New models of research and training combined with dissemination techniques can contribute to relevant social change. The Ecological Psychology Program at Michigan State University, a graduate training program which focuses on model building and implementation research, offers ideas on the plausability of social programming. The process would…

Whatever the innovation, the adoption-rejection decision must be related to precise evaluation data; and in cases where positive benefits are the clear result of an innovative program, the implementation of an effective diffusion program can magnify and multiply the benefits for a larger population of students. The Peterborough Project…

A blueprint for Educational Resource Agents (ERA's) has been compiled by a consortium consisting of the National Federation for the Improvement of Rural Education, Tuskegee Institute, New Mexico State University, University of North Dakota, Northwest Regional Educational Lab., Southwestern Cooperative Educational Lab., Appalachia Educational Lab.,…

The state of the art in the implementation of education innovation is assessed in three parts: (1) the identification of promising theories, important issues, and proven implementation strategies with emphasis on practical implications; (2) a review of research directly related to the development and implementation of new occupational education…

The purpose of the Promising Practices Diffusion Project, 1979-80, was to further develop, implement, and improve a statewide system for disseminating Promising Practices in vocational and career education. (Promising Practices are those exemplary projects which have met established criteria of quality.) During the first stage, a project base was…

The focus of a summative evaluation of the Promising Practices Diffusion Project was on soliciting descriptions and views of several different groups about project operation and merit and comparing the "ideal" model against what had taken place so far. Preliminary activities involved review of the project-developed Implementation Kit for…

In contrast to evolutionary or natural change and homeostatic or adjustive change, a planned program of change designed to move education in a new direction, and accordingly called "neomobilistic change," provides for the realistic achievement of educational improvement. The two primary criteria of this model are relevance and impact. Reasons why…

A model experience-based career education program for secondary school students in Philadelphia, called the Academy for Career Education, has been operated by Research for Better Schools, Inc. (RBS), for three years. It utilizes employer/community participants as instructional agents and learning sites for career exploration and specialization,…

The role of evaluation in a working model for the diffusion of educational innovations is the central topic of this paper. The working model is a product of the Trent Valley Centre (TVC), a "regional laboratory" type extension center of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. The first objective of the program is to generate the…