2019 Digital Literacy Now 3 Year Plan
Chapter 41 of the Acts of 2019, line-item 7010-1202
Digital Literacy Now 3 Year Plan
December 2019
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
75 Pleasant Street, Malden, MA 02148-4906
Phone 781-338-3000 TTY: N.E.T. Relay 800-439-2370
www.doe.mass.edu
 This document was prepared by the
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Jeffrey C. Riley
Commissioner
Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Members
Ms. Katherine Craven, Chair, Brookline
Mr. James Morton, Vice Chair, Boston
Dr. Edward Doherty, Hyde Park
Ms. Amanda Fernández, Belmont
Mr. Matt Hills, Newton
Mr. Michael Moriarty, Holyoke
Mr. James Peyser, Secretary of Education, Milton
Mr. Paymon Rouhanifard, Brookline
Ms. Mary Ann Stewart, Lexington
Mr. Matthew Tibbitts, Student Advisory Council, Ludlow
Dr. Martin West, Newton
Jeffrey C. Riley, Commissioner
Secretary to the Board
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Inquiries regarding the Department’s compliance with Title IX and other civil rights laws may be directed to the
Human Resources Director, 75 Pleasant St., Malden, MA 02148-4906. Phone: 781-338-6105.
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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
75 Pleasant Street, Malden, MA 02148-4906
Phone 781-338-3000 TTY: N.E.T. Relay 800-439-2370
www.doe.mass.edu
 Massachusetts Department of
Elementary & Secondary Education
75 Pleasant Street, Malden, Massachusetts 02148-4906 Telephone: (781) 338-3000
TTY: N.E.T. Relay 1-800-439-2370
Jeffrey C. Riley
Commissioner
April 27, 2020
Dear Members of the General Court:
I am pleased to submit this Report to the Legislature: 2019 Digital Literacy Now 3 Year Plan.
The following report was developed by Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents
(MASS) and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and informed by
the work and 10-year plan developed by the Massachusetts Expanding Computing Educational
Pathway advisory council and stakeholder coalition.
If you have any questions about this report, please feel free to contact Anne DeMallie, the Digital
Literacy and Computer Science Lead, in the Center for Instructional Support at
ademallie@doe.mass.edu or at 781-338-3527.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey C. Riley
Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education
Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1
Digital Literacy Now Grant Program ............................................................................... 2
District Level Competitive Grants .................................................................................... 2
Three Year Plan ................................................................................................................... 3
Curricula Evaluator ........................................................................................................ 6
Coordination of District, Professional Development, and Data ........................................... 6
Support for State Level Work .......................................................................................... 6
Program Needs ................................................................................................................ 7
Program Expansion ......................................................................................................... 7
Appendix A: Access to PK-12 Computer Science Courses in Massachusetts ........ 8
Introduction
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education respectfully submits this Report to the
Legislature: 2019 Digital Literacy Now 3 Year Plan pursuant to Chapter 41 of the Acts of 2019,
line item 7010-1202:
“For the implementation of the Massachusetts Digital Literacy Now grant program to
establish and promote digital literacy and computer science education in public schools
in kindergarten through grade 12; provided, that the department shall develop an
implementation plan for promoting technology and digital literacy efforts in partnership
with the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, Inc.; provided further,
that the plan shall consider technology and computer usage and access in low-income,
urban, suburban and rural communities; and provided further, that a report shall be filed
not later than December 31, 2019 with the chairs of the house and senate committees on
ways and means and the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on education that
includes a 3-year strategic plan, annual goals and progress in achieving those goals.”
Careers across all industry sectors now and in the future require computing knowledge and skills.
And in recognition of that, it is important to address gaps in our education and workforce
development system: most students in Massachusetts do not have access to computing education;
Massachusetts is not generating enough college graduates with computer science skills to meet
the needs of the state’s employers; there are not nearly enough teachers with the ability to teach
computing; and, there is a dramatic underrepresentation of females, students of color, and other
underserved groups in computing fields. The underlying data representing these benchmarks can
be found in DESE’s June 2018 Access to Computer Science Courses in Massachusetts report
which is included as Appendix A.
Massachusetts is a member of the Expanding Computing Education Pathway (ECEP) Alliance, a
National Science Foundation funded program. ECEP is a 23-state alliance for sharing pathways
to success in broadening participation in computing. Over the past year, the Massachusetts ECEP
advisory council has been convening a coalition of computing education stakeholders to develop
a 10-year plan for working collaboratively across the state on strategies that can close the
identified gaps with the end objective to have ALL Massachusetts students, college and career
ready.
Goals:
• Ensuring that all students – with a focus on females, students of color, and other
underserved populations – receive high-quality and standards aligned digital literacy and
computer science instruction.
• Aligning coursework and computing pathways that are regionally relevant, advanced in
content and pedagogy, and based in Massachusetts’s Digital Literacy and Computer
Science standards.
• Providing professional development experiences for educators (pre-service and in-
service) so they can gain licensure, knowledge, and skills to deliver equitable, standards-
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 based instruction in digital literacy and computer science that prepares students for
college and career success.
