TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding the Organizational Implementation Context of Schools
T2 - A Qualitative Study of School District Administrators, Principals, and Teachers
AU - Locke, Jill
AU - Lee, Kristine
AU - Cook, Clayton R.
AU - Frederick, Lindsay
AU - Vázquez-Colón, Cheryl
AU - Ehrhart, Mark G.
AU - Aarons, Gregory A.
AU - Davis, Chayna
AU - Lyon, Aaron R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2019/9/1
Y1 - 2019/9/1
N2 - Key features of the school environment can have a significant impact on teachers’ effective use of evidence-based practices (EBP), yet implementation-specific organizational constructs have rarely been studied in the education sector. This study examined three aspects of the organizational implementation context (implementation leadership, climate, and citizenship behavior), which have been conceptualized and validated in other service settings. Focus groups with central office administrators, principals, and teachers were conducted to understand the applicability and conceptual boundaries of these organizational constructs in schools. Focus group transcripts were coded, and the results indicated both similarities and differences in their conceptualizations of implementation leadership, climate, and citizenship behavior in school. The data indicated that: (1) implementation leadership was largely present in schools with the addition of Distributed Leadership; (2) two implementation climate constructs were most clearly present (i.e., Focus on EBP and Educational Support for EBP) and two additional constructs (i.e., Existing Support to Deliver EBP and Prioritization of EBP) emerged as part of this construct; and (3) implementation citizenship behavior (Helping Others and Keeping Informed) was consistently acknowledged across schools and two new components emerged (i.e., Information Sharing and Observation/Feedback). Recommendations to researchers and community stakeholders are discussed.
AB - Key features of the school environment can have a significant impact on teachers’ effective use of evidence-based practices (EBP), yet implementation-specific organizational constructs have rarely been studied in the education sector. This study examined three aspects of the organizational implementation context (implementation leadership, climate, and citizenship behavior), which have been conceptualized and validated in other service settings. Focus groups with central office administrators, principals, and teachers were conducted to understand the applicability and conceptual boundaries of these organizational constructs in schools. Focus group transcripts were coded, and the results indicated both similarities and differences in their conceptualizations of implementation leadership, climate, and citizenship behavior in school. The data indicated that: (1) implementation leadership was largely present in schools with the addition of Distributed Leadership; (2) two implementation climate constructs were most clearly present (i.e., Focus on EBP and Educational Support for EBP) and two additional constructs (i.e., Existing Support to Deliver EBP and Prioritization of EBP) emerged as part of this construct; and (3) implementation citizenship behavior (Helping Others and Keeping Informed) was consistently acknowledged across schools and two new components emerged (i.e., Information Sharing and Observation/Feedback). Recommendations to researchers and community stakeholders are discussed.
KW - Citizenship behavior
KW - Climate
KW - Evidence-based practices
KW - Implementation
KW - Leadership
KW - Schools
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85054525460&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s12310-018-9292-1
DO - 10.1007/s12310-018-9292-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 31681447
AN - SCOPUS:85054525460
SN - 1866-2625
VL - 11
SP - 379
EP - 399
JO - School Mental Health
JF - School Mental Health
IS - 3
ER -