A study was conducted to determine how Texas school districts that adopted an innovation in special education differed from the more than 1,250 that did not. Ten randomly selected districts from the 40 that adopted change were matched with 10 non-adopter districts. Members of the district power structure (as related to special education) were identified by questionnaires administered to the district superintendent, principals, and persons named by them as influential in the decision of whether to innovate. Subject and district demographic variables were compared and analyzed. Subjects and districts were found to be very similar, and indications were that there were no significant differences in perceptions of the new state plan for special education. These perceptions were apparently not the crucial variables in the decision to adopt or not adopt the plan. Most significant differences were related to the increased number of supportive personnel and services to be derived from adoption, suggesting that funding is such a strong incentive that decision-makers fail to see the necessity of extensive testing of the innovation. Methodology, related studies, tables of data, and conclusions are presented. (RJ)