Both Promising and Problematic: Reviewing the Evidence for Implementation Science

Abstract

Delivering evidence-based prevention programs within school settings has the potential to reduce problem behaviors and enhance youth well-being. Moreover, delivering interventions within school settings may reach those youth who would otherwise not receive support. Schools hold the potential to provide effective services to address students' academic, behavioral, emotional, and social needs. However, the implementation of these comprehensive, evidence-based programs is an ongoing challenge within schools. While most school-based prevention programs target individual students' behaviors, students are nested within classrooms and schools, which are in turn nested within broader school districts and communities. Even when the larger systemic issues are not part of the intervention, they can nonetheless have important effects on the process of implementation and student outcomes. This chapter reviews the current state of the implementation quality of school-based evidence-based prevention programs and the challenges of program implementation in classroom-based settings. The chapter reviews why implementation fidelity is a critical component of program success and those factors that can improve implementation efforts in schools.