State Partnerships

 

 

 

States have a powerful leadership role in shaping the conditions for instruction for the districts and schools in their state. We’ve spent the last five years working with state education agencies (SEAs) and regional centers to drive improvement through stronger instruction, high-quality instructional materials, and aligned professional learning.

Learn more about our partnerships with SEAs below and reach out to discuss how we can build a partnership to meet your state’s unique needs.

 

Working shoulder to shoulder with SEAs to strengthen conditions for instructional leadership

SEAs are tasked with meeting diverse needs across regions, local education agencies (LEAs), and even classrooms. We help SEAs position themselves to meet these ever-changing needs by establishing a solid foundation of instructional support. Together, we strengthen key conditions for strong instructional leadership across a state:

  1. Training for leaders on a vision of excellent content instruction for early literacy, ELA, math, and science
  2. Clear guidance for districts on best practices for implementing high-quality instructional materials (HQIM)—anchored in the Curriculum Support Guide  
  3. A model for effective professional learning (PL), as well as training for LEA and school leaders on how to provide that PL—anchored in the Professional Learning Conditions and Practices
  4. Coherence across intervention systems and/or school improvement structures, HQIM, and PL
The state of instructional (in)coherence How state guidance causes confusion and what SEAs can do to fix it

State Coherence

Aligning systems and guidance to drive toward student success

State education agencies play a critical leadership role in helping school and system leaders determine the best strategies to improve instruction and student learning. However, with many competing priorities—from reading proficiency to school climate—SEAs risk sending mixed messages.

Instruction Partners’ work with SEAs across the country—and a review of hundreds of state-issued guidance documents—reveals a common and growing challenge: even well-meaning efforts to support instructional improvement often result in fragmented or conflicting guidance for schools and systems.

Download our paper, The State of Instructional (In)Coherence, to find practical steps SEA leaders can take to improve coherence and drive student learning.

Download
Phyllis Lynch
Director of Instruction, Assessment, and Curriculum, Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE)
Instruction Partners has been an outstanding partner both in terms of the expertise they bring to supporting district leaders in leading curriculum implementation and their collaborative approach to working with us.
The Math Acceleration Project

Scaling K–8 math success in Nebraska

We teamed up with regional centers in Nebraska to support districts adopting and implementing HQIM in K–8 math. In 2020–21, 50.86% of students on average in Math Acceleration schools were proficient or above in math. In 2021–22, that number grew to 58.33%—growing 7.47 percentage points after just one year of partnership.

Learn more here.

Materials matter in Ohio

We teamed up with the Ohio Department of Education to provide clear guidance and effective support for LEAs adopting and implementing high-quality materials. 

Watch this short video to learn more.

Ready to talk?

Complete the form below to get in touch with a member of our state and regional partnerships team.