Focusing on a large study of the implementation of secondary English Language Arts curriculum in California and Washington, we assess how teachers use learning goals to support students developing expert learning practices. Highlighting the value of goal setting to support students' agency in learning to write, we describe teachers' reasons for not teaching these strategies more than any other aspect of the curriculum, as well as highlight the strategies of teachers who made learning goals meaningful. We ultimately offer the cycle for cultivating expert learners as a possible solution for professional development to better support goal setting through curricular planning.