ENHANCING SUPPORTS FOR STUDENTS IN POVERTY GRANT APPLICATION
Instructions for Grant Development and Submission
INTRODUCTION
OVERVIEW OF THE PURPOSE OF THE GRANT
LETTER of Intent to Apply for the Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty
Grant
THE GRANT PLANNING PROCESS
HOW YOUR DSAC TEAM OR ODST LIAISON CAN HELP
GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING YOUR GRANT NARRATIVE
GRANT NARRATIVE FORM
COMPLETING YOUR GRANT SUBMISSION
SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION
THE GRANT APPROVAL PROCESS
AMENDING YOUR GRANT
AFTER THE GRANT FUNDING PERIOD IS OVER:
THE ENHANCING SUPPORTS FOR STUDENTS IN POVERTY GRANT FINAL REPORT
ENHANCING SUPPORTS FOR STUDENTS IN POVERTY GRANT NARRATIVE RUBRIC
323-P/295 Part III Plan for Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty Grant
Fund Use Narrative Instructions Page 1 of 10
Introduction
The Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty Grant provides single districts and partnerships
of multiple districts with funds to build educator capacity to accelerate improvements in teaching,
learning, and achievement for students in poverty. This grant opportunity builds on the ESEsponsored Teaching with Poverty in Mind workshop held on November 23 and 24, 2015. The
purpose of this grant program is to deepen, extend and disseminate understanding, strategies
and implementation of supports for economically disadvantaged students. Grant recipients may
be invited to present their work at the 2016 ESE Fall Convening.
Here are some examples of strategies that districts may support with these grant funds:
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Extend learning to additional educators within districts represented at the poverty
workshop
Share learning across districts through presentations by workshop participants,
professional learning groups focused on teaching students in poverty, and/or book
studies focused on teaching students in poverty
Create and pilot an original Reusable Learning Object (RLO)1 to be shared with the
Department and made publically available
Districts are required to:
 Develop and disseminate specific supports for economically disadvantaged students with
disabilities
 Further district and school goals related to the Low Income Education Access Project
(LEAP) initiative (LEAP districts only)
 Share with the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education any products
developed through this grant. Product may be made publically available.
The goals and objectives of these and other grant supported strategies are to accelerate
improvements in teaching, learning, and achievement for students in poverty.
Please contact David Parker Dparker@doe.mass.edu for further information about creating a
Reusable Learning Object. RLOs may be based upon the learning from the November workshop,
or may address a specific need of participating schools and districts. RLOs could address:
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Impacts of poverty on learning
Stress factors associated with poverty
The role of emotions in teaching and learning
“Engagement Rules” for students in poverty
Building relationships for successful teaching and learning.
These topics are illustrative, not exhaustive. Additional topics and ideas are welcome. If you have
identified a need in your district or your region, this may be an opportunity to develop a resource
to respond to that need. Resources developed through the grant are expected to be made public.
1 Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs) are based on a new way of thinking about learning and provide a digital
educational resource that can be reused, scaled and shared from a central online repository in the support of instruction
and learning. Each RLO supports a single learning objective. They vary in size, scope and level of granularity ranging
from small chunks of instruction to a series of combined resources to provide a more complex learning experience .
http://ecolearnit.ifas.ufl.edu/documentation/concept_guide.pdf
323-P/295 Part III Plan for Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty Grant
Fund Use Narrative Instructions Page 2 of 10
Letter of Intent to Apply for the Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty
Grant
For the 2016 Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty Grant, ALL DISTRICTS, INCLUDING
EACH DISTRICT IN A MULTI-DISTRICT PARTNERSHIP, MUST SUBMIT A LETTER OF
INTENT TO APPLY FOR THE GRANT BY APRIL 8, 2016.
Email your letter of intent to School Improvement Grants (DOE) by Friday, April 8, 2015. Your letter
should indicate:

Whether you are applying as a single district or as part of a partnership

The names, accountability levels, and Title 1 status of each school in your district that will
be directly involved in grant activities. (Level 3, 4 and 5 Title I schools are eligible to
receive 323-P Title I funds.)
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The name, role and contact information for your district’s grant contact.
Districts applying as part of a partnership should also:
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Indicate the names of all districts participating in the partnership
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Provide the accountability level of each participating district
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Indicate whether or not each district is working with the Low Income Education Access
Project (LEAP);
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Identify the partnership lead district, which will submit a single grant narrative on behalf of
the partnership.
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The name, role, district, and contact information for the partnership’s lead contact
The letter does not need to include any dollar amounts, just an indication of the district’s
intent to apply for funds. Dollar amounts will be determined by the number of districts and related
schools applying funds. Award announcements will be made as soon as possible after April 8.
