State Plan for the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund — Massachusetts
Summary
A completed Massachusetts State Plan for the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, on the Department of Education's form issued April 21, 2021, with ARP ESSER PR Award Number S425U210025. The cover page carries the printed name of Jeffrey C. Riley as the authorized representative with a date of June 7, 2021, and the form's introduction says the ARP ESSER Fund provides nearly $122 billion to States. The plan follows the form's sections, beginning with a description of the State's current status and needs, and the page closes with the Department's paperwork burden notice under OMB Control Number 1894-0005.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
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Cite this document
“State Plan for the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund — Massachusetts.”
Original at www.ed.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/department-of-education-pdf-www-ed-gov-1b4fed8e06/
, SHA-256 b60e69a327ac5e1444bf6d9c2ef775a2508b1aad50523c0169c2d4d9a6f1aafe.Full text
State Plan for the
American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund
U.S. Department of Education
Issued: April 21, 2021
OMB Number: 1810-0754
Expiration Date: October 31, 2021
Paperwork Burden Statement According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to
respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB
control number for this information collection is 1810-0754. Public reporting burden for this collection of
information is estimated to average 100 hours per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching
existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of
information. The obligation to respond to this collection is required to obtain or retain benefit under Section 2001 of
the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP Act). If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time
estimate, suggestions for improving this individual collection, or if you have comments or concerns regarding the
status of your individual form, application or survey, please contact Britt Jung, Office of State and Grantee
Relations, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue,
SW, Washington, DC 20202-6450, email: SGR@ed.gov directly.
Introduction
The American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (“ARP
ESSER”) Fund, authorized under the American Rescue Plan (“ARP”) Act of 2021, provides
nearly $122 billion to States to support the Nation’s schools in safely reopening and sustaining
safe operations of schools while meeting the academic, social, emotional, and mental health
needs of students resulting from the coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) pandemic. It is
particularly important that ARP ESSER funding will enable States and local educational
agencies (“LEAs”), and more directly schools, to support students who have been most severely
impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and are likely to have suffered the most because of
longstanding inequities in our communities and schools that have been exacerbated by the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. Department of Education (“Department”) is committed to working in partnership with
States so that these unprecedented resources are quickly put to work to ensure students have
sustained access to in-person instruction and that the resources are used to provide the effective
support students need as they persist through and recover from the impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic. The thoughtful and timely use of these funds will have a lasting impact on our
Nation’s schools and help to address the inequities in resources, services, and opportunities
available to our students.
This template presents an opportunity for States to share their plans for the use of ARP ESSER
funds with the public. The Department must approve a State educational agency’s (“SEA’s”)
plan in order to make the State’s remaining ARP ESSER allocation available for use. Please note
that the Department intends to issue ARP ESSER reporting requirements separately.
Instructions
Each SEA must provide descriptions and other information that address each requirement listed
below. An SEA may use this template or another format as long as every item and element is
addressed in the SEA’s response. Throughout this document, questions that refer to an SEA’s
ARP ESSER funding are referencing the total allocation to be received by the SEA, including
that which it allocates to its LEAs.
Each SEA must submit to the Department by June 7, 2021, either: (1) its ARP ESSER plan or
(2) the State requirements that preclude submission of the plan by that date and a date by which
it will be able to submit its complete ARP ESSER plan.
To submit the SEA’s plan, please email the plan to your Program Officer at
[State].OESE@ed.gov (e.g., Alabama.OESE@ed.gov).
In order to ensure transparency, the Department will post each plan on the Department’s website
when it is received and will indicate each plan’s approval status.
This template also allows States to fulfill the requirement of the Coronavirus Response and
Relief Supplemental Appropriations (“CRRSA”) Act ESSER II 6-month reporting requirement
in section 313(f) of the CRRSA Act.
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Cover Page
Grantee and Contact Information
ARP ESSER PR Award Number: S425U210025
SEA Contact: William Bell
Telephone: 781-338-6528
Email address: william.bell@mass.gov
By signing this document, I agree to each of the assurances listed in Appendix C and
further assure that:
To the best of my knowledge and belief, all information and data included in this plan
are true and correct.
Chief State School Officer or Authorized Representative
(Printed Name)
Jeffrey C. Riley
Signature of Authorized SEA Representative Date:
June 7, 2021
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A. Describing the State’s Current Status and Needs
The Department recognizes the extraordinary efforts made by States, LEAs, and educators to
support students during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this section, SEAs will describe the
progress they have made, the priorities and student needs guiding their ARP ESSER funding
decisions, and their current and projected operating status.
1. Progress and Promising Practices: Provide your assessment of the top 2-3
strategies that have been most effective in supporting the needs of students in
your State during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for students most impacted
by the COVID-19 pandemic. Please include, if applicable, how your State will
submit and encourage its LEAs to submit lessons learned and best practices to the
Department’s Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse so that
they can be shared with other States and LEAs.
We knew as we headed into this school year that it would present unique and unprecedented challenges.
We knew we would need to maintain a dual focus throughout the year – attend first and foremost to the
crisis at hand, but also maintain the momentum we had built over the years on critical agency priorities.
Thanks to the tireless work of our team at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
(Department or DESE) and the exceptional commitment of educators, health professionals, and countless
others around the Commonwealth, we have been able to fulfill both sets of responsibilities during an
incredibly challenging year. The Department found that prioritizing the following strategies have been
critical to supporting our students:
1. Vanguard for Health & Safety. Key DESE leaders and staff stepped outside of their traditional roles
to support the urgent work at all levels of the organization. We established more frequent communication
channels with districts and schools. We also developed new ways of working with the medical
community and other executive branch entities, including the Governor’s COVID-19 Command Center,
the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS), and the Department of Public Health
(DPH), as we collaborated on health and safety policies, COVID-19 testing programs, and reopening
plans. Specifically, we launched the DESE COVID-19 Help Center at the start of the 2020-2021 school
year. The Help Center provided and continues to provide a central hub through which districts and
schools report COVID-19 positive cases in schools to DESE and receive guidance and support from
DESE. In addition, implementing a robust COVID-19 pooled testing program has been a key part of our
expanded health and safety support. On January 8, 2021, DESE and EOHHS introduced surveillance
testing using a pooled testing approach in the school setting as an additional mitigation strategy, the first
program of its kind nationwide. As of late May of 2021, participating schools have tested 31,518 pools
with a pool positivity rate of 0.77 percent. To date, 229 districts and schools are participating in the
COVID-19 pooled testing initiative, which includes more than 1,000 schools, and more than 343,000
students, educators, and staff, all of which are eligible to be tested weekly. Finally, we brought in experts
on ventilation and healthy buildings, and worked with district leaders and facilities administrators to
ensure a safe environment for our students and educators.
2. Focus on academics AND equity, especially for our most vulnerable students. Core DESE functions
and priority initiatives have continued throughout the year, at times in a modified form. This included
work in refining and preparing to release the updated Individualized Education Program (IEP) template,
launching the Mass Literacy Guide, continuing deeper learning professional development through the
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Kaleidoscope Collective for Learning, building our innovative science assessment, and engaging in robust
agency-wide anti-racism training and development of an equity planning tool, as part of inclusive
practice. Most recently, MA DESE has partnered with TNTP to create an academic acceleration roadmap
for district and school leaders and teachers; we are happy to share this tool with the Clearinghouse for
distribution to other SEAs and LEAs across the United States.
3. Increased in-person instruction to support students’ learning and mental health. Early in the
spring, DESE promoted student learning time requirements, recognizing that instructional time is an
essential resource for students. With support from the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education,
DESE monitored and made adjustments to student learning time (SLT) requirements at multiple points
during the pandemic. We collected detailed student learning time data across all districts at four grade
levels (1, 4, 7, and 10) and ultimately published a user-friendly online dashboard to ensure transparency
across the state.
In reviewing the SLT data, we noted that the majority of districts were offering an appropriate amount of
“live” instruction (defined as in-person or remote synchronous instruction), while the levels offered to
students in some districts were far lower. At the same time, we heard concerns from mental health experts
about a growing mental health crisis among students: disengagement, anxiety, depression. To ensure more
frequent and healthy contact with teachers and peers, we determined that it was critical to establish
minimum guidelines for live instruction. We brought new emergency regulations to the Board of
Elementary and Secondary Education in December 2020, which voted to amend the SLT regulations to
include these minimum thresholds. For remote models, the new regulations require some synchronous
instruction each day and 40 hours of synchronous instruction over a two-week period. For hybrid models,
the new regulations required a live check-in every day and 35 hours of live instruction (in-person or
remote synchronous) over a two-week period. These regulations went into effect on January 19, 2021 and
were validated through another SLT data collection in February with updated data posted on the
dashboard in early March.
The Department then published related guidance, including a required return to in-person timeline for
elementary and middle school students – April 5 and April 28, respectively – with the high school
population fully back on May 17, 2021. As of late May, 99 percent of schools were back offering access
to full-time, in-person instruction five days a week.
2. Overall Priorities: Provide your assessment of the top 2-3 issues currently facing
students and schools across your State as a result of or in response to the COVID-
19 pandemic including, to the extent possible, data illustrating why these are the
most critical and/or most widespread issues facing schools and students.
Foster a sense of belonging and partnership among students and families. Over the past several
months, DESE has consulted with countless stakeholders in the education community. Almost without
exception, when asked about priorities and issues facing students, people will lead with the importance of
re-engaging with students and families, and re-establishing strong, consistent, trusting relationships that
are the product of healthy, in-person interactions. While almost 100% of schools are now back to in-
person operation, the process of re-connecting, especially with those students who experienced significant
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trauma, loss, and disengagement during the pandemic. We do not yet have specific educational data on
our students’ emotional and cognitive health yet, but a number of high quality studies make clear that
emotional health deteriorated during the pandemic, especially among at-risk student groups.
Unfinished learning. Despite the herculean efforts of educators and families, many of our students are
facing unfinished learning heading into the summer and the next school year. We know this based on
various data we collected throughout the year, from the aforementioned learning time surveys, to
individual student attendance data, to a school year that was shortened by two weeks. While it is not a
new challenge for educators to serve students with varied academic needs, the pandemic made this
challenge significantly more pronounced and widespread. To effectively meet the needs of our students –
particularly those most impacted by the pandemic – a major challenge before us is making sure all of our
students receive the culturally responsive support and expert instruction they need be successful in their
grade level.
Continuing to keep students and educators healthy and safe. From implementing the latest health
guidance from CDC and other leading health experts, to continuously improving school buildings
themselves, keeping our students and educators healthy and safe is a clear priority for Massachusetts.
3. Identifying Needs of Underserved Students: Describe your State’s 2-3 highest
priority academic, social, emotional, and/or mental health needs for the remainder
of the 2020-2021 school year (if applicable) and for the 2021-2022 school year
related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on each of the following student
groups:
i. Students from low-income families,
ii. Students from each racial or ethnic group (e.g., identifying
disparities and focusing on underserved student groups by race or
ethnicity),
iii. Gender (e.g., identifying disparities and focusing on underserved
student groups by gender),
iv. English learners,
v. Children with disabilities (including infants, toddlers, children, and
youth with disabilities eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (“IDEA”)),
vi. Students experiencing homelessness,
vii. Children and youth in foster care,
viii. Migratory students, and
ix. Other groups disproportionately impacted by the pandemic that have
been identified by the SEA (e.g., youth involved in the criminal
justice system, students who have missed the most in-person
instruction during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years,
students who did not consistently participate in remote instruction
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when offered during school building closures, and LGBTQ+
students).
To the extent possible, this description should include data on indicators such as
estimates of the academic impact of lost instructional time, 1 chronic
absenteeism, student engagement, and social-emotional well-being.
Complete the table below, adding rows as necessary, or provide a narrative
description.
Table A1.
DESE’s overall priorities naturally extend to all students. We are concerned about each
student in the system and want to ensure that they receive the socio-emotional support
they need and the academic programming they need. Equity being the main goal of our
work, we must differentiate our supports, and therefore in the table below we offer a
list of priority needs for many of our student groups, trends that we saw during the
pandemic, and ways in which we are working to respond to those needs.
Student group Highest priority needs
Students from low-income families Lost instructional time and
reengagement. Students from low
income families were more likely to be
chronically absent, learn remotely, and
struggle to find reliable internet access
during the pandemic than their non-low-
income peers. DESE’s goal is to
therefore target our response, one
example of which is to expand
Acceleration Academies programming
into the summer months with a large-
scale Summer Academy in 2021 that will
offer 3-4 consecutive weeks of high-
quality instruction in mathematics and
English language arts, targeted to
students’ specific educational needs. We
will use diagnostic assessment data to
identify students who need this
acceleration opportunity to support them
to master grade-level content and support
readiness for the next grade level.
Students from each racial or ethnic Lost instructional time and
background used by the State for reengagement. Students across lines of
reporting purposes – please add a row for racial difference need to see themselves
each racial or ethnic group (e.g., in the educator workforce and build
identifying disparities and focusing on trusting relationships with those
underserved student groups by educators, ultimately reengaging with
race/ethnicity) their school communities and becoming
1
For the purposes of the plan, “academic impact of lost instructional time” refers to “learning loss” experienced by
students as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as referenced in the ARP Act and the CRRSA Act.
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Student group Highest priority needs
open to learning. One way in which
DESE is addressing this is to refine and
continue the educator diversification
grant program to provide further
assistance for districts and schools to
enhance diversification efforts. This
would mean continuing programs to
support diversification of the
administrator and educator workforce
and promote culturally responsive
teaching like Influence 100 and
InSPIRED fellowships and professional
development through the Diversity
Network – a cross-section of school
districts, educator preparation programs,
and non-profit organizations focused on
educator diversification.
Students by gender – please add a row Girls. To support girls’ ongoing
for each gender (e.g., identifying development in STEM careers, we plan
disparities and focusing on underserved to launch a multi-year initiative to
student groups by gender) support more students to participate and
succeed in rigorous courses, pursue
postsecondary education, and be well
prepared to enter STEM (science,
engineering, technology and
mathematics) professions. DESE will
identify high schools where low numbers
of students engage in AP STEM courses
and begin to develop these statewide
offerings so students can engage in the
coursework at no additional cost to the
student, family, or school district.
Boys. Continue the Kaleidoscope
Collective for Learning network, which
is designed to foster and expand deeper
learning instructional models This
includes the development of the first 25–
50 engaging, high-quality student
performance tasks aligned to the
Massachusetts curriculum frameworks,
including a subset of tasks for remote
learning. Boys will benefit from
educators using evidence-based
strategies that increase engagement and
provide additional monthly statewide
trainings accessible to all educators who
support them.
