Knowledge, Flexibility, and Persuasion in Program Adoption

• In Event: 68.034 - Encouraging Compliance Without Mandates: The Challenge of Take-Up in a New State-Sponsored Education Initiative

Abstract

There is growing interest in how to encourage the adoption of evidence-based practices in districts and schools (Finnigan & Daly, 2014).
This interest has led to research on how evidence and data are used in district decision-making and teacher classroom practice (Honig & Coburn, 2008; Kerr, Marsh, Ikemoto, Darilek, & Barney, 2006). Little attention has been paid to how principals make decisions to adopt programs. Innovation diffusion and implementation research offer a framework for understanding how individuals adopt innovations that focuses on their knowledge of the innovation, how they assess the fit to their needs, and how they are persuaded to adopt the innovation (Meyers, Durlak, & Wandersman, 2012; Rogers, 2003). Employing mixed methods, this article draws on this framework to shed light on the decision process used by principals to decide whether or not to adopt a state initiative aimed at increasing teacher collaboration in their schools.

The first stage of the adoption decision process is gaining knowledge about the innovation (Rogers, 2003). Research on adoption of evidence-based practices in other sectors highlights the importance of robust communication channels (Rhoades, Bumbarger, & Moore, 2012). In education, educators often do not have sufficient knowledge of a program’s approaches and demands prior to implementation (Hatch, 2002).

Once principals have program knowledge, their adoption decision process involves assessing how the program fits their school, including the possibility of adapting the program to their needs (Meyers et al., 2012). Providing built-in flexibility may be used to build local ownership and address key stumbling blocks in implementation (Rowan, Correnti, Miller, & Camburn, 2009). At the same time, challenges exist when there is too much flexibility as educators need clarity and specificity to be able to support specific reforms (Cannata & Nguyen, 2015; Desimone, 2002).

Finally, innovation diffusion is enhanced through persuasion by others (Rogers, 2003). Social networks play an important role in how individuals make sense of educational innovations (Daly, 2010). Further, power dynamics shape how programs are adopted as principals receive messages that they must adopt a program (Datnow, 2000).

We investigate decision processes in the context of a statewide initiative in 2015-16. We draw on data from interviews with 16 principals who adopted the state program and 10 principals who decided against adoption, supplemented with surveys with 63 principals who adopted the program and 211 principals who were offered the program but did not adopt it.

Preliminary results suggest the most important factors in adoption decisions were related to persuasion and knowledge of program goals. Specifically, around 60% of principals indicated they adopted IPI because their district encouraged them to participate or they thought it would help improve teaching practices or strengthen teacher collaboration. At the same time, both the survey and interview data reflect some degree of confusion about program goals. The interviews indicate that the flexibility built into the IPI program fostered buy-in among principals, but inhibited a clear understanding of goals. Relatively few principals mentioned the positive evidence of impact of the IPI pilot as a reason for adoption.

Authors

• Marisa A. Cannata, Vanderbilt University

• Jason A. Grissom, Vanderbilt University