{"id":3543,"date":"2025-12-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/?p=3543"},"modified":"2026-01-28T09:22:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T17:22:43","slug":"excitement-and-challenge-on-the-cutting-edge-of-reform-an-observers-perspective-on-nic-initiation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/excitement-and-challenge-on-the-cutting-edge-of-reform-an-observers-perspective-on-nic-initiation\/","title":{"rendered":"Excitement and Challenge on the Cutting Edge of Reform: An Observer\u2019s Perspective on NIC Initiation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-9f092ff3\">\n<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-f749780f\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"575\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-8.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3544\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-8.png 575w, https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-8-240x300.png 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-fsb-flexible-spacer fsb-flexible-spacer\"><div class=\"fsb-flexible-spacer__device fsb-flexible-spacer__device--lg\" style=\"height:64px\"><\/div><div class=\"fsb-flexible-spacer__device fsb-flexible-spacer__device--md\" style=\"height:64px\"><\/div><div class=\"fsb-flexible-spacer__device fsb-flexible-spacer__device--sm\" style=\"height:64px\"><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>This fifth post in a series on networked improvement community (NIC) initiation draws on an analogy to pop-up business. Through comparing and contrasting the features of the two kinds of organizations, the author seeks to deepen understanding of the particular nature of NICs and the process of NIC initation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/blog\/excitement-and-challenge-on-the-cutting-edge-of-reform-an-observers-perspective-on-nic-initiation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Excitement and Challenge on the Cutting Edge of Reform: An Observer\u2019s Perspective on NIC Initiation<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>February 25, 2016 | By Donald J. Peurach<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This blog is part of a series that identifies and discusses practical issues that arise in initiating networked improvement communities (NICs). While other contributors have written from the perspective of those doing such work, my contribution is something of a twist, in that I write from the perspective of an external observer whose research focuses on large-scale, network-based educational improvement as a matter of policy and practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As an external observer, I find\u2026&nbsp;<em>Read the full blog post&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/blog\/excitement-and-challenge-on-the-cutting-edge-of-reform-an-observers-perspective-on-nic-initiation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><em>here<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>.&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-fsb-flexible-spacer fsb-flexible-spacer\"><div class=\"fsb-flexible-spacer__device fsb-flexible-spacer__device--lg\" style=\"height:80px\"><\/div><div class=\"fsb-flexible-spacer__device fsb-flexible-spacer__device--md\" style=\"height:80px\"><\/div><div class=\"fsb-flexible-spacer__device fsb-flexible-spacer__device--sm\" style=\"height:80px\"><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-e3118763 alignfull\">\n\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-fsb-flexible-spacer fsb-flexible-spacer\"><div class=\"fsb-flexible-spacer__device fsb-flexible-spacer__device--lg\" style=\"height:56px\"><\/div><div class=\"fsb-flexible-spacer__device fsb-flexible-spacer__device--md\" style=\"height:56px\"><\/div><div class=\"fsb-flexible-spacer__device fsb-flexible-spacer__device--sm\" style=\"height:56px\"><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-0130b7b6\">\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-15957be1 gb-headline-text\">You Might Like<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-grid-wrapper gb-grid-wrapper-bddfab04\">\n<div class=\"gb-grid-column gb-grid-column-11a71804\"><div class=\"gb-container gb-container-11a71804\">\n\n<div class=\"gb-grid-wrapper gb-grid-wrapper-5555fe34 gb-query-loop-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"gb-grid-column gb-grid-column-fa6cb64e gb-query-loop-item post-3437 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-news tag-featured\"><div class=\"gb-container gb-container-fa6cb64e\"><a class=\"gb-container-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/carnegie-foundation-and-ets-release-skills-progressions-for-collaboration-communication-and-critical-thinking\/\"><\/a>\n<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-7a7e21e1\">\n<figure class=\"gb-block-image gb-block-image-29525fe2\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"822\" height=\"494\" src=\"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Skills-Prog-822x484px.png\" class=\"gb-image-29525fe2\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Skills-Prog-822x484px.png 822w, https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Skills-Prog-822x484px-300x180.png 300w, 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Through &#8230; <a title=\"Excitement and Challenge on the Cutting Edge of Reform: An Observer\u2019s Perspective on NIC Initiation\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/excitement-and-challenge-on-the-cutting-edge-of-reform-an-observers-perspective-on-nic-initiation\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Excitement and Challenge on the Cutting Edge of Reform: An Observer\u2019s Perspective on NIC Initiation\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3544,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"inline_featured_image":false,"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"client_controls":[],"class_list":["post-3543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-improvement-science-collection"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Excitement and Challenge on the Cutting Edge of Reform: An Observer\u2019s Perspective on NIC Initiation - Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/excitement-and-challenge-on-the-cutting-edge-of-reform-an-observers-perspective-on-nic-initiation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Excitement and Challenge on the Cutting Edge of Reform: An Observer\u2019s Perspective on NIC Initiation - Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This fifth post in a series on networked improvement community (NIC) initiation draws on an analogy to pop-up business. 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