What To Expect in Year One of HQIM: A Guide for Instructional Leaders

Successfully implementing high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) requires time, continuous effort, and trust-building. However, “taking time” doesn’t mean remaining idle. Systems should continue to make progress and display clear signs that instruction is evolving and the student experience is improving.

This ongoing progress depends heavily on the leadership and vision of those guiding instructional change, and UnboundEd’s work centers district and school leaders as key drivers of that change. When leaders have a clear vision for implementation, it creates the conditions for teachers and students to succeed. As Program Design Director Jen Arberg emphasizes, effective implementation doesn’t require perfection from the start, but it should show noticeable signs of progress. Those early indicators must reflect materials-driven instruction and meaningful shifts in the student learning experience.

This blog highlights three key benchmarks that equip district and school leaders to understand what progress looks like and how to support it during the critical first year of implementation.

What You Should See (and Not See) in Year One Classrooms

By the middle to end of year one, instructional changes should be evident, even if they’re still emerging. Arberg puts it simply: “We’re looking for alignment with the materials and a shift in how instruction is happening. It’s okay if it’s still messy.”

Messy doesn’t mean directionless. The real impact for our students lies in the instructional details and daily decisions that either give them access to grade-level content or unintentionally limit it. Here are some examples of what you should expect to see (and not see) if implementation is working as planned.

What You Should See:

Students Engaging With Full Lessons, Not Just Isolated Activities

Lessons follow the HQIM’s structure and flow, with some adjustments to pacing. The materials maintain a cohesive design, enabling students to build understanding across related learning experiences.

Tasks That Reflect Grade-Level Expectations

Students engage with complex texts, solve multi-step problems, or construct written responses that align with standards. They wrestle with content that meets them where they are while maintaining the cognitive demand that prepares them for what’s next.

Academic Language and Thinking Are at the Center of Learning

Classrooms use vocabulary and scaffolds drawn from the curriculum. Students are asked to explain their reasoning, cite evidence, and participate in discourse that builds their capacity as thinkers and communicators.

Evidence of Core Materials in Use

Anchor charts, student notebooks, handouts, and classroom routines reflect the curriculum being used, rather than a mix of unrelated resources. The learning environment signals to students that their work is part of a larger, intentional design.

Educators Name Instructional Goals Connected to the Materials

Teachers refer to lesson objectives and discuss students’ progress toward them. Students understand what they are learning and why, fostering transparency that benefits both instruction and learning.

What You Should Not See:

Substituted or Skipped Lessons

When teachers substitute core lessons with supplemental materials or skip lessons based on their perception of student readiness, it interrupts the steady progression that HQIM is designed to provide.

Disconnected Activities

Students engage with worksheets, projects, or centers that don’t align with grade-level outcomes or support the curriculum’s instructional shifts. Although these activities may seem engaging, they don’t help achieve the deeper learning objectives.

Avoidance of Complex Content

Students dedicate most of their time to isolated skills practice, test prep packets, or low-rigor tasks. This pattern signals a retreat from the very opportunities students need most.

Inconsistency Across Classrooms

When grade-level teams use different materials, lesson structures, or pacing guides without a clear rationale or coordination, it creates inconsistencies that cause issues with access to instruction even within the same school or district.

Instruction Driven by Comfort or Routine

When teaching decisions are guided by comfort or routine rather than the instructional design and purpose of the materials, instruction can drift from its purpose. While it’s natural to lean on familiar practices, doing so should never come at the expense of what students need to succeed.

If classrooms still reflect these patterns, it’s a signal to re-center the work. The goal isn’t compliance for its own sake, but ensuring that every student has access to the rich learning experiences that HQIM provides.

What Progress Looks Like: Three Core Benchmarks for Year One

1. Teachers Use Materials With Intent

In schools where implementation is progressing, leaders can point to concrete instructional shifts. Teachers no longer select random resources or rely on prior materials. Instead, “you see teachers starting to use the materials in more intentional ways, not necessarily with full integrity yet, but using them in service of instruction,” notes Arberg.

This may look like a third-grade team using a shared lesson protocol to co-plan around a reading module, or a math teacher explaining, “Here’s how I adapted this core task to fit my students, but I kept the same goal.” What matters is that teachers aren’t winging it. They’re starting to see the curriculum as a tool that brings clarity to instruction, helps them plan with purpose, and saves time over the long haul.

