Improving child and family outcomes is a cornerstone of early childhood education and in particular the IDEA Part C and Part B, Section 619 Preschool programs. To improve outcomes, an evidence-based practice or innovation must be selected and the process of implementing that practice or innovation must be effective. Implementation science is the study of the processes needed to bring new practices into widespread use.

This guide is based on a review of the literature of implementation science (Fixsen, Naoom, Blase, Friedman, & Wallace, 2005) and the collective experiences of federally funded national centers in conducting state-wide system change initiatives. These centers include the National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC, now the ECTA Center), Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention for Young Children (TACSEI), Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL), National Implementation Research Network (NIRN), and the State Implementation of Scaling-up Evidence-based Practices (SISEP).