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Student group Highest priority needs
Non-binary. In addition to the Deeper
Learning strategies noted above,
educators using evidence-based
strategies that increase engagement and
provide more inclusive practices in Tier
1 instruction. The Kaleidoscope
Collective for Learning network is
designed to foster and expand deeper
learning models for all students.
English learners Lost instructional time and
reengagement. English learners were
more likely to be chronically absent,
learn remotely, and struggle to find
reliable internet access during the
pandemic than their English speaking
peers. DESE is therefore working to
support ELs through meeting the goals
stated in the four pillars of the Blueprint
for English Learner Success. We created
guidance on how families can support
children during remote learning. We set
up online English Learner Parent
Advisory Council (ELPAC) training
modules. The online training modules
provide guidance for both parents and
educators to develop and sustain
effective ELPACs that promote the
academic success of all English learners
and former English learners. In 2021-
2022, these trainings will include two
modules for districts and schools and
three for English learner
parents/guardians. The parent/guardian
modules are available in English,
Spanish, and Portuguese.
Children with disabilities Lost instructional time and
reengagement. Students with disabilities
were prioritized for in-person learning
during the pandemic (where and when it
was feasible and safe). Despite this, we
know many struggled, and that therefore
it is absolutely critical over the next
several years to promote effective
service delivery and better results for
students with disabilities. Additionally,
DESE continues to develop all aspects of
a new IEP to provide robust guidance on
the full IEP process, including
identification, referral, eligibility, and
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Student group Highest priority needs
IEP development. Thirty-five schools
representing 19 districts are participating
in this process as part of the early
adopter cohort. The experiences of the
early adopters will help inform further
expansion of the new IEP and to assist in
finalizing the guidance and tools during
the 2021-2022 school year.
Students experiencing homelessness Re-engagement and continuity. DESE is
committed to improving its own
resources and working with districts to
strengthen and provide supports to
students and families experiencing
homelessness both pre-COVID and due
to the pandemic. DESE will provide
guidance on maintaining enrollment,
connecting with families to build strong
solid relationships, and further
supporting and providing mental health
and social emotional resources to
reengage students who have been
disengaged during the pandemic.
Children and youth in foster care Re-engagement and continuity. DESE is
likewise committed to strengthening its
own resources and working with districts
to provide supports to children and youth
in foster care. We have heard through
stakeholder engagement the need to
make sure students feel comfortable in
school, so that they can build trusting
relationships and be open to learning.
DESE will continue to provide training,
technical assistance, and other resources
to address the often-disproportionate
impacts of the pandemic on this group of
students. For example, DESE has
provided resources and training to make
sure districts and schools work with the
foster parent(s) to ensure their
educational needs are met, strengthen
communication and collaboration with
foster care points of contact, and address
barriers that may impede student’s
education.
Migratory students Re-engagement and continuity. Our
migratory students often fall into
additional, overlapping categories, such
as students with disabilities, and students
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Student group Highest priority needs
who are experiencing homelessness. A
particular emphasis will be placed on
developing a deeper connection with
migratory students and families and
reducing dropout rates. This will be done
by further supporting guidance and
check-in points to ensure schools are
collaborating with the MA Migrant
Education Program to identify students
in migrant families and to promote
student engagement; ensure schools
work directly with parents or out-of-
school migrant youth to promote student
engagement; address any inequitable
access that students in migrant families
may have to the internet (i.e. adequate
data plans or phone minutes). We’ll also
support districts to ensure full access to
educational opportunities for migratory
students by promoting opportunities for
educators to continue to receive
professional development such as
multilingual and cultural responsiveness
training.
Other groups of students identified by Wraparound support. All educators must
the State (e.g., youth involved in the pay close attention and provide
criminal justice system, students who increasing support to students returning
have missed the most in-person to school with increased behavioral
instruction during the 2019-2020 and challenges due to pandemic. Therefore,
2020-2021 school years, students who resources will be directed to support
did not consistently participate in remote social emotional and mental health
instruction when offered during school initiatives and conflict resolution rather
building closures, LGBTQ+ students) than punitive discipline. Further, there
will be an increased emphasis on
building relationships and partnerships
with community organizations,
wraparound supports, and meaningful
teacher, student, and family engagement.
4. Understanding the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Describe how the SEA
will support its LEAs in identifying the extent of the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on student learning and student well-being, including identifying the
groups of students most impacted by the pandemic. Where possible, please
identify the data sources the SEA will suggest its LEAs use in thoughtfully
diagnosing areas of need, including data on the academic, social, emotional, and
mental health impacts of lost instructional time.
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The Department itself will use MCAS results, and it highly encourages districts to utilize
MCAS results in order to better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on
student learning. Because of its diagnostic value, the results of this exam are vital for
identifying groups of students in need of increased academic support. In addition to
MCAS, the Department collects and reports data on the following requirements related to
the impact of COVID-19 on student learning and well-being: chronic absenteeism;
student enrollment and attendance; advanced course completion; student discipline;
student and educator surveys; data compiled in the Early Warning Indicator System; and
other factors. The vast majority of the data listed above can and will be disaggregated by
district, student, and staff group. Accurate data, transparently presented to the public and
to our stakeholders, is the beginning of a conversation about needs, challenges, goals for
the future, and action. DESE intends to use all of these data points to catalyze such rich
conversations across the Commonwealth, homing in on the groups of students most
impacted by the pandemic.
5. School Operating Status: It is essential to have data on how students are learning
in order to support the goals of access and equity, especially for student groups
that have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Describe
the current status of data collection on operational status and mode of instruction
of all schools in your State. This description must include:
i. A description of to what extent, and how frequently, the State
collects now and will collect in the future data for all schools in your
State on:
a. Mode of instruction: The number of schools in your State that are
offering fully remote or online-only instruction; both
remote/online and in-person instruction (hybrid model); and/or
full-time in-person instruction;
b. Enrollment: Student enrollment for all students and
disaggregated for each of the student groups described in A.3.i-
viii for each mode of instruction; and
c. Attendance: Student attendance for all students and
disaggregated for each of the student groups described in A.3.i-
viii for each mode of instruction.
Mode of Instruction
The Department conducted multiple statewide Student Learning Time data collections
throughout the 2020-2021 school year to better understand the number of hours students
were spending learning remote synchronously, remote asynchronously, and in-person.
This information was requested at multiple grade levels from all public school districts,
including charter districts. At the outset of the 2020-2021 school year, DESE added
elements to its robust Student Information Management System (SIMS), so that we
would be able to collect attendance by mode of instruction at the individual student level.
Going forward, DESE will continue to collect and monitor data on the mode of
instruction to support the goals of access and equity, especially for those student groups
most impacted by the pandemic as part of its ongoing student data collection system at
least three times per year.
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Enrollment
The Department has the capacity to ensure regular and high-quality data collection and
reporting on student-level enrollment data that is disaggregated by district and student
group, and indicates enrollment in each instructional model. The collection of enrollment
data, by student group and mode of instruction, will continue to be collected three times
per year, at a minimum.
Attendance
The Department has the capacity to ensure regular and high-quality data collection and
reporting on student-level attendance data that is disaggregated by district and student
group, and indicates attendance in each instructional model. Again, similar to the other
data points described here, the Department will continue to collect daily attendance data
on a regular basis, and we will have the ability to disaggregate by all student groups.
ii. The data described in A.5.i.a. and b. using the template in Appendix
A (and to the extent available, the data described in A.5.i.c.) for the
most recent time period available. Please note that this data can be
submitted separately within 14 calendar days after a State submits
this plan. The SEA must also make this data publicly available on its
website as soon as possible but no later than June 21, 2021, and
regularly provide updated available information on its website. The
Department will periodically review data listed in A.5.i on SEA
websites.
See Appendix A. See updates on https://profiles.doe.mass.edu/ and/or
https://www.doe.mass.edu/DataAccountability.html.
iii. To the extent available, a description of the planned operational
status and mode of instruction for the State and its LEAs for Summer
2021 and for the 2021-2022 school year.
As of late May 2021, nearly all of Massachusetts schools and districts are open fully to any
student wishing to access in-person learning. With the State of Emergency in Massachusetts
ending June 15, 2021, and as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths continue to fall as
vaccination rates increase, for the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, all districts and
schools will be required to be in-person, full-time, five days a week. Summer programming in
2021 will also operate in-person.
B. Safely Reopening Schools and Sustaining their Safe Operations
The Department recognizes that safely reopening schools and sustaining their safe operations
to maximize in-person instruction is essential for student learning and student well-being,
and especially for being able to address the educational inequities that have been worsened
by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this section, SEAs will describe how they will support their
LEAs in this vital area.
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1. Support for LEAs: Describe how the SEA will support its LEAs in safely
returning to in-person instruction and sustaining the safe operation of schools.
This description must include:
i. How the SEA will support its LEAs implementing, to the greatest
extent practicable, prevention and mitigation policies in line with the
most up-to-date guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (“CDC”) for the reopening and operation of school
facilities to effectively maintain the health and safety of students,
educators, and other staff;
Complete the table below, adding rows as necessary, or provide a
narrative description.
Table B1.
Mitigation strategy SEA response
Universal and correct wearing of The Department issued specific guidance on core
masks mitigation strategies (e.g., mask wearing,
Physical distancing (e.g., including physical distancing and handwashing) on July
use of cohorts/podding) 17, 2020 and has updated that guidance on four
Handwashing and respiratory occasions since then, most recently on April 20,
etiquette 2021. These updates have been informed by the
newest guidance from the CDC and the
Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The
Department will continue to update this guidance
whenever necessary to provide updates on these
core mitigation strategies. Furthermore, DESE
purchased masks and provided them to districts
in need toward the beginning of the pandemic.
And just this spring, DESE partnered with the
MA Emergency Management Agency (MEMA)
to provide free PPE, cleaning supplies, and other
COVID-related materials to districts,
collaborative programs, and approved special
education schools.
Cleaning and maintaining healthy The Department provided guidance on facilities,
facilities, including improving including cleaning procedures and improving
ventilation ventilation on July 22, 2021. Subsequently, the
Department has provided updated information
regarding this topic through a series of FAQs.
The Department will continue to update its
facilities guidance and FAQ documents as
necessary for the 2021-22 school year.
Furthermore, DESE purchased and provided over
11,000 portable HEPA air purifiers to districts to
improve classroom safety to allow for more in-
person learning across the state.
Contact tracing in combination with DESE provided guidance on contact tracing in
isolation and quarantine, in combination with isolation and quarantine in its
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Mitigation strategy SEA response
collaboration with the State, local, COVID-19 protocols document, most recently
territorial, or Tribal health updated on April 20, 2021. The Department will
departments update this guidance as necessary in alignment
with CDC and DPH advice.
Diagnostic and screening testing See question ii below for detailed information
about the state’s pooled testing program.
Efforts to provide vaccinations to The Department has collaborated with the
educators, other staff, and students, Massachusetts Department of Public Health
if eligible (DPH) to expand opportunities for vaccinations
for faculty and students. Their joint effort led to
prioritizing educators for vaccines during March
and April with specific days set aside solely for
them at mass vaccination sites. Most recently, the
Department and DPH have launched an effort to
provide on campus vaccination clinics for
students, faculty and family members. Such
efforts will continue in the months ahead as
vaccines become readily available for younger
children.
Appropriate accommodations for The Department collaborated with DPH to
children with disabilities with develop specific guidance on accommodations
respect to the health and safety for children with disabilities. Initially, the
policies Department published their joint guidance in
June 2020, and then DPH expanded upon it in
September 2020. Both agencies will update that
guidance as necessary for the start of the new
school year.
ii. Any Statewide plans, policies, estimated timelines, and specific
milestones related to reopening and operation of school facilities,
including any mechanisms the SEA will use to track, monitor, or
enforce their implementation;
The Department has provided specific guidance on and requirements,
including timelines and milestones related to reopening and operation of
school facilities. Through its regulatory authority, the Department required
all districts to return elementary students to full-time, in-person learning by
April 5, 2020, with middle school students following on April 28 and high
school students on May 17. The Department issued a small number of time
limited waivers to districts that encountered circumstances preventing them
from opening by those key dates, and all schools in Massachusetts are open
for in-person learning at this time. For the entirety of the 2020-21 school
year, parents were allowed to select a remote learning option for their
children. This option expires at the end of this school year, and the
Department has notified districts that summer instructional services must
be offered in person.
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The Department has tracked and monitored districts’ reopening efforts in a
variety of ways. First, in November and February, the Department
published detailed information about the instructional model employed by
each district for tracking and public reporting purposes. Additionally, the
Department published mid-year student attendance data to raise awareness
about student participation and engagement. As part of its monitoring
responsibility, the Department notified districts that were not implementing
in-person instruction when public health metrics clearly indicated
otherwise, and then conducted audits of districts that did not respond to this
initial feedback and redirection. Department staff and facilities experts
were also organized into facilities support teams, visiting school districts
this spring to help solve problems and support the districts in providing
safe learning environments for their returning students.
Finally, the Department’s Problem Resolution System, which in most
states is reserved for special education complaints, accepts complaints
about general education matters, and this office investigated numerous
parent complaints about districts’ decisions related to remote and in-person
learning models.
The Department will continue to use such data reporting, tracking and
monitoring strategies to promote effective decisions related to school
reopening.
As noted earlier, for the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, all
districts and schools will be required to be in-person, full-time, five days a
week.
iii. To what extent the SEA and its LEAs consult with Federal, State,
and local health officials. This description should include, if
available, whether the SEA and its LEAs have received support for
screening testing from their State or local health department based
on funding awarded by the CDC; and
The Department has consulted extensively with state and local health officials on
various key initiatives. Providing COVID-19 testing to schools is one clear
example. At the beginning of the school year, the Department collaborated with the
Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Executive Office of
Health and Human Services (EOHHS) to establish a mobile rapid testing unit that
could be deployed to any school in the state that had indications of in-school
transmission of the virus. The mobile unit provides onsite polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) tests to any individuals deemed at-risk for in-school transmission,
up to the entire faculty and student body. That same collaboration yielded the
deployment of BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests to schools for symptomatic
individuals. Finally, the Department, DPH and EOHHS launched a full-scale
screening testing program beginning on February 8 for all schools and districts in
the state. Using a pooled testing approach, the Department offered no-cost weekly
screening testing to all schools using partners and laboratories approved by DPH.
At this time, more than half of the schools in the state have signed up for this
service, and they have completed approximately 100,000 pooled tests since the
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inception of this program. The Department publishes pooled testing data on a
weekly basis, and they review these data with their partners at DPH and EOHHS to
inform their collective policy decisions. Initially funded through state sources, the
pooled testing initiative is now funded through the CDC award, and the
Department, DPH and EOHHS will extend testing services for summer
programming and the 2021-22 school year.
