FY16 Supplementary Support to School Districts with High Concentrations of At-Risk Students:
Alternative Education Pathways (Competitive)
Fund Code 320-B
Descriptions of Options for Grant Mission and Grant Priority Components
Grants will be awarded to districts that propose activities to meet one of the two types of grant missions:
Pilot or Enhancement. Regardless of the selected grant mission, all applications must address at least
two priority components:
1. Providing socio-emotional supports (behavioral health support)
2. Meeting the requirements of the Massachusetts discipline law, Chapter 222: An Act Relative to
Student Access to Educational Services and Exclusion from School, including education options
for:
 students at-risk for dropping out (Section 8)
 students that are suspended or expelled (Sections 1, 2, and 9)
In addition to these two required priority components, applicants may also implement through the grant
additional optional components for student-centered learning:
1. Implementing a competency based education system
2. Implementing Individual Learning Plans (ILPs)
3. Providing contextual learning opportunities
The priority components are described below along with links to resources for additional information that
may help to inform selection of priority components and associated activities to be supported with grant
funds.
Grant Mission Options
All applicants must select one of the following grant missions:

Pilot: Funds may be used to implement an innovative, new alternative education program/school.
The pilot program should begin implementation with students no later than March 2014. Pilot activity
examples include, but are not limited to:
 Recruitment of students
 Recruitment and hiring of staff
 Collaboration with partners, including other school districts and community organizations
 Implementation of staff professional development
 Implementation of program with students

Enhancement: Funds may be used to enhance an existing alternative education program/school
through expansion or implementation of an identified strategy. The enhancement to the
program/school should be implemented with students no later than March 2014. Enhancement
activity examples include, but are not limited to:
 Implementation of staff professional development
 Implementation of enhancement activities with students
 Collaboration with partners, including other school districts and community organizations
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Grant Priority Components
All applications must address at least two of the five priority components to support student-centered
learning. The priority component of socio-emotional/behavioral health supports is required for all
applicants and the remainder are optional priority components.
In your review of the priority components please keep in mind:
 The priority components are not mutually exclusive – applicants are encouraged to consider ways
multiple priority components may come together to best support students that are most at-risk for
not graduating.
 The descriptions and resources do not represent an exhaustive list of the types of activities that
may be implemented in support of a priority component – the information is intended to provide a
basic foundation for the types of activities that may be supported through this grant.
1. Social-Emotional/Behavioral Health Support (component required for all applicants)
Students’ socio-emotional/behavioral health is intricately connected to academic, social, and emotional
success at school. Social emotional learning involves a reduction of risk factors, fostering protective
mechanisms for positive adjustment. Behavioral health refers to the social, emotional, and behavioral
well-being of all students, including students with mental health needs. Establishing a school climate that
promotes students’ socio-emotional/behavioral health can also help promote positive and productive
functioning and school success.
Applicants are encouraged to consider implementing trauma-sensitive practices as part of the approach
to address students’ social-emotional/behavioral health support. Traumatized students may have been
affected by experiences such as abuse, family violence, community violence, war, and homelessness.
The following are some of the general best practices to promote positive school climate:
 Increase number of adults working with students
 Develop a supportive classroom environment with safe spaces
 Provide transitional and continuing supports
 Provide acute-level supports
 Build partnerships with outside support agencies, including those that work in the fields of mental
health, trauma, family violence, and community violence
 Facilitate access to social services
 Provide mentors for students
 Provide ongoing training to inform teachers, administrators, and school personnel to understand
and identify symptoms of mental health concerns and trauma
 Evaluate school programs to better support students
 Evaluate school policies and determine how to refer affected students quickly and confidentially
to appropriate services
The following are some common activities among a sample of Massachusetts districts working towards
increasing socio-emotional support for students and increasing positive school climate:
 Hiring counseling staff who:
o Provide individual counseling and case management support, with a caseload of 12–30
students;
o Lead group counseling sessions that focus on topics such as substance abuse, anger
management, anxiety, bereavement, pregnancy, and parenting;
o Attend regular meetings with academic and/or behavioral support teams;
o Manage crisis interventions;
o Check in with students frequently; and
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o Sustain supportive and therapeutic relationships with students.
Facilitating orientation activities for freshmen, new students, and programs.
Organizing student advisory groups (e.g., facilitating weekly meetings).
Building relationships and connections among staff, students, community members and groups,
and the student support services they provide.
Providing staff with professional development on topics such as counseling, restorative justice
practices, and student behavior management.
Collaborating with community partners (e.g., community-based organizations, social service
agencies).
