1b under "Fund Use" below for a definition of "high-quality."

Priorities:

DESE seeks to award Expanding High-Quality Instructional Mathematics Materials grants to entities (e.g., districts, charter schools, collaboratives, approved special education programs) that:

• Demonstrate a pre-existing priority on mathematics, which the new curricular materials directly support, and evidence that implementation of the new resources will be sustainable;

• Conducted an intentional and inclusive process to select the new curricular materials that meet local needs and priorities;

• Articulate a plan to provide robust, ongoing and embedded support for educators who are expected to use new curricular materials;

• Will advance culturally responsive practice as part of implementing new curricular materials.

Competitive priority will be given to:

• Districts and Schools participating in the Evaluating and Selecting High-Quality Instructional Materials Network during the 22-23 school year for Mathematics.

• Entities that are currently implementing mathematics instructional materials that do not meet expectations for high-quality based on a third-party review and are planning to replace those with high-quality instructional materials. (See Additional Information below for more details.)

• Entities that will be implementing the new core curricular materials in multiple grade levels.

• Districts and schools in chronically underperforming status in Strategic Transformation regions

• Districts with at least one school; or schools that are identified:

  • as requiring assistance in the state accountability system based upon 2019 or 2022 data and/or

  • with an overall accountability percentile of 20 or below based upon 2019 or 2022 data.

• Districts whose total student population is comprised of 10% or more students identified as Multilingual Learners.

• Districts that serve a population of students of which over 50% are identified as Low-Income.

Eligibility:

• All Massachusetts public school districts, charter schools, collaboratives, and approved special education programs are eligible to apply.
• A decision as to which core instructional materials will be purchased must be made at time the application is due. The new instructional materials must be fully implemented at the start of the 2023-2024 school year.
• All schools and teachers in the district serving the designated grade band must participate in the purchase and implementation of curricular materials under this grant. For instance, if the district is funded to purchase curricular materials for grades 6–8, all schools in the district that serve grades 6–8 must participate.
• Curriculum Data must be up to date on DESE District Profiles for K–8 ELA/Literacy, K–12 math, and 6–8 Science by five (5) business days after the due date of this grant. To check if this information is complete, check the statewide Curriculum report. Or visit your District Profiles page via Profiles Home, 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.

Funding Type:

Federal CFDA 84.425 Federal Coronavirus Relief Programs - Federal Grant Programs
Federal grant funds must adhere to:

• UGG (2 CFR 200)
• EDGAR As Applicable
• EDGAR General Fiscal Administration 34 CFR Part 76

Funding:

Approximately $800,000 is available for school and districts. The maximum award for any LEA is $150,000.

The applicant is responsible for all other purchasing costs not funded by this grant, including any and all costs to continue using the materials beyond the 23-24 school year.

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.

Recipients will need to provide detailed, itemized, cost information (from the publisher) and confirmation of delivery of materials to DESE to demonstrate compliance with grant priorities and approved fund uses in order to draw down funds over the grant period.

Fund Use:

Funds may be used towards:

1. Purchase of a new high-quality core curricular materials for mathematics in any grade or grade span.
   1. Core curricular materials are used as the primary instructional material for core, or Tier 1, instruction.
   2. "High quality core curricular materials" is defined as: the instructional materials must be rated as high-quality based on the following definition: The product has been reviewed by DESE's CURATE panels and found to meet or partially meet overall expectations. Or, if a product has not been reviewed by CURATE, evidence of "high-quality" will be assessed using?Ed Reports, in which case the curricula must meet expectations for EdReports' first gateway, and partially meet or meet expectations for its second gateway at the majority of grade levels for which the curriculum exists.
   3. The purchase of the core curricular materials must be made by September 1, 2023. Professional development can continue into the 23-24 school year.
   
   
2. Applicants are required to include funding for foundational professional development to prepare all educators for implementation of the materials at all participating schools.
   1. The foundational professional development must be provided by the curriculum publisher or a publisher approved curriculum provider.
   2. The foundational professional development must support the district to effectively launch and effectively sustain the use of the curricular materials. Training should include initial preparation to launch the curricular materials. Note: This grant funding must be spent by June 30, 2024.

Funds may not be used for:

• Stipends of any kind as they are not funded through this grant
• Technology (e.g., iPads, headphones, smart boards)
• Substitute costs, teacher stipends, consultants, or staffing
• Manipulative Kits
• Pilot or Field Test Materials

Project Duration:

Upon Approval – 6/30/2024

Program Unit:

Center for Instructional Support

Contact:

Jennifer Sauriol

Date Due:

Wednesday, June 14, 2023*

All applicants must submit a statement of intent with preliminary budget by Thursday, June 1, 2023, see below

Proposals must be received at the Department by 5:00 p.m. 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 submitted 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), convert to a .pdf

• Part II — Budget Details

• Part III — Required Program Information

Note on Budget Details.
Please attach an itemized quote from your selected vendor to the submission along with the provided Budget template, see Fund Use section above for details of what are acceptable budget items. The quote must include details about student level materials, teacher materials, licenses, professional development, etc.

Additional Information:

Any grant related questions must be emailed to cisgrants@mass.gov by May 15^th, 2023. Responses will be posted to the STEM Grants and Opportunities page. Please use the subject line:
FC 164 - Expanding High-Quality Instructional Mathematics Materials Question

Submission Instructions:

Statement of Intent:

Entities that intend to apply for this grant must complete this brief statement of intent by Thursday, June 1, 2023.
Applicants that do not complete a statement of intent will not be considered for the grant.

Please email the required forms as listed above, attached to a single email, to cisgrants@mass.gov . Please use the subject line:
FC 164 - Expanding High-Quality Instructional Mathematics Materials: "District Name"

Please use the provided original Word or Excel formats (e.g., not converted to a PDF; with the exception of the signed Part I which should be converted to PDF).

Applicants will receive a confirmation when the materials are received. Early submission is strongly encouraged to ensure the complete application is received and confirmed by 5pm on the due date. Late and/or incomplete applications cannot be accepted.

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

Last Updated: October 23, 2023