In addition to the collaboration on COVID-19 screening testing, the Department
consults with DPH and EOHHS on all of its health and safety guidance prior to
release, and all three organizations meet weekly to ensure consistency in
responding to questions regarding the Department’s guidance. Finally, the
Department joins DPH twice weekly meetings with local board of health leaders to
answer their questions and hear their feedback and ideas.
iv. Any guidance, professional learning, and technical assistance
opportunities the SEA will make available to its LEAs.
The Department has continually provided guidance to LEAs throughout the course
of the pandemic with such topics as teaching and learning, special education,
school meals and health and safety protocols. All guidance materials can be found
on the Department’s COVID-19 webpage. The Department will continue to use
this webpage as a resource hub for all of the guidance that it continues to produce
on all school reopening matters. In addition, the Department holds multiple
meetings each month with district leaders to provide further information on its
guidance and to answer their questions. Finally, the Department has assembled a
technical assistance team that provides onsite support to schools and districts that
face particular challenges related to school reopening.
The Massachusetts DPH contracts with Boston University to provide training and
professional learning opportunities for school health professionals. The Department
coordinates with DPH on the topics Boston University will address in its forums
and workshops.
2. Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plans: Describe
how the SEA will ensure that its LEAs that receive ARP ESSER funds meet the
requirements in section 2001(i) of the ARP Act and the requirements relating to
the ARP ESSER funds published in the Federal Register and available at
https://oese.ed.gov/offices/american-rescue-plan/american-rescue-plan-
elementary-and-secondary-school-emergency-relief/ (ARP ESSER requirements)
to either: (a) within 30 days of receipt of the funds, develop and make publicly
available on the LEA’s website a plan for the safe return to in-person instruction
and continuity of services, or (b) have developed and made publicly available on
the LEA’s website such a plan that meets statutory requirements before the
enactment of the ARP Act, including:
i. How the SEA will ensure that each LEA plan includes, or will be
modified to include, the extent to which it has adopted policies and a
description of any such policies on each of the strategies listed in
table B1;
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ii. How the SEA will ensure that each LEA plan describes how it will
ensure continuity of services including but not limited to services to
address the students’ academic needs, and students’ and staff social,
emotional, mental health, and other needs, which may include
student health and food services;
iii. How the SEA will ensure that the LEA periodically reviews, no less
frequently than every six months for the duration of the ARP ESSER
grant period (i.e., through September 30, 2023), 2 and revises as
appropriate, its plan, and how the SEA will ensure that the LEA
seeks public input, and takes such input into account on (1) whether
revisions are necessary and, if so, (2) the revisions to the plan; and
iv. Describe, to the extent the SEA collects it, information about LEA
implementation, to the greatest extent practicable, of each element of
the most up-to-date CDC guidance listed in table B1 and its LEAs’
needs for support and technical assistance to implement strategies
consistent, to the greatest extent practicable, with relevant CDC
guidance.
The Department will systematically ensure that its LEAs that receive ARP ESSER funds meet the
requirements in section 2001(i) of the ARP Act and the requirements relating to the ARP ESSER
funds. First, the Department will review each LEA’s plan upon submission to ensure that it
includes a description of the policies related to the strategies in table B1. If an LEA’s plan does
not include a required element, the Department will return the plan for required revisions. In
addition, the Department will require that each LEA plan describes how it will ensure continuity
of services, including but not limited to services to address the students’ academic needs, and
students’ and staff social, emotional, mental health, and other needs, which may include student
health and food services. This requirement will be evident in the directions the Department
provides to LEAs for completing their ARP ESSER grant application. Additionally, by way of
our monitoring processes, the Department will require reporting from LEAs no less frequently
than every six months for the duration of the ARP ESSER grant period and ensure the LEA has
provided us with its plan’s URL (that can in turn be shared with US Dept of Ed), and that it has
periodically reviewed and has made revisions to its plan, as appropriate.
Each element of the latest CDC guidance is also included in the grant application, and is required
to be updated at least every 6 months as conditions change. To determine LEAs’ needs for
support and technical assistance to implement strategies as consistent as possible with relevant
CDC guidance, the Department will continue to consult with the School Health Services Division
of the Massachusetts DPH and regional school health professional consultants and work with
districts to implement the appropriate health and safety strategies. Moreover, the Department’s
Problem Resolution Office will be available to receive any concerns or complaints about LEA
implementation of health and safety protocols in schools and districts.
2
ARP ESSER funds are subject to the Tydings amendment in section 421(b) of the General Education Provisions
Act, 20 U.S.C. 1225(b), and are therefore available to SEAs and LEAs for obligation through September 30, 2024.
Review and revisions of these plans, if necessary, are not required during the Tydings period.
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C. Planning for the Use and Coordination of ARP ESSER Funds
The Department recognizes that seeking input from diverse stakeholders is essential to
developing plans for the use of ARP ESSER funds that are responsive to the needs of
students, families, and educators. In this section, SEAs will describe their plans for
consultation and for coordinating the use of ARP ESSER funds with other resources to meet
the needs of students.
1. SEA Consultation: Consistent with the ARP ESSER requirements, describe how
the SEA engaged in meaningful consultation with stakeholders, and incorporated
input into its plan, including, but not limited to:
i. students;
ii. families;
iii. Tribes (if applicable);
iv. civil rights organizations (including disability rights organizations);
v. school and district administrators (including special education
administrators);
vi. superintendents;
vii. charter school leaders (if applicable);
viii. teachers, principals, school leaders, other educators, school staff, and
their unions; and
ix. stakeholders representing the interests of children with disabilities,
English learners, children experiencing homelessness, children and
youth in foster care, migratory students, children who incarcerated,
and other underserved students.
The description must include how the SEA provided the public the opportunity to
provide input in the development of the plan, a summary of the input (including
any letters of support), and how the SEA took such input into account.
In the development of its ARP ESSER plan, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education (DESE) implemented several outreach approaches over the course of several weeks. Video-
conferencing technology allowed DESE staff to connect with a wide range of stakeholders in this short
period of time, many of whom we had been in frequent contact with throughout the pandemic, but it also
opened the doors to many new stakeholders. And while DESE is submitting its plan by June 7, 2021, we
will continue to obtain stakeholder feedback beyond this date to ensure a reasonable opportunity for all to
maximize stakeholder participation, and to acknowledge that planning for the pandemic recovery is not a
one-time exercise, but a series of conversations over time.
Over the course of the month of May and into June, we gathered feedback from over 50 stakeholder
groups (advocacy organizations, civil rights organizations, affinity organizations, American Indian tribes,
policy organizations, professional associations, special education organizations, English learner
organizations, migratory students, teachers unions, charter schools, teachers, principals, superintendents,
school committees, guidance counselors, students, parents/caregivers, the Governor’s education
secretariat, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education), and many more. While it may not be an
exhaustive list of the groups we met with, the stakeholder groups we did meet with over the course of
May and June of 2021 represent all of the interests listed above, oftentimes overlapping with the required
stakeholder groups. They are, in no particular order:
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MA School Counselors Association, American Federation of Teachers MA, He Is Me Institute, Teach
Western MA, National Parents Union, MA School Administrators Association, MA Interscholastic
Athletic Association, Higher Ground, SchoolFacts Boston, MA Education Equity Partnership, MA
Association of Vocational Administrators, Immigrant Family Institute, Parent Villages, MA Association
of School Committees, DESE’s Teacher Advisory Council and Principal Advisory Council, Latinos for
Education, MA Organization of Educational Collaboratives, Urban League, Lawrence Community
Works, MA Administrators of Special Education, Center for Education Services, March Forward MA,
MA Association of School Superintendents, EL Bilingual Advisory Council, Ed Trust, Massachusetts
Advocates for Children, MA Teachers Association, Amplify Latinx, Boston Schools Fund, MA
Community Action Network, MA Charter Public School Association, MA Parents United, Massachusetts
Association for Bilingual Education, Parent and Community Education & Involvement Advisory Council,
Special Education Advisory Council, Arts Education Advisory Council, OneGoal, MA Association of
School Business Officials, Teacher Collaborative, TeachPlus, Teacher’s Lounge, Education Law Task
Force, Citizen Schools, Worcester Education Collaborative, uAspire, State Student Advisory Council,
Racial Imbalance Advisory Council, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the
Massachusetts Parent/Teacher Association.
The stakeholder input does not stop here: Massachusetts has several other stakeholder engagement
sessions scheduled in the coming days and weeks, and has standing meetings with dozens of these
organizations.
We also conducted an online survey that has been distributed widely and is offered in 6 different
languages, allowing anyone in the public to submit their thoughts. As of June 7, we had received 440
survey responses. The public also gave testimony at the May 25, 2021 state Board of Elementary and
Secondary Education meeting, which included many parents voicing their visions for the use of these
funds.
In addition, DESE has consulted the results of a Statewide Education Issues survey of over 1,549 K-12
parents in Massachusetts charged by the Barr Foundation and conducted by the MassInc Polling Group.
This survey describes challenges of education during the pandemic. DESE has and will continue to rely
on the feedback received from stakeholders.
The voices of our valued stakeholders are widely reflected throughout the various sections of this plan,
Stakeholders often stressed equity, and concentrated on three main buckets: the human side of education
(engagement, building relationships and community, meeting social-emotional needs of students and
staff), the academic side of education (mitigating lost instructional time, providing high quality services),
and the health and safety of school buildings themselves. This plan was shaped by all of these
interactions; those main themes are reflected throughout this document and in our daily work. It should be
noted that there are too many amazing ideas that we’ve heard from our stakeholders to list in the narrative
of this plan. DESE remains hard at work on these ideas, with an open ear, and looks forward to more rich
conversations over the coming months and years.
2. Coordinating Funds: Describe to what extent the SEA has and will coordinate
Federal COVID-19 pandemic funding and other Federal funding. This description
must include:
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i. How the SEA and its LEAs 1) are using or have used prior to the
submission of this plan and 2) plan to use following submission of
this plan, Federal COVID-19 funding under the Coronavirus Aid,
Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act and the CRRSA Act
to support a safe return to and safely maximize in-person instruction,
sustain these operations safely, and address the disproportionate
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individual student groups
(including students from low-income families, children with
disabilities, English learners, racial or ethnic minorities, students
experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, and
migratory students);
Complete the table below or provide a narrative description.
Table C1.
Funding source Prior/current SEA and LEA uses Planned SEA and LEA uses (including
(including funding amounts, if funding amounts, if applicable)
applicable)
ESSER I (CARES Act) SEA: SEA (planned): N/A
• Safe Return to Schools
$2,730,309
• Address COVID Impact on
Student Learning $16,674,620
• Administrative Support
$1,074,472
LEA: Amount expended as of 5/24/21 LEA (planned):
$86,037,818. Also, DESE is currently • Safe Return to Schools $48,656,238
developing a survey to collect actual uses • Address COVID Impact on Student
data from each district. The data we have Learning $85,637,851.42
right now collected from the completed
• Technology $47,154,802.24
district application reflects planned uses.
Also, DESE is developing a data
collection system to collect actual
expenditure data from each district.
GEER I (CARES Act) SEA: NA
• Address COVID Impact on
Student Learning $20,659,712
• Administrative Support $208,792
ESSER II (CRRSA Act) SEA: SEA (planned):
• Safe Return to Schools • Address COVID Impact on Student
$10,000,000 Learning 4,553,153
• Address COVID Impact on
Student Learning $59,459,567 LEA (planned)*:
• Administrative Support • Safe Return to Schools
$1,920,113 $43,059,792.25
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Funding source Prior/current SEA and LEA uses Planned SEA and LEA uses (including
(including funding amounts, if funding amounts, if applicable)
applicable)
• Address COVID Impact on Student
LEA: amount expended as of 5/24/21 Learning $64,051,616.40
$12,632,199. Also, DESE is developing • Technology $7,161,151.27
a survey currently to collect actual uses
data from each district. The data we have *ESSER II planned LEA spending data is as
right now collected from the completed of 5/26/21, where only 117 LEAs have applied
district application reflects planned uses. this funding. The application deadline for
ESSER II funds is 7/30/21.
GEER II (CRRSA Act) SEA: NA
• Address COVID Impact on
Student Learning $2,900,000
ii. To what extent ESSER I and ESSER II funds have been awarded to
LEAs and, if funds have not yet been made available to LEAs, when
they will be. In addition, please provide any available information on
the total dollar amounts of ESSER I and ESSER II funds that have
been obligated but not expended by the SEA and its LEAs, including
whether the SEA is able to track LEA obligations.
All ESSER I and ESSER II funds have been made available to our Massachusetts
school districts. The application for ESSER I funds was made available on May 8,
2020 with an August 14, 2020 deadline. The application for ESSER II funds was
made available on February 5, 2021 with a July 30, 2021 application deadline.
District applications go through a programmatic review process by DESE’s Federal
Grants Programs office. District grant applications contain multiple sections that
cover state and federal fiscal compliance requirements (e.g., signature page, budget
page that shows how districts intend to allocate grant funds by state budget
categories) to ARP ESSER and state priorities and prerequisites (e.g., uses of funds
and assurances). A completed and approved application allows us to capture and
ensure the allowability and reasonableness of the district’s requested uses of funds.
ESSER I District Grants ESSER II District Grants
Obligated Grants $194,414,916 $738,957,563
Expended as of 5/24/21 $86,037,818 $12,632,199
Grant Balance $108,377,098 $726,325,364
iii. In supporting LEAs as they plan for the safe return to and continuity
of in-person instruction and for meeting the academic, social,
emotional, and mental health needs of students resulting from the
COVID-19 pandemic, the extent to which the SEA is also using
other Federal funding sources including but not limited to under the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (“ESEA”), IDEA,
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (“WIOA”), funding for
child nutrition services, and McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance
22
Act, and the funds to support the needs of students experiencing
homelessness provided by section 2001(b)(1) of the ARP Act. 3
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (“ESEA”)
Massachusetts has and will continue to leverage other stand and federal funding sources to support
schools and districts plan and implement a safe return to and continuity of in-person instruction and for
meeting the academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of students resulting from the COVID-
19 pandemic. Specifically, DESE has used ESEA, Title I, Part A and state funding to provide Targeted
assistance grants to districts and schools that offer increased flexibility in how funds may be used to
address the challenges presented by COVID-19. This flexibility allows districts to direct funds toward
remote-learning integration strategies and COVID-related infrastructure and student wellness supports for
the state’s lowest-performing schools. In addition, DESE staff developed guidance and implemented
professional learning opportunities and support for districts and educators and educator preparation
programs across the state to meet student’s academic, social, emotional and mental health needs, for
example: Guidance on Remote Learning; Talent Guide to support school staffing during the pandemic,
developed materials and promoting Mass Literacy, an initiative to support teachers to reach students with
evidence-based early literacy; Curriculum Ratings by Teachers (CURATE) is a process by which MA
teachers review the evidence and produce ratings on commercially available curricula; OPTIC, an online
calibration platform that supports educators to review and rate teaching practice and calibrate and discuss
together their feedback to improve the quality of instruction. Through Title IV, Part A, among other
sources, DESE has developed mental health and behavioral health resources to support districts in
meeting the social emotional and mental health needs of students during this time. DESE has leveraged
the CDC support in conducting a Youth Risk Behavior Survey to include several questions related to
students’ mental health experiences with violence during the pandemic. DESE also continues to use Title
IV, Part A funds to provide evidence-based strategies like professional development and support for
building safe, supportive, and equitable schools, developing multi-tiered systems of student support, for
social and emotional learning, mental and behavioral health, and implementing culturally responsive and
engaging instructional strategies. Title IV, Part B supports the Massachusetts 21st Century Community
Learning Centers (21CCLC) Program, which supports the implementation of academically enriching
programming during Out-of-School Time (OST) and during Expanded Learning Time (ELT) that helps to
close proficiency and opportunity gaps, increases student engagement, and contributes to a well-rounded
education. Title IVB support training, planning and professional development for educators to make
better use of time with students and maximize student outcomes. Additionally, MA 21CCLC has
developed the Family Institute for Student Success, a nine-week institute designed to provide families
with the knowledge and skills to partner effectively with schools to support student achievement. Training
is also provided to school administrators, educators, and community-based organizations on how to
engage families more effectively as partners.
Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
The Special Education Planning and Policy Development office (SEPP) of the Department’s Center of
District Support has utilized its state-level IDEA funding to support students with disabilities to safely
return in-person learning. SEPP has continuously published guidance, technical assistance tools &
materials, conducted webinars, and provided consultation with individual districts on specific questions to
address the most urgent needs for students with IEPs, teachers, and other special education staff to
3
Please note that the needs of students experiencing homelessness must be addressed (along with the other groups
disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic) through the use of the ARP ESSER SEA reservations and
the required LEA reservation for the academic impact of lost instructional time; the funding provided to support the
needs of students experiencing homelessness by section 2001(b)(1) of the ARP Act is in addition to the supports and
services provided with ARP ESSER funds.
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prepare and support schools and districts grappling with the reopening of school facilities. Some of the
activities that were supported through IDEA funding are as follows:
• Providing technical assistance advisories on summer special ed services, compensatory services,
and recovery support for students with IEPs;
• Writing transportation guidance for special needs students;
• Providing information on remote assessment tools and tele-assessment webinars;
• Conducting specific webinars on family engagement, learning recovery, and equity & inclusion;
• Publishing procedures for temporary waiver for early childhood; and
• Publishing guidance to districts related to facilities, equipment, and health and safety protocols.
Further, in response to the special education community voicing a need for additional financial support in
response to the impacts of COVID-19, DESE created two Targeted Special Education Program
Improvement Grants administered in FY2021 to support districts with their special education services that
comply with IDEA fiscal requirements:
Fund Code 274: to improve high quality programs that provide services documented on students'
IEPs through in-person instruction, remote instruction, or a combination of both, with a strong
emphasis on providing in-person instruction to the greatest extent possible
Fund Code 298: is to support early childhood special education (ECSE) activities for eligible
children ages 3–5 with disabilities, and to support districts to improve high quality programs that
provide services documented on students' IEPs through in-person instruction, remote instruction,
or a combination of both, with a strong emphasis on providing in-person instruction to the
greatest extent possible.
SEPP has a dedicated COVID-19 Information and Resources webpage for Special Educators.
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
Massachusetts maintained its strong commitment to adult education and appropriated over $46 million in
state funds in FY21, which, when combined with the $12 million WIOA Title II grant, enabled the adult
education system to provide a shift to remote instruction. These funds supported additional professional
development and investments in technology. Many Massachusetts adult education programs reside in
community colleges and local school districts and follow their parent organizations’ plans to return to in-
person instruction.
Child Nutrition
USDA child nutrition funds throughout COVID-19 to assure continuous, safe meal service throughout the
pandemic. In addition to the standard, annual grant funding for school meals USDA has also provided
new COVID-19 grants authorized through numerous stimulus bills. New USDA funding this past year
included funds for child nutrition emergency operational costs and targeted reimbursements for local
administrative costs for P-EBT. Additionally, district’s received funds from the Coronavirus Relief Fund
(CvRF) to support COVID-19 related school meal costs including a grant opportunity for food security
related infrastructure improvements.
The DESE child nutrition and school finance and federal grants offices have worked side-by-side during
to ensure consistent messaging and coordination at the state level. In support of districts, DESE has held
numerous virtual webinars/town halls with school business officials and school nutrition directors on
child nutrition funding and, importantly, how they relate to other federal grant funds (either from USED
or FEMA). Monthly newsletters from the DESE child nutrition office also provides additional follow up
guidance to help support districts with their decision making. Lastly, as necessary, detailed DESE written
guidance have and will continue to be disseminated for each new USDA funding stream to explain in full
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detail step-by-step instructions including a question-and-answer resource. Each guidance documented was
followed up with a virtual town hall to answer questions.
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
The Massachusetts McKinney-Vento (MKV) Homeless Education program collaborates with other state
agencies and community providers to offer technical assistance, guidance and support to homeless
families, students, and districts to ensure that homeless children and youth can enroll, attend, and succeed
in school. To support a safe return to school and educational stability for students experiencing
homelessness and their families, MKV programming has and will continue to provide training, technical
assistance, and other resources to address the often-disproportionate impacts of the pandemic on this
group of students. For example, the Educational Stability Tip Sheet was developed to provide guidance
on maintaining enrollment, connecting with families, and ensuring access to remote learning opportunities
for students who are homeless, in foster care, and in migrant or military families during school closures
due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department will issue grants to districts through both MKV and the
additional ARP – Homeless Children and Youth allocation to support districts in addressing the needs of
students who are homeless, including addressing their academic, social emotional, and mental health
needs.
D. Maximizing State-Level Funds to Support Students
The Department recognizes that States have an extraordinary opportunity to address the
disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on underserved students through the
ARP Act’s required State set-asides to address the academic impact of lost instructional time,
provide summer learning and enrichment programs, and provide comprehensive afterschool
programs. In this section, SEAs will describe their evidence-based strategies for these
resources.
1. Academic Impact of Lost Instructional Time: Describe how the SEA will use the
funds it reserves under section 2001(f)(1) of the ARP Act (totaling not less than 5
percent of the State’s total allocation of ARP ESSER funds) on evidence-based
interventions to address the academic impact of lost instructional time by
supporting the implementation of evidence-based interventions, such as summer
learning or summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive afterschool
programs, or extended school year programs, and ensure that such interventions
respond to students’ academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs. The
description must include:
i. A description of the evidence-based interventions (e.g., providing
intensive or high-dosage tutoring, accelerating learning) the SEA has
selected, and the extent to which the SEA will evaluate the impact of
those interventions on an ongoing basis to understand if they are
working;
DESE has developed an Acceleration Roadmap, which is a tool for
teachers and school/building administrators, designed to provide a focused
and phased approach to supporting students as they begin the 2021-2022
academic year, and it will lay the foundation for accelerated learning over
the next several years. The Acceleration Roadmap is organized around
three overarching priorities, which are firmly grounded in research and
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were developed through extensive stakeholder feedback. They are: (1)
foster a sense of belonging and partnership among students and families,
(2) continuously monitor students’ understanding, and (3) ensure strong
grade-appropriate instruction with just-in-time scaffolds when they are
needed. Within each priority, our approaches are designed to create
equitable experiences and outcomes for all our students in a manner that is
affirming of their race, identity, home language, and unique abilities.
DESE is also considering using ARP ESSER funds in future years for the
wide range of programming it’s providing this summer with a combination
of ESSER I, ESSER II, and state funds, including but not limited to:
Acceleration Academies
DESE will help school districts launch Acceleration Academies in summer
of 2021, which allow students to learn and build skills working intensively
on one subject in small, hands-on learning environments with excellent
teachers. Evidence shows that students benefit from small class sizes,
longer uninterrupted instructional blocks, individualized attention, project-
based lessons and teacher flexibility for learning time. This will be a multi-
year program that the Department anticipates will impact more than 50,000
students statewide each year.
Acceleration Academies will include:
• Early Literacy Academies for incoming kindergarteners, rising 1st and
2nd graders; and
• Math Acceleration Academies for rising 3rd and 4th graders, as well as
8th and 10th graders.
Summer School Matching Grants
DESE will also offer summer school matching grants in summer of 2021
for school districts to offer 4-to-6-week, in-person programs with a mix of
in-person academic and recreational activities. The Department is making
these funds available to schools to enhance or expand their existing
summer programs while also including mental health services and
additional supports for students with individualized education plans and
English learners.
Summer Acceleration to College
High school graduates from the Class of 2021 will be able to participate in
Summer Acceleration to College, a new program that provides recent
graduates access to credit-bearing math and English courses at no cost to
them as they prepare for college.
Summer Step Up
The Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) will support school
districts to offer Summer Step Up, a new program aimed at giving extra
support to young learners entering school in the fall.
Young children, who have had limited in-school experiences due to the
pandemic, will be able to take part in summer learning opportunities
26
developed in conjunction with community partners to help prepare them
for school. With pre-school and kindergarten enrollments down over the
last year, Summer Step Up is an opportunity to engage young learners and
accelerate learning while smoothing the transition to in-person learning for
young children to provide them a stronger foundation for academic
success.
The state is launching several other programs with its federal funding. We
are providing early literacy tutoring grants, a new K-8 Math Acceleration
program, and a program for advanced math students called the “Biggest
Winner Math Challenge.” Massachusetts will offer college courses over the
summer for rising high school juniors and seniors who are enrolled in
approved Early College programs. The state will also help camps and
community organizations to expand educational enrichment as part of their
existing summer programs.
DESE sees many of these initiatives as multi-year commitments to help
mitigate the effects of lost instructional time from the pandemic.
ii. How the evidence-based interventions will specifically address the
disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain groups of students,
including each of the student groups listed in question A.3.i.-viii.
When possible, please indicate which data sources the SEA will use
to determine the impact of lost instructional time; and
The learning acceleration approach referenced above, asserts that every
student is capable of accessing grade-appropriate work, it requires
collecting ongoing data on what students know and are able to do,
incorporating the scaffolding of evidence-based strategies students need in
the context of a school-wide multi-tiered system of support, and
simultaneously developing a culture of belonging and inclusivity.
Phase I of the Roadmap requires Diagnostic and Planning work. Districts
will set a vision for and establish plans to:
• Foster a sense of belonging and partnership for students and families.
The purpose of this phase is to understand the status of the schools
relationship with students and families and to establish clear goals for the
school year, with an eye towards equity and racial equity. Some key
questions for districts to ask themselves include:
o Are we supporting all students to attend school?
o Do our school policies and practices reinforce a positive culture
and climate?
o Do our policies actively affirm students and their diverse
identities?
Along with these questions there are listed Steps for Success districts should
take. Such as, gather data on attendance and disaggregate by demographic
groups. Identify groups of students to re-engage this upcoming year. Create a
team who can monitor attendance data daily, reach out to students prior to
27
the first day of school and in the first month of school and call
students/families who are not present.
• Establish systems to monitor students’ understanding. The goal of this
phase is to ensure that teachers will have access to usable diagnostic date
and understand how to use it to adjust their pacing guides for the
upcoming year. Some key questions for districts to ask themselves in this
phase include:
o Have we communicated a clear plan for diagnostics that help
teachers bring students into grade-level instruction?
o Are we building a culture of data and reflection?
o Have I committed staffing resources to support my data analysis
needs?
Again, there are Steps for Success for each key question, such as,
o Adopt high-quality instructional materials (or make a plan to
ensure students have access to grade-level content).
o Audit materials for culturally responsive practice and identify a
high leverage area of growth within the domain of culturally
responsive instruction to focus on as a school/district this
upcoming academic year
o Make a plan or select a vendor to provide PD for teachers on
how to effectively implement the adopted curriculum.
• Evaluate your curriculum and plan for professional development – the
goal in this phase is to evaluate students’ access to high-quality
instructional materials and plan a calendar of professional development
focused on accelerating learning and providing equitable access to grade-
appropriate instruction. Some key questions for districts to ask
themselves in this phase include:
o Does my Tier 1 curriculum provide all students with access to
grade-level work?
o Do educators receive support to effectively deliver Tier 1
instruction?
o Are tiers 2 and 3 programs consistent with Tier 1 instruction?
The Roadmap provides aligned resources to each of these priorities and
goals that districts may take to assist with the steps for success. Here is a
link to the Acceleration Roadmap for teachers and leaders in
Massachusetts. Finally, DESE will provide support to districts to
encourage the use of the Acceleration Roadmap and offer professional
earning opportunities over the summer.
iii. The extent to which the SEA will use funds it reserves to identify
and engage 1) students who have missed the most in-person
instruction during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years; and 2)
students who did not consistently participate in remote instruction
when offered during school building closures.
DESE will continue to review data on chronic absenteeism and student
enrollment and attendance data to support schools and districts in engaging
28
students who have missed the most-in-person instruction during the 2019-
2020 and 2020-2021 school years; in addition, students who did not
consistently participate in remote instruction when offered during school
building closures.
2. Evidence-Based Summer Learning and Enrichment Programs: Describe how the
SEA will use the funds it reserves under section 2001(f)(2) of the ARP Act
(totaling not less than 1 percent of the State’s total allocation of ARP ESSER
funds) for evidence-based summer learning and enrichment programs, including
those that begin in Summer 2021, and ensure such programs respond to students’
academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs. The description must
include:
i. A description of the evidence-based programs that address the
academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of students
(e.g., providing intensive or high-dosage tutoring, accelerating
learning) the SEA has selected, and the extent to which the SEA will
evaluate the impact of those programs;
Note: The Department is utilizing the same strategies for ARP ESSER
funding for summer learning enrichment programs, expanded learning
time and comprehensive afterschool programs (noted as out-of-school
time) and as a result the responses to D.2i-iii and D.3i-iii are repeated in
both sections.
Stakeholder Engagement: The ARP ESSER funding opportunities for the
evidence-based programming described below have been and will continue
to be informed by existing grantees as well as other out-of-school time
(before and after school, summer, etc.) programs, the Massachusetts
Afterschool Network, other state agencies (such as the Departments of
Early Education and Care, Mental Health, Public Health, Children and
Families, etc.), and the state’s Early Childhood and Out-of-School Time
(ECOST) workgroup, which is made of up of early learning and out-of-
school time practitioners and coordinators in both public school and
community-based organization (CBO) settings. Feedback from family and
youth as well as district/CBO staff will all be important and considered.
