What we’ve learned from school leaders about strong curriculum implementation.
Over the past few months, we’ve been developing a new offering to support school leaders as they prepare to launch a new curriculum. In the process, we’ve had the chance to speak with principals from across the country — leaders working in schools large and small, urban and rural, with various school models and community contexts.
What we heard was clear: launching a curriculum isn’t only about handing out new materials or updating lesson plans. It’s about setting the conditions for long-term success. These conditions live in schedules, routines, adult learning, and everyday leadership.
Here are five key takeaways we’ve gathered from the field. These insights are shaping our new support model and our understanding of what strong curriculum implementation requires from school leaders.
1. A strong launch starts with a shared why.
Leaders told us that one of the most important things they do, before creating pacing guides, professional development plans, or scheduling meetings, is to build a shared purpose around the curriculum itself. Why this curriculum? Why now? How will it help students?
When teachers see the curriculum as a lever for deeper learning, rather than another top-down initiative, they’re more likely to engage in the work of learning and trying something new. It all starts with a shared understanding of why. One leader noted that her implementation process began with a question, “What problem are we trying to solve?” Explaining the new curriculum in terms of her school’s needs and vision for student achievement helped her entire staff — teachers and leaders together — tackle the changes involved.
2. Teachers need space to learn and to be learners.
Shifting to a new curriculum often means unlearning old habits, making sense of new lesson structures, and experimenting with unfamiliar routines. That takes time and a lot of support.
Leaders described the importance of building regular, structured opportunities for teacher learning—not just one-and-done professional development, but ongoing learning communities, coaching cycles, and time for collaborative planning. Several leaders noted that investing in teacher learning at the front end pays off later in stronger implementation and less frustration.
Equally important is cultivating a culture of learning, where teachers know expectations aren’t to get everything right immediately. One leader shared the importance of honoring teachers as professionals, explaining her belief that the job of leaders isn’t to “train” teachers, but to roll up their sleeves, learn, and troubleshoot alongside them. Supporting curriculum implementation means building understanding together, not delivering directives. Framing the work as a team effort helps create trust, emphasizes collaboration, and respects the expertise teachers bring as they adapt to new materials.
3. Schedules make or break implementation.
This takeaway came up again and again. Even when staff were on board and materials were in hand, leaders told us that implementation floundered when schedules didn’t align with curriculum needs.
Curricula that rely on small-group instruction, built-in intervention, or collaborative planning time need schedules that make those things possible. Leaders emphasized the importance of reviewing instructional blocks, planning times, and staff assignments early, and making sure they actually reflect the instructional demands of the new materials.
Also critical is scheduling time for professional learning communities (PLCs) to meet regularly, and for leaders and coaches to observe instruction and provide support. When this time is scheduled and protected, it signals that adult learning and continuous improvement are essential parts of the work, not extras.
4. Planning and preparation shape instruction.
We often think of implementation as something that happens in classrooms. Leaders reminded us that it also occurs in the systems that support teaching and learning, for instance, in PLC structures, methods for data collection and use, and organization of planning time.
One high school principal reflected on how easy it was to default to “the way we’ve always done things,” especially with PLCs. At first, this principal’s teacher teams maintained their usual meeting formats, assuming they’d grow into the new curriculum over time. But by midyear, it was clear that surface-level changes weren’t enough. They needed to rethink how PLCs functioned: what teachers were reading together, how they were unpacking standards, and how they were using data to determine what students were learning.
That insight led to deeper questions: How are we internalizing lessons? How are we structuring time for support? How do we know the materials are working? Leaders found that even small shifts in how support systems were designed — like co-planning a PLC session or translating elementary-style literacy blocks into high school structures — had an outsized impact on how instruction looked and felt in classrooms.
Implementation falters when teams, time, and tools don’t align with the demands of high-quality instructional materials. But when leaders deliberately rethink team, time, and tools, they become powerful levers for success.
4. Start early and don’t go it alone.
Several leaders we spoke with emphasized the importance of starting the planning process well before summer. The most successful launches often began in the spring, with leadership teams aligning on roles, reviewing the calendar and master schedule, and setting early expectations.
And no one did it alone. Principals told us that a successful curriculum launch can’t live with just one person — not even the most organized instructional leader. Instead, they mobilized their instructional leadership team (ILT) and identified strong teachers as lead adopters who could help build momentum.
Together, these early steps built shared ownership and made the launch a collaborative effort rather than a solo lift.
One Final Lesson
The best advice we heard? Start where you are.
Leaders told us that it’s easy to feel behind or unsure of where to begin, but even small actions can set the stage for a smooth rollout. Reviewing your scope and sequence, meeting with your leadership team, mapping key instructional shifts, and scheduling your first teacher session are all early wins that build momentum. As one principal put it, “Success builds buy-in.” That’s true no matter where you start.
Want to Learn More?
These insights are shaping our new offering — one designed specifically to support building leaders in launching a new curriculum with clarity and confidence. From practical tools to strategic guidance, we’re focused on helping you take the next right step, whether you’re just beginning or already deep in planning. Want to learn more about how our services can help you achieve your goals? Let’s talk.