Fidelity of Implementation

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Fidelity of Implementation

• Developing Structures for Improving the
  Implementation of Core, Supplemental, and
  Intervention Programs
• Barbara Gunn, Ph.D.
• Oregon Research Institute

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Acknowledgments

• Oregon Department of Education
• Institute for the Development of Educational
  Achievement, College of Education, University of
  Oregon
• Katie Tate, IDEA
• Oregon Reading First Teachers and Coaches

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Objectives

• Rationale for Program Implementation Fidelity
• Five-Step Structure for Implementation
• Fidelity Observation Checklists
• Role of Grade-Level Team, Coach and Principal

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Fidelity of Program Implementation What is it?

• Content - Accurately teaching the
• the reading program the way it was designed
• Delivery - Using effective teaching
• techniques and strategies to maximize
• student learning

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Why is fidelity important?

• Even with high quality professional development
  variations in implementation occur

• Reading programs are only as good as the quality
  of implementation. When quality varies -- student
  outcomes will be affected.

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How Will The Program Be Used?

• Core
• The base reading program, designed to
• teach all components of reading
• Supplemental
• Programs and materials designed to support the
  core by teaching specific skills
• Intervention
• Programs and materials designed to provide
  intensive support for students performing below
  grade level

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Developing Structuresto Improve Program Fidelity

• 1. Learn the Program (teacher, coach, principal)
• Content
• Delivery
• 2. Observe
• 3. Teach
• 4. Be Observed (sample checklists)
• 5. Refine

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1. Learning the Program Content

• Organization of the Program
• Scope and Sequence
• High Priority Skills - Can you easily identify
  what the activity is intended to teach?
• Rate of Introduction- How often are new skills
  introduced?
• Cumulative Review - How frequently are new skills
  reviewed?
• Decodable Text - Do practice stories have words
  that students have been taught to read?
• Mastery-Based or Cover the Content
• Placement tests
• End of unit tests

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Rate of Introduction -Vocabulary

• 2nd Grade
• chipmunks, picked, sniffing, south, woods (Days
  1-5)
• 1st Grade
• none (Day 1)
• none (Day 2)
• square, circle, triangle, rectangle, diamond (Day
  3)
• carrot, farm, feed (Day 4)
• scared, angry, sad, surprised, annoyed (Day4)
• none (Day 5)

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Cumulative Review
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1. Learning the Program Content

• Can the lesson be taught in the 90 minute reading
  block, or are there more activities than you can
  complete?
• Does the program prioritize the activities for
  you? Or is prioritizing left up to you?

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Program Content
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1. Learning the Program Delivery

• Reviews of reading curricula indicate that core
  programs
• vary widely in the quality of guidelines for
  instructional
• delivery.
• 1. Explicit instruction
• 2. Demonstrate skills and strategies
• 3. Guide practice
• 4. Monitor independent practice
• 5. Provide corrective feedback

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Program DeliveryGeneral Features of Instruction
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Acknowledge Student Efforts

• Describe what they did.
• 1. You just blended the hard word and figured
  it out!
• 2. Pat yourself on the back. You just read a
  whole sentence.
• 3. Way to go - you remembered the name of main
  character.

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2. Observe

• Classroom Observations
• Coach
• Trainer or consultant
• Teacher in your building
• Visit another school with the same
• core program

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Observe Reading Instruction What does it look
like and sounds like?

• Is there?
• Active engagement of students
• Teacher demonstration, guide, and independent
  practice
• Clear academic and behavioral expectations with
  positive feedback
• Monitoring students understanding, corrective
  feedback and review
• Independent work that is connected to the program
• Program implementation with fidelity (with
  enhancements as needed

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3. Teach
?

• Develop comfort and fluency with the materials.
• Find out how the program works with your
  students.
• Practice implementation quality with enhancements
  as needed
• Side-by-side teaching

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Teaching Considerations

• Are my students ready for this lesson?
• Are my students engaged and motivated?
• Why am I doing this activity?

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4. Be Observed

• Observing is hard work, being observed is even
  harder.
• Make sure the observer knows your program and
  your students AND how long you have used the
  program.
• Decide on 1-2 goals for the observation
• High quality fidelity of implementation is a
  recursive process. This is not an evaluation.

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Observation Feedback

• Feedback
• Describe what you saw. Tell what instruction
  looked like and sounded like. e.g., You gave
  every student a chance to read, I noticed you
  demonstrated the new sound before students
  practiced it. You built background knowledge by
  explaining
• Avoid adjectives
• No Feedback - Means no information on
  implementation and no changes.

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5. Refine

• Use observation feedback to evaluate your program
  implementation.
• Discuss how your students are performing on unit
  tests and other progress monitoring measures.
• Specific, objective feedback related to how well
  they are learning the content and skills.
• Decide what enhancements or revisions you could
  make the program, based on your students
  progress.
• Leave with one thing to work on.

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5. Refine

• Grade-Level Team Meetings
• Troubleshooting implementation issues
• Sharing grade-level resources for meeting the
  needs of the lowest performing students
• Calibration checks

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Principals and Implementation

• Working knowledge of adopted programs
• Regular communication with coaches and teachers

• Facilitating fidelity without evaluation
• Active presence in classroom
• 4 point checklist for understanding instruction

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Observation Checklist
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Taking the Long View of Program Implementation

• Adopting and implementing a new program is the
  beginning of a cycle of change.
• Change is doable when we set small goals that are
  achievable.
• Change and refine your implementation one step at
  a timeresist the temptation to layer programs in
  the first year. Work on implementation quality
  and enhancing instruction to meet the needs of
  your students.