ALL SYSTEMS GO
How shared, high-quality curriculums are helping school districts reach higher, together.
CASE STUDY
RICHMOND
FEB 26, 2026
WHEN LEADERS LISTEN
How Richmond Public Schools accelerated literacy gains by acting on data and teacher insight.
CASE STUDY
NYCPS D18
FEB 12, 2026
WHEN ADULTS BELIEVE, STUDENTS RISE
How NYC’s District 18 raised the bar to improve reading outcomes for Black students.
CASE STUDY
NYCPS D11
JAN 25, 2026
FOLLOw the data
How NYC’s District 11 continuously improved its way to better outcomes
CASE STUDY
NYCPS D25
JAN 25, 2026
ONE VISION, MANY VOICES
How NYC’s District 25 built confidence and collaboration during a district-wide curriculum shift.
Something exciting is happening in school districts across the country...
For decades, public school classrooms operated as independent units. Teachers were left to their own devices to develop and implement lessons. Most hunted for material online or made their own, leaving the rigor and quality of lessons to a matter of chance. Then, about 10 years ago, things began to shift. Some districts adopted unified curriculums — ones based on evidence and aligned with grade-level standards.
With this shared playbook came stronger support for teachers to implement it, better assessment practices to find out what’s working, and a coherent plan that entire communities could rally around.
Today, as states across the country go all in on evidence-based curriculums, the $20 billion question is: Are they working? And if so, how? This report investigates 12 districts where indeed they are.
This is the story of how school districts reached higher, together.
Every school district has what it takes to REACH higher:
RESOURCE
Supply educators with shared, high-quality, tech-enabled instructional materials
EQUIP
Provide data and training that enables educators to meet student need
ASSESS + ADJUST
Monitor what’s working at all levels, from the individual to the district, and continuously improve
COHERE
Align community and tools around a shared instructional vision
HARDWIRE
Codify learning and embed routines into daily practice
THANKS TO OUR SUPPORTERS AND ADVISORS
Adam Ezring, Collaborative for Student Success
Annie Morrison, Rivet Education
Barbara Davidson, Standards Work
Courtney Bell, SCORE
Devon Gadow, TNTP
Dr. Dia Bryant, National Math Improvement Project
Emily Freitag, Instruction Partners
Ethan Mitnick, SchoolKit
HaMy Vu, Teaching Lab
Hillary Rinaldi, Whiteboard Advisors
JanaBeth Francis, Curriculum Matters
Jessica Eadie, Student Achievement Partners
Joanne Weiss, Weiss Associates
Sy Doan, RAND
Jennifer Wilson, Illustrative Mathematics
Jim Cowen, Collaborative for Student Success
Josh Parish, Collaborative for Student Success
Julia Kaufman, RAND
Lydia Hill Geralds, Great Minds
Kunjan Narechania, Watershed
Litsy Witkowski, Rivet Education
Lora Kaiser, The Center for Education Market
Dynamics
Stacey Alicea, Research Partnership for Professional Learning
Sarah Johnson, Teaching Lab
These case studies are based on research funded by the Gates Foundation, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, and Robin Hood Foundation. The findings and conclusions contained within are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect positions or policies of the funders. We are grateful for the funding and advisory support from each of these organizations.