Success Factors

For Once to succeed, it is critical that the entire school team sees Once not as an optional add-on, but for what it really is: a beneficial part of the school’s core work of teaching students, putting them on a path toward overall academic achievement. Implementing Once requires careful consideration of the needs of students, staff, and current programming. Success is best achieved by integrating Once into existing school systems, which requires administrators and teachers to be willing to modify the school staffing model and schedule. Schools that are adopting the Once program should start these conversations as early as possible and help the entire team see how Once aligns with specific school goals.

Prioritizing daily one-on-one reading instruction requires making trade-offs. Students participating in Once may miss small chunks of non-core instructional time. Assistant teachers providing Once instruction may be unavailable during parts of the day to pass out papers or accompany students on restroom breaks. These adjustments can be challenging but are ultimately worth it, because freeing up staff and student time to participate in Once results in students learning to read fluently and independently.

Critical Success Factors	Obstacles to Success
There is total buy-in to the Once program because school administrators, lead classroom teachers, and Once instructors understand and clearly communicate how Once supports Tier I classroom instruction. This buy-in ensures a consistent delivery of the program. There are clear communication channels in the school internally and with Once for those who do not yet feel invested in the program so their concerns can be addressed.	School administrators, lead classroom teachers, and the support staff assigned to provide Once are not invested in the program, which results in missed instructional and coaching sessions, so students do not make their expected progress.
There is respect for the Once instructor's role as a dedicated resource who is not to be pulled for any other role while they are scheduled to be providing Once instruction. The Once instructors are assigned to set groups of students, are expected to consistently deliver Once instruction for their scheduled hours, and are given the support needed to do so.	There is a lack of clarity around the new role and responsibilities of the Once instructors. Once instructors are asked to forego Once instruction to perform other roles, like acting as a sub or supporting classroom transitions, which creates a lack of consistency that impedes the reading growth of students in the Once program.
Together, Once and the school create and communicate a workable schedule that includes transition time and a designated learning environment that is as close to the classroom as possible. There is a system set up for dropping students off and picking students up to minimize disruption to the classroom and maximize Once instruction time.	Setting up a workable schedule and convenient learning environment is not prioritized, resulting in slow transitions into and out of Once instruction. This can deprive students of up to 70% of their scheduled Once instruction, since each daily session is only 15 minutes long.