Research School Network: Where did it all go wrong? Why implementation fails and what you can do about it Using implementation evidence to reflect on implementation failure

This is the way initiatives in school end
Not with a bang but a whimper.
T.S. Eliot (paraphrased)

Schools are never short of new initiatives, but we are all aware of how many of these new initiatives don’t last the test of time. While we may not lose sleep over some poorly thought out approaches, some effective ideas may never take hold, or quietly fade away. When this happens, it can be useful to ask some questions.

Were the core components clearly specified and communicated?

In the EEF’s A School’s Guide to Implementation, they emphasise the importance of core components, ​‘the essential principles and practices that underpin the approach and are needed to make it work.‘

If the core components are not understood, they are not clearly defined.
If not clearly defined, they are not clearly communicated.
If not clearly communicated, they are not implemented with fidelity.

Before we know it, everyone has their own understanding and the intervention isn’t delivered as intended. Things are swiftly dropped for the next fad. In addition, without the knowledge that any core components were adhered to, then we can’t confidently say that something didn’t work, just that it was poorly implemented.

In Alex Quigley’s blog ​‘Is it Time to KO the Knowledge Organiser?’, he explores the potential ways that Knowledge Organisers might be implemented ineffectively, and what some of the core components of effective practice might be e.g. elaboration. If leaders are going to bring in something like a knowledge organiser strategy, they need to ask what it is that is essential to the success of the strategy. This must be clearly defined and adhered to with fidelity.

What changed?

Things can change by design. For example, you may choose to scale something up and it is less effective. Perhaps the intervention relied on the expertise of those who first delivered it or conceived it. It can be harder to ensure fidelity the more people are involved with a project. This can be avoided by treating scaling up as a new process rather than part of the same one. According to the guidance, we should:

• Reassess pupil needs and the suitability of the approach
• Reassess implementation readiness
• Review implementation plans

Or things mutate. Brown and Campione (1996) used the term ​‘lethal mutation’ to describe the problem where teachers do not understand the underlying principles but instead focus on the surface features, thus the intervention begins to mutate. This can be avoided by specifying and adhering to the core components.

Sometimes the school changes. Personnel changes, so the advocates of an initiative and those who were at the initial training go. Clarity is lost. Or, as Alex Quigley puts it:

Was it the initiative, or the implementation climate?

Some schools can have a kind of initiative buckaroo, where new initiative is piled on new initiative. And if so many things are happening at once, then it is highly likely that nothing will take hold. There is also a danger that initiative fatigue sinks in. Eyes are rolled and expectations are low. The way that schools generally implement approaches can be considered its ​‘implementation climate’.

It isn’t always a bad thing that we stop doing things. Even some good things need to stop if they draw capacity. But we can anticipate some of the typical ways that things go wrong.

Brown, A. L., & Campione, J. C. (1996). Psychological theory and the design of innovative learning environments: On procedures, principles, and systems. In R. Glaser (Ed.), Innovations in learning: New environments for education (pp. 289 – 325). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.