Arkansas and the state rollout that worked
Arkansas did what most rollouts struggle to do: they turned a large-scale tool launch into everyday classroom use, fast.
In 2023, the Arkansas Department of Education partnered with Everway to launch Read&Write, uPar, and Equatio statewide for grades 3–12. Within 18 months, 93% of districts had adopted Everway tools.
At this scale, typical adoption models predict ~16% diffusion over five years. In Arkansas, that five-year benchmark was surpassed just two months after launch.
In the 2024–2025 school year, 85% of districts used Everway tools monthly, showing consistent use at scale. The depth of feature use points to a maturing and meaningful implementation, not just logins.
What created the speed and how can you replicate the consistency?
This playbook breaks down what powered that momentum, so your state, region, or district can follow Arkansas’s lead with a plan built to scale.
Built for leaders running wide-scale rollouts who want consistent classroom use and measurable student outcomes, follow these six steps to replicate Arkansas’ success.
6 steps to success
- Clarify the problem and define success
- Assign ownership and decision rights
- Build routines that fit into what educators already do
- Assess progress, then target support
- Capture and share stories that reinforce the change
Want the quick version?
Check out the rollout checklist leaders can use to get started and keep adoption focused, consistent, and moving.
1. Clarify the problem and define success
Set clear direction early so everyone shares the same “why,” definition of good use, and what success means.
You aren't just managing a tool. You're managing a chain reaction.
When expectations are unclear, implementation varies. District officials decide what to emphasize. Building principals decide what to prioritize. Instructional coaches decide what to model. Teachers decide whether it fits into their instruction that afternoon.
Define your purpose and share expectations upfront. This clarity makes training more effective, support more targeted, and implementation more successful.
Create a purpose statement leaders can repeat
Draft it with your leadership team, then use it everywhere: emails, decks, trainings, and updates. The more consistent the message, the more consistent the implementation.
A clear purpose statement gives you:
- One shared goal leaders can repeat in every message and meeting
- A definition of what the rollout is changing in day-to-day practice
- A filter for decisions about training, routines, and what to measure
- A stable reference point, even when roles change
Keep it short enough to repeat and specific enough to guide decisions.
Use this template:
“The rollout of [tool name] will [solve the problem] by enabling [who] to [do what in daily practice], so that [student outcome].”
Make it actionable
A purpose statement alone still leaves two practical questions:
- What does this look like in a real classroom?
- How will we know it’s working?
Turn your purpose into immediate direction. Right after the purpose statement, add two short lines that define “good use” and “success.” This prevents confusion later and makes training and measurement easier.
Good use
Write one observable sentence describing what should happen during instruction.
Example: “Good use means students use the tool(s) during core instruction across subjects, and educators consistently model when and how to use them."
Success
Write one sentence naming what you will look for as proof it’s working.
Example: “Success means broad, sustained use across schools, with student outcomes improving over time.”
What Arkansas did
Arkansas positioned the statewide model as a way to deliver universal supports without adoption delays and with clear visibility into reach and use.
Coordinated communication
Arkansas shared their purpose statement at the state level through a Commissioner's memo and repeated it through regional and local channels. Good use and success were both established at subsequent trainings at the regional and district level.
“The partnership will provide students and educators with access to innovative digital tools that will enhance literacy, math, and science instruction and help students achieve academic success.”
Commissioner's memo
2. Assign ownership and decision rights
Name accountable owners at each level and make it clear who decides what, when, and how decisions get communicated.
Large-scale implementation slows down when ownership is unclear. People wait for someone else to decide, work gets duplicated, and schools get mixed messages. The fastest way to protect momentum is to define two things early: who owns the rollout and who has decision rights.
In this step, you’ll set a minimum ownership structure that works at the state, regional, or district level, and makes it easy for educators to know where to go for answers.
Not every rollout is statewide. Some start regionally or in a single district. The principle is the same. Build a network of ownership and support at every level your rollout touches, from leadership decisions to daily classroom practice.
Build your leadership network
Name champions at each level, clarify decision rights, and set a steady cadence for updates and problem-solving. Then publish the owners in a simple directory and repeat it often. Principals, coaches, and teachers should never have to guess who to contact for support, decisions, or troubleshooting.
Build consistency through ownership
If your rollout is not statewide, you will distribute responsibilities as appropriate.
State level lead
- Sets vision and non-negotiables
- Aligns literacy, SPED, MTSS, and assessment priorities
- Manages contracts and data-sharing agreements
- Coordinates regional support and training
Regional lead
- Supports districts in building local rollout plans
- Delivers regional learning and coaching
- Monitors patterns across districts and escalates barriers
District lead
- Translates the blueprint into a district rollout plan and calendar
- Aligns principals, coaches, SPED teams, and IT where needed
- Owns the district data and review cadence
School lead
- Oversees building-level implementation
- Supports teachers with day-to-day routines
- Brings needs and data back to the district lead
What Arkansas did
Arkansas had a consistent champion from day one. Evan Beavers, AEM Coordinator at the Arkansas Department of Education, served as the visible, hands-on point person for guidance, training support, and problem-solving.
