ADE Summit 2025

High-quality instructional materials (HQIM) are a powerful tool for improving student outcomes, but their impact depends on how effectively educators use them. In this session, district leaders and instructional coaches will explore strategies for building teachers’ capacity to skillfully implement HQIM through content-focused coaching. Participants will engage in discussions on best practices for coaching, learn how to support teachers in making meaningful instructional shifts, and examine real-world examples of districtwide implementation of literacy labs. Walk away with practical tools and strategies to strengthen HQIM use across your schools.

When students have consistent, active engagement in quality practice opportunities, they develop the essential skills needed for reading and writing proficiency. Grounded in research, this session emphasizes the importance of actively engaging all learners in sufficient, frequent, and varied student practice opportunities during foundational skills instruction. In this session, educators will explore effective strategies for increasing student practice in literacy leveraging High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM). Participants will acquire practical engagement strategies to skillfully implement into their HQIM.

This session will explore two years of Curriculum-Based Professional Learning (CBLP) data collected from over 60 districts. Learn about CBPL, begin to assess your readiness level for CBPL, and learn about the Arkansas Professional Learning Partner Guide (AR PLPG). Representatives from participating districts will talk about their experience with through-year coaching for their literacy curricula across the K-12 grade spans.

Achieving system-wide instructional coherence requires intentional alignment of leadership development, curriculum understanding, and classroom practice. This session showcases a powerful partnership between a high-quality professional learning provider and a forward-thinking school district committed to building the capacity of school leaders. Through targeted support and collaborative learning, district and school leaders deepened their knowledge of high-quality curriculum and enhanced their ability to guide teacher planning and instruction.

Participants will hear directly from a professional learning partner about how they support districts in building instructional coherence. The session will also feature a panel of district and school leaders sharing their journeys toward greater coherence. Panelists will highlight key shifts in system structures, leadership practices, and professional learning that have contributed to stronger alignment across classrooms and schools. Attendees will leave with practical insights, actionable strategies, and lessons learned to guide similar coherence-building efforts in their own contexts.