Eric.ed.gov – Enacting Common Core Instruction: How Intermediate Unit 13 Leveraged Its Position as an Educational Service Agency to Implement and Scale the LDC Initiative

Funded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and Math Design Collaborative (MDC) offer a set of instructional and formative assessment tools in literacy and math, which were developed to help educators better prepare all students to meet the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and succeed beyond high school. Following three years of extensive data collection in LDC study sites throughout the country, Research for Action (RFA) has produced three case studies to illustrate how the LDC and MDC tools have been adopted in different settings and contexts, and which approaches and supports have contributed to the successful adoption and use of the tools. The case studies provide a set of “road maps” for other sites that will be adopting or scaling up tool use. Case study sites have been examined through the lens of three overlapping conditions found to be necessary for effective scale-up: (1) Effective leadership at multiple levels; (2) Alignment with the CCSS, curricula, and state assessments; and (3) Meaningful and ongoing professional learning opportunities (PLOs). These conditions provide the organizing framework for the case studies and guide the RFA’s analysis of the strategic approaches undertaken by state, regional, local, and network entities that enabled strong initial implementation. Each case study illustrates how the tools were implemented and scaled under a specific set of circumstances that are likely to be applicable to many other sites. As such, they are intended to inform further exploration and discussion on how to effectively roll-out the LDC and MDC tools across a wide range of districts and schools. The Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit (IU 13) case study provides an example of how an intermediary educational service unit — or other regional organizations in other states — can offer leadership, leverage resources, and build district capacity to effectively use literacy tools aligned with the CCSS and scale such initiatives. This approach to the implementation and scaling of a CCSS-aligned literacy framework also provides useful lessons for how states with similar entities can approach elements of their CCSS strategy. This document describes how IU 13 implemented the LDC initiative. It is composed of the following sections: (1) A brief overview of the educational reform and policy context in Pennsylvania and IU 13; (2) A summary of IU 13’s approach to LDC implementation–balancing the strengths and limitations of their role as an educational service agency; and (3) Descriptions of 10 IU 13-initiated strategies, organized by the three supporting conditions depicted in the Theory of Action, that have impacted early adoption and success of the LDC initiative.