Five Ways Administrators Can Guide the Use of Instructional Materials to Ensure All Students Have Access to Grade-Level Instruction

Access to grade-level learning is shaped daily by the texts students read, the tasks they complete, and the expectations embedded in instruction. One of the most powerful levers school leaders have to ensure that all students have access to grade-level instruction is the use of instructional materials. When leaders and instructional coaches intentionally shape how materials are used, they reduce variability across classrooms and ensure that students’ access to grade-level content is not left to chance.

Here are five actionable steps administrators can take to guide how instructional materials are used in classrooms to promote access to grade-level learning for all students.

1. Set clear expectations for grade-level appropriate instruction.

Across schools, well-intended efforts to “meet students where they are” often result in students receiving less exposure to complex texts, meaningful science and math tasks, and sustained academic discourse. TNTP’s The Opportunity Myth found that students frequently complete assignments below grade level and that access to strong instruction varies significantly within the same school (TNTP, 2018). Leaders influence this pattern by clearly establishing grade-level content as the starting point for instruction and by reinforcing, through coaching and PLC conversations, that scaffolds are meant to support, not replace, access to rigorous learning.

2. Focus professional learning on how materials are used

Adopting high-quality instructional materials does not automatically produce equitable outcomes. RAND research consistently shows that teachers adapt and supplement materials in highly variable ways, leading to uneven instructional experiences for students (RAND, 2025). Because students experience curriculum through enacted instruction, leaders and instructional coaches must focus on how lessons are planned, adapted, and taught. This means ensuring that the right conversations happen during PLCs. Teachers should internalize the curriculum and lessons, and rehearse key points of instruction. 

3. Define grade-level learning in observable classroom terms

Learning for all students becomes actionable when leaders define it in ways teachers can see and enact, such as ensuring that every student engages daily with grade-level texts and tasks while receiving appropriate supports. RAND’s research on instructional coherence highlights that clarity around expectations helps educators differentiate effectively without unintentionally lowering cognitive demand (RAND, 2023). That means that conversations in PLCs need to include specifics about how teachers will scaffold instruction. 

4. Protect instructional time for grade-level content

Access to grade-level instruction is easily undermined when intervention, remediation, or test preparation replaces core instruction. If students miss core instruction in favor of intervention, they miss the opportunity for grade-level access. Leaders, not teachers, influence access by examining schedules, instructional minutes, and support structures to ensure students consistently experience grade-level learning.

5. Monitor how instructional materials are experienced by students  

Grade-level learning experiences are revealed not through intent, but through evidence of action in the classroom. Reviewing assignments and student work across classrooms provides a clear picture of whether students are regularly eng aging in grade-level reading, writing, and thinking (TNTP, 2018). TNTP’s research underscores that assignments largely determine students’ opportunities to learn. The Carnegie Foundation (Carnegie Foundation, 2022) emphasizes that reducing variation in student experience is essential to achieving meaningful improvement at scale.

Finally 

Instructional materials alone do not guarantee grade-level access; leadership actions around how materials are used do. When expectations are clear, professional learning is grounded in curriculum, and leaders attend closely to what students actually experience, materials become a daily lever that supports grade-level instruction for all students.