Delivering Change at Scale: Structured Literacy PLD with Coactive Education

Evidence-based Structured Literacy Professional Learning Across Aotearoa

Change at scale is never easy. But when it is grounded in evidence, driven by purpose, and carried by committed teachers and school leaders, it becomes powerful.

Over the past year, Coactive Education has delivered Ministry of Education Structured Literacy Professional Learning and Development (PLD) to thousands of teachers across Aotearoa New Zealand. This work has been challenging, demanding, and deeply meaningful. It has reinforced for us that doing the right thing in education often requires courage, persistence, and collective effort.

Delivering the Ministry of Education Structured Literacy Approaches PLD has been one of the most complex and rewarding initiatives we have undertaken as a professional learning provider.

Commitment to Structured Literacy and the Science of Learning

A teacher works through their GROW Literacy Workshop 2 Workbook designed with Louise Dempsey

From the outset, we were fully committed to the intent of the initiative. We believed, and still believe, in the importance of evidence-informed structured literacy approaches and in our shared responsibility to lift literacy outcomes for all learners.

Being 100 percent behind the kaupapa, however, did not mean the work was easy.

Across recent cohorts, we have worked alongside thousands of teachers and school leaders in urban, rural, mainstream, bilingual, and specialist settings. The scale of delivery has been significant. But scale is only one part of the story. What matters most is supporting real change in classroom literacy practice, within a system already under pressure.

Navigating the Realities of Education Change

There have been genuine challenges. Some were structural, including:

• Releasing teachers for full-day professional learning

• Navigating curriculum updates during delivery

• Managing assessment and data collection requirements

• Responding to inconsistent sector messaging

Other challenges were human. Many teachers shared that they felt overwhelmed, not by the value of structured literacy learning, but by the pace of change and the volume of new content they were being asked to implement.

At times, doing the right thing was hard. Maintaining fidelity to evidence-based structured literacy practice, while responding with empathy to teacher workload and context, required constant reflection and adaptation. Supporting mandated change meant listening carefully, adjusting thoughtfully, and staying anchored to purpose even when the work felt uncomfortable.

High-Quality Facilitators and Adult Learning Design

A key strength of our Structured Literacy PLD has been our high-quality facilitators. They bring deep literacy expertise, strong classroom credibility, and a clear understanding of how adults learn best.

Our professional learning design is grounded in the principles of adult learning (andragogy). We recognise that teachers need professional learning that is relevant, practical, respectful of prior knowledge, and immediately applicable. Our workshops and Communities of Practice intentionally balance theory with modelling, discussion, reflection, and real classroom examples that teachers can use straight away.

School Leadership as a Critical Enabler

This work would not have been possible without the extraordinary commitment of school leaders. Principals and leadership teams worked hard to ensure their teachers could attend, remain engaged, and apply their learning. Many did this while navigating reliever shortages, timetable pressures, and competing priorities.

Their leadership created the conditions for meaningful participation, protected professional learning time, and sent a clear message that structured literacy matters.

Impact, Engagement, and Teacher Voice

We listened carefully to feedback. And we acted on it.

Attendance and engagement remained high. Teachers leaned into the learning. Leaders supported their teams. Most importantly, classroom practice began to shift.

One teacher shared:

“This was one of the best PDs I’ve been involved in.”

Another reflected:

“It clarified how the brain processes new learning, moving knowledge from working memory into long-term memory, and reinforced the importance of automaticity for fluent reading and writing.”

Across feedback, teachers consistently told us the PLD helped them understand what to teach, how to teach it, and why it matters, linking structured literacy practices directly to the Science of Learning and Te Mātaiaho.

“The PLD provided practical, hands-on strategies that I could put straight into my practice. It has added valuable tools to my teaching toolbox.”

School leaders also reported increased confidence, consistency, and student engagement.

“Our kaiako left the sessions excited to try the concepts and strategies in their classrooms. Implementation felt smooth because it aligned with our current practices.”

Why Long-Term Structured Literacy PLD Matters

Perhaps the most important learning for us as a provider has been this. Short-term professional learning is not enough.

Deep, sustainable literacy improvement takes time. It requires opportunities to revisit learning, ask questions once teachers are back in classrooms, respond to assessment data, and adapt practice to real contexts.

This insight led directly to the design of our Long-Term Literacy PLD, a flexible, school-supported model that sits beyond mandated delivery and supports sustained implementation of structured literacy approaches.

Our long-term approach supports schools through:

• In-school professional learning and coaching

• Ongoing Communities of Practice

• Leadership guidance and planning support

• Practical tools that help teachers answer the question we heard most often, How do we fit everything in?

Teachers at an Auckland GROW Literacy Workshop

Looking Ahead to 2026 and Beyond

As we look ahead to 2026, we feel a strong sense of momentum and optimism. We are excited to welcome the final cohorts of teachers as they begin their structured literacy professional learning journey and to continue working alongside schools as this learning becomes embedded and sustained.

These final cohorts mark more than the end of a programme. They represent the continuation of a system-wide shift toward clearer, more explicit, and more equitable literacy teaching.

We are proud to walk alongside the Ministry of Education, teachers, and school leaders as this work continues. We remain deeply committed to supporting long-term implementation that leads to lasting impact for learners.

The work ahead will still be demanding. But we know it matters. And we are ready.