Level 1 Implementation Support Specialist Certification
Join 540+ professionals who have already applied!
Applications are accepted year-round.
Join 540+ professionals who have already applied! Applications are accepted year-round.
Advance your career with our Level 1 Implementation Support Specialist certification which focuses on the foundational elements of applying implementation science to design, implement, spread, and scale change.
Learning Objectives
After obtaining the Level 1 certification, you will be able to:
Use data to critically reflect on the problem
Use evidence and theory to select change strategies
Assess context, readiness, and fit
Facilitate and support implementation
Use a framework to guide evaluation of implementation quality
Plan for sustainability, spread, and scale
Watch this short video for a step-by-step overview of the certification process.
Certification Process
Phase 1
Assignments
Revision
Assignments
Evaluation
Courses
& Assignments
Phase 2
Level 1
Assessment
Assessment
Revision
Assessment
Evaluation
Phase 3
Certificate & Badge
Courses & Assignments
Complete StrategEase: The HOW of Creating Sustainable Change and Implementation, Spread, and Scale. Each course has six assignments that must be completed and submitted.
⚠️ Courses do not need to be completed within a set time frame to count towards the certificate.*
Once you have submitted all 12 assignments, we’ll send an email to confirm receipt and provide instructions on how to submit a 2-3-minute video/audio file describing the project your course assignments were based on.
If you’ve used a different example for each course, we’ll ask you to record 2 clips to describe them. (The goal is to give the evaluator a quick overview of what you’re working on; this will not be graded.)
Estimated time commitment for completing the courses: 24-48 hours per course
Assignments Evaluation
A TCI Evaluator will review your assignments to ensure they meet the quality of a certified Level 1 Implementation Support Specialist.
⚠️ Your course assignments will not be graded until we have received all 12 assignments and your project description recording(s).
TCI review timeline: 2 weeks per round. Kindly note this may take longer depending on the volume of submissions.
Assignments Revision
If any of your course assignments don’t meet the quality level, you’ll be asked to either revise and resubmit the assignment or answer a follow-up question.
⚠️ Please note it’s common for participants to have more than one round of revisions.
Your revision timeline: Up to you!
Level 1 Assessment
The Level 1 Assessment is a set of 10 questions to determine your understanding of key concepts learned in the Level 1 courses and your ability to apply these concepts.
We’ll send you a link to book your date to receive the assessment upon successful completion of Phase 1.
⚠️ The Level 1 Assessment is sent on the first day of every month, and there are a limited number of spots available each month.
Timeline commitment for completing the Level 1 Assessment: Your responses will be due within 1 month.
Assessment Evaluation
A TCI Evaluator will evaluate your assessment to determine how the course concepts were applied and delivered in practical scenarios. It will be assessed on various criteria such as:
Appropriate language for the audience
Practical support considerations
The ability to support people to appropriately select and apply implementation science theories, models, frameworks, and approaches (TMFAs).
TCI review timeline: 6 weeks per round. Kindly note this may take longer depending on the volume of submissions.
Assessment Revision
If any of your assessment responses are graded as “needs improvement”, you’ll be asked to either revise and resubmit your response or answer a follow-up question.
⚠️ Please note it’s common for participants to have more than one round of revisions.
Your revision timeline: Up to you!
Certificate & Badge
Congrats! After successfully completing Phases 1 & 2, you've now achieved the Level 1 Implementation Support Specialist certification.
We'll ask you to complete a form to confirm your details for your certificate and global directory of certified professionals listing (optional). Once we receive your details, your digital certificate and badge will be issued within 6 weeks.
*You can take the time you need to complete your certification, with up to 3 rounds of revisions for your Level 1 Assessment. If you don’t pass after the third round, your certification period will end along with your access to the Implementing Change Community and courses.
Benefits of becoming certified
This was the first certificate ever available for implementation support specialists — and the number of certificates for this role keeps growing — which shows just how in-demand this skillset is.
After completing the Level 1 certification process, you’ll receive a Level 1 Implementation Support Specialist digital certificate and badge.
You’ll also have the option to be featured in our global directory of certified Level 1 Implementation Support Specialists where you can include a short bio, contact information, and social media profiles.
🏁 Apply for the certificate program 🏁
To view pricing and apply for the certificate program, click on the entry point that applies to you.
Entry points are their own path to certification. You only need to select one!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
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We offer different entry points and pricing options based on if you’re new to the Level 1 courses or have completed one or both.
Entry points are their own certification path. You only need to select one!
