Considerations About Curriculum Implementation
Hi-fidelity Implementation
Top-down approaches are frequently identified as a major cause for implementation failures
in SSA and elsewhere because they neglect the importance of the context, but rather
emphasize the importance of the planned curriculum to be faithfully brought into the
classroom. Present literature uses the technical term for faithful enactment of a planned
curriculum, fidelity of implementation (FOI) (Ruiz-Primo 2005). FOI at one hand may
describe the strict adherence to prescribed program components (group work, learnercentered
education, and so forth), on the other hand it may refer to the causal levels of a
program’s mechanism that must be preserved to achieve the intended program outcome
(better teaching to achieve better learning). It is widely agreed that adaptations in implementation
are necessary for a program to be successful. The question is then not about
exclusive fidelity and adherence to program components, and neither about amorphous
adaptation (“anything goes”). The question is about the degree of FOI required to implement
the essential meaning of a curriculum while allowing for on-site adaptation. It goes
together with other questions about program delivery, for example, amount of program
content received by participants, quality of program delivery, participants’ responsiveness,
and program differentiation (Ruiz-Primo 2005). Intending to implement the essential
meanings within curriculum reform entails the need for a clear conceptualization and
focus of implementation, such as the departure from traditional learning and teaching
approaches, followed by appropriate strategies to practicably bring the meaning into use.
Strategies and implementation attempts in SSA face a dichotomous challenge. On one
hand, curriculum reform in SSA will fail if the intended increases in instructional quality
are not achieved. Yet the complex changes that are needed to improve on instructional