Dive Brief:
- School districts experience constant change, but many district leaders do not have a specific approach in mind to effectively manage those changes. the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM), drawn from the business world, is one strategy that can be used to implement change, eSchool News reports.
- CBAM addresses three facets of change: innovation configurations — which provide a picture of levels of implementation; stages of concern — which personalize the process and allow leaders to identify attitudes of staff members concerning the change and levels of use — which help leaders identify if change is being implemented faithfully.
- By better managing change, district leaders can more effectively judge the true impact these changes are having on student achievement.
Dive Insight:
Schools are constantly being faced with the need to adapt. Some of these changes are mandated from the outside because of shifting state and federal regulations. Some changes are in response to cultural forces, such as the need to incorporate more technology in the classroom so that students are better prepared for the workplace of the future. Other changes are made in response to poor performance on test scores or because of concerns about school safety or social issues.
However, teachers and staff members are sometimes resistant to change. School leaders may roll out a plan of change but may not know if those changes are being effectively implemented in the classroom. Such failures in implementation make it hard for a district leader to respond to the impact of the change.
CBAM provides one way to both implement changes and better measure their effectiveness. However, there are other strategies as well. Whether the changes are strictly educational or a change in school culture, innovative school leaders need to have a strategy in place to be assured that teachers are getting on board with the changes.