Sustainability of Fidelity of Implementation over Time, in the Context of a Prekindergarten Mathematics Curriculum and Professional Development Scale-Up Intervention

Although there is growing interest in implementation fidelity, little research has been reported on the sustainability over time of faithful implementations of learning innovations. This study examined the sustainability of teachers' implementation fidelity to the components of a prekindergarten mathematics intervention two full years after external support ceased. The authors hypothesized that an innovation based on coherent learning trajectories, wherein teachers increase their familiarity with mathematical goals, hypothesized developmental paths leading to the achievement of those goals, and activities designed to enable children to attain those goals, positively impacts teachers' sustained and faithful implementation of the innovation. This research draws from a large-scale up study of professional development across two diverse research settings. Conclusions report that teachers exposed to the PD during the intervention continue to demonstrate high levels of fidelity to the underlying curriculum two years past exposure and without continued project support. Teachers with more experience demonstrated significantly faster rates of growth than their less experienced colleagues, and higher initial levels of fidelity to the whole group component. A table and a figure are appended.