Coherence at Scale

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Across the country, students who need the most support often experience the most incoherent learning. Core instruction, intervention, tutoring, and other supports are frequently disconnected, leaving students to navigate different materials, routines, and expectations across their school day.

Despite significant investments in intervention and support, too many students who fall behind never fully catch up—not because schools lack effort or resources, but because the supports designed to help students often operate in silos rather than reinforcing one another.

State leaders play a critical role in changing that reality. State policies, guidance, funding, and accountability systems shape whether districts can build coherent instructional systems that keep grade-level learning at the center for every student.

When systems are intentionally aligned, supports work together to accelerate learning. But when policies and initiatives pull in different directions, even well-designed interventions can unintentionally fragment learning and make it harder for students to succeed.

A practical roadmap for state leaders

Coherence at Scale: A State Guide to Supporting Instructional Systems builds on TNTP’s Coherence by Design and focuses on the critical role states play in supporting instructional coherence.

The guide outlines five key policy levers, spanning instructional materials, intervention, assessment, funding, and accountability, that states can align to support better student experiences. These are not new responsibilities, but existing areas of state action that, when intentionally connected, create powerful conditions for learning.

What You’ll Learn

• How state policies can unintentionally create incoherent student experiences
• Five actionable levers to align systems around grade-level learning
• Examples of states already building more coherent systems
• Practical strategies to move from disconnected initiatives to aligned implementation

TNTP’s Approach

TNTP works with states and districts to turn coherence from an aspiration into reality. Our work is grounded in a simple goal: ensuring every student can access rigorous, grade-level learning every day. We partner with leaders to diagnose system misalignment, align policy and practice, and support implementation, so coherence takes hold across classrooms and systems.

Download the guide to explore how your state can align systems to better support students and the educators who serve them.