Tensions in scaling up effective professional development: Balancing programme integrity and school adaptation

Decades of research have sought to unpack the challenges of balancing programme integrity and school adaptation when taking educational interventions to scale. Professor emeritus Larry Cuban from Stanford University captured this tension perfectly when he famously argued, ‘schools change reforms as much as reforms change schools’ (Cuban, 1998; p. 455). Professional development interventions are bound to be adapted when they are implemented across a large number of schools. Variability is a hallmark of scaling up. However, some modifications can limit or have a detrimental effect on the desired teaching and learning outcomes, while strict adherence can limit uptake and relevance across diverse sites.