Recent data from RAND’s evaluation of the High-Quality Instructional Materials and Professional Development (HQIM + PD) Network supports this shift: by the end of the initiative, teachers in participating states were 21 percentage points more likely to report regularly using standards-aligned ELA materials compared to teachers in non-network states. This demonstrates that when teachers receive support through coherent state- and district-level structures, their use of HQIM becomes more intentional and integrated in daily instruction.

Arberg notes that “leaders can point to what teachers are doing and how it’s connected to the materials.” Visibility and clarity are key to scaling effective practices across classrooms. This connects directly to building collective efficacy. When teachers see their colleagues making thoughtful decisions with shared tools, it strengthens everyone’s capacity to do the same.

Of course, that growth doesn’t happen all at once. Expect unevenness. Some teachers may be further along than others. That’s normal and reflects the fact that adult learning, like student learning, happens at different paces. The benchmark here is directional: more teachers are intentionally choosing the curriculum, and school leaders are recognizing that progress.

2. Students Experience Instructional Rigor

Students engage with more complex content and spend more time on challenging cognitive tasks. Tasks focus less on completion and more on reasoning, discussion, and sense-making. This shift reflects one of the core conditions for HQIM success: ensuring that materials maintain their intended rigor in practice.

Arberg explains, “Students are noticing the rigor. They may not love it yet, but they’re experiencing it. That’s a signal.” This may show up in student comments like “This is hard,” or “Wait, we have to explain why?” These are signs that the instructional bar is rising and that students are stepping up to meet it.

Look for evidence in student work. Are students responding to meaningful texts? Are they using mathematical representations to defend their thinking? Are they encouraged to stick with productive struggle instead of receiving immediate help? These indicators reveal whether the curriculum’s design is translating into genuine learning opportunities.

Arberg notes that if classroom routines and tasks remain unchanged after adopting new materials, it may indicate missed opportunities. Implementation should lead to a noticeable shift, reflected not in how quickly students complete assignments or how quietly they work, but in the depth and quality of the instructional tasks themselves.

Even small changes matter. A fourth-grade teacher moving from skills drills to close reading of grade-level texts is a shift worth recognizing. A math team reducing worksheets and leaning into discourse routines is a signal of instructional movement. These incremental changes, when supported and scaled, create the foundation for transformation.

3. Shared Instructional Language Emerges

Coherence doesn’t have to mean every teacher is on the same page every day. It means teams use shared tools, reference common expectations, and build habits around collaborative problem-solving. This coherence is essential for creating the conditions where HQIM can thrive.

Arberg explains, “You see a team of people starting to problem-solve together using the same set of tools.” This might sound like a coach saying, “Let’s look at the core task first,” or a leader asking, “How does this connect to our instructional vision?” The language shifts from compliance-focused questions to learning-centered inquiry.

Coherence is built through protected planning time, team protocols, walkthrough reflections, and feedback tied directly to the curriculum. It isn’t simply created by handing teachers a pacing guide and walking away. True coherence emerges when educators feel supported in learning together, making mistakes together, and refining their practice together.

Leaders should listen for shared language, such as terms from the curriculum, names of lesson components, or common criteria for student success. When educators describe instructional decisions in relation to materials, it indicates that the system is aligning around what matters most for student learning.

The presence of conflict or tension isn’t necessarily a problem. Arberg points out that implementation can be “messy and hard.” The key is whether that tension leads to collaborative refinement or fragmented workarounds. Healthy tension, supported by strong leadership, becomes the engine for continuous improvement.

Moving Through the Dip: Why High-Quality Implementation Might Feel Like Failure

Implementation often follows a U-curve. Initial enthusiasm gives way to challenge before real traction is gained. This dip is predictable and, paradoxically, a sign that the work is making an impact.

“When we introduce new materials, it sometimes surfaces current issues in our systems,” says Arberg. That’s part of the work. HQIM has a way of revealing gaps in preparation, in support structures, and in our assumptions about what students can do. Rather than evidence of failure, these revelations are opportunities to build more equitable and effective systems.

Leaders should normalize the discomfort while actively supporting staff through it. Discomfort signals learning, not loss. When teachers express frustration with the increased cognitive demand of lessons, it’s an opportunity to discuss why that demand matters for students. When teams struggle with pacing, that’s a chance to examine what we’re prioritizing and why.

This perspective aligns with teaching principles: We meet students where they are while maintaining high expectations for where they’re going. The same grace and rigor we extend to students, we must also extend to the adults who serve them.

