Implementation strategies are defined as “the methods or techniques by which adoption, implementation, and sustainability of an intervention are enhanced.” There is growing evidence supporting use of multi‑faceted strategy bundles—combining tactics such as educational materials, instructional meetings, audit-and-feedback, external facilitation, and coaching—consistently outperform isolated implementation efforts in school-based programs and curricula (Baffsky et al., 2023).

The strategy clusters used by the EIC team were rooted in the ERIC strategies and further adapted using data from a survey of strategies used by the 19 district-provider dyads, as well as insights from five focus groups with districts and providers. The analysis produced seven strategy clusters, all of which were further themed into specific strategies, and all of which seemed to impact implementation success. For details on the lessons learned related to the EIC strategies, see here: Implementation Strategies for Systems Change: Insights and Lessons Learned and Defining Implementation Effectiveness: Insights from the EIC Project.

Multi-component implementation strategy bundles play a pivotal role in scaling curricula by addressing multiple system layers simultaneously. Research on scaling practices in education suggests that to achieve depth, spread, sustainability, and locally owned practice, strategies such as training, monitoring, contextual adaptation, and resource allocation must work in concert through interactive, iterative implementation processes (Glennan et al., 2000). In school-based trials (e.g., large-scale physical activity policy implementation), bundling strategies enabled effective transition from pilot to broad rollout while preserving fidelity—despite common “voltage drops” during scale-up (Lane et al., 2022). These complementary strategies help systems absorb and adapt curricular innovations, maintain quality across diverse sites, and cultivate internal capacity—supporting sustainable curriculum outcomes beyond initial implementation.