FY2027: Partnership for Reading Success — Massachusetts (PRISM) II

Fund Code: 0593

Purpose:

The Partnership for Reading Success — Massachusetts (PRISM) II grant is a program of Literacy Launch, an initiative to promote early literacy success for ALL Massachusetts students. This grant will support local education agencies (LEAs), including districts, collaboratives and charter schools, and their partner community-based preschools, to evaluate, select, purchase, launch and implement high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) in grades PreK-3 ELA/literacy. This grant will empower existing PRISM II educators with hands-on support, high-quality instructional materials, and expert guidance to continue to bring to life relevant, real-world literacy learning experiences for every student.

This continuation grant is designed to help LEAs deepen this work. Specifically, it will support the ongoing launch and implementation of HQIM by ensuring that LEA curriculum councils continue to receive stipends, leadership coaching, and curriculum-based professional learning from their PRISM Curriculum and Instruction Coaches. This sustained support will help LEAs build internal capacity and strengthen instructional practices aligned with high-quality instruction materials as outlined in the FY27 PRISM II Program Details .

Priorities:

DESE will award PRISM II continuation grants to previously awarded LEAs/consortia whose applications most effectively demonstrate the following conditions:

• Commitment to prioritizing evidence-based, inclusive, and culturally and linguistically sustaining early literacy practices for all learners
• Commitment to having routines and systems for instructional leaders and grade-level teams to support high-quality, culturally and linguistically sustaining instruction with the new curriculum, including PreK when applicable
• The ability to bring together a diverse coalition of stakeholders committed to the activities articulated in the grant proposal, including families, staff members, administrators, school principals, school committee, and community based preschool leaders
• Acknowledgement of and commitment to addressing early literacy achievement disparities along lines of race, income, language status, and/or disability status

Eligibility:

This continuation grant is intended for FY26 PRISM II FC0593 Grantees eligible for continuation. The eligible districts include:

• Abington Public School District
• Berkshire Hills Public School District
• Community Day Public Charter School
• Greenfield Public School District
• Holliston Public School District
• Kingston Public School District
• Monomoy Regional School District
• Nantucket Public School District
• Pittsfield Public School District
• Plympton Public School District
• Silver Lake Public School District
• Somerset Public School District
• Wayland Public School District

Funding Type:

State 1596-2437

The receipt of grant funds is contingent upon the grantee being able to certify that it will comply with the Massachusetts General Laws, including G.L. c. 40A, § 3A, the MBTA Communities Act. Compliance with the MBTA Communities Act is determined by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.

Funding:

Approximately $2,800,000 is expected to be available for FY27 pending funding.

This RFP is the governing document for these grant funds.

This opportunity is pending funding and appropriation. Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change if and when state funding is appropriated for this opportunity.

Fund Use:

This continuation grant will provide funding for:

• Stipends: Supports PRISM Curriculum Council members and other educators through stipends for work beyond contracted hours or substitute coverage to provide release time for grant-related activities.
• PRISM Curriculum & Instruction Coach: Funds DESE-approved coaching for curriculum analysis, lesson preparation routines, progress monitoring, and curriculum-based professional learning to ensure evidence-based, inclusive, and culturally and linguistically sustaining implementation.
• Publisher professional development may be included in this cost, as either a subcontract with the coach or as a separate contract between the publisher and district, if that is identified as a need by both the district and the PRISM Curriculum and Instruction Coach.

Project Duration:

Upon Approval (no earlier than 7/1/2026)* – 6/30/2027

* Grant start date cannot be prior to DESE receiving a substantially approvable Application Submission as directed in this RFP's Submission Instructions. Goods and Services cannot be procured prior to Grants receiving and approving an application submission. Funds cannot exceed the project duration end date.

Program Unit:

Office of Literacy and Humanities, Center for Instructional Support

Contact:

Octavia Nixon

Phone Number:

781-338-6243

Date Due:

Friday, March 20, 2026, at 5 p.m. EST

Proposals must be received at the Department by 5 p.m. Eastern on the date due.

Additional Information:

Curriculum Data (K–8) must be submitted and up to date on DESE District Profiles for K–8 ELA/Literacy, K–12 math, and 6–8 Science by the time of the grant due date. To check if this information is complete, check the statewide Curriculum report. Or visit your District Profiles page via Profiles Home, and select Curriculum Data from the left-hand navigation. If the required data is not complete or up-to-date, details and directions on how to enter or update this data can be found at Curriculum Data Collection webpage.

Early Literacy Universal Screening: LEAs receiving this award for ELA/Literacy will be required to participate in research efforts, including providing student-level assessment data from the approved early literacy screening assessment that is administered in all schools during the award period. DESE will request that data be submitted by June 30 of each year awarded. DESE will analyze the statewide data collected for research purposes, including evaluation of this program. Analyses will comply with state and federal confidentiality laws.

Data Collection: PRISM II recipients will be required to prepare and provide data requested by the Department in order to evaluate the effectiveness of Literacy Launch and PRISM II grant funds and activities. Such data may include, but is not limited to, student assessment data, classroom walkthrough data, teacher survey responses, and participation in focus groups. For questions regarding the evaluation of PRISM II and Literacy Launch, please reach out to Allison Pickens .

Submission Instructions:

The FY27 0593 PRISM II Grant will be submitted in GEM$ system.

Grants for Education Management System (GEM$)

Please Note: Grant Submission at the LEA level requires roles to be established for Grant writer for the specific fund code, LEA fiscal for financial review/approval, and Superintendent/Chief Executive sign off. All these roles should be established prior to the grant due date and all appropriate forms should be either uploaded to GEM$, maintained at the LEA level or sent in to the DESE RFP contact as described on the individual forms.

The user guidance documents and forms are found on the GEM$ homepage under DESE Resources. These forms can be accessed without logging in to the system.

Last Updated: February 4, 2026