Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to examine the implementation process of the Five Percent innovation and Technology program. The study sought to investigate the practices and the procedures involved in putting the programs into practice, the extent of implementation and, the degree to which the concerns of the school's instructors focused of making an impact on students. Methodology. The researcher used descriptive research. The population consisted of the program instructors, coordinators, and principals using computers and Invest Learning curriculum for basic education instruction. The CBAM model's instrumentation was used, as Innovation Configuration Checklist, Level of Use Formal interview, and Stages of Concerns Questionnaire. An Informal Interview and Goodlad and Tye's Observation Guide were used to gather additional information and for triangulation of data. The data were tabulated and analyzed according to the CBAM Model guidelines. Findings. (1) All of the instructors used the computers and curriculum software for instruction. (2) Worksite locations were difficult to acquire for all programs. (3) Business reported satisfaction with employee educational advances. (4) Greater worksite student participation occurred when employees were given monetary rewards. (5) The largest number of students were parents of district school children attending at their child's school campus. (6) All users had hardware and software problems that affected their use of the program. (7) In all but one case the administrators' interpretation of the level of use of the program was higher than the instructors. (8) Four of the five programs were concerned about working with others in coordinating their use of the program. (9) Three of the five programs were concerned about working with students and improving student access to the program. (10) Instructors were concerned about hardware and software problems, collaborating with others regarding their use of the innovation, and wanted more staff development activities. (11) All the instructors reported satisfaction regarding student gains and site administrative support provided for them and the program. Conclusions and recommendations. The five percent program in its second implementation year is being successfully implemented. Of the six program component areas only one school had not begun implementation in only one component area. All of the users had full program implementation and the majority were seeking to refine use of the program. The majority of the program were concerned about working with others and the impact of the program upon students. Recommendations for the program include: (1) the adult schools establish a business advisory committee. (2) The Invest Learning Corporation establish an aggressive system to remedy network and modem problems. (3) The administrators allow the instructors to form a statewide network. (4) The adult schools provide carts for instructors to use in transporting the computers from place to place. (5) The adult schools need to budget for staff development activities for the instructors. (6) The CDE should expand its support of the program. (7) The CDE plan similar pilot projects in the K-12 system.