Using the Hexagon tool to Effectively select a practice Devin Healey, EdS Davis School District

“Students can not benefit from interventions they do not receive “Students can not benefit from interventions they do not receive.” -Karen Blase

What How

Implementation science

Implementation is a “specified set of activities designed to put into practice an activity or program of known dimensions.” Fixsen, et al., (2005)

Why Implementation Science?

Literature Review Cross-field synthesis of the literature Fixsen, D. L., Naoom, S. F., Blase, K. A., Friedman, R. M. & Wallace, F. (2005). Implementation Research: A Synthesis of the Literature. Tampa, FL: University of South Florida, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, The National Implementation Research Network (FMHI Publication #231). http://nirn.fpg.unc.edu/sites/nirn.fpg.unc .edu/files/resources/NIRN- MonographFull-01-2005.pdf

Degrees of Implementation 80-90% of people-dependent innovations (Rogers, 2002) “Paper implementation means putting into place new policies and procedures (the ‘recorded theory of change,’ Hernandez & Hodges, 2003) with the adoption of an innovation as the rationale for the policies and procedures.” (Fixsen, et al., 2005) “Process implementation means putting new operating procedures in place to conduct training workshops, provide supervision, change information reporting forms, and so on (the “expressed theory of change” and “active theory of change,” Hernandez & Hodges, 2003).” (Fixsen, et al., 2005) “Performance implementation means putting procedures and processes in place in such a way that the identified functional components of change are used with good effect for consumers (the “integrated theory of change,” Hernandez & Hodges, 2003; Paine, Bellamy, & Wilcox, 1984).” (Fixsen, et al., 2005) Paper implementation especially occurs with outside evaluators as driving force (e.g., accreditation)

Implementation science Overview: http://tinyurl.com/UMTSSImplementOverview Modules: http://tinyurl.com/UMTSSImplementModules

Selecting Usable Interventions An intervention needs to be: Teachable Learnable Doable Readily assessed in practice To be usable, it’s necessary to have sufficient detail about an intervention. With detail you can train educators to implement it with fidelity, replicate it across multiple settings and measure the use of the intervention.

Hexagon Tool Team considers current context, infrastructure, readiness, and determines whether an innovation should be adopted http://implementation.fpg.unc.edu/resources/hexagon-tool- exploring-context

Reflect… What was the last new practice (curriculum, program, innovation) your LEA adopted? Have you ever adopted a practice that ultimately did not work as well for your school or district as you would have liked? What were some of the barriers to desired outcomes?

Barriers to successful implementation

Evidence-base for practice

Fit with current initiatives

Resources needed to support implementation

Capacity to implement

Readiness to scale

Need for the practice

Let’s Practice Consider a practice/program you’re considering implementing Using the hexagon tool, score and evaluate each of the six areas

Next Steps What additional questions do you have? What information is needed? Who else should be involved in the evaluation of the practice? Are there alternative practices/innovations that should be considered?

Resources http://implementation.fpg.unc.edu/ Search: The Hexagon Tool http://implementation.fpg.unc.edu/resources/hexagon-tool-exploring- context

Questions or Comments? dhealey@dsdmail.net

References Fixsen, D. L., Naoom, S. F., Blase, K. A., Friedman, R. M. & Wallace, F. (2005). Implementation Research: A Synthesis of the Literature. Tampa, FL: University of South Florida, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, The National Implementation Research Network (FMHI Publication #231). McIntosh, K., Mercer, S. H., Hume, A. E., Frank, J. L., Turri, M. G., & Mathews, S. (2013). Factors related to sustained implementation of school-wide positive behavior support. Exceptional Children, 79, 293-311.