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July 13, 2016

Dear Colleague,

Ensuring that  all students have access to a well-rounded education is central to our shared work  to provide equitable educational opportunities for all students and prepare  them to succeed in college, careers, and life.

A holistic education—one that includes  access to social studies, including:  history, civics, government, economics, and  geography; music and art; world languages; sciences, including:  physics, chemistry, computer science, and  biology; physical and health education; career and technical education (CTE);  and rigorous coursework of all types—allows educators to teach their students in  a manner that promotes the promise of learning and provides students with the knowledge  necessary to succeed in a complex society. The benefits of a holistic education demonstrate that, in addition to  the core subjects of English/language arts and mathematics, access to a broad  range of coursework is essential for students in today’s world.

On April 13, 2016, the U. S. Department  of Education (Department) issued a Dear Colleague  Letter to State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs),  schools, and other stakeholders discussing how to maximize Federal funds to  support and enhance innovative science, technology, engineering, and mathematics   (STEM) **[ 1 ]**education for all students.  Much as that  letter provides a roadmap for using Federal funds to support STEM education, this  letter is designed to help SEAs, LEAs, schools, and their partners understand ways  that Federal formula grant funds may support humanities-based educational  strategies in the 2016–2017 school year under the  Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the No  Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB).  On  December 10, 2015, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)  into law, reauthorizing the ESEA.  SEAs,  LEAs, and their partners may find this guidance useful as they contemplate the  transition from the ESEA as amended by NCLB to the ESEA as amended by the ESSA.**[ 2 ]**

| | Sincerely,       
| | -----------------
| | /s/              
| | John B. King, Jr.

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In  order to provide all students with access to a holistic education, the  Department encourages educators at every level to pursue innovative strategies  and teaching methods in the humanities while working to ensure equitable  educational opportunities across the humanity disciplines.  For the purposes of this letter, the  “humanities” broadly include social studies, including:  history, civics, government, economics, and  geography;  literature; art; music; and philosophy; as well as other non-STEM subjects that  are not generally covered by an English/language arts curriculum.    To improve humanities educational  opportunities for all students, this letter provides examples that  illustrate how  grantees may use funds made available under the ESEA, as amended by NCLB; IDEA;  and Perkins.

The use of funds under any grant program must  be consistent with the requirements of the program.  The examples below highlight ways in which a  grantee may use Federal funds in the 2016–2017 school year to support  humanities education by:

1. Increasing  student access to humanities courses and experiences, including out-of-school  programs, humanities-themed schools, and career pathways;
2. Supporting the knowledge and expertise in the  humanity disciplines of school educators through recruitment, preparation,  support, and retention
3. ncreasing student  access to materials and equipment needed to support inquiry-based pedagogy and  active learning.

ESEA statutory references in the  examples below are to the ESEA, as amended by NCLB.

**Increase  student access to humanities courses and experiences, including out-of-school  programs, humanities-themed schools, and career pathways****:**  To  help ensure that all students have access to a full range of learning opportunities  in the humanities, schools, LEAs, and SEAs may use Federal funds to support  increased access to these opportunities both during the school day and during out-of-school  time.

1. **Rigorous coursework  in humanities for all students**:  Depending on the student population to be served,  program funds may be used to enhance college and career readiness through support  for dual- or concurrent-enrollment programs, early college high school models,  or other methods to increase access to rigorous humanities coursework.  Schools and LEAs may utilize Federal funds to  support humanities coursework in ways such as the following:
2. Schools  may use Title I funds to increase the rigor of humanities coursework for students  attending a school operating a Title I schoolwide program, consistent with the school’s  comprehensive needs assessment **[ 5 ]** (ESEA section 1114);
3. LEAs  may use Title III funds to serve English learners who need supplemental English  language instruction activities in humanities courses (ESEA section 3115);
4. LEAs may  use IDEA funds to serve eligible students with disabilities who require college  coursework in order to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE),**[ 6 ]** or who need  additional services and supports in humanities courses to access the general  education curriculum (IDEA section 602, section 1411, section 1412, section 1413, and section 1414).
5. **Out-of-school time:** SEAs and their  subgrantees (*e.g.*, LEAs,  community-based organizations, and other public and private entities) may use funds  from the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grants to provide high-quality  humanities programs and activities to students in out-of-school learning  settings (ESEA section 4201).
6. **Career-based  experiential learning:** Grantees may use Perkins funds to support collaborations  with humanities industries, for example, in the Arts, Audio/Video Technology,  and Communications industries, to offer internships, apprenticeships, and  mentoring programs that improve students’ knowledge of careers in the  humanities to the extent such careers are part of a grantee’s career and  technical education program (Perkins section 135).
7. **Humanities-focused  schools and pathways:**Eligible  applicants may use Charter Schools Program funds to start new  humanities-focused charter schools (ESEA section 5204).
8. **Summer school or extended  learning time:**  Schools may use Title I funds to help prepare  low-achieving students to take advanced humanities courses in high school — for  example, providing an intensive summer school course designed to accelerate  their knowledge  and skills, offering an elective course to prepare them to take advanced  courses, or providing after-school tutoring while they are taking advanced  courses.  (ESEA section 1114 and section 4201).****
9. **Field trips:** Schools operating  a schoolwide program may use Title I funds to support activities such as field  trips to increase access to hands-on humanities experiences and activities.  Such uses must be consistent with applicable SEA or LEA policies, Federal  requirements for uses of funds, and the school’s comprehensive needs assessment  (ESEA section 1114).