• Connecting with and mobilizing a diverse set of stakeholders to promote mutually-
beneficial partnerships in support of programs and policies that provide all students with
access to standards-based K-12 digital literacy and computer science education.
To achieve these goals, the Massachusetts ECEP advisory council is focusing its efforts in six
strategy areas:
• District Engagement
• Curriculum and Computing Pathways
• Professional Development and Licensure
• Collaboration and Communication
• Work Based Learning/Capstone Projects
• DLCS Dashboard
The funding through line item #7010-1202 in the state’s FY 20 General Appropriations Act will
address all four goals through several of these focus strategy areas.
Digital Literacy Now Grant Program
The following program was developed by Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents
(MASS) and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and informed by
the work and 10-year plan developed by the MA ECEP advisory council and stakeholder
coalition. MASS and DESE plan to meet regularly to monitor the progress of the program and
set priorities and focus for future grants. DESE will be responsible for program administration.
The primary purpose of the Digital Literacy Now program is to establish/expand and promote
digital literacy and computer science education in public schools throughout Massachusetts. The
program has several parts: district level competitive grants, curricula evaluator,
district/professional development/data coordinator, and administrative support for an MA ECEP
advisory council for state level work.
District Level Competitive Grants
The purpose of this new state competitive grant is to establish
Goal 1:
and promote rigorous, engaging, and standards aligned digital
Ensuring that all students –
literacy and computer science education in public schools in
with a focus on females,
kindergarten through grade 12. These grants are targeted at the
students of color, and other
district level as the districts are be responsible for creating
underserved populations –
rigorous, inclusive, and sustainable K-12 digital literacy and
receive high-quality and
computer science education. Priority will be given to districts
standards aligned digital
that support students that are most underserved (including, but
literacy and computer
not limited to, students designated as economically
science instruction.
disadvantaged, English language learners, special education,
underrepresented minorities, and living in rural areas).
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This is planned as a 3-year grant cycle. Pending state funding, if the districts meet their plan
goals and grant requirements, they will be asked to submit a continuation proposal for a second
and third year.
Through this grant, district teams of district administrators, building administrators, and
educators will engage in an in-depth, facilitated process to develop a Digital Literacy and
Computer Science (DLCS) K-12 implementation plan for their district, select the DLCS
curricula to be used within the district, select educators that will deliver the identified DLCS
course(s), and ensure that those educators and coaches complete DLCS Professional
Development (PD) in order to implement the coursework across the district in Fall 2021.
The first cohort of this grant will focus on middle grades (6-8) DLCS implementation. We expect
to be able to fund about 30 districts.
As with all large DESE grant programs, an outside grant evaluator will be contracted to provide
program evaluation and reporting.
Grant support, assuming level funding:
Grant support, assuming level funding:
2020 2020-2021 2021-2022
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Number of New Districts 30 15 15
Implementation Planning: 6 day workshop X
Implementation Planning Review: 2 day
X X
workshop
Curricular Professional development: ~5
educators per district for the first 2 years and ~150 ~225 ~225
then on a space available basis for year 3.
Annual Convening X X X
Technical Support: curricular implementation and
X X X
grant reporting support.
Grant Evaluation and Reporting X X X
Three Year Plan
This grant program can support about 30 Districts as Cohort 1, in year 1, 2020, with continued
support and professional development in year 2 and support only in year 3. The grant will
support professional development for up to 5 educators from each district for a total of 150
educators. Districts will be able to add additional educators if slots are available.
In year 2, 2020-2021, under current funding levels, the program can support the addition of
approximately 15 new districts as Cohort 2 with continued support and professional development
in their second year and support only in their third year. The grant will support professional
development for up to 5 educators from each district in Cohorts 1 and 2 for a total of 225
educators. Districts will be able to add additional educators if slots are available.
3
In year 3, 2021-2022, under current funding levels, the program can support the addition of
approximately 15 new districts as Cohort 3 with continued support and professional development
in their second year and support only in their third year. The grant will support professional
development for up to 5 educators from each district in Cohorts 2 and 3 for a total of 150
educators. Districts will be able to add additional educators if slots are available.
In subsequent years, under current funding levels, the program can support the addition of
approximately 15 new districts. The grant will support professional development for up to 5
educators from each district in their first and second year of the grant for a total of 150 educators.
And the grant can provide support to districts in all three years of the grant. Districts will be able
to add additional educators if slots are available.
There will also be a yearly convening of the grantees open to all districts to share work and best
practices. Timeline presented in Figure 1.
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Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 With Future Funding With Future Funding
2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023 2023-2024
Digital
Now Convening Convening Convening Convening Convening
Strategic
Plan
Planning: PD Implementation and Implementation and
30 Districts Support PD
Support
RFPs 30 Districts
Planning: PD Implementation and PD Implementation and
15 Districts Support Support
Planning: PD Implementation and Implementation and
15 Districts Support PD Support
Planning: PD Implementation and
15 Districts Support PD
Planning: PD
15 Districts
Figure 1: 3 Year Plan Level Funding