The Starting Line (for new Level 1 course participants):
> Regular price: $1890 USD / $2490 CAD
> With 10% discount for new course participants: $1701 USD / $2241 CAD*
The Head Start (if you’ve completed one of the Level 1 courses):> Regular price: $1375 USD / $1815 CAD
> With 20% discount for past course participants: $1100 USD / $1452 CAD*
The Final Lap (if you’ve completed both Level 1 courses):
> Regular price: $945 USD / $1245 CAD
> With 20% discount for past course participants: $756 USD / $996 CAD*
*Note: Fees do not include applicable sales tax. All sales are final and non-refundable.Other Discounts Available:
Discounts are available for past participants of TCI’s paid courses, groups of 3+, full-time students, Indigenous peoples and organizations, participants in LMICs, Implementing Change Community members, and Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC) members. (One discount per person.)
After you submit your application form, we’ll confirm your total with the discount applied. -
If you’re a new course participant and haven’t taken either of our Level 1 courses, your entry point is: The Starting Line
If you’ve taken one Level 1 course (StrategEase: The HOW of Creating Sustainable Change or Implementation, Spread, and Scale), your entry point is: The Head Start
If you’ve taken both Level 1 courses and are ready to complete your journey to becoming Level 1 certified, your entry point is: The Final Lap
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The entire Level 1 certification process is completed virtually.
You’ll receive:
> Access to Course 1: StrategEase: The HOW of Creating Sustainable Change and Course 2: Implementation, Spread, and Scalethroughout your certification journey*
> Level 1 Course Assignments Evaluation
> Level 1 Assessment Evaluation
> Membership in the Implementing Change Community throughout your certification journey*
*You can take the time you need to complete your certification, with up to 3 rounds of revisions for your Level 1 Assessment. If you don’t pass after the third round, your certification period will end along with your access to the Implementing Change Community and courses.
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Phase 1: Courses & Assignments
Each Level 1 course contains 6 modules. There are no live components, so they can be completed on your own schedule and at your own pace.
We estimate each module takes 4-8 hours to complete, which includes time for completing the assignments which are about directly relating the content back to your own work, so the amount of time will vary depending on how much background work you do.
Estimated total: 24-48 hours per course
TCI review timeline: 2 weeks per round. Kindly note this may take longer depending on the volume of submissions.
Your revision timeline: Up to you!
Phase 2: Level 1 Assessment
You’ll have 1 month from the date you receive the Level 1 Assessment questions to submit your responses. We estimate this completing it will take about 8-10 hours, though some participants have said it took them closer to 15 hours. A factor to consider is the time you may need to refer back to the courses as you complete the questions, if applicable.
Estimated total: 8-15 hours.
TCI review timeline: 6 weeks per round. Kindly note this may take longer depending on the volume of submissions.
Your revision timeline: Up to you!
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The Level 1 Implementation Support Specialist certification has been designed with the implementation support practitioner in mind. Each component of your submission is read in detail by an evaluator and assessed on various criteria, such as the use of appropriate language for the audience, practical support considerations, and the ability to support people to appropriately select and apply implementation science theories, models, frameworks, and approaches (TMFAs).
Course assignments from both Level 1 courses (Phase 1) are evaluated to determine if your responses meet the quality level of a Certified Level 1 Implementation Support Specialist.
The Level 1 assessment (Phase 2) is evaluated to determine how course concepts would be applied and delivered in practical scenarios. Each response to the 10 assessment questions is evaluated and will receive one of three grades along with evaluator feedback: 1 = Strong response; 2 = Adequate response; or 3 = Needs improvement.
If any of your course assignments don't meet the quality level or any of your assessment questions receive a grade of 3, you'll be asked to either revise and resubmit and/or answer a follow-up question. Please note it's common for participants to have more than one round of revisions/follow-up questions.
Note: To help ensure fairness in the evaluation process, assignments that don’t meet the quality level and assessment responses that receive a grade of 3 are reviewed by a second evaluator.
All certificates are issued based on competence, not completion. This means all course assignments must meet the quality level and all assessment responses must receive a grade of 1 or 2 to earn your digital certificate and badge.
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You’re welcome to move through the course content as a group; however, all course assignments, Level 1 assessment responses, and any requests for revisions must be completed individually so we can assess each person's specific knowledge and skills.
In terms of payment and fees, if there are at least 3 members in your group, you can receive a 20% group discount (additional discounts are available for groups of 20+). Group members can register individually, or we can combine fees into one payment. Each group member would receive their own individual login to access the courses in either case.
To begin the process, we ask that each group member completes an application form and notes the other members of their group.
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Our course facilitators respond regularly to questions posted on the online discussion boards within each course.
We also encourage you to explore the Implementing Change Community (membership is included with your enrollment), which includes access to:· Monthly Q&A sessions with course developers
· Dedicated spaces for course + certificate participants
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No, you don’t need to retake the new versions. You’ll receive access to them when you enroll, so if you’d like to explore the content to refresh your knowledge, you can.
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Our courses and certificate program do not currently offer college credit or CEUs, as they are topic-agnostic (i.e., designed to be applicable across various professions).
Have any questions?
Contact us.
Note: The certification process and requirements may change over time. However, once you obtain the certificate, it will remain valid even if the criteria are updated.