After decades spent pondering basic questions about adopting or implementing 'best practices' in education, educators have assembled a canon of evidence-based strategies and programs that should consistently produce good outcomes. So why is the work of educating students still such challenging work for so many? The best, most skilled educators adapt programs every day to meet the changing needs of their students. One size does not fit all, and one textbook, teaching strategy, or program will never meet the needs of all teachers and learners. Adaptive Implementation: Navigating the School Improvement Landscape focuses on how practitioners and researchers together continue to improve their craft by systematically collecting data on adaptations, testing them out, and figuring out what works. We provide a framework for building an adaptive implementation process in education, with tools and templates for practitioners to use. In the end, we hope that this book sparks a dialogue among educators as they continue to create adaptive implementation processes that work for their context.
About the Author: Ryoko Yamaguchi is a social scientist and former special education teacher with over 25 years of experience in K-12 education serving disadvantaged students as a practitioner, researcher, parent leader, and advocate. Dr. Yamaguchi has advised state and local education policy makers, school and teacher leaders, school board members, and community and parent leaders across the country on effective school practices to increase student learning and ameliorate achievement gaps. Laureen Avery leads the work of UCLA's Center X efforts in the Northeastern US, and has more than 30 years of experience in K-12 public education as a researcher and practitioner. Avery developed and leads whole school improvement programs focused on improving outcomes for English learners and at-risk students. Jason Cervone is the Northeast Region Project Director for UCLA Center X's Project ExcEL Leadership Academy. He has over a decade of experience in public education as a researcher, advisor, and evaluator, focusing on improving instruction for English Learners. Lisa DiMartino is a former Program Manager for UCLA Center X, Northeast Region, and is currently pursuing her doctoral degree at Lesley University. DiMartino has over fifteen years of experience working with educators, administrators, and community organizations to improve student achievement through professional development and program evaluation. Adam Hall is an education research and policy consultant. He has served the education community as an evaluator, technical assistance provider, and professional developer for over 20 years.