The Synergy Collaboratory for Research, Practice and Transformation

The Synergy Collaborative Laboratory for Research, Practice and Transformation builds on research on scale up and diffusion of innovation to create and grow a national network of expertise to help projects and centers realize potential scale and impact. An ongoing academy of thought leaders identifies and aggregates challenges and successful practices in achieving scale and impact of ATE initiatives. Professional growth and team development workshops using a problem-based learning format are created and implemented to research and develop the competencies necessary to help a broad range of initiatives in the ATE program achieve scale. A knowledge management system is created and implemented to support the capturing and disseminating of the knowledge and expertise resulting from individual efforts in achieving scale. Assessment tools and appropriate processes are developed and tested to measure progress in achieving scale along the various stages of the continuum from aspiring to understanding to implementing to coaching others. Formative evaluation provides guidance to the project and summative evaluation measures the success of projects bringing innovations to scale. Sustainability is defined in terms of the ongoing use of the activities to bring projects to scale.