School-Level Literacy Implementation Pilots
Start at one school. Build the evidence. Then decide.
A research-informed, school-embedded way to move structured literacy professional learning into consistent classroom practice and measurable student progress, built to work with the curriculum and coaches you already have. No districtwide or countywide commitment required to begin.
1 school
a committed principal and a defined teacher cohort
8–16 wks
depending on the pathway you choose
4 levels
of evidence: learning, practice, coaching, student impact
Your coaches
coaching stays local; LearnSync provides the framework and tools
Why a school-level pilot
Professional learning only matters if it changes what happens in classrooms.
Most literacy PD stops at course completion. The LearnSync pilot is designed to carry learning through to classroom application, coaching, and student evidence, so a school knows what changed and why, and can decide what to do next with confidence.
Starts where you are
Intended for schools with committed leadership and an identified teacher cohort, including schools in districts or counties not yet ready for a broader partnership.
Works with what you have
Uses your existing curriculum, your coaches or teacher leaders, your PLC time, and the student measures you already collect.
Teacher ownership at the center
Teachers select, apply, examine, and refine practices rather than receiving training passively. Documentation stays light and lives inside existing routines.
Honest about evidence
A single-school pilot shows feasibility and promising progress. We examine four levels of evidence and say plainly what the results can and cannot claim.
Three pathways
Choose the pilot that matches your school's readiness.
Every pathway uses the same research base, the same four-level evidence system, and the same LearnSync courses. They differ in scope, duration, and how much classroom implementation and coaching they ask of a school.
From professional learning to classroom practice and measurable student impact
The comprehensive pathway.
- Both LearnSync courses, sequenced to the school's instructional focus
- Three structured coaching cycles per teacher
- PLC collaboration about twice a month, using existing meetings
- All four evidence levels examined as one integrated system
Up to 16 weeksactive implementation, plus follow-up
Multiple gradesideally one K–2 and one 3–5
3 coaching cyclesadjusted to need and capacity
Next stepsustain, replicate, or partner
Foundations of structured literacy: building knowledge and instructional readiness
The lightest lift.
- Course 1 modules, knowledge checks, and learning reflections
- Targeted learning-to-practice support from a coach or teacher leader
- About two collaborative learning sessions a month
- Success measured on teacher knowledge and readiness, not student gains
8–10 weekssix self-paced modules
8–15 teacherstwo adjacent grades, TK–5
1–2 touchpointsof targeted support, as needed
Next stepCourse 2, or more foundational learning
From knowledge to practice: strengthening literacy instruction
For teachers who already have the foundations.
- Regular classroom application of agreed instructional practices
- Three structured coaching cycles per teacher
- Collaborative review of instructional and student evidence in PLCs
- Requires verified foundational knowledge or Course 1 completion
12–16 weekssubject to course requirements
8–15 teacherstwo adjacent grades, TK–5
3 coaching cyclesadjusted to teacher needs
Next stepcontinue, refine, or expand
Swipe sideways to see the full table →
| Design element | Pilot A · Courses 1 & 2 | Pilot B · Course 1 only | Pilot C · Course 2 only |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary purpose | A complete pathway from foundational learning through classroom implementation to student literacy improvement. | Build foundational literacy knowledge and readiness to apply it. | Strengthen the application, refinement, and sustainability of effective literacy instruction. |
| Primary emphasis | Integrated learning, application, coaching, leadership support, and student outcomes. | Teacher learning and instructional understanding. | Classroom application, coaching, and instructional improvement. |
| Evaluation question | Does an integrated model strengthen teacher knowledge, practice, coaching effectiveness, and student literacy progress? | Are teachers developing the knowledge and readiness for effective structured literacy instruction? | Are teachers applying and refining effective practices, and how are students responding? |
| Evidence focus | All four levels, examined together. | Primary: teacher learning. Student impact is exploratory. | Primary: practice, coaching, and student impact. |
| Coaching | Three structured cycles across both courses. | One or two targeted support opportunities. | Three structured cycles, adjusted to teacher needs. |
| School readiness | Committed principal, teacher cohort, coaching capacity, time for both courses, and assessment access. | Committed principal, teacher cohort, protected learning time, basic support. | Committed principal, cohort with prerequisite knowledge, identified coach, protected time, assessment access. |
| Primary deliverable | School Pilot Implementation, Evidence, and Sustainability Report. | Course 1 Learning and Instructional Readiness Report. | Course 2 Instructional Implementation and Impact Report. |
How a pilot runs
Four phases, one journey.
Each pilot follows a school-level adaptation of the National Implementation Research Network's implementation stages, along LearnSync's strategic journey:
Explore and assess readiness
Weeks 1–2. Identify instructional priorities, the teacher cohort, student needs, coaching resources, and leadership commitment. Collect baseline evidence.
Prepare for implementation
Weeks 3–4. Agree responsibilities, course sequence, coaching schedule, evidence measures, and communication routines in a School Implementation Plan.
Implement and improve
Weeks 5–16. Professional learning, classroom application, coaching cycles, PLC collaboration, and brief monthly reviews with a midpoint check.
Evaluate and plan for sustainability
Endline and follow-up. Examine outcomes and implementation lessons, assess the school's capacity to continue, and recommend next steps.
