Massachusetts Preschool Expansion Grant (PEG)
Last Revised: October 27, 2025
- Issue Areas
- K-12 education
Program overview
Increasing access to high-quality early education programs: The Massachusetts Preschool Expansion Grant (PEG) supported the expansion of high-quality early childhood education to four-year-old children from low-income families in Massachusetts. The PEG model aimed to improve children’s academic achievement and kindergarten readiness.
- Promoting collaboration between stakeholders: PEG required the collaboration of the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, local education agencies (LEAs), and local early learning providers (ELPs).
Local Education Agencies (LEAs) are public boards or local authorities in education that provide administrative support to public and charter schools in their jurisdictions. Their role was to manage and oversee the PEG grant, help coordinate collaborations between ELPs and and other local agencies, lead trainings for PEG educators, help recruit PEG families, and coordinate services for children with additional needs.
Early Learning Providers (ELPs) are individuals or organizations that provide educational (and sometimes care services) to young children prior to pre-kindergarten/kindergarten. Their roles included aligning curriculum to state standards, professional development for PEG instructors, coordinating activities and instruction with other ELPs, and facilitating various family engagement activities.
Focusing on quality while providing flexibility: PEG required local partners to design a program that incorporated a set of elements of high-quality early education programs. Broadly, these elements focused on collaborative decision-making; increased training, compensation, and support for educators; the use of an evidence-based curriculum; and engagement of and access to social services for families. For a full list of programmatic elements, see Exhibit 3 in the program evaluation.
- Strategies
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Early childhood curricula and interventions
- Location
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Massachusetts
A single study of the PEG program in Massachusetts suggests that it is a promising strategy for improving academic achievement and kindergarten readiness for at-risk children.
A 2019 quasi-experimental study found that PEG was associated with improved early literacy and math achievement and vocabulary comprehension. As part of a longitudinal analysis, the evaluation also found that PEG may improve the quality of early childhood instruction and have limited positive effects on families’ employment and income outcomes.
Operationalizing the collaborative governance structure: PEG emphasizes the importance of a collaborative local governance structure. However, the program did not prescribe how communities were to achieve this goal. In practice, however, most communities used a similar structure. Qualities of this shared governance structure included the following:
Regular meetings with representatives from all partner agencies
Planned programming and implementation adjustments in response to ensure quality
Regular data collection, and,
A developed enrollment process to secure access and choice for families.
Providing structure for family supports: Similarly, while state leaders stipulated quality goals related to family engagement and social service provision, LEAs and ELPs were given discretion in how to operationalize those goals. Nonetheless, most programs found they needed dedicated staff for family engagement, especially for case management. These staff members dedicated to family engagement provided case management support, referrals for mental health and other social services, conducted door-to-door outreach to identify and connect with eligible families, and conducted home visits.
Strong LEA support: Positive teacher-related outcomes were observed in the study, with a higher portion of teachers reporting job satisfaction in Year 3 than in Year 2. These outcomes may be attributed to changes in classroom curriculum, having a coach, professional development opportunities, and salary increases. As such, communities interested in launching a model similar to PEG should recognize the value these aspects of the model have for recruiting and retaining high-quality educators.