ELKSNIN, HENRY NICHOLAS; PHD
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, 1989
EDUCATION, EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY (0525)
The primary purposes of this study were to examine diffusion of innovations
in school psychology and to
identify characteristics of adopters of innovation. Five hundred and fifty members
of the National
Association of School Psychologists were surveyed to determine the rate of adoption
of six innovations.
Secondary data sources (i.e., ERIC, Psychological Abstracts) were utilized to
verify adoption curves.
Three hundred and sixty-eight respondents representing a return rate of 67%
then were categorized as
early or late adopters according to Rogers's (1983) procedure. School psychologists
who adopted an
innovation one or more standard deviations below the mean time of adoption were
classified as early
adopters and psychologists who adopted an innovation one or more standard deviations
above the
mean were classified as late adopters. The diffusion of the Woodcock-Johnson
Psycho-Educational
Battery, Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Intelligent Testing with the
WISC-R, The Handbook
of School Psychology, prereferral intervention systems, and curriculum-based
measurement/assessment was found to resemble Rogers's adoption curve. Early
adopters were found
to differ from late adopters on five of 32 variables; however, methodological
problems rendered these
differences nonmeaningful. Significant differences regarding characteristics
of adopters and
nonadopters indicated that adopters tended to be younger, had less experience,
served more schools,
and had a higher level of education. Adopters of testing innovations tended
to spend more time in
assessment and less time in counseling whereas adopters of innovative practices
tended to spend a
lower percentage of time in assessment activities. The strengths and weaknesses
of the present study
were discussed and recommendations for future research based upon findings of
the investigation were
made.
Social
Systems Simulation Group
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