A goal for any school or district that is undertaking a change process is to ensure that the change through professional learning is both impactful and sustainable. Often, professional learning sessions result in immediate positive outcomes, but these outcomes may not be sustained over time. This means that the initial impact of the professional learning can diminish and potentially become ineffective. Therefore, how can this be addressed? What might a sustainable approach to impactful change involve?
Understanding Conditions and Tempering Expectations
Anytime I (Vince) work with new schools or school districts, I find it extremely important to learn more about the local environment before jumping into delivering any professional learning. Similarly, it is imperative to consider the existing environmental conditions of your school or district before jumping into implementation. Use the following questions for reflection as you think about your own site or district:
- What initiatives and/or professional learning has my staff already engaged in, and what was the impact of that experience?
- How does my staff (and how do I as the instructional leader) react to the implementation of new ideas and professional learning?
- What has been the most successful implementation process at my site, and what were the reasons for this?
It is also important to have realistic expectations of the implementation process itself and communicate these realities with your staff. For implementation to be impactful and sustainable it must develop in a deliberate and pragmatic manner that is both paced appropriately and takes into account the ebb and flow of growth (Donohoo & Katz, 2020; Hamilton et al., 2022). In many meetings I have often referenced the metaphor that implementation can feel like driving over speedbumps, but if we are moving forward we are making progress. Tempering expectations of implementation is less about removing excitement, and more about maintaining a reasonable and balanced perspective. Here are a few simple reminders to help:
- We should not exclusively rely on the calendar to determine when implementation should start and stop. The process of sustainable implementation may take longer than the calendar school year and that’s okay!
- Publicly acknowledge the process of implementation. Let your staff know that high impact implementation occurs at a necessarily slower pace.
It Helps to Have a Model for Implementation
There are countless models that exist to help outline the process of impactful implementation (See: Great Teaching by Design, Building to Impact), yet I have found tremendous value from a Flexible Change Model (Bustamante, 2024). This model has four stages (awakening, mobilization, acceleration, and realization) as illustrated in figure 1.
Figure 1 – A Flexible Change Model
The purpose of any model or framework is to provide us with the necessary parameters to ensure the implementation process occurs with fidelity. The presented model has led to successful implementation of initiatives in many of the schools and districts I have partnered with. In fact, later in this article you will hear from a colleague of mine (Krista) as she explains the impact of an implementation framework in her district. Let’s explore the four stages of this framework with actionable ideas for you to consider as you explore your own implementation process locally.
The Awakening Stage
The beginning stage of any implementation plan is reserved for learning. That is taking time to understand the contextual and environmental aspects of your school or district from a perspective of curiosity. In the awakening stage leaders should take time to investigate how implementation efforts have gone in the past, along with the current attitudes and environmental factors that may enhance or impede implementation efforts. It is crucial to engage in this investigation as this information becomes used to plan long term goals for future implementation.
The Mobilization Stage
This stage sets the foundation for the implementation process. This is where leaders and their teams engage in long term goal setting and short-term checkpoints for success. The blend of having a vision for success and markers of progress ensures a clear path to realization is possible. This is also where key members of the staff are brought up to speed on the implementation journey.
The Acceleration Stage
It is here where much of the implementation journey will take place from a time perspective. In this stage, all necessary professional learning and low stakes implementation efforts are deployed. It is here where new and needed knowledge will be developed through professional learning that is marked by checkpoints of growth. Staff will be encouraged to experiment with new learning, collaborate to improve their practice according to the goals, celebrate successes, and learn from each other.
The Realization Stage
You will notice on the diagram that the arrow between acceleration and realization is double sided and red. That is to indicate the ability for the implementation effort to move between these last two stages as frequently as possible. The reason for this is that this is the stage where we evaluate the impact of our implementation efforts. This is usually done in a formal manner and uses the pre-established goals as markers for achievement. If our school or district feels like more work needs to be done then we move back into the previous stage. If the evaluation has met the desired goals, then we celebrate our growth and determine the next course of action. Do we continue to refine, or focus on a new implementation effort? The choice is ours!
Overall, the purpose of outlining this framework is to establish a general understanding of the necessary stages needed to promote a more sustainable approach to implementation. When we take into context our local environment, set realistic goals, and monitor and evaluate for impact we can be more deliberate in our effort for sustainability. My wonderful colleague Krista Thomsen highlights some of her experiences driving the sustainable implementation of initiatives in her school district.
A District Perspective on Implementation – Krista Thomsen
As the Director of Curriculum and Instruction in the Lancaster School District, I have led the shift to standards-based grading and reporting for three years for our elementary sites. With our students consistently performing below standard on state assessments, it became clear that instruction needed to focus on the skills and concepts of the standards rather than the curriculum. Additionally, our communication with families through the report card had to better reflect student performance on the CAASPP (California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress).
Our district had previously used standards-based report cards, but they did not align with our newly identified priority standards. Recognizing the need for a large-scale overhaul, we entered the awakening stage by reviewing past efforts—what had worked, what hadn’t, and what voices needed to be included in the process. I knew that for this initiative to succeed, we needed a committee representing all stakeholders to engage in learning and decision-making.
The committee was responsible for learning about standards-based instruction and grading, developing a new report card, and identifying essential training for teachers, administrators, and families. In the mobilization stage, we created a three-year plan for implementation with short-term goals, including defining foundational principles and non-negotiables for the grading system.
The acceleration stage brought excitement as we engaged experts in the field of standards-based grading to train our committee. The committee used this learning to collaborate, discuss and reach consensus on report card content, grading scales, and descriptors while developing a list of required training(s) for teachers and administrators. A trial report card was built, and the committee became the pilot group for implementation.
As our pilot group entered the realization stage, we quickly acknowledged some decisions needed to be revisited. We returned to the acceleration stage to refine aspects that didn’t work as intended, providing additional training and collaboration. This flexibility led us to extend our timeline, adding a second pilot year with four full school sites instead of an immediate district-wide rollout. This adjustment allowed for targeted support and training tailored to each site’s specific challenges.
Now, we are on the brink of realization at scale, with full implementation planned for fall 2025. Based on our committee and pilot learnings, we have designed a professional learning plan for teachers, administrators, and classified staff, along with structured family communication and training. As this initiative takes root, we are ready to celebrate successes while remaining flexible to revisit the acceleration stage if needed or move on to the next steps.
Using Frameworks as Guardrails
The purpose of including any framework when it comes to sustainable implementation is not to stifle creativity, but rather to act as a set of guardrails to ensure that all members within an organization are sharing in both the purpose and understanding of the process. These types of frameworks also allow for individuals and school teams to exercise autonomy within the guardrails so long that the goals of implementation are the target, and the measurement of progress across a school district. Krista’s exceptional work in leading a district through a substantial and monumental shift in philosophy and practice is a perfect example of how leveraging an implementation framework can assist in the growth and progress, and most importantly sustainability of a desired set of goals.
REFERENCES
Bustamante, V. C. (2024). Encouraging a Sustainable Model for Professional Learning: Implementing District Wide Initiatives as an External Consultant in the United States. The Dissertation in Practice at Western University, 444. Retrieved from https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/oip/444
Donohoo, J. A. M., & Katz, S. (2019). Quality Implementation: Leveraging Collective Efficacy to Make “What Works” Actually Work. SAGE Publications.
Hamilton, A., Reeves, D. B., Clinton, J. M., & Hattie, J. (2022). Building to impact: The 5D implementation playbook for educators (First edition). Corwin.
Hattie, J., Bustamante, V., Almarode, J., Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2021). Great teaching by design: From intention to implementation in the visible learning classroom. Corwin Press.
