Research School Network: Implementation Planning Video training for producing an effective implementation plan.

Before schools were forced to close as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, we were working with a number of school leaders on our training programmes. This term, the leaders we were working with should have been attending the third and final day of these training programmes. During this day, we would have explored how they had planned to implement the new approaches that had been discussed over the course of the training.

The basis for this would have been the EEF Implementation Guidance Report. This looks at the key stages of implementation:

Explore – define the problem you want to solve and identify appropriate programmes or practices to implement.

Prepare – create a clear implementation plan, judge the readiness of the school to deliver that plan, then prepare staff and resources.

Deliver – support staff, monitor progress solve problems and adapt strategies as the approach is used for the first time.

Sustain – plan for sustaining and scaling an intervention from the outset and continuously acknowledge and nurture its use.

It’s really important that school leaders pay close attention to effective implementation. If we don’t, good ideas and potentially useful new approaches fade away or become mutated and as a result, don’t have the impact they could have had. The summer term is the time when school leaders start thinking about and planning the new approaches they intend to implement in the next academic year. Given the current situation we find ourselves in, this is more important than ever. When schools re-open, students will be returning having missed a significant amount of time with their teachers. This will undoubtedly have had a negative impact on their learning and this will be even more so the case for students from a disadvantaged background. Teachers and leaders will understandably be planning interventions to fill these gaps. If these are to be effective though, they need to be well thought out, evidence-informed and planned thoroughly. So implementation is key.

To support colleagues with this, Assistant Director of Durrington Research School Chris Runeckles has produced a video talking you through the production of an implementation plan.

Once schools re-open, if you would like any support with implementation, please do contact us – research@​durring.​com

Here’s the video. We hope you find it useful