What is it?

Instructional Excellence is the Students Matter pillar that ensures teaching and learning across a district are intentionally designed, coherently supported, and relentlessly focused on student growth.

This pillar defines instructional excellence not as a collection of strategies or programs, but as a shared professional commitment to high-quality learning experiences rooted in clarity, evidence, and deep respect for students as learners.

PURPOSE

The purpose of Instructional Excellence is to close the gap between what we know about effective teaching and what students actually experience in classrooms.

In many systems:

• instructional expectations are uneven

• improvement efforts are fragmented

• teachers are overwhelmed by competing initiatives

• and professional learning lacks coherence or follow-through

Instructional Excellence exists to ensure that instructional improvement is focused, supported, and sustained so that every student has access to powerful learning, not just those in pockets of excellence.

WHAT THIS PILLAR DEVELOPS

Instructional Excellence develops a district’s capacity to design, support, and refine learning at scale.

Specifically, it builds the ability to:

• Clarify what high-quality instruction looks like
  Shared definitions, look-fors, and expectations grounded in research and practice

• Design learning with intention
  Lessons and units that are purposeful, engaging, and aligned to standards and outcomes

• Use evidence to improve practice
  Student work, formative assessment, and observation inform instructional decisions

• Strengthen professional collaboration
  PLCs, coaching, and collective inquiry focused on real instructional work

• Support teachers as professionals
  Growth-oriented feedback, coaching, and learning that respects teacher expertise

• Sustain improvement over time
  Instructional coherence that outlasts personnel changes or initiative cycles

Instructional Excellence ensures that instruction is thoughtful, consistent, and worthy of students’ time and effort.

WHAT DISTRICTS GAIN

Districts that implement Instructional Excellence gain:

• Greater consistency in instructional quality

• Stronger alignment between curriculum, instruction, and assessment

• PLCs that focus on learning rather than logistics

• Teachers who feel supported, not surveilled

• Improved student outcomes and engagement

• A shared instructional language across schools and roles

Most importantly, districts gain learning experiences that are intentional, equitable, and effective for each student.

THE PROMISE OF INSTRUCTIONAL EXCELLENCE

When Instructional Excellence is embedded across a district:

• Teaching is purposeful, not performative

• Learning is challenging and meaningful

• Collaboration drives improvement

• Students experience rigor with relevance

• Classrooms reflect the district’s values

Instructional Excellence ensures that the Students Matter ecosystem shows up where it matters most: in daily teaching and learning.