**Support  the knowledge and expertise in the humanity disciplines of school educators through  recruitment, preparation, support, and retention****:**  Educators have an incredible impact on student  learning and engagement. To help envision ways Federal resources may be  utilized to support the development of humanities educators, SEAs, LEAs, institutions  of higher education (IHEs), and their partners may consider the following:

1. **Recruiting and  preparing novice humanities educators, including those from groups historically  underrepresented in the humanities:**  Some  examples of how Title II funds may be used for this purpose include:
2. Providing  financial incentives, where necessary, to recruit effective humanities  educators to teach in high-need schools (ESEA section 2113 and section 2123); and
3. Recruiting  qualified individuals with humanities content knowledge, but who are working in  other fields, to become humanities teachers (ESEA section 2113 and section 2123).
4. **Helping  educators to learn effective ways to improve teaching of humanities:**  Some examples include the following uses of  Federal funds:
5. Title  II funds to provide professional learning opportunities to teachers or  principals.  Examples include sustained  relevant professional development opportunities offered by nonacademic humanities  institutions, such as museums or nonprofits (ESEA section 2113 and section 2123);
6. Title  II funds to support educators, including through professional development  activities, as they implement new courses, such as civics and art history (ESEA section 2113 and section 2123);
7. Title  II and IDEA funds to support educators to effectively teach students with  disabilities in humanities subjects (ESEA section 2113 and section 2123 and IDEA section 611, section 612, section 613,  and section 614).
8. Title  II and Title III funds to provide supplemental support to educators to  effectively teach English learners in humanities subjects (ESEA section 2113, section 2123,  and section 3115);
9. Title  II funds to support elementary teachers, including preschool educators, to  incorporate the humanities into their classrooms and to utilize effective humanities  pedagogy in their teaching, which may be done through mentoring or other  professional development activities (ESEA section 2113 and section 2123); and
10. Perkins  funds reserved by the State for leadership activities related to the purposes  of the Perkins Act to offer internships related to humanities programs of  study, including, for example, in the Arts, Audio/Video Technology, and Communications  careers, that provide valuable work experience, which may include internship  programs that provide relevant business experience, for secondary and  postsecondary teachers, faculty, administrators, and career guidance and  academic counselors who are involved in integrated CTE programs (Perkins section 124).
11. **Supporting  leadership pathways for humanities educators:**  Some examples of how Title II funds may be  used for this purpose include:
12. Hiring  humanities coaches to help LEAs tailor professional learning to the needs of  individual educators.  For example,  coaches may help educators to bolster their humanities content knowledge or  expand humanities pedagogy to include problem- or project-based active learning  techniques (ESEA section 2113 and section 2123); and
13. Providing  differential or incentive pay for teachers, principals, or school leaders in  high-need subject areas, such as certain humanities subjects, to serve in  high-need schools, or to reward the work of teachers and leaders who have  demonstrated effectiveness in improving student outcomes in the humanities (ESEA section 2113 and section 2123).



**Increase student access to materials and  equipment needed to support inquiry-based pedagogy and active learning****:** Supporting students in humanities learning can  require additional resources and technologies; SEAs, LEAs, and other grantees may  consider the following:****

1. **Devices:** Federal funds  may be used by grantees to purchase devices for students to access materials  and general instruction and to collaborate with peers and educators to support  humanities learning.
2. Providing  students with mobile learning devices to support learning, including  instruction in humanities courses:****Schools operating a Title I schoolwide  program may use Title I funds to acquire devices, such as tablets and laptops, as part of a  comprehensive plan to upgrade the educational program of a school, consistent  with the school’s comprehensive needs assessment (ESEA section 1114); and
3. Providing  students with disabilities with assistive technology devices:****SEAs  may use IDEA, Part B section 611 funds they retain for authorized State-level  activities, other than administration, to improve the use of technology in the  classroom for students with  disabilities, in order to  enhance their learning.**[ 7 ]**  LEAs may use IDEA, Part B funds to enable  students with disabilities to participate in humanities courses, if the IEP  specifies that the student requires an assistive technology device (IDEA section 611, section 612, section 613, section 614,  and section 619).
4. **Supporting  English learners:**  LEAs may use Title III funds to improve  instruction for English learners by acquiring supplementary digital learning resources  and software that will support English learners’ acquisition of English  proficiency and humanities content proficiency, including materials in  languages other than English (ESEA section 3115).



