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NEW: Direct Investment in Students – Grant Request for Applications (RFA) Released
OSSE released the Direct Investment in Students (DIS) grant program to support the following five categories of direct student services authorized under federal law at the District’s highest-need schools:
- Additional Coursework: enrollment in academic courses not otherwise offered at a student’s school;
- High School Credits: credit recovery and academic acceleration that lead to a high school diploma;
- Higher Education Coursework: costs for exams, dual enrollment, or other postsecondary course work that are accepted for credit at Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs);
- High-Impact Tutoring: math and/or English language arts (ELA) high-impact tutoring (HIT); and
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Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) School Transportation: Transportation to allow a student at a CSI school to transfer to another public or public charter school.
LEAs may submit applications for any of the three “Program Types” of funding OSSE has identified for this grant program, described below:
Program Type 1: OSSE has identified HIT as the primary service focus for the fiscal year 2027 (FY27) DIS grant program based on the demand for these services, strength of evidence supporting HIT's impact on student academic outcomes, and the current academic acceleration needs in ELA and mathematics for students in the District. OSSE will award competitive points for applications for HIT to increase the likelihood that most FY27 funds through this Request for Applications (RFA)will be awarded to support HIT services. OSSE will award a maximum of $1,500 per student and $150,000 per school.
Program Type 2: OSSE will also accept applications for the three services focused primarily on students in high school: Additional Coursework, High School Credit Services, Higher Education Coursework. OSSE will award a maximum of $1,000 per student and $150,000 per school.
Program Type 3: OSSE will also accept applications for CSI Transportation. OSSE will award a maximum of $500 per student and $150,000 per school.
Please see OSSE’s DIS website for more detailed information on the award opportunity and applicant eligibility. The deadline to submit an application is Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, at 12 p.m. EST. Applications are accepted only through OSSE’s Enterprise Grants Management System (EGMS) at grants.osse.dc.gov.
A pre-application webinar will be held for interested applicants on the following days. Click the link to register:
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Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. EST (Register here)
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Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST (Register here)
NEW: OSSE’s School Immunization Policy and Key Dates for the 2026-27 School Year
OSSE has published its updated School Year 2026-27 School Immunization Policy and Key Dates one-pager on its website. Please review this information as your school prepares for immunization enforcement for the upcoming school year. OSSE also requests that schools and their data managers update their AllStaff records with current Immunization Points of Contact (IPOCs) prior to the start of school, ensuring the database remains accurate and up to date.
Update Data Sources for the DC School Report Card “School Programs” Section Aug. 21 (and additional deadlines) (Reminder)
To prepare LEAs to complete this process, OSSE will host office hours to answer any questions on Monday, Aug. 17. Please email osse.essa@dc.gov to register.
On Friday, Aug. 21, LEAs will certify their Course Catalog and must have finalized School Programs data in eSchoolPLUS.
On Monday, Sept. 14, LEAs will receive a DC School Report Card School Programs file via Box and LEAs will have the opportunity to review the data for alignment with the OSSE definitions and business rules. By Friday, Sept. 25, any needed updates are due via OST tickets.
Last week, OSSE sent an email to your Head of School, LEA Data Manager and Course Collection POC with detailed information about the course offerings at your school(s). Please check your inboxes!
For questions about the DC School Report Card, please email us at OSSE.ESSA@dc.gov.
2026-27 School Year LEA Course Data Collection Process, Closes Aug. 21 (Reminder)
OSSE will pre-populate the LEA Course Data Qlik Dashboard application with each LEA’s course data from the previous 2025-26 school year. LEAs will review the information and only need to submit an updated Course Catalog to make changes if course information is different than what was submitted for the 2025-26 school year.
The Integrated Data System (IDS) is now open for LEAs to submit changes to their Course Catalog Collection data for the 2026-27 school year. Starting Aug. 3, LEAs can review their Course Catalog data on the 2026-27 School Year LEA Course Data Qlik Dashboard in OSSE’s Qlik application.
