Tennessee is one of 13 states that make up the High-Quality Instructional Materials and Professional Development Network. This group was formed in 2018 and is supported by the Council of Chief State School Officers( CCSSO, n. d.). The goal is to encourage the use of standards-aligned curricular materials that meet states’ specific criteria for quality, which can vary depending on a state’ s priorities or major areas of focus( Doan et al. 2022). In our state, materials are intended to“ support diverse learners, promote deep understanding, and align with educational standards”( TDOE 2025, introductory page).
What this means in practice is that public school leaders and teachers must learn about the curricular materials created or selected by their state, including the scope, sequence, and pace they need to follow( NIET 2020; Doan et al. 2022; TNTP 2024). Tennessee’ s Department of Education, for example, created a guidance document about how educators can analyze materials for connections between tasks and routines as well as misconceptions or hurdles children may experience as they go through lessons and units( TDOE, n. d.). For some content areas, educators must become familiar with a script or words provided to guide children in their learning( TNTP 2024; Shields & Narayanan 2026).
Because this is often counter to how educators are used to planning and teaching, it is important to consider the professional development, coaching, and involvement from leadership to help educators navigate these changes and to ensure that they have the agency to respond to individual children’ s strengths, needs, and contexts( NIET 2020; TNTP 2024; CCSSO 2025; Pixley 2026). In our state, the Department of Education and public school districts provide support to facilitate implementation. This includes professional development and teaching teams working together to review and prepare lessons( SCORE 2024; TDOE 2024; TNTP 2024).
For example, Mr. Ridgley received training from his school district on how to use adopted instructional materials for literacy and math instruction. These materials included( Cahill 2026)
› Unit and lesson plans › Student practice materials › Daily, unit, and module assessments › Extension activities
› Ideas for individualized supports for multilingual learners and children with disabilities
› Family and community connections
Instructional coaches and principals checked in during planning meetings, classroom drop-ins, and formal observations to make sure the teaching teams in Mr. Ridgley’ s school were preparing lessons from the curriculum and using it daily. This relates to fidelity, or how well educators implement a curriculum in the way intended by its developers. Research has shown that higher curriculum fidelity scores are associated with greater child gains( Hamre et al. 2010; NASEM 2024).
Embedding Guided Play into the Curriculum
Educators must have the agency to enhance a curriculum so that it is responsive to children’ s abilities, interests, and contexts( NAEYC 2020; NASEM 2024; Shields & Narayanan 2026; also see the Summer 2026 issue of Young Children, which focuses on Toward Intentional Teaching: The Need for Educator Agency). This includes embedding guided play into the daily rhythm of the classroom and within planned learning activities. Research has shown that guided play can provide a meaningful context for children to learn grade-level content while being given opportunities for developmentally appropriate interactions( Hassinger-Das et al. 2019; Zosh et al. 2022). For example, evidence suggests that guided play can be a more effective approach than direct instruction or free play for developing certain early math skills, including learning spatial vocabulary( Skene et al. 2022). Others have found that when combined with shared book reading,
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