From Funding to Fidelity: What Districts Should Know as LIFT Implementation Begins

With the launch of LASO Cycle 4, Texas is ushering in the next evolution of its grant and allotment programs, investing over $500 million to strengthen schools across the state. “Learning Acceleration Support Opportunities (LASO) is a single, consolidated application that combines grants, allotments, and in-kind supports, bundled around a few key strategies to accelerate academic gains. LASO Cycle 4 will offer 15 opportunities focused on curriculum and instruction, educator training, more time, and innovative school models.” 

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has outlined the different grant opportunities into focus areas, including Curriculum and Instruction, Education and Training, More Time, and Innovative School Models. The 15 grant opportunities differ in funding scope, with each requiring adherence to specific guidelines, time commitments, and compliance expectations.

The most ambitious of the grants is the Leadership and Instructional Foundations for Texas (LIFT) initiative, designed to help districts build strong, sustainable instructional systems that lead to consistent, high-quality teaching and improved student outcomes. LIFT supports districts for three years to:

• Adopt and implement high-quality instructional materials (HQIM), including Bluebonnet Learning, TEA’s newly written curriculum.
• Strengthen instructional leadership through coaching, observation, and feedback systems.
• Build effective Professional Learning Communities and schoolwide routines aligned to research-based instructional strategies (RBIS).
• Ensure implementation moves beyond training to lasting practice and ownership through sustainability.
  

At its core, LIFT is about moving from initiative-driven work to system-level, enduring instructional improvement. Title I school improvement grants support HQIM implementation without requiring Bluebonnet Learning adoption, but are limited to one year, compared to three years of funding through LIFT and Bluebonnet Learning.

Program guidelines require that a designated percentage of funding be used to contract with a single State Approved Provider to support fidelity of implementation. As part of this work, I met with Charisse Lyman, Founder and CEO of UnTapped Genius Coaching Firm, an approved provider supporting LASO-funded work, to explore how these new initiatives are shaping implementation across Texas schools.

I asked Ms. Lyman what some of the qualities districts should look for when partnering with a provider. She stated, “Districts should look for an Approved Provider who brings both deep expertise and strong execution, someone who understands curriculum and instruction at a high level and knows how to translate that into day-to-day practice across systems.”

She discussed different characteristics of a strong partner, which included:  

• Pedagogical experts with a clear command of HQIM and research-based instructional strategies.
• Confident and assertive communicators who can name priorities, surface misalignment, and guide hard conversations with clarity and care.
• Empowering partners who build the capacity of leaders and teachers rather than creating dependence.
• Innovative problem-solvers who adapt support to the local context while protecting fidelity to the curriculum.
• Self-starters who take ownership, anticipate needs, and move work forward without waiting to be asked.

While these qualities provide a clear framework for a strong partnership, districts often encounter challenges when trying to identify providers who consistently demonstrate them in practice.

Given LIFT’s emphasis on planning and sustained implementation, selecting a single partner is a high-impact decision, as providers work directly on campuses, alongside teachers, and in alignment with district priorities for up to three years. When asked to reflect on this decision from her experience supporting LASO- and LIFT-aligned work across districts, Ms. Lyman noted that provider selection involves navigating multiple considerations, including compliance requirements, technical expertise, and alignment with district vision and instructional priorities. She shared that, in her experience, the most effective partnerships are those where there is clarity and coherence not only around scope and expertise, but also around shared approaches, expectations, and ways of working. Over time, she has observed that relational trust and partnership alignment play an important role in supporting sustained implementation.

Ms. Lyman also discussed the importance of capacity and continuity across multi-year implementation efforts. From her perspective, consistent staffing and stable support structures can help districts maintain momentum as systems are refined and instructional practices evolve. She further noted that implementation of complex instructional initiatives requires attention to change management and benefits from partners who are able to adjust support responsively based on data, local context, and ongoing feedback. These considerations underscore the value of establishing clear roles, responsibilities, and communication structures at the outset of a partnership to support effective implementation over time.

Once districts select a State Approved Provider, the scope of support varies based on the schools served and the specific grants awarded. I asked Ms. Lyman to describe what districts and campuses can expect from providers under LIFT. She explained that Approved Providers work alongside districts and campuses to:

• Conduct needs assessments and develop multi-year action plans.
• Support leaders in building a shared vision for instruction grounded in HQIM and RBIS.
• Provide training, coaching, and job-embedded support for district leaders, campus leaders, and teachers.
• Strengthen PLCs, observation and feedback cycles, and instructional and school-wide routines.
• Monitor progress using qualitative and quantitative data and adjust support as needed.
• Build capacity and ownership so systems continue beyond the grant.

She emphasized that the ultimate goal is not long-term dependence on a provider, but district-led instructional excellence that is sustained beyond the life of the grant.

When asked what advice she would offer district leaders as they consider this work and select a partner, Ms. Lyman emphasized the importance of alignment and long-term commitment: “Choose a partner who is willing to walk alongside you, not rush ahead of you. Look for alignment in beliefs, clarity in approach, and a commitment to long-term impact. Sustainable instructional change is not fast, but when done well, it is transformative.” For district leaders, the message is clear: the promise of LIFT is realized through thoughtful provider selection and trust-based partnerships, ones that work alongside districts to strengthen instruction where it matters most, in classrooms and with students.

Together, these supports illustrate how effective partnerships move beyond compliance to create the conditions for lasting instructional improvement. LIFT offers districts a meaningful opportunity to move beyond fragmented initiatives and toward coherent, sustainable instructional systems. When curriculum, leadership, coaching, and professional learning are aligned, and when partnerships are built on trust and shared purpose, schools can create conditions where educators and students thrive. 

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