From 1973 to 1978, the Rand Corporation conducted a national study of local public schools' responses to various federal programs requiring educational change--Title III of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Title VII of the ESEA, programs financed by the 1968 Vocational Education Act, and the Right-to-Read program. This paper…

This article discusses the implementation of classroom organization projects examined by the Rand Corporation's Change-Agent Study. (RC)

A secondary analysis of the Rand Change Agent Study describes four broad factors underlying the understanding of staff development: institutional motivation, implementation strategies, institutional leadership, and teacher characteristics. These factors are used to suggest specific staff development activities. (JMF)

This report reviews and synthesizes the findings of a four year, two-phase study conducted by the Rand Corporation to examine and evaluate a national sample of educational innovations funded by Federal programs. Section I of this document provides background information and descriptions of the study. Section II discusses Rand's research approach…

This report reviews and synthesizes the findings of the survey and fieldwork as presented in Volumes II and III. In particular, it summarizes the evidence concerning the effects of federal change agent policy. Section 1 introduces the report. Section 2 describes the theoretical approach that served as the basis for data collection and analysis.…

In the last decade, the Office of Education has granted several billions of dollars to local educational agencies (LEAs) in an attempt to stimulate, and sometimes force, educational improvements. This paper was presented at a symposium considering experiences accumulated in a recent national study of federal change programs as they have (or have…

Promoting innovations accounts for approximately 10 percent of the federal aid to public schools which currently exceeds $3.5 billion annually. However, serious questions about the usefulness of federal efforts to promote innovation and the prospects for educational reform have been raised. Those questions were examined here by the Rand…

Drawing from an analysis of educational innovation attempted in 200 school districts throughout the United States, this essay describes critical aspects of the implementation process. Four micro-level premises are critical to larger macro-level change policies. First, external inputs into the implementation process must be congruent with local…

Self-conscious federal efforts to promote innovation in local educational practices have resulted in little consistent or identifiable improvement in student outcomes. Although such student outcomes may be disappointing, they do not accurately reflect the potential of innovative ideas because many innovations are not implemented according to plan.…