The purpose of this three-year competitive grant is to support the delivery of high-quality instruction in every classroom, every day.
Improving the quality of instruction in every classroom in schools that have been low-performing for at least the past five school years.
Priority will be given to districts and schools in the strategic transformation region.
To be eligible for this award, a school needs to have been identified as a School of Concern by the Commissioner of DESE. These schools were notified in a letter to their superintendent in October 2024. See eligibility list in the Additional Information section.
Schools were identified if they had an overall performance in the 1–3 percentiles on state accountability determinations for at least the past five consecutive years that are not already identified as Underperforming on our state accountability system.
The schools must reside in a district that is currently being served by the Statewide System of Support.
Federal CFDA: 84.010
Funding is contingent upon Department receipt of federal Title I funds.
The receipt of grant funds is contingent upon the grantee being able to certify that it will comply with the Massachusetts General Laws, including G.L. c. 40A, § 3A, the MBTA Communities Act. Compliance with the MBTA Communities Act is determined by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.
Approximately $1.5 million dollars of funding in FY26 is available for this new cohort through Massachusetts' federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) allocations and federal Title I funds, for expenditure in the 2025-26 school year. LEAs are awarded an Intensive Assistance Grant (IAG) from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026.
Schools can be eligible for funds for three years, through FY28. A detailed FY26 budget is required and non-binding estimates for the following years must be included. Future funding is contingent upon a successful grant application renewal process.
Note: the average annual award is approximately $300,000 per year with a total award of approximately $900,000 per school over the three-year grant lifespan. Award amounts will also depend on the size of the school and the scope and scale of the activities proposed for the selected intervention.
This RFP is the governing document for these grant funds.
Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding becomes available it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document.
Fund use must be consistent with applicable state and federal requirements. All expenditures must closely align with the identified school instructional priority. LEA level expenditures must directly support the implementation of the instructional priority at the identified school(s).
Unallowable expenditures:
All expenditures will be closely reviewed as they relate to the priorities of this grant opportunity.
Upon Approval (No Earlier than July 1, 2025) – June 30, 2026.
If applicable, there is the potential option to renew in future years, with each school eligible for three years of funding. Being awarded the funds is contingent upon approval of the grant application.
Center for School and District Partnership
Michael Seymour , 781-338-3514
Monday June 9, 2025 at 5pm
Proposals must be received at the Department by 5 p.m. Eastern on the date due.
Competitive grant applications are considered submitted when the grant application is submitted by the Superintendent or their designee through the "LEA Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved" step in GEM$. In order to be considered for competitive funding, applicants must submit a grant application through the LEA Superintendent Approved stage by the due date and time listed in the RFP.
All responses must be submitted through proper steps and received by the due date/time 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.
School Eligibility List
FY26 IAG Application New
FY26 IAG Scoring Rubric
The FY26 0511 Intensive Assistance Grant (IAG) New Cohort Intensive Assistance Grant (IAG) New Cohort 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$)
New organizations that do not have an established LEA with DESE skip to Step 3.
Step 1: Establish and assign proper roles before the grant due date/time. Grant Submission at the LEA level requires roles to be established for Grant writer for the specific fund code, LEA fiscal for financial review/approval, and Superintendent/Chief Executive sign off.
All roles should be established prior to the grant due date and all appropriate forms should be either uploaded to GEM$, 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.
Step 2: Submit the grant through all LEA steps in GEM$. There are three LEA steps a competitive grant must be submitted through by the due date and time to be considered for funding:
Competitive grant applications are considered submitted once the grant application is submitted by the Superintendent or their designee through the "LEA Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved" step in GEM$. In order to be considered for competitive funding, applicants must submit a grant application through the LEA Superintendent Approved stage by the due date and time listed in the RFP. Please plan accordingly.
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.
Step 3: (If applicable) New organizations request temporary organization access. New organizations are entities that have not been established as an LEA in GEM$. Entities that do not have an organization established in GEM$ 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.
Temporary Access will need to be created by DESE before you can then assign the proper roles and submit the grant as outlined in Steps 1 and 2.
Failure to provide DESE with GEM$ Temp Organization Access Request 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: May 13, 2025