For your convenience, a form letter that fulfills this requirement is included in Appendix A of the
RFP. Districts may complete or adapt this form and submit it via e-mail. (See submission
instructions, below, in Required Forms).
THE GRANT PLANNING PROCESS
The Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty Grant is a resource provided to districts
committed to improving teaching and learning for students in poverty. Eligibility to apply for the
grant is as follows:

Level 3, 4 and 5 districts working with the Low Income Education Access Project (LEAP)
may apply as single districts or in partnership with other districts;

Level 2 districts working with the LEAP initiative may apply only in partnership with any
Level 3, 4 or 5 district;
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Level 3, 4 or 5 districts NOT working with the LEAP initiative may only apply in
partnership with a district that IS working with the LEAP initiative.
All applications must include a district that is working with the LEAP initiative and a Level 3, 4 or 5
district. (In some instances, the same district may meet both of these criteria.)
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Fund Use Narrative Instructions Page 3 of 10
A district may be included in only one application. It may not be included in multiple grant
proposals.
Districts are strongly encouraged to work collaboratively with their DSAC Regional Assistance
Directors and other DSAC team members, or with their Office of District and School Turnaround
Liaison to develop their plans for forming partnerships and for using Enhancing Supports for
Students in Poverty grant funds.
How your DSAC team or ODST Liaison can help. DSAC Team members and ODST Liaisons are
available to act as strategic thought partners as you develop your plans, and assist you with:
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Identifying key areas of need related to students in poverty;
Developing plans consistent with identified needs that address district and school
improvement goals related to teaching students in poverty;
Making connections with potential partner districts;
Creating effective plans for monitoring implementation;
Identifying indicators and benchmarks for measuring early indicators of change and short
term outcomes;
Developing plans to collect information on indicators and benchmarks.
Assistance with your grant application will be customized to your specific needs.
GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING YOUR GRANT NARRATIVE: THE PART III: PLANS FOR
GRANT FUND USE
Once a district or partnership’s plans for using grant funds are in place, the 323-P/295 Part III
Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty Grant Narrative Form (the grant narrative) and
accompanying budget workbooks must be completed. Only ONE Part III Narrative needs to be
submitted on behalf of the partnership, accompanied by separate budget workbooks for each
participating district. The lead partnership district will gather budget workbooks and copies of
signed cover pages from all participating districts and submit them all together.
What we are for looking for in this part of your district’s grant application is evidence that you:
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used a reflective, evidence-based process to identify and prioritize needs related to
students in poverty;
developed thoughtful and reasonable plans for addressing those needs; and
have specific strategies for monitoring the implementation and outcomes of those plans,
all with an eye towards helping your district(s) determine whether activities or strategies: 1) result
in the kinds of changes that will lead to the longer-term district and school improvement you
expect it to foster, and 2) are a worthwhile investment of your limited resources.
In short, we want to see that you are engaged in an evidence-based cycle of inquiry (aka, a
continuous learning cycle) that incorporates the use of SMART criteria (i.e., Specific and
Strategic; Measurable; Action Oriented; Rigorous, Realistic and Results-focused; and Timed and
Tracked) to support the process.
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Fund Use Narrative Instructions Page 4 of 10
Completing the Part III Plan for Grant Fund Use Form
The Part III: Plan for Grant Fund Use form consists of three sections, each of which is briefly
described below:
Section A. Proposed Activities, Strategies, Initiatives
Section B. Grant Narrative Detail
Section C. District and Partnership Contact Information
Section A. Proposed Activities, Strategies, Initiatives
Section A asks for a numbered list of the activities, strategies and initiatives that you propose to
support with your Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty Grant.
Section B. Grant Narrative Detail
Section B is the heart of your grant proposal. This is where you will provide details for the activity
(or activities) you propose to support with your grant award. Please provide a separate narrative
for each activity, initiative or strategy listed in Section A.
The narrative should include information on the following key topics, each of which is briefly
described below.
Topic 1. A brief description of the activity, strategy, or initiative.
Topic 2. Your rationale for selecting this activity, strategy, or initiative.
Topic 3. Anticipated changes.
Topic 4. Monitoring implementation and assessing change.
Note: The Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty Grant Rubric (at the end of these
instructions) is another resource to provide districts with specific guidance about types of
information and level of detail that your narrative will need to include in order to be approved.
Topic 1. A brief description of the activity, strategy, or initiative.
Describe how the activity targets and will lead to transformation in the core instructional
practices that are used in every classroom and instructional setting in order to accelerate
improvements in teaching, learning, and student achievement of students in poverty.
Include a description of the nuts and bolts of the activity you are proposing, focusing
primarily on answering the following questions:
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What will educators be doing and learning while engaged in this activity
Who will be involved (Teachers? Administrators? ) How many people will be
involved? Which schools will be involved?