Offering continued support, such as weekly or monthly check-ins, to students who have
transitioned out of a support program.
Combining academic and socio-emotional supports in order to “serve the whole child.”
Building school-family relationships, such as by hosting monthly meetings and activities with
parents and guardians
Across the country and in Massachusetts the concept of “graduation coaches” is becoming an
increasingly popular way to provide students more individualized support. This role may be used to
support the socio-emotional/behavioral health of students. The graduation coach role generally involves
monitoring students and ensuring that they are receiving the support they need to stay on track to
graduate. These staff and associated programming assist students in meeting personal and academic
needs through a meaningful and sustained personal relationship with a trained adult. Graduation coaches
meet with students, set goals, put plans and services in place for them, call families, conduct home visits,
and in some cases try to re-engage students who have left the school. They can support positive student
outcomes through support prevention and intervention efforts.
Social-emotional/behavioral health support resources:
 MA Behavioral Health in Public Schools Framework: http://bhps321.org/viewframeworkall.asp
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MA Trauma-Sensitive Schools website: http://www.doe.mass.edu/tss/
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MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Guidelines for Implementing Social and
Emotional Learning Curricula: http://www.doe.mass.edu/bullying/SELguide.pdf
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Helping Traumatized Children Learn (website): http://traumasensitiveschools.org/
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Helping Traumatized Children Learn (book): http://www.massadvocates.org/download-book.php
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National School Climate Standards, Center for Social and Emotional Education:
http://www.schoolclimate.org/climate/documents/school-climate-standards-csee.pdf
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MassGrad Evaluation Brief on Adult Advocates for Student Support:
http://www.doe.mass.edu/ccr/massgrad/EvalBrief-AdultAdvocates.pdf
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Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL): http://casel.org/
2. Meeting the requirements of the Massachusetts discipline law, Chapter 222: An Act Relative to
Student Access to Educational Services and Exclusion from School (component required for all
applicants)
Under the new Massachusetts discipline law, Chapter 222, school districts are required to provide
educational services to students during the period of suspension or expulsion. The law takes effect on
July 1, 2014. Students excluded from their regular school days (in or out of school) are entitled to an
opportunity to make academic progress during the time of exclusion, to make up assignments and earn
credits missed, including but not limited to homework, quizzes, exams, papers, and projects missed.
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Schools must develop a school-wide education service plan for students excluded more than 10 days,
which may include alternative placements.
In addition, the Massachusetts discipline law includes requirements for conducting an exit interview with
students who intend to leave school prior to graduation (i.e., students who plan to drop out). See Section
8 of the law for more information about this requirement.
School systems across the country implement alternative education programs to deliver educational and
other services to suspended or expelled students. Some school systems modify existing programs to
accommodate the larger numbers of students expelled for disruptive behaviors, while others are creating
new programs, often in collaboration with social agencies or nonprofit service organizations.
The programs typically differ from the expelled students' regular schools in these dimensions: the ratio of
students to teachers, the way academic subject matter is presented, the setting of the program, the
linkage of the school to the community or workplaces, the emphasis on behavior modification, the
emphasis on counseling for conflict resolution and anger management, and the availability of
comprehensive support services. Some programs are designed to prepare students to return to their
regular schools, and others prepare students to graduate from high school and enter the workforce or
postsecondary education directly from the alternative program.
Massachusetts discipline law resources:
 Student Discipline Resources and Information: http://www.doe.mass.edu/ssce/discipline/
o
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Includes resources are intended to support district’s implementation of the exit interview
requirement for students planning to drop out of school, as outlined in the Discipline Law
Chapter 222: An Act Relative to Student Access to Educational Services and Exclusion from
School: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2012/Chapter222
3. Competency Based Education (optional component)
Transitioning away from traditional ideas around seat time, in favor of a structure that creates flexibility,
allows students to progress as they demonstrate mastery of academic content, regardless of time, place,
or pace of learning. Competency-based strategies provide flexibility in the way that credit can be earned
or awarded, and provide students with personalized learning opportunities. These strategies include
online and blended learning, dual enrollment and early college high schools, project-based and
community-based learning, and credit recovery, among others. This type of learning leads to better
student engagement because the content is relevant to each student and tailored to their unique needs. It
also leads to better student outcomes because the pace of learning is customized to each student.
