Classroom Leaders

Implementation

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One of the characteristics of effective schools, in addition to what they implement, is how they put those approaches into practice. This section sets out some important principles of implementation: the process of making, and acting on, effective evidence-informed decisions. The principles and activities can be applied to a range of different school improvement decisions – programmes or practices;whole school or targeted approaches; internally or externally generated ideas. The statements should be treated as guiding principles and activities, rather than as a rigid set of steps.

Learn that…

  1. Implementation is an ongoing process that must adapt to context over time, rather than a single event. It involves the application of specific implementation activities and principles over an extended period (e.g. implementation planning, ongoing monitoring).
  2. Successful implementation requires expert knowledge of the approach that is being implemented and the related area of practice (e.g. behaviour), which is shared amongst staff.
  3. Implementation should involve repurposing existing processes and resources (e.g. governance, data collection) rather than creating a separate set of procedures.
  4. Effective implementation begins by accurately diagnosing the problem and making evidence-informed decisions on what to implement.
  5. Thorough preparation is important: time and care spent planning, communicating and resourcing the desired changes provides the foundation for successful delivery. Teachers and leaders should keep checking how ready their colleagues are to make the planned changes.
  6. Implementing an approach with fidelity (i.e. as intended) increases the chance of it impacting positively on school practice and pupil outcomes. Any approach should specify which features of the approach need to be adopted closely and where there is scope for adaptation.
  7. A combination of integrated activities is likely to be needed to support implementation (e.g. training, monitoring, feedback) rather than any single activity. Follow-on support (e.g. through high-quality coaching) is key to embedding new skills and knowledge developed during initial training.
  8. Delivery of a new approach is a learning process – expect challenges but aim for continuous improvement. Monitoring implementation is an essential tool in identifying, and acting on, problems and solutions.
  9. The confidence to make good implementation decisions is derived, in part, from confidence in the data on which those decisions are based. Reliable monitoring and evaluation enable schools to make well-informed choices, and to see how their improvement efforts are impacting on teacher knowledge, classroom practices and pupil outcomes.
  10. A school’s capacity to implement an approach is rarely static (e.g. staff leave, contexts change). Sustained implementation requires leaders to keep supporting and rewarding the appropriate use of an approach and check it is still aligned with the overall strategy and context.
  11. Implementation benefits from dedicated but distributed school leadership. Senior leaders should provide a clear vision and direction for the changes to come. At the same time, implementation is a complex process that requires feedback from staff and shared leadership responsibilities.
  12. Implementation processes are influenced by, but also influence, school climate and culture. Implementation is easier when staff feel trusted to try new things and make mistakes, safe in the knowledge that they will be supported with resources, training, and encouragement to keep improving.

Learn how to…

Plan and execute implementation in stages by:

  • Ensuring that implementation of professional development is a structured process where school leaders actively plan, prepare, deliver and embed changes.
  • Making a small number of meaningful strategic changes and pursuing these diligently, prioritising appropriately.
  • Reviewing and stopping ineffective practices before implementing new ones.

Make the right choices on what to implement by:

  • Identifying a specific area for improvement using a robust diagnostic process, focusing on the problem that needs solving, rather than starting with a solution.
  • Providing credible interpretations of reliable data that focus on pupils’ knowledge and understanding.
  • Examining current approaches, how they need to change and the support required to do so.
  • Adopting new approaches based on both internal and external evidence of what has (and has not) worked before (e.g. pupil outcome data and research-based guidance).
  • Ensuring it is suitable for the school context, recognising the parameters within which the change will operate (e.g. school policies) and where the school is in its development trajectory (e.g. addressing any significant behaviour problems would be an immediate priority).
  • Assessing and adapting plans based on the degree to which colleagues are ready to implement the approach (e.g. current staff motivation and expertise). 

Prepare appropriately for the changes to come by:

  • Being explicit about what will be implemented, and the overall desired outcomes.
  • Specifying the elements of the approach that appear critical to its success (i.e. the ‘active ingredients’) and communicating expectations around these with clarity.
  • Developing a clear, logical and well specified implementation plan, and using this plan to build collective understanding and ownership of the approach.
  • Using an integrated set of implementation activities that work at different levels in the school (e.g. individual teachers, whole school changes).

Deliver changes by:

  • Managing expectations and encouraging ‘buy-in’ until positive signs of changes emerge.
  • Monitoring implementation (including by clearly assigning and following up on the completion of critical tasks) and using this information to tailor and improve the approach over time (e.g. identifying a weak area of understanding and providing further training).
  • Reinforcing initial training with expert follow-on support within the school.
  • Prioritising the ‘active ingredients’ of the approach until they are securely understood and implemented, and then, if needed, introducing adaptations.

Sustain changes by:

  • Using reliable monitoring and evaluation to review how the implementation activities are meeting the intended objectives and continue to align with school improvement priorities.
  • Continuing to model, acknowledge, support, recognise and reward good approaches.
  • Treating scale-up of an approach as a new implementation process (e.g. from one department to another).

The text above is taken from the NPQ – Leading Teacher Development Framework. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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