Student Opportunity Act — Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) Grant

Grants to Massachusetts school districts for programs to promote equity in education. Focus areas include early literacy, inclusion and co-teaching for English language learners and students with disabilities, expanded learning time, and retaining and recruiting administrators and educators in hard-to-staff schools and positions.

The purpose of this three-year combined state and trust funded competitive grant is to address persistent disparities in achievement among specific student groups, improve educational opportunities for all students, share best practices for improving classroom learning and support efficiencies within and across school districts (Student Opportunity Act, 21st Century Education Program, Section 16A: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2019/Chapter132).

With an emphasis on improving equity and closing gaps, this competitive grant prioritizes the adoption of evidence-based programs that have proven to improve educational opportunities for all students. This grant will support the development or enhancement of district efforts to implement the following Evidence-Based Program (EBP) areas:

1. Co-teaching / inclusion for students with disabilities and English learners
   
2. Research-based early literacy programs in pre-kindergarten and early elementary grades
3. Strategies to recruit and retain educators/administrators in hard-to-staff schools and positions,
4. Implement Expanded Learning Time (ELT) in the form of a longer school day or year

Support effective implementation of a particular district-determined EBP. 

Priority will be given to:

1. Districts and schools in chronically underperforming status,
2. Districts serving ≥ (at least) 25 percent of students who are identified as low-income as indicated at the Department's School and District profiles page or through other documented evidence,
3. Eligible districts in the Commonwealth receiving rural school aid, and
4. Districts with an increase in Chapter 70 funding up to, but not above $1.5 million.
5. Applications that reflect a strong commitment to enhancing culturally and linguistically responsive instruction and establishing / strengthening systems that promote and foster equity with a particular focus on students who have been historically underserved by our education systems, including but not limited to those who identify as Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Indigenous, and Multiracial students, students with disabilities, English learners, LGBTQIA+ students, students experiencing homelessness and/or financial insecurity, and students who are undocumented.

Funds may be used to support programming costs including staff salaries, stipends, staff planning time as it relates to the grant, contracts, high quality instructional materials, costs related to professional development and training activities, and other expenses associated with implementing grant funded programming.