IDS will close for Course Catalog Collection data on Aug. 19, and LEA Heads of School will certify the data on Aug. 21. All LEAs are required to certify their Course Catalog, even if they did not make changes for the 2026-27 school year.
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NEW: Cohort Opportunity for School-Based Behavioral Health Providers
OSSE Advancing the Recruitment and Retention of Our Workforce (ARROW) announces the launch of the 2026-27 cohort of the First Year Cadre for school-based behavioral health providers, i.e., school social workers, psychologists, and counselors (school counselors and licensed counselors), who are new to working in a school-based setting and have an employment start date of Nov. 1, 2024 or after! The First Year Cadre is an opportunity for providers in their early years of working in a school-based setting to build foundational skills necessary to be successful in the school environment. The cohort will run from October 2026 to June 2027. Please see this one-pager for more information and the eligibility criteria. Applications open Monday, Aug. 17 and close Friday, Sept. 11, 2026.
Participants who successfully complete the cadre will be eligible for a $1000 stipend.
Questions? Reach out to OSSE.HYDT@dc.gov.
NEW: Professional Development Workshop – Developing an Evidence-Based High-Impact Tutoring (HIT) Plan
Are you hoping to use HIT as a key strategy for improving student achievement? Are you considering applying for the OSSE Direct Investment in Students (DIS) grant to support HIT programming?
OSSE has just launched the DIS grant and released a new HIT Vetted Program List. LEAs interested in applying for DIS funds to support HIT must partner with a program included on the vetted list.
OSSE invites all LEA and school leaders to an in-person workshop, led by Johns Hopkins University Center for Research and Reform in Education (CRRE), that is focused on developing an actionable school HIT plan built around an evidence-based program for the 2026-27 school year and beyond. The workshop will help LEAs select programs from the new HIT Vetted Program List that features programs with evidence of effectiveness. Participants will accomplish the following:
- Identify clear goals for tutoring: What do you want tutoring to help your school achieve? Which students do you want to serve?;
- Learn to distinguish programs by strength of evidence and deepen understanding of how research evidence can support program selection;
- Examine other program factors that are useful to consider when selecting a program;
- Work through the vetted program list in a collaborative setting to identify best-fit programs; and
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Make a plan for implementation that is realistic, addresses a school’s previous HIT challenges (e.g., scheduling conflicts that were difficult to resolve!), and is aligned to how the program was implemented in the research.
The target audience for this workshop is LEA and/or schools leaders interested in:
For schools serving grades K-5 students:
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9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., Sept. 3
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OSSE Building, First Floor, 1050 First St. NE 20002
For schools serving grades 6-12 students:
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9 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Sept. 8
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OSSE Building, First Floor, 1050 First St. NE 20002
OSSE and CRRE will be available for any individual technical assistance after programming concludes at 1:30 p.m. You may bring your own lunch (refrigerators and microwaves are available) or purchase from one of the many nearby lunch options and are welcome to talk through your HIT plan over lunch with colleagues, OSSE, and the CRRE team.
NEW: OSSE's Dyslexia Awareness Training is Now Available
OSSE is happy to announce that this year’s required Dyslexia Awareness Training is now available in the OSSE Learning Management System (LMS). The registration links for the training are below.
The awareness training is required for all educators employed by an LEA. All educators should complete the 2026 dyslexia awareness training. OSSE defines educators as any professional directly involved in the regular creation of learning environments that foster students' development. For reference, here is a list of the federal roles required to complete the annual dyslexia awareness training. The deadline for completing the training is Oct. 30.
LEAs can now monitor staff completions of the dyslexia awareness modules using the Dyslexia Awareness Training Dashboard in Qlik.
As a reminder, K-2 serving LEAs have two additional training requirements ahead of this fall’s compliance submission.
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Structured Literacy Competency for Kindergarten Teachers
- All teachers assigned to teach kindergarten must demonstrate competency in structured literacy through completion of an approved training, prior completion of an approved training, or receiving a passing score on OSSE’s structured literacy competency assessment.
