Abstract
Purpose. The study's purposes were to: (1) assess selected attributes described by Rogers (1983) associated with socioeconomic status, personality, and communication among high school teachers who perceive themselves as innovative; (2) determine if teachers who rated themselves high on a teacher innovativeness scale are more likely to engage in teaching strategies and behaviors that are associated with first-order and/or second-order change as described by Fullan (1991) and Cuban (1988). Methodology. This was a descriptive and ex post facto study. Eighty-five percent of the 200 teachers from ten California Distinguished High Schools in Los Angeles and Orange Counties returned a mailed survey. One teacher from each school who had rated themselves between 90 and 100 on the Teacher Innovativeness Scale participated in a face-to-face interview. Quantitative data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, chi-square, t-test, multiple regression, and discriminant analysis. Qualitative analysis was used to process the interview data. Findings. Based on the results of a stepwise multiple regression, six survey items were found to predict 62 percent of the variation in the level of teacher innovativeness: (1) piloted new courses, tried new curriculum or instructional strategies (37 percent); (2) felt confident about how a new teaching strategy would affect the students' academic performance (13 percent); (3) did not use lectures as a primary teaching strategy (6 percent); (4) communicated with other educators outside their school site (3 percent); (5) changed their instructional strategies based on student needs (2 percent); (6) collaborated with teachers in other departments (1 percent). Conclusions. Innovative high school teachers in this study: (1) continually pursue new information and ideas about teaching and learning, are willing to cope with uncertainty, and make contact with other educators and change agents outside of their schools and districts; and (2) demonstrate first-order and second-order change behaviors in the ways in which they facilitate learning, implement new teaching strategies, and involve parents and community members in improving students' learning. Recommendations. This study be replicated with elementary and middle school teachers to see if the attributes and first- and second-order change behaviors of innovators are the same.