05/30/2026
Fidelity might be the F-word of education.
My first year of teaching, my district adopted a new reading curriculum.
At the training, I heard two phrases over and over:
“Read the blue words.”
“Teach with fidelity.”
I didn’t even have students sitting in front of me yet, and I remember wondering:
What happens when the lesson doesn’t fit the learner?
The trainers eventually acknowledged that the curriculum was designed to meet the needs of the “average” student.
But here’s the thing.
I’ve never taught an average class.
I’ve taught students who needed more support.
Students who needed more challenge.
Students learning English.
Students carrying trauma.
Students whose curiosity took us somewhere unexpected.
And yet, throughout that first year, instructional walkthroughs often focused on fidelity checks:
Was I following the script?
Did I read the blue words?
Was I on the prescribed scope & sequence?
What those checks didn’t always capture was the professional decision-making happening in real time.
The adjustment.
The scaffolding.
The extension.
The responsiveness.
I believe deeply in educational research.
But I don’t believe that a publishing company citing that research knows my students better than I do.
Research requires fidelity so we can understand what works.
Students require responsiveness because they are human beings, not research conditions.
The goal isn’t abandoning evidence-based practice.
The goal is using evidence-informed practices while remaining responsive to the learners sitting in front of us.
Because curriculum should serve students.
Not the other way around.
