“Oh, I saw this really great strategy and I think we should try it!” Have you ever uttered that phrase and tried to replicate the strategy in your classroom only to crash and burn, without quite knowing why? Of course you have! We all have! Whether we have been asked by the district, our school, or ourselves, we see and hear about awesome strategies that support students and connect them to their learning all the time. Many of us even give strategies a shot only to abandon them and think they must not work at all.
Grade-level teams in particular are often looking for ways to improve outcomes for students. We read books and articles, go to trainings or conferences, watch others show how successful they are in doing “the thing.” Then, when we try to replicate what we’ve learned, exactly as it is shared with us, we find out it’s not that easy. That’s because strategies that are evidence-based and showing success in other schools cannot just be copied in a vacuum. Without considering system conditions, highly effective strategies fall flat and become “things we tried that didn’t work.” We either get frustrated and keep trying to make them work, or we abandon the effort and go back to what we were doing before, even if we know it isn’t as beneficial for students as we’d like.
Understanding system conditions is critical
System conditions are the factors that can positively or negatively impact student outcomes, and they vary from school to school. Grade-level teams can consider the relationships between these factors—and not just individual elements—when setting goals and deciding on aligned strategies to implement.
When working to gain a clearer vision of system conditions, we can focus on leadership, academic, physical, and social elements that we want to address as we plan for ways to introduce and implement strategies to be successful. As teams, we should acknowledge the strengths we have in order to address potential barriers to a successful implementation.
The role of leadership conditions
Grade-level teams can plan for system conditions around leadership, such as priority goals and a vision for school-wide improvement, team structures, available supports, and teacher autonomy. Grade teams should ask the following questions when addressing system conditions with leadership:
- Will this strategy align closely with our school’s key improvement goal(s)?
- Will leadership allow shifts in schedules or resources to make this change?
- How might leadership teams be able to support our grade-level team with resources, including materials, staff, time, and professional learning opportunities, to begin and sustain implementation?
- To what extent can our grade-level team have autonomy to make and sustain a change?
- How are we, as a team, purposefully organized to plan, reflect, and monitor student data to show that a strategy is beneficial to students?
- How does our team determine roles and responsibilities for implementing a strategy?
- What district or school policies may impact our team’s ability to implement a strategy?
- What are the systematic and explicit processes that are widespread and consistent and would make sense to connect to the new strategy?
Working with academic conditions
Grade-level teams that use data, including assessment data from MAP® Growth™ or MAP® Reading Fluency™, to identify student needs for success should also focus on academic elements of system conditions.
Academics may be the driving force for implementing a quality strategy, so a grade-level team’s close examination of the following questions can assist in setting up positive conditions before and during implementation. Addressing teaching and learning aspects, such as standards, curriculum, assessment, and differentiation, can guide you.
- Will this strategy ensure students are being held to high academic standards?
- What does quality student engagement look and sound like during implementation?
- How are student growth and achievement being measured, and how are they aligned to standards and grade-level expectations?
- How do the resources being introduced align to the core curriculum?
- How do we ensure the strategy supports students equitably and meets their needs?
- How might instructional time be affected by this strategy?
- What evidence-based resources are available or needed to implement the strategy?
Don’t forget physical and social conditions
In addition to leadership and academic system conditions, grade-level teams will want to examine physical and social conditions, leverage positive aspects they bring, and plan for ways to address and strengthen areas needing improvement. Grade-level teams can assess opportunities for communication, reflection, feedback and celebration, trusting relationships, and the physical learning environment.
The questions below can help you determine action steps as you work to implement a new strategy:
- Is communication open, with two-way communication leading to shared ownership of decision-making?
- Do we have mutually supportive and trusting relationships that allow for tough conversations with each other?
- How, and how often, will our team reflect on student data to celebrate and track student, class, and strategy success?
- How will we discuss ways to adjust and adapt a strategy over time to still meet the desired outcomes for students?
- How might we elicit feedback from students, families, each other, and leadership to gain additional perspectives of strategy implementation?
- When feedback is provided by others, how might it be incorporated as part of our reflection process?
- Do families trust our efforts to improve their students’ school performance?
- Does the physical environment support student learning?
Expect an implementation dip
Once grade-level teams have discussed and understood the key system conditions necessary for success with a strategy, it is also important to consider how implementation science plays a role. The science shows us that change happens over time and consistently through phases. It also shows us that quality implementation addresses each phase and is mindful of implementation dips. Grade-level teams can plan for ways to communicate, monitor progress, and have a process of feedback and reflection to meet the expected outcomes for students.
Implementation dips, as Michael Fullan explains, should be expected and prepared for if the strategy that is to be implemented is worthy. As we implement a change, we might find short-term success as we start to change and begin to feel great. Then, as we continue implementation, we may panic when change suddenly feels more difficult and like it outweighs the potential benefits. This is often referred to as the “valley of despair,” and it is the point at which teams may stop trying to implement a strategy, say, “It didn’t work,” and revert to the way things were before. I encourage you to hang tight during this inevitable bumpy phase. Grade-level teams must reflect on ways to adjust and adapt actions within the system conditions if you want to see sustained success toward the goal and expected student outcomes. Grade-level teams can also be sounding boards for why some strategies may not be meeting the expected need or why they may be making the change feel extra difficult. Encourage your team to expect and prepare for an implementation dip while also planning for celebrations and reflection.
A success story
When I think about the challenges of making lasting, worthwhile change, I remember a grade-level team I was working with as they reviewed their fall MAP Growth data. They wanted to implement a walk-to-read program, which would have teachers divide their classroom into flexible student groups based on RIT scores by instructional areas. The goal was to give students dedicated time to build the skills that most needed their attention. Students would have the opportunity to work with a different teacher or instructional aides and materials designed to meet their specific needs.
The grade-level team discussed resources, such as collaborative time to plan together and talk about shared student academic performance. They discussed which resources they were going to use and how to share leveled readers so all students had books to read. They worked with their principal to provide feedback on the instruction as well as ways to communicate with families and other teachers about why and how they were implementing the walk-to-read strategy. Additionally, they determined they would benefit from having an instructional coach work with a small group, so the principal agreed to readjust support staff scheduling and physical space.
The team set up a goal to start and documented the outcomes they wanted to see. They set up regular meeting times to reflect on successes and discuss adjustments to monitor for implementation dips over time. The team and students were ultimately successful, and other grade-level teams took notice and began their own journey to implement a walk-to-read program for their students.
Stay the course
Worthy outcomes deserve careful considerations of system conditions to help you ensure a quality implementation of a strategy. Grade-level teams in particular have the opportunity to connect with each other to benefit students and teachers alike as they work to implement changes that will benefit students and support professional growth and joy for teachers.
For additional insight on changes that last, I encourage you to read our white paper “Focusing squarely on students: A theory of change for NWEA learning and improvement services.” For ideas on research-backed instructional strategies, learn more about our High Growth for All research study and get tips for bringing the strategies to life in your classroom here on Teach. Learn. Grow.