- K-2 training on reading difficulties.
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The K-2 training can be provided by OSSE, the LEA, or a third party with expertise in reading and reading difficulties. OSSE recommends that LEAs facilitate their own K-2 training (e.g., curriculum-based training, training focused on analyzing screener data, etc.)
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Kindergarten educators who have completed the structured literacy competency training need not complete additional training.
Superintendent’s Advisory Council Applications Open + NEW Student Advisory Council
OSSE is accepting applications for the 2026-27 school year cohort of the Superintendent's Advisory Council through Aug. 30. The councils are comprised of a diverse group of educators, school leaders, parents, and family members from across the city who meet regularly with OSSE leadership and staff to give feedback on and ask questions about OSSE programs and policies.
OSSE is excited to announce the launch of its first-ever Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council (SSAC) during the 2026-27 school year. Open to rising seventh through 12th graders at DC public and public charter schools, the SSAC gives students the opportunity to help shape the policies and standards that impact them.
Prospective members are invited to fill out the application linked below.
For questions, please reach out to Rachelle (Rey) Yombo, Special Assistant for Teaching and Learning, at Rachelle.Yombo1@dc.gov.
2026 OSSE Literacy Convening Call for Proposals by Aug. 17 (Reminder)
OSSE's Division of Teaching and Learning, invites DC educators and literacy leaders to submit a proposal to lead a breakout session at the 2026 OSSE Literacy Convening. Session topics may include evidence‑based literacy practices, early literacy strategies, reading intervention approaches, coaching methods, making data‑informed decisions, implementing multi‑tiered systems of support, and other content aligned to supporting strong literacy outcomes for DC children and students from birth through grade 12.
The call for proposals is available on the OSSE Literacy Convening website and close on Monday, Aug. 17.
For questions, please email OSSE.CLSD@dc.gov.
 NEW: FY27 IDEA Part B Preliminary Allocations and Application Release
OSSE has been notified by the US Department of Education (USED) about the District of Columbia’s allocation for the fiscal year 2027 (FY27)/federal fiscal year 2026 (FFY26) Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B formula grant programs.
Preliminary allocations to LEAs for the FY27 IDEA Part B formula grant programs are now available on OSSE's website.
The FY27 IDEA Part B Phase II grant application will be available in the Enterprise Grants Management System (EGMS) in mid-August. The deadline for submission is Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 3 p.m. ET.
OSSE will host an optional application webinar at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 25. Please register here to attend.
For questions or additional information regarding IDEA, please contact Megan Williams at Megan.Williams@dc.gov.
FY27 ESEA Consolidated Application Now Open (Reminder)
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Consolidated Application (ConApp) for Titles I-A, II-A, III-A and IV-A for fiscal year 2027 (FY27) is now open in EGMS. Preliminary allocations for the FY27 ESEA Title grants are available here. The deadline for submission is Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 3 p.m. ET.
OSSE is pleased to share the following resources and technical assistance opportunities to assist you in successfully applying for your Titles I-IV, Part A grants.
ConApp planning resources:
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FY27 ConApp Planning Tool: This comprehensive Excel workbook provides a tab-by-tab reproduction of the FY27 ConApp as it will appear in EGMS. The planning tool is intended for LEAs to use to prepare application responses and budgets in advance of the application release. It can also support collaboration on developing application content across multiple teams, outside of EGMS, and a way to draft responses outside of the system for review.
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ESEA ConApp Guide: This step-by-step guidance document on how to complete the FY27 ESEA ConApp in EGMS supports LEA grant managers in successfully applying for Titles I-IV, Part A funds. It summarizes key requirements, describes expectations for narratives and budgets, outlines required documentation and timelines, highlights common ConApp errors, and provides step‑by‑step instructions for navigating EGMS.
For questions or additional information about the ESEA ConApp, please email Con.App@dc.gov or your LEA’s OSSE point of contact.
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August 2026
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