Examples of recommendations received that we are keeping in mind
include but are not limited to: creating multi-year funding opportunities;
including flexibility in fund usage to address local needs – which, as
examples - may include staffing, transportation, and other programmatic
costs; supporting programs and students with the least access to high
quality programming; and providing professional development that helps
address current challenges and work towards sustainability. We will aim
to support high quality programs and effective use of funds while
streamlining the application process as much as possible.
As several other sources of funding are available through the Department
for 2021 summer programs, we are taking additional time this summer to
further consult with stakeholders and learn more about out-of-school time
needs for the upcoming school year and summer, so that we can best utilize
29
the ARP ESSER funds to most effectively meet timely needs. Examples of
additional themes informed by feedback that we will refine and move
forward include what is described below.
Build Upon Existing Programs and Creating New Programs: The
Department anticipates building upon the strengths of existing out-of-
school time competitive and non-competitive multi-year funding
opportunities, including 21st Century Learning Centers (CCLC), state
funded Afterschool and Out-of-School Time (ASOST), and new/recent
opportunities created for summer 2021 out of ESSER II/GEER funding.
These existing opportunities are available to districts, including
collaboratives and private special education schools, as well as CBOs.
Using a portion of the ARP ESSER funds to expand evidence-based
programming that builds on these existing opportunities will enable
communities to learn from these established models to support the
development of new high quality out-of-school time programs and/or
enhance existing programs to:
• serve more students most in need (see ii. below);
• offer engaging, creative and interactive research-based
programming (including but not limited to arts, STEM,
enrichment, project-based learning and physical activities) that
will excite and motivate students to attend;
• build relationships, and promote youth voice;
• offer mental health services and/or social-emotional learning
opportunities;
• offer comprehensive programming that addresses family needs
and builds intentional/authentic family engagement;
• create a culturally responsive, anti-racist and welcoming
environment; and
• build or strengthen partnerships and cost-sharing relationships
between districts and CBOs for long term sustainability.
The Department is continuing to explore using a portion of the ARP
ESSER funding towards creating new opportunities that will also be
informed by needs of the out-of-school time field. These opportunities are
likely to include, but would not be limited to, funding the following types
of efforts:
• Supporting partnerships between districts and CBOs to expand
access to and strengthen alignment between out-of-school time,
early learning, mental health, and enrichment opportunities for
students who currently have the least access. This may include
staffing for districts to fund a family and community engagement
liaison/ coordinator or other resources to give districts the
bandwidth to work more closely with CBOs and families to share
and utilize each other’s strengths and resources.
• Partnering with work supported by the Department’s Early
Learning initiatives, including deepening the understanding of
district, school administrators, PK-3 educators and out-of-school
time practitioners on how to intentionally design learning
30
opportunities that are playful, responsive to the developmental
needs of younger learners and meet the high expectations of our
state learning standards. Also, in collaboration with the
Massachusetts School Administrators Association, the Department
will explore ways to continue and expand professional
development for elementary principals and out-of-school time
practitioners on creating anti-racist learning environments for
younger students, PK-3, supporting their social-emotional
development and responding to trauma, as well as addressing
adult well-being; and
• Expand on the Department’s family engagement initiatives,
including increasing participation in the Family Institutes for
Student Success, as well as exploring developing additional
trainings and interactive tools to support use of the Department’s
Family, School and Community Partnership Fundamentals to
facilitate a local self-assessment/learning process. The
Department, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Statewide
Family Engagement Center, has developed a workshop series for
school districts focused on Supporting Change Toward Effective
Family Engagement through a cultural competency framework,
and will look to expand this or a related workshop series to out-of-
school time participants and include racial literacy for effectively
engaging parents and families.
Evaluation: The Department and/or a contracted research provider will
evaluate each of the funding opportunities annually as well as require each
funded recipient to engage in program evaluations and share results with
the Department. In particular, the Department will encourage the use of the
Survey of Academic Youth Outcomes (SAYO) to measure the impact of
these out-of-school time programs. SAYO is a research-based evaluation
tool that can show changes in youth in academics and social emotional
learning (SEL) that are associated with participation in a high-quality
academically enriching out-of-school time programs and likely to occur
over a one-year period. The Department will also look to disseminate
promising practices across communities and use evaluation findings to
inform future planning efforts.
ii. How the evidence-based programs will specifically address the
disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain groups of students,
including each of the student groups listed in question A.3. i.--viii.
When possible, please indicate which data sources the SEA will use
to identify students most in need of summer learning and enrichment
programs; and
The Department will include language to either strongly encourage and/or
give priority to competitive applications that especially outreach to certain
groups of students disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 in the
funding opportunities described above. This may include but not be limited
to students who were chronically absent; students designated economically
31
disadvantaged; English learners; students on individualized education
programs (IEPs); students who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color
(BIPOC); LGBTQ students, and students experiencing homelessness,
foster care and/or who are migratory. In addition, various funding
opportunities may encourage and/or prioritize targeting students needing
additional support academically and social-emotionally as measured by
grades and teacher/guidance/administration (and other) referrals. The
Department will also prioritize or limit eligibility of some funding
opportunities to communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19
by considering geographic representation and those with higher
percentages of economically disadvantaged students.
In addition, to best support student learning and growth, the Department
will encourage applicants to utilize strategies aligned with the state’s cross-
agency Prenatal through Young Adulthood Family Engagement
Framework for Massachusetts.
The Department will also encourage applicants to use the evidence-based
strategies in The Acceleration Roadmap: Pathway to an Equitable
Recovery that are most applicable to out-of-school time programs. These
include: fostering a sense of belonging and partnership among students
and families, continuously monitoring students’ understanding, and
ensuring strong grade-appropriate instruction with just-in-time scaffolds
when they are needed.
Both of those resources are grounded in research and underwent extensive
feedback throughout the development process.
iii. The extent to which the SEA will use funds it reserves to identify
and engage 1) students who have missed the most in-person
instruction during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years; and 2)
students who did not consistently participate in remote instruction
when offered during school building closures.
As noted above, the Department will strongly encourage and include
priority for applicants in the various out-of-school time opportunities that
especially outreach to and enroll students who have missed the most in-
person instruction during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years,
including students who have been chronically absent from both in-person
and/or remote instruction. In addition to the Family Engagement
Framework and The Acceleration Roadmap: Pathway to an Equitable
Recovery, the Department has also designed systems of support and
professional development for our out-of-school time programs. This
system of support includes resources on how to get back into an
educational routine; reengage students; help students feel connected to
their peers, schools, and educators; and provide academically enriching and
engaging opportunities. Moreover, to reengage and fully meet the needs of
32
students who have missed the most in-person and remote instruction, we
will continue to support out-of-school time programs on how to engage
families as partners – aligned with the state’s aforementioned Family
Engagement Framework.
3. Evidence-Based Comprehensive Afterschool Programs: Describe how the SEA
will use the funds it reserves under section 2001(f)(3) of the ARP Act (totaling
not less than 1 percent of the State’s total allocation of ARP ESSER funds) for
evidence-based comprehensive afterschool programs (including, for example,
before-school programming), and ensure such programs respond to students’
academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs. The description must
include:
i. A description of the evidence-based programs (e.g., including
partnerships with community-based organizations) the SEA has
selected, and the extent to which the SEA will evaluate the impact of
those programs;
Note: The Department is utilizing the same strategy for ARP ESSER
funding for summer learning enrichment programs and comprehensive
afterschool programs (noted in the responses as out-of-school time) and as
a result the responses to D.2i-iii and D.3i-iii are repeated in both sections.
Stakeholder Engagement: The ARP ESSER funding opportunities to
expand evidence-based programming described below have been and will
continue to be informed by existing grantees as well as other out-of-school
time (before and after school, summer, etc.) programs, the Massachusetts
Afterschool Network, other state agencies (such as the Departments of
Early Education and Care, Mental Health, Public Health, Children and
Families, etc.), and the state’s Early Childhood and Out-of-School Time
(ECOST) workgroup, which is made of up of early learning and out-of-
school time practitioners and coordinators in both public school and
community-based organization (CBO) settings. Feedback from family and
youth as well as district/CBO staff will all be important and considered.
Examples of recommendations received that we are keeping in mind
include but are not limited to: creating multi-year funding opportunities;
including flexibility in fund usage to address local needs – which, as
examples - may include staffing, transportation, and other programmatic
costs; supporting programs and students with the least access to high
quality programming; and providing professional development that helps
address current challenges and work towards sustainability. We will aim
to support high quality programs and effective use of funds while
streamlining the application process as much as possible.
As a number of other sources of funding are available through the
Department for 2021 summer programs, we are taking additional time this
summer to further consult with stakeholders and learn more about out-of-
school time needs for the upcoming school year and summer, so that we
can best utilize the ARP ESSER funds to most effectively meet timely
33
needs. Examples of additional themes informed by feedback that we will
refine and move forward include what is described below.
Build Upon Existing Programs and Creating New Programs: The
Department anticipates building upon the strengths of existing out-of-
school time competitive and non-competitive multi-year funding
opportunities, including 21st Century Learning Centers (CCLC), state
funded Afterschool and Out-of-School Time (ASOST), and new/recent
opportunities created for summer 2021 out of ESSER II/GEER funding.
These existing opportunities are available to districts, including
collaboratives and private special education schools, as well as CBOs.
Using a portion of the ARP ESSER funds to expand programming that
builds on these existing opportunities will enable communities to learn
from these established models to support the development of new high
quality out-of-school time programs and/or enhance existing programs to:
• serve more students most in need (see ii. below);
• offer engaging, creative and interactive research-based
programming (including but not limited to arts, STEM,
enrichment, project-based learning and physical activities) that
will excite and motivate students to attend;
• build relationships, and promote youth voice;
• offer mental health services and/or social-emotional learning
opportunities;
• offer comprehensive programming that addresses family needs
and builds intentional/authentic family engagement;
• create a culturally responsive, anti-racist and welcoming
environment; and
• build or strengthen partnerships and cost-sharing relationships
between districts and CBOs for long term sustainability.
The Department is continuing to explore using a portion of the ARP
ESSER funding towards creating new opportunities that will also be
informed by needs of the out-of-school time field. These likely will
include but are not limited to funding the following types of efforts:
• Supporting partnerships between districts and CBOs to expand
access to and strengthen alignment between out-of-school time,
early learning, mental health, and enrichment opportunities for
students who currently have the least access. This may include
staffing for districts to fund a family and community engagement
liaison/ coordinator or other resources to give districts the
bandwidth to work more closely with CBOs and families to share
and utilize each other’s strengths and resources.
• Partnering with work supported by the Department’s Early
Learning initiatives, including deepening the understanding of
district, school administrators, PK-3 educators and out-of-school
time practitioners on how to intentionally design learning
opportunities that are playful, responsive to the developmental
needs of younger learners and meet the high expectations of our
state learning standards. Also, in collaboration with the
34
Massachusetts School Administrators Association, the Department
will explore ways to continue and expand professional
development for elementary principals and out-of-school time
practitioners on creating anti-racist learning environments for
younger students, pre-K-3, supporting their social-emotional
development and responding to trauma, as well as addressing
adult well-being; and
• Expand on the Department’s family engagement initiatives,
including increasing participation in the Family Institutes for
Student Success, as well as exploring developing additional
trainings and interactive tools to support use of the Department’s
Family, School and Community Partnership Fundamentals to
facilitate a local self-assessment/learning process. The
Department, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Statewide
Family Engagement Center, has developed a workshop series for
school districts focused on Supporting Change Toward Effective
Family Engagement through a cultural competency framework,
and will look to expand this or a related workshop series to out-of-
school time participants and include racial literacy for effectively
engaging parents and families.
Evaluation: The Department and/or a contracted research provider will
evaluate each of the funding opportunities annually as well as require each
funded recipient to engage in program evaluations and share results with
the Department. In particular, the Department will encourage the use of the
Survey of Academic Youth Outcomes (SAYO) to measure the impact of
these out-of-school time programs. SAYO is a research-based evaluation
tool that can show changes in youth in academics and social emotional
learning (SEL) that are associated with participation in a high-quality
academically enriching out-of-school time programs and likely to occur
over a one-year period. The Department will also look to disseminate
promising practices across communities and use evaluation findings to
inform future planning efforts.
ii. How the evidence-based programs will specifically address the
disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain groups of students,
including each of the student groups listed in question A.3.i.-viii.
When possible, please indicate which data sources the SEA will use
to identify students most in need of comprehensive afterschool
programming; and
The Department will include language to either strongly encourage and/or
give priority to competitive applications that especially outreach to certain
groups of students disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 in the
funding opportunities described above. This may include but not be limited
to students who were chronically absent; students designated economically
disadvantaged; English learners; students on individualized education
programs (IEPs); students who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color
(BIPOC); LGBTQ students, and students experiencing homelessness,
35
foster care and/or who are migratory. In addition, various funding
opportunities may encourage and/or prioritize targeting students needing
additional support academically and social-emotionally as measured by
grades and teacher/guidance/administration (and other) referrals. The
Department will also prioritize or limit eligibility of some funding
opportunities to communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19
by considering geographic representation and those with higher
percentages of economically disadvantaged students.
In addition, to best support student learning and growth, the Department
will encourage applicants to utilize strategies aligned with the state’s cross-
agency Prenatal through Young Adulthood Family Engagement
Framework for Massachusetts.
The Department will also encourage applicants to use the evidence-based
strategies in The Acceleration Roadmap: Pathway to an Equitable
Recovery that are most applicable to out-of-school time programs. These
include: fostering a sense of belonging and partnership among students
and families, continuously monitoring students’ understanding, and
ensuring strong grade-appropriate instruction with just-in-time scaffolds
when they are needed.
Both of those resources are grounded in research and underwent extensive
feedback throughout the development process.
iii. the extent to which the SEA will use funds it reserves to identify and
engage 1) students who have missed the most in-person instruction
during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years; and 2) students
who did not consistently participate in remote instruction when
offered during school building closures.
As noted above, the Department will strongly encourage and include
priority for applicants in the various out-of-school time opportunities that
especially outreach to and enroll students who have missed the most in-
person instruction during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years,
including students who have been chronically absent from both in-person
and/or remote instruction. In addition to the Family Engagement
Framework and The Acceleration Roadmap: Pathway to an Equitable
Recovery, the Department has also designed systems of support and
professional development for our out-of-school time programs. This
system of support includes resources on how to get back into an
educational routine; reengage students; help students feel connected to
their peers, schools, and educators; and provide academically enriching and
engaging opportunities. Moreover, to reengage and fully meet the needs of
students who have missed the most in-person and remote instruction, we
36
will continue to support out-of-school time programs on how to engage
families as partners – aligned with the state’s aforementioned Family
Engagement Framework.
