In too many schools and districts, teacher support is well-intentioned but fragmented. Professional learning days might check the box, but they are not enough. Coaching cycles are launched, but lack follow-through. New initiatives roll out from the district, but often leave teachers wondering how they connect to their daily work. School leaders are caught in the middle, trying to translate shifting directives into meaningful actions for their staff.
This disconnected support system doesn’t just slow down progress—it erodes trust, drains morale, and leaves educators feeling like they're spinning their wheels. Everyone is working hard, but not always in sync. Without a coherent throughline connecting teacher needs, school priorities, and district strategies, even the best efforts fail to gain traction.
This is a problem we’ve observed (and supported) in our work with districts of all sizes as they work to incorporate high-quality instructional materials (HQIM). For example, we are currently supporting a large district as they work to elevate math instruction across ~250 schools. The initial need for the new curriculum was well-intentioned to ensure students across the district had access to the same type of pedagogical experiences and rigorous content as their peers. The disconnect, however, came in how it was thoughtfully implemented across the district and the support required for there to be drastic shifts to student experiences and outcomes.
For this particular district, as you can imagine, the curriculum was not enough. The priorities of the district were implemented inconsistently across most schools and failed to take into account the specific context of the individual schools (through a sort of “needs assessment”) to determine the best ways to implement with integrity, while elevating strong practices of both teachers and leaders in the schools. As a result, teachers became frustrated and disengaged in the process, resorted to their defaults, and/or decided this “change” was too much and left their individual schools (or the field altogether).
The danger of disconnected support systems is clear. They waste resources, drain educators, and ultimately can become a barrier to student achievement.
The good news? Schools and districts can move from fragmentation to alignment. When support is designed as a connected ecosystem, every educator —from district offices to individual classrooms—can reinforce shared goals, inform each other’s work, and drive real change.
We’ve observed that when districts and schools thoughtfully implement a few key tenets, they ensure everyone has the clarity needed to grow and develop in their roles while elevating the experience of the students and families they serve. Reflecting on the aforementioned large school district, our approach to the work created greater coherence across the district. It shifted the paradigm on coaching for so many leaders (and teachers) across all schools.
Our work included:
Our work together made sure that teachers and leaders had a vision connected to their tools and centered on empowering teachers and supporting students.
Through our 20 years of supporting educators across the country, we’ve learned a lot. We used to believe that coaching only school leaders is the best way to see sustained change in schools. Now, we know supporting all educators (including and especially a focus on teachers) in a coherent way is essential and the best approach for sustained impact. We help schools and districts bridge these gaps by integrating support systems into a cohesive whole and creating products that enable you to better align your curriculum, instructional materials, and assessments.
We help you de-silo both “the what” in your district with our products and de-silo “the who” with our coaches.
Our approach ensures that coaching, leadership development, and instructional improvement efforts aren’t siloed—they’re strategically designed to work in concert, guided by your local context. Transforming practice at scale is complex. We bring proven coaching approaches that adapt to your district’s specific goals, structures, and challenges, because effective change can’t be copied and pasted. By honoring the uniqueness of each system, we help leaders and educators move forward together with clarity and confidence.
When support is truly connected, teachers experience it as relevant and responsive. School leaders are empowered to lead with clarity. Districts gain a clearer view of classroom realities. Most importantly, students benefit from more consistent, high-quality instruction.
Let’s stop spinning our wheels on disconnected support. Let’s start building systems that move us forward together.