Is Implementation Science a Myth? Learning from Collaborative work with Governments in India

• In Event: Implementation Science? Decoding the complexity and contextual nature of system change work in large scale government-nonprofit collaborative programs in India

Proposal

In recent years, 15 state governments in India have collaborated with nonprofits and their coalitions for large-scale system led interventions for improving foundational learning under the national FLN Mission. This paper analyzes how partnerships between governments and non-profits have supported system-led initiatives for improving FLN learning outcomes at scale. It includes insights gained from the work of nonprofits in five states in India over the past five years, based on in-depth interviews with the leadership and field staff from both nonprofits and the government education system, a few small-scale process studies and the monitoring data collected from various FLN programs in five states over the past three years.

The paper begins with the context for the collaborations in the five states, including the various dimensions of the state, district and sub-district education ecosystem, the nature of the nonprofit partners and the coalition arrangements. It also identifies the challenges for genuine collaboration arising out of the ways of working of the government and the nonprofits that can constrain successful partnerships for system strengthening projects. The next section presents findings about aspects of the system-focused collaboration and implementation practices that were effective and discusses the reasons for the same. The following section elucidates some practices that should be avoided while working in such partnerships. The paper makes recommendation for the government as well as nonprofits for enhancing the efficacy of their collaborative work. The conclusion advocates for more systematic ‘implementation research’ to study ‘what works or doesn’t work’ in system-focused government-non-profit collaborative partnerships in different contexts.

Some of the recommendations for the government include (a) the need to evolve a flexible collaboration framework with clear roles and responsibilities with a focus on mutuality and trust, (b) a clear shared vision, expected outcomes and a consistent roadmap, and (c) mechanism for regular discussion and reviews with nonprofit partners. Nonprofits would gain from (a) developing a strong understanding of what it takes to work with governments on system reform, (b) not substituting the work that government institutions are already doing, rather focus on strengthening their capacity and efficiency, (c) maintaining a clear stand whenever needed to ensure quality in design and implementation, and (d) working on improving coalition partnerships. The paper is also an attempt to caution the sector about hastily attempting to replicate a large-scale collaborative intervention in different contexts without considering several factors and dimensions.

While comprehensive FLN programs with varied government-non-profit collaboration models are being implemented in at least 15 states, there is no significant research to get answers to the following questions in the varied Indian contexts: What works (or doesn’t work)? Why (what are the reasons why it worked or didn’t work or worked partly)? For whom (which of the stakeholders benefitted and what were the outcomes)? In which contexts? The insights presented in this paper could help trigger greater interest and studies about implementation practices in programs that attempt a significant change in teaching and learning at scale with a partnership between the government and non-profit organizations.

Author

• Dhir Jhingran, Language and Learning Foundation