The Maine Mastery Learning Consortium, composed of sixteen school districts, was formed because it was learned that the money and time spent in staff development without follow-up rarely resulted in significant classroom change or successful classroom implementation. This document reports on the first three months of a project designed to provide…

The process through which a school adopts a comprehensive school reform (CSR) model has been suggested to be a key element in the lifecycle of school reform, contributing to stakeholder buy in and subsequent implementation. We studied the model adoption process, both on a national scale with survey data and in more depth with qualitative case…

This report examines "permanency planning" and "special needs adoption" for children with disabilities, based on the experience of Project STAR in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Project STAR (Specialized Training for Adoption Readiness) was established in 1985 to provide support services for families of children with disabilities…

This study focused on the personal dimensions of the change process, and on teacher concerns about using microcomputers in the classroom. Eighteen senior high school teachers volunteered to complete the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ), which yields reliable data on seven distinct stages of concern. Based on their SoCQ profiles, three…

Expressed concerns about competency-based education implementation by vocational teachers in six school divisions in Virginia were monitored from April 1983 to April 1984 during the last two years of a movement to statewide competency-based education implementation. At six-month intervals--in April and October 1983 and April 1984--vocational…

Designed to examine the academic computing programs of six liberal arts colleges that received funding from the Exxon Education Foundation for introducing or expanding academic computing between 1981 and 1983, this report first describes each college's program proposals. It then examines the progress of the colleges to date on their projects and…

Educators need a better understanding of the change process if changes are to be well planned and effective. The purpose of this study was to identify procedures that had facilitated educational change in selected school systems. The changes studied were in the areas of curriculum organization and content, instructional technology, staffing,…

One of the keys to successfully identifying innovation configurations is to develop a clear understanding and description of innovation components. The first step requires the identification of operational components. Secondly, it is important to observe the innovation in use and to interview users. The final steps involve constructing a checklist…

Description of the viewpoints of two experienced teachers who were implementing a novel computer program in grades five and six focuses on three main issues: learning to accommodate changes required by innovation; organizing new classroom routines; and indications of students' achievements. Curriculum content and computer literacy are also…

Discussion of the value of diffusion of innovation theory for predicting the implementation of end-user online searching highlights a study of Canadian health professionals who were early adopters of end-user searching. User perceptions are emphasized, and the use of diffusion of innovation theory in information science research is recommended.…

This review of literature in the field of educational innovations includes discussions on the following areas: (1) resistance to change; (2) personality and psychological factors; (3) innovation attributes such as communicability and compatibility; (4) type of innovation decision making including those made by individuals, groups, and authority;…

This report describes the 1980-81 development of a multistate, multimedia, multi-agency audioconferencing network for human services in Maine and New Hampshire, under a grant which was designed to: (1) establish a 20-site audioconferencing network in vocational rehabilitation offices; (2) provide training and technical assistance to the agencies…

Policy analysis is the process by which systematically collected information is provided to decision makers. As an integral part of a specific policy setting process and a comprehensive planned change process, such analyses can provide school administrators with much needed information to guide their decisions concerning district-wide…

This study examined the mobilization and implementation stages of introducing microcomputers into elementary and middle schools in a majority adopter (i.e., schools which began implementing microcomputers for instruction in 1983-84) school district. Data collection included structured interviews with school district staff and principals;…

Traces the first year of planning, development, and implementation of microcomputer applications in a rural Kansas school district; reports how Stages of Concern (SoC) adoption model was used to monitor this process; and demonstrates how SoC might be used to guide staff development in relation to microcomputer implementation. (MBR)