Right From the Start

The Essential Guide to Implementing School Initiatives
James Marshall - San Diego State University
Right From the Start
April 2023 | 280 pages | Corwin
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ISBN: 9781071917640
Available from January 0001
Paperback
ISBN: 9781071913444
Available from January 0001

Description

Finally, clear guidance on how to design programs that last

How many initiatives start with great fanfare only to end up accumulating dust on a shelf?  Right From the Start tackles this challenge head on by offering a reliable, evidence-based implementation process.  With upbeat clarity, this book examines the meaning of initiative, provides an intuitively sequenced structure and eagerly shares a vast array of tools. This is quite simply the book all veterans wish they had years ago.

Drawing on Marshall’s thousands of hours evaluating educational programs, this guidebook walks through the entire process of implementation, from needs assessment (more important than you think!) to evaluation—while providing strategies that yield predictable results. Organized to allow for reading cover to cover or to focus on a particular stage, the book includes

  • Tools for analysis so you can effectively determine where you are and what you need

  • Opportunities for self-assessment and reflection

  • "Tales from the field" to help you avoid pitfalls and glean best practices 

  • Discussion questions for professional learning communities


Every educator and policy maker has ideas and knows exactly what will improve their school.  That’s the easy part.  But does the solution really fit the need of the school? Do the school players have the commitment or readiness to venture forward? To get it right the first time, apply Marshall’s model of implementation in your school.

Contents

List of Figures

List of Figures

List of Tables

List of Tables

About the Author

About the Author

Foreword by Douglas Fisher

Foreword by Douglas Fisher

Introduction: If Any Outcome Will Do...

Introduction: If Any Outcome Will Do...

Part I: Getting Smart Through Needs Assessment

  • Chapter 1: Success Starts with Understanding Needs
  • Chapter 2: What's Going on Here: Barriers and Strengths
  • Chapter 3: The People
  • Chapter 4: The Organization
  • Chapter 5: Summing Up Barriers and Strengths
  • Chapter 6: Let's Get Smart
  • Chapter 7: Collecting Needs Assessment Data
  • Chapter 8: Coming Closer to Clarity: Summarizing Needs
  • Part I Wrap-Up: Linda's Needs in Focus

Part II: Designing and Launching the Initiative

  • Chapter 9: Designing the Initiative
  • Chapter 10: Your Solution: Leading Initiative Design
  • Chapter 11: Facts About Fidelity
  • Chapter 12: Mapping the Initiative to Your School or District
  • Chapter 13: The Initiative Plan
  • Chapter 14: Leading Implementation Action Planning
  • Chapter 15: Early Wins
  • Chapter 16: Leadership to Sustain and Promote Programs Over Time
  • Chapter 17: Advice for Scaling Programs
  • Part II Wrap-up: Lessons in Leadership, Inventing the Initiative

Part III: From Implementation to Impact

  • Chapter 18: Continuous Monitoring and Adjustment
  • Chapter 19: Program Evaluation Planning
  • Chapter 20: The Evaluation Plan
  • Chapter 21: Three Program Evaluation Models
  • Chapter 22: Developing Evaluation Questions
  • Chapter 23: Data Collection Decisions
  • Chapter 24: Lining Things Up: A Critical Point in Evaluation Planning
  • Chapter 25: Making Findings Persuasive and Actionable
  • Chapter 26: Making Results Useful
  • Part III Wrap-up: Initiative Impact

Epilogue: Looking Ahead

Epilogue: Looking Ahead

Appendices

Appendices

Glossary

Glossary

References

References

Description

Finally, clear guidance on how to design programs that last

How many initiatives start with great fanfare only to end up accumulating dust on a shelf?  Right From the Start tackles this challenge head on by offering a reliable, evidence-based implementation process.  With upbeat clarity, this book examines the meaning of initiative, provides an intuitively sequenced structure and eagerly shares a vast array of tools. This is quite simply the book all veterans wish they had years ago.

Drawing on Marshall’s thousands of hours evaluating educational programs, this guidebook walks through the entire process of implementation, from needs assessment (more important than you think!) to evaluation—while providing strategies that yield predictable results. Organized to allow for reading cover to cover or to focus on a particular stage, the book includes

  • Tools for analysis so you can effectively determine where you are and what you need

  • Opportunities for self-assessment and reflection

  • "Tales from the field" to help you avoid pitfalls and glean best practices 

  • Discussion questions for professional learning communities


Every educator and policy maker has ideas and knows exactly what will improve their school.  That’s the easy part.  But does the solution really fit the need of the school? Do the school players have the commitment or readiness to venture forward? To get it right the first time, apply Marshall’s model of implementation in your school.

Contents

List of Figures

List of Figures

List of Tables

List of Tables

About the Author

About the Author

Foreword by Douglas Fisher

Foreword by Douglas Fisher

Introduction: If Any Outcome Will Do...

Introduction: If Any Outcome Will Do...

Part I: Getting Smart Through Needs Assessment

  • Chapter 1: Success Starts with Understanding Needs
  • Chapter 2: What's Going on Here: Barriers and Strengths
  • Chapter 3: The People
  • Chapter 4: The Organization
  • Chapter 5: Summing Up Barriers and Strengths
  • Chapter 6: Let's Get Smart
  • Chapter 7: Collecting Needs Assessment Data
  • Chapter 8: Coming Closer to Clarity: Summarizing Needs
  • Part I Wrap-Up: Linda's Needs in Focus

Part II: Designing and Launching the Initiative

  • Chapter 9: Designing the Initiative
  • Chapter 10: Your Solution: Leading Initiative Design
  • Chapter 11: Facts About Fidelity
  • Chapter 12: Mapping the Initiative to Your School or District
  • Chapter 13: The Initiative Plan
  • Chapter 14: Leading Implementation Action Planning
  • Chapter 15: Early Wins
  • Chapter 16: Leadership to Sustain and Promote Programs Over Time
  • Chapter 17: Advice for Scaling Programs
  • Part II Wrap-up: Lessons in Leadership, Inventing the Initiative

Part III: From Implementation to Impact

  • Chapter 18: Continuous Monitoring and Adjustment
  • Chapter 19: Program Evaluation Planning
  • Chapter 20: The Evaluation Plan
  • Chapter 21: Three Program Evaluation Models
  • Chapter 22: Developing Evaluation Questions
  • Chapter 23: Data Collection Decisions
  • Chapter 24: Lining Things Up: A Critical Point in Evaluation Planning
  • Chapter 25: Making Findings Persuasive and Actionable
  • Chapter 26: Making Results Useful
  • Part III Wrap-up: Initiative Impact

Epilogue: Looking Ahead

Epilogue: Looking Ahead

Appendices

Appendices

Glossary

Glossary

References

References

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Right From the Start

The Essential Guide to Implementing School Initiatives

James Marshall
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April 2023 | 280 pages | Corwin

Format Published Date ISBN Price
Paperback 01/01/2025 9781071913444 $40.95
Lifetime 01/01/2025 9781071917640 $37.00

Finally, clear guidance on how to design programs that last

How many initiatives start with great fanfare only to end up accumulating dust on a shelf?  Right From the Start tackles this challenge head on by offering a reliable, evidence-based implementation process.  With upbeat clarity, this book examines the meaning of initiative, provides an intuitively sequenced structure and eagerly shares a vast array of tools. This is quite simply the book all veterans wish they had years ago.

Drawing on Marshall’s thousands of hours evaluating educational programs, this guidebook walks through the entire process of implementation, from needs assessment (more important than you think!) to evaluation—while providing strategies that yield predictable results. Organized to allow for reading cover to cover or to focus on a particular stage, the book includes

  • Tools for analysis so you can effectively determine where you are and what you need

  • Opportunities for self-assessment and reflection

  • "Tales from the field" to help you avoid pitfalls and glean best practices 

  • Discussion questions for professional learning communities


Every educator and policy maker has ideas and knows exactly what will improve their school.  That’s the easy part.  But does the solution really fit the need of the school? Do the school players have the commitment or readiness to venture forward? To get it right the first time, apply Marshall’s model of implementation in your school.


Table Of Contents:

  • List of Figures
  • List of Tables
  • About the Author
  • Foreword by Douglas Fisher
  • Introduction: If Any Outcome Will Do...
  • Part I: Getting Smart Through Needs Assessment
  • Chapter 1: Success Starts with Understanding Needs
  • Chapter 2: What's Going on Here: Barriers and Strengths
  • Chapter 3: The People
  • Chapter 4: The Organization
  • Chapter 5: Summing Up Barriers and Strengths
  • Chapter 6: Let's Get Smart
  • Chapter 7: Collecting Needs Assessment Data
  • Chapter 8: Coming Closer to Clarity: Summarizing Needs
  • Part I Wrap-Up: Linda's Needs in Focus
  • Part II: Designing and Launching the Initiative
  • Chapter 9: Designing the Initiative
  • Chapter 10: Your Solution: Leading Initiative Design
  • Chapter 11: Facts About Fidelity
  • Chapter 12: Mapping the Initiative to Your School or District
  • Chapter 13: The Initiative Plan
  • Chapter 14: Leading Implementation Action Planning
  • Chapter 15: Early Wins
  • Chapter 16: Leadership to Sustain and Promote Programs Over Time
  • Chapter 17: Advice for Scaling Programs
  • Part II Wrap-up: Lessons in Leadership, Inventing the Initiative
  • Part III: From Implementation to Impact
  • Chapter 18: Continuous Monitoring and Adjustment
  • Chapter 19: Program Evaluation Planning
  • Chapter 20: The Evaluation Plan
  • Chapter 21: Three Program Evaluation Models
  • Chapter 22: Developing Evaluation Questions
  • Chapter 23: Data Collection Decisions
  • Chapter 24: Lining Things Up: A Critical Point in Evaluation Planning
  • Chapter 25: Making Findings Persuasive and Actionable
  • Chapter 26: Making Results Useful
  • Part III Wrap-up: Initiative Impact
  • Foreword by Douglas Fisher
  • Epilogue: Looking Ahead
  • Appendices
  • Glossary
  • References

Recent Product Reviews:

Every educator and policy maker has ideas and knows exactly what will improve their school. That’s the easy part. But does the solution really fit the need of the school? Do the school players have the commitment or readiness to venture forward? To get it right the first time, apply Marshall’s model of implementation in your school.
John Hattie, Emeritus Laureate Professor, University of Melbourne, Co-director, the Hattie Family Foundation
This is the strongest and most comprehensive book I have read on the topic of implementation. James Marshall has a deep understanding of how school leaders and teachers need to implement initiatives, and he lays out how to do just that.
Peter DeWitt, Corwin Author
Right From the Start offers poignant examples, tools, and processes, and it inspires confidence in the potential for program and organizational transformation in multiple contexts. If you are seeking powerful, practical advice, this is the resource you’ve been looking for.
Michelle D. Young, Dean, Loyola Marymount University School of Education Professor of Leadership and Policy
James Marshall has a wise and dynamic approach to program design. I wish I had found this book years ago.
Virginia E. Kelsen, Assistant Superintendent, Glendora Unified School District
James Marshall’s practical guide offers schools an invaluable tool to plan and strategize efforts that will ensure the expected student outcomes. This is a must read for leaders who are passionate about equity and excellence for all students.
Jose Francisco Escobedo, Executive Director, National Center of Urban School Transformation

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