4. Emergency Needs: If the SEA plans to reserve funds for emergency needs under
section 2001(f)(4) of the ARP Act to address issues responding to the COVID-19
pandemic, describe the anticipated use of those funds, including the extent to
which these funds will build SEA and LEA capacity to ensure students’ and
staff’s health and safety; to meet students’ academic, social, emotional, and
mental health needs; and to use ARP ESSER funds to implement evidence-based
interventions.
DESE is evaluating the education needs to be addressed with its state reservation. This
process will take place over the summer and into the next school year. Ensuring the
students’ academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs will be paramount with
our SEA funds.
E. Supporting LEAs in Planning for and Meeting Students’ Needs
The Department recognizes that the safe return to in-person instruction must be accompanied
by a focus on meeting students’ academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs, and by
addressing the opportunity gaps that existed before – and were exacerbated by – the
pandemic. In this section, SEAs will describe how they will support their LEAs in
developing high-quality plans for LEAs’ use of ARP ESSER funds to achieve these
objectives.
1. LEA Plans for the Use of ARP ESSER Funds: Describe what the SEA will
require its LEAs to include in LEA plans consistent with the ARP ESSER
requirements for the use of ARP ESSER funds, how the SEA will require such
plans to be made available to the public, and the deadline by which the LEA must
submit its ARP ESSER plan (which must be a reasonable timeline and should be
within no later than 90 days after receiving its ARP ESSER allocation). The LEA
plans must include, at a minimum:
i. The extent to which and how the funds will be used to implement
prevention and mitigation strategies that are, to the greatest extent
practicable, in line with the most recent CDC guidance, in order to
continuously and safely operate schools for in-person learning;
ii. How the LEA will use the funds it reserves under section 2001(e)(1)
of the ARP Act (totaling not less than 20 percent of the LEA’s total
allocation of ARP ESSER funds) to address the academic impact of
lost instructional time through the implementation of evidence-based
interventions, such as summer learning or summer enrichment,
extended day, comprehensive afterschool programs, or extended
school year programs;
iii. How the LEA will spend its remaining ARP ESSER funds consistent
with section 2001(e)(2) of the ARP Act; and
37
iv. How the LEA will ensure that the interventions it implements,
including but not limited to the interventions under section
2001(e)(1) of the ARP Act to address the academic impact of lost
instructional time, will respond to the academic, social, emotional,
and mental health needs of all students, and particularly those
students disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,
including students from low-income families, students of color,
English learners, children with disabilities, students experiencing
homelessness, children and youth in foster care, and migratory
students.
Massachusetts has developed an application (LEA application) that will
collect the LEAs’ plans for ARP ESSER activities and uses of funds,
including the requirements listed in the Interim Final Requirement (IFR).
Through a series of questions (with narrative or multiple-choice options for
response), assurances, and budgeting information, LEAs will provide, at a
minimum, the information required for the ARP ESSER return-to-in-
person-learning and ARP ESSER use-of-funds plans
LEA applications were made available on May 24, 2021 for submission by
districts. Every LEA receiving an allocation of ARP ESSER funds must
file an application. The application is an Excel-based workbook with nine
(9) tabs covering requirements for state and federal fiscal compliance (e.g.,
signature page and budget tab allocating grant funds by state budget
categories) to ARP ESSER and state priorities, evidence-based practices,
and prerequisites (e.g. uses of funds and assurance tabs).
i. The extent to which and how the funds will be used to implement prevention and mitigation
strategies.
The Department has already collected District Reopening Plans for the 2021 school year from all
of its LEAs. As part of those plans, LEAs were required to certify that they had read and would
comply with comprehensive Department guidance, including extensive guidance on health and
safety with respect to operations, facilities, and school transportation. See, e.g., Fall Reopening
Facilities and Operations Guidance.
To the extent these plans have been published on the LEA’s website (as required by the
Department) and provided an opportunity for public comment, most LEAs will point to these
plans as satisfying the ARP requirement found at § 2001(i), through an assurance on the LEA
application. If not using their District Reopening Plan, the LEA is required to assure that they will
provide a plan within 30 days of receiving ARP ESSER funds. The in-person instruction plan
assurance on the LEA application also alerts LEAs that they must revisit and as necessary, revise
their plans at least every six months for the life of their ARP ESSER grant. This information is
also explained in the request for proposals that provides notice of the grant opportunity and is
published on the Department’s Grants webpages.
In addition, the LEA application contains a section where LEAs are required to indicate the extent
to which each has adopted a policy based on the CDC recommendation listed in the Interim Final
Requirements at 3(a)(i). The application asks whether each policy has been adopted, and if yes,
38
whether it is contained in the LEA’s District Reopening Plan, and, if not, the LEA is asked to
describe their policy briefly in narrative form.
ii. How the LEA will use the funds it reserves to address the academic impact of lost instructional
time through the implementation of evidence-based interventions
The LEA application asks about evidence-based interventions that each LEA is planning to
implement with ARP ESSER funds, with a reminder that at least 20% of the ARP ESSER
allocation must be used to address lost instructional time and disproportionate impact on student
subgroups through evidence-based practices.
The application supplies a list of 21 evidence-based practices, categorized into four areas:
Enhanced Core Instruction, Targeted Students Supports, Talent Development and Staffing, and
Conditions for Student Success. For each practice it selects, the LEA is asked what data will be
used to measure progress and whether the strategy is targeted for the disproportionate impact of
COVID-19 on student subgroups, which groups are being served, what impact is being addressed,
and how the strategy/intervention will provide support.
If an LEA is implementing an evidence-based strategy not listed in the LEA application, it is
asked to describe the strategy and provide the same information about how and for whom it is
being used.
iii. How the LEA will spend its remaining ARP ESSER funds consistent with section 2001(e)(2) of
the ARP Act
The LEA application has a “Uses of Funds” tab that lists all allowable uses of funds in section
2001(e)(2) of the ARP Act and provides a check box that allows LEAs to select those categories
for which they intend to use their ARP ESSER allocation. In addition, on the Budget tab of the
LEA Application, LEAs indicate individual budgeted expenditures among 11 object codes. Each
expenditure also requires the LEA to select, from a dropdown menu, a primary function for the
expense, which mirrors the allowable uses on the Uses of Funds tab (and therefore, section
2001(e)(2)), as well as a space to provide additional details in narrative form.
Allowable uses of ARP ESSER funds are also explained in the request for proposals that provides
notice of the grant opportunity and is published on the Department’s Grants webpages. In
addition, the Department has developed Quick Reference Guides and Frequently Asked
Questions for all ESSER programs (CARES Act, CRRSSA, and will do so for the ARP Act) to
provide more detailed guidance on allowable expenditures and respond directly to common
questions that arise from LEAs about uses of funds.
iv. How the LEA will ensure that the interventions it implements will respond to the academic,
social, emotional, and mental health needs of all students, and particularly those students
disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic
See the answer to subsection ii., above. LEAs are asked to describe how and why the evidence-
based practices that they implement will serve those students most impacted by COVID-19 on the
LEA application. The Department has also been deliberate in choosing the 21 evidence-based
practices it affirmatively lists in the application to suggest and promote a comprehensive set of
strategies that have proven track records of success for highest need students on all levels –
academic, social, emotional, and mental health.
39
In addition to the sections of the LEA application asking about evidence-based practices, the
Department has asked for assurances that districts will meet maintenance of equity requirements
for their highest need schools (the LEA application provides a list of the top quartile of the LEA
applicant’s schools based on economic data provided to the Department), as well as requiring a
description of how the LEA will ensure that ESSER funds are used to promote educational equity
for its students.
The Department will also provide technical assistance in writing (e.g., quick reference guides)
and virtually (e.g., webinars) to ensure LEAs understand requirements of the ARP Act for ESSER
funds. The Department will continue to support LEAs in content areas related to evidence-based
practices, as well as building capacity at the LEA level to meaningfully evaluate the success of
the practices they implement, as well as to make mid-course corrections, through tools being
developed by our Office of Research and Planning.
2. LEA Consultation: Describe how the SEA will, in planning for the use of ARP
ESSER funds, ensure that, consistent with the ARP ESSER requirements], its
LEAs engage in meaningful consultation with stakeholders, including, but not
limited to:
i. students;
ii. families;
iii. school and district administrators (including special education
administrators); and
iv. teachers, principals, school leaders, other educators, school staff, and
their unions.
The LEA must also engage in meaningful consultation with each of the following
to the extent present in or served by the LEA:
i. Tribes;
ii. civil rights organizations (including disability rights organizations);
and
iii. stakeholders representing the interests of children with disabilities,
English learners, children experiencing homelessness, children and
youth in foster care, migratory students, children who are
incarcerated, and other underserved students.
The description must also include how the SEA will ensure that LEAs provide the
public the opportunity to provide input in the development of the LEA’s plan for
the use of ARP ESSER funds and take such input into account.
The Department’s Federal Grants unit published a quick reference guide (QRG) entitled,
ARP ESSER Preparation, for LEAs at the beginning of May. A substantial portion of the
guide is dedicated to requisite LEA stakeholder outreach – both the topics and the groups
that must be consulted for the LEA ARP ESSER implementation plan. A link to that
QRG was sent to all LEA grant liaisons, business officers, and LEA superintendents on
May 5, 2021 to ensure they began stakeholder outreach as soon as was feasible to allow
them to plan inclusively for the use of funds. DESE also held two major statewide
webinars on ARP ESSER funds (May 27th and 28th), detailing all of the requirements that
40
LEAs must meet, and providing resources for them on effective strategies for meaningful
stakeholder engagement.
In addition, LEAs are required to indicate which of the stakeholder groups they have
consulted on the LEA application, which are listed and require an affirmative indication
that each has been consulted or when they will be consulted. LEAs will be required to
make these plans public, ensuring transparency and the ability to discern the extent to
which the plans reflected the stakeholder feedback.
.
3. Describe how the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs in using ARP ESSER
funds. The description must include:
i. How the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs’ implementation of
evidence-based interventions that respond to students’ academic,
social, emotional, and mental health needs, such as through summer
learning or summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive
afterschool programs, or extended school year programs – including
the extent to which the SEA will collect evidence of the effectiveness
of interventions employed;
The Department collects data from LEAs disaggregated by many of the subgroups
mentioned in ARP ESSER, including data from statewide assessments, attendance,
discipline, student surveys, and educator leader surveys. We have also piloted and will
be imminently posting an evaluation toolkit that will help districts and schools build
systems to track data appropriate to their interventions to measure progress and success.
However, in order to report on programming funded by ARP ESSER, we will need to set
up a new system to collect data and information relevant to those interventions. Since our
grant system does not have functionality to allow data collection of this type, we are
creating our collection vehicle (likely surveys). We have asked LEAs to identify for us
both their ARP-ESSER-funded, evidence-based interventions, and the data they will use
to measure progress and success on their application/plans submitted to the Department.
Requiring this data not only signals to LEAs that data will be collected (in fact, they are
expressly alerted on the applications), but also gives the Department information that can
be used for monitoring.
ii. How the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs in specifically
addressing the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
on certain groups of students, including each of the student groups
listed in question A.3.i.-viii; and
See the answer to 3(i), above. In addition, we are conducting wide-ranging stakeholder outreach sessions
in conjunction with creating Massachusetts’ ARP ESSER plan, during which we are not only asking
about impact, but taking suggestions for supports and responsive programming for student groups
experiencing highest needs, as many of these stakeholder groups have first-hand knowledge and
41
educational expertise. We expect that this outreach will help shape the Department’s supports as well as
inform how the state reservations funds will be targeted.
iii. How the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs in using ARP
ESSER funds to identify, reengage, and support students most likely
to have experienced the impact of lost instructional time on student
learning, such as:
a. Students who have missed the most in-person instruction during
the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years;
b. Students who did not consistently participate in remote
instruction when offered during school building closures; and
c. Students most at-risk of dropping out of school.
The Department has been actively working to support LEAs in supporting and engaging students at every
stage of the pandemic (as well as before) but realizes the critical need to reengage students as students
return to in-person learning. In addition to the tools described in 3(i & ii) to monitor the use of ARP
ESSER funds, Massachusetts has partnered with The New Teacher Project TNTP) to create a resource
targeted specifically at evidence-based strategies for reengaging students called The Academic Excellence
Roadmap (Roadmap). The Roadmap is a tool created for the coming school year (21-22) for LEA and
school leaders to provide focused and phased support students, especially those experiencing highest
impact from the pandemic, as they return to school, but has materials and strategies that will promote
accelerated learning over the next 3-5 year. Massachusetts expects and expressly suggests that districts
invest ARP ESSER, as well as ESSER I and II funding in the evidence-based activities and practices
contained in the Roadmap.
4. Describe the extent to which the SEA will support its LEAs in implementing
additional strategies for taking educational equity into account in expending ARP
ESSER funds, including but not limited to:
i. Allocating funding both to schools and for districtwide activities
based on student need, and
ii. Implementing an equitable and inclusive return to in-person
instruction. An inclusive return to in-person instruction includes, but
is not limited to, establishing policies and practices that avoid the
over-use of exclusionary discipline measures (including in- and out-
of-school suspensions) and creating a positive and supportive
learning environment for all students.
Massachusetts has promoted greater transparency in the use of state educational aid to ensure adoption of
evidence-based strategies in communities and for students with the greatest needs. The Department has
carried forward this notion in the design of its LEA application – listing the same categories of
interventions and supports for students that have been promoted for the past year using state aid --
Enhanced Core Instruction, Targeted Students Supports, Talent Development and Staffing, and
Conditions for Student Success. The premise is that targeted and equitable use of resources is a significant
component of closing gaps in student success among highest needs student groups.
The Department has developed tools to allow districts to see how their resources are being used and
compare them to other districts of their choice (based on criteria such as demographics or wealth)
42
F. Supporting the Educator Workforce
The Department recognizes the toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on the Nation’s educators
as well as students. In this section, SEAs will describe strategies for supporting and stabilizing the
educator workforce and for making staffing decisions that will support students’ academic, social,
emotional, and mental health needs.
1. Supporting and Stabilizing the Educator Workforce:
i. Describe the extent to which the State is facing shortages of educators,
education administration personnel, and other school personnel involved in
safely reopening schools, and the extent to which they vary by region/type
of school district and/or groups of educators (e.g., special educators and
related services personnel and paraprofessionals; bilingual or English as a
second language educators; science, technology, engineering, and math
(“STEM”) educators; career and technical education (“CTE”) educators;
early childhood educators). Cite specific data on shortages and needs
where available.
