Building implementation capabilities across a region
We designed a longitudinal program aimed to build the implementation capabilities of school improvement teams, and to help them embed habits, routines and organisational processes for effective continuous improvement work.
ORGANISATION SOUTH EASTERN VICTORIA REGION, VIC DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Number of participants: 232
Schools involved: 42
When: 2022
Timeframe: 1 year
Location: Digital Delivery
The Overview: What we did
Based on our co-planning sessions with the SEVR team, we designed an intensive program spaced across one year for school leadership teams across their region. This program was aimed to build the implementation capabilities of school improvement teams, and to help them embed habits, routines and organisational processes for effective continuous improvement work.
The core outcomes for principals and their school improvement teams included:
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- Apply agile improvement and implementation science methods and tools
- Provide an understanding of a systems approach to continuous improvement that empowers teams to work collectively to achieve their desired impact
- Develop a clear process for leading an iterative improvement journey that can be adjusted for both the social dynamics of change and external shocks (such as the long-tail effects of COVID-19).
- Adopt and embed rapid action planning and review routines that can enable effective implementation over time
- Harness formative evaluation to monitor for early success indicators and make adjustments to implementation strategies based on what is and isn’t working
- Work as a team to continuously refine and sharpen implementation strategies based on their own ‘learning by doing’
Program Components
The Results
School leaders overwhelming agreed that this program gave them the tools, and systems, that would support their school improvement work. A huge 95% of school teams who responded to our survey, said they made meaningful progress on a key improvement project during the program, and because of what they learned.
(Survey data, June 2022, 83 Responses)
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Almost 99% of participants finished the program believing that what they learned will continue to support their practice going forward
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Over 97% of participants agreed they achieved further clarity about their role in strategic thinking and effective implementation
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100% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that they learned about practical tools to support their work
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Over 95% of participants made meaningful progress on a key improvement project because of this program
Comments from Participants
“Simplified clarity in a manner which is sharp, short, focused way that has introduced easy to use tools that can be reused in other settings.”
“This program has been engaging and has enabled our leadership team to all be on the same page – focused goals.”
“I think this was a fantastic program to be involved in. As a middle leader it has helped me develop my practise and work with my team to create rapid cycles. It has also helped me work with the leadership team to look at how we are shaping our school.”
“This program gave us a toolkit of practical focused strategies to keep the SIT on track and moving forward”
“It has been a focused process with quick achievement steps to help formulate reflective thinking towards a longer term planning cycle. It has helped create clear direction for our team to work towards improvement.”