From Fidelity to Integrity: Navigating Flexibility in Scaling Up a Statewide Initiative

Abstract

This article is a case study of how educators made sense of the core ideas of a new statewide initiative intentionally designed to foster local flexibility. We trace the initiative’s core elements through (1) communication materials, (2) school principals’ understandings of the initiative and reasons for participation, and (3) teachers’ understandings of what the initiative required of them. Using interviews from principals and teachers, this article sheds light on tensions between providing flexibility and ensuring integrity to core components. Overall, our findings suggest that while principals understood the core elements of the initiative, some elements were pushed to the front and others were pushed to the back.