Clear ownership structure
He also acted as the bridge between the state and Everway, helping build a clear network of ownership that turned statewide access into statewide use. With regional leaders, he activated Educational Service Co-operatives to build capacity through training and ongoing support. District leaders knew exactly who to contact and had a direct line for questions and troubleshooting.
That structure delivered results. Arkansas saw broad monthly use with no gaps by district size or geography. And because the state used statewide licensing, districts avoided local budget cycles, procurement delays, and one-off onboarding. Centralized purchasing and aligned training helped educators get started faster, with fewer moving parts.
Statewide access also created a consistent baseline. Progress did not depend on a district’s ability to fund the tools, how quickly contracts moved locally, or whether onboarding happened in the right order.
In other words, the leadership network did more than manage a rollout. It shortened the time between purchase and practice, helped educators reach value sooner, and created the conditions for students to benefit at scale.
3. Build routines that fit into what educators already do
Embed the tools into established practices through routines that are easy to repeat, easy to spot, and easy to reinforce.
The rollouts that stick tend to do two things at once. They introduce what is new, and they build it into established practices so it is reinforced through the school’s normal cycles.
That is why this step focuses on routines. Routines turn expectations into repeatable practice that is easier to use, easier to coach, and easier to sustain.
Routines
Routines should be:
- Observable in real lessons
- Consistent enough to coach and reinforce
- Simple enough to repeat across classrooms
Use this formula
“When [trigger], students will [student moves] and teachers will [teacher moves], so we can see [proof].”
If/then: When should this routine be used?
Teacher action: What does the teacher do to set it up and reinforce it?
Student action: What do students do?
Proof: What should an observer see or hear if it’s working?
Example routine
Access complex text
If/then: If decoding stamina is a barrier to students reading grade-level text, then use the Read&Write literacy toolbar.
Teacher action: Cue the routine, model the first 30 seconds, remind students to pause and replay, check one student response for evidence use.
Student action: Listen and read along, pause and replay as needed, use vocabulary supports, then answer using the text.
Proof: Students are engaging with the grade-level text and completing the task with less avoidance.
Admin look-fors
- Teacher cues the routine at the start of reading
- Students are using read-aloud during the task
- Students reference the text when responding
What Arkansas did
Arkansas made routines stick by tying tool use to work schools already had to do: identifying and documenting read aloud access for assessment. The state set a clear expectation that uPar screening would provide the evidence for read aloud decisions. It did not add a new requirement. It made an existing one consistent.
From there, the routine was straightforward and repeatable:
- Screen: schools complete uPar screening on a set cadence
- Decide and document: teams review results, make the read aloud decision, and record it in the right place
- Roster and communicate: rosters are updated and shared so teachers know which supports students should use
- Practice during instruction: students use the same supports in daily lessons that they will use in assessment settings
That structure made scale possible. After more than 350,000 uPar protocols, 101,000 students were identified as needing read aloud access to grade-level text. In 2024-2025, 81% of districts used uPar monthly and 85% used Read&Write monthly, with broad monthly use across district size and geography.
4. Assess progress, then target support
Choose a small set of measures, review them on a predictable cadence, and use several inputs to trigger appropriate support.
Similar to instruction, a successful rollout needs ongoing assessment and data that show definitively what’s working, what isn’t, and where support should go next.
This step is how you assess the rollout. You are checking three things:
- Are leaders and schools still aligned on the purpose, good use, and success?
- Are the routines showing up in real instruction and processes?
- Are students getting more consistent access and benefit as a result?
Collect data
The fastest way to lose momentum is to create a new and unnecessary reporting burden on your educators. If measurement feels like extra work, schools will avoid it, rush it, or stop doing it. Using evidence schools already collect keeps this lightweight and reliable, and it lets you spend your time supporting practice instead of chasing updates.
Use a mix of evidence so you can see more of the whole picture:
- routine look-fors during walkthroughs
- existing artifacts (rosters, accommodation documentation, coaching plans, team notes)
- tool patterns as supporting evidence
- logins and usage patterns
Common challenges & your next steps
Alignment is off
- Reset expectations with building leaders
- Re-share the purpose statement and routine expectations using the same language.
Sentiment is the barrier
- Use short questionnaires to identify what’s getting in the way, then adjust support.
- Common fixes include clearer routines, faster modeling, and easier access.
Usage is below expectations
- Identify where usage is low, then target support with refresher training
- Small-group sessions for the teams or grade bands with the lowest use
- Office hours tied to the next instructional unit or assessment window
Routines are inconsistent
- Model routines in a real lesson
- Build in short practice time during PLC or grade-level meetings
- Coaching and a second walkthrough focused on the same look-fors
Access or setup is the barrier
- Notify your vendor's support team for troubleshooting support
- Contact your IT department to whitelist URLs as needed, deploy tools, etc.
What Arkansas did
Arkansas treated implementation monitoring as a standing practice, not an occasional check-in. State leaders met with Everway weekly to review what was happening across the state, surface barriers early, and decide what support was needed next.
