Our shared goal: ANet and Galapagos partnered to support leaders and teachers with their understanding and usage of Eureka Math, their HQIM. Our partnership supported the first pieces of coherence-building infrastructure.
The results: The coherence between HQIM, teacher development, and leadership vision has created the conditions needed for utilizing high-quality instructional assessments (HQIA) across the school.
Leaders have built clear structures–regular PLCs, shared planning expectations, data routines, and aligned coaching—that allow teachers to fully leverage their materials. This alignment gives teachers the space to focus on what matters most: helping students build deep conceptual understanding and a love of learning.
Because of our work together in the 24-25 school year to operationalize coherence with HQIM, this school year, educators at Galapagos are piloting ANet’s newest high-quality instructional assessment (HQIA) to solidify foundational instructional coherence. Their work over the last two years to focus on vertical alignment and their use of Eureka Math continues to serve them well in piloting Compass Math, as they have the structures in place to regularly utilize data in instruction.
Second-grade student Cayanne loves school.
They sits down every day, excited to learn and build social skills. And when asked about what they’re learning in school, they can give clear examples of the most recent lessons in math and social studies.
Cayanne’s classroom recently learned the stacking method in math. Not only can Cayanne perform the problem with the stacking method, like 253 minus 151, but Cayanne can explain what the method is and walk through it step-by-step to solve the math problem.
For students at Galapagos, a love of learning and an understanding of the why behind what they’re learning isn’t new. It’s the norm. Teachers emphasize the importance of understanding math methods and help students make connections across the year. When we asked Cayanne how teacher help students learn, Cayanne said, “They actually break down the problems as it is. Instead of saying, Okay, I used this method and this is my end result, they actually break down the math method and break down the answer.”
Cayanne’s experience mirrors the goals of Dean of Instruction for K-4, Saprela Ellis. She shared that the goal of teachers and leaders at Galapagos Rockford is to foster a love of learning and build foundational skills. For the educators at Galapagos, their partnership with ANet supports their work to deepen understanding of Eureka Math and better personalize instruction for students with their HQIM.
Deepening Impact with HQIM
At Galapagos, high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) lay a strong foundation, but it’s the way teachers bring those materials to life that sets the school apart. Across grade levels, educators describe how ANet has helped deepen their understanding of their curricula, especially Eureka Math, and how that has translated into more intentional instruction for students.
Seventh-grade teacher Chase Fisher began using Eureka Math for the first time this year. While the built-in lessons and exit tickets gave him a solid starting point, he emphasized that ANet support helped him understand not just what to teach, but why each step in the lesson matters. “[ANet Coach] Jay’s helped me understand why I was teaching what I’m teaching,” Chase shared.
This mindset has directly shaped student learning. Over the last month, Chase’s students have been writing more about their math thinking and explaining the reasoning behind their answers rather than simply landing on a correct solution. Initially, students resisted. But when Chase showed them old assignments with “right” answers that lacked explanation, they quickly saw how demonstrating understanding is just as important as solving the problem itself. That shift has strengthened students’ confidence and precision in math.
Second-grade math and science teacher Justin Oliver echoed a similar experience. As a first-year Eureka Math user, pacing initially felt overwhelming. But with practice, coaching, and structures from both the curriculum and ANet, he now moves through lessons with clarity and rhythm. “It got to a point where it’s almost automatic,” Justin said. “Now I know what we’re doing at what time and where we’re supposed to be.”
This confidence has paid off in student learning. Eureka’s deep scaffolding has helped Justin’s young learners build strong conceptual understanding over time, and as the year drew to a close, he’s seeing “a lot of aha moments.” With ANet’s support, Justin has expanded how he uses his HQIM: from data analysis, to lesson delivery, to accommodating students with IEPs. “Jay has really done a great job of helping me out and explaining the why and how I can continue to expand on it,” he shared.
Across classrooms, teachers are learning to elevate strong materials through strong instructional choices, creating classrooms where students understand not only what they’re learning, but why it matters.
Job-Embedded Professional Development
Professional learning isn’t a once-a-month training; it’s integrated into daily practice. And when it’s accompanied with a shared focus of high-quality, rigorous instruction, everyone is empowered to succeed. This job-embedded model is driven by the instructional leadership of Deans of Instruction Saprela Ellis and Shelby Hildreth, who have made lesson internalization and ongoing learning central to the school’s success.
At the beginning of the year, they made sure to think about what constitutes high-quality lesson internalization so both leaders could follow up throughout the year to help deepen understanding of the materials. Dean of Instruction for the Upper Academy, Shelby Hildreth, illustrated this shift in mindset when she shared, “Instead of our teachers spending all their time planning what they’re going to teach, they’re planning how they’re going to teach the materials provided to meet the needs of the scholars currently in front of them.” This shift in mindset provided the space to better understand and leverage data and to adjust instruction for students in real time.
As a leader, Ellis shared that this kind of professional development is crucial. It enables her to coach teachers in real time, grounded in actual classroom experiences and student work. By being consistently present in observations, planning meetings, and data discussions, she is able to support teachers in ways that are timely, relevant, and actionable. “I tell everyone that learning doesn’t stop, and education is constantly evolving. So, PD helps ensure we’re evolving with it and that I stay aligned with best practices and instruction that I can transfer over to my instructors,” shared Ellis.
Both Deans of Instruction at Galapagos work with ANet Coach Jay Tillman to support their instructors with data-driven, high-quality instruction. This allows them not only to deepen their own instructional knowledge but also to model the kind of reflective practice they want teachers to use. Their consistent clarity, transparency, and focus ensures that professional development is not something “done to” teachers, it’s something done with them, shoulder-to-shoulder.
This model has created a strong culture of continuous growth. Teachers describe support from their leaders and ANet as practical, personalized, and deeply connected to their day-to-day work. Whether they’re analyzing exit tickets, practicing lesson delivery, or thinking through scaffolds for students with IEPs, the coaching they receive is directly tied to improving student outcomes.
At Galapagos, job-embedded professional learning ensures that every adult in the building is growing, and that growth is in service of student understanding and success.
Enabling Conditions for HQIA
As Galapagos continues to strengthen its systems and instructional practices, the school is poised to further impact student success. Educators work collectively to ensure that foundational skills in early grades set students up for success in later years, with evidence of this alignment showing up in students like Cayanne, who can not only perform tasks but articulate the reasoning behind them. The strong partnership between leadership, teachers, and ANet has laid the groundwork for even deeper coherence across classrooms, ensuring that students in Rockford continue to benefit from high-quality, intentional, joyful learning experiences.