Networked Improvement Implementation

The Networked Improvement Implementation CoP supports State capacity building and implementation of Networked Improvement Communities (NICs) within and among districts and schools and foster innovative approaches to generating and using evidence for continuous improvement. This CoP focuses on states developing systems to support districts in this approach and states that may use this approach with a group of districts.

The NIC model, developed as a set of tools and processes for improvement science, posits that when organizations pursue continuous improvement in a networked setting, there is potential for accelerated learning. NICs leverage expertise and working relationships of researchers and practitioners across contexts such that ongoing shared testing of interventions and communication of findings within NICs promotes diffusion of learning at scale (Bryk et al., 2011). The sum of needs-sensing data and current research point to the following theory of action that underpins this CoP:

• Schools can improve faster if they understand and apply the tools of improvement science and share what they are learning with other schools that are working to solve a similar problem.
• Schools will be more likely to adopt improvement strategies that other schools have developed and refined, compared to “off the shelf” programs or strategies that are handed to them by the state or other outside entity.
• Through targeted funding and technical support, the state educational agency (SEA) can be an important coordinating entity in this work.