Timings shown are for Pilot A. Pilot B runs about 8–10 weeks and Pilot C about 12–16, following the same four phases. The final phase assesses readiness for sustainability; it does not claim full implementation after a single pilot.
Teacher ownership
The teacher application cycle
Teachers identify a student literacy need, select an appropriate practice from LearnSync's Language, Code, Reason framework, implement it, examine student evidence, refine, and share what they learned through coaching or PLC collaboration.
Evidence of application, kept light
A planning artifact naming the need and strategy · an application record · an instructional observation · student work or assessment evidence · a short teacher reflection. Integrated into existing routines, not added on top of them.
Coaching
Three coaching cycles, delivered by your people
Coaching is provided by qualified school-based personnel: literacy coaches, instructional specialists, or prepared teacher leaders. LearnSync supplies the framework, observation and reflection tools, and evidence guidance.
Cycle 1 · Establish and model
A teacher-selected goal, modeling of the practice, an initial observation, and specific feedback.
Cycle 2 · Strengthen and refine
Examine student work, observe again, and support guided practice and adjustments.
Cycle 3 · Transfer and sustain
Review implementation quality and student progress, and agree how the practice continues with existing supports.
Every cycle includes collaborative goal-setting, modeling and guided practice, observation and evidence, actionable feedback, and instructional follow-through. Support flexes to each teacher; the three cycles are a common structure, not a rigid dose.
Four-level evidence system
Separate evidence for what teachers learn, how instruction changes, how coaching helps, and how students respond.
School leadership and implementation conditions are examined across all four levels. Numerical benchmarks are set after baseline assessment and before active implementation.
1
Teacher learning
Are teachers developing the knowledge to make informed literacy decisions? Course progress, knowledge checks, instructional reasoning.
2
Practice & application
Are teachers applying targeted practices consistently and well? Observations, teacher artifacts, reflection records.
3
Coaching
Is coaching delivered as intended, and does it change practice? Completed cycles, quality of feedback, follow-through.
4
Student impact
Are students progressing on the literacy skills the pilot targets? Baseline and follow-up measures the school already uses.
A plain word on evidence
Student outcomes are read against baseline performance, implementation quality, and instructional exposure. A single-school pilot without a comparison group can establish feasibility and show promising progress; it cannot, on its own, prove that LearnSync caused the gains. At the end, LearnSync and the school recommend one of four decisions: Expand, Refine, Extend, or Redesign.
Readiness
What a participating school needs to have in place.
Districts and county offices can provide authorization, resources, or technical assistance, but a districtwide or countywide commitment is not a prerequisite. Required local approvals, assessment access, and data protections are. A school with a correctable gap can receive a "conditional go" as long as it's resolved before the affected activity begins.
Check your school's readiness with usA committed principal who sponsors the pilot and joins implementation reviews.
A defined teacher cohort, typically 8–15 teachers across two adjacent grades.
Protected time for coursework, classroom application, and PLC collaboration.
Someone to coach: an existing literacy coach, specialist, or prepared teacher leader.
One or two literacy priorities chosen from school and student evidence.
Access to student literacy measures and the approvals to use them.
Agreed observation and application tools, supplied by LearnSync.
Scheduled midpoint, final, and follow-up reviews with responsibilities documented.
Who does what
Shared responsibility, clearly divided.
LearnSync
The platform, Language-Code-Reason learning content, implementation standards, coaching specifications, evidence tools, and pilot guidance.
Principal / school leader
Sponsor the pilot, set priorities, protect time, facilitate problem-solving, and plan for sustainability, supported by the School Leadership Implementation Companion.
Coach / teacher leader
Structured coaching, feedback, and instructional support through the cycles.
Teachers
Participate in professional learning, apply practices, examine evidence, and refine instruction.
District / county office, as needed
Authorization, assessment access, curriculum alignment, or optional technical assistance. Enabling partners, not required stakeholders.
What you get
A standard toolkit your school keeps.
Every pilot produces a set of resources that can be adapted for future implementations. The full Pilot A package includes:
· School Pilot Overview
· School Readiness Assessment
· School Implementation Plan
· Teacher Application & Reflection Tool
· Instructional Practice Observation Tool
· Coaching Implementation Guide
· School Leadership Implementation Companion
· PLC Evidence Review Protocol
· Four-Level Evidence Toolkit
· Midpoint Implementation Review
· Final Pilot Impact & Sustainability Report
Pilots B and C use streamlined versions matched to their scope.
Research base
Informed by implementation science and recent literacy coaching research.
Reddy et al. (2025) · the strongest recent synthesis on elementary reading coaching
PARTNERS (2024) · collaborative, school-based literacy implementation and improvement
Implementation Science in Elementary Literacy (2026) · small-scale implementation, fidelity, and adaptation
Equitable Implementation of the Science of Reading (2026) · teacher ownership and supportive school leadership
First-Grade Online Professional Development (2025) · combining online learning with coaching
National Implementation Research Network · the implementation stages the pilot phases follow
Start the conversation
Ready to pilot at your school?
Tell us about your school, your teacher cohort, and your coaching capacity. We'll help you choose a pathway and walk through the readiness checklist together.
Funding a pilot with AB 121? Look up your district's allocation.