Implementation research as a task for subject-matter education disciplines: Co-constructive, content-related, and research-based

Content-related didactical innovations are often developed in research-based and co-constructive ways by subject-matter education specialists, design researchers, and teachers. For scaling-up the flexible and co-constructive implementation of these innovations in many classrooms, the German Center for Mathematics Teacher Education follows material, personnel, and systemic implementation strategies on three levels: the classroom level, the teacher professional development level (PD) and the facilitator professional development level. The paper exemplifies these strategies using a case involving the implementation of the Mastering Math program, which was designed to develop students’ understanding of basic mathematical concepts. The case is used to illustrate three basic principles for implementations into subject-matter classrooms: (1) Co-constructive implementation requires research-practice partnerships on several levels, (2) targeted implementation requires content-related innovations, and (3) a research base is required for enhancing both the pedagogical quality and the content quality of the teacher and facilitator PD.