Purpose: In far too many cases the initiatives to change schools by introducing new programs, processes and reforms has not resulted in obtainment of the desired outcomes. A major reason for limited outcomes suggested in this paper is that there has been a failure to learn from and apply constructs and measures related to understanding,…

Change process research had developed some practical tools and concepts which can assist in the determination of essential variables for an evaluation design. The Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) Project at the Texas Research and Development Center in particular has developed specific measures which can be applied directly: "Levels of Use…

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…

The change process as it affects program implementation is the topic of this paper, which presents an overview of current knowledge about this process, discusses the methodology appropriate to future research on and evaluations of program implementation, and considers several areas in which new knowledge must be developed if the success of future…

An analysis and review of the activities in the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory Regional Exchange (SEDL/RX) is presented, and the following questions spoken to: 1) How has the SEDL/RX evolved and developed? 2) What are the major activities at the SEDL/RX? 3) How do the Advisory Board members perceive the SEDL/RX and what do they see…

To avoid implementation problems, thought must be given to diagnosis and systematic adaptive planning for the implementation of educational innovations. (MM)

Researchers have only recently recognized that assertions by various educators that they have implemented educational innovations do not all mean the same thing or bear the same weight, according to the authors of this report. Efforts made by the Research and Development Center for Teacher Education at the University of Texas at Austin to…

Although vast numbers of educational innovations have been introduced into the nation's schools over the past 20 years, few have succeeded in effecting affective, behavioral, and cognitive student gains. Many recent studies have focused, therefore, on school change processes and the formulation of strategies for successful innovation…

There is widespread understanding of the need to evaluate teacher education programs. Unfortunately, the history of teacher education program evaluations is spotty, evolutionary, and limited in scope. Probably the most fundamental reason that program evaluations are limited is that there has not been a clear, consistent, and shared framework for…

Current issues confronting teacher education are reviewed in this article. An array of significant opportunities matched with suggestions about the directions that teacher education could take are proposed and described. (DF)

Conceptualizes a framework of types of partnerships that can develop between a school system and an external resource agency. More complex organizational structures are required as interdependency increases in the collaborative, symbiotic partnership, and spin-off models. There is no magic formula for initiating, sustaining, or terminating…

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…

From a general overview presented of the current state of teacher education, proposals for improvement and development are suggested: (1) Teacher education should be the basis for the pulling together of the various mini-disciplines that now exist; (2) Teacher education associations should be merged into one influential organization; (3) Support…

This paper reports how one school district has successfully implemented a major innovation, the Performance Pay Plan (PPP) for Teachers, and how they have collaborated with change process researchers to assess implementation. The paper emphasizes: the community-wide process of involvement and trust building used by the district to launch and…