Three critical I's for school improvement
Effective staff development provides for the three phases
of the change process: Initiation, Implementation, and Institutionalization.
By Stephanie Hirsh
RESULTS - March 1998
Often, when I begin a staff development
workshop, I ask participants to recall a staff development and/or school
improvement initiative that has had a positive impact on learning in their
schools. Then, I ask them to list characteristics of the initiative that
contributed to its success.
Next, I ask them to think of an initiative that may have
been prevalent at one time but no longer exists. Then, I ask them to list
characteristics of that initiative that contributed to its demise.
Finally, they examine and discuss the differences between
the two lists. What characteristics of the successful initiatives did not
appear on the other list? In most cases, participants realize that the
design of the failed initiative ignored a critical phase of the change
process.
The NSDC standard on the change process for organizations
provides a research-based framework for organizing our improvement work
into three critical phases of change: initiation, implementation, and
institutionalization. (See The New Meaning of Educational Change
by Michael Fullan for a lengthier description of this Three I organizer.)
Initiation refers to building the readiness for
change. During initiation, leaders pay attention to the intellectual and
psychological characteristics of the organization. Attention is focused
on gaining consensus for the need to change and then creating a vision
and a plan for achieving it.
Implementation is the period when action plans
are put into practice in order to achieve intended results. This phase
typically includes developing theoretical understandings, demonstrating
skills, practicing new skills, and providing on-the-job support. Other
models of learning (see Dec./Jan. Results column) also may be used
as adults acquire the knowledge and skills that will enable them to achieve
organizational goals. Support systems are put in place as new practices
are tried on the job.
Institutionalization occurs when new practices
are integrated into school policies, budgets, and ongoing practices. The
school systems ensure that progress is not lost when attention shifts to
a new priority. For example, when all teachers have demonstrated competency
in cooperative learning, what happens when new teachers are hired and the
staff has moved on to developing skills in another model of teaching? Institutionalization
would mean that the school induction plan ensures that all new teachers
are provided support for developing competency in cooperative learning.
School improvement work is often a challenge, and so I
appreciate this standard because it provides me a simple way to view my
work. If a school has a powerful implementation design but is struggling
to put things in place, then I know the staff might not have settled some
key initiation issues.
If you're wondering how to start to work with the NSDC
standards, consider using the Three I model as a basic organizer. Place
each standard under the appropriate phase of the change process. For example,
issues raised in the standard on individual change (see Feb. Results
column) need to be addressed in Implementation, while the standard on models
of staff development (see Dec./Jan. Results column) could be very
helpful during Initiation.
A series of suggested questions associated with each phase
can be accessed on the NSDC web site.
This standard provides a powerful planning guide for school
improvement work. Because it helps teams delineate what they must address
in each phase, this standard helps team members decide what to do next.
