Wisconsin has a local options competency-testing policy for public schools: participating districts receive state assistance, but are subject to regulations on test development and use. This paper examines influences on school district program adoption, focusing on local support for any testing program and superintendents' attitudes toward state mandates. School district participation is a policy innovation; local support, an adopter characteristic; and state program incentives and disincentives, innovation attributes. The purposes of the study are to: (1) clarify the importance of incentives and disincentives for adopters and nonadopters of a competency based testing (CBT) policy; (2) examine the relationship between local support and participation in the state CBT program; and (3) investigate the relationship between local support and state incentives and disincentives. Findings, based on a 1984 survey of school district superintendents, show that local districts sharing the state's goal of competency assessment are more likely to enroll in the state-sponsored CBT policy. Early adopters demonstrate greater local support and less negative attitudes toward state regulation, and districts characterized as likely future adopters show stronger local support and more positive attitudes toward state services. Adopter characteristics and innovation attributes must therefore be studied together. The local control issue may delay initial participation, but state assistance encourages later adoption. Tables are included that demonstrate the relationship among local support, legislative provisions, and differences between adopters and nonadopters. (LMI)