Both research and common sense tell us that programs that are fully endorsed by administration and faculty are more likely to be well implemented. This is particularly true when all staff and faculty connected to implementation receive adequate training and ongoing support.

Support from Administrators. Administrative support is critical to program success. Administrators not only need to give their "stamp of approval" to the program itself, but to the allocation of requisite financial and personnel resources. It has also been shown that faculty and staff tend to look for clear evidence of support from the administration before embracing change themselves. Of course, principal support is likely to have a greater influence on implementation in schools with positive principal-teacher relationships.

Consider reviewing the archived event Promoting Prevention Through School-Community Partnerships for more information on collaborating with school and community partners.
Support from Faculty. Faculty support can also make or break the success of your program efforts. Teachers are in charge of what goes on in their classrooms: If they genuinely support the program they are being asked to implement, they can serve as champions for program quality and maintenance. It is critical that you involve administrators, faculty, and staff in the selection of prevention programs. If they are part of the planning process, they are more likely to be invested in promoting the program you collectively select. Also be sure to inform and involve the central office staff, whose support is needed for quality implementation.

"Collaboration with local staff to insure their meaningful input into program operations works to increase their sense of program ownership, produces a better ecological fit for the program, and generally increases administrative and technical support for the program. Without collaboration with staff, the [school] is less likely to be committed and prepared to mobilize needed resources."

Joseph Durlak, Loyola University

"The staff at this school will not implement a program unless they have been involved in the decision-making process. By including them in every step, I know there will be greater chance for success."

Debra Steward, MSC from Los Angeles, California
Training and Supervision. Effective training and supervision of faculty and staff have also been shown to promote quality program implementation. According to a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education's Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program, low program implementation was often associated with teacher reports of insufficient training and discomfort with a program's subject matter or instructional methods. Pre-implementation training can familiarize educators with program objectives and materials, promote buy-in, and prepare them to effectively use program strategies. Follow-up to training and mentoring can enhance educator skills and comfort with the program, as well as provide assistance with problems that arise during program delivery.

Click here for some coaching tips

As schools face mounting pressure to improve academic achievement and raise standardized test scores, much of the responsibility for doing so falls squarely on the shoulders of administrators and classroom teachers. It is therefore not surprising that many educators approach prevention programming with reluctance: They are concerned that a new prevention program will add responsibilities to their already full workload.

Research has shown that when prevention programs are effectively integrated into regular school activities, faculty support is increased and high-quality implementation is more likely. Strategies for achieving integration include the following:

Highlight program outcomes that are directly related to academic achievement and school-related behaviors. All research-based programs can provide information about evaluation studies that have demonstrated their efficacy (i.e., potential to work in a real setting). Some of these studies may also have investigated the program's capacity to promote academic achievement and other positive changes in school-related behaviors, such as attendance and classroom behavior. For example, you might present outcomes (if available) on how time invested in these programs early on can reduce time devoted to classroom management later on.
Embed prevention programming into your overall school reform efforts. Prevention and education reform efforts share many similarities. First, both share the same overarching goal: To facilitate positive development so that young people can reach their full potential. Research has shown that healthy behavior and academic achievement are intrinsically connected -- any efforts to support one simultaneously supports the other.

Prevention and education reform research also share many "best practices." Both fields acknowledge the importance of providing activities, programs, and services that are sensitive to and span the continuum of student needs. To meet those needs, both advocate coordinated, multilevel approaches, as well as long-term collaboration among school staff, parents, and others invested in the well-being of youth.

By connecting and coordinating prevention and education reform agendas, you can prevent duplication of efforts, make the most of limited resources, and enhance program acceptance. Most schools have several teams dedicated to increasing student achievement or related reform agendas. Try to find ways to have a voice on these committees. In some cases, it may make sense to join an existing team and strengthen those partnerships with your presence, rather than to create your own separate team.

In addition, familiarize yourself with state standards, school system policies, and the different classroom curricula that are being used so that you can demonstrate to the administration and staff how prevention efforts can support their objectives and activities.

"We have [matched several curricula] to our Sunshine State Standards in language arts, social studies, and science. I have one school that is presenting the Aggressors, Victims, and Bystanders program in all three content areas."

Janean Knight, MSC from Brevard County, Florida

"To help us address the social/emotional development needs of our students, we included a safety/health-related goal in our school improvement plan."

Marie Milkovich, MSC from Flint, Michigan
Incorporate prevention activities into the existing school structure. "Add-on" programs that require faculty to assume additional responsibilities are less likely to be implemented well. The same is true for activities that cannot be implemented within a typical classroom format (e.g., a large group of students in a 30- to 50-minute period). Some strategies for incorporating prevention activities into the school day include the following:
- Incorporate prevention into classes already devoted to the promotion of life skills and health, such as health education, family and consumer science (formerly home economics), or physical education classes.
  
