Implementation by Design
Build your district’s capacity to lead the work. And keep it going.
You want students to experience meaningful learning, develop agency, and demonstrate what they know and can do.
Implementation by Design helps your district develop the people, practices, and connections that make that possible.
District leaders, building teams, and teacher leaders learn alongside experienced practitioners, put ideas into practice, and use what they discover to decide what comes next.
Our goal is to build your district’s capacity to lead and sustain this work yourselves.
Let’s talk about your district“Tell us what to do, and we’ll do it.”
We hear this from school leaders all the time.
You understand the direction of NY Inspires. You want a clear next step. And you have real questions about what it means for your district.
Implementation by Design gives your people a structured way to work through these questions together, with practical tools, experienced support, and recurring time to learn.
You leave each learning cycle with something to use, something to try, and a way to learn from what happens.
- What does your Portrait of a Graduate mean for instruction and assessment?
- How will principals lead this work with their faculty?
- Where will teachers have time to learn, plan, and try new practices?
- How will you know whether students are experiencing something better?
The reason for this work is sitting in your classrooms.
A Portrait of a Graduate describes the skills, attributes, and academic preparation you want students to develop.
Putting it into practice means creating opportunities for students to develop those competencies, receive feedback, and demonstrate their learning.
That takes thoughtful instructional design. Strong assessment practices. Leaders who can support the work. And time for educators to learn together.
IBD connects those responsibilities around a shared purpose: helping your district create meaningful learning experiences that prepare students for the lives they want to lead.
Hear from the educators doing this work.
Watch participating educators explain why they joined, what they are learning, and why they believe this work matters for kids.
Three levels of learning. One connected district.
Examine what the system needs.
District leaders participate in a Community of Practice twice each month.
Using a fidelity rubric to examine implementation, they discuss progress, surface barriers, learn with other districts, and identify the conditions their people need to move forward.
They develop the ability to ask better questions about implementation and make decisions informed by what is happening throughout the district.
What does our district need to understand, provide, or adjust next?
Teams
Develop the ability to lead the work locally.
Building teams work with experienced school leaders John Clements and Mary Anne Moran on putting the Portrait into practice.
Leaders experience structured conversations, learn the protocols that guide them, and practice facilitating those protocols with their own people.
Principals also have an additional monthly Community of Practice opportunity to reflect on what happened, work through challenges, and prepare for their next steps.
How do we help our faculty make sense of this and act on it?
Teams
Bring the work into instruction and assessment.
Teacher leaders work with Tech Valley High School educators Amy Hawrylchak and Sarah Hugger on project-based learning, instructional practice, and assessment literacy.
A protected half-day each month gives teachers time to learn and plan together. Between sessions, they apply their learning in classrooms and bring their experiences and questions back.
What will students experience, and what will their work help us understand?
Linked Teams make the connections intentional.
Your district already has knowledge and experience at every level. Linked Teams help people use it together.
We help your district establish connections so questions, evidence, and learning move among district leadership, building teams, and teacher teams.
Classroom experience informs leadership decisions. Leadership decisions support the next round of classroom learning.
What that connection can look like
During the PLAN Pilot, Binghamton High School’s project lead helped connect district leadership, building leadership, and teacher teams.
She brought questions and experiences into a cross-district Community of Practice, learned from other schools, and adapted useful ideas for her own district. She also organized resources and supported communication among the people doing the work.
That experience illustrates the purpose of Linked Teams: people connecting what they are learning so it becomes useful across the organization.
You should become more capable, not more dependent.
Outside expertise can help you get started. Sustaining the work requires expertise within your district.
That is why capacity building runs through every part of IBD.
Your leaders learn protocols they can facilitate themselves. Teacher leaders develop instructional and assessment expertise through practice and reflection. District leaders learn to examine implementation and identify what their organization needs next.
We provide frameworks and support that your people learn to use and adapt to their community.
Over time, more of the facilitation, problem-solving, and decision-making should live within your district.
Our aim is for your people to carry the work forward with confidence, including when our partnership ends.
What growing local capacity looks like
Our work in NYSED’s PLAN Pilot helped shape Implementation by Design. These school stories illustrate how educators can take outside support, adapt it, and build the ability to lead locally.
These summaries reflect participants’ accounts at the time of their PLAN Pilot recap interviews.
Is Implementation by Design right for your district?
This partnership is for districts ready to:
- Connect their Portrait of a Graduate to teaching, learning, and assessment.
- Involve district leaders, building leaders, and teacher teams.
- Protect recurring time for adults to learn, practice, and reflect together.
- Use classroom experience and evidence to inform decisions.
- Develop internal people who can facilitate and sustain the work.
You can enter at different stages. You may be developing your Portrait, beginning implementation, or connecting efforts already underway.
You don’t need every answer before you begin. You do need a willingness to learn and make space for the work.
This partnership is unlikely to fit if you need:
- A single workshop or a finished document as the complete engagement.
- A consultant to make the decisions and carry implementation for your district.
- A fixed recipe that stays the same regardless of what your teams discover.
- District-wide implementation without recurring participation from leaders and teachers.
IBD is a sustained learning and implementation partnership. Your district participates actively in building its own capacity.
A clear commitment. A sustained partnership.
Implementation by Design is designed as a three-year partnership supporting districts through exploration, installation, initial implementation, and full implementation.
Your district’s needs and what your teams are learning guide the work within those stages.
Plan–Do–Study–Act gives teams a practical routine: plan a change, try it, examine what happened, and decide what comes next.
What time should your district protect?
Leaders
Approximately 3–5 hours per month for learning, Communities of Practice, and local facilitation.
Teacher leaders
A half-day each month for learning and collaborative planning, plus time to apply practices in classrooms.
This protected time is part of the district’s commitment to making implementation possible.
Experience alongside New York districts.
Modern Learners served as a Technical Assistance Center for NYSED’s 17-district PLAN Pilot. That experience informs our support for performance-based learning and assessment.
Today, 19 New York districts across four BOCES participate in IBD through CoSer arrangements.
Our team brings experience in district leadership, school leadership, classroom practice, and implementation science. We bring that experience into an ongoing partnership with your people.
Want to hear directly from participating districts? Ask us about references.
An investment in your district’s capacity
The annual investment of $60,000 per district, per year, supports coordinated learning with district leaders, building teams, and teacher leaders, alongside coaching, resources, and implementation support.
IBD is already accessed through BOCES CoSer arrangements. We can discuss access through your BOCES and pricing for a full BOCES implementation. Availability and terms depend on the arrangement.
Let’s talk about your districtLet’s start with where your district is.
- Where is the work gaining traction?
- Where are people getting stuck?
- Who needs the confidence and skill to lead it?
Bring us your questions. We’ll talk about what you have in place, where your people need support, and whether Implementation by Design is a good fit.
Build the capacity to move forward now, and keep learning as the work evolves.
Let’s talk about your district
Tell us a little about you and we’ll be in touch to set up a conversation.
Explore the thinking behind the project.
Read An Architecture for Sensemaking: What We’re Learning About Organizational Change in New York Schools.