Program evaluation is generally viewed as a set of mechanisms for collecting and using information to learn about projects, policies and programs, to understand their effects as well as the manner in which they are implemented. AEA has espoused principles for evaluation that place emphasis on competent, honest inquiry that respects the security,…

A serendipitous moment, a passing conversation, led to this study. A university professor expressed concern that his second-grade son was "bored" with his weekly spelling lists, homework, and tests. A colleague of his, a former elementary teacher with 30 years experience and currently teaching field-based methods courses in this child's…

Despite the key role that principals play in leading schoolwide change, districts' efforts to support principals are often limited, particularly in rural settings. In this article, we report the preliminary findings of a cross-district mentoring program for nine midcareer rural school principals. The collaboratively developed human resource…

Leal Filho, MacDermot, and Padgam (1996) contended that post-secondary institutions are well suited to take on leadership responsibilities for society's environmental protection. Higher education has the unique academic freedom to engage in critical thinking and bold experimentation in environmental sustainability (Cortese, 2003). Although…

Implementation of programs of cognitive development need to be considered in the context of a schools readiness for educational change. Eight questions to help identify important issues focus on ability, values, ideas, circumstances, timing, obligations, resistance, and yield. (Author/DB)

Beginning with an analogy of today's schools as factories, this paper describes the conditions which make it both possible and imperative to transform schools. Examples are given of resources that may be used to support school-based changes, such as foundations, regional laboratories, professional associations, and universities. A model is offered…

A pre-planned team approach to educational change is described to maximize the chances that education majors and public school students willfully receive the types of improved learning experiences new curricula and organizational innovations promote. Public school and college change agents participating in an action lab sponsored by the…

Reviews the initial management development component of an organizational change strategy to "Make General Management Work." Evaluates the success of the workshop in linking management and organizational development. (JOW)

This brief paper reports on an evaluation of 10 community rehabilitation providers, six that successfully closed a facility-based program between 1989 and 1994, and four who are currently involved in a change process. Data collection consisted of participant observation, in-depth interviews, and document analysis. Findings indicated: (1)…

The individuals who use, or neglect to use, an innovation such as mainstreaming are the key to success or failure in change efforts. The concepts of individual stages of concern about an innovation and levels of use of the innovations are discussed. It is suggested that these dimensions can be used as diagnostic tools for facilitating change and…

The U.S. Office of Education's National Diffusion Network is designed to transport and systematically promote the adoption of validated innovative programs throughout the nation. The 13 case studies in this publication are intended to provide a comprehensive overview of the state facilitator effort and accurately represent the range and diversity…

A key assumption of the Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM) is that change is a process, rather than an event. The Procedures for Adopting Educational Innovations Project is working to identify and verify diagnostic dimensions of CBAM, and to develop tools to measure the developmental status of users and non-users; these concepts will help change…

This report presents the methodology and some of the results from part of an on-going Rand Corporation study of change agent programs sponsored by the U.S. Office of Education. It concentrates on staff development as a vehicle for change in schools. After a brief introduction, the methodology of the study is presented. The third section examines…

This three-phase project sought to ascertain the effectiveness of cross-divisional Educational Development Teams (EDT's) as residential change agents for program planning and development. Staff of 14 North Carolina community colleges and technical institutes were trained for roles as change agents. Developmental or remedial programs for…

As part of its contract to develop a framework for continuous school improvement in its four-state region (Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia), Appalachia Educational Laboratory staff designed the Quest project. Based upon principles of inquiry, collaboration, and action research, Quest supports and investigates ongoing school…