Ethnographic observations of secondary school teachers were conducted during the implementation of new curricula. Interviews identified relationships concerning: (1) teachers' experiences and convictions concerning support before and during the innovation period; (2) teachers' training and/or retraining experiences relating to the curriculum…

The guide presents strategies for the dissemination of promising vocational education practices into local school districts. The first of four chapters discusses five commonly encountered questions which arise when new practices are considered. For example, the question, "How can I identify worthwhile practices for my school?" is…

Changing student views toward academic governance and institutional planning were measured using surveys administered to both seniors and freshmen in 1975, and from surveys administered to freshmen in 1971, at Michigan State University. A total of 1,050 seniors responded to a mail survey which was also administered to a 1975 new-freshman sample of…

QUESTIONNAIRES WERE MAILED TO 50 STATE SUPERVISORS OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AND 373 HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS IDENTIFIED AS PURCHASERS OF CENTER-DEVELOPED AND -DISSEMINATED MATERIAL TO EVALUATE THE CONTENT OF COURSE OUTLINES AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS PREPARED FOR TEACHING OFF-FARM AGRICULTURAL OCCUPATIONS. COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRES WERE RETURNED BY…

A review of the information provided by rural sociologists and agricultural extensionists regarding the adoption of new and/or improved farm practices in Nigeria in order to determine their contribution to the transfer of technology to farmers indicates that a great deal of attention had been paid to communication variables and to personal 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,…

A study to identify methods most influential in determining the acceptance and use of educational innovations examined variables associated with adoption-proneness of trade and industrial teachers. Phase 1 determined predictor variables for adoption-proneness through application of multiple linear regression to personal characteristics (including…

The purpose of this study was to assess the procedures and performances of comprehensive high schools in Georgia and to gather data for guiding future programs. The 112 comprehensive high schools in Georgia offer a combination of vocational and traditional academic programs. This report focuses on the input, process, and output of the…

IN RECENT EFFORTS OF THE U.S. OFFICE OF EDUCATION TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN DEVELOPMENT AND ADAPTATION OF EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE, VISIBILITY HAS BEEN GIVEN TO COMMUNITIES WHICH HAVE INTRODUCED NEW CURRICULUMS, TEACHING METHODS, AND INSTITUTIONAL PATTERNS. FIVE LOCALLY-INITIATED PROGRAMS WHICH HAVE ATTEMPTED TO PROVIDE A FLEXIBILITY OF THE…

A study was made of an innovative University of California (Los Angeles) program designed to help engineering executives become executive generalists and technical managers. The purpose was to learn the degree to which program objectives were being met, effects of participation on managerial mobility, and the extent to which graduates altered…

This paper describes a project designed to evaluate the New York State Adoption Exchange, a program providing information on adoptable children and families approved for adoption across the state of New York. The first section of the paper describes the rationale for the development of the evaluation project. The second section traces the problems…

A comparative analysis was made of two vastly different educational innovations: the children's television program "Sesame Street," and the computer-assisted instruction (CAI) programs of the Institute for Mathematical Studies in the Social Sciences. The study was complicated by their distinct objectives and by their widely different…

To develop a client-centered information system to support the adoption of innovative instructional practices in Kansas classrooms, a pilot project was organized in 12 districts. Among the objectives were: to establish instructional linkages in a wide range of subject areas; to establish a system that would be generalizable to the rest of Kansas…

Institution building is considered as a process amenable to both explanation and design if a generic "grammar of artifactual action" is used. The Configurational Theory of Innovation Diffusion model (CLER) is introduced and used to demonstrate how the world of the institution builder could be ordered as part of such grammar for designing…

The study endeavors to describe, assess, and trace the progress of six high schools as the faculty and staff responded to the adoption of an innovative career guidance system. The study provides a model, a method, and some generalizations about factors influencing the process. The document is organized according to: (1) definitions of basic…