IMPLEMENTATION
SCIENCE
OVERVIEW
CONTEXT & RATIONALE
Activity
Successful
Implementation
Unsuccessful
Implementation
Implementation Gap
Implementation is defined as a specified set of activities
designed to put into practice an activity or program of
known dimensions.
RESEARCH
PRACTICE
GAP
IMPLEMENTATION
Why Focus on Implementation?
“Students cannot benefit from
interventions they do not experience.”
Business as Usual: Impact
Do not Result in Implementation as Intended (used
alone)
• Diffusion/ Dissemination of information
• Training
• Passing laws/ mandates/ regulations
• Providing funding/ incentives
• Organization change/ reorganization
• 5 to 10% return on investment
NECESSARY BUT NOT SUFFICIENT
OUTCOMES
% of Participants who Demonstrate Knowledge,
Demonstrate New Skills in a Training Setting,
and Use new Skills in the Classroom
Knowledge
Skill
Demonstration
Use in the
Classroom
Theory and
Discussion
10%
5%
0%
..+Demonstration in
Training
30%
20%
0%
…+ Practice &
Feedback in
Training
60%
60%
5%
…+ Coaching in
Classroom
95%
95%
95%
TRAINING
COMPONENTS
—Joyce and Showers, 2002
Formula for Success
WHAT:
Effective
Interventions
Implementation Math
HOW:
Effective
Implementation
WHY:
Positive
Outcomes for
Students
WHERE:
Supportive
Contexts
Planning for Change
• Point of entry is District, not school
• Use short-term infusion of resources
• Establish long-term, district-based capacity for
quality
• Must focus on the
program/practice/initiative/“IT” and the
framework for installation
IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORKS
Active Implementation Frameworks
Stages
Drivers
Usable
Interventions
Cycles
Teams
Usable
Interventions
Usable Interventions
Performance
Assessment
Operational
Definitions
Essential
Functions
Clear
Description
Reflection
Usable
Interventions
How will knowledge of
Usable Interventions
inform your future
practice?
Stages
Implementation Stages
Exploration
•
•
•
•
Assess needs
Examine
intervention
components
Consider
Implementation
Drivers
Assess Fit
Installation
•
•
•
•
Acquire
Resources
Prepare
Organization
Prepare
Implementation
Drivers
Prepare Staff
Initial
Full
Implementation
Implementation
•
•
•
•
2-4 Years
Adjust
Implementation
Drivers
Manage Change
Deploy Data
Systems
Initiate
Improvement
Cycles
•
•
•
Monitor &
Manage
Implementation
Drivers
Achieve Fidelity
& Outcome
Benchmarks
Further Improve
Fidelity &
Outcomes
Reflection
• How will knowledge of
Stages
Stages inform your
future practice?
Drivers
Implementation Drivers
Performance Assessment
(Fidelity)
Coaching
Systems
Intervention
Training
Facilitative
Administration
Decision Support
Data System
Selection
Leadership
© Fixsen & Blase, 2008
Adaptive
Technical
Implementation Drivers
• Help to develop, improve, and sustain
educators’ competence and confidence to
implement effective educational practices
and supports.
• Help ensure sustainability and
improvement at the organization and
systems level
• Help guide leaders to use the right
leadership strategies for the situation
Drivers
How:
Why:
Positive Outcomes for Students
What:
Effective Educational Practices
Staff capacity to
support
children/families
with the selected
practices
Institutional capacity to
support teachers & staff
in implementing
practices with fidelity
Core
Implementation
Components
Leadership
Capacity to provide direction
and vision
© Fixsen & Blase, 2008
Competency Drivers
• Build competency and
confidence
• Develop, improve and
sustain competent &
confident use of
innovations
Implementation Drivers: Competency
Performance Assessment
(Fidelity)
Coaching
Training
Selection
© Fixsen & Blase, 2008
Organization Drivers
•
• Change Organizations
and Systems
• Create and sustain
hospitable
organizational and
system environments
for effective services
• Develop functional data
systems that can be
used to inform decisionmaking
Implementation Drivers: Organization
Performance Assessment
(Fidelity)
Coaching
Training
Selection
Systems
Intervention
Facilitative
Administration
Decision Support
Data System
© Fixsen & Blase, 2008
Leadership Drivers
• Purpose
• Identifying “wicked”
problems and
applying effective
strategies to address
those problems
Leadership Drivers
Implementation Drivers: Leadership
Performance Assessment
(Fidelity)
Coaching
Systems
Intervention
Training
Facilitative
Administration
Decision Support
Data System
Selection
Leadership
© Fixsen & Blase, 2008
Adaptive
Technical
Reflection
• How will knowledge of
Drivers
Drivers inform your
future practice?
Cycles
Improvement Cycles
• New approaches need New Ways
of Work
• Transparent, protocol-driven
feedback loops and processes
• Aligned policies, funding, guidance
to support new ways of work
• There are no administrative
decisions, they are all education
quality decisions.
Cycles
Improvement Cycles: Usability Testing
Act
Plan
Act
Plan
Act
Plan
Study
Do
Study
Do
Study
Do
Reflection
• How will knowledge of
Cycles
Cycles inform your
future practice?
Teams
Linked Team Structures
“We tend to focus on
snapshots of isolated parts
of the system and wonder
why our deepest problems
never seem to get solved.”
—Senge, 1990
State-based
Implementation Team
Regionally-based
Implementation Team
District-based
Implementation Team
School-based
Implementation Team
Decisionmakers:
Data,
Curriculum,
Funding,
Personnel
Implementation Teams
IMPLEMENTATION
INTERVENTION
Impl. Team
Effective
NO Impl. Team
80%, 3 Yrs
14%, 17 Yrs
Making it Happen
Letting it Happen
Helping it Happen
Fixsen, Blase, Timbers, &
Wolf, 2001
Balas & Boren, 2000
Green & Seifert, 2005
Implementation Teams
Focus on:
• Increasing “buy-in” and readiness,
• Installing and sustaining the implementation
infrastructure,
• Assessing and reporting on fidelity and outcomes,
• Building linkages with external systems, and
• Problem-solving and promoting sustainability.
Implementation Teams
Core Competencies:
• Knowledge and understanding of the selected
program or innovation including the linkage of
components to outcomes.
• Knowledge of implementation science and best
practices for implementation, and
• Applied experience in using data for program
improvement.
Practice-Policy Communication Cycle
Feedback
Practice Informs Policy
Policy Enables Practices
Plan
Study - Act
External Implementation Support
Policy
Do
Practice
FORM SUPPORTS FUNCTION
Policy
Structure
Procedure
Practice
Reflection
• How will knowledge of
Teams
Team Structure inform
your future practice?
TOOLS & RESOURCES
Getting Started: Tools & Resources
• Hexagon Tool
• Initiative Inventory
• Practice Profile
• District Capacity Assessment
• The Active Implementation Hub
• Quick Start Video
Practice Profiles
• http://implementation.fpg.unc.edu/modules-and-lessons
• Lesson 3: Practice Profiles
• Provide clear definitions and descriptions of
developmental variations of an implementation
• Examples
• http://mtss.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/Practice+Profiles
• http://ncimplementationscience.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/LEA+SelfAssessment
DCA