Who will lead/facilitate the activity? What are their qualifications?
When does the activity begin? When will it be completed?
What resources are needed? How much will it cost?
Topic 2. Your rationale for selecting this activity, strategy, or initiative. Explain to us
why you chose this particular piece of work to support, including information about the
evidence and process you used to select it and how it connects to and supports existing
school and district improvement plans designed to support students in poverty.
Topic 3. Anticipated changes. Provide clear, specific examples of the changes you
expect to see in educators and/or the products/tools you expect to see developed as a
direct result of this activity, strategy, or initiative. Stated another way: How will you know
323-P/295 Part III Plan for Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty Grant
Fund Use Narrative Instructions Page 5 of 10
that this activity is been successful? (Note: We are looking for early indicators of change
here directly related to grant funded activities.)
Explain how these early indicators of change (e.g., changes in actions, discourse,
expectations, instructional practices or products developed) will directly support and lead
to changes in practice at the classroom level (i.e., the intermediate/short term outcomes
that will ultimately have a positive effect on student learning and student achievement).
Be sure to articulate clear measures of implementation, focusing especially on early
evidence of change benchmarks and short-term outcomes.
Topic 4. Monitoring implementation and assessing change. Describe your plans to
assess whether any products or learning from the activity, strategy, or initiative are:
a) being implemented with fidelity, and
b) leading to the anticipated changes you articulated in Topic 3
Be sure to include information about:
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The types of evidence you will be collecting;
How that information will be collected and analyzed and by whom;
Who is ultimately responsible for this process.
NOTE: ESE does not plan to collect these data for accountability purposes.
Section C. Partnership and District Contacts
This section asks you to list the names and contact information for the primary contact for a multidistrict partnership, and contact persons for each participating district. If you are applying as a
single district, list district contact information under “District Contact Person(s).”
COMPLETING YOUR GRANT SUBMISSION
SUBMIT YOUR ENHANCING SUPPORTS FOR STUDENTS IN POVERTY GRANT FOR APPROVAL TO THE ESE
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT M AILBOX.
Once you have completed the Part III narrative, submit an electronic copy of the form, along with
your 323-P and 295 budget workbooks to the School Improvement mailbox. Please cc David
Parker.
 Districts applying in partnership will send budget workbooks and copies of signed cover
sheets to the lead partnership district. The lead partner will then submit all documents
together to the School Improvement mailbox.
AMENDMENTS
If any future amendments to the grant are necessary, contract David Parker
Dparker@doe.mass.edu for an amendment-ready copy of your budget workbook. Apply for the
amendment by completing the Amendment worksheet in the budget workbook and updating the
Budget Summary. Amendments must be completed at least 30 days before the expiration of
funds.
Amendment Deadline: August 26, 2016
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Fund Use Narrative Instructions Page 6 of 10
ENHANCING SUPPORTS FOR STUDENTS IN POVERTY GRANT FINAL REPORT
Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty grantees are expected to submit a final report of no
more than three pages using the Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty Final Grant Final
Report Template in Appendix B by October 31, 2016, one month after the end of the grant
funding period. The Final Grant Report is designed to a provide the Department of Elementary
and Secondary Education with a snapshot of how your grant was used, any successes and
challenges in implementing the grant as planned, reasons for any changes, and your plans for
supporting ongoing work to monitor, deepen and sustain the learning associated with grant
activities. We use the information to help improve the grant process. The report is also shared
with your DSAC Regional Assistance Director or Office of District and School Turnaround Liaison,
who may contact you to discuss possible follow up support, if that seems appropriate.
323-P/295 Part III Plan for Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty Grant
Fund Use Narrative Instructions Page 7 of 10
Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty Grant Narrative Rubric
0 - No
Evidence
Section B, Topic 1:
Description of each activity,
strategy, initiative
What will you do with the funds
from your Enhancing Supports
for Students in Poverty grant?
What?
Who?
How many?
When?
Topic 2: Rationale for
selecting this activity,
strategy or initiative
Why did you choose this activity,
strategy, initiative?
1 - Needs Improvement
2- Satisfactory
Description of the activity
Description of the activity.
