When it came to literacy instruction, United Schools of Indianapolis (USI) had been doing a lot of things right. They had selected research-aligned and high-quality curriculum and built plenty of time into daily schedules for literacy instruction.

When a wave of teacher turnover hit, reading scores began to decline, revealing a deeper issue—USI lacked a unified, system-wide approach to instruction and assessment. Despite having a strong curriculum, teachers were left to interpret lessons on their own, resulting in inconsistent execution across classrooms. Without a clear framework to guide instruction, the quality of teaching varied, creating uneven learning experiences for students.

Kandis Pearson, then a principal at Avondale Meadows Academy and now the Director of Academics, saw this challenge as an opportunity to build something lasting. “It exposed that we needed to create some type of instructional systems that we could continue every year.”

Enter Lit’s Learn & Design program, a yearlong cohort that helped USI develop a cohesive literacy playbook, align teachers and leaders around a shared instructional vision, and implement professional learning that translated into daily classroom practices. That unified vision is already paying dividends in team alignment and clarity, teacher practice, and early student outcomes. 

Read more in this case study.