Standard 1 Item 2

Jonathan Amlin
18-EDLD-803
Written Assignment #1
Dr. Lynn Kitchen
January 13, 2008

Fullan (2007) identifies many critical factors that impact innovations from the initiation

stage, through the implementation stage and into the institutionalization stage. Of these factors, I

have chosen the 10 that I believe are of the most relevance to my school’s ability to successfully

implement a new math program.

A word on the background of my district, Piqua City Schools, is needed here to explain

my choice of factors. My district has been unable to pass its last two levy attempts. The local

community has a median income well below the starting salary that our district offers teachers.

The community’s apathy toward education is evident, not only in the failure of the levies, but

also every day in a lack of parental involvement. The refusal to fund levies to retain teachers

signals that the community would outraged by any perceived expenditure of new money, which a

new math program would certainly demand. Finally, many of the districts teachers expect to be

without a position next year, complicating the challenge of effectively training teachers in the

new program because many of the teachers that would be trained this year will not be in the

district next year and because many veteran teachers with licenses that are not content-specific

might be teaching in areas in which they are inexperienced.

In the Initiation stage, I believe that Access to Innovation, Teacher Advocacy, External

Change Agents and Community Pressure/Support/Apathy are my school’s biggest concerns.

Within the realm of the Implementation stage, I believe that my school’s success would be most

influenced by Complexity, Quality/Practicality, District Characteristics, Principal

Characteristics, Teacher Characteristics. The most pertinent factor from the Institutionalization

stage would be that of Continued Support from the district.

My school, Wilder Intermediate School, is restricted with respect to Access to Innovation

because our district has an enormous budget deficit that prevents significant spending. Likewise,

any perceived spending by the district will result in increased difficulty in convincing the local

community that the district desperately needs to pass a levy. My school also has to contend with

Teacher Advocacy as a challenge because Piqua has a recent history of abandoning new

programs soon after they are implemented. With this lack of confidence on the part of the

teachers, the district would face resistance and skepticism. This teacher doubt in the life

expectancy of the program would prevent them from giving their full energy and efforts to the

program. The most powerful External Change Agent that faces my school’s success is the fact

that a failed levy in March would result in wide cuts across the district. These cuts would greatly

disrupt any progress that the school might have experienced in the innovation. Finally,

Community Pressure/Support/Apathy is the overriding factor that affects all of the other aspects

of this innovation. Our local community simply does not understand the long-term necessity of

educational spending. I believe that the district would face community uproar if the decision

were made to spend money on a new program.

Between the number of inexperienced teachers currently in the district and the possibility

of teachers in content areas in which they have little or no experience, the factors of Complexity

and Quality/Practicality loom large as considerations in this decision. An overly complicated

program would challenge teachers that need desperately to focus on other aspects of teaching.

Likewise, the availability of professional development and resources must be considered when

the initiative’s practicality is measured. District characteristics such as the district’s tendency to

perpetuate newly adopted programs and the ability to effectively provide professional

development appropriate to the needs of the teaching staff. Wilder’s principal’s characteristics

are among the few factors that seem to favor the new program. My principal understands the

challenges inherent to implementing a new program, as such, he would spend a great deal of time

ensuring that teachers understand the new program and how to effectively increase their

competencies with it. Lastly, the teacher characteristics of my staff must be evaluated. I believe

that my staff is capable of mastering a new program, but, as I alluded to earlier, many teachers

feel betrayed by the district’s recent, unimpressive cycle of implementation and abandonment.

The most important consideration from the Institutionalization stage is that of Continued

District Support. As noted multiple times before, the district’s inability/refusal to provide the

necessary support and dedication to recent initiatives suggests that there would be little support

past the purchase of the program. Additional resources, such as consumables, manipulatives or

technological resources that the district opts not to provide could be the difference between

success and failure. What’s more, many recent curricular implementations have relied solely on

the presentations by salespeople rather than continued, responsive professional development and

assistance to train teachers. This practice has left many teachers confused by, skeptical of and

disillusioned with new programs.

Upon consideration of these ten factors, I have to think that now is not the right time to

try to implement a new math program. None of the district personnel, teachers or community

members seem to be in an ideal position to be receptive enough for a new initiative to be

successful or financially justifiable.

References

Fullan, M. (2007). The new meaning of educational change. New York: Teachers College

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