In the pages that follow, we explore how these alignment grants and other Massachusetts early education policies have helped or hindered the building of local infrastructure to support the development of children's early literacy and language skills. We conducted site visits and interviews in three Massachusetts communities -- Boston, Pittsfield, and Springfield -- to get perspectives from across the state. We spoke with foundations, school district officials, community programs, principals, and teachers in order to learn more about the relationship between state policy and local literacy and B-3rd efforts. (author abstract)