2026–2027 Exploration and Installation Planning Cohort for New Implementation Effort

By participating in this cohort, community-level core planning teams will:

• Describe the local need, challenge, or opportunity they want to address and what they already know from data, feedback, and community perspectives.
• Clarify why the implementation effort is needed to improve experiences, services, supports, or outcomes for young children with disabilities and their families.
• Identify who needs to be involved, including partners, community implementation team members, initial implementers, and leadership supports.
• Plan the resources, roles, communication, learning supports, and monitoring needed before initial implementation begins.
• Develop practical planning products that help the team decide what needs to happen next before the implementation effort moves forward.

Participating Teams will:

• Be matched with an ECTA TA provider for individualized support.
• Use the Exploration and Installation Discussion Guide for Community-Level Implementation to work through key planning questions.
• Discuss selected sections of the guide during monthly individualized TA sessions.
• Identify key decisions, next steps, and one or more planning products to complete before the next TA session.
• Participate in quarterly virtual cohort meetings with other teams to share discussion highlights, lessons learned, questions, and planning products.
• Complete a brief pre- and post-cohort self-assessment.

Possible planning products may include a need or opportunity statement, partner map, purpose statement, description of selected strategies or practices, communication plan, support plan, monitoring and evaluation process, initial implementation launch plan, or sustainability considerations.

The cohort will include:

• Monthly individualized virtual TA sessions with an assigned ECTA TA provider.
• Guided discussion using the Exploration and Installation Discussion Guide for Community-Level Implementation.
• Between-session planning work to complete selected products related to the guide sections discussed.
• Four quarterly virtual cohort meetings with other participating teams.
• A brief pre- and post-cohort self-assessment.
• Opportunities to provide feedback on the cohort experience and the discussion guide.

The cohort will run from November 2026 through August 2027.

Quarterly virtual cohort meetings are tentatively planned for:

• November 20, 2026, 12:00–1:30 PM EST
• February 5, 2027, 12:00–1:30 PM EST
• May 7, 2027, 12:00–1:30 PM EDT
• August 6, 2027, 12:00–1:30 PM EDT

Individualized TA sessions will be scheduled by each participating team and their assigned ECTA TA provider.

This opportunity is designed for community-level core planning teams that are considering a new implementation effort. Teams may represent a local community, region, program, agency, cross-sector partnership, or group of partners preparing to support a new strategy, practice, or initiative.

Teams should include approximately 2–5 core planning members who:

• Have identified a possible community-level need, challenge, or opportunity.
• Are considering a new implementation effort intended to improve experiences, services, supports, or outcomes for young children with disabilities and their families.
• Have support from the state-level Part C (Early Intervention) or Part B, Section 619 (Early Childhood Special Education) coordinator, or person acting in that role for the state/entity.
• Are willing to explore the need, gather additional perspectives, and identify who else should be involved.
• Are willing to participate in monthly individualized TA sessions and quarterly cohort meetings.
• Are willing to complete selected planning products between TA sessions.

Teams do not need to have all partners identified before applying. However, teams should be open to identifying and engaging additional partners as part of the cohort process. While including the state/entity Part C or Part B, Section 619 Coordinator as a core team member is not required, it is necessary to have the support of the person serving in this role for your state/entity if they are not included on the team.