A PILOT PROGRAM: THE NEXT 'FIRST' STEP
A pilot program, also called a feasibility study or experimental trial, is a small-scale, [relatively] short-term experiement that provides information about how a larger-scale project or program might work in a more general and wider application. From Tips and Recommendations for Successfully Pilot Testing Your program [A Guide for the Office of Adolescent Health and Administration on Children, Youth and Families Grantees]: 'Simply put, a pilot is a trial run, a small-scale version of your larger project. A program pilot is an important step that can help you catch potential problems and prevent them from escalating as well as accomplish several goals before full implementation occurs. This tip sheet explorse the advantage of pilot testing, explains how to prepare for pilot testing your program and provides general tips to consider when setting up your pilot test.'
A pilot program is an absolute necessity for any real-world application project/program that is is costly, long-term or with high priority outcomes. Of course, when these criteria are not applicable, it may be more feasible and practical to simply implement a program iteratively until it becomes acceptable; this is especially true for programs of negligible cost, a short duration life [seconds, hours,...] and outcomes of low priority.
The question of 'Why have a pilot program? is often asked by those who are in a 'rush to judgement' about program promises. There have been many programs that meet the above criteria, i.e., cost, duration, priority, that have been implemented without the benefit of a pilot program that have inevitably been unsuccessful in the business, medical, military, economic, construction et al areas. Their common outcomes are wasted resources and time! We have a very relevant example in the educational area in the No Child Left Behind Act [NCLB]. Did this highly recommended program include a pilot program? One can also ask if the advocates of this program had the experience and expertise required to go forward without the benefits of a pilot program? Was NCLB successful? Why was/is there so much controversy about this program from those who are on the NCLB frontlines, i.e., the teachers, parents and the students? How costly was NCLB in terms of dollars, time [13 years!] and even the suspected compromise to established learning and teaching practices? One might find the comments of Sandy Kress somewhat interesting for what is said and also for what is not said: [Confessions of a "No Child Left behind Supporter", Education Next, Volume 7, Number 3, 2007].
The authors recognize the efforts to rewrite the NSLB Act into the ESSA {Every Student Succeeds Act, 12/10, 2015]. Only time will tell if ESSA is a partial solution or, hopefully, the more comprehensive solution. The educational world cannot be what it should/could be unless there is a parallel effort to eliminate poverty...which, not so coincidentally, is the constant message and advocacy of both the book and this website! Nothing more, nothing less!
Four tips from the above noted reference in the opening paragraph follow:
A pilot test will help confirm if you are ready for full-scale implementation.
Pilot testing is an opportunity to gauge your target population's reaction to the program.
Pilot testing can help you make better decisions about how to allocate time and resources.
Pilot testing can help you ensure that you are well prepared to measure the success of your program.
The following are excerpts from Poverty & Despair versus Education & Opportunity [VIII: A PILOT MODEL: THE NEXT "FIRST" STEP]:
"Ambrose [R89] comments about a 'new idea' to address persistent and heart rending social issues effectively and with cost-efficiency; he also reminds us of the Congress's track record of developing and maintaining a 'system that has provided too little for far too much.' Additionally, Ambrose reminds his readers that the 'Congress [historically] figures it has the final answer to something it clearly knows little about, it then combines political conniving with good intentions and it delivers maybe just a portion of the intended consequences aloing with some unintentional ones."
"Lee H. Hamilton, Director of the Center for Congress at Indiana University and also a former member of the United States House of Representatives for 34 years, offers a poignant perspective in Why governemnt fails and what we must do about it, [R90]. His perspective may initially be 'heard' as a criticism but further thought would reveal that it is a very constructive and forward-looking one. Simply put, his comments are really a reflection of the necessity for true critical analysis in any arena. A critical analysis process is necessary for progress, performance effectiveness and cost-efficiency; this process [to paraphrase an earlier statement]: "What's working?' and "What's not working?" are pre-requisites for moving forward." [Hamilton is also an advocate for the more frequent use of pilot and trial programs.
"Pilot models are both nessary and useful in order to establish [1] a further shaping [aka 'fine-tuning'] of a specific program and, most importantly, [2] the increased measure of program feasibility prior to the budgeting and expenditure of funds for a program of greater scope. Simply put, a pilot program addresses the 'proof of concept' requirement."
"The planning, design, development, implementation and continuing assessment of a pilot model is not a simple task; however, the pilot model process must respond to a set of validated requirements."
"The duration of time [and the associated resources] to use the pilot model strategy/methodology varies with the dynamics ['changes with time] of the pilot model behavior. Let us remember that the social and political inertia of poverty et al populations are almost immeasurable and the identification of their respective [s-l-o-w moving] dynamics will take time."
"A very necessary corollary to a decision to initiate the pilot model is its program planning process."
"Together, both the pilot model and the program plan would ne necessary guidance for pilot models at other sites. As in the educational arena, the proposition* that 'one size fits all' also applies to site-specific pilot models and program planning and implementation. However, as in education, there will be a factor of commonality amongst the site-specific models and their program planning and implementation. The sequence of multiple pilot models is a prelude to a national program commitment to ending poverty."
*Authors' note: the term 'one size fits all' is a flawed proposition in both the educational and pilot model arenas!