reach higher, together
How trajectory-changing school districts used curriculum as a launchpad to improve outcomes.
DETAILS
Released May 19, 2026
SUMMARY
What a student learns should not depend on which classroom they happen to walk into. But for a long time, in districts across the country, that's exactly what happened. No shared materials. No common expectations. Little consistency across classrooms and schools within districts.
This report from Columbia University’s Center for Public Research and Leadership (CPRL) takes a close look at a range of school districts across the country that changed that calculus: they stopped leaving teachers to figure it out alone. By giving every educator access to the same high-quality curriculum—and then investing seriously in the professional learning, leadership development, assessment practices, and community engagement needed to make it work—these districts saw real gains in student outcomes, particularly for kids who had long been underserved.
REACH Higher, Together maps the common pattern behind these districts’ success into a five-part framework (Resource, Equip, Assess + Adjust, Cohere, and Hardwire) that demonstrates that systemic improvement is not just possible—it's replicable. This report is the culmination of case studies published by CPRL in the All Systems Go series.
“Through the project and the REACH framework we developed, we’ve identified core work that enables districts to achieve MEASURABLE success, even amid turnover, fiscal uncertainty, and other challenges.”
— Dr. Elizabeth Chu, Executive Director, CPRL at Columbia University