FY2025: Growing Literacy Equity Across Massachusetts (GLEAM), Cohort 2 Preschool Continuation

Fund Code: 0508

Purpose:

The Growing Literacy Equity Across Massachusetts (GLEAM) preschool grant is a collaboration between the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). This grant will support recipients to increase local access to high-quality preschool through preschool classrooms run by public school districts and EEC-licensed early education programs, enabling the preschool system to better serve all children, especially historically underserved students; and ensuring that all children can reach their potential in language and literacy development.

The grant is a continuation for FC508 GLEAM Cohort 2 FY24 recipients.

GLEAM Preschool grants will support entities committed to improving local access to high-quality preschool classrooms in public school districts and EEC-licensed early education programs through the following activities:

• Adoption of high-quality literacy curriculum and associated instructional materials
• Adoption of a valid and reliable early language and literacy screener assessment as part of a larger screening protocol that includes developmental screening
• Professional development and support for teachers, principals, community-based program leadership and literacy coaches
• Customized support from expert early learning and literacy consultants individualized to meet the needs of the community
• Systemic attention to building local preschool quality and addressing barriers to access, particularly for children who have been historically underserved.

Priorities:

DESE seeks to award continuation to eligible entities that can demonstrate the following:

• Understanding of, and commitment to, the activities required to align and build quality preschool programs
• A plan to implement high-quality evidence-based culturally and linguistically sustaining preschool curricular materials in order to improve literacy experiences for all preschool children, particularly those who have been historically underserved
• Involvement of a range of stakeholders in developing and committing to the activities articulated in the grant proposal, including leadership from EEC-licensed programs participating in grant activities
• Capacity at the district level to coordinate and implement grant activities and administer funds through a multi-year initiative across multiple early education classrooms in the district and community partners

Eligibility:

Public school districts, charters, or collaboratives that were awarded FC508 FY23 GLEAM Preschool Grants

FC0508 Eligible Districts:

• Hoosac Valley Regional School District
• Lowell Public Schools
• Westfield Public Schools

Curriculum Data must be 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.

Funding Type:

Federal CFDA 84.371 Growing Literacy Equity Across Massachusetts (GLEAM) Grant Program - Center for Instructional Support

Federal grant funds must adhere to:
Comprehensive Literacy State Development (CLSD)

UGG (2 CFR 200)

EDGAR As Applicable

EDGAR General Fiscal Administration 34 CFR Part 76

Funding:

Approximately $479,000 is available for FY25. DESE expects to award up to 3 grantees for continuation in FY25.

Recipients will need to provide detailed cost information to DESE to demonstrate compliance with grant priorities and approved fund uses in order to draw down funds.

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.

Fund Use:

This grant will provide funding as well as hands-on support from DESE and EEC Department specialists for recipients to accomplish the following grant activities for a maximum of 25 classrooms:

• Implementing high-quality preschool literacy curricular materials
• Purchase of a high-quality literacy screening assessment designed to inform instruction and professional development to utilize the assessment
• Professional development and stipends for teachers and administrators to support skillful and culturally and linguistically sustaining implementation of the new curricular materials
• Professional development and stipends for teachers and administrators to support preschool screening assessments and data-based decision-making
• Customized support from expert early learning and literacy consultants individualized to meet the needs of the community
• Stipends for a "GLEAM Leadership Team." This team will work together to coordinate and enact the multi-year work of this initiative across schools, if applicable

Following the GLEAM grant period, recipients are expected to continue implementing the materials and practices initiated by this grant and will have access to ongoing assistance from DESE and EEC specialists as needed.

For more details about Fund Use, please see the Fund Use Details attachment .

Project Duration:

Upon Approval (Anticipated October 1, 2024)* – September 30, 2025

Note that grant funds will only be approved to fund the sequence of activities listed in the Fund Use Details attachment. The annual budget should reflect those activities in this sequence.

* 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 (CIS)

Contact:

Lori McNally

Phone Number::

(781) 338-6244

Date Due:

Monday, July 15, 2024, at 5:00 p.m.

Proposals must be received at the Department by 5:00 p.m. Eastern on the date due.

Additional Information:

Using federal CLSD funding, the Department expects and is on track to award $19 million in grants to support improvements in ELA/Literacy teaching and learning in preK–12 between FY22–FY25, under the program name GLEAM (Growing Literacy Equity Across Massachusetts).

GLEAM recipients will be required to prepare and provide data requested by the Department in order to evaluate the effectiveness of grant funds and activities.

This data will mainly focus on inputs, such as teacher training numbers, and curricular materials used, as well as outcomes, such as student performance in assessments. In addition, a national evaluation of this federally-funded program is being conducted; recipients will have the option to opt in to this national evaluation and to access additional related funding through the evaluator.

Early Literacy Universal Screening: LEAs receiving this award for ELA/Literacy will be required to participate in future research efforts related to early literacy assessment, including providing student-level assessment data from any approved early literacy screening assessment that is administered in the recipient 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. Analyses will only be reported in the aggregate (e.g., by grade-level, region, etc.) in order to meet state and federal confidentiality laws. The identities of districts and schools will not be reported. All reporting will protect the identities of students, educators, schools, and districts.

Submission Instructions:

Any questions about GLEAM grants must be emailed to lori.b.mcnally@mass.gov . Q+A will be posted to Growing Literacy Equity Across Massachusetts (GLEAM) Grant Program.

Assistance for applicants will be offered. Please check Growing Literacy Equity Across Massachusetts (GLEAM) Grant Program for details.

The FY25 0508 GLEAM Grant will be submitted in our new GEM$ system. GEM$ is a cloud-based fiscal and program management grant system that will eventually phase out the use of EdGrants.

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. This form can be accessed without logging in to the system.

Last Updated: February 8, 2024