News

March news from the SISEP Center highlighting a blog on action planning once the Hexagon Tool process is complete.

February news from the SISEP Center highlighting fieldwork using the Hexagon Tool and how to practice the pause when making selection decisions.

January news from the SISEP Center highlighting various resources and a blog post about reflecting on your implementation journey.

December news from the SISEP Center highlighting a blog post and resources for developing effective, efficient, and equitable implementation teams.

September news from the SISEP Center highlighting a blog post and resources for cultivating champions for implementation work.

Thoughtfully aligning the selection, professional learning, coaching, and fidelity assessments in implementation can make or break a successful implementation plan. Read the July 2021 SISEP eNote to learn how competency drivers facilitate successful implementation.

This eNote highlights how the Minnesota Department of Education has used Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) Cycles iteratively to address challenges to achieve full implementation of an evidence-based practice through sustained focus and application, improving graduation rates in four large districts.

Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) Cycles are critical to ensure that the practices or processes that we think will work for our students actually do. This eNote provides an introduction to PDSA Cycles, including prompts for attending to equity in the process.

This eNote highlights how Jefferson County Public Schools in Kentucky, with the implementation expertise of the regional Greater Louisville Educational Cooperative, employed Practice-Policy Communication Cycles in response to requests from their teachers for feedback during virtual mathematics instruction.

Initial implementation begins when practitioners first begin to utilize a program or practice. In this period of trial and learning, implementation is not perfect as the infrastructure is being critically examined for areas of improvement and inequities are being challenged, called out, and addressed at all levels of the system.

The primary outcome of an effective installation stage that centers equity is the acquisition and allocation of resources and supports that ensure the system is well equipped to implement best practices for the benefit of all.

Meaningful change in states, districts, regions and schools begins with a period of Exploration. Exploration stage activities provide organizations with a valuable opportunity to set the course for deeply understanding the experiences and hopes of the populations served. Based on this understanding, diverse, collaborative teams can identify and co-design the implementation and alignment of policy, processes, and practices to ensure equitable access, opportunities and outcomes for all. How we engage in the process, starting with exploration, can either reinforce systemic inequities and biases or support the work of the organization to be intentionally anti-discriminatory.

Equitable Implementation occurs when strong equity components (including explicit attention to the culture, history, values, assets, and needs of the community) are integrated into the principles and tools of implementation science to facilitate quality implementation of effective programs for a specific community or group of communities (DuMont, Metz, Woo, 2019).

Dr. Ximena Franco, the newest member of the SISEP team, offers considerations for adapting our implementation efforts to attend to the social and emotional well-being of dual language learners in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As we continue our preparations for different scenarios in returning to school, we need to be purposeful when planning for adaptations to our use of practices or innovations. Read the June 2020 SISEP eNote to learn more about how to plan for purposeful adaptations of practices or innovations.

The evolving situation with the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to develop new ways of learning and being together in our communities. Capacity assessments need to be thoughtfully planned for virtual implementation. SISEPs colleagues in partner states have been doing just that, and their tips for virtual administration of capacity assessments are shared in the May 2020 SISEP eNote.

The novel Coronavirus has provided extensive challenges that have led the global education community to explore new ways of teaching, learning and engaging students and families. As we lean into this new way of work, it is important to apply the concepts of implementation science. When selecting online learning practices, start with guidance from your state and local education agencies, then consider the questions outlined in this eNote, based on the Hexagon Tool.

District Implementation Teams are responsible for creating readiness for and managing systemic change with district executive leaders, governing boards, school implementation teams, and staff. To do so effectively, the district implementation team establishes reliable and enduring indicators of progress. Read the February 2020 SISEP eNote to learn more about district readiness.

Leadership behaviors are visible – leaders at every level of the system are actively engaged in developing and using strategies that facilitate and support use of the effective innovation, and that make the work of educators easier. Read the December 2019 SISEP eNote to learn more about Leadership and the role of leaders in supporting implementation.

To reach socially significant outcomes for students, it is critical to use implementation capacity data and fidelity data to guide planning and continuous improvement of implementation efforts. Read the November 2019 SISEP eNote to learn more about these two types of data and how they are used!