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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 educators with hands-on support, high-quality instructional materials, and expert guidance to bring to life relevant, real-world literacy learning experiences for every student.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is collaborating with the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) to provide resources to PRISM II LEAs in the form of funding, coaching, and technical assistance to support the evaluation, selection, and implementation of HQIM in ELA/literacy. Depending on the awarded track, this grant will support the following:
PRISM II is designed to support LEAs at different stages of engaging with high-quality instructional materials (HQIM), including those prepared to implement materials and those planning to engage in a comprehensive evaluation and selection process.
Track 1: Best fit for LEAs that are currently evaluating or have completed evaluation and selection of high-quality ELA/literacy materials in SY25–26 and are ready to purchase for implementation in SY26–27 in grades PreK–3
Track 2: Best fit for LEAs that plan to engage in a comprehensive evaluation and selection process in SY26–27 for implementation in SY27–28 in grades PreK–3.
Curricular materials are considered high-quality when they meet the current CURATE (Grades K–3) definition of "high-quality" at the time of application and/or time of selection, whichever is more current.
For PreK, curricular materials must be selected through the Department of Early Education and Care's (EEC) facilitated Preschool Curriculum Review process and chosen from EEC's list of curricula acceptable for PRISM II, which include the following:
Additional details for each track can be found in the Fund Use section of this RFP and in the PRISM II Program Details attachment .
DESE will award PRISM II grants to LEAs whose applications most effectively demonstrate the following conditions:
Additional points will be awarded to LEAs for meeting each of the following competitive priorities:
All public school districts, collaboratives, and charter schools are eligible to apply.
Participation Requirements
State Line Item 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.
Approximately $8,322,000 is expected to be available for FY27, pending funding.
This RFP is the governing document for these grant funds.
Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding becomes available, it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document.
The Fund Use details below are a summary for FY27. Please see the FY27 PRISM II Track 1 Budgeting Guide and the PRISM II Track 2 Budgeting Guide for more information on all potential funding periods.
This grant provides one year of funding only for Track 1 recipients and up to two years of funding and hands-on technical assistance from DESE specialists for Track 2 recipients, subject to available funds. Following the grant period, all recipients are expected to continue implementation of the materials and practices initiated through the grant. Ongoing, customized support from DESE specialists may be available, as appropriate.
Track 1 — Year 1 (Upon Approval (No earlier than July 1, 2026) to June 30, 2027): This track is for LEAs that have already engaged in a comprehensive evaluation and selection process and are ready to purchase high-quality ELA/literacy curricular materials in Summer 2026 to implement in SY26-27. Funding will support:
PreK Requirements (Track 1): LEAs and community-based partners applying for PreK under Track 1 must have completed EEC's facilitated Preschool Curriculum Review process prior to application and select a curriculum from EEC's list of curricula acceptable for PRISM II in order to be eligible for funding.
Track 2 — Year 1 (Upon Approval (No earlier than July 1, 2026) to June 30, 2027) This track is for LEAs who have not engaged in a comprehensive evaluation and selection process and are ready to evaluate, select and purchase curricular materials in SY26-27 to implement during the SY27-28. Funding will support:
Pending appropriation and meeting grant requirements, awarded Track 2 grantees may be eligible for continuation grant(s) in Fiscal Year 2028 depending on their track. Please see the Budgeting Guides for more information.
Upon Approval (no earlier than 7/1/2026) – 6/30/2027
Pending appropriation and the meeting of grant requirements, awarded grantees may be eligible for continuation grant(s) in Fiscal Year 2028. A total of approximately $11,000,000 is expected to be awarded to PRISM II districts in this cohort over the anticipated years of the grant, pending appropriation.
Office of Literacy and Humanities, Center for Instructional Support
Octavia Nixon
781-338-6243
Monday, May 11, 2026, at 5 p.m. EST
Proposals must be received at the Department by 5 p.m. Eastern on the date due.
Competitive grant applications are considered submitted when the grant application is submitted by the Superintendent or their designee through the "LEA Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved" step in GEM$. In order to be considered for competitive funding, applicants must submit a grant application through the LEA Superintendent Approved stage by the due date and time listed in the RFP.
All responses must be received by the due date listed above. Failure to do so will result in disqualification. Responses not received on time will not be reviewed. Applicants applying after the due date may be notified their application was received late and will not be reviewed. Applications must be submitted as directed in the Submissions Instructions below. Failure to do so may result in disqualification. If you need assistance with submitting your application, please reach out to the contact person listed on this funding opportunity.
Support is available to LEAs during the application period. Please visit Literacy Launch: Reading Success from Age 3 through Grade 3 for Q+A related to this grant application. Several other grants and programs will be available as part of Literacy Launch. Please visit the website listed above for details.
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.
Program Evaluation: LEAs will be expected to participate in all data collection activities (surveys, focus groups, classroom walkthroughs and observations, district level data) connected with the evaluation of the grant.
The FY27 593B PRISM II Grant will be submitted in our GEM$ system.
Grants for Education Management System (GEM$)
New organizations that do not have an established LEA with DESE skip to Step 3.
Step 1: Establish and assign proper roles before the grant due date/time. Grant Submission at the LEA level requires roles to be established for Grant writer for the specific fund code, LEA fiscal for financial review/approval, and Superintendent/Chief Executive sign off.
All roles should be established prior to the grant due date and all appropriate forms should be either uploaded to GEM$, 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.
Step 2: Submit the grant through all LEA steps in GEM$. There are three LEA steps a competitive grant must be submitted through by the due date and time to be considered for funding:
Competitive grant applications are considered submitted once the grant application is submitted by the Superintendent or their designee through the "LEA Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved" step in GEM$. In order to be considered for competitive funding, applicants must submit a grant application through the LEA Superintendent Approved stage by 5:00 p.m. Monday, March 30, 2026, the due date and time listed in the RFP. Please plan accordingly.
The Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved Step allows for the organization lead to review and approve the grant application. Removing the requirement for the Part I Standard Contract Form, this step signifies Superintendent /Chief Executive sign off. Any grant budget changes requiring signature, will re-execute this step when amended signifying the organization lead is approving these changes.
Step 3: (If applicable) New organizations request temporary organization access. New organizations are entities that have not been established as an LEA in GEM$. Entities that do not have an organization established in GEM$ must contact the DESE Program Unit issuing this grant at a minimum 5 business days prior to the grant due date for temporary organization access.
Temporary Access will need to be created by DESE before you can then assign the proper roles and submit the grant as outlined in Steps 1 and 2.
Failure to provide DESE with GEM$ Temp Organization Access Request at least 5 business days prior to the due date may result in not meeting the submission due date listed above. DESE cannot accept or review applications after the due date.
Last Updated: March 24, 2026