 There is insufficient explanation of how the activity
will build educator capacity to teach students in
poverty
 It is not clear what educators will be doing and/or
learning
 The timeline for activities is missing or incomplete
 The timeline falls outside of the funding period of the
grant
 The narrative includes insufficient detail on how
Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty grant
funds will be used to support the activity
 It is not evident whether, how, or which schools,
especially Level 3, 4 and 5 schools, will substantially
benefit from the activity
 It is not evident that students with disabilities will
substantially benefit from grant activities
 There is a clear and cogent description of how the activity
will build educator capacity to teach students in poverty
 The description includes an explanation of how the activity
targets and will lead to improvements in core instructional
practices benefitting students in poverty
 It is clear what educators will be doing and/or learning
while engaged in the activity
 The timeframe for the activity falls within the grant
timeline
 The narrative details how Enhancing Supports for
Students in Poverty grant funds support the activity (e.g.,
stipends, contractors)
 The activity will clearly benefit schools, especially Level 3
4 and 5 schools, and the narrative identifies which schools,
in particular, will benefit
 Benefits for students are clearly described in proposed
grant activities
Participant information:
Participant information:
 Time commitments of educators is not detailed
 It is not clear who will be engaged in the activity
and/or how many educators will be involved
 Time commitments of involved educators are provided
 The narrative clearly indicates who will be engaged in the
activity and how many educators will be involved.
Facilitator information
Facilitator information:
 Information about facilitators or trainers is missing or
incomplete
 Details of expenses are missing or incomplete
 Facilitator names are provided, and qualifications of
trainers/facilitators are clearly described (e.g., attended
November 2015 Teaching with Poverty in Mind workshop)
Rationale for choosing activity:
Rationale for choosing activity:
 It is not clear why this activity was selected
 It is not clear what needs are being addressed by this
activity
 Connections between the activity and strategic goals
 The narrative provides a cogent rationale for selecting
each activity, including details on:
o The strategic goals the activity supports
o The educator, school and/or district needs
Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty Grant Narrative Rubric ~ Page 8 of 10
are not clear
 A through-line to the classroom is not described or is
incomplete
 The process for reflecting upon information is not
described
being addressed
How the activity addresses and supports those
needs and goals
o What makes the activity a high-leverage
strategy that will contribute to improving
teaching and learning for students in poverty
 How the activity, strategy, or initiative will ultimately
reach the classroom
Topic 3: Anticipated Changes
Indicators of change
Indicators of change
How will you know the activity
has been successful?
 Expected changes in educator behaviors or products
 The narrative describes the changes you are expecting to
are not clearly described
see in educators and/or the products/tools you expect to
see developed as a direct result of this activity, strategy, or
 Identified outcomes are long-range, not short term or
initiative.
intermediate
 It is not clear that (or how) expected changes from this  The narrative explains how these early indicators of
change (e.g., changes in actions, discourse, expectations,
activity will produce meaningful change in the
instructional practices or products developed) will
classroom
support and lead to changes in practice at the classroom
 Success criteria for the activity are not clearly
level (i.e., the intermediate/short term outcomes that will
described
ultimately have a positive effect on the learning of students
in poverty).
 The narrative provides specific information about the
early indicator(s) of change that the district expects to see
as a direct result of this activity. For instance:
o changes in educator knowledge, attitudes, behaviors,
instructional practices, beliefs
o artifacts such as tools or products that will be
developed
 Example(s) represent meaningful measures of change
likely to result from this activity
 The narrative provides an explanation of how the district
expects these early indicators of change and/or tools and
products to support and/or lead to changes affecting the
classroom (e.g., implementation of tools or products
developed, changes in practice)
 There is a description of what a successful outcome for
each activity will look like
 Tools and resources that will be generated from each
activity are described
Note: ESE will not be collecting
benchmark data. Benchmarks
are for the purpose of tracking
implementation and ensuring
successful implementation of
activities.
o
Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty Grant Narrative Rubric ~ Page 9 of 10
Topic 4: Monitoring
implementation and
assessing change
Note: ESE will not require data
collected during the monitoring
process to be reported.
Monitoring is for the purpose of
tracking implementation, not
for district accountability.
Monitoring process
Monitoring process
 A plan to monitor the quality and fidelity of the activity  The narrative describes plans to monitor implementation
is missing or incomplete
and assess whether any products or learning from the
activity, strategy, or initiative are:
 It is not clear how evidence will be collected, or by
o of high quality and/or are being implemented with
whom
fidelity and
 SMART criteria are not evident in the plan to monitor
o leading to the anticipated changes described in topic 3.
the activity
 The narrative includes information about the specific
 A timeline for collecting information is missing or
indicators and/or evidence (qualitative and/or
incomplete
quantitative) that will be used in this work, and how that
 A process for feedback and reflection is missing or
information will be collected and analyzed.
incomplete
 The narrative describes how the district intends to
measure and assess changes in educator practice
described in Topic 3
 Plans for monitoring implementation and assessing change
are appropriate to the scope and scale of the activity
Responsibility for monitoring
 The narrative identifies who is responsible for
coordinating the monitoring, data collection, and
assessment processes
 The timeline and frequency for collecting information is
noted
 A process for providing feedback to stakeholders is
described
Enhancing Supports for Students in Poverty Grant Narrative Rubric ~ Page 10 of 10