By enabling students to master skills at their own pace, competency-based learning systems help to save
both time and money. Depending on the strategy pursued, competency-based systems also create
multiple pathways to graduation, make better use of technology, support new staffing patterns that utilize
teacher skills and interests differently, take advantage of learning opportunities outside of school hours
and walls, and help identify opportunities to target interventions to meet the specific learning needs of
students. Each of these presents an opportunity to achieve greater efficiency and increase productivity.
A well-designed competency has the following characteristics:
 competency describes knowledge and skills that can be applied to novel, complex situations
 skills described in a competency will be valuable ten years from now even if the content
knowledge has changed
 learning objectives are accompanied by clear performance criteria that help students identify their
performance levels and what they need to do to improve
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objectives are accompanied by effective rubrics that help students understand themselves better
as learners
competency and learning objectives allow for personalization and opportunities for better learning
Competency based education resources:
 Competency Works: www.competencyworks.org
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When Success is the Only Option: Designing Competency-Based Pathways for Next Generation
Learning: http://www.inacol.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/iNACOL_SuccessOnlyOptn.pdf
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Case Study - Boston Day and Evening Academy:
http://www.jff.org/sites/default/files/AligningCompetencies_112812.pdf
4. Individual Learning Plans (ILPs) (optional component)
An individual learning plan (ILP) is both a document and a process that students use to define career
goals and post-secondary plans. ILPs inform school courses and activities. Quality ILPs include:
 A document that contains courses and post-secondary plans aligned with career goals
 A process that enhances relevance of school and non-school learning activities and provides
access to career development opportunities (e.g. self-exploration, career exploration, career
planning, management skill building activities)
Examples of information specific to the student that might be included in an ILP:
 skills, abilities, hobbies, and accomplishments
 current and past classes and activities
 grades and test scores
 examples of student work
 results from career, college, and interest assessments
 personal goal statements
ILP promising practices:
 A variety of school staff and parents give students support in the development of an ILP.
 Many states have adopted policies that require all middle and/or high school students to develop
and maintain an ILP in order to make schools more personalized and improve student outcomes.
 ILPs are incorporated into advisory periods and are most effective when regularly reviewed and
updated throughout each academic year, starting in middle school and continuing through high
school and beyond.
Individual Learning Plan resources:
 Individual Learning Plans Fact Sheet: www.ncwd-youth.info/sites/default/files/FactSheet-ILP.pdf
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Individualized Learning Plans How-To Guide: http://www.ncwd-youth.info/ilp/how-to-guide
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Providence Public Schools ILP Program Guide:
http://www.aypf.org/documents/PPSD_Advisory_Toolkit.pdf
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5. Contextual Learning (optional component)
Contextual learning, also known as project-based learning, is a dynamic approach to teaching in which
students explore real-world problems and challenges. With this type of active and engaged learning,
students are inspired to obtain a deeper knowledge of the subjects they're studying. In contextual
learning, students go through an extended process of inquiry in response to a complex question, problem,
or challenge. While allowing for some degree of student "voice and choice," rigorous projects are carefully
planned, managed, and assessed to help students learn key academic content, practice 21st Century
Skills (such as collaboration, communication & critical thinking), and create high-quality, authentic
products & presentations.
Contextual learning can take place through a variety of formats, including through structured servicelearning and work-based learning experiences described below.
Service-learning is a teaching and learning approach that integrates community service with academic
study to enrich learning, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. By connecting service to
academic coursework, students are afforded the chance to apply newly acquired knowledge and skills to
make a difference in their communities, making learning more relevant.
By its nature, service-learning provides opportunities for students to practice and demonstrate their
learning in varied ways, often very different from the traditional classroom. Using this methodology,
students who have been unsuccessful with traditional teaching and learning can tap into their strengths
and feel more successful in school. Service-learning also engages various community partners and local
businesses to provide additional support from adults in the community, helping students to feel more
connected. When students recognize the connection between their schooling and the impact that it has
on their success in the workforce, they tend to become more focused and engaged learners.
Work-based learning provides students work experiences that are connected to academic coursework.
Research on dropout reduction shows that one of the most common reasons that students give for
leaving school is that their classes are not interesting and that access to more real-world learning
opportunities would have improved their chances of graduating. A recent study by Northeastern
University’s Center for Labor Market Studies cites research that found that teens from economically
disadvantaged backgrounds, particularly black and Hispanic teens, are less likely to drop out of high
school if they participate in a paid work experience.
Contextual learning resources:
 Massachusetts Contextual Learning Portal: http://resources21.org/cl/
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Massachusetts Service-learning: http://www.doe.mass.edu/csl/
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Massachusetts Work-based learning tool: http://www.skillslibrary.com/wbl.htm
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