Key Moves for Leaders: Lifting the Floor While Raising the Ceiling

Effective leadership during HQIM implementation requires a delicate balance. Leaders must support teachers through the learning process while maintaining focus on the ultimate goal: improved outcomes for students. Here are four strategies that create the conditions for success:

Protect Collaborative Planning Time

Teachers need consistent, structured time to engage with the materials, reflect on what’s working, and plan next steps. Arberg explains, “That’s where the learning happens, for adults too.” This means schools must protect this time on the master schedule and provide guidance during it, rather than leaving teams to struggle.

After evaluation, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education found that districts offering protected time for structured, curriculum-based collaboration experienced more consistent implementation across classrooms. The most successful sites embedded HQIM use within cycles of inquiry, walkthroughs, and professional learning community (PLC) meetings, demonstrating how planning time doubles as professional learning when anchored to high-quality materials.

Effective planning time focuses on unpacking the lessons, identifying instructional goals, and anticipating student thinking. It’s not just time to prep materials or make copies, but about professional learning in action. When teachers have space to collaborate on the curriculum, they develop a shared understanding that leads to more coherent implementation.

This collaborative planning time also serves as a vehicle for teaching. Teachers can examine lessons through the lens of their students’ experiences, assets, and needs, making thoughtful adaptations that maintain rigor while increasing relevance and accessibility.

Use Walkthroughs as Learning Tools, Not Audits

Leaders should visit classrooms to calibrate understanding, not to enforce compliance. They should use those moments to see how the materials are showing up in practice and identify where support is needed. The goal is insight, not evaluation.

Rather than checklist evaluations, walkthroughs should prompt questions like: “Where are teachers making adaptations, and are those aligned with the intent of the lesson?” and “What data are they using to inform their decisions?” These reflections help shift the focus from compliance to instructional purpose.

With this feedback loop, teachers can adjust their curriculum use without feeling monitored.

The Effective Implementation Cohort report emphasizes the use of walkthroughs and learning walks not just as monitoring tools, but as collaborative, data-informed opportunities to guide coaching and system-wide learning. Guilford County, for example, used feedback from walkthroughs to recalibrate supports and strengthen implementation fidelity across its 24 participating schools.

When walkthroughs turn into collaborative investigations into teaching and learning, they foster trust and shared expertise rather than anxiety and defensiveness.

Celebrate Instructional Shifts, Especially Partial Ones

Arberg encourages leaders to celebrate the changes they observe, even if they are partial, because making progress visible helps others across the system understand what effective implementation looks like. Recognition doesn’t have to wait for perfection.

When teachers begin trying a new discourse routine or stick with the curriculum despite discomfort, those are wins worth celebrating. A brief shout-out during a staff meeting, a shared video clip of a strong lesson segment, or even a hallway conversation can build momentum across a school.

This celebration serves multiple purposes: it reinforces the behaviors you want to see more of, provides concrete examples for other teachers, and sustains morale during challenging periods of change. Most importantly, it shows that growth and learning are valued over performance and perfection.

Keep Student Learning at the Center of Every Conversation

The primary goal of HQIM implementation is improved student access to grade-level content. Every leadership decision should align with this priority. This student-centered focus allows teams to stay grounded when implementation gets complicated or contentious.

Arberg presents two guiding questions: “Are more kids getting access to grade-level content? Are they being supported to think critically and independently as they learn?” These questions cut through the noise and remind everyone why the work matters. They also support the goal of giving every student access to high-quality instruction, regardless of their background or circumstances.

Leaders can use this lens to frame coaching sessions, analyze data, and shape professional development agendas, consistently refocusing on students’ experience in the classroom. When adults disagree about approaches or struggle with change, returning to student impact helps reframe problems as opportunities for collaborative solutions.

A Year Isn’t a Test, but a Turning Point

This first year isn’t about proving the materials “worked.” It’s about laying the groundwork for transformational change. While every implementation journey is unique, all should demonstrate signs of instructional progress that signal better access for students.

Arberg reminds us, “It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it should be visible.” Implementing HQIM isn’t fast, but it should be evident in the daily experiences of teachers and students. Leaders aren’t waiting for results but guiding them into existence through thoughtful support, clear expectations, and unwavering focus on what matters most.

Year one is your opportunity to set the tone, build trust, and show that change is possible. The shifts may be subtle: a team asking different questions during planning, students persisting longer with challenging tasks, or teachers referencing lesson goals with greater clarity. These early indicators, when nurtured and scaled, become the foundation for the deeper transformation that unfolds in subsequent years.

With clarity, shared language, and a student-centered focus, the journey forward becomes not just achievable but truly transformative. The investment you make in getting year one right pays dividends for years to come, creating conditions where high-quality instruction isn’t an aspiration but the expectation and reality for every student in every classroom.

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