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When Oldham County launched its district-wide effort to implement high-quality instructional resources (HQIRs) K-5 in English language arts, leaders knew that deep, curriculum-based professional learning would be essential to ensuring success. Through intentional planning, cross-role collaboration, and ongoing feedback loops, the district created a coherent system to support teachers with meaningful professional learning tied directly to their instructional resources.
Shared Vision and Instructional Priorities
Before rolling out the new HQIRs, district leaders brought principals and coaches together to develop a shared framework for literacy instruction. Elizabeth Dant, elementary level director, said, 鈥淲e had a vision statement and a framework that coaches and principals created together with the critical attributes for literacy instruction.鈥�
With this shared vision in place, the district team developed specific success criteria aligned to each commitment. These criteria defined what successful implementation would look like and provided a clear way to measure progress. Throughout the year, district leaders monitored these indicators to ensure schools were on track and receiving the support they needed to implement their HQIRs effectively.
Elevate Conference: Grounding Professional Learning in the Resource
Together, the district team, principals and coaches determined four critical instructional strategies that all literacy instruction should be based on. These four strategies formed the foundation for a district-wide professional learning event: the Elevate Conference. All elementary teachers participated in sessions focused on the identified strategies, each one adapted to their specific HQIR.
鈥淓very session was tailored to include their HQIR as the application in the session,鈥� said Sarah Whitt, Oldham County鈥檚 instructional support coordinator. 鈥淚f it was about text-dependent questions, we tailored the session to include the text-dependent questions from that HQIR.鈥�
The district was intentional about sequencing the learning. 鈥淲e designed it to be the day before the HQIR vendor came in. Here鈥檚 what they鈥檙e going to talk about鈥攃lose reading, text-dependent questions, text complexity鈥攕o teachers were ready to make connections,鈥� Whitt described.
Coaches worked closely with vendors to ensure alignment. 鈥淭he vendors definitely tailored their training to our district focus,鈥� Whitt noted. 鈥淭he coaches connected with the vendors ahead of time to ensure they were hitting on what we needed in order to ensure teachers felt supported and prepared to launch their HQIR.鈥�
Implementation Supports for Leaders and Teachers
The district created a detailed implementation plan using KDE tools and resources from other states. 鈥淪arah and I drafted it over the summer and then we got feedback from principals before school started,鈥� Dant recalled. 鈥淲e said, this is our roadmap. We鈥檙e not going to stick to it rigidly if we need to make adjustments.鈥�
Throughout the year, principals and coaches met regularly. 鈥淲e had principal meetings and coaches meetings on the same day,鈥� Dant explained. 鈥淭hen we would all meet together so when we were talking about HQIR work, everyone was hearing the same thing.鈥�
The partnership between school leaders and instructional coaches was central to the effort. 鈥淚 feel like the partnership with principals and coaches and keeping them all on the same page was critical,鈥� Whitt emphasized.
Building PLC Leadership and Growing Teacher Capacity
To gradually release ownership to teachers, the district designed a structure to build professional learning community (PLC) leadership. Coaches led the unit internalization protocol early on, with the goal of transitioning that responsibility to PLC leads. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a work in progress,鈥� Dant noted. 鈥淪ome schools are in different places but all are working toward this goal.鈥�
Each PLC lead participated in quarterly virtual meetings with others using the same HQIR. 鈥淭hey would meet virtually once a quarter to talk about successes, struggles, next steps, and what do you need?鈥� Feedback from these meetings helped district leaders adapt professional learning and coaching support as needed.
As the year progressed, the district moved into a lesson study-inspired model. 鈥淭he coaches identified one teacher who would teach a lesson, and the other PLC members would come to observe,鈥� Whitt shared. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 need to be perfect; it was about learning together.鈥�
The district encouraged honest reflection. 鈥淭he coaches didn鈥檛 over-facilitate. They stepped out so the team could talk candidly, and we made sure there were no administrators present,鈥� Dant explained. 鈥淭hey were pretty candid on their feedback forms, which was nice because we could then reflect on the feedback.鈥�
Impact on Teachers and Students
Although some teachers were initially hesitant, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. 鈥淚 loved listening to the interviews of them saying, 鈥楾his is so much better. My life is easier. The kids are enjoying it,鈥欌�� Whitt said. 鈥淪ome who struggled the most with shifting to HQIR were saying that at the end of the year.鈥� New teachers also found value in having a strong curriculum. 鈥淭here was a new teacher who said, 鈥楾his is great. It was hard at first and I didn鈥檛 understand, but now I do.鈥欌��
Parents noticed the difference as well. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e commented a lot. Some of the knowledge-building stuff is really interesting and unique. Kids haven鈥檛 learned about that yet,鈥� Dant shared. 鈥淭hey loved that their child could come home and share stories.鈥�
Schools also hosted literacy nights to help families understand the changes. The district team created a base slide deck for schools to use and then add to based on school specific needs. Students talked about their ELA year and shared their work with families.
Looking Forward: Writing, Internalization, and Sustainability
Based on ongoing teacher feedback, the district will focus on writing, and protocols for the upcoming year. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not district-wide on lesson internalization yet,鈥� Whitt admitted. 鈥淪ome PLCs use protocols to look at student work, but it varies. This is a goal for the upcoming school year.鈥�
Through shared vision, aligned leadership, and responsive professional learning, Oldham County has created the conditions for meaningful instructional transformation. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about the resource; it鈥檚 about the teachers championing what they鈥檙e teaching and being excited about it,鈥� Dant shared. 鈥淎nd having really great instructional practices to support it.鈥�
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