Regular check-ins
They paired that weekly rhythm with clear visibility into usage. A statewide dashboard gave the team a shared view of logins and usage patterns, so they could track whether adoption was meeting expectations and spot uneven engagement by region, district, or time of year.
To strengthen the story beyond usage, Arkansas participated in a third-party research study to examine adoption and early outcome trends. The state partnered with the researcher by enabling access to the data needed for analysis, aligning on the questions to study, and participating in the research process so findings could be understood and used responsibly.
5. Build professional learning that changes practice
Run role-based learning that prioritizes routines, modeling, and coaching over feature walkthroughs.
Professional learning is where tool implementation either becomes meaningfully integrated into classroom practice or stays as “something we trained on once.”
Teachers should leave a session knowing exactly what to do in a real lesson, and they should be able to find quick support when they need it without digging. Capacity also cannot sit with one person. Strong rollouts build a small internal network of people who can model the routine, answer common questions, and reinforce expectations over time.
This step shows you how to build a practical professional learning system that respects teacher time, uses in-house expertise, and partners with your vendor to scale support.
Build internal capacity
Professional learning is most effective when when support shows up consistently. Use a train-the-trainer model to build a role-based support network.
- Identify internal champions who can model routines and support colleagues (coaches, specialists, teacher leaders, building champions).
- Set clear expectations for what those champions reinforce: the purpose, the routines, and the few tool actions that make the routines work.
- Make support visible and easy to access, so questions do not stall implementation.
Keep sessions short and practical
Design learning around what teachers will do in real lessons, not around tool features.
Each session should answer:
- When do I use this routine?
- What does it look like in a real task?
- What are the 2 to 3 tool features that make it work?
- How will I use it tomorrow?
Scale support with a central hub and vendor resources
Do not rebuild what already exists. Use your vendor to reduce load on your team and make help available on demand.
- Ask your vendor what self-serve resources exist (short videos, one-pagers, webinars, onboarding guides).
- Curate the few resources that match your routines and post them in one central, easy-to-find hub.
- Offer multiple ways to get help: short virtual sessions, office hours, onsite modeling when possible, and targeted refreshers at key moments (back-to-school, mid-year, pre-assessment).
- Use your measurement cadence to decide where to focus next so support stays targeted.
What Arkansas did
At the state level, Arkansas established clear ownership and a reliable support pathway. The state also took an active role in organizing and coordinating regional trainings, so districts did not have to figure out timing, messaging, or priorities on their own. District and school teams knew who to contact when questions came up, and they could count on timely guidance as implementation moved from launch to day-to-day use. That predictability reduced delays and kept local teams from solving the same problems in isolation.
Visible, repeatable, and accessible support
At the regional level, Educational Service Co-operatives strengthened the rollout by using a train-the-trainer approach. Regional leaders built a shared understanding of the tools and expectations, then brought that learning into districts and buildings. This created local capacity and helped keep guidance consistent, while still allowing district teams to adapt the work to their context.
Support was also easy to access. Arkansas and Everway partnered to create a central landing page that served as the rollout hub. Educators had one place to go for what they needed, including self-serve resources, training opportunities, and sign-ups.
Together, the leadership network, coordinated regional training, and central hub ensured every school had access to support. The result was a rollout structure where help was visible, repeatable, and accessible, making it easier for educators in every community to move from access to meaningful classroom use.
6. Capture and share stories that reinforce the change
Collect short, specific examples of barriers removed and outcomes improved to strengthen adoption and internal momentum.
This step is about recognition and momentum. When you spotlight educators using the tools and routines well, you make the change feel doable and worth it. You also give other schools a clear model to follow.
The most effective stories are local. Teachers are more likely to try a routine when they hear a nearby school made it work, or a peer district did it with the same constraints. Done well, this creates the best kind of friendly competition. Schools see what’s possible, want to match it, and start asking, “How do we do that here?”
Decide what stories to spotlight
Pick story types that reinforce the rollout goals and routines.
- Barriers removed for students
- Routines showing up consistently in real lessons
- Teams solving a common implementation challenge
- Early student outcomes teachers can see in daily work
Use a simple story format
Keep it short enough that educators will actually engage with it.
- Barrier: What was getting in the way
- Routine: What the educator or team did
- Result: What changed for students or for instruction
Build recognition that sparks friendly competition
Make it predictable and visible.
- “Win of the week” in leader updates
- "Routine spotlight” in staff meetings or PLC openings
- a monthly callout by region or district tied to one routine or one measure
- shoutouts to teams that solved a specific barrier, like access, rostering, or coaching follow-through
Keep it positive! The goal is to spread what works, not shame schools that are still building.
What Arkansas did
District teams in Arkansas described how visible recognition and practical examples helped adoption spread. When educators could see peers using the tools in real instruction, and when leaders highlighted those wins, other schools followed.
Sharing specific examples of barriers removed and student impact gave teams a reason to keep going and gave neighboring schools a model they could replicate.
A cycle of continuous improvement
Use this blueprint as a cycle, not a checklist you complete once.
Revisit your purpose statement. Recheck whether routines are showing up. Use evidence to target support. Build capacity without adding burden. Highlight the local wins that prove it’s working and invite others to follow.
