Author name: Katie Prellwitz

This blog is the final post in our “Navigating Instructional Materials Implementation” series, exploring the five implementation phases of high-quality instructional materials, also known as HQIM. In each phase, we explore the steps that each level in the K-12 system (district leaders, school leaders, and teachers) must take to maximize the full benefits of their HQIM.

In this blog, we will examine the critical steps that school and district leaders should consider as they move through the advanced stages of implementation of instructional materials, allowing them to achieve the intended impact on students. During this stage, the instructional materials integrate into teachers’ regular practice, leading to consistent skillful use, while district and school policies and procedures align with and support this skillful use. At Rivet, we call this Consistent Implementation. 

While the initial implementation phase can seem simple, as we stressed in our November blog, this is the point in the high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) implementation journey where things can become more difficult. During this crucial but challenging phase, it’s imperative that school and district leaders clearly communicate expectations for how teachers should (and shouldn’t) use their instructional materials and create the systems and structures that support those expectations. Without this, teachers will be understandably frustrated, and they and their students will not reap the full benefit of the strong content and pedagogy that HQIM can provide.

In September, we discussed the exploration phase in the instructional materials implementation journey, where stakeholders come together to review and select a new curriculum. Once the curriculum is adopted and purchased, the next phase of the journey involves creating the conditions for a successful curriculum launch so that school leaders, teachers, and, ultimately, students and families experience success. At Rivet Education, we call this phase Program Installation. 

Implementation science suggests that people often move through predictable stages when enacting a new program (such as a new curriculum) over multiple years. While every district is unique, the stages of the journey are the same.