Fidelity and Integrity as Focusing Constructs in Implementation Studies of School-Based Interventions

• In Event: Topics in Contemporary Program Implementation, Evaluation, and Measurement

Abstract

Inconsistency in key definitions from implementation studies across many disciplines complicates the development of implementation science. Despite a plethora of definitions offered for implementation fidelity and integrity as constructs for studying implementation, these terms, in particular, remain ambiguously defined. This study analyzed nineteen years of implementation studies from K-12 education and found both variation and overlap in definitions used by researchers for implementation fidelity and integrity. They also found three distinct periods of change in definitions for those terms and a greater emphasis on adherence to intervention design than to considerations of context. The authors discuss implications of allowing these terms to remain ill-defined and offer distinctions that could render the terms more useful as interdependent constructs for implementation studies.

Authors

• Patricia Lee Reeves, Western Michigan University

• Jianping Shen, Western Michigan University

• Najat O-H Elgeberi, Western Michigan University