  "In the 7th and 8th grade, we are implementing a violence prevention program in one of each grade levels' exploratory classes. The 7th graders must rotate through Life Management and the 8th graders are rotating through Health."
  
  Anne Marie Cardinal, MSC from Phoenix, Arizona
- Explore ways to infuse prevention into academic subject areas. Although health and safety classes are the subjects most commonly associated with substance use and violence prevention education, these topics can be successfully incorporated into any subject area.
  
  One way to do this is through an approach known as curriculum infusion, in which educators design lesson plans that use real-life issues as the context for teaching academic skills and knowledge. A prevention-infused curriculum addresses critical health and social issues while teaching and reinforcing a subject's skills and concepts. You might also explore whether there are any "open" classroom periods that might be devoted to prevention.
  
  "We have two teams of core teachers at each grade level that have periods in the day called 'enrichment,' during which the core teacher expands on a particular topic of interest . . . If I could find one teacher who would be willing to teach a research-based prevention program, then all of the students would get the same message and get it from someone truly interested in teaching it."
  
  Cheryl Davenport, MSC from Royal Oak, Michigan

As your school develops its implementation plan, remember the importance of balancing adaptation and fidelity. You will probably need to modify your prevention program to fit into your school's existing structure. These changes should be made thoughtfully and, whenever possible, in consultation with the program developer.

There are many ways that school environment can influence program delivery. For example, research has shown that variables such as faculty morale, past history with prevention programs, and administrative buy-in can each have a significant effect on implementation quality. As you think about ways to promote quality implementation, be sure to consider the school environment and determine where it makes the most sense to focus your energy. If you work in more than one school, you will probably discover that implementation strategies that work in one school do not necessarily work in another.

Click here for an overview of factors that predict quality implementation.

Click here for some tips for facilitating program delivery.

Finding ways to integrate prevention into your school day can be an ongoing challenge. Please read the following scenario, shared by a fellow MSC, then post your reactions in the Discussion Area.

Richard, a middle school coordinator working in Helena, Montana, writes: "Two years ago we cut nine-week health classes from our middle schools. Since then, we have attempted to put the programs into PE and Consumer Science classes. Our staffs do a wonderful job, but there just isn't enough time to do the programs justice and try and teach their subject's lessons. A solution may be to try and incorporate the new program across other subjects, but I can see resistance to this as well."

Discussion Questions

What are the benefits of keeping the prevention programs where they are now? What are the problems associated with that strategy?
What are the benefits of trying to integrate program lessons across other subject areas? What kind of resistance to this approach do you think Richard might expect and from whom?
What are some of the strategies your school is considering or has used to incorporate prevention programs into the existing structure? How have you attempted to balance adaptation and fidelity?

This completes today's work.

Please visit the Discussion Area to share your responses to the discussion questions!

References

Durlak, J.A. (1998). Why Program Implementation is Important. Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, 17 (2), pp. 5-18.

ETR Associates. (1997). Dissemination Workbook for Programs That Work. Santa Cruz, CA: Author.

Graczyk, P.A., Domitrovich, C.E, & Zins, J.E. (in press). Facilitating the Implementation of Evidence-Based Prevention and Mental Health Promotion Efforts in Schools. In M. Weist, S. Evans, & N. Tashman (Eds.), School Mental Health Handbook, a volume in the series Issues in Clinical Child Psychology (M. Roberts, Ed.).

Greenberg, M.T., Domitrovich, C.E., Graczyk, P., & Zins, J. (January 2001 ). A Conceptual Model of Implementation for School-Based Preventive Interventions: Implications for Research, Practice, and Policy. Report to the Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, US Department of Health and Human Services.

Gottfredson, D.C., Fink, C.M., Skroban, S., & Gottfredson, G.D. (1997). Making Prevention Work. In Weissberg, R.P., Gullotta, T.P., Hampton, R.L., Ryan, B.A., & Adams, G.R. (Eds.), Establishing Preventive Services, a volume in the series Issues in Children's and Families' Lives (pp. 219-252). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Gottfredson, G.D., Gottfredson, D.C., Czeh, E.R., Cantor, D., Crosse, S.B., & Hantman, I. (2000). National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools. Ellicott City, MD: Gottfredson Associates, Inc. Available at http://www.gottfredson.com/national.htm.

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Critical Issue: Infusing Prevention into the Curriculum. Available online at: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/ envrnmnt/drugfree/sa300.htm.