See the table below. Regarding supporting special education staff, DESE
has provided information and resources to help existing special education
staff provide high quality services in remote, hybrid and in-person settings.
Please see our guidance from last July. We also issued the 274 and 298
grants to improve special education services during this school year.
Complete the table below, changing or adding additional rows as needed,
or provide a narrative description.
Designated Teacher Shortages for 2021-22 School Year
In accordance with 34 CFR 682.210(q)(6)(iii)
Submitted to the USDOE Office of Postsecondary Education November 24, 2020
Based on FTE of 75,152 and organized by academic discipline in order of priority
Academic Discipline FTE Short % Short
Digital Literacy and Computer Science 477 .63
Special Education 275 .37
Moderate Disabilities 253
Severe Disabilities 22
English Language Arts/Reading 266 .35
English Language Arts 250
Reading 16
Mathematics 245 .33
English as a Second Language 212 .28
Sciences 186 .25
Biology 23
Physics 22
Chemistry 19
Earth Science 8
43
General Science 106
Technology/Engineering 8
History/Social Sciences 165 .22
Modern Foreign Languages 129 .17
Spanish 85
French 16
Chinese 17
Arabic 3
Portuguese 6
Latin and/or Classical Humanities 12
TOTAL 1,955 2.6
[Original table below provided by USED in this application. We responded in the table
above, submitted to USED in November 2020. We do not have additional data since
November.]
Area Data on shortages Narrative
and needs description
Special educators
and related service
personnel and
paraprofessionals
Bilingual educators
English as a second
language educators
STEM educators
CTE educators
Early childhood
educators
School counselors
Social workers
Nurses
School
psychologists
ii. Describe how the SEA will assist its LEAs in identifying the most urgent
areas of shortages or potential shortages, with particular plans for
individual LEAs facing the most significant needs (e.g., by avoiding
layoffs, providing high-quality professional learning opportunities, and
addressing the impact of stress or trauma on educators). Include a
description of how other Federal COVID-19 funding (e.g., ESSER and
GEER funds under the CARES Act and CRRSA Act) have already been
used to avoid layoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To assist LEAs in identifying urgent areas of shortage, the
Department produces annual data the Department makes publicly
available on the program completers from educator preparation
44
programs allows analysis of the supply of educators in the state;
that data is reported by Educator Preparation Programs in June.
• Each fall, districts report to the SEA in the Educator Personnel
Information Management System (EPIMS) on their workforce. We
will analyze these data in the fall and respond accordingly.
• The Student Learning Experience Report: This Department-created
report encourages districts and schools to closely examine student
assignment and the characteristics of the teachers to whom they are
assigned. The SLE Report compares the rates at which groups of
students have been assigned to different types of teachers. Risk
ratios show the difference in the rate at which a historically
disadvantaged group was assigned to a teacher with the given
characteristic, compared to students not in that group. The report
supports districts to consider the risk factors for students in
assigning them to teachers (e.g., did the student have a less
experienced teacher the year prior? Was the student assigned a
teacher who was rated as needs improvement in the educator
evaluation system?).
• Throughout 2020-2021 and planning for 2020-2021, we will
implement Professional Learning Networks called Instructional
Support Networks to support educators in their roles. We will issue
the 2021-2022 catalogue in mid-June.
iii. Describe the actions the SEA will take to fill anticipated gaps in certified
teachers for the start of the 2021-2022 school year and to what extent the
SEA will further support its LEAs in expanding the educator pipeline and
educator diversity while addressing the immediate needs of students
disproportionately impacted by the pandemic (e.g., recruiting teaching
candidates to provide high-dosage tutoring or implementing residencies for
teacher candidates).
Actions to fill anticipated gaps:
• Emergency license: Worked with the Governor and state
legislature to pass a law that would allow the SEA to issue
emergency licenses to fill anticipated gaps. This license will help
aspiring educators looking to join the profession, people who hold
a license in one category (teacher, administrator, specialist teacher,
or professional support personnel) who have been prevented by
COVID-19 from qualifying for a license in another category, and
school districts looking to bring on new hires. The emergency
license will be valid for employment in the 2020-21 school year
and 2021-2022 school year; we anticipate it will expire June 30,
2022. The license is designed to assist candidates who are
impacted by the COVID-19 state of emergency and unable to
satisfy certain aspects of the licensure requirements, such as a
passing score on the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure
(MTEL) or Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL). The
requirements for obtaining an emergency license will depend on
the specific license(s) an applicant pursues. For example, most
"academic" teacher licenses will require a bachelor's degree, while
45
an administrator license will typically require a bachelor's degree
and at least three years of experience in executive
management/leadership or in a supervisory, teaching, or
administrative role in a school. A vocational teacher, currently,
will also need a bachelor's degree and, where necessary, a
professional trade license for that field. An emergency license will
also be available to those seeking their first vocational
administrator license.
• Produced The Talent Guide: guidance on staffing focused on
hiring, student teaching, supporting new teachers, and professional
development. The guide includes a focus on COVID-19
Considerations, which highlights practices and MA policies
specific to the context of the public health emergency; Best
Practices elevates research-based strategies that are relevant in all
circumstances, and may be particularly useful in the context of the
pandemic and a Spotlight on Racial Equity, which highlights
specific strategies and resources to consider in efforts to disrupt
racism and racial inequity.
• Flexible Staffing Guidance: Encourages districts to tap into
candidates in educator preparation programs as a source of talent
and expanded capacity. We will continue to support district-
educator preparation connections in service of an expanded and
effective educator workforce in 2021-2022.
• Induction and Mentoring Support 2021-2022: We anticipate
providing support for induction and mentoring of new teachers,
especially those teachers who are employed on an emergency
license. We have found these teachers have been hired and
assigned to teach in some of our districts with the highest
percentages of students living in poverty and those
disproportionately hit by the pandemic. We are finalizing the
details, though anticipate funding regionally-based partners to
implement induction and mentoring that is specific to that region
and will customize some of the induction and mentoring support to
the needs of the districts within which the teachers teach (e.g.,
include a strand of induction and mentoring in districts with higher
percentages of English Learners to support educators to better
serve multi-lingual learners).
Expanding the educator pipeline and educator diversity, especially for
students disproportionately impacted by the pandemic:
• In fall 2020, DESE released "Promising Recruitment, Selection, and
Retention Practices for a Diverse Massachusetts Workforce." The Guidebook
is intended to support school and district leaders as they design and
implement teacher diversification strategies in service of student
achievement and equitable outcomes for students. The Guidebook proposes
four key steps to build and implement a talent diversification strategy.
• The Department has partnered with TNTP since the beginning of the Teacher
Diversification Pilot Program Grant. Through this partnership, TNTP has
supported school districts as they design and implement teacher
46
diversification strategies ranging from facilitating training around identity
and bias to collaborating on updated recruitment and selection models. The
Guidebook reflects the collective lessons that have emerged from the work of
these districts, guided by national experts, research, and best practices.
• Refine and continue the educator diversification grant program: Since FY19,
DESE has issued approximately $6 million in grant funds to support local
school district efforts to strengthen and diversify existing teacher recruitment
and retention programs. The grant has provided financial support and
incentives such as tuition for approved educator preparation programs,
Massachusetts Tests of Educator Licensure (MTEL) preparation, signing
bonuses, relocation assistance, and loan reimbursement. Additionally, the
grant has supported the development of education-specific pathways for high
school students. The Department will issue another RFP in FY22 which will
have an enhanced focus on the high school pipeline.
• Continue programs to support diversification of the administrator and
educator workforce and promote culturally responsive teaching to
improve outcomes for students
o Influence 100: Cohort II of the Influence 100 program launched
in fall 2019 with 21 fellows. In total, the program currently
supports 41 fellows in cohorts I and II.
o InSPIRED Initiative: We launched the third cohort of the
InSPIRED Initiative this fall. The program connects current
educators with DESE to help cultivate, support, and retain a
culturally responsive and diverse educator workforce in
Massachusetts schools. The Initiative features two components:
o The Statewide Affinity Network, which helps educators of color
to network, engage in dialogue about their experiences, and
explore professional development opportunities and/or action
that makes for a more equitable experience in their schools.
• Pilot alternative assessments of educators’ content knowledge, to
evaluate possible alternatives to the Massachusetts Tests for Educator
Licensure (MTEL). In October 2020, the Board approved a pilot
(through June 2024) for alternative assessments for licensure, and there
are currently three pilot alternative assessments underway. We have also
allocated funding to support an evaluation of the pilot. The three
approved alternatives are moving forward and are at different phases of
implementation, including:
• Communication and Literacy Skills (CLST) MTEL
Alternative: In February 2021, DESE solicited bids from
providers who offer assessments aligned to the CLST. As a
result, we have selected two vendors that will offer seven
different alternatives to the CLST. The Department will
determine Massachusetts' cut scores for the assessments from the
selected providers. We expect to accept results from these new
providers in the late spring.
• Subject Matter MTEL Alternative: We approved a pilot for
Massachusetts-approved sponsoring organizations (educator
preparation programs) to attest to educator preparation
candidates' subject matter knowledge in alignment with the
47
required subject matter MTELs. We released guidelines in
February to support sponsoring organizations in this work.
• We also approved a pilot for an alternative to the Performance
Review Program for Initial Licensure (PRPIL) that is focused on
the assessment of subject matter knowledge. The Department
released an RFR in February to solicit bids from providers who
already offer, or who will design, rigorous alternative
assessments aligned to the subject matter knowledge MTELs.
We received proposals from two vendors that included several
different alternative assessments to the subject matter
MTEL. The Department expects to begin accepting results from
approved providers in the late spring.
2. Staffing to Support Student Needs: Describe the extent to which the SEA has developed
or will develop strategies and will support its LEAs in increasing student access to key
support staff within school buildings, including school counselors, special education
personnel, nurses, social workers, and psychologists (e.g. hiring additional personnel or
freeing up these staff to focus on providing services to students).
See section immediately above for detailed explanation regarding increasing diversity
and effectiveness in the educator workforce and increasing access to support students’
needs.
G. Monitoring and Measuring Progress
The Department recognizes that transparency on how ARP ESSER funds are used and their
impact on the Nation’s education system is a fundamental responsibility of Federal, State,
and local government. In this section, SEAs will describe how they are building capacity at
the SEA and LEA levels to ensure high-quality data collection and reporting and to safeguard
funds for their intended purposes.
1. Capacity for Data Collection and Reporting: It is important for an SEA to
continuously monitor progress and make adjustments to its strategies, as well as
to support its LEAs in making adjustments to LEA strategies, based on impact.
Describe how the SEA will ensure its capacity and the capacity of its LEAs to
collect data on reporting requirements, including but not limited to the examples
of reporting requirements described in the SEA’s Grant Award Notification (listed
in Appendix B). Describe the SEA’s capacity and strategy to collect data from its
LEAs (disaggregated by student group, where applicable), to the greatest extent
practicable, including any steps the SEA will take to build its capacity in the
future (which may include the use of ARP ESSER and other Federal COVID-19
pandemic funds at the SEA and LEA levels), on issues that may include the
following:
i. Student learning, including the academic impact of lost instructional
time during the COVID-19 pandemic;
48
ii. Opportunity to learn measures (e.g., chronic absenteeism; student
engagement; use of exclusionary discipline; access to and
participation in advanced coursework; access to technology,
including educator access to professional development on the
effective use of technology; access to high-quality educators; access
to school counselors, social workers, nurses, and school
psychologists; and results from student, parent, and/or educator
surveys);
iii. Fiscal data that is comparable across the State (e.g., per-pupil
expenditures at the LEA and school levels);
iv. Jobs created and retained (by position type);
v. Participation in programs funded by ARP ESSER resources (e.g.,
summer and afterschool programs); and
vi. Other reporting requirements reasonably required by the Secretary
(please refer to Appendix B of this template; final requirements will
be issued separately).
a. How the State is developing strategies and implementing public
health protocols including, to the greatest extent practicable,
policies and plans in line with the CDC guidance related to
mitigating COVID-19 in schools;
b. Overall plans and policies related to State support for return to
in-person instruction and maximizing in-person instruction time,
including how funds will support a return to and maximize in-
person instruction time, and advance equity and inclusivity in
participation in in-person instruction;
c. Data on each school’s mode of instruction (fully in-person,
hybrid, and fully remote) and conditions;
d. SEA and LEA uses of funds to meet students’ social, emotional,
and academic needs, including through summer enrichment
programming and other evidence-based interventions, and how
they advance equity for underserved students;
e. SEA and LEA uses of funds to sustain and support access to
early childhood education programs;
f. Impacts and outcomes (disaggregated by student subgroup)
through use of ARP ESSER funding (e.g., quantitative and
qualitative results of ARP ESSER funding, including on
personnel, student learning, and budgeting at the school and
district level);
g. Student data (disaggregated by student subgroup) related to how
the COVID-19 pandemic has affected instruction and learning;
h. Requirements under the Federal Financial Accountability
Transparency Act (“FFATA”); and
i. Additional reporting requirements as may be necessary to ensure
accountability and transparency of ARP ESSER funds.
Capacity for Data Collection and Reporting
49
The Department has capacity to ensure high-quality data collection and reporting strategies to
better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on instruction and student learning in
the 2020-2021 school year. These data collection and reporting strategies are also utilized to
safeguard ESSER funds for their intended purposes, and to understand how these funds have
impacted instruction and student learning. The Department collects and reports data on the
following requirements: student learning through MCAS, chronic absenteeism; student
enrollment and attendance; advanced course completion; student discipline; licensed,
experienced, and in-field educators; educators by job classification; student and educator surveys;
per pupil expenditure at the LEA and school levels; monthly submission of the data requirements
under the Federal Financial Accountability Transparency Act (“FFATA”) to FSRS; staffing by
position; staff retention rates for superintendents, principals, and teachers; and other
accountability factors. The majority of the above reports can be disaggregated by district, student,
and staff group.
• DESE Data reports: https://profiles.doe.mass.edu/.
• Student Surveys: https://www.doe.mass.edu/research/vocal/
• Fiscal Data: LEA level https://www.doe.mass.edu/finance/statistics/per-pupil-exp.html ;
school level https://www.doe.mass.edu/finance/statistics/
COVID-19 Protocols and maximizing in-person learning
The Department has developed strategies for implementing public health protocols that are in line
with the CDC guidance related to mitigating COVID-19 in schools. These strategies include
releasing regular guidance to LEAs, maintaining a COVID hotline reporting requirement for
LEAs, and the assignment of “risk color” to each LEA based on MA Department of Public Health
guidelines and CDC categories. Furthermore, the Department regularly monitors the primary
mode of instruction at schools in each LEA through Student Learning Time data collections,
instructional model surveys, and state-required return to in-person learning regulations. Data on
LEA's instructional model can be found in Appendix A Table 1.
