At FPG, our implementation researchers and practitioners work in communities and schools to use best practices from implementation science to support the implementation and scaling of evidence-informed programs and practices to improve outcomes and advance equity for children, youth, and families and the communities where they live. Through rigorous study designs, our implementation researchers and practitioners contribute to building the evidence for implementation strategies, frameworks, and models that can support effective translation of research evidence into practice settings. They also develop formative measures for assessing and improving implementation capacity in communities and service systems.
A hallmark of our work is a focus on implementation practice and the identification of skills and competencies needed to support implementation efforts and ensure sustainability and positive impacts. Through a range of partnerships and initiatives, we seek to build a workforce with the competencies needed to support effective implementation. We are committed to using science-based capacity-building approaches. And we embrace the co-creation of implementation strategies. Our capacity-building work is relationship-driven, flexible, and tailored to the assets and needs of the population to ensure that implementation strategies are a good contextual fit, relevant, and sustainable.
Featured People
Correy Watkins, MEd, is an implementation specialist within FPG's National Implementation Research Network (NIRN). His work with implementation science supports use of evidence-based practices in education at the state, regional, district, and school levels. He provides implementation science support, coaching, and technical assistance to three State Departments of Education through the SISEP Center project. Watkins has extensive experience in the application of implementation and improvement sciences as a special educator, district leader, regional technical assistance provider, and as a state implementation specialist (North Carolina).
Kathleen Ryan Jackson, EdD, is an implementation specialist with FPG's National Implementation Research Network (NIRN). She has extensive experience in organizational and system change in the field of education, early childhood, juvenile justice, residential schools, and community organizations. Currently, she provides intensive implementation-informed support for two state departments of education in the United States to align their state, regional, and local education agencies in support of practitioners' effective use of practices with evidence.
Featured Projects
Math Implementation Cohort
A grant recently awarded to FPG's NIRN will help ensure students are receiving high-quality mathematics education in middle school—crucial years that can impact students’ chances at successful high school graduation and post-secondary career success. Although more middle schools are adopting high-quality math curriculum, research shows the systems that support instruction are often lacking or misaligned, especially for underrepresented and marginalized students.
NIRN will help address this issue thanks to funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
OJJDP Juvenile Justice System Enhancements
OJJDP Juvenile Justice System Enhancements is a three-year broad systems improvement project. It is designed to advance state level juvenile justice systems toward the adoption and delivery of evidence-supported practices stemming from a full system review, recommended modifications, capacity building where needed (or desired), and enhanced performance of chosen reforms. The Impact Center at FPG Child Development Institute is well-positioned to support state level leadership, administrative, and management teams in achieving shared accomplishments.
Featured Product
Effective Implementation Cohort List of Readiness Assessment Tools
The overall aim of the Effective Implementation Cohort (EIC) is to increase district capacity to implement a high-quality middle years math curriculum as part of a Coherent Instructional System to accelerate learning for students. The EIC Team seeks to support partnerships between providers and Local Education Agencies in their implementation and measurement efforts, as well as to collect and study data to answer the learning questions within the Learning Agenda. In addition to improving LEA and Provider capacity, the EIC has the goal of producing reliable, practical evidence and measures to inform the planning and implementation of a district-wide, high-impact math improvement initiative. One such resource is the EIC List of Readiness Assessment Tools. The purpose of this review is to highlight published and/or peer-reviewed tools assessing the readiness of the district (i.e., system level) for the implementation of evidence-based or evidence-informed practices, programs, or resources. In our review, we found a limited availability of such tools designed specifically for and within K-12 settings at the district and systems-level; however, we noted which tools could be adapted to K-12.
Internship Opportunity
To promote future growth within the field of implementation science, we host an annual summer internship program that is designed to create a challenging and meaningful professional experience for the trainee(s) that includes mentoring, networking, professional development, and experiential learning opportunities. Interns benefit from exposure to implementation practice and research across diverse fields and in varied practice settings. This experience provides knowledge and skill development that should enhance and inform the intern's future academic and professional pursuits.
Featured Blog Post
Coaching is a professional development opportunity designed to support individuals in successfully using or refining effective programs or practices. Ideally, the partnership between a coach and coachee will be highly communicative and collaborative. Learn more about coaching in this month's blog post, Three components of effective coaching.
And in case you missed the previous implementation blog posts, find four reasons to invest in cross-project collaboration, learn how to escape the data doldrums and discover how to define sustainability within the context of implementation science.
More about our work
- Learn about research and evaluation at FPG
- Learn about technical assistance at FPG
- Learn about informing policy at FPG
