About the Matrix

The Implementation Matrix is a research-based, customizable tool designed to help educators at all levels of the state’s education system implement the education reforms with a focus on continuous improvement. Field-tested and informed by educators, the Matrix gives school and district leaders a straightforward framework to assess where they are in implementing a change and where they want to be, providing all involved a common language for ongoing planning and hands-on work for scaling change into every classroom to reach every student.

Matrix Domains

• Instructional Leadership

  A set of people, structures, resources, and guidance that support development of teacher pedagogical content knowledge and approaches to inform thoughtful reflection on their practices.

• Effective Assessment

  High Quality Instruction Informed by Effective Assessment. Use of evidence of student learning to inform instruction, and the use of formative assessment practices.

• Challenging Standards

  CA Standards represent a higher, more challenging bar for student learning and a deeper level of pedagogical understanding by teachers.

• Quality Curriculum

  Text, materials, and resources used by teachers in developing lessons and delivering instruction.

Matrix Dimensions of Scale

• Depth

  Meaningful change in instructional practice that leads to improvement in student outcomes

• Ownership

  Transition of authority, knowledge, and sustainability to local educators

• Spread

  Changes across multiple classrooms and schools; not just universal exposure and awareness, but depth at scale within a variety of contexts

• Sustainability

  The development of structures and policies to support multiple levels of the system as the reform is adopted and adapted over time

The four dimensions of scale are an approach to scaling instructional reforms by building capacity within school systems, both district level and site level, for local educators to own reforms. This approach addresses systemic root causes of implementation failure through an emphasis on developing in-depth, sustained ownership of reform practices by those most responsible for implementing those practices. Each dimension of scale has been taken into consideration—along with experiences and examples from research on the implementation of content standards—to select the key actions that make up the matrix. The four dimensions of scale are interrelated rather than sequential.