The opening credits to every Simpson’s episode feature Bart, the lifelong 4th grader, subjected to punishment and writing some phrase that starts “I will not…” repeatedly on his classroom chalkboard. Sometimes I picture Bart (or me) writing this phrase hundreds of times: “I will not expect this change to be easy or to happen overnight.” Perhaps that’s Bart channeling his inner-Dean Fixsen who said, “Implementation is a process, not an event.” (Fixsen et al., 2004, p. 15) That simple quote frustratingly reminds me that large-scale change takes time. But don’t have a cow, Andrew! Implementation is a science and thanks to folks at the State Implementation and Scaling-up of Evidence-based Practices (SISEP) Center at the FPG Child Development Institute at the UNC, Chapel Hill as well as other collaborators such as the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports and the National Implementation Research Network, researchers and practitioners are operationalizing the implementation frameworks needed to ensure the sustainability of (evidence-based) practices that will lead to meaningfully improved outcomes for our students.

I invite you to read the Scaling-up Brief (Fixsen, Blase, Horner, Sims, & Sugai, 2013), Scaling Up Evidence-based Practices in Education. This brief summarizes the need for effective implementation frameworks and outlines a formula and begins with the premise, “Students cannot benefit from education practices they do not experience.” (Fixsen et al., 2013, p. 1) One day I hope to turn on the Simpsons and see Bart writing about all the great things he achieved in school. Until then, http://goo.gl/NkkYHJ.