Through Curriculum Matters: IMplement MA, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education DESE is strengthening curriculum selection and implementation across content areas. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education DESE supports districts with access to standards-aligned, high-quality curricular materials; curriculum-specific professional learning; and the capacity and conditions needed for skillful, equitable, and sustainable implementation. This work advances the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education DESE Educational Vision and supports the Vision of a Massachusetts Graduate .
Every student deserves access to rigorous learning at grade level and beyond, grounded in standards-aligned, high-quality curricular materials. IMplement MA helps districts build from that foundation by identifying, investigating, and selecting strong curricular materials and developing the curriculum literacy , capacity, and conditions needed to implement them well.
IMplement MA is rooted in a theory of action for advancing instructional equity:
How do Massachusetts local education agencies (Local Educational Agencies LEAs) investigate and select standards-aligned curricular materials that are a strong fit for their instructional vision, students, priorities, and context? What capacity and conditions support skillful, equitable, and sustainable implementation? How can curriculum and instruction strengthen equitable access to high-quality, grade-level Tier 1 learning experiences for all students? Where are educator teams in the IMplement MA curriculum lifecycle, and where should they focus next?
Explore these IMplement MA resources for guidance, tools, and support across the curriculum lifecycle.
Curriculum is more than choosing materials, and implementation is more than putting standards-aligned materials in teachers’ hands.
The IMplement MA Guide is Department of Elementary and Secondary Education DESE’s instructional leadership framework for navigating the four-phase IMplement MA curriculum lifecycle—from establishing a shared instructional vision and investigating and selecting curricular materials to preparing for launch, implementing and monitoring their use, and continuously improving and sustaining implementation. Throughout the lifecycle, leaders and educators build the curriculum literacy, capacity, and conditions needed for skillful, equitable, and sustainable implementation and instructional improvement.
The Guide includes:
The IMplement MA Self-Assessment is a diagnostic reflection tool—not an evaluation—that helps educator teams identify where they are in the IMplement MA curriculum lifecycle, reflect on progress against the IMplement MA Milestones, and determine where to focus next.
Curriculum Matters: IMplement MA Video Playlist . This video series highlights districts using collaborative structures—such as common planning, peer walkthroughs, and coaching—to strengthen educator practice and support the skillful implementation of standards-aligned, high-quality curricular materials. The videos illustrate how educators use student-centered instruction and targeted language routines to provide equitable access to rigorous, grade-level learning for all students, including multilingual learners and students with Individualized Education Programs IEPs. They also demonstrate how coherent systems, collaborative structures, and shared instructional leadership practices create the conditions for greater consistency across classrooms and schools and support student success at scale.
Cultivating Deeper Learning Instructional Videos. This video series highlights strong daily instructional practices and strategies that leverage standards-aligned, high-quality instructional materials to create equitable learning conditions, advance instructional equity, and support progress toward deeper learning for all students.
Instructional Planning and Observation Tools Collection supports educators to prepare for and examine instruction with standards-aligned curricular materials. The tools support intellectual preparation and high-quality instructional practices that create the conditions for deeper learning.
Intellectual preparation strengthens curriculum literacy by helping educators develop a deeper understanding of the design, content, and intended learning of adopted curricular materials and prepare to enact them skillfully and with integrity. Centering student thinking and learning, intellectual preparation helps educators anticipate the range of ways students may engage with grade-level content and plan responsive instructional moves that provide access, appropriate challenge, and opportunities to deepen, extend, and apply learning.
Within IMplement MA, intellectual preparation includes two complementary educator routines: unit unpacking and lesson internalization.
Unit Unpacking develops a shared understanding of an upcoming unit before instruction begins. Educators examine the unit’s standards, learning goals, key content and concepts, assessments and culminating tasks, and progression of learning across lessons. This process helps educators understand how the unit is designed, how individual lessons build toward intended outcomes, what students will need to know, understand, and be able to do, and where the unit provides opportunities to deepen, extend, or apply learning beyond grade-level expectations.
Lesson Internalization prepares educators for skillful enactment of an upcoming lesson. Educators engage with the lesson’s content and tasks; clarify the intended learning and cognitive demands; anticipate the range of student thinking, responses, strategies, and potential misconceptions; and plan instructional moves responsive to students’ assets, needs, and demonstrated understanding. This preparation helps educators provide appropriate scaffolds, extensions, and opportunities for deeper learning while maintaining the lesson’s intended rigor and coherence, enabling students to meet or exceed grade-level expectations.
Interpretive Note: High-quality instructional practices reflect the principles of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education DESE Educational Vision and create conditions for deeper learning through real-world, relevant, and interactive learning experiences at grade level and beyond that support every student in embodying the Vision of a Massachusetts Graduate.
