Individual & Idiosyncratic Factors

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This Section: Implement, Maintain, Scale Up & Sustain (IMSS) Programs

Local Drivers & Barriers in IMSS: Individuals & Idiosyncratic Factors

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Each local situation will also have key local drivers & barriers which are derived from individual and inter-organizational and other idiosyncratic factors. These individual factors, often unique or inter-acting in unique ways, are often ignored in research studies or planning the IMSS process. These factors will include; key people acting as decision-makers, gatekeepers, influencers and others, critical processes such as annual priority setting, budget-making, local issues that relate to the program/approach being implemented, recent and significant incidents (such as a death or crisis) that have galvanized public, political and professional attention, the history of the issue, organization and community context as they relate to the program/approach and interpersonal relationships between the various partners, allies and competitors to the program/approach.
Many implementation experts have suggested that a thorough "situation analysis" should include the identification of these relevant local drivers. The list below identifies some of the questions/issues that are likely to emerge. These questions can be grouped and described as local drivers (facilitators and barriers) and fit within a broader set of implementation, maintenance, scaling up and sustainability (IMSS) issues being discussed in this Encyclopedia.

Why did the program get started? (incident or accident with students, a provincial directive, concern or demand from a local trustee, reports in the media, principal or teacher came back from a conference, provincial conference, support from the teachers’ association etc.) The reason for starting something usually has an impact on its durability and development. If the significance of that reason or person driving the change is modified, the urgency of importance of the change will be affected.
How did you determine if the program fits with the official curriculum or the school’s annual plan? If there is no connection to the annual plan or curriculum, it will be more difficult to sustain the program.
What are the details of the program (population, type of intervention, cost, materials, facilitator etc.) and why did you choose to focus on those? Are these details also attractive to those who will implement the program?
How did the program or approach gain access into the schools? (persuading people, trusted messengers, barriers, opportunities etc.)
Were there specific people who were helpful or difficult?
How did local personalities and relationships affect the process?
Does this issue being addressed in your program have a “history” in your school, neighbourhood or school board?
Was the opinion of the School Superintendent, CEO of the local Health Authority, relationship with local agencies or community groups a factor in your program?
How did the local social norms affect your program and its implementation/evolution?
Were there particular barriers or opportunities related to the local neighbourhood that affected the program (access to after school busing, parents who worked until late in the evening, concerns about the safety of children walking home after school, Internet access for student project work etc?
How did you negotiate, cooperate or compete with other organizations offering a similar program?
How did you get approval from your supervisors to start and run the program?
Does the program require the use of technology? If so, how are teachers using those technologies before and after the introduction of the program?
Do the school boards provide teachers with their own computers at their workplace? Do they have work-specified email addresses that they use regularly? Is it easy to leave telephone messages for the [participating teachers in individual voicemail boxes? Are the teachers using smart phones and other mobile devices in their work these days?
How did you/will you deal with teacher turnover during or after the introduction of the program?
Did the teachers have time for regular meetings during the introduction of the program? Was there difficulty because of their other responsibilities and demands on their time? Do teachers like to work in teams and with other members of the school community?
Did the Principal help in getting started? in maintaining the program? What happened if the Principal was transferred?
Do the teachers still use the materials after the program ended?
How are you planning for succession once the funding ends or you or the staff move along?

This summary was first posted in March 2009. Currently it has been posted as first draft" The following individuals or organizations have contributed to the development of this topic. We encourage readers to submit comments or suggested edits by posting a comment on the Mini-blog & Discussion Page for this section or posting a comment below:

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This summary was first posted in June 2012. Currently it has been posted as an "excerpt/adaptation", "first draft" or "revised draft" and "first or revised edition" version. The following individuals or organizations have contributed to the development of this topic.
We encourage readers to submit comments or suggested edits by posting a comment on the Mini-blog & Discussion Page for this section or posting a comment below:
Due to the length of Handbook Sections (similar to a book chapter) prepared for this web site and knowledge exchange program, we post these documents as separate documents. Click on this web link to access the draft or completed version on this topic. Come back to this page to post any comments or suggestions.

Bibliography/Toolbox on
Key research, reports and resources on this topic are highlighted below. Many of the topics in this web site also have extensive bibliographies/toolboxes (BTs) published as separate documents. Click on this web link to access the full version of our Bibliography/Toolbox on this topic. These lists use our outline for these collections that we have developed over several years of curating these materials.

Research	Reports, Resources
Understand the Approach/ Program & Its Effectiveness in Different Contexts on Different Aspects of HPSD, Populations How to Implement, Maintain, Scale Up, Sustain, Build Capacity, Leverage to Support Core Components. How to integrate within Education Systems Use of Ecological/ Systems Approach Research Questions/ KDE Agenda	Understand the Approach/ Program & Its Effectiveness in Different Contexts on Different Aspects of HPSD, Populations How to Implement, Maintain, Scale Up, Sustain, Build Capacity, Leverage to Support Core Components. How to integrate within Education Systems Use of Ecological/ Systems Approach Research Questions/ KDE Agenda

The following additional resources are posted on this web site or published by other credible sources. Please send any suggested additions to info@internationalschoolhealth.org

For updates and reader comments on this section, go to our Mini-Blog on Implement-Maintain-Scale Up-Sustain (IMSS)
(The number of summaries completed or drafted in this section are listed below)

- Introduction to this section
- IMSS Overview

Implementing
Maintaining
Scaling Up/Spreading Out
Sustaining

- Rationale & Examples of IMSS Planning

Theories of Change
Widely Used, Effective Examples
Global/Regional/National IMSS Reports
Evidence of Impacts on results, core components or sustainability

- Key Insights

Clarity about terms and processes
Understand the Context/Problem
Organizational Culture & Readiness
Individuals and Idiosyncratic Factors
Fidelity to What?
Scaling Up or Spreading Out
IMSS in Large, Complex Systems

- The IMSS Process

Begin with the End in Mind
Match Process, Resources & Outomes
Use IMSS Models & Frameworks
Estimate size, cost, risks & benefits
Strengthen Traditional IMSS Factors
Anticipate local Barriers, Opportunities
Work with & within Ambiguities
Plan Specifically for Sustainability
Recognize, reach critical junctures

- How IMSS fits within a Systems Approach
- Current/Future IMSS Knowledge Development

Centres & Networks
Research/Knowledge Agendas
Methodological Issues & Questions
Impacts on System/School Effectiveness
Cost-Benefits/Effectiveness