Building Early Childhood Partnerships: A Preschool Itinerant Team Initiative Grant

Funder: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education provides leadership, oversight, funding, support, and accountability for the Commonwealth's approximately 400 school districts that educate close to 1 million public school children each year. We also oversees programs that serve 20,000 adult learners each year.
Building Early Childhood Partnerships: A Preschool Itinerant Team Initiative
Purpose
The purpose of this competitive grant program is to support 10–15 Massachusetts district teams to develop strategies for supporting preschool students to receive their Individualized Education Program (IEP) services in Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) licensed community-based settings1, including Head Start, child care and family child care. Support for participation in this initiative includes professional development, coaching, and resources.
The initiative will include in-person professional development for the awarded teams (anticipated to begin in late winter), monthly coaching for the community team (anticipated to begin in early spring and last throughout the summer) and virtual and/or in-person networking opportunities with communities that have implemented the itinerant team model.
Priorities
The main priority of this competitive grant program is to select 10–15 district/community teams, consisting of district, community-based preschool program and Early Intervention administrators/staff, that are prepared to collaborate with one another to develop a local itinerant team model to ensure that preschool children with IEPs have access to inclusive settings with their peers.
Priority will be given to districts and schools that:

• Are in the strategic transformation region;
• Are below the 95% threshold for Indicator 12 and have a rating of zero or one for Indicator 6; and/or
• have a rating of a zero for Indicator 6.
• Fund Use
• Funds may be used to support participation of team members in the:
• in-person professional development;
• development of an action plan related to the development of a Preschool Itinerant Team that could be implemented in the 2026-2027 school year; and

development of resources that may be needed related to the implementation of a Preschool Itinerant Team model, including but not limited to outreach materials, training materials, a needs assessment and a cost analysis.
Fund use can include coordinator time, travel to in-person professional development, other professional development needs, site visits to communities currently implementing a preschool itinerant team model, stipends, substitutes and resource development.

Eligibility

Massachusetts public school districts, including charter public schools providing inclusive preschool programs, are eligible to apply.

Ineligibility

Funds cannot be used for equipment, building/construction projects and/or purchase of curricular programs.