DESE Guidance: https://www.doe.mass.edu/covid19/on-desktop.html
LEA Use of Funds
LEAs will submit budget proposals in their ARP ESSER grant applications that are reviewed by
the Department to ensure that funds will be utilized in a manner that meets the requirements of
the grant. This process may include consideration of how districts are utilizing funds to maximize
and equitable return to in-person instruction time, to meet students’ social, emotional, and
academic needs, to sustain and support access to early childhood education programs, and other
factors necessary to ensure accountability and transparency of ARP ESSER funds.
2. Monitoring and Internal Controls: Describe how the SEA will implement appropriate
fiscal monitoring of and internal controls for the ARP ESSER funds (e.g., by updating the
SEA’s plan for monitoring funds and internal controls under the CARES and CRRSA
Acts; addressing potential sources of waste, fraud, and abuse; conducting random audits;
or other tools). In this response, please describe the SEA’s current capacity to monitor
ARP ESSER; steps, if needed, to increase capacity; and any foreseeable gaps in capacity,
50
including how the SEA will provide its LEAs with technical assistance in the anticipated
areas of greatest need.
The Department will implement appropriate fiscal monitoring of the ARP ESSER funds by
conducting an initial risk assessment to determine the LEAs at highest risk for misuse of funds.
The LEAs that are found to be of highest risk will be required to submit financial reports and may
be subject to other various monitoring tools, such as audits, etc. Because of the use of a risk
assessment, the Department currently has the capacity to manage the monitoring process. This
strategy allows for a manageable selected scope of reviews.
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Appendix A: School Operating Status and Instructional Mode Data Template
Indicate the date or time period represented by the following data.
Data represents Massachusetts’ status as of Monday, May 10, 2021. All elementary and middle
schools were required to offer full-time, in-person learning by April 5, 2021, and April 28, 2021,
respectively. Furthermore, while all high schools were required to offer full-time, in-person
learning by May 17, 2021, that data is not reflected in the tables below because the analysis was
completed on May 10. Therefore, the number of students learning remotely is certainly much
smaller as of the submission (June 7th) and review of this plan. It is worth noting that, for the
remainder of this 2020-2021 school year, families in Massachusetts have had the option to have
their students learn remotely.
Table 1
In the most recent time period available, how many schools in your State offered each mode of
instruction or learning model described below? Each row should account for all schools in your
State, so that, for each row, the sum of the numbers in the “offered to all students,” “offered to
some students,” and “not offered” columns is equal to the number in the “all schools” column.
Add or change rows as needed
Number of schools* All schools
Remote or online only 47
School buildings open with both 108
remote/online and in-person instruction
(hybrid)
School buildings open with full-time in- 1,624
person instruction
*Count only includes schools that serve Grades K-12 (excludes schools serving only PK)
Number of schools serving K-5 All schools
Remote or online only 0*
School buildings open with both 0
remote/online and in-person instruction
(hybrid)
School buildings open with full-time in- 1,153
person instruction
Number of schools serving 6-8 All schools
52
Remote or online only 0*
School buildings open with both 0
remote/online and in-person instruction
(hybrid)
School buildings open with full-time in- 688
person instruction
Number of schools serving 9-12 All schools
Remote or online only 47
School buildings open with both 108
remote/online and in-person instruction
(hybrid)
School buildings open with full-time in- 247
person instruction
* Families in Massachusetts have had the option to learn remotely for the remainder of the school year,
even if the predominant school model is in-person.
To the extent data are available, please complete the above table for 1) all schools in the State,
and 2) separately for each instructional level (e.g., pre-kindergarten/elementary schools, middle
schools, high schools).
Table 2
In the most recent time period available, what was the enrollment and mode of instruction for the
schools in your State?
Add or change rows as needed
Number of students Total Remote or Both remote/online Full-time in-
enrollment online only and in-person person
instruction (hybrid) instruction
Students from low-income 334,713 113,816 24,002 196,895
families
White, not Hispanic 517,476 78,329 36,779 402,368
Black or African American, 86,214 29,920 8,321 47,973
not Hispanic
Hispanic, of any race 206,341 78,289 15,076 112,976
Asian, not Hispanic 66,166 28,670 3,443 34,053
53
American Indian or Alaskan 2,025 576 153 1,296
Native, not Hispanic
Native Hawaiian or Pacific 794 247 62 485
Islander, not Hispanic
Two or more races, not 37,814 9,160 2,396 26,258
Hispanic
Race/Ethnicity information 775 90 9 676
not available
English learners 84,254 28,004 2,879 51,371
Children with disabilities 175,543 39,467 13,743 122,333
Students experiencing 18,399 6,665 1,515 10,219
homelessness
Children and youth in foster 6,650 1,646 586 4,418
care
Migratory students 340 153 11 176
Appendix B: Reporting Language Included in the Grant Award Notification (“GAN”)
As described in the Grant Award Notification (“GAN”), the SEA will comply with, and ensure
that its LEAs comply with, all reporting requirements at such time and in such manner and
containing such information as the Secretary may reasonably require, including on matters such
as:
• How the State is developing strategies and implementing public health protocols
including, to the greatest extent practicable, policies and plans in line with the CDC
guidance related to mitigating COVID-19 in schools;
• Overall plans and policies related to State support for return to in-person instruction and
maximizing in-person instruction time, including how funds will support a return to and
maximize in-person instruction time, and advance equity and inclusivity in participation
in in-person instruction;
• Data on each school’s mode of instruction (fully in-person, hybrid, and fully remote) and
conditions;
• SEA and LEA uses of funds to meet students’ social, emotional, and academic needs,
including through summer enrichment programming and other evidence-based
interventions, and how they advance equity for underserved students;
• SEA and LEA uses of funds to sustain and support access to early childhood education
programs;
• Impacts and outcomes (disaggregated by student subgroup) through use of ARP ESSER
funding (e.g., quantitative and qualitative results of ARP ESSER funding, including on
personnel, student learning, and budgeting at the school and district level);
54
• Student data (disaggregated by student subgroup) related to how the COVID-19
pandemic has affected instruction and learning;
• Requirements under the Federal Financial Accountability Transparency Act (“FFATA”);
and
• Additional reporting requirements as may be necessary to ensure accountability and
transparency of ARP ESSER funds.
55
Appendix C: Assurances
By signing this document, the SEA assures all of the following:
• The SEA will conduct all its operations so that no person shall be excluded from
participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under the ARP
ESSER program or activity based on race, color, national origin, which includes a
person’s limited English proficiency or English learner status and a person’s actual or
perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics; sex; age; or disability. These non-
discrimination obligations arise under Federal civil rights laws, including but not limited
to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of
1972, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of
1975. In addition, the SEA must comply with all regulations, guidelines, and standards
issued by the Department under any of these statutes;
• The SEA will comply with all ARP Act and other ARP ESSER requirements and all
requirements of its Grant Award Notification, including but not limited to:
o Complying with the maintenance of effort provision in section 2004(a)(1) of the
ARP Act, absent a waiver by the Secretary pursuant to section 2004(a)(2) of the
ARP Act; and
o Complying with the maintenance of equity provisions in section 2004(b) of the
ARP Act, and ensuring its LEAs comply with the maintenance of equity provision
in section 2004(c) of the ARP Act (please note that the Department will provide
additional guidance on maintenance of equity shortly);
• The SEA will allocate ARP ESSER funds to LEAs in an expedited and timely manner
and, to the extent practicable, not later than 60 days after the SEA receives ARP ESSER
funds (i.e., 60 days from the date the SEA receives each portion of its ARP ESSER
funds). An SEA that is not able to allocate such funds within 60 days because it is not
practicable (e.g., because of pre-existing State board approval requirements) will provide
an explanation to the Department within 30 days of receiving each portion of its ARP
ESSER funds (submitted via email to your Program Officer at [State].OESE@ed.gov
(e.g., Alabama.OESE@ed.gov)), including a description of specific actions the SEA is
taking to provide ARP ESSER funds to LEAs in an expedited and timely manner and the
SEA’s expected timeline for doing so;
• The SEA will implement evidence-based interventions as required under section 2001(f)
of the ARP Act and ensure its LEAs implement evidence-based interventions, as required
by section 2001(e)(1) of the ARP Act;
• The SEA will address the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on
underserved students (i.e., students from low-income families, students from racial or
ethnic groups (e.g., identifying disparities and focusing on underserved student groups by
race or ethnicity), gender (e.g., identifying disparities and focusing on underserved
student groups by gender), English learners, children with disabilities, students
experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, and migratory students), as
required under section 2001(f) of the ARP Act, and ensure its LEAs address the
disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on underserved students (i.e.,
students from low-income families, students from racial or ethnic groups, gender, English
learners, children with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, children and
56
youth in foster care, and migratory students), as required by section 2001(e)(1) of the
ARP Act; and
• The SEA will provide to the Department: (1) the URL(s) where the public can readily
find data on school operating status and (2) the URL(s) for the SEA and/or LEA websites
where the public can find the LEA plans for a) the safe return to in-person instruction and
continuity of services required under section 2001(i) of the ARP Act, and b) use of ARP
ESSER funds. SEAs should consider ensuring a standardized URL format in all cases
(e.g., xxx.gov/COVIDplan).
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Appendix D
OMB Control No. 1894-0005 (Exp. 06/30/2023)
NOTICE TO ALL APPLICANTS
The purpose of this enclosure is to inform you its application a description of the steps the
about a new provision in the Department of applicant proposes to take to ensure equitable
Education’s General Education Provisions access to, and participation in, its Federally-
Act ("GEPA") that applies to applicants for assisted program for students, teachers, and
new grant awards under Department other program beneficiaries with special
programs. This provision is Section 427 of needs. This provision allows applicants
GEPA, enacted as part of the Improving discretion in developing the required
America's Schools Act of 1994 (Public Law description. The statute highlights six types
(P.L.) 103-382). of barriers that can impede equitable access
or participation: gender, race, national origin,
To Whom Does This Provision Apply? color, disability, or age. Based on local
circumstances, you should determine
Section 427 of GEPA affects applicants for
whether these or other barriers may prevent
new grant awards under this program. ALL
your students, teachers, etc. from such access
APPLICANTS FOR NEW AWARDS
to, or participation in, the Federally-funded
MUST INCLUDE INFORMATION IN
project or activity. The description in your
THEIR APPLICATIONS TO ADDRESS
application of steps to be taken to overcome
THIS NEW PROVISION IN ORDER TO
these barriers need not be lengthy; you may
RECEIVE FUNDING UNDER THIS
provide a clear and succinct description of
PROGRAM.
how you plan to address those barriers that
(If this program is a State-formula grant are applicable to your circumstances. In
program, a State needs to provide this addition, the information may be provided in
description only for projects or activities that a single narrative, or, if appropriate, may be
it carries out with funds reserved for State- discussed in connection with related topics in
level uses. In addition, local school districts the application.
or other eligible applicants that apply to the
Section 427 is not intended to duplicate the
State for funding need to provide this
requirements of civil rights statutes, but
description in their applications to the State
rather to ensure that, in designing their
for funding. The State would be responsible
projects, applicants for Federal funds address
for ensuring that the school district or other
equity concerns that may affect the ability of
local entity has submitted a sufficient section
certain potential beneficiaries to fully
427 statement as described below.)
participate in the project and to achieve high
What Does This Provision Require? standards. Consistent with program
requirements and its approved application, an
Section 427 requires each applicant for funds applicant may use the Federal funds awarded
(other than an individual person) to include in to it to eliminate barriers it identifies.
58
What are Examples of How an Applicant Might Satisfy the Requirement of This
Provision?
The following examples may help illustrate how an applicant may comply with Section 427.
(1) An applicant that proposes to carry out an adult literacy project serving, among others,
adults with limited English proficiency, might describe in its application how it intends to
distribute a brochure about the proposed project to such potential participants in their native
language.
(2) An applicant that proposes to develop instructional materials for classroom use might
describe how it will make the materials available on audio tape or in braille for students who
are blind.
(3) An applicant that proposes to carry out a model science program for secondary students
and is concerned that girls may be less likely than boys to enroll in the course, might indicate
how it intends to conduct "outreach" efforts to girls, to encourage their enrollment.
(4) An applicant that proposes a project to increase school safety might describe the special
efforts it will take to address concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students, and
efforts to reach out to and involve the families of LGBT students.
We recognize that many applicants may already be implementing effective steps to ensure equity
of access and participation in their grant programs, and we appreciate your cooperation in
responding to the requirements of this provision.
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education adheres to Section 427 of the
General Education Provisions Act (GEPA). In carrying out its educational mission, the Massachusetts
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) will ensure to the fullest extent possible
equitable access to, participation in, and appropriate educational opportunities for individuals served.
Federally funded activities, programs, and services will be accessible to all teachers, students and
program beneficiaries. DESE ensures equal access and participation to all persons regardless of their race,
color, ethnicity, religion, national origin, age, citizenship status, disability, gender or sexual orientation in
its education programs, services, and/or activities.
For state-level activities as well as all other activities supported by federal assistance through our grant
applications for LEAs, DESE will fully enforce all federal and state laws and regulations designed to
ensure equitable access to all program beneficiaries and overcome barriers to equitable participation.
Steps taken to ensure equitable access may include, but are not limited to;
• collecting information on potential special accommodation needs (e.g., assistive technology,
wheelchair access, translation) as a standard component of meeting/conference registrations;
• printing materials in multiple languages;
• offering multi-lingual services for participants and others as needed and appropriate;
• responsiveness to cultural differences;
• fostering a positive school climate through restorative practices;
• conducting outreach efforts and target marketing to those not likely to participate;
59
• providing assistive technology devices to translate/make accessible grant and program materials
for participants requiring such accommodations;
• using technology to convey content of program materials;
• using materials that include strategies for addressing the needs of all participants;
• pre-program gender and cultural awareness training for participants;
• development and/or acquisition and dissemination of culturally relevant and sensitive curriculum
and informational materials; and
• use of transportation services that include accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
Further, DESE will hold LEAs accountable for ensuring equal access and providing reasonable and
appropriate accommodations to meet the needs of a diverse group of students, staff, community members
and other participants. As part of the ARP ESSER LEA grant application, districts are required to include
a description of how they are taking education equity into account when planning for expending its ARP
ESSER funds.
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Estimated Burden Statement for GEPA Requirements
According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a
collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. Public
reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 3 hours per
response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources,
gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of
information. The obligation to respond to this collection is required to obtain or retain
benefit (Public Law 103-382). Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other
aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the
U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20210-4537 or
email ICDocketMgr@ed.gov and reference the OMB Control Number 1894-0005.
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