These are just a few examples of  allowable uses of Federal funds that may support the development,  implementation, and expansion of humanities approaches to help improve student  achievement in the 2016–2017 school year.  To identify further opportunities, please  review the statutes, regulations, and guidance for each Federal program.

**Information about the ESSA**

The ESSA, which reauthorizes the  ESEA, prioritizes excellence and equity.**[ 8 ]** For additional  information, resources, and guidance, please visit http://www.ed.gov/essa.  The ESSA emphasizes access to a holistic,  high-quality education for all students.  In particular, the newly authorized Student  Support and Academic Enrichment Grants program in Title IV, Part A, Subpart 1 of  the ESEA, as amended by the ESSA, is designed to improve academic achievement  by increasing State and local capacity to, among other goals, “provide all  students with access to a well-rounded education.”**[ 9 ]**  The Department looks forward to supporting  SEAs, LEAs, schools, and their partners as they endeavor to ensure that the  definition of an excellent education includes access to high-quality humanities  coursework for all students.

### Footnotes

1. For the purposes of this letter, consistent with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), all references to STEM include computer science.**[ Return to text ]**
2. In general, consistent with the  ESSA effective date provisions as clarified by the Consolidated Appropriations  Act, 2016, fiscal year (FY) 2016 formula grant funds under the ESEA will be  awarded and administered in accordance with the ESEA as in effect on the day  before the date of enactment of the ESSA (*i.e.*,  ESEA as amended by NCLB).  For additional  information regarding FY 2016 ESEA formula grant funds, see the Department’s  Dear Colleague Letter of January 28, 2016, at: www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/transitionsy1617-dcl.pdf.**[ Return to text ]**
3. Although the examples provided  in this letter are limited to the ESEA, as amended by NCLB, Perkins, and IDEA,  funds from other formula and competitive grant programs administered by the  Department may also be used to support humanities education.  Also, references to possible uses of IDEA and  Perkins funds apply beyond the 2016–2017 school year.**[ Return to text ]**
4. Schools  operating a Title I schoolwide program under the ESEA may use Title I, Part A  funds to support humanities-focused coursework as part of a comprehensive plan  to upgrade the educational program of the entire school, consistent with the  school’s comprehensive needs assessment.**[ Return to text ]**
5. For additional guidance on Title  I eligibility, please visit www2.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/index.html. **[ Return to text ]**
6. Under Part B of the IDEA, if the  IEP Team determines that services in a community, technical, or other  postsecondary program are necessary to assist the secondary school student in  reaching his or her postsecondary goals and receiving FAPE, and those services  are considered secondary school education under State law, the student’s IEP  Team could designate those as transition services and the school district could  pay for those services with IDEA, Part B funds. Information regarding the  possible use of IDEA funds for this purpose  is available at: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/memosdcltrs/11-007493r-co-dude-transition9-3-13.pdf.**[ Return to text ]**
7. These  improvements should include technology with universal design principles and  assistive technology devices, to maximize accessibility to the general  education curriculum for students with disabilities. Note that public schools  must provide accessible technology to students with disabilities, as required  by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans  with Disabilities Act of 1990. Under these laws, public schools are also  required to make humanities courses available to students with disabilities, if  those courses are available to other students. These requirements apply  regardless of whether IDEA funds are used to provide the accessible technology. **[ Return to text ]**
8. Under the Consolidated  Appropriations Act, 2016, funds provided for non-competitive formula grant  programs authorized by the ESEA for use during academic year 2016-2017 must be  administered in accordance with the ESEA as amended by the NCLB. **[ Return to text ]**
9. Under section 8101(52) of the  ESEA as amended by the ESSA, the term “well-rounded education” means courses,  activities, and programming in subjects such as English, reading or language  arts, writing, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, foreign  languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, geography, computer  science, music, career and technical education, health, physical education, and  any other subject, as determined by the State or local educational agency, with  the purpose of providing all students access to an enriched curriculum and  educational experience. **[ Return to text ]**