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education DESE provides guided support across the IMplement MA curriculum lifecycle, partnering with district and school leaders to build the curriculum literacy, capacity, and conditions needed for skillful, equitable, and sustainable curriculum selection and implementation. Through collaborative learning, application, and reflection, leaders strengthen the systems, structures, and practices that support educators to enact standards-aligned, high-quality instructional materials with integrity across classrooms and schools.
The IMplement MA Networks support leaders to translate a shared instructional vision into strong Tier 1 instruction by using evidence to understand implementation, address barriers, strengthen professional learning and collaboration, and continuously improve. This work supports consistent learning experiences that enable all students—including students with Individualized Education Programs IEPs and multilingual learners—to engage and excel at grade level and beyond.
Building the Vision. Choosing the Future.
Curriculum is more than choosing materials. How do district leaders and educators investigate and select High-Quality Instructional Materials HQIM that are a strong fit for their instructional vision, student assets and needs, priorities, and local context while building the curriculum literacy, capacity, and conditions needed for successful implementation?
The Evaluate & Select High-Quality Instructional Materials HQIM Network combines differentiated virtual learning with personalized support to guide district leadership teams through a robust, inclusive, and evidence-informed curriculum investigation and selection process. Anchored in Department of Elementary and Secondary Education DESE’s IMplement MA Guide and centered on building curriculum literacy, the Network supports teams to establish a shared instructional vision, engage diverse stakeholders, investigate standards-aligned, high-quality instructional materials (High-Quality Instructional Materials HQIM), and determine which materials are a strong fit for their students, priorities, and local context.
Facilitated by Department of Elementary and Secondary Education DESE staff and supported by Department of Elementary and Secondary Education DESE-developed tools and resources, participants focus on the first two phases of the IMplement MA curriculum lifecycle:
Participants commit to attending a one-hour team-leader kickoff and seven virtual sessions and to meeting as a working leadership team between sessions to advance the IMplement MA process within their district. Through this intentional process, teams engage diverse voices and perspectives in curriculum decision-making, building the shared understanding and ownership that support skillful, equitable, and sustainable implementation.
Registration for the 2026–27 Evaluate & Select High-Quality Instructional Materials HQIM Network is now closed. For questions about curriculum investigation and selection in content areas supported through the Network, contact the appropriate Evaluate & Select High-Quality Instructional Materials HQIM team member. For curriculum investigation and selection questions in other content areas, contact the appropriate Department of Elementary and Secondary Education DESE content-area or program lead identified below.
Cultivating Confidence. Sustaining Success for All.
Implementation is more than putting standards-aligned materials in teachers’ hands. How do district and school leaders create and strengthen the conditions needed to implement standards-aligned, high-quality instructional materials skillfully, sustain high-quality instruction, continuously improve, and advance equitable outcomes for all students?
The Implement & Monitor High-Quality Instructional Materials HQIM Network supports district and school instructional leaders in strengthening the curriculum literacy, capacity, and conditions needed for skillful, equitable, and sustainable implementation of standards-aligned, high-quality instructional materials (High-Quality Instructional Materials HQIM). Building on curriculum selection and implementation readiness, the Network focuses on the instructional leadership, systems and structures, professional learning and collaboration, and continuous improvement practices needed to strengthen Tier 1 instruction and advance equitable student learning experiences and outcomes.
Facilitated by Department of Elementary and Secondary Education DESE staff, the Network provides a virtual collaborative space for leaders to engage in cross-district learning, application, reflection, and thought partnership. The Network includes:
Anchored in the IMplement MA Guide and informed by the IMplement MA Self-Assessment, participating district and school leaders commit to strengthening and monitoring one or more high-leverage, evidence-informed systems or practices aligned with their implementation goals during the school year. Through this work, leaders strengthen the conditions that enable educators to enact adopted curricular materials with integrity (Curriculum Literacy Competency III) and help create consistently strong, high-quality student learning experiences.
Interpretive Note: High-quality instruction and high-quality student learning experiences reflect the principles of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education DESE Educational Vision, promote deeper learning, and support every student in embodying the Vision of a Massachusetts Graduate.
Registration for the 2026–27 Implement & Monitor High-Quality Instructional Materials HQIM Network is now closed. For questions, email Jeff Pera .
Curriculum-Specific Professional Learning. Information and resources to help district and school leaders understand, identify, and access high-quality, curriculum-specific professional learning that builds educator curriculum literacy and supports skillful implementation of standards-aligned, high-quality instructional materials.
For questions about Curriculum Matters: IMplement MA, email Woodly Pierre-Louis .
Last Updated: October 22, 2026