Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)

In 2009, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) began making small grants to school districts to improve curriculum, assessment, and instruction from PreKindergarten through Third Grade. A recent report, Improving the Early Years of Education in Massachusetts: The P-3 Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Project, documents what the state agency and grantee school districts did, as well as makes recommendations for future state agency practice.

CAYL Principals Fellowship

The CAYL Principals Fellowship provides educational leaders with experiences that help them to design, implement, and supervise the essential elements of quality for young children. Fellows become skilled in promoting educational excellence and providing the foundations of educational attainment for young children from PreK through Third Grade.

The CAYL Institute also publishes a Principal Toolkit which includes five practices that principals can use to support developmentally appropriate learning for children. These include:

1. Vision

2. Practice and Pedagogy

3. Supervision

4. Family and Community

5. Policy Perspectives

Early Education for All

The Early Education for All Campaign (EEA), launched in 2000, made publicly funded early education for Massachusetts' three-, four-, and five-year-olds a public policy priority. The campaign is part of the larger movement across the United States to create a coordinated, high-quality early education experience for all children from PreKindergarten through Third Grade. The six strategies employed in Massachusetts by Strategies for Children (SFC), the umbrella nonprofit organization created to oversee the EEA campaign, can inform other state efforts to establish universal high-quality early education.

The Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation

This private family foundation began an initiative called READ! with the goal that all children will read proficiently by the end of Third Grade. This is accomplished by helping children acquire the fundamental reading and language skills necessary from PreK – 3^rd. 

An Act Relative to Third Grade Reading Proficiency

The Act, developed by Senator Katherine Clark (D-MA) and Representative Martha Walz, focuses Massachusetts’ attention on children’s language development and early literacy.  Its goal is to create an aligned system of education from PreK through the early years of elementary school which will result in stronger reading proficiency by the end of Third Grade.

Harvard Graduate School of Education PreK-3^rd Institutes

The PreK-3^rd Institute provides education leaders with the frameworks, research and strategies to develop and sustain aligned PreK-3^rd programs. Participants learn how to strengthen and improve schools and support families during the crucial years from PreKindergarten through Third Grade; understand how instruction, family engagement and social-emotional development are key levers that positively impact learning; and learn how to take implementation strategies to scale by creating networks of policymakers, leaders and educators who work together to bring greater coherence to the continuum of learning.