five middle-school and high-school aged girls walking down sidewalk by school building

Access to a high-quality K-12 education is critical for the optimal growth and development of every child. Children who attend excellent schools benefit from a range of opportunities designed to develop their intellectual abilities and social skills. The benefits are long-lasting, as educational achievement is linked to higher lifetime earnings and better health. However, there remains a stubborn achievement gap in America's schools due to disparities in funding and teacher training. FPG's work in K-12 education aims to provide educators, public officials, and parents with the resources and tools needed to ensure that a high-quality education is accessible to students from all backgrounds and at all grade levels.

Featured FPG News Story

When schools and districts implement evidence-based practices and programs, students should be more than recipients of change. Their perspectives, experiences, and participation can help shape decisions from the beginning, strengthen implementation along the way, and improve the likelihood that new approaches will last. A blog post from FPG’s National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) explains why student voice is essential to implementation efforts and offers three practical strategies for putting it into action.

Featured Project

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 EIC Learning Agenda.

Featured Person

Correy Watkins, MEd, is an implementation specialist within 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.

Current Projects

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Math Implementation Cohort - Learning Partner
The K-12 Coherent Instructional Systems portfolio of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s U.S. Program seeks to support a cohort of provider-local education agency partnerships focused on implementing coherent instructional systems (CIS) built around high-quality middle-years mathematics curricula in contexts that serve Black, Latino, and/or English Learning-designated students, and students who are experiencing poverty. As a Learning Partner for the Effective Implementation Cohort (EIC), the National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) at UNC-Chapel Hill's Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute seeks to support the cohort of Provider-Local Education Agency partnerships in their implementation and measurement efforts related to their scale-up of high-quality mathematics curricula.
Minnesota DOE Capacity Development
The Minnesota Department of Education is seeking support for the capacity development of its team in advanced implementation practices. To support the development of implementation capacity, the National Implementation Research Network at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute proposes providing a blended model of implementation practice and implementation research to inform the future development of the Minnesota Department of Educations' implementation science infrastructure.
Ongoing Support for the Implementation and Scale-Up of the Summer Literacy Program
Successful adoption, implementation, improvement, and scale of the Duke Endowment’s promising practice, the Rural Church Summer Literacy Program, holds the promise to combat learning loss in rural communities throughout North Carolina. As this initiative continues to grow to all rural counties in North Carolina, there is a need for an intermediary organization to provide dynamic, collaborative, and responsive support ultimately contributing to the impact and sustainability of the summer literacy program.
STAAR-TRI: Supporting Teacher Assistants in Accelerating Reading with Targeted Reading Instruction
This project aims to improve literacy outcomes for K–5 students with or at risk for reading disabilities by training paraeducators and non-traditionally certified educators to implement the effective Targeted Reading Instruction model through the TRI–Reading App. Goals include enhancing student reading achievement, increasing educator self-efficacy, and expanding access to evidence-based interventions. Contributions span research (scalable literacy models), policy (paraeducator training), and practice (accessible instructional tools). By leveraging technology and proven instructional methods, the project aims to close persistent opportunity gaps.
State Implementation and Scaling-Up of Evidence-Based Practices (SISEP) Center
Effective implementation capacity is essential to improving education. The SISEP Center supports education systems in creating implementation capacity for evidence‐based practices benefiting students with disabilities. Project funding is by the Office of Special Education Programs.