How aligning HQIM use across ed-prep and K-12 ensures more novice teachers provide rigorous student learning experiences

This story is part of a series lifting up policy solutions to foster more affordable and high-quality pathways into teaching. A full policy report will be released in September. Subscribe for updates

“When another teacher told me about high-quality instructional materials, I was like, piss pass. You don’t need all that. Just go on Pinterest and be done with it. Oh boy, did I eat those words.”

The initial skepticism that Lautrice Nickson, professor in the College of Education at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) in Texas, had about high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) – entire curricula designed to support students in meeting college- and career-ready standards – isn’t uncommon. Research has found that a majority of both elementary and secondary school teachers often turn to unvetted Pinterest and other social media-sourced materials for lesson planning; consequently, they see HQIM as prescriptive or limiting, assuming that these materials reduce teacher autonomy and empowerment.

However, these assumptions couldn’t be further from the truth. HQIM enable teachers to engage in rigorous, intellectual preparation that better supports students with deep and durable learning experiences. Consequently, Pinterest materials may be fun and engaging but far from supporting students to master content. Yet while PK-12 districts have increasingly adopted HQIM with support from their states, the same can’t be said for teacher-preparation programs. Most new teachers still graduate from their programs without meaningful opportunities to identify, use, and adapt high-quality materials and face a steep learning curve upon stepping into their first classrooms.

That gap in support between K-12 school and preparation programs matters – a lot. Teachers turn to Pinterest and social media often because they haven’t been sufficiently trained to recognize and use high-quality materials aligned to the standards and instructional shifts required for student success.

Inadequate investment in teacher preparation has significant implications for students. When new teachers aren’t prepared to use rigorous materials, their students are the ones who are directly impacted. And because students furthest from opportunity are more likely in the classroom of a novice teacher, gaps in access to quality instruction are exacerbated. Preparing future teachers to use HQIM increases the likelihood that their students will have access to rigorous, grade-level instruction. Additionally, HQIM help to lighten the planning load for new teachers – who are already juggling a lot in their first years – freeing them up to focus on building relationships with students and families and think deeply about how they’re reaching and engaging every student.

The good news is that states are beginning to close this gap between PK-12 and educator-preparation program (EPP) implementation. In Nickson’s case, SHSU is among many pathways in Texas that are responding to new state legislation incentivizing EPPs to train future teachers to recognize and use HQIM. While 33 states have passed legislation requiring or incentivizing HQIM, Texas is only a handful of those that have also invested in alignment with preparation. Promising early results from these states are shifting the narrative on what’s possible.

An encouraging turnaround in Louisiana

When the latest NAEP scores were released, Louisiana was found to be one of only two states to surpass pre-pandemic performance, and ranked in the top five for growth. They jumped from being bottom-ranked for fourth-grade reading in 2019 to around 16th in 2024. 

The state credits its decade-long strategy centered on high-quality curriculum as a driver. Over the last 10 years, they’ve adopted curricula vetted for rigor and alignment with state learning standards; created a tiered curriculum review process and supported local decision-making on materials adoption with incentives rather than mandates; and implemented a statewide teacher coaching model. Over 90% of students now have access to HQIM, even without a statewide curriculum mandate.

The most recent evolution is aligning teacher preparation to the instructional realities of today’s classrooms. Alongside recent, encouraging enrollment growth of aspiring teachers in Louisiana’s teacher pathways, especially at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the state has begun working towards investing in high-quality preparation as a long-term teacher retention strategy. As Louisiana begins requiring school districts to use HQIM, it’s supporting teacher-preparation programs to also adapt by shifting from training aspiring teachers to implement structured, research-based lessons instead of creating their own. Beginning with fall 2024, undergraduate courses have been asked to integrate HQIM meaningfully.

Additionally, last school year, the Louisiana Department of Education engaged DFI to facilitate statewide workshops on identifying and using HQIM for a core group of teacher-educators across different teaching pathways, activating on the need to align HQIM across pre- and in-service teacher support. From these workshops, over 90% of participants reported a deeper understanding of lesson internalization and why it matters.

These early investments in teacher preparation are evidence of progress as Louisiana ensures both current and future teachers have the instructional support they need to effectively engage all students in rigorous and affirming learning experiences. And, state leaders must also grapple with how they can do more, such as providing subsidized access to HQIM, so that all teacher-educators and future teachers are able to fully access them.

Shifting mindsets and practices in Tennessee

The impact of HQIM-aligned preparation isn’t limited to Louisiana. In Tennessee, which identified HQIM in 2019 as a priority in their Best for All strategic plan, the state articulated that “the educator preparation community is a primary and critical driver” of ensuring that novice educators are “trained to identify and implement HQIM.” In 2021, the General Assembly passed new literacy standards and requirements for training new teachers on how to effectively use HQIM. The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) implemented the new requirements and, importantly, dedicated resources to build the capacity of teacher-preparation programs to make meaningful changes to practice. The TDOE ran a competitive process to select technical assistance providers to develop and pilot course content related to the new standards. 

Through this process, DFI was selected to help develop HQIM courses and/or content to integrate into preparation coursework. Among participating programs, average individual candidate growth on a pre/post assessment analyzing their ability to identify standards-aligned materials and distinguish instructional decisions that support students in meeting ambitious content learning goals grew by +25 percentage points. Most importantly, the proportion of candidates who endorsed instructional decisions that would support access to rigorous instruction rose +32 percentage points, from 45% to 77%.

Hayley Waller, an aspiring teacher in Tennessee at the time who engaged with DFI’s HQIM modules, reflected:

More states can follow the lead of Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas, but it will take deliberate and intentional policy decision-making. State and federal policymakers must foster deeper instructional alignment between local education agencies, like PK-12 school districts, and educator-preparation programs, ensuring that all future teachers are fully prepared to engage their students in rigorous and affirming learning from day one.

A preview from our forthcoming policy report:

How are policies bolstering EPPs and PK-12 schools to partner to ensure instructional coherence from pre-service preparation through classroom practice and ongoing professional development?

To build instructional coherence, state and federal policy leaders should champion policies that:

Standards & Licensure

• Require teachers to be trained on how to access and effectively deploy HQIM, especially in efforts to improve literacy and mathematics instructions and instruction for multilingual students and students with disabilities

Program Approval & Renewal

• Invite teacher-educators to state-mandated professional development for in-service teachers
• Require professional development for teacher-educators, clinical supervisors, and mentor teachers
• Require in-service professional development be available for aspiring teachers completing clinical experiences in the school/district
• Establish formal MOUs between EPPs, PK-12, community colleges that don’t offer a four-year degree in teaching, and other community organizations (e.g. tutoring providers) focused on strengthening instructional coherence

Funding

• Fund/subsidize EPP-LEA partnerships to collaborate on shared instructional priorities (e.g., HQIM, literacy, math)
• Require and fund ongoing professional development for teacher-educators
• Subsidize access to local HQIM for aspiring teachers and teacher-educators

Convening Power

• Publish, either publicly or sent directly to EPPs, a list of HQIM and PK-12 screeners (e.g. literacy screeners) adopted by PK-12 schools
• Convene PK-12 schools, EPPs, and technical assistance providers to build a shared understanding of instructional priorities defined in policy, specific evidence-based instructional practices, aligning on evolving roles and competencies of educators, and building cultures of continuous learning and improvement

Our new policy report summarizes insights from our work with educator-preparation programs, leaders, and policymakers over the last 10 years on how to advance and implement policies that foster instructionally-focused, practice-based, and accessible pathways into teaching across all 50 U.S. states and D.C. Subscribe to our newsletter to download the full report when it releases in September.

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