A study of the influence of ecological factors and personal teacher characteristics on the implementation of an innovation

Abstract

This exploratory study considered the possible impact that organizational climate, content area, adult development group, career stage, and conceptual level did have on the implementation of an innovation by junior high school teachers in an urban school system. Formal instrumentation consisted of the Organizational Climate Index (OCI) (Stern, Steinkoff & Richman, 1975) and the Paragraph Completion Method (PCM) for assessing conceptual levels (Hunt, Greenwood, Noy & Watson, 1973). Parameters developed by Sheehy (1976) and Levinson (1979) were used to determine adult development groups; career stages were determine by indicators set by Yarger and Mertens (1979). An approved questionnaire based on the system's model was used to determine the extent of implementation.

Reliability coefficients of .79 and better were established for interrater agreement and implementation scores (student and teacher report). A stepwise regression analysis was conducted using the implementation scores and percentage scores for specific tasks as the dependent variables.

The broad categories of climate and conceptual level did not impact significantly. However, subscales such as organizational effectiveness, coping with uncertainty, accepting orders, as well as adult development group and career stage were significant at the .01 level.