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Educators know that adopting a new curriculum can be challenging. Without a structured implementation plan, teacher support, and a long-term vision, the effort is likely to fall flat.

Avoiding failure is achievable, according to educators who reframed adoption not as a purchase but as a multi-year change process, as discussed during the edLeader Panel “7 Reasons Why New ELA Curriculum Adoptions Stall and What Makes Them Stick.”

Stalled and Stuck: The Costs

It doesn’t matter how great an educational idea is on paper: What matters is how it translates into teachers’ day-to-day work. However, multiple factors impede adoption: no unified application strategy, unused new curricula, and leadership changes that nullify the program, leading to yet another initiative. The costs of doing things wrong are substantial:

• Stalled initiatives erode teacher trust. Educators develop “initiative fatigue” and a cynical mindset, refusing to buy into new initiatives.
• Learning consistency breaks down. Students navigate a patchwork of outdated worksheets and mismatched expectations from room to room, and learning gaps widen rather than build year to year.
• A stalled adoption means hundreds of thousands of dollars in unused materials, making it harder to secure district funding for future investments.

Making Things Stick

Effective implementation and sustainability approaches are necessary to build teacher faith and active engagement in new programs. Overcoming seven common reasons for “stalls” with intentional strategies can lead to sound adoption.

Reason 1: Here-You-Go Approach

The Stall: Purchasing a new curriculum, handing it to teachers, and expecting immediate classroom results without ongoing support.

Make it Stick: Invest in high-quality professional learning before the school year, prioritize unit-level intellectual preparation (PLCs and coaches), and set aside time for teachers’ questions about assessments, lesson arcs, and learning objectives before diving in.

Reason 2: The Solo Champion Trap

The Stall: Relying on a single leader to drive the entire adoption. When that person’s focus shifts or they leave the district, the initiative falls apart.

Make it Stick: Build a dedicated implementation team and establish clear administrative accountability through top-down modeling and buy-in. Distribute knowledge (documents, structures, observations) across the team so systems survive leadership transitions.

Reason 3: The New-Stuff Overwhelm

The Stall: Launching multiple curricula across subject areas in the same year creates systemic teacher fatigue and surface-level execution.

Make it Stick: Pause implementation to protect teachers’ learning load. Prioritize one subject at a time so educators become true experts before adding the next layer. Prepare teachers well in advance and support the need for change with data and a clear implementation trajectory.

Reason 4: I-Want-It-Now Mentality

The Stall: Expecting massive achievement gains in Year 1. When data doesn’t move instantly, leaders panic and abandon the curriculum.

Make it Stick: Commit to a 3–4-year sustainability timeline: Year 0 — teacher input and a pilot; Year 1 — implementation integrity, using feedback and walkthrough data to revise and refine curricula; Year 2 —strengthen teacher commitment; Year 3 — focus on outcome trends.

Reason 5: The Echo Chamber Effect

The Stall: Operating without a formal feedback loop, leaders assume everything is fine while educators quietly drift back into old habits.

Make it Stick: Establish structured feedback systems and built-in time for reflection. Acknowledge and synthesize input to adjust the curriculum where possible.

Reason 6: The Square Peg Problem

The Stall: Forcing a rigorous curriculum into rigid master schedules and outdated routines creates immediate friction.

Make it Stick: Align systems with the curriculum. Identify what’s working and what’s not, and adjust routines accordingly, supported by a cost-benefit analysis.

Reason 7: The Skipped Dress Rehearsal

The Stall: Skipping the pilot and moving straight to full-scale rollout, forcing troubleshooting at the highest stakes.

Make it Stick: Use a pilot to build buy-in and expertise by working through logistics with a core group of early adopters who can lead the rollout.

What does success look like? A strategic, multi-year approach that involves teachers from the start, provides necessary supports, and promotes buy-in, change, and desired outcomes.

Learn more about this edWeb broadcast, 7 Reasons Why New ELA Curriculum Adoptions Stall and What Makes Them Stick, sponsored by Fishtank Learning.

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Fishtank Learning creates High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) for ELA and Math, grounded in best practices and built around rigorous objectives. Both their Math and ELA curricula are highly rated by EdReports for standards alignment, with their ELA materials further recognized by The Reading League.

Article by Michele Israel, based on this edLeader Panel