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Title III of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provides supplemental resources to local school districts to help ensure that English learners (ELs) and immigrant children and youth attain English proficiency and develop high levels of academic achievement in English, assist teachers and administrators to enhance their capacity to provide effective instructional programs designed to prepare ELs and immigrant children and youth to enter all-English instructional settings, and promote parental, family, and community participation in language instruction programs for parents, families, and communities.
Title III, Part A is one of four principal programs that are available to districts through formula grants under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the current reauthorization of ESEA. The other programs are Title I, Part A; Title II, Part A; and Title IV, Part A.
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is guided by its Educational Vision where:
All students in Massachusetts, particularly students from historically underserved groups and communities, will have equitable opportunities to excel in all content areas across all grades.
Culturally and linguistically sustaining classroom and school practices will support students to thrive by creating affirming environments where students have a sense of belonging, engage in deeper learning, and are held to high expectations with targeted support.
DESE partners with districts, schools, and programs to:
Cultivate systems to support the whole student and foster joyful, healthy, and supportive learning environments so that all students feel valued, connected, nourished, and ready to learn. Strategic Objective 1 — "Whole Student"
Promote deeper learning so that all students engage in grade-level work that is real-world, relevant, and interactive. Strategic Objective 2 — "Deeper Learning"
Develop and sustain a workforce that is diverse, culturally responsive, well-prepared, and committed to continuous improvement, so that all students have equitable access to effective educators. Strategic Objective 3 — "Diverse and Effective Workforce"
Applicants for this grant opportunity should be intentional in the use of grant funds to support at least one of these strategic objectives.
The priorities of Title III are to:
In addition to the above priorities, the Title III program supports Massachusetts' goals and strategies (listed above) for increasing student achievement by enhancing grant recipients' capacity to increase students' English language proficiency and academic achievement.
Funds are awarded to districts or consortia of districts with enough students identified as English learners (ELs) in each district in the March 2025 student data transmission (SIMS), for which the calculated per-pupil amount yields an allocation greater than or equal to $10,000. Districts interested in forming a consortium for Title III purposes were required to submit an Intent to Participate by May 7, 2025.
Grants are awarded to local school districts after the state reviews and approves a district's grant application.
Federal CFDA 84.365A
Federal grant funds must adhere to:
FY26 Fund Code 0180 Title III, Part A District Allocations will be posted at Grant Allocations & Awards page when it becomes available.
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 for allocations, it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document. Unclaimed funds will be redistributed to eligible districts via the Title III, Part A Immigrant grant.
Title III formula subgrants are to be used to fund supplemental instruction for ELs, professional development for teachers and administrators of ELs, and EL family and parent engagement. Title III funds 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 ELs and in no case supplant such federal, state, and local funds. There is a maximum 2% cap on direct administrative costs.
Important: Please note that Title III funds may not be used to support or provide either the SEI Teacher or SEI Administrator Endorsement course or to meet the requirements under the LOOK Act.
Upon Approval (No Earlier than 7/1/2025)* through 9/30/2027**
*The grant start date cannot be prior to DESE receiving a substantially approvable application submission as directed in the Submission Instructions of this RFP. Funds cannot be obligated beyond the project duration end date.
**The obligation end date on these grant funds covers multiple state fiscal years. Grantees should obligate and expend grant funding throughout the grant lifecycle. Grant balances can be liquidated on this award through November 30, 2027, using the reimbursement request form.
Grantees must file a Final Expenditure Report (FER) to close out the grant by December 31, 2027. Grantees may file FERs ahead of this deadline if grant funds have been paid in full across each section of the consolidated grant and/or the obligation end date has passed, whichever comes first. If grant funds are not liquidated by November 30, 2027, the FER filing can be used to claim final balances if it is submitted by December 31, 2027.
Resource Allocation Strategy and Planning
Federal Grant Programs
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
FY26 Federal Grant Assurances — The FY26 Federal Grant Assurances Signature Page (Page 1 only) completed and signed by the Superintendent/Executive Director and uploaded in GEM$ in the LEA Document Library under Assurances, in folder Federal Entitlement Grant Assurances. We cannot approve any federal entitlement grant without a signed, properly dated and uploaded Federal Grant Assurance signature page.
Title III, Part A Quick Reference Guide on allowable and unallowable costs
Required and Authorized Activities
Guidance to Consortia Memo (dated April 15, 2025)
ESSA Family Engagement Resources
Private School Equitable Services under ESSA resources
DESE Educational Vision
The FY2026 Fund Code 0180 Title III: English Language Acquisition and Academic Achievement Program for English Learners grant will be completed and submitted in the Grants for Education Management System (GEM$) . GEM$ is a cloud-based fiscal and program management grant system that will eventually phase out the use of EdGrants.
Please Note: Grant Submission at the LEA level requires roles to be established for Grant writer for the specific fund code, LEA fiscal for financial review/approval, and Superintendent/Chief Executive sign off. All these roles should be established prior to the grant due date and all appropriate forms should be either uploaded to GEM$, maintained at the LEA level or sent in to the DESE RFP contact as described on the individual forms. The user guidance documents and forms are found on the GEM$ homepage under DESE Resources. These forms can be accessed without logging in to the system.
Last Updated: June 3, 2025