LIFT Approved Provider Newsletter: November

Texas Education Agency sent this bulletin at 10/31/2025 12:28 PM CDT

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Learning Acceleration Support Opportunities (LASO 4) Program

November 2025

LIFT Approved Provider Newsletter
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Welcome to the LIFT Approved Provider Monthly Newsletter!

We’re kicking off a monthly cadence of LIFT-specific communication for the purpose of:  

  • Recapping LIFT U Conference learning and LIFT program updates for approved provider stakeholders (ESCs and external providers) 
  • Highlighting upcoming important program requirements and deadlines, as well as action steps for LIFT Leads
  • Building LIFT-specific knowledge at your organization at a variety of stakeholder levels 

This communication will be distributed through GovDelivery. Anyone within your organization who would like to receive this newsletter must access this link below to subscribe. Consider sharing this link with your organization's executive leadership team as well as any internal folks who will take part in the broader LIFT work, e.g. District Coaches and Campus Coaches.  

We’re excited to continue our partnership with all of you as we gear up to support school systems for LASO Cycle 4 and the LIFT Program! 
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 Reminders and Next Steps for LIFT Leads
  1. The LASO 4 Application is now live! The window for school systems to apply for LASO 4 initiatives will take place from October 3rd – December 3rd, 2025. Access the TEA LASO 4 webpage for details on LASO 4 initiatives and the application process. Additionally, approved providers are highly encouraged to utilize these LIFT Promotional Materials to support your recruitment of school systems to apply for the LIFT program.  
  2. Review the LIFT Lead Monthly map to gain clarity on key actions for your organization for the months of October and November to support your prioritization of LIFT planning in the weeks ahead.  
  3. Ensure that folks in your organization who will participate in LIFT work can prioritize key training dates, including the next LIFT U Conference on December 2-3rd for LIFT Leads AND LIFT upfront training taking place over two different options in early February.  
  4. Approved providers may apply for expertise in one or more HQIM on the current list of SBOE-approved materials and/or materials that will be approved at the November SBOE meeting.  The provider portal will open on Monday, November 24, and will close on Monday, December 22, at 12 pm CT. 

LIFT U 1.2 Recap

We’d like to extend our gratitude to all of you that made it possible for your LIFT Leads to participate in our first ever in-person LIFT U Conference in Dallas in mid-October. Here are a few trends from our feedback surveys to get a sense of the learning experience at LIFT U. In the spirit of continuous improvement, here are shifts we’ll make for future LIFT U conferences: 

  • We’ll move to a two-day LIFT U conference model moving forward with more opportunities for smaller group collaboration. 
  • LIFT U small group breakouts will feature more intentionally balanced TEA presence for supporting learning while also allowing for more peer-to-peer interactions for LIFT Leads. 

Below you’ll find the breakdown of LIFT U 1.2 Sessions to support your organization’s key takeaways. Links to session decks and learning resources can be found on the LIFT 1.2 External Agenda. A helpful resource embedded within the agenda is the LIFT 1.2 Parking Lot, where LIFT Lead participants were able to ask specific questions along with responses provided from TEA Leadership. 

Session  

Need to Know 

Planning/Next Steps for LIFT Leads 

LIFT Program Updates 

The LIFT Needs Assessment provides LIFT school systems & APs with a structured way to: 

  • Identify the current state 
  • Customize a LIFT Action Plan 
  • Start the work of monitoring progress 

 The LIFT Observation & Feedback Cycle is being tested in the field and with key stakeholder groups in order to: 

  • Receive feedback  
  • Help TEA make adjustments to tools and training ahead of the LIFT content roll-out 

 The Managed Instruction Dashboard is being developed, and tested in the field in order to: 

  • Receive Feedback 
  • Help TEA make adjustments to dashboard development plans.  

Reach to lift@tea.texas.gov if you have questions related to the LIFT Program updates or inquire during your next LIFT Lead coach touchpoint.  

 If not yet completed, submit the managed instruction Dashboard Feedback Link. 

Recruitment and Communicating with School Systems 
  • There are two categories for LIFT eligibility: Planning to implement an SBOE Approved HQIM in 2027-2028 or Implementing a Bluebonnet Learning product in 2026-2027. 
  • If school systems are implementing any Bluebonnet Product in 26-27 they will automatically be entered in the Implementation Phase.  
  • School systems will fall into different priority tiers within the LASO 4 application based on specific criteria in the program guidelines. Within priority tiers school systems will be ranked by STAAR Scores.  
  • Any school system with less than 165 instructional days will be not be in any priority tiers.  
  • Grant awards will be calculated according to formulas shared in the program guidelines.  
  • Sharing assessment and observation feedback data in the managed instruction dashboard is an assurance school systems will need to commit to in order to receive funding. 

 
  • Develop a communications plan for communicating with eligible school systems.  
  • Develop a system to track school systems communications as they work their way through the conversion funnel from awareness to application submission. 

 

Onboarding and Adaptive Support of School Systems 

Our jobs are to persuade and prove that 

  • LIFT is valuable 
  • The work is doable 
  • We’re going to support you 

We don’t need school systems to have exemplary reasons for participating in LIFT. 

Fall comms needs to ensure, as best as possible, that school systems can prioritize LIFT once we convince them that they should prioritize LIFT. 

1. Refine talking points for how to communicate 

  • What is LIFT 
  • Why it’s such a valuable priority (and thus should be prioritized) 
  • How school systems will be supported 

2. Use their talking points in comms with systems and adjust talking points, as necessary 

 

 

Timely Topics 

Starting in January 2026, there will be streamlined pathways to obtain RBIS training certification.  

We will have updates coming soon to the LIFT Training Calendar.  

LIFT 1.3 dates are confirmed: December 2nd and 3rd, which will be held virtually.  

SAPL 1.1 Vetting window for applying to support additional HQIM products through LIFT opening again from Monday, November 24 - Monday, December 22, 2025. 

Review the email communication from Perla Kwiatowski regarding the additional HQIM support application window for more details (shared with LIFT Leads on Tuesday October 21st with the subject line “LIFT AP Opportunity”  

Creating Culture 
  • Belonging, Clarity, and Optimism (Pillars of Learning Readiness) are essential to integrate when building a foundation for the LIFT work, both with internal teams and partner school systems. 
  • When present, these three pillars, along with trust, will help to accelerate results.  Low trust and the absence of belonging can impede progress. 

LIFT Leads can turn around the content to their DCs and CCs to help frame their thinking as they begin to work with school systems. We have added DC-facing scenarios and CC-facing scenarios on slides 10 and 11, respectively.  You can find the scenarios excerpted from the slide deck here. 

 Key Moves to make to ensure a culture of performance is built from the onset of LIFT: 

 Ensure DCs and CCs have clarity on their role and expectations. 

  • Allow your team to see you embrace productive struggle and admit mistakes.  This process is new to us all! 
  • Listen to understand.  No one person has all of the answers, and undoubtedly nuances in implementation will arise.  What your team/school systems surface during initial implementation will be important to shaping LIFT in your region. 
  • Develop a process to intentionally solicit on-going feedback from all team members and school systems during implementation. Determine how you will act on the feedback - keeping any commitments/promises that you make.  

District Coach and Campus Coach Roles 
  • Who the DCs and CCs support and how they will be proving those supports through the three types of capacity building 
  • What supports look like under each pillar of capacity building  
  • The knowledge, skills and dispositions that are required of DCs and CCs to support the school systems  
  • The importance of collaboration and alignment between the DC and CC in coordinating supports within a school system 
  • Similarities and differences between DC/CC and legacy roles  
  • Outline the current skills/knowledge of legacy staff (if any) and identify gap areas that will help inform hiring decisions 
  • Work with your LIFT coach to discuss how current legacy roles (if any) align to DC and CC roles and potential shifts that will need to take place or what hiring will be needed for those roles 
  • Continue to flag any additional feedback/resources that would help this work. We have gathered feedback from LIFT U and have a lot of next step 

 

Managing the Team 

Internal LIFT Team capacity calculator - a document that provides rough estimates for the amount of time required in LIFT Year 1: 

• per system for a LIFT DC 

• per school for a LIFT CC 

 Purpose: to support organizational capacity planning and LIFT staffing decisions for the first year of LIFT programming. 
  1. Work with your organization’s leadership team and your LIFT Lead coach to start thinking through the capacity of your team and potentially any hiring/shifting of folks you may need to do or future thinking you may need to do.  
  2. Continue to flag any additional feedback/resources that would help this work. We have gathered feedback from LIFT U and have a lot of next steps. 

 

LIFT Resources

Need additional information or support? LIFT Leads please connect with your TEA assigned LIFT Lead Coach. You can also reach out to the wider LIFT team at the email address in the newsletter footer below.