In this guide to the process of innovation in education, the author does not suggest what changes should be made, nor does he recommend specific innovations, but he does provide information on how successful innovation takes place and how those who facilitate planned change or planned innovations (change agents) can organize their work to insure…

The author compares organizational development to five criteria an innovation must meet if it would rate as a social technology. (AK)

Change agents are those who introduce innovations into a society or organization. Their function and method has been studied in various cultures and professions, and this book applies those findings to schools. It is addressed both to administrators and to "change agents working from below." After presenting four case studies of change agents in…

A communication arc from A to B represents the transmission of a single message from the first system A to the second system B. What are all the ingredients of a communication arc required for the sending of a message? What compatibility conditions between these two systems must be satisfied in order for communication to take place? Further, what…

This report provides a framework for understanding the processes of innovation, dissemination, and knowledge utilization (D&U) and it reviews the relevant literature in education and other fields of practice within this framework. D&U is viewed as a transfer of messages by various media between resource systems and users. Major sections analyze…

A national sample survey of innovation processes reported by superintendents in 353 school districts reveals four distinct patterns of belief regarding change. These four patterns are identified as "participative problem solving,""RD&D,""strategic manipulation," and "open advocacy-human revolution." Three of the four correspond closely to…

This workbook of checklists is Attachment 2 to the document "Preparing Knowledge Linking Change Agents in Education: A Materials and Training Development Project," see ED 056 257, and should accompany Attachment 1, "A Guide to Innovation in Education." The nine checklists in the workbook are as follows: (1) Over-all Management of a Change Project;…

This document reports on a project undertaken to determine the feasibility of a periodic national survey of a sample of U.S. school districts to obtain information on the performance of the existing dissemination and utilization network for educational innovations. The first section of volume 1 describes the content and consequences of innovation,…

This paper describes one component of the Study of Dissemination Efforts Supporting School Improvement, which focused on the role that external facilitators play in helping schools implement new educational practices. The first part describes the external facilitator sample (95 respondents) and delineates the major formal role groups of external…

This report describes a study of one-year educational innovation projects funded under Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Focus of the study was not on the content of the projects but on how they were conducted, with particular emphasis on the role of the project directors. Data for the study were gathered through…

Using the case study approach, the Merrimack Education Center was examined (1) to test the linkage model developed by Ronald Havelock, (2) to provide a model description for the benefit of others who wished to duplicate the center's program, and (3) to provide feedback to the center itself. The study produced a thumbnail sketch of the center; a…

The introduction which precedes the two major sections of this position paper discusses the baseline and causes of educational change and some policy alternatives for Federal support of dissemination activities. Following this, part I of the body of the paper offers a statement describing the National Institute of Education's (NIE) program thrust…

This document reports on a project undertaken to determine the feasibility of a periodic national survey of a sample of U.S. school districts to obtain information on the performance of the existing dissemination and utilization network for educational innovations. All the cases in this volume were originally identified from a national survey of…