Research on educational and criminal justice programs sought to clarify the relationship between organizational characteristics and innovation adoption. It focused on the reasons why organizations adopt innovations and the differences in clientele, staff, and decision-making participation between organizations adopting or unaware of an innovative…

Under the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (P. L. 96-272), Congress outlined a case review system intended to assure that child welfare agencies deal directly with various aspects of child placement. The second of four volumes, this document presents case study descriptions of the hearings within the context of the case review…

Designed as a resource for administrators and faculty considering the implementation of competency-based vocational education (CBVE), this report addresses the theory and practice of CBVE, the pros and cons of a competency-based approach to instructional organization and delivery, and concerns about CBVE's appropriateness in Hawaii. After…

The effective schools movement, a program which involves school staff in diagnosis of problems, decisions on correcting them, research on the effectiveness of various alternatives, and training and assistance with improvement efforts, has focused, up until now, on elementary schools. The feasibility of transferring these programs to high schools…

In an examination of the implementation of educational change, a discussion is presented on the purpose, meaning, and context of change. Consideration is given to the value of change, its benefits and feasibility, and the capacity for implementation. In the second section of the paper, 14 factors related to the implementation of change in schools…

This study examines the relative importance that local school personnel ascribe to certain facilitating conditions identified in the diffusion literature: administrative support of the change process, faculty motivation toward school improvement efforts, participatory decision-making, inservice training efforts, internal advocacy groups, linkage…

Presents case study of an inservice training package designed to prepare teachers to implement proposed changes. Developed for an English as a second language (ELS) program for adult francophones, this package consists of workshops and materials which view implementing change as a learning process for teachers as well as students. (Author/LRW)

Teacher education programs in 63 New York state colleges and universities were surveyed to determine which elements of competency-based teacher education have been adopted and the degree of participant satisfaction. Results reveal that concepts such as mastery learning, criterion-referenced assessment, and performance-based measures that evaluate…

Discussion of implementation of computer-based educational innovations highlights a case study of undergraduate music theory students who had the option of using computer-assisted instruction. Barriers to successful implementation are described, including instructor attitudes, instructional style, curriculum planning, lack of peer support, program…

Discusses India's population problems and efforts to implement family planning and population education programs since the 1930s. Describes the National Population Education Project's nonformal education, school-based, and teacher training components, as well as separate cocurricular, higher education, adult education, and media activities. (DMM)

The Dissemination Efforts Supporting School Improvement (DESSI) study examined the adoption or development and implementation in 146 schools in 10 states of 61 practices that were part of 4 federal or state programs. Local schools in the study sample were asked to identify those individuals (facilitators) who had helped them with a particular new…

Despite consensus on the administrative reforms needed in school effectiveness programs, policy problems are raised when administrators and school boards want to translate research findings on school improvement into practical terms. Although school systems are now using a number of organizational tools that lift standardized test scores (for…

Teachers who implement new programs have often been observed to adapt them to suit their own teaching situations. This process of adaptation raises four important issues: (1) Can teachers replicate practices developed elsewhere? (2) Can they be equally effective in doing so? (3) Must adaptation occur for implementation to succeed? and (4) Can…

A program stressing teacher involvement and classroom implementation of educational research findings is described. The program was designed to familiarize teachers with current findings, have them apply the findings in their classrooms, analyze their own teaching behavior, and critically evaluate the findings in terms of their applicability to…

Discusses how to create a district plan for managing computer technology in schools from the perspectives of a district administrator and a media director. Topics addressed include equity in access and instruction; distance education consortiums; planning committee membership; goals and effective planning; staff support; adoption strategies;…