Considering the implementation research-to-practice gap: An experimental evaluation of intervention-general methods for assessing and supporting intervention fidelity through coaching

Abstract

Implementation support through coaching—such as with embedded fidelity assessment, performance feedback, modeling, and alliance building—has been empirically supported as a way to increase and sustain interventionists' fidelity levels. However, education research consistently shows that practitioners struggle to monitor and improve interventionists' fidelity using implementation support strategies. One explanation for this type of implementation research-to-practice gap is that evidence-based coaching strategies have significant limitations with respect to their usability, feasibility, and adaptability. This study is the first to experimentally evaluate an evidence-based set of adaptable materials and procedures designed to assess and support the intervention fidelity of school-based interventions. Using a randomized multiple-baseline-across-participants design, we examined the extent to which these materials and procedures would influence intervention adherence and quality of an evidence-based reading intervention. Across all nine interventionist participants, data revealed that the implementation strategies meaningfully improved intervention adherence and quality, and high levels of intervention fidelity maintained 1 month after removing the support procedures. Findings are discussed with respect to how these materials and procedures address a critical need within school-based research and practice as well as how they may